Robert Louis Stevenson reader

Part 2 — BED IN SUMMER

Reading edition

In winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candle-light. In summer, quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day. I have to go to bed and see The birds still hopping on the tree, Or hear the grown-up people’s feet Still going past me in the street. And does it not seem hard to you, When all the sky is clear and blue, And I should like so much to play, To have to go to bed by day?

When Robert Louis Stevenson was a boy, he lived in Scotland.

There the summer days are very long.

It is often quite light at ten o’clock at night.

At eight o’clock, bedtime for Louis, it seemed like daytime.

Of course, Louis did not like to go to bed then. Would you?

Just think of going to bed before the little birds!

In Scotland the winter days are very short.

Often it is only light from nine in the morning till four in the afternoon.

Then, when Louis arose in the morning, it was dark.

It seemed like the middle of the night to the little boy.

The room was cold, for the fire had just been started.

But he sprang up quickly.

Nurse had to light a candle so he could see to dress.

But Louis did not seem to mind getting up in the dark.

What he did dislike was going to bed in the daytime.

I don’t blame him much. Do you?

The black-and-white image shows a lit candle in a traditional chamberstick holder. The candlestick is short and unevenly melted, standing upright. At the top, a small teardrop-shaped flame flickers. The base is a flat, shallow pan to catch dripping wax. On the left, a simple curved loop forms the handle. In the center, a small tiered cylindrical column holds the candle in place.

A young child with short blonde hair sits on the edge of the bed wearing yellow pajamas and keeping their head lowered with eyes closed or looking down. Barefoot, one leg hangs toward the floor while the other is pulled close. One hand rests on the bed. On the left, an orange and cream checkered blanket drapes over the bed.

The image features two people. On the left, an Indigenous woman sits cross-legged on the ground. She wears a large black-and-white blanket with horizontal stripes over an orange-and-white striped dress. Her long black hair falls down her back. She has large hoop earrings. A big sun appears behind her head. On the right, a young child stands without clothes and raises their right hand to block the sunlight.