Item: I leave to children inclusively, but only for the term of their
childhood, all and every flower of the field and the blossoms of the woods, with
the right to play among them freely, according to the custom of children,
warning them at the same time against thistles and thorns.
And I devise to children the banks and brooks and the golden sands
beneath the waters thereof, and the odours of the willows that dip therein, and
the white clouds that float over giant trees.
And I leave to children the long, long days to be merry in.
Item: I devise to boys,
jointly, all the useful idle fields and commons where ball may be played, all
pleasant waters where one may swim, all snow clad hills where one may coast, and
all streams and ponds where one may fish, or when grim winter comes, one may
skate, to hold the same for the period of their boyhood.
And all meadows with the clover blossoms and butterflies thereof; the
woods with their beauty; the squirrels and the birds and the echoes and strange
noises, and all the distant
places which may be visited together with the adventures there found.
And I give to said boys each his own place at the fireside at night, with
all pictures that may be seen in the burning wood, to enjoy without let and
hindrance or without any encumbrance of care.
Item: To lovers I devise
their imaginary world, with whatever they may need, as the stars in the sky, the
red roses by the wall, the bloom of the hawthorn, the sweet stains of music,
and aught else they may desire to figure to each other the lastingness and
beauty of their love.
