It was a Sunday morning. Free from school, the child, in his big straw hat and with a flower in his mouth, was as gay as the birds in the sky.
Crossing the bridge, he noticed the fish drifting happily in the water. “What a good idea to catch it and add to my treasure at home!” thought the boy. Carefully, he bent lower and lower towards the water.
Unfortunately, he stretched down too far and lost his balance. Down he fell! “My god!” burst out a traveller nearby.
“Help! Help!” the boy cried, struggling frantically in the water. The traveller walked to the edge of the bridge and began to lecture him on his rashness.
“Save me now,” cried the boy, “you can lecture me later on when I’m safe.”
But the traveller went on lecturing without taking any notice of what the boy had said. By the time he finished his sermon, there was, he saw, flowing on the surface of the river only the straw hat and the flower.
