Before he had even opened his eyes in the morning, he would call out to his mother in his sleep: "Oh, mother, are we in Iller-Stream still?
Are we still here ?" Then the hours of the day began, each more lovely than the last, and Mux could not tell which was the best.
As the boy spent most of the day in the stable, the hayloft, and the barn, his mother had been obliged to make him a special stable costume.
The little boy loved to watch the milking of the cows, and he never tired of admiring the horses and the goat.
Matthew had become his best friend.

The gardener constantly thought out pleasant surprises for Mux, who showed a decided taste for farming.
If Matthew had to do some important work where Mux was in his way, he always devised a plan to keep the boy amused elsewhere: "Go down there to the raspberry hedge, Mux!" he would say.

"The berries are finest and biggest there, because the sun has cooked them through.

Go to the plum tree afterwards and wait for me!" Mux would obey promptly, wandering over to the plum tree from the raspberry bushes, which he had lightened considerably.

He then would sit thoughtfully under the plum tree, waiting till Matthew returned.
The gardener then shook the tree so mightily that a flood of golden plums came rolling down over Mux, who could freely enjoy the wealth about him.
If Matthew could not be found and Cornelli and Dino were busy with their own plans and did not need him, Mux knew another friend who always gave him a good reception, that friend was Esther.