Paddy Builds a Dam

Part One · Paddy Builds a Dam

Paddy built a dam. It was a pile of sticks. It stood in the brook.

Billy came to look. "The water will go right through!" he said. "That is no dam."

Jerry looked at the brook. Water was spilling over the bank above the sticks.

A pool was growing behind the dam. Billy had no more to say.

Paddy packed mud in every gap. He did most of his work at night.

Each day the dam got bigger. The pile got higher and wider.

But the brook grew quiet. It did not laugh. It did not make a sound.

The pool got smaller and smaller. The fish swam close to the mud.

The pond folk began to fret. "Will the water come back?" they asked.

Only Jerry was not worried. "Paddy is my cousin," he said. "He will keep his word."

One morning Grandfather Frog sat very still. He heard a soft sound, like a giggle.

The sound grew louder. It was the brook, laughing again. Water was coming!

Paddy had kept his word. The water ran back into the pool. The pool smiled.