| But good dog Tray is happy
now; He has no time to say "Bow-wow!" He seats himself in Frederick's chair And laughs to see the nice things there: The soup he swallows, sup by sup— And eats the pies and puddings up. |
The Dreadful Story of Harriet and the Matches
| It almost makes me cry to
tell What foolish Harriet befell. Mamma and Nurse went out one day And left her all alone at play. Now, on the table close at hand, A box of matches chanced to stand; And kind Mamma and Nurse had told her, That, if she touched them, they would scold her. But Harriet said: "Oh, what a pity! For, when they burn, it is so pretty; They crackle so, and spit, and flame: Mamma, too, often does the same." The pussy-cats heard this, And they began to hiss, And stretch their claws, And raise their paws; "Me-ow," they said, "me-ow, me-o, You'll burn to death, if you do so." But Harriet would not take advice: She lit a match, it was so nice! It crackled so, it burned so clear— Exactly like the picture here. She jumped for joy and ran about And was too pleased to put it out. The Pussy-cats saw this And said: "Oh, naughty, naughty Miss!" And stretched their claws, And raised their paws: "'Tis very, very wrong, you know, Me-ow, me-o, me-ow, me-o, You will be burnt, if you do so." |
| And see! oh, what dreadful
thing! The fire has caught her apron-string; Her apron burns, her arms, her hair— She burns all over everywhere. Then how the pussy-cats did mew— What else, poor pussies, could they do? They screamed for help, 'twas all in vain! So then they said: "We'll scream again; Make haste, make haste, me-ow, me-o, She'll burn to death; we told her so." So she was burnt, with all her clothes, And arms, and hands, and eyes, and nose; Till she had nothing more to lose Except her little scarlet shoes; And nothing else but these was found Among her ashes on the ground. And when the good cats sat beside The smoking ashes, how they cried! "Me-ow, me-oo, me-ow, me-oo, What will Mamma and Nursey do?" Their tears ran down their cheeks so fast, They made a little pond at last. |
The Story of the Inky Boys
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![]() | As he had often done before, The woolly-headed Black-a-moor One nice fine summer's day went out To see the shops, and walk about; And, as he found it hot, poor fellow, He took with him his green umbrella, Then Edward, little noisy wag, Ran out and laughed, and waved his flag; And William came in jacket trim, And brought his wooden hoop with him; And Arthur, too, snatched up his toys And joined the other naughty boys. So, one and all set up a roar, And laughed and hooted more and more, And kept on singing,—only think!— "Oh, Blacky, you're as black as ink!" | ![]() |
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![]() | Now tall Agrippa lived closeby— So tall, he almost touched the sky; He had a mighty inkstand, too, In which a great goose-feather grew; He called out in an angry tone "Boys, leave the Black-a-moor alone! For, if he tries with all his might, He cannot change from black to white." But, ah! they did not mind a bit What great Agrippa said of it; But went on laughing, as before, And hooting at the Black-a-moor. | ![]() |
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![]() | Then great Agrippa foams withrage— Look at him on this very page! He seizes Arthur, seizes Ned, Takes William by his little head; | And they may scream and kick andcall, Into the ink he dips them all; Into the inkstand, one, two, three, Till they are black as black can be; Turn over now, and you shall see. |
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