Jemmy was little. The trees were big and green. The sky was big and blue. The elephants were big and grey. But Jemmy was little. He cried so much because he was little that the trees cried and the sky cried and the elephants cried, because he was so unhappy that he couldn't do all his crying by himself, because he was too little. It was a wonder that so much unhappiness could fit into such a little person.
Then one day Jemmy saw some one who was even smaller than himself. He stopped crying and stared. "Goodness me!" he said. "You are little! What's your name?"
"My name is Johnny," said the even smaller little boy.
"You are the littlest thing I have ever seen!" said Jemmy. When Johnny heard this he was so sad that he started to cry, and the trees cried and the sky cried and the elephants cried because he was so little that he couldn't do all his crying by himself.
Suddenly an even smaller person walked in. "Why are you crying?" he said to Johnny and the trees and the sky and the elephants.
"He is crying because he is so small," said Jemmy, who was not crying. Then he said to the even smaller person, "You are the littlest thing I have ever seen! What is your name?"
The even smaller person said, "You are the ugliest thing I have ever seen. And my name is Jack-and-the-Beanstalk."
Suddenly everybody stopped crying.
"What did you say your name was?" asked Johnny.
"You heard me!" said Jack-and-the-Beanstalk, and walked out.
Then everybody started crying again.