“Oh, Little Bo-Peep, when the sun is shining
    And the birds are up in the tree;
  When there’s never a cause for sad repining,
    And we’re happy as we can be;
  When breezes blow through the vale and hollow,
    And glade and garden and glen,
  Oh, whom does your heart in its rapture follow,
    And whom do you think of then?”

Little Bo-Peep listened, smiling, and with her head a little to one side, until the stanza was finished, and then she replied as follows: 

  “Oh, Little Boy Blue, when the skies are beaming
    And my heart is happy and free,
  When the green grass smiles, where it lies a-dreaming,
    And the birds are up in the tree,
  I lift my eyes to the arch above us,
    So soft and tender and blue,
  And I know that the earth and the sky both love us,
    And I tenderly think of you,
        Of you,
    Of you, of you, of you!”

Then they both bowed graciously and began their dance.  They advanced toward each other so that the palms of their right hands touched; and then they receded, moving obliquely; and then advanced again, touching the palms of their left hands.  A moment later they had clasped both hands, holding them high, and were hopping about in a circle.

But it seemed that the song was not yet finished; and presently they were facing each other again, and Little Bo-Peep sang the following stanza: 

  “Oh, Little Boy Blue, when the star of even
    Hangs low o’er the lonely hill,
  When the night-wind sighs through the fields of heaven
    And the world is lonely and still;
  When you almost fear that the birds and flowers
    Will never waken again,
  And you lie and dream through the long night hours,
    Oh, whom do you dream of then?”

No sooner had Little Bo-Peep completed her stanza than Little Boy Blue responded: 

  “Oh, Little Bo-Peep, from my friendly pillow
    I gaze at the even star;
  Then I sail away on a gentle billow,
    Where dreaming and visions are. 
  And never a doubt nor a fear assails me
    The whole of the long night through,
  And the welcomest dream of all ne’er fails me,
    For I constantly dream of you,
        Of you,
    Of you, of you, of you!”

They repeated their dance at the end, and then, blushing and stumbling, they made their way to one of the stone benches and sat down.

All the children applauded generously; but during the silence which followed, Grettel remarked: 

“For my part, I like games that have kissing in them.”

Cinderella merely gazed at her, in reply to this, with lifted chin and half-closed eyes.

Then Hansel observed:  “If you’d leave it to me, I’d prefer sitting at a table where there’d be something left after you’d filled yourself as full as a drum.”

Prince Arthur seemed to feel that Hansel and Grettel had struck a wrong note, and he said, “Upon my word, it seemed to me that the singing and dancing weren’t half bad!”