Little Women(excerpt)
“We were in the‘Slough of Despond’tonight，and Mother came and pulled us out as‘Help’did in the book.We ought to have our roll of directions，like Christian.What shall we do about that？”asked Jo，delighted with the fancy which lent a little romance to the very dull task of doing her duty.
“Look under your pillows Christmas morning，and you will find your guidebook.”replied Mrs March.
They talked over the new plan while old Hannah cleared the table，then out came the four little work baskets，and the needles flew as the girls made sheets for Aunt March.It was uninteresting sewing，but tonight no one grumbled.They adopted Jo's plan of dividing the long seams into four parts，and calling the quarters Europe，Asia，Africa，and America，and in that way got on capitally，especially when they talked about the different countries as they stitched their way through them.
At nine they stopped work，and sang，as usual，before they went to bed.No one but Beth could get much music out of the old piano，but she had a way of softly touching the yellow keys and making a pleasant accompaniment to the simple songs they sang.Meg had a voice like a flute，and she and her mother led the little choir.Amy chirped like a cricket，and Jo wandered through the airs at her own sweet will，always coming out at the wrong place with a croak or a quaver that spoiled the most pensive tune.They had always done this from the time they could babble.Twinkle，twinkle，little star，an it had become a household custom，for the mother was a born singer.
