Cole's Funny Picture Book No. 1
Oh, she shall dine
On dishes fine,
And lead an easy life."
When he went by,
Miss Mouse so shy,
Would hide her blushing face;
But truth to tell
Could see quite well
Through curtains of thin lace.
And from her nook,
Ah! many a look
She gave, with heart a-stir;
And oft did she
Confess that he
Was just the beau for her.
At last so blue
Poor froggie grew,
He went up to the house
And rang the bell,
In haste to tell
His love for Mistress Mouse.
He passed the door,
And on the floor
He knelt and kissed her hand,
"Wilt marry me?"
He asked, while she
Her burning blushes fanned.
She answered "Yes,"
As you may guess,
To Mister Frog's delight;
His arm he placed
Around her waist,
And joy was at its height.
The wedding-day
Was set straightway,
The town was all agog;
And gifts, not few,
Were sent unto
Miss Mouse and Mister Frog.
And never yet
Was banquet set,
In country or in town,
With fare more rich
Than that to which
The wedding guests sat down.
And, after all,
There was the ball,
For which the band was hired,
And frogs and mice
Were up in a trice,
And danced till their toes were tired.
Frogs at School
Twenty froggies went to school,
Down beside a rushy pool;
Twenty little coats of green,
Twenty vests all white and clean,
"We must be in time," said they;
"First we study, then we play;
That is how we keep the rule
When we froggies go to school."
Master Bullfrog, grave and stern,
Called the classes in their turn;
Taught them how to nobly strive,
Likewise how to leap and dive;
From his seat upon the log
Showed them how to say, "Ker-chog!"
Also, how to dodge a blow
From the sticks which bad boys throw.
Twenty froggies grew up fast;
Bullfrogs they became at last;
Not one dunce among the lot,
Not one lesson they forgot.
Polished in a high degree,
As each froggie ought to be,
Now they sit on other logs,
Teaching other little frogs.
[Page 185--Froggy Land]
Mouse that Lost her Tail
Once upon a time a Cat and Mouse were playing together, when, quite
by accident, the cat bit off the Mouse's tail.
It was very strange that the Cat did not bite off the Mouse's head.
But this Mouse was a good Mouse, and never stole any cheese; and so
the Cat only bit off her tail. Mousey was very much vexed to see that
her tail was gone, so she said to Pussy--
"Oh, dear Pussy! do give me my tail again."
"No, that I will not," said Pussy, "till you get me some milk for
my breakfast."
"Oh, the Cow will give me some," said the Mouse.
So she frisked and jumped, and then she ran
Till she came to the Cow, and thus began:--
"Please, Cow, give me some milk. I want to give Pussy milk, and
Pussy will give me my own tail again."
"So I will, Mousey, if you will get me some hay for my breakfast."
said the Cow.
"Oh, the Farmer will give me some," said the Mouse.
So she frisked and jumped, and then she ran
Till she came to the Farmer, and thus began:--
"Please, Mr. Farmer, give me some hay; I want to give the Cow hay.
The Cow will give me some milk; I will give Pussy milk; and Pussy
will give me my own tail again."
"So I will, Mousey, if you get me some bread for my breakfast,"
said the Farmer.
"Oh, the Baker will give me some," said the Mouse.
So she frisked and jumped, and then she ran
Till she came to the Baker, and thus began:--
"Please, Mr. Baker, give me some bread; I want to give the Farmer
bread. The Farmer will give me some hay; I will give the Cow hay,
the Cow will give me some milk; I will give Pussy milk; and Pussy
will give me my own tail again."
"So I will, Mousey, if you get me some meat for my breakfast," said
the baker.
"Oh, the Butcher will give me some," said the Mouse.
So she frisked and jumped, and then she ran
Till she came to the Butcher, and thus began:--
"Please, Mr. Butcher, give me some meat. I want to give the Baker
meat. The Baker will give me some bread; I will give the Farmer
bread. The Farmer will give me some hay; I will give the Cow hay,
the Cow will give me some milk; I will give Pussy milk; and Pussy
will give me my own tail again."
"So I will, Mousey, if you will eat up the crumbs that have fallen
at my breakfast," said the Butcher.
"Oh, that I will," said the Mouse, and she soon cleared the floor
of every crumb.
Then the Butcher gave the Mouse some meat, and the Mouse gave the
Baker the meat, and the Baker gave the Mouse some bread, and the
Mouse gave the Farmer the bread, and the Farmer gave the Mouse some
hay, and the Mouse gave the Cow the hay, and the Cow gave the Mouse
some milk, and the Mouse gave Pussy the milk, and then Pussy gave
poor little Mousey her own tail again.
So she frisked and jumped, and away she ran
And cried out to Pussy, "Catch me if you can!"
Mouse Gruel
There was an Old Person of Ewell,
Who chiefly subsisted on gruel,
But to make it taste nice, he inserted some mice,
Which refreshed that Old Person of Ewell.
Wise Mice
Some little mice sat in a barn to spin,
Pussy came by and she popped her head in.
"Shall I come in and cut your threads off?"
"Oh, no, kind sir, you will bite our heads off!"
Mouse Ran up the Clock
Hickory, diccory dock,
The mouse ran up the clock,
The clock struck one, the mouse ran down,
Hickory, diccory, dock.
A Frog he would a-Wooing Go
A Frog he would a-wooing go,
Whether his mother would have it or no;
So off he set with his nice new hat,
And on the road he met a rat.
"Pray, Mr. Rat, will you go with me,
Kind Mrs. Mousey for to see!"
When they came to the door of Mousey's hall,
They gave a loud knock, and gave a loud call.
"Pray, Mrs. Mouse, are you within?"
"Oh, yes, kind sirs, I'm sitting to spin."
"Pray, Mrs. Mouse, Will you give us some beer?
For Froggy and I are fond of good cheer."
"Pray, Mr. Frog, will you give us a song--
But let it be something that's not very long!"
"Indeed, Mrs. Mouse," replied the Frog,
"A cold has made me as hoarse as a dog."
"Since you have a cold, Mr. Frog," Mousey said,
"I'll sing you a song that I have just made."
But while they were all a merry-making,
A cat and her kittens came tumbling in.
The cat she seized the rat by the crown;
The kittens they pulled the little mouse down.
This put Mr. Frog in a terrible fright:
He took up his hat, and wished them good-night.
But as Froggy was crossing over a brook,
A lily-white duck came and gobbled him up,
So there was an end of one, two, and three.
The Rat, the Mouse, and the little Frog-ee.
Man that Caught a Mouse
The Little priest of Felton,
The little priest of Felton,
He killed a mouse within his house,
And ne'er a one to help him.
Three Blind Mice
Three blind mice! three blind mice!
See how they run! see how they run!
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
They cut off their tails with a carving knife;
Did you ever see such a thing in your life
As three blind mice?
The Three Unfortunate Mice
Three little dogs were basking in the cinders;
Three little cats were playing in the windows;
Three little mice hopped out of a hole,
And a piece of cheese they stole;
The three little cats jumped down in a trice,
And cracked the bones of the three little mice.
The Foolish Mouse
In a crack near the cupboard, with dainties provided,
A certain young mouse with her mother resided;
So securely they lived in that snug, quiet spot,
Any mouse in the land might have envied their lot.
But one day the young mouse, which was given to roam,
Having made an excursion some way from her home,
On a sudden returned, with such joy in her eyes,
That her grey, sedate parent expressed some surprise.
"O mother," said she, "The good folks of this house,
I'm convinced, have not any ill-will to a mouse;
And those tales can't be true you always are telling,
For they've been at such pains to construct us a dwelling.
"The floor is of wood, and the walls are of wires,
Exactly the size that one's comfort requires;
And I'm sure that we there shall have nothing to fear,
If ten cats, with kittens, at once should appear.
"And then they have made such nice holes in the wall,
One could slip in and out, with no trouble at all;
But forcing one through such rough crannies as these,
Always gives one's poor ribs a most terrible squeeze.
"But the best of all is, they've provided, as well,
A large piece of cheese, of most exquisite smell;
'T was so nice, I had put in my head to go through,
When I thought it my duty to come and fetch you."
"Ah, child," said the mother, "believe, I entreat,
Both the cage and the cheese are a terrible cheat;
Do not think all that trouble they took for our good,
They would catch us and kill us there if they could.
"Thus they've caught and killed scores, and I never could learn,
That a mouse who once entered did ever return."
Let young people mind what the old people say,
And, when danger is near them keep out of the way.
[Page 186--Mixed Animal Land]
The Fox and the Cat
The fox and the cat as they travelled one day,
With moral discourses cut shorter on the way:
"'Tis great," says the fox, "to make justice our guide!"
"How godlike is mercy!" Grimalkin replied.
Whilst thus they proceeded, a wolf from the wood,
Impatient of hunger, and thirsting for blood,
Rushed forth--as he saw the dull shepherd asleep--
And seized for his supper an innocent sheep.
"In vain, wretched victim, for mercy you bleat;
When mutton's at hand," says the wolf, "I must eat."
Grimalkin's astonished--the fox stood aghast,
To see the fell beast at his bloody repast.
"What a wretch!" says the cat--"'tis the vilest of brutes;
Does he feed upon flesh when there's herbage and roots?"
Cries the fox, "While our oaks give us acorns so good,
What a tyrant is this to spill innocent blood!"
Well, onward they marched, and they moralised still.
Till they came where some poultry picked chaff by a mill.
Sly Reynard surveyed the them with gluttonous eyes,
And made, spite of morals, a pullet his prize!
A mouse, too, that chanced from her covert to stray,
The greedy Grimalkin secured as her prey!
A spider that sat in her web on the wall,
Perceived the poor victims, and pitied their fall;
She cried, "Of such murders how guiltless am I!"
So ran to regale on a new-taken fly!
Sour Grapes
A fox was trotting one day,
And just above his head
He spied a vine of luscious grapes,
Rich, ripe, and purple-red.
Eager he tried to snatch the fruit,
But, ah! it was too high;
Poor Reynard had to give it up,
And, heaving a deep sigh,
He curl'd his nose and said, "Dear me!
I would not waste an hour
Upon such mean and common fruit--
I'm sure those grapes are sour!"
'Tis thus we often wish thro' life,
When seeking wealth and pow'r
And when we fall, say, like the fox,
We're "sure the grapes are sour!"
The Fox and the Mask
A fox walked round a toyman's shop
(How he came there, pray do not ask),
But soon he made a sudden stop,
To look and wonder at a mask.
The mask was beautiful and fair,