THE FAT LITTLE PIGGIES.
Said a sow to her piggies so white,
"Oh! the chilly winds whistle around,
There is ice on the old miller's dam,
And there's snow on the hard frozen ground;
But a warm, sheltered stackyard have we,
Where all day you may play hide-and-seek:
So away, little piggies, my white little piggies,
For a gambol and scramble and squeak.
"You have all had your breakfasts, I know;
For your trough was full, up to the top,
Of the sweetest potatoes and milk;
And you've not left a bit or a drop;
But, though an old sow, I'll not grunt:
So begone round the barn for a freak,
And I'll watch you, dear piggies, fat, curly-tailed piggies,
As you hurry and scurry and squeak."
So at once, 'mid the fresh-sprinkled straw,
The young pettitoes scampered away;
And they rooted and burrowed and hid,
Then all quiet a minute they lay:
Soon their pink-pointed, noses peeped out;
Then their bodies, so plump and so sleek.
Oh the glad little piggies, the mad little piggies—
How they snuffle and scuffle and squeak!
George Bennett.
