Denslow's Humpty Dumpty

Copyright 1903 by W. W. Denslow Published, August 1903
UMPTY-DUMPTY was a smooth, round little chap, with a winning smile, and a great golden heart in his broad breast.
Only one thing troubled Humpty, and that was, that he might fall and crack his thin, white skin; he wished to be hard, all the way through, for he felt his heart wabble when he walked, or ran about, so off he went to the Black Hen for advice.
This Hen was kind and wise, so she was just the one, for him to go to with his trouble.
“Your father, Old Humpty,” said the Hen, “was very foolish, and would take warning from no one; you know what the poet said of him:
‘Humpty-Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty-Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king’s horses, and all the king’s men
Cannot put Humpty-Dumpty together again.’
“So you see, he came to a very bad end, just because he was reckless, and would not take a hint from any one, he was much worse than a scrambled egg; the king, his horses and his men, did all they could for him, but his case was hopeless,” and the Hen shook her head sadly.
“What you must do,” continued the Hen, as she wiped a tear from her bright blue eye, “is to go to the Farmer’s Wife, next door, and tell her to put you into a pot of boiling hot water; your skin is so hard and smooth, it will not hurt you, and when you come out, you may do as you wish, nothing can break you, you can tumble about to your heart’s content, and you will not break, nor even dent yourself.”