Stories and ballads for young folks

Chapter 32: THE APPLE-GATHERING.

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About This Book

A mixed collection of short narratives and lyrical pieces aimed at young readers, blending domestic vignettes, playful adventures, and brief moral sketches. Many items focus on childhood scenes—games, family interactions, small acts of kindness and perseverance—while others drift into fairy-tale or fanciful territory with giants, princesses, and imaginative escapades. Interspersed ballads and poems celebrate nature, simple joys, and consolation, shifting tone between humor, tenderness, and gentle instruction. The pieces are concise and varied, alternating story and verse to amuse, soothe, and offer mild ethical reflections appropriate for a youthful audience.

THE APPLE-GATHERING.

Apples, apples, apples,

Here they come tumbling down,

Yellow, and white, and rosy,

Crimson, purple, and brown;

Seek-no-further and russet,

Gilliflower, Jersey sweet,

Strawberry, mellow Fameuse

Fit for a king to eat;

Pound royals, golden pippins,

Spitzenbergs hard and red;

Take care! get out of the way, there,

Or they’ll plump,

Cathump,

On somebody’s head!

Gather them into the baskets,

Empty them into the bin;

What a luscious store to go to

When the winter wild sets in!

Oh, if the apples Eve saw

Were as handsome as some of these,

How ever could she help saying—

“I’ll take one, if you please”?

Yellow, and white, and rosy,

Crimson, purple, and brown,

Apples, apples, apples,

Here they come tumbling down.