`` We work harder than he does any day . Did he build his own house , I should like to know ? Does he get his daily bread for himself ? How many of his neighbors does he help ? How much of the world does he see , and who is the happier for his being alive ? '' `` Cares indeed ! '' cried another ; `` I wish he 'd undertake to feed and teach my brood . Much he knows about the anxieties of a parent . '' And the little mother bustled away to get supper for the young ones , whose bills were always gaping wide . `` Sorrows we have , too , '' softly said the fourth swallow . `` He would not envy me , if he knew how my nest fell , and all my children were killed ; how my dear husband was shot , and my old mother died of fatigue on our spring journey from the South . '' `` Dear neighbor Dart , he would envy you , if he knew how patiently you bear your troubles ; how tenderly you help us with our little ones ; how cheerfully you serve your friends ; how faithfully you love your lost mate ; and how trustfully you wait to meet him again in a lovelier country than the South . '' As Skim spoke , she leaned down from her nest to kiss her neighbor ; and , as the little beaks met , the other birds gave a grateful and approving murmur , for Neighbor Dart was much beloved by all the inhabitants of Twittertown . `` I , for my part , do n't envy him , '' said Gossip Wing , who was fond of speaking her mind . `` Men and women call themselves superior beings ; but , upon my word , I think they are vastly inferior to us . Now , look at that man , and see how he wastes his life . There never was any one with a better chance for doing good , and being happy ; and yet he mopes and dawdles his time away most shamefully . '' `` Ah ! he has had a great sorrow , and it is hard to be gay with a heavy heart , an empty home ; so do n't be too severe , Sister Wing . '' And the white tie of the little widow 's cap was stirred by a long sigh as Mrs. Dart glanced up at the nook where her nest once stood .
`` No , my dear , I wo n't ; but really I do XXXXX out of patience when I see so much real misery which that man might help , if he 'd only forget himself a little .
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