Then for the performance he would sing, and recite the pieces of poetry which he and his Mother had made up (that's what I told you they talked about at breakfast). For instance, there were two geese in a pen which you wound up, and Dumpty would put on a quackie voice and say:—
Some mischief sure will Satan find
For idle hands—however sweet,
So in your idle moments wind
My little geese, and watch them eat.
And as you wind, this lesson good
Ma' rag-time geese would teach to thee;
Never to grab or snatch your food,
However hungry you may be.
Then he had some performing mice in a cage, with clockwork inside, and as he wound them up he sang:—
Oh, three performing mice are we,
And when you wind us up you see,
We twirl and twiddle round the cage,
And play at leap-frog on the stage.
And when the master of the ring,
Commands us, we can also sing
That story sad—though true to life,
Of Blind Mice, and the Farmer's wife.
And then Little Dumpty and his mother sang "Three Blind Mice" together, very slowly and sadly:—
Three Blind Mice!
See how they run!
They all ran after the Farmer's Wife,
Who cut off their tails with the carving knife,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life
As three Blind Mice?
When he got all his horses on the stage (he put the skin ones in front because they were the loveliest), he used to pretend they danced while he whistled a tune on the penny whistle.
Then there was a china girl with a parachute; when she was on the stage Little Dumpty recited the piece called "Isabella's Parachute" out of a favourite book he had called "Cautionary Stories":—