Che fa mai col volto chino, Quella tacita fanciulla? Sta vegliando il fratellino, Adagiato nella culla.
Ed il pargolo se desta, E il meschino prorompe in pianto, La bambina, mesta, mesta, Vuol chetarlo col suo canto:
Bambolino mio, riposa, Presto mamma tornerà; Cara mamma che amorosa Al suo sen ti stringerà.
The little French girl turns her thoughts to the hot milk and chocolate that are being prepared, and of which she no doubt expects to have a share:--
Fais dodo, Colin, mon p'tit frère, Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo. Le papa est en haut, qui fait le lolo, Le maman est en bas, qui fait le colo; Fais dodo, Colin, mon p'tit frère Fais dodo.
In enumerating the rewards for infantine virtue--which is sleep--I must not forget the celebrated hare's skin to be presented to Baby Bunting, and the "little fishy" that the English father, set to be nurse _ad interim_, promises his "babby" when the ship comes in; nor should I pass over the hopes raised in an inedited cradle song of French Flanders, which opens, like the Tuscan lullaby, with a short narration:
Un jour un' pauv' dentillière En amicliton ch'un petiot garchun, Qui d'puis le matin n'fesions que blaìre, Voulait l'endormir par une canchun.
In this barbarous _patios_, the poor lace-maker tells her "p'tit pocchin" (little chick) that to-morrow he shall have a cake made of honey, spices, and rye flour; that he shall be dressed in his best clothes "com' un bieau milord;" and that at "la Ducasse," a local _fête_, she will buy him a laughable Polchinello and a bird-organ playing the tune of the sugar-loaf hat. Toys are also promised in a Japanese lullaby, which the kindness of the late author of "Child-life in Japan" has enabled me to give in the original:
Nén-ne ko y[=o]--nén-né ko y[=o] Nén-né no mori wa--doko ye yuta Ano yama koyété--sato ye yuta Sato no miyagé ni--nani morota Tén-tén taiko ni--sh[=o] no fuyé Oki-agari koboshima--ìnu hari-ko.
Lullaby, baby, lullaby, baby Baby's nursey, where has she gone Over those mountains she's gone to her village; And from her village, what will she bring? A tum-tum drum, and a bamboo flute, A "daruma" (which will never turn over) and a paper dog.
Scope is allowed for unlimited extension, as the singer can go on mentioning any number of toys. The _Daruma_ is what English children call a tumbler; a figure weighted at the bottom, so that turn it how you will, it always regains its equilibrium.