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Page 182—Mousey Land

The Gingerbread Cat
A baby-girl, on Christmas night
Had filled her little apron white
With all a happy child could take
Of Christmas toys and Christmas cake;
But on the stairway she let fall
The chiefest treasure of them all—
A little cat of gingerbread
All frosted white from tail to head.
Now in the moonlit midnight time,
When merry mice do run and climb,
A plump gray mouse come down the stair
And saw the Christmas cake-cat there.
She stood still in her cruel fright
And gazed upon the monster white
Who seemed to feel as great surprise,
And stared with both his raisin eyes.
Poor mousie dared not, could not stir!
Her little brain was in a whirr!
Five minutes—ten—but not a paw
Had puss put forth! "I never saw
A cat like this!" the poor mouse said.
A brave bold thought came in her head—
Her wee heart beating pit-a-pat,
She moved her own paw—touched the cat—
Then sprang upon it with a squeal
And made a most delicious meal
"Ho! ho!" she cried, "Sugar! spice!
And everything that's good and nice—
That's what cats are made of,
The cats that we're afraid of!"
Then up the stairs she madly pranced,
And o'er the attic floor she danced
And then she stood upon her head
And to her 'stonished friends she said,
"O, joy to every mouse and rat,
For I have eaten up the cat!"
The Mice
The mice are in their holes,
And there they hide by day;
But when 'tis still at night,
They all come out to play.
They climb up on the shelves,
And taste of all they please;
They drink the milk and cream,
And eat the bread and cheese.
But if they hear the cat,
At once they stop their fun;
In fright they seek their holes
As fast as they can run.
Three Mice
Three Mice went into
A hole to spin,
Puss came by,
Puss peeped in;
What are you doing,
My little old men?
We're weaving coats
For gentlemen.
Shall I come and help you
To wind up your threads?
Oh, no, Mrs. Pussy,
You'd bite off our heads!
Says Pussy, "You are
So wondrous wise
I love your whiskers
And round black eyes;
Your house is the prettiest
House I see.
And I think there is room
For you and me."
The mice were so pleased
That they opened the door,
And Pussy soon laid them
All dead on the floor.
"Run Mousey, Run!"
I am sitting by the fireside,
Reading, and very still,
There comes a little sharp-eyed mouse,
And run about he will.
He flies along the mantelpiece
He darts beneath the fender;
It's just as well that Jane's not here,
Or into fits he'd send her.
And now he's nibbling at some cake
She left upon the table.
He seems to think I'm somebody
To hurt a mouse unable.
Run, mousey, run! I hear the cat,
She's scratching at the door,
Once she comes in, you'll have no chance
Beneath her savage claw.
Run, mousey, run! I hear Jane's foot,
She's coming up to bed,
If puss but makes a spring at you,
Poor mousey, you'll be dead!
A Mouse Caught in a Cage
I'm only a poor little mouse, ma'am!
I live in the wall of your house, ma'am!
With a fragment of cheese, and a very few peas,
I was having a little carouse, ma'am!
No mischief at all I intend, ma'am!
I hope you will act as my friend, ma'am!
If my life you should take, many hearts it would break,
And the trouble would be without end, ma'am!
My wife lives in there in the crack, ma'am!
She's waiting foe me to come back, ma'am!
She hoped I might find a bit of rind,
Or the children their dinner will lack, ma'am!
I never was given to strife, ma'am!
(Don't look at that terrible knife, ma'am!)
The noise overhead that disturbs you in bed,
'T is the rats, I will venture my life, ma'am!
In your eyes I see mercy I'm sure, ma'am!
Oh, there's no need to open the door, ma'am!
I'll slip through the crack, and I'll never come back,
Oh I'll never come back any more, ma'am!
The Foolish Mouse
In a crack, near the cupboard,
With dainties provided,
A certain young mouse
With her mother resided;
So securely they lived,
In that snug, quiet spot,
Any mouse in the land
Might have envied their lot.
But one day the young mouse,
Which was given to roam,
Having made an excursion
Some way from her home,
On a sudden returned,
With such joy in her eyes,
That her grey, sedate parent
Expressed some surprise,
"Oh mother," said she,
"The good folks of this house
I'm convinced, have not any
Ill-will to a mouse;
And those tales can't be true
You always are telling,
For they've been at such pains
To construct us a dwelling.
"The floor is of wood,
And the walls are of wires
Exactly the size that
One's comfort requires;
And I'm sure that we there
Shall have nothing to fear,
If ten cats, with kittens,
At once should appear.
"And then they have made
Such nice holes in the wall,
One could slip in and out,
With no trouble at all;
But forcing one through
Such rough crannies as these,
Always gives one's poor ribs
A most terrible squeeze.
"But the best of all is,
They've provided, as well,
A large piece of cheese,
Of most exquisite smell;
'Twas so nice, I had put
In my head to go through,
When I thought it my duty
To come and fetch you."
"Ah, child," said the mother,
"Believe, I entreat,
Both the cage and the cheese
Are a terrible cheat;
Do not think all that trouble
They took for our good,
They would catch us and kill us
All there if they could.
"Thus they've caught and killed scores,
And I never could learn,
That a mouse who once entered
Did ever return."
Let young people mind
What the old people say.
And, when danger is near them,
Keep out of the way.