of praise and encouragement, and all quaint pet
names and endearments, and I charge said parents to use them justly, but
generously, as the needs of their children shall require.

=Item=: I leave to children inclusively, but only for the term of their
childhood, all and every, the flowers of the fields, and the blossoms of
the woods, with the right to play among them freely according to the
customs of children, warning them at the same time against thistles and
thorns. And I devise to children the banks of the brooks and the golden
sands beneath the waters thereof, and the odors of the willows that dip
therein and the white clouds that float high over the giant trees. And I
leave to children the long, long days to be merry in, in a thousand ways,
and the night, and the moon, and the train of the Milky Way to wonder at,
but subject, nevertheless, to the rights hereinafter given to lovers.

=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 where, when grim winter comes, one may skate, to have and to
hold these same for the period of their boyhood. And all meadows, with the
clover blossoms and butterflies thereof; the woods with their
appurtenances, the squirrels and the birds and echoes and strange noises,
and all 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 the pictures that may be seen in the burning wood, to
enjoy without let or hindrance, and without any encumbrance of care.

=Item=: To lovers, I devise their imaginary world with whatever they may
need, as the stars of the sky, the red roses by the wall, the bloom of the
hawthorn, the sweet strains of music, and aught else they may desire to
figure to each other the lastingness and beauty of their love.

=Item=: To young men, jointly, I devise and bequeath all boisterous,
inspiring sports of rivalry, and I give to them the disdain of weakness
and undaunted confidence in their own strength. Though they are rude, I
leave to them the power to make lasting friendships, and of possessing
companions, and to them exclusively, I give all merry songs and brave
choruses to sing with lusty voices.

=Item=: And to those who are no longer children, or youths, or lovers, I
leave memory, and