Wherever you be,
Oh! come to our tree,
And listen, oh! listen, oh! listen to me!”
And no sooner had they sung this verse than the plum-pudding flea began to hop and skip on his one leg with the most dreadful velocity, and came straight to the tree, where he stopped, and looked about him in a vacant and voluminous manner.
On which the seven young geese were greatly alarmed, and all of a tremble-bemble; so one of them put out his long neck and just touched him with the tip of his bill; but no sooner had he done this than the plum-pudding flea skipped and hopped about more and more, and higher and higher; after which he opened his mouth, and, to the great surprise and indignation of the seven geese, began to bark so loudly, and furiously, and terribly that they were totally unable to bear the noise; and by degrees every one of them suddenly tumbled down quite dead.
So that was the end of the seven young geese.
CHAPTER VIII
THE HISTORY OF THE SEVEN YOUNG OWLS
When the seven young owls set out, they sat every now and then on the branches of old trees, and never went far at one time.
And one night, when it was quite dark, they thought they heard a mouse; but, as the gas-lamps were not lighted, they could not see him.
So they called out, “Is that a mouse?”