The air was yellow ; the sun shone so hot , so hot as if it would burn the earth to ashes , and the people were as black as the blackest jet . They rode across the desert on tall camels ; the lions roared with thirst , and the great crocodiles with their grey lizard heads and sharp white teeth gaped up out of the river . ` Shall we land here ? ' asked the dream-boy . ` No , ' said Little Lasse . ` The sun would burn us , and the lions and the crocodiles would eat us up . Let us travel to another part of the world . ' ` We can travel back to Europe , ' said the dream-boy with the fair hair . And with that they were there . They came to a shore where it was all so cool and familiar and friendly . There stood the tall birch tree with its drooping leaves ; at the top sat the old crow , and at its foot crept the gardener 's black cat . Not far away was a house which Little Lasse had seen before ; near the house there was a garden , and in the garden a pea bed with long pea shells . An old gardener with a green coat walked about and wondered if the cucumbers were ripe . Fylax was barking on the steps , and when he saw Little Lasse he wagged his tail . Old Stina was milking the cows in the farmyard , and there was a very familiar lady in a check woollen shawl on her way to the bleaching green to see if the clothes were bleached . There was , too , a well-known gentleman in a yellow summer coat , with a long pipe in his mouth ; he was going to see if the reapers had cut the rye . A boy and a girl were running on the shore and calling out , ` Little Lasse ! Come home for bread-and-butter ! ' ` Shall we land here ? ' asked the dream-boy , and he blinked his blue eyes roguishly .
` Come XXXXX me , and I shall ask mother to give you some bread-and-butter and a glass of milk , ' said Little Lasse .
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