Cole's Funny Picture Book No. 1
The Story of a Little Mouse:
Or, Our Happy Family.
Once there was a little mouse,
Who came to live in our house;
She came because she was terribly frighten'd
To stay outside as it thunder'd and lighten'd.
When she came in 'twas nearly dark,
And Ponto he began to bark;
But she ran round at a rapid rate,
Then darted in behind the grate.
Ponto smelt, and sniff'd, and bark'd and scratch'd,
But Mousey was safe and couldn't be catch'd;
So Ponto, when tired laid down to sleep,
And Mousey quite quiet determined to keep.
Mousey stayed there a month, as she thought it was better,
And Ponto could smell her, but never could get her,
But every morning when Ponto went out,
Miss Mousey crept forth, and for crumbs looked about.
Now one day as Ponto came into the house,
Thinks he, I'll be KIND to that poor little mouse;
"So come out Miss Mousey," our Ponto he said,
"And if anyone hurts you I'll bite off his head."
So the poor little mouse came out of the grate,
And ate with our Ponto out of his plate,
And always when Ponto laid down on the mat,
Beside him Miss Mousey in her little chair sat.
But one rainy night as Miss Mousey sat still,
A thing called a bat, came over the hill;
But Ponto says to him, "You are not wanted here,"
And sent the bat off with a flea in his ear.
The very same night as they lay on the mat,
What should come rushing in but a great big rat;
Up jumped Mr. Ponto and gave a loud bark,
And that rat scampered off out into the dark.
They had just got rid of the bat and the rat,
And what should come in but a GREAT TOM CAT;
Came jumping, springing, and bounding along,
And frightened Miss Mousey more than a gong.
He raced after mousey, around, in and out,
Through the house and the yard, and all round about;
To the East, to the West, to the North, to the South,
And at last caught her up in his great big mouth.
He squeezed her back hard and frighten'd her so,
She scarcely could say, "O, please let me go!"
But Tom spoke and said, "Mouse is very good meat,
And as I feel hungry, why, it's you I shall eat."
Tom let her go once, but caught her afresh,
Although Mousey made a most desperate dash;
And again Mousey pleaded, "Oh, please let me go";
But Tom only answered, "Decidedly No!"
But as luck should now have it, our Ponto came in,
And asked Mr. Puss, "What's this horrible din?"
Says Puss to our Ponto, "I've caught this sly thief,
And now I intend to bring her to grief."
Says Ponto to Puss, "The mouse is my friend,
And if you would hurt her, why I must defend
That nice little, kind little, good little mouse,
As long as she ever remains in this house."
Says Pussy to Ponto, "I pray you don't fret;
I'll love and I'll cherish your poor little pet;
She shall sleep on the mat, and we'll find her in food,
Because she is nice and because she is good."
So the nice little mouse, the dog and the cat,
all three ate together, and slept on the mat;
They sung, danc'd and romp'd with joy and merry laughter,
And as the old take says, "Lived happy ever after."
[Page 154--Pussy Land]
History of Mr. Tom Puss And The Rats
Mrs. Puss stayed at home, minded and played with young Master John
Puss, Miss Mary Puss, and Baby Puss, while Mr. Puss went out to get
them something to eat. He went into a barn, tied a piece of cheese to
the tip of his tail, and put it through a hole in a door, thinking
that he would catch a rat that way. Some very knowing rats on the
other side of the door got a piece of string, tied it to his tail,
pulled all together, and made Mr. Puss me-ow very loud, and he found
that instead of his catching a rat, the rats had caught him. Mrs.
Puss, finding that Mr. Puss did not come home, put little John Puss
and Mary Puss to bed without any supper, and then sang little deaf
Baby Puss off to sleep by means of the ear trumpet. The rats ate
their supper off Mr. Puss's tail, and then let him go. You see what a
fine long tail he had when he put it through the hole to catch rats
in that foolish manner; and look at his short tail now, in the corner
of the page.
Wasn't He A Foolish Puss!!!
[Page 155--More Pussy Land]
Puss In Boots
Once upon a time there was a miller who had three sons. When he was
dying he left each of them a legacy. To his eldest son he left his
mill; to his second his ass; and to his youngest his cat. The poor
boy was very sad when he found that he had nothing belonging to him
but a cat; but, to his great surprise, puss jumped on the table and
said in a friendly manner: "Do not be sad, my dear master, only buy
me a pair of boots and a bag and I'll provide for you and myself." So
the miller's son, who had a shilling or two in his pocket, bought a
smart little pair of boots and a bag, and gave them to puss, who put
some bran and sow-thistles into his bag, opened the mouth of it, and
lay down in a rabbit warren. A foolish young rabbit jumped into it;
puss drew the string and soon killed it. He went immediately to the
palace with it. He found the king and queen sitting on the throne,
and, bowing low, he laid the rabbit at the king's feet, saying:
"Please, your majesty, my master, the Marquis de Carabas, has sent
you a rabbit from his warren, as a mark of respect." "I am much
obliged to the Marquis," said the king, and he ordered the rabbit to
be taken to the cook, and a piece of money to be given to the cat.
During two or three months the cat continued to carry game every now
and then to the king, which was supposed to be the produce of his
master's sport. One day when he happened to hear the king was going
to take a drive on the banks of the river, in company with his
daughter, who was the most beautiful princess in the world, puss
desired the master to go and bathe in the river at the spot that he
should point out, and leave the rest to him. The Marquis of Carabas
did as his cat advised him. Just as he was bathing the king came
past, when the cat bawled out as loud as he could--"Help! help! or
the Marquis of Carabas will be drowned!" On hearing this, the king
looked out of the carriage window, and recognising the cat, ordered
his bodyguards to fly to the assistance of my Lord Marquis of
Carabas. As the poor Marquis was being fished out of the river, the
cat informed his majesty that, while his master was bathing, some
robbers had stolen his clothes. The king immediately ordered the
gentlemen of his wardrobe to fetch one of his most sumptuous dresses.
No sooner had this been done and the Marquis suitably attired, then
he looked to such advantage that the king took him to be a very fine
gentleman; while the princess was so struck with his appearance, that
at once she became head and ears in love with him.
The king insisted that the Marquis should get into the carriage. The
cat, highly delighted at the turn thinks were taking, now ran on
before, and having reached a meadow where there were some peasants,
he thus accosted them; "I say, good folks, if you do not tell the
king that this field belongs to the Marquis of Carabas, you shall all
be chopped as fine as mince-meat." The king did not fail to inquire
of the peasants to whom the meadow belonged? "To the Marquis of
Carabas, please your majesty," said they in a breath.
And the cat kept running on before the carriage, and repeating the
same instructions to all the labourers he met with, so that the king
was astonished at the vast possessions of the Marquis of Carabas.
At length the cat reached a magnificent castle belonging to a giant
who was immensely rich. The cat having inquired what sort of person
the giant might be, and what he was able to do, sent in a message to
request leave to speak with him.
The giant received him civilly. "I have been told," said the cat,
"that you have the power of transforming yourself into all sorts of
animals." "So I have," replied the giant, "and to prove the truth of
what I say you shall see me become a lion." When the cat beheld a
lion standing before him, and saw the monster quietly light his pipe,
he was seized with such a panic that he clambered up to the roof.
After a time, the cat perceiving that the giant had returned to his
natural shape, came down again.
"And do you possess the power of assuming the shape of the smallest
animals likewise?" "You shall see;" and the giant immediately assumed
the shape of a mouse, when the cat pounced upon him and ate him up.
By this time the king had reached the gates of the Giant's
magnificent castle, and expressed a wish to enter so splendid a
building. The cat ran out to meet the king, saying--"Your majesty is
welcome to the Marquis of Carabas's castle."
The king was so delighted with the Marquis of Carabas, that he
accepted him as a son-in-law, and that very same day he was married
to the princess.
The cat became a great lord, and ever after hunted mice only for his
own amusement.
Monkey And The Cats
Two hungry cats having stolen some cheese, could not agree between
themselves how to divide their booty; therefore they went to the law,
and a cunning monkey was to decide their case.
"Let us see," said the judge (with as arch a look as could be); "ay,
ay, this slice truly outweighs the other;" and with this he bit off a
large piece, on order, as he told them, to make a fair balance.
The other scale had now become too heavy, which gave this upright
judge a pretence to make free with a second mouthful.
"Hold, hold!" cried the two cats; give each of us our share of what
is left and we will be content.
"If you are content," said the monkey, "justice is not; the law, my
friends, must have it's course."
Upon this he nibbled first one piece and then the other, till the
poor cats, seeing their cheese in a fair way to be all eaten up, most
humbly begged him not to put himself to any further trouble, to give
them what still remained.
"Ha! ha! ha! not so fast, I beseech you, good ladies," said the
monkey; "we owe justice to ourselves as well as to you: and what
remains is due to me as the lawyer." Upon this he crammed the whole
into his mouth at once, and very gravely broke up the court.
This fable teaches us that it is better to put up with a trifling
loss, than to run the risk of losing all we have by going to the law.
Dick Whittington And His Cat
There was once a Lord Mayor of London, whose name was Sir Richard
Whittington. He rose to that office from being a poor orphan, living
in a distant village. Dick was a sharp boy, and was always picking up
knowledge from some of the villagers. Dick heard of the great City of
London; he often heard it said that the streets were paved all over
with gold.
One day seeing a waggon and team of horses on the road to London; he
took courage and asked the waggoner to let him walk by his side.
Having gained permission, they set off together. When Dick got to
London, he was very eager to see the fine streets paved all over with
gold, but the poor boy saw nothing but dirt instead of gold, so he
crouched down at the door of one Mr. Fitzwarren, a great merchant.
Here he was soon found by an ill-tempered cook, who ordered him to go
about his business. But just at this moment Mr. Fitzwarren himself
came home, and finding that the poor boy was willing to work, he took
him into his house, and said that he should be kept to do what dirty