A fairy went a-marketing --

    She bought a little fish;

She put it in a crystal bowl

    Upon a golden dish.

An hour she sat in wonderment

    And watched its silver gleam,

And then she gently took it up

    And slipped it in a stream.

A fairy went a-marketing --

    She bought a colored bird;

It sang the sweetest, shrillest song

    That ever she had heard.

She sat beside its painted cage

    And listened half the day,

And then she opened wide the door

    And let it fly away.

A fairy went a-marketing --

    She bought a winter gown

All stitched about with gossamer

    And lined with thistledown.

She wore it all the afternoon

    With prancing and delight,

Then gave it to a little frog

    To keep him warm at night.

A fairy went a-marketing --

    She bought a gentle mouse

To take her tiny messages,

    To keep her tiny house.

All day she kept its busy feet

    Pit-patting to and fro,

And then she kissed its silken ears,

    Thanked it, and let it go.

                   -- Rose Fyleman