 Introduction of the Dutch Twins This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Bianca The Dutch Twins by Lucy Fitzperkins Kit and Cat This is a picture of Kit and Cat. They are twins and they live in Holland. Kit is the boy and Cat is the girl. Of course their real names are not Kit and Cat at all. Their real names are Christopher and Katrina. But you can see for yourself that such long names as that would never in the world fit such a short pair of twins. So the twins' mother, Frau Veder, said They cannot be called Christopher and Katrina until they are four and a half feet high. Now it takes a long time to grow four and a half feet of boy and girl. You know, chickens and puppies and goats and kittens always grow up much faster than twins. Kit and Cat ate a great many breakfasts and dinners and suppers and played a great many plays and had a great many happy days while they were growing up to their names. I will tell you about some of them. End of Kit and Cat Recording by Bianca in Utrecht, the Netherlands on October 30th 2009 Chapter 1 of The Dutch Twins This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Bianca The Dutch Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins. The day they went fishing. One summer morning, very early, Frau Veder opened the door of her little Dutch kitchen and stepped out. She looked across the road which ran by the house, across the canal on the other side, across the level green fields that lay beyond, clear to the blue rim of the world where the sky touches the earth. The sky was very blue and the great round shining face of the sun was just peering over the tops of the trees as she looked out. Frau Veder listened. The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the ducks in the canal were quacking and all the little birds in the fields were singing for joy. Frau Veder hummed a slow little tune of her own as she went back into her kitchen. And Cat were still asleep in her little cupboard bed. She gave them each a kiss. The twins opened their eyes and set up. Oh, Kit and Cat said Frau Veder. The sun is up, the birds are all awake and singing and grandfather is going fishing today. If you will hurry, you may go with him. He's coming at six o'clock, so pop out of bed and get dressed. I will put some lunch for you in the yellow basket and you may dig worms for bait in the garden. Only be sure not to step on the young cabbages that father planted. Kit and Cat bounced out of bed in a minute. Their mother helped them put on their clothes and new wooden shoes. Then she gave them each a bowl of bread and milk for their breakfast. They ate it sitting on the kitchen doorstep. This is a picture of Kit and Cat digging worms. You see, they did just as their mother said and did not step on the young cabbages. They sat on them instead. But that was an accident. Kit dug the worms and Cat put them into a basket with some earth in it to make them feel at home. When grandfather came, he brought a large fishing rod for himself and two little ones for the twins. There was a little hook on the end of each line. Frau Veder kissed Kit and Cat goodbye. Mind grandfather and don't fall into the water, she said. Grandfather and the twins started off together down the long road beside the canal. The house where the twins lived was right beside the canal. Their father was a gardener and his beautiful rows of cabbages and beets and onions stretched in long lines across the level fields by the roadside. Grandfather lived in a large town, a little way beyond the farm where the twins lived. He did not often have a holiday because he carried milk to the doors of the people in the town every morning early. Sometime I will tell you how he did it, but I must not tell you now because if I do, I can't tell you about their growing fishing. This morning grandfather carried his rod and the lunch basket. Kit and Cat carried the basket of worms between them and the rods over their shoulders and they were all three very happy. They walked along ever so far beside the canal. Then they turned to the left and walked along a path that went from the canal across the green fields to what looked like a hill. But it wasn't a hill at all, really, because there aren't any hills in Holland. It was a long, long wall of earth, very high, all as high as a house or even higher, and it had sloping sides. There is such a wall of earth all around the country of Holland where the twins live. There has to be a wall because the sea is higher than the land. If there were no walls to shut out the sea, the whole country would be covered with water. And if that were so, then there wouldn't be any Holland or any Holland twins or any story. So you see, it was very lucky for the twins that the wall was there. They called it a dyke. Grandfather and kid and cat climbed the dyke. When they reached the top, they sat down a few minutes to rest and look at the great blue sea. Grandfather sat in the middle with kid on one side and cat on the other. And the basket of worms and the basket of lunch were there too. They saw a great ship still slowly by making a cloud of smoke. Where do the ships go, Grandfather? Asked kid. To America and England and China and all over the world, said Grandfather. Why? asked cat. Cat almost always said why and what she didn't, kid did. To take flags and linen from the mills of Holland, to make dresses for little girls in other countries, said Grandfather. Is that all? asked kid. They take cheese and herring, bulbs and butter and lots of other things beside and bring back to us weed and meat and all sorts of good things from the lands across the sea. I think I'll be a sea captain when I'm big, said kid. So will I, said cat. Girls can't, said kid. But Grandfather shook his head and said, you can't tell what a girl may be by the time she's four feet and a half high and is called Katrina. There's no telling what girls will do anyway. But children, if we stay here, we shall not catch any fish. So they went down the other side of the dike and out onto a little pier that run from the sandy beach into the water. Grandfather showed them how to bait their hooks. Kid baited cats for her because cat said it made her all wiggly inside to do it. She did not like it and neither did the worm. They all sat down on the end of the pier. Grandfather sat on the very end and let his wooden shoes hang down over the water. But he made Kid and cat sit with their feet stuck straight out in front of them so they just reached to the edge. So you can't fall in, said Grandfather. They dropped their hooks into the water and said very still, waiting for bites. The sun climbed higher and higher in the sky and it grew hotter and hotter on the pier. The flies tickled cat's nose and made her sneeze. Keep still, can't you? said Kid crossly. You'll scare the fish. Girls don't know how to fish anyway. Pretty soon, cat filled a queer little jerk on her line. She was perfectly sure she did. Cat squealed and jerked her rod. She jerked it so hard that one foot flew right up in the air and one of her new wooden shoes went splash right into the water. But that wasn't the worst of it. Before you could say Jack Robinson, cat's hook flew around and caught in Kid's clothes and pricked him. Kid jumped and said, Ow! And then no one could ever tell how it happened. There was Kid in the water too, splashing like a young whale with cat's hook still holding fast to his clothes in the back. Grandfather jumped in too, you may be sure. He caught hold of Cat's rod and pulled hard and called out steady there, steady. And in one minute there was Kid in the shallow water beside the pier, puffing and blowing like a grandpa's. Grandfather reached down and pulled him up. When Kid was safely on the pier Cat threw her arms around his neck though the water was running down in streams from his hair and eyes and ears. Then she said, I truly thought it was a fish on my line when I jumped. Just like a girl, said Kid, they don't know how to fish. You see, his teeth were chattering because the water was cold. Well anyway, said Cat, I caught more than you did. I caught you. Then Cat thought of something else. She shook her finger at Kid. Oh, Kid, she said. Mother told you not to fall into the water. It was all your fault, word Kid. You began it. Anyway, where should you wooden shoe? Where are both of yours? screamed Cat. Sure enough, where were they? No one had thought about shoes because they were thinking so hard about Kid. They went to the end of the pier and looked. There was Cat's shoe in North America, like a little boat. Kids were still bobbing about in the water near the pier. Oh, oh, oh, shrieked Cat. But the tide was going out and carrying her shoe farther away every minute. They could not get it. But Grandfather reached down with his rod and fished out both of Kid's shoes. Then Cat took off her other one and her stockings and then all three went back to the beach. Grandfather and Cat covered Kid up with sand to keep him warm while his clothes were drying. Then Grandfather stuck the twinge fish poles up in the sand and tied the lines together for a closed line and hung Kid's clothes up on it and Cat put her three wooden shoes in a row beside Kid. Then they ate their luncheon of bread and butter, cheese and milk with some radishes from Father's garden. They tasted very good even if it was sandy. After lunch Grandfather said it will never do to go home without any fish at all. So by and by he went back to the pier and caught one while the twins played in the sand. He put it in the lunch basket to carry home. Cat brought shells and pebbles to Kid's because he had to stay covered up in the sand and Kid built a play dike with them and Cat dug a canal outside the dike. Then she made sandpies in clam shells and set them in a row in the sun to bake. They played until the shadow of the dike grew very long across the sandy beach and then Grandfather said it was time to go home. He helped Kid dress but Kid's clothes were still a little wet in the thick parts and Cat had to go barefooted in one wooden shoe. They climbed the dike and crossed the fields and walked along the road by the canal. The road shone like a strip of yellow ribbon across the green fields. They walked quite slowly for they were tired and sleepy. By and by Kid said I see our house and Cat said I see mother at the gate. Grandfather gave the fishy call to Kid and Cat and Frau Vetter cooked it for their supper and though it was not a very big fish they all had some. Grandfather must have told Frau Vetter something about what had happened. For that night when she put Kid to bed she felt of his clothes carefully but she didn't say a word about their being damp. And she said to Cat tomorrow we will see the shoemaker and have him make you another shoe. Then Kid and Cat hooked her and said good night and off to sleep before you could wink your eyes. End of the day they went fishing recording by Bianca in Utrecht the Netherlands on October 30th 2009. Chapter 2 of the Dutch Twins This Libri Fox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Bianca. The Dutch Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins. Mark a day with father. One afternoon Kid and Cat were playing around the kitchen doorstep while their mother sat on a bench by the door peeling some onions for supper. It was not yet supper time but Frau Vetter was always ahead of the clock with the work. Kid and Cat had a pen of water and were teaching their ducklings to swim. They each had one little fat duckling of their very own. The ducklings squawked when Kid lifted them over the edge of the pen into the water. Don't do that, Kid, said Cat. The ducklings don't like it. You didn't like it when you fell into the water, did you? But I'm not a duck, said Kid. Well anyway they're tired and want to go to their mother, said Kid. Let's do something else. I'll tell you what. Let's go out to the garden and look at it. All right, said Kid. May we, mother? Yes, said Frau Vetter. And you may ask Father if he will take you to market with him tomorrow, if it's fair. Tell him, I said you could ask. Oh, goody goody! said Kid and Cat, both at once. And they ran as fast as their wooden shoes would take them out into the garden. They found their father cutting cabbages and gathering them so he was stopping to light his pipe when they reached him. Oh, Father, said Kid and Cat, both together. May we go on the boat to market with you tomorrow morning? Mother said we might ask. Father Vetter blew two puffs from his pipe without answering. We'll help you load the boat, said Kid. Yes, said Cat. I can carry a cabbage. I can carry two, said Kid. We'll both be good, said Cat. Very well, said Father at last. We'll see how you work. And tomorrow morning, if it's fair, I'll see. But you must go to bed early tonight because you'll have to get up very early in the morning if you go with me. Now you each take a cabbage and run along. Father Vetter went back to his work. Kid and Cat went to the cabbage pile. Cat took one and Kid took two, just to show that he could. When Father says I'll see, he always means yes. Cat said to Kid. Perhaps it seems queer to you that they should go to market in a boat, but it didn't seem queer at all to the twins. You see, in Holland there are great many canals. They cross the fields like roadways of water, and that is what they really are. Little canals open into big ones go clear to the sea. The canals flow through the towns too and make water streets, where boats go up and down as carriages go here. The twins and their father work like beavers, washing the vegetables and packing them in baskets until their good old boat was filled with cabbages and onions and beets and carrots and all sorts of good things to eat. By that time it was nearly dark and they were all three very hungry, so they went home. They found that Mother Feather had made buttermilk porridge for supper. The twins loved buttermilk porridge. They each ate three bowls of it and then their mother put them to bed. This is a picture of the bed. It opened like a cupboard right into the kitchen and it was like going to bed on a shelf in the pantry. The very next thing the twins knew it was morning and there was Frau Feather calling to them. It's market day and the sun is almost up. Come kitten cat if you want to go with father, she said. The twins bounced out like two rubber balls. They ate some breakfast and then ran to the boat. Father was there before them. He helped them into the boat and put them both on one seat and told them to sit still. Then he got in and took the pole and pushed off. Frau Feather stood on the canal bank to see them pass. Be good children, mind father and don't get lost. She called after them. Kit and cat were very busy all the way to town looking at the things to be seen on each side of the canal. It was so early in the morning that the grass was all shiny with dew. Black and white cows were eating the rich green grass and a few laborers were already in the fields. They passed little groups of farm buildings, their red-tiled roofs shining in the morning sun and the windmills threw long, long shadows across the fields. The blue blossoms of the flags nodded to them from the canal bank and once they saw a stork lie over a mossy green roof to her nest on the chimney with a frog in her mouth. They went under bridges and by little canals that opened into the main canal. They passed so close to some of the houses that Kit and cat could see the white curtains blowing in the windows and the pots of red uranium standing on the sill. In one house the family waved their hands to Kit and cat and a little farther on they passed a woman who was washing clothes in the canal. Other boats filled with vegetables and flowers of all colors passed them and they were going to market too. Only no other boat had twins in it. Good day, neighbor feather. One man called out are you taking a pair of fat pigs to market? By and by they came to the town. There were a great many boats in the canal here and people calling back and forth to each other from them. Kit and cat saw a boat that the captain's family lived in. It was like a floating house. The twins thought it must be grand to live on a boat like that just going about from town to town seeing new sights every day. We should never have to go to school at all said Kit. They wished their own boat to move about in but father told them they must did very, very still all the time. There were houses on each side of the canal in the town and people were clattering along over the pavement in their wooden shoes. The marketplace was an open square in the middle of the town. It had little booths and stalls all about it. The farmers brought their fresh vegetables and flowers or whatever they had to sell and then sat there waiting for customers. Kit and Cat helped their father to unload the boat. Then they sat down on a box and father gave them each some bread and cheese to eat for they were hungry again. They put the cheese between slices of bread and took bites while they looked about. Soon there were a good many people in the square. Most of them were women with market baskets on their arms. They went to the different stalls to see what they would buy for dinner. A large woman with a big basket on her arm came along to the stall where Kit and Cat were sitting. Bless my heart she said are you twins? Yes ma'am said Kit and Cat and Cat said we're five years old. Oh my soul said the large woman so you are. What are your names? Christopher and Katrina but they call us Kit and Cat for short. It was Cat who said this and Kit said when we are four feet and a half high we are going to be called Christopher and Katrina. Well well well said the large woman so you are. Now my name is Frau van der Kloot. Are you helping father? Yes said the twins we're going to help him sell things. Then you may sell me a cabbage and ten onions said Frau van der Kloot. Father Feather's eyes twinkled and he smoked his pipe. Kit cut a cabbage for the Frau. You can get the ten onions he said to Cat. You see really Kit couldn't count ten and be sure of it so he asked Cat to do it. Cat wasn't afraid. She took out a little part of onions in a measure and said to Frau van der Kloot is that ten? Then Frau van der Kloot counted them with Cat very carefully. There were eleven and so she gave back one. Then she gave Cat the money for the onions and Kit the money for the cabbage. Father Feather said now Kit and Cat buy and buy when you get hungry again you can go over to Frau van der Kloot's stall and buy something from her. She keeps the sweetie shop. Oh, oh, quite Kit and Cat. We're hungry yet. Can't we go now? No, not now said Father. We must do some work first. The twins helped Father Feather a long time. They learned to count ten and to do several other things. Then their father gave them the money for the cabbage and the ten onions they had sold to Frau van der Kloot and said you may walk around the market and look in all the stalls and buy the thing you like best that costs just two cents. Then come back here to me. Kit and Cat sat forth on their travels to see the world. They each held the money tightly shot in one hand and with the other hand they held on to each other. The world is very large said Kit and Cat. They saw all sorts of strange things in the market. There were tables piled high with flowers. There was a stall full of birds and cages singing away with all their might. One cage had five little birds in it sitting in a row. Oh Kit, quite Cat, let's buy the birds. They asked the woman if the birds cost two cents and she said no my angels, they cost fifty cents. You see, now that the twins could count ten they knew they couldn't get the birds for two cents when they cost fifty so they went to the next place. There there were chickens and ducks for sale but the twins had plenty of those at home. There were stalls and stalls of vegetables just like fathers and there were boots where meat and fish and wood and peat were sold but the twins couldn't find anything they wanted exactly two cents. At last what should they see but from their clothes fat face smiling at them from a stall just full of cakes and cookies and bread and chocolate and honey cakes and goodies of all kinds. The twins held up their money. There on the counter was a whole row of St. Nicholas dolls with current eyes and they knew at once nothing else in all the market they should like so much. Do these cost two cents a piece? Dear Frau van der Kloot, ask Cat. No, said Frau van der Kloot. They cost one cent a piece. The twins were discouraged. I don't believe there's a single thing in this whole market that costs just two cents, said Cat. Keep still, said Kit. Let me think. They sat down on the curb. Cat kept still and Kit took hold of his head with both hands and thought hard. He thought so hard that he scowled all over his forehead. I tell you what it is, Cat, he said at last. If those St. Nicholas dolls cost one cent a piece I think we could get two of them for two cents. Oh, Kit, said Cat. How splendidly you can think. Does it hurt you much? Let's ask Frau van der Kloot. They went back to the good Frau who was selling some coffee bread to a woman with a basket. Oh, Frau van der Kloot, said Cat. Kit says if those St. Nicholas dolls cost one cent a piece he thinks we could get two for two cents. Do you think so? Of course you can, said Frau van der Kloot. And she winked at the lady with the bread. But you've got two cents and I've got two, said Cat to Kit. If you should get two Nicholas dolls, why? I should have my two cents left. Shouldn't I? Oh dear, it won't come out right anyway. Let me think some more, said Kit. And when he had thought some more, he said I'll tell you what let's. You get two with your two cents and I'll get two with mine. And I'll give my other one to mother and you can give your other one to father. That's just what we'll do, said Cat. They went back to Frau van der Kloot. We'll take four dolls, said Cat. Well, well, well said the Frau. So you figured it all out, have you? And she counted out the dolls. One for Kit and one for Cat and one for father and one for mother and an extra one for good measure. Oh Kit, she's given us one more, said Cat. Let's eat it right now. Thank you, dear Frau van der Kloot. So they ate up the one more then and there, beginning with the feet. Kit bit one off and Cat bit the other and they took turns until the Nicholas doll was all gone. And the other four others, said goodbye to the good Frau and went back to father's doll. They found that father had sold all his things and was ready to go home. They carried their empty baskets back to the boat and soon were on their way home. The twins sat on one seat holding tight to their dolls which were growing rather sticky. The boat was so light that they went home for market much more quickly than they had come and they did not seem long before they saw their own house. There it was with its mossy roof half hidden among the trees and Frau Vetter waiting for them at the gate. Dinner was all ready and the twins set a four St. Nicholas dolls in a row in the middle of the table. There's one for father and one for mother and one for Cat and one for me, said Kit. Kit can think. He thought just how many dolls he could buy when they were one for one cent. Isn't it fine that he can do that? You've learned a great deal at the market, said Frau Vetter. But Kit didn't say a word. He just looked proud and pleased and put his hands in his pockets. By and by, when you are four and a half feet high and are called Christopher, you can go with father every time, said Frau Vetter. I can think a little bit too, said Kit, can't I go? No, said Frau Vetter. Girls shouldn't think much. It isn't good for them. Leave thinking to the man. You can stay at home and help me. End of Market Day with Father Recording by Bianca in Utrecht, the Netherlands on November 7th, 2009. Chapter 3 of the Dutch Twins This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Bianca The Dutch Twins by Lucy Fitzperkins Mother's Day Yesterday was a very long day, said Frau Vetter, on the morning after Market Day. You were gone such a long time. Kit gave her mother a great hug. We'll stay with you all day today, mother, said. Won't we, Kit? Yes, said Kit, and he hugged her too. And we'll help you just as much as we helped father yesterday. Won't we, Kit? More, said Kit. I shouldn't wonder, said father. I shall be glad of help, said Frau Vetter, because Grandma is coming and I want everything to be very clean and tidy when she comes. I'm going first to the pasture to milk the cow. You can go with me and keep the flies away. That will be a great help. Frau Vetter put a yoke across her shoulders with hooks hanging from each end of it. Then she hung a large pail on one of the hooks and a brass milk can on the other. She gave Kit a little pail to carry and Kit took some switches from the willow tree in the yard, with which to drive away the flies. Then the old tree started down the road to the pasture. Pretty soon, they came to a little bridge over the canal which they had to cross. Oh dear, said Kit, looking down at the water. I'm scared. You see, there was no railing at all to take hold of and the bridge was quite narrow. Oh, pretty Kit, said Kit. I'll go first and show you how. And I'll walk behind you, said Frau Vetter. Kit walked very slowly and held on hard to her pail and so she got over the bridge safely. When I'm four feet and a half high I'm going to jump over the canal on a jumping pole, said Kit. Oh, how brave you are, said Kit. I should be scared. And besides, I'm afraid I should drop my shoes in the water. Well, of course, said Kit. Boys can do a great many things that girls can't do. When they reach the pasture there was Mufra Holstein waiting for them. Mufra Holstein was the cow's name. Kit and Kit named her. Frau Vetter tucked up her skirts and that was quite a task for she wore a great many of them and sat down on a little stool. Kit and Kit stood beside her and waved their willow ones and said, Shoo! to the flies. And Frau Vetter began to milk. Mufra Holstein had eaten so much of the green meadow grass that Frau Vetter filled both the big pail and the brass can and the little pail too with rich milk. I shall have milk enough to make butter and cheese, said Frau Vetter. There are no cows like our Dutch cows in all the world I believe. All mother, are you going to churn today? Ask Kit. Yes, said the Frau. I have cream enough at home to make a good roll of butter and you may help me if you will be very careful and work steadily. I will be very steady, said Kit. I'm big enough now to learn. All Dutch girls must know how to make good butter and cheese, said Frau Vetter. And boys can drink the buttermilk, said Kit. I'll drink some too, said Kit. There'll be plenty for both, said their mother. When she had finished milking, Frau Vetter shook out her skirts, put the yolk across her shoulders again and lifted the large pail of milk. She hung it on one of the hooks and the brass milk can on the other. Kit took the small pail and they started back home. The milk was quite heavy so they walked slowly. They had crossed the bridge and were just turning down the road when what should they see was the ender walking along the road followed by six little goslings. Oh mother, mother! screamed Kit. There's the old goose that we haven't seen for so long. She has stolen her nest and hatched out six little geese all her own. They're taking them to the canal to swim. Quick, Kit, quick! said Frau Vetter. Don't let them get into the canal. We must drive them home. Kit went boldly forward in front of them and Kit went too. She spilled some of the milk but she wasn't such a hurry that she never knew it until afterwards when she found some in her wooden shoes. Said the old goose and she went straight for the twins with her mouth open and her wings spread. The old gander ran at them too. I can't begin to tell you how scared Kit was then. She stood right still and screamed. Kit was scared too but he stood by Kit like a brave boy and shook his willow switches at the geese and shouted Shoo Shoo just as he did at the flies. Frau Vetter set her pills down in the road and came out behind flapping her apron. Then the old goose and the gander and all the little goslings started slowly along the road all the way. Father Vetter was working in the garden when the procession came down the road. First came the geese looking very indignant and the goslings. Then came Kit with the leaves all whipped off his willow switches. Then came Kit with her pale and last of all Frau Vetter and the milk. When the new family of geese had been taken care of and the fresh milk had been put away to cool Frau Vetter got out her churn and scolded it well. Then she put in her cream and put a cover down over the handle of the dasher. Now Kit and Kat you may take turns, she said and see which one of you can bring the butter. But be sure you work the dasher very evenly or the butter will not be good. Me first said Kat and she began. Kit sat on a little stool and watched for the butter. Kat worked the dasher up and down up and down. The cream splashed and splashed inside the churn and a little white ring of spatters came up around the dasher. Kat worked until her arms ached. Now it's my turn, said Kit. Then he took the dasher and the cream splashed and splashed for quite a long time but still the butter did not come. Oh, said Kat you're nothing but a boy. Of course you don't know how to churn. Let me try. And she took her turn. Dash, splash, splash, dash. She worked away and very soon around the dasher there was a ring of little specks of butter. Come, butter, come. Come, butter, come. Some for a honey cake, some for a bun. She sang in time to the dasher and truly when Frau Vetter opened the churn there was a large cake of yellow butter. Frau Vetter took out the butter and worked it into a nice roll. Then she gave each of the twins a cup of buttermilk to drink. While the twins drank the buttermilk their mother washed the churn and put it away. When she was old through it was still quite early in the morning because they had gotten up with the sun. Now we must clean the house, she said. She got out her scrubbing brushes and mobs and pills and dusters and began. First she shook out the pillows of the best bad that nobody ever slept in and pushed back the curtains so that the embroidered coverlet could be seen. Then she put the other beds in order and drew the curtains in front of them. She dusted the linen press and left it open just a little so that her beautiful rolls of white linen tied with ribbons would show. Kat dusted the chairs and Kit carried the big brass jugs outside the kitchen door to be polished. Then the old three rubbed and scoured and polished them until they shone like the sun. Now it's time to cook the dinner said Frau Vetter. We will have pork and potatoes and some cabbage. Kit run to the garden and bring a cabbage and Kat you may get a fire ready to cook it when Kit brings it in. Kat went to the stove but it was such a funny stove it wasn't the stove at all really. There was a sort of table built up against the chimney. It was all covered with pretty blue tiles with pictures of boats on them. Over this table there was a shelf like a mental shelf. There were plates on it and from the bottom of the shelf hung some chains with hooks on them. The coals were right out on the little table. Kat took the bellows and puff puff puff made the coals burn brighter. She peeped in the kettle to see that there was water in it. Then she put some more charcoal on the fire. Kit brought in the cabbage and Frau Vetter cut it up and put it into the pot of water hanging over the fire. She put the pork and potatoes into it. In a little while the pot was bubbling away merrily and Father Vetter, who was in the garden sniffed the air and said I know what we're going to have for dinner. While the pot boiled Frau Vetter scrubbed the floor and wiped the window. Then she took her brooms and scrubbing brush outside. She scrubbed the door and the outside of the house. She scrubbed a little pig with soap. The little pig squealed because she got some soap in its eyes. She scrubbed the steps and even the trunk of the poplar tree in the yard. She scrubbed everything inside except Father Vetter and the twins. By and by she came to the door and called. Come to dinner. Only be sure to leave your wooden shoes outside when you come into my clean kitchen. Here are the shoes as they left them all in a row. And as it was Saturday the shoes were scrubbed too that night. When the dinner was cleared away Frau Vetter said to the twins it's almost time for grandmother to come. Let's walk out to meet her. They walked clear to the edge of the town before they saw her coming. They walked on top of the dike so they could look right down into the street and see all the houses in a row. Grandmother was coming up the street with a basket on her arm. What do you think is in that basket? Frau Vetter asked the twins. Honey cake said Kit and Kat said candy. And Kit and Kat were both white. There was a large honey cake and anise candies and some current buns besides. Grandmother let them peep in and see. They were very polite and did not ask for any. Frau Vetter was proud of the twins' good manners. Grandmother said this afternoon when we have tea you shall have some. I'm glad I ate such a lot of dinner said Kit to Kat as they walked along or else I just have to have a bun this minute. Yes said Kat it's much easier to be polite when you aren't hungry. When they got home Kit and Kat took their grandmother to see the new gaslings and to see the ducklings too and Frau Vetter showed her the butter that Kit and Kat had helped to churn and grandmother said My my what helpers they are getting to be. Then she said how clean the house is and then how the brass is shine. Yes said Frau Vetter the twins helped me make everything clean and tidy to show to you. I guess it's time for honey cake said grandmother. Then Frau Vetter stirred up the fire again and boiled the kettle and made tea. She took down her best china cups and put them out on the round table. Then grandmother opened her basket and took out the honey cake and buns and the candy and Frau Vetter brought out her fresh butter. I can't stay polite much longer said Kit to Kat Grandmother gave them each a thin slice of honey cake and a bun and Frau Vetter spread some of the butter on the buns and oh how good they were. Some for a honey cake and some for a bun said Kat. It didn't take the twins long to finish them. When they had drunk their tea grandmother brought out her knitting and mother Vetter began to spin. How many rolls of linen have you ready for Kat when she marries grandmother asked. I tried to make at least one roll each year so she has four now and I'm working on the fifth one said Frau Vetter. She shall be as well to do as any farmer's daughter near here when she marries. See this is the last one and Frau Vetter took from the press a roll of beautiful white linen tied with blue ribbons. Is that for me mother asked Kat. Yes said Frau Vetter. When you marry we shall have a fine press full of linen for you. Isn't Kit going to have some too? asked Kat. Grandmother laughed. The mother of the little girl who will someday marry Kit is working now on her linen no doubt so Kit won't need any of yours. The twins looked very solemn and went out into the yard. They sat down on the bench then Kat said Kit, do you suppose we've got to be married? It looks like it said Kit. Things seemed very dark indeed to the twins. Well said Kat, I just tell you I'm not going to do it. I'm going to stay at home with mother and father and you and the ducks and everything. What will they do with the linen then said Kit. I guess you'll have to be married. Kat began to cry. I'll just go and ask mother she said. I'll go with you said Kit. I don't want to any more than you do. So the twins got down from the bench and went into the kitchen where Grandmother and Frau Vetter were. Their mother was spinning flags to make linen twat. Mother said the twins will you please excuse us from being married? Oh my soul said Frau Vetter. She seemed surprised. We don't want to at all said Kat. We'd rather stay with you. You shan't be married until after you are four feet and a half high and are called Christopher and Katrina anyway said Frau Vetter. I promise you that. The twins were much relieved. They went out and fed their ducklings. They felt so much better that they gave them an extra handful of grain. And they carried a bun to father Vetter who was hoeing in the farthest corner of the garden. He ate it leaning on his hoe. When they went back to the house it was late in the afternoon. Grandmother was rolling up her knitting. I must go home to Grandfather she said. He'll be wanting his supper. The twins walked down the road as far as the first bridge with Grandmother. She kissed them goodbye and sent them home. When their mother put them to bed that night, Kat said Has this been a short day, mother? Oh very short, said Frau Vetter because you helped me so much. Then she kissed them good night and went out to feed the pigs and shut up the chickens for the night. When she was gone, Kat said I don't see how they got along before we came. We helped so much. No, said Kat I don't think but what she didn't think, no one will ever know because just then she popped off to sleep. End of Mother's Day Recording by Bianca in Utrecht, the Netherlands on November 14th 2009 Chapter 4 of the Dutch Twins This Libri Fox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Bianca The Dutch Twins by Lucy Fitzperkins one Sunday One Sunday morning in early fall Kat and Kat woke up and peeped out from their cupboard bed to see what was going on in the world. The sun was shining through the little panes of the kitchen window making square patches of light on the floor. The kettle was singing on the fire and Frau Vetter was already putting away the breakfast things. Father Vetter was lighting his pipe with a coal from the fire. He had on his black Sunday clothes already for church. Father Vetter did not look at Kat and Kat at all. He just puffed away at his pipe and said to himself if there are any twins anywhere that want to go to church with me they'd better get dressed and eat their breakfasts. Kat and Kat tumbled out of the cupboard at once. Frau Vetter came to help them dress. I can't tell you how many petticoats she put on Kat but it was ever so many and over them all she put a skirt of plate. There was a waste of a different color and over that occurred sheave with bright red roses on it and over the skirt she put a new clean apron. Kat was dressed very splendidly too. He had full baggy trousers of velveteen that reached to his ankles and a jacket that buttoned with big silver buttons. His trousers had pockets in them. Kat and Kat both were stockings which Frau Vetter had knit and her best shoes of stout leather. When they were all dressed Frau Vetter stood them up side by side and had them turn around slowly to be sure they were all right. Now see that you behave well in meeting, she said. Sit up straight, look at the domini and do not whisper. Yes mother, said Kat and Kat. Then she tied a big apron over each of them and gave them each a bowl of bread and milk. While they were eating it Frau Vetter went out and looked at the pigs and chickens and smoked his pipe. When he came in Kat and Kat were quite ready. Frau Vetter had tied on Kat's little wide-winged cap and put Kat's head on. She kissed them goodbye and they were off one on each side of Father Vetter holding tight to his hands. Mother Vetter looked after them proudly from the doorway. She did not go to church that day. They walked slowly along the roadway in a bright sunshine. Many of their neighbours and friends, all dressed in their best were walking to church too. Father Vetter and Kit and Kat went a little out of their way in order to pass a large windmill that was swinging its arms around and creaking out a kind of sleepy windmill song. This is the song it seemed to sing. Around and around and around I go sometimes fast and sometimes slow. I pump the water and grind the grain, the marshy fields of the lowland's drain. I harness the wind to turn my mill. Around and around and around with a will. Perhaps it was listening to the windmill song that made Kat say why do we have windmills, Father? Kit and Kat said why every few steps on that walk? You see, they didn't often have their father all to themselves to ask questions of. Why? What a little dutch girl said Father Vetter not to know what windmills are for. They pumped the water out of the fields to be sure. Don't you know how wet the fields are sometimes? If we didn't keep pumping the water out, they would be so wet we could not make gardens at all. Does the wind pump the water, asked Kat? Of course it does, goosey girl and grinds the grain too. The wind blows against the great arms and turns them round and round. That works the pumps and the pumps suck the water out of the fields and it's poured out into the canals. If it weren't for the good old windmills working away, who knows but the water would get the best of us some day and cover up all our land. Wouldn't the dykes keep out the sea? Asked Kit. Suppose the dykes should break, said Father Vetter. Even one little break can let in lots of water. The dykes have to be watched day and night all the time and the least bit of a hole stopped up right away so it can't grow any bigger and let in the sea. Oh dear, Kat said, what a leaky country. She ran near the mill and let the wind from the fence blow her hair and the white wings on her cap. As the great fence swung near the ground Kit jumped up and caught hold of one. It lifted him right off the ground as it swung around and in a minute he was dangling high in the air. Jump, jump, quick! shouted Father Vetter. Kit let go and dropped to the ground just in time. In another minute he would have been carried clear over. As it was he sat down very hard on the ground and had to have the dirt brushed off of his Sunday clothes. I'm surprised at you Father Vetter said while he brushed him. You are too small to swing on windmills and besides it's the Sabbath day. Don't you ever do it again until you are big enough to be called Christopher. Sitting down so hard in the dirt had hurt Kit a little bit and scared him a good deal so he said, no Father. Then they walked all around the mill. They peeped inside the door which was open and saw the pumps working away. Yes said Father Vetter. It is nip and tuck between wind and water in Holland. Let us sit down here on the canal bank in the sunshine and I will tell you what hard work has to be done to keep this good land of ours and it is a good land. We should be thankful for it. Just see the rich green meadows over there with the cows grazing in them. Father Vetter pointed to the beautiful fields across the canal. The grass is so rich and fresh that the cows here give more milk than any other cows in the whole world. That is what mother says, said Kit. The Holland butter and cheese are famous everywhere went on Father Vetter and we have all the good milk we want to drink besides. The Dutch gardens too are the finest in the world. And ours is one of the best of Dutch gardens, isn't it Father? said Kit. It is a very good garden, said Father Vetter proudly. No one can raise better onions and cabbage and carrots than I can. And the Dutch bulbs are tulips and hyacinths make the whole world bloom. Holland is really the greatest country there is, isn't it said Kit? Well, not in point of size perhaps, Father Vetter admitted. But in Pluck, my boy, it is. Did you know that sometimes people call Holland the land of Pluck? I don't see why, said Kit. I'm Dutch, but I'm afraid of lots of things. I'm afraid of spiders and of cross geese and of falling into the water. You're a girl if you are Dutch, said Kit. Boys are always pluckier than girls, aren't they, Father? Really plucky people never boast, said Father Vetter. Kit looked the other way and dug the toe of his shoe into the dirt. Kit snuggled up to her father and sniffed at Kit. So their Kit was all she said. There's pluck enough to go round, said Father Vetter mildly. And we all needed boys and girls and men and women too. It was pluck that made Holland and it's pluck that keeps her from slipping back into the sea. How did Pluck make Holland? asked Kit. There wasn't any Holland in the first place, Father Vetter answered. There were only some marshes and some lands underwater. But people build a wall of earth around these flats and then they pumped out the water from the space inside the wall and made canals through the land and drained it. And after all that work we have our rich fields. How does Pluck keep them? asked Kit. The dykes have to be watched and the windmills have to work and work to keep the fields drained. No one can be lazy in Holland. Each one has to work well for what he gets. If Holland should grow lazy she would soon be back again in the Zuiderzee. So much children. You see, you must learn well and work hard. And that is all our sermon today. It's a better sermon than the Dominie will preach, I know, said Kit. Tud, tud, you must never say such things, said Father Feather. He got up and held out his hands to the twins. Come, we must walk along or we shall be late for church, he said. Here comes the Dominie now. There indeed was the Dominie. Kit and Kit knew him well. No one else dressed as he did. He wore a high silk hat and long black coat and trousers such as city people wear. As he came along the road all the people bowed respectfully. The little boys took off their caps and the little girls bobbed a curtsy. Kit and Kit bobbed a curtsy too and the Dominie smiled at them and laid his hand on Kit's head. I wish he'd come to see us again, said Kit, after the Dominie had passed by. Father Feather was pleased. I'm glad to see that you love your pastor, my son, he said. Well, said Kit, I don't really like him so very much because we have to be washed and recite the catechism and mind all our manners when he comes. But Mother always has such good things to eat when the Dominie comes, doesn't she, Kit? Cake and preserves and everything. If it weren't for the catechism and such things it would be something like Saint Nicholas Day, said Kit. But the Dominie never forgets and last time I couldn't tell what saving Grace was. The cakes are good but good Dutch boys and girls always learn their catechism well, said Father Feather. Then they are glad to see the good Dominie as well as the cakes. Now, no more chatter. Here's a penny for each of you to put in the bag when it's passed. He gave them each a penny. Kit put it in his pocket. Kit didn't have a pocket so he first tied in her hand. At the church door they met Grandfather and Grandmother. Grandfather looked very fine indeed in his black clothes and Grandmother was all dressed up in her best black dress with a fresh white cap and a shawl over her shoulders. She carried a large sound book with golden clasps in one hand and a sand bottle in the other. She had some peppermints too. Kit and Kit smelled them. They all went into the church together and an old woman led them to their seats. Kit and Kit said one each side of Grandmother. Grandfather and Father Feather sat on the other side of the church with all the rest of the men. You must sit very still and look straight before you, said Grandmother. Kit remembered the peppermints and set up like a soldier. So did Kit. Grandmaster came in and went up into the pulpit. He read a chapter from the Bible and then the dominies stood up in the pulpit and began to preach. He preached a long time. Kit and Kit tried very hard to sit still just as Grandmother had said but pretty soon their heads began to nod. Grandmother gave them each a peppermint. They worked up for a minute. But the dominies kept right on preaching until they were both sound asleep with their heads on Grandmother's shoulders, one on each side. And if they had been awake to see they might have thought that Grandmother took a nap too. The sermon was so very long that a great many people went to sleep. So, by and by the dominies said we will all sing the 91st Psalm. Everybody woke up. Grandmother opened the great golden clasps of her Psalm book and stood up with all the rest of the people. She stood up quickly so that no one would think she had been asleep. She forgot that the twins were asleep too with their heads on her shoulders. That was why, when she got up Kit and Kit fell against each other and bumped their heads. They forgot that they were in church. They said, ow, both together and Kit began to cry. But Grandmother said and gave them each a peppermint and that made them feel much better. Pretty soon the schoolmaster came along with a little bag on the end of a long stick. He passed it to each person. Kit and Kit each put in a penny though Kit had a hard time to get his out of his pocket. But Grandmother was so upset about the twins getting bumped that she forgot and put in a peppermint instead. When church was over and they were out on the street again, Grandmother said Now you are coming home with me to stay all night. Really and truly, said the twins and may we go with Grandfather to carry the milk in the morning? Yes, said Grandfather and Kit may drive the dogs. Kit jumped right up and down. He was so happy even if it was Sunday. May I too? May I too? asked Kit. You are a girl, said Grandfather. You may ride in the wagon. Oh, I wish tomorrow would come right away, said Kit. Then Kit and Kit said goodbye to Father further and went home with Grandmother and Grandfather. They lived on a little street in the town where the houses stood in a row close together. The houses were built of brick and wooden shutters at the windows and they were so clean they shone in the sun. This is a picture of Grandmother's house and of Grandmother and Kit and Kit going in. The door opened right into the kitchen. Grandmother put away her shawl and sandbook and sandbottle as soon as she was home. Then she put on a big apron and drew out a round table. She boiled the kettle and made coffee and when it was done, she set a coffee pot on a pretty little porcelain stove on the table to keep hot. She got out bread and cheese and smoked beef and best of all a plate of little cakes. Then they all forced her down to eat. I will not tell you how many cakes Kit and Kit ate, but it was a good many. After dinner Grandmother put away the things and Kit helped her. Kit sat beside Grandfather in the doorway while he smoked. Pretty soon Grandfather said bring me my accordion Kit. Kit went to the press in the corner. He knew where the accordion was kept. Then Grandfather took the accordion tipped his head back, shut his eyes and began to play beating time with one foot. Kit heard the music and came out too. She and Kit sat down on the doorstep one on each side of Grandfather to listen. Grandfather played six tunes. Then Grandmother said why don't we go to the woods to hear the band play? No reason at all said Grandfather. So very soon they were on their way to a grove on the edge of town. In the grove a band was playing and just as the twins and Grandfather and Grandmother came up it began to play the national hymn of Holland. All the people began to sing. There were a great many people in the grove and they all sang as loud as they could so there was a great sound. Grandfather and Grandmother and Kit and Kit all sang too for they all knew every word of the hymn. This is what they sang. Let hymn in whom old Dutch blood flows untainted free and strong whose heart for prince and country glows now join us in our song. Let hymn with us lift up his voice and sing in patriot band a song at which all hearts rejoice for Prince and Fatherland for Prince and Fatherland. We brothers true unto a man will sing the old song yet away with him who ever can his Prince or land forget. A human heart glowed in him there we turn him from our hands who callous hears the song and prayer for Prince and Fatherland for Prince and Fatherland. Preserve oh God where old ground thou to our fathers gave the land where we a cradle found and where we'll find the grave we call oh Lord to thee on high as near death's door we stand oh safety blessing to our cry for Prince and Fatherland for Prince and Fatherland. Loud ring through all rejoicings here our prayer Lord to thee preserve our Prince his house so dear to Holland great and free from youth through life be this our song till near to death we stand oh God preserve our sovereign long our Prince and Fatherland our Prince and Fatherland. Now while the people were singing with all their might and the band was playing and kid and cat were having the most beautiful time they had ever had in their whole lives what do you think happened down the long drive through the trees came a great splendid carriage drawn by a pair of beautiful white horses with wavy white tails and mains there were two soldiers on horseback riding in front of the carriage and the driver of the carriage was dressed in blue and orange livery the carriage was open and in it set a beautiful smiling young lady beside her set her husband and a nurse in the other seat held a baby in her arms when the people saw the carriage and the lady they waved her caps and shouted long live the queen look look kid and cat said grandfather it is your dear queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry and the little princess wave your hands kid and cat waved with all their might but they were so short and the people crowded beside the driver so that neither of them could see then grandfather called kid and lifted him up high and grandmother did the same with cat it was fine to be up so high kid and cat could see everything better than anyone else there and when the carriage came by the queen saw kid and cat she smiled at them and the nurse held little princess up high for them to see kid and cat were kisses to little princess and the princess waved her baby hand to kid and cat and then they were all gone like a bright dream but the soldiers were better to see even than queens kid thought cat thought the baby any baby was nicer than either when the carriage was out of sight grandfather and grandmother set the twins down on the ground everyone began to talk about the queen about how sweet she was and how good and the band played and everybody was happy as they could possibly be by and by it was time to go home for grandfather said Dutch girls and boys must learn to get up early in the morning especially twins that are going out with the milk cart so they went back to grandfather Winkle's house and grandmother put them to bed in a little cupboard like their own at home after they had had some supper and the last thing cat said that night was oh kid just to think that today we saw the queen and the soldiers and the queen's baby and tomorrow we're going to drive in a milk cart what a beautiful world it is just as they were dropping off to sleep they heard a great noise in the street clap clap clap it sounded eight times there goes the clapper man said grandmother Winkle eight o'clock and time all honest folk were a bad end of one Sunday recording by Bianca in Utrecht the Netherlands on November 27th 2009 chapter 5 of the Dutch twins this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Bianca the Dutch twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins the day they drove the milk cart the next morning kids and cat woke up very early without anyone's calling them you see they were afraid they would be too late to go with the milk cart but grandfather Winkle had only just gone out to get the milk ready and they had plenty of time to dress while grandmother got breakfast grandmother helped with the buttons and the hard parts grandmother Winkle's kitchen was quite like the kitchen at home only a little nicer it had red tiles on the floor and it had ever so many blue plates hanging around on the walls and standing on edge in a row on the shelves there was a warming pan with a bright brass cover hanging on the wall and I wish you could have seen the pillows and the coverlet on the best bed grandmother Winkle had embroidered those all herself and she was very proud of them when she had company she always drew the curtains back so that her beautiful bed would be seen she said that kid and cat were company and she always left the curtains open when they came to visit her when the twins were all dressed grandmother said mercy sakes you have on your best clothes now that's just like a man to promise to take you out in your best clothes in a milk wagon thinking about kid and cat thought she was going to say that they couldn't go so they dug their knuckles in their eyes and began to cry but they hadn't got farther than the first whimper when grandmother said well well we must fix it somehow don't cry now that's a good kid and cat so the twins took their knuckles out of their eyes and began to smile grandmother went to the press and brought out two aprons one was a very small apron it wouldn't reach to kid's knees but she put it on him and tied it around his waist this was your uncle Jan's when he was a little boy, she said it's pretty small but it will help some kid wished that uncle Jan had taken it with him when he went to America but he didn't say so then grandmother took another apron out of the press it looked as if it had been there a long time cat, you must wear this, she said it was your mother's when she was a little girl now this apron was all faded and it had patches on it of different kinds of cloth cat looked at her best dress then she looked at the apron then she thought about the milk cart she wondered if she wanted to go in the milk cart badly enough to wear that apron over her Sunday dress she stuck her finger in her mouth and looked sidewise at grandmother Winkle grandmother didn't say a word she just looked firm and held up the apron very soon cat came slowly, very slowly and grandmother buttoned the apron up behind and that was the end of that the twins could hardly eat any breakfast they were in such a hurry to go as soon as they had taken the last spoonful and grandfather Winkle had finished this coffee they ran out into the place where the dogs were kept to help grandfather harness them there were two black and white dogs, their names were Peter and Paul the wagon was small just the right size for the dogs and it was painted blue the bright brass cans full of milk were already in and there was a little seat for cat to sit on when the last strap was fastened grandfather lifted cat up and set her on the seat she held on with both hands then grandfather gave the lines to Kit and a little stick for a whip and told him to walk slowly along beside the dogs he told him to be sure not to let go of the lines grandfather walked behind carrying some milk cans grandmother stood in the door to see them off and as they started to weigh cat took one hand off the cart long enough to wave it to her then she held on again for the bricks in the pavement made the cart juggle a good deal we must go first to Frau de Vet grandfather called out one quart of milk go slowly at first Kit went slowly but pretty soon there was a great rattling behind him and Hans Heidt, a boy he knew drove right past him with his dog cart he drove fast and as he passed Kit he stuck out his tongue and called out milk for sale milk for sale a milk cart drawn by a pair of snails Kit forgot all about going slowly get up he said to the dogs and he touched them with his long stick Peter and Paul got up they jumped forward and began to run Kit ran as fast as his legs would go beside the dogs holding the lines but the dogs had four legs apiece and Kit had only two so you see he couldn't keep up very well cat began to scream the moment that Peter and Paul began to run the dogs thought that something that made a dreadful noise was after them and they went faster than ever you see grandfather Winkle never in the world screamed like that and Peter and Paul didn't know what to make of it so they ran and ran and ran Kit held on the best she could but he bounced up ever so far in the air every time the cart struck a bump in the street with milk cans and when they came down again the milk splashed out cat didn't always come down in the same spot all the spots were hard so it didn't really matter much which one she struck as she came down but cat didn't think about that she just screamed and Peter and Paul ran and ran and Kit ran and ran until he couldn't run anymore he just sat down hard in the middle of the pavement and slid along but he didn't let go of the lines when Kit sat down it jerked the dog so hard that they stopped suddenly but cat didn't stop she went right on she flew out over the front of the cart and landed on the ground among all of Peter and Paul's legs then she stopped going but she didn't stop screaming and though Kit was a boy she was a boy too then Peter and Paul pointed their noses up in the air and began to howl way back ever so far grandfather was coming along as fast as he could but that wasn't very fast all the doors on the street flew open and all the good housewives came clattering out to see what was the matter they picked Kit up and told her not to cry they took their aprons and stood Kit on his feet and patted the dogs and pretty soon Peter and Paul stopped barking and Kit and Kit stopped screaming and then it was time to find out what had really happened neither of the twins had any broken bones the good housewives wiggled all their arms and legs and felt of their bones to see but shocking things had happened nevertheless Kit had torn a great hole in his breast-dress and Kit had worn two round holes in the seat of his Sunday clothes where he slid along on the pavement and besides that the milk was slopped all over the bottom of the cart just then grandfather came up if it hadn't been that his pipe was still in his mouth I really don't know what he might not have said he looked at the cart and he looked at the twins then he took his pipe out of his mouth and sat sternly to Kit why didn't you do as I told you? I did said Kit very much scared you told me to be sure to hold tight to the lines and I did I never let go once yes and look at this close said one of the women she turned him around and showed grandfather the holes I told you to go slowly said grandfather now look at the cart and see what you've done by not minding spoiled your best clothes and cats and spilled the milk go back to grandmother but I couldn't mind twice at one time said Kit I was minding about not letting go oh dear I wish we were four and a half feet high now if we were this never would have happened grandfather took the dogs and went on to Frau de Vets without another word the twins took each other's hands and walked back to grandmother's house quite a number of little boys and girls in wooden shoes clattered along with them grandmother heard all the noise and went to the door to see what was the matter laws and mercy me I told you so she cried the moment she saw them look at your clothes see how you've torn them I can't see the holes in mine said Kit but I can said Kit and then all the children talked at once and what with wooden shoes and the tongs all going grandmother clapped her hands over her ears to shut out the noise then she do Kit and Kit into the kitchen and shut the door she put on her glasses and got down on the floor so she could see better then she turned Kit and Kit all around and looked at the holes oh my soul she said she took off the aprons and the torn clothes and put the twins to bed while she mended she got out a pair of grandfather's oldest velveteen breeches that had been patched a great deal and found a good piece to patch with then she patched the holes in Kit's breeches so neatly that one had to look very carefully indeed to see that there had ever been any holes there at all then she patched Kit's dress and when it was all done she shook it out and said to herself seems to me those twins have been quiet for a long time she went over to the cupboard bed and there were Kit and Kit fast asleep with their cheeks all stained with tears and dirt grandmother Winkle kissed them Kit and Kit woke up and grandmother dressed them in their Sunday clothes again and washed their faces and made them feel good as new by and by grandfather Winkle came home from going about with the milk grandmother Winkle scrubbed the cart and made it all clean again and by noon you would never have known unless you had looked very very closely much more closely than would be polite that anything happened to the twins or the milk cart or their clothes or anything after they had eaten their dinner and the dogs were arrested and grandfather had smoked his pipe he said Kit if you think you can mind I will take you and Kit both home in the dog cart Kit and Kit both nodded their heads very hard only I'll do the driving myself said grandfather Winkle and he did he put Kit and Kit both on the seat and he walked slowly beside the cart they went out on the road beside the canal toward home they got there just as the sun was getting low in the west and Frau Veder was going out to feed her chickens end of the day they drove the milk cart recording by Bianca in Utrecht Netherlands on October 11th 2009