MOTHER WANTS A CHERRY PIE
One day Mother said, “I want a cherry pie and I haven’t time to make it today.”
“Let me make it,” said Bobby.
“Let me make it,” said Betty.
“We won’t make a pie today,” said Mother. “We will buy one. You may go to the baker’s shop and buy a cherry pie.”
“Good!” said Betty.
“Come on,” said Bobby.
“Wait,” said Mother. “You cannot buy a pie without money.”
“That’s so,” said Bobby. “I forgot the money. I was going to be like Simple Simon.”
“Simple Simon couldn’t buy a pie,” said Betty. “He didn’t have a penny.”
“Can we buy a pie for a penny, Mother?” asked Bobby.
“Oh, no, Bobby. Pies cost more than they did when Simple Simon lived.”
“How much does a cherry pie cost, Mother?” asked Betty.
“Twenty cents,” answered Mother.
“Twenty cents!” cried Bobby.
“Yes,” said Mother. “Here are two dimes. Bobby, you may carry the money this time.”
“Thank you, Mother,” said Bobby. “Come, Betty, let’s go.”
For study and play:
Simple Simon met a pieman,
Going to the fair;
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
“Let me taste your ware.”
Says the pieman to Simple Simon,
“Show me first your penny.”
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
“Indeed, I haven’t any.”
“Can she make a cherry pie, Billy boy, Billy boy?
Can she make a cherry pie, Charming Billy?”
“She can make a cherry pie, quick as a cat can wink its eye,
She’s a young thing and cannot leave her mother.”
Up in the tree cherries I see;
Some are for you, some are for me.
