His mother and John
To the garden had gone,
To gather ripe pears and ripe plums;
What Joe was about
His mother found out,
When she look'd at his fingers and thumbs.
And when they had dined,
Said to Joe, "You will find,
It is better to let things alone;
These plums and these pears
No naughty boy shares,
Who meddles with fruit not his own."
FALSEHOOD "CORRECTED"
When Jacky drown'd our poor cat Tib,
He told a very naughty fib,
And said he had not drown'd her;
But truth is always soon found out—
No one but Jack had been about
The place where Thomas found her.
And Thomas saw him with the cat
(Though Jacky did not know of that),
And told papa the trick;
He saw him take a slender string
And round poor Pussy's neck then swing
A very heavy brick.
His parents being very sad
To find they had a boy so bad,
To say what was not true,
Determined to correct him then;
And never was he known again
Such naughty things to do.