His hands were folded across his white and yellow waistcoat . Round , red , smiling Mr. Sun sent down his warmest rays on the back of Grandfather Frog 's green coat . Very early that morning Old Mother West Wind , hurrying down from the Purple Hills on her way to help the white-sailed ships across the great ocean , had stopped long enough to blow three or four fat , foolish , green flies over to the big lily pad , and they were now safely inside the white and yellow waistcoat . A thousand little tadpoles , the great , great-grandchildren of Grandfather Frog , were playing in the Smiling Pool , and every once in a while wriggling up to the big lily pad to look with awe at Grandfather Frog and wonder if they would ever be as handsome and big and wise as he . And still old Grandfather Frog sat dreaming and dreaming of the days when all the frogs had tails and ruled the world . Presently Billy Mink came hopping and skipping down the Laughing Brook . Sometimes he swam a little way and sometimes he ran a little way along the bank , and sometimes he jumped from stone to stone . Billy Mink was feeling very good -- very good indeed . He had caught a fine fat trout for breakfast . He had hidden two more away for dinner in a snug little hole no one knew of but himself . Now he had nothing to do but get into mischief . You can always depend upon Billy Mink to get into mischief . He just ca n't help it . So Billy Mink came hopping and skipping down the Laughing Brook to the Smiling Pool . Then he stopped , as still as the rock he was standing on , and peeped through the bulrushes . Billy Mink is very cautious , very cautious indeed . He always looks well before he shows himself , that nothing may surprise him . So Billy Mink looked all over the Smiling Pool and the grassy banks . He saw the sunbeams dancing on the water . He saw the tadpoles having such a good time in the Smiling Pool .
He saw the Merry Little Breezes kissing the buttercups and daisies on the bank , and he saw old Grandfather XXXXX with his hands folded across his white , and yellow waistcoat sitting on the green lily pad , dreaming of the days when the world was young .
Brook Frog Hills Mother Sun bulrushes days great-grandchildren morning sunbeams