IV.

Off, then, went the boat, at first very pleasantly, Smoothly, and so forth, but after a while It swayed and it swagged this way and that way, and presently Chest after chest, and pile after pile, Of the little folks’ goods began tossing and rolling, And pitching like fun, beyond fairy controlling! O, Mab! if the hubbub was great before, It was now some two or three million times more; Crash went the wee crocks, and the clocks, and the locks, Of each little wee box were stove in by hard knocks; And then there were oaths, and prayers, and cries— “Take care!”—“See there!”—“Oh, dear! my eyes!” “I am killed!”—“I am drowned!”—with groans and sighs; Till to land they drew; “Yeo hoe! Pull to! Tiller-rope, thro’ and thro’!” And all’s right anew.