Cole's Funny Picture Book No. 1
Then Sally sat up and half opened her eyes,
And gave both a grunt and a groan;
And yawning she said, in a quarrelsome voice,
"I wish you would let me alone."
But though she was lazy, she always could eat,
And wished for a plentiful share,
So tumbled her clothes on, and smeared her white face,
Forgetting her hands and her hair.
Her frock was all crumpled and twisted away,
Her hair was entangled and wild,
Her stockings were down and her shoes were untied,
She looked a most slovenly child.
She sauntered about till the old village clock
Had sounded and then died away,
Before she put on her torn bonnet and went
To school without further delay.
But soon as she came to the little cake shop,
She loitered with lingering eyes,
Just wishing that she had a penny to spend,
For one of the pretty jam pies.
Again she went on, and she loitered again
In the same foolish way as before,
And the clock in the school was just warning for ten,
As she lifted the latch of the door.
The governess frowned as she went to her place,
She had often so spoken in vain,
And now only said, with a sorrowful sigh,
"There's Sally the latest again!"
She hated her reading, and never would write,
She neither could cypher nor sew,
And little girls whispered, "We never will be
So silly as Miss Sally Slow."
Girl who Wouldn't Comb her Hair
I tell you of a little girl, who would herself have been,
As pretty a young lady as ever could be seen,
But that about her little head she had no cleanly care.
And never, never could be made to brush and comb her hair.
She would have been a pretty child,
But, oh! she was a fright--
She looked just like a girl that's wild,
Yes, quite as ugly, quite;
She looked just like a girl that's wild--
A frightful ugly sight.
The Nasty, Cross Girls
The school was closed one afternoon,
And all the girls were gone;
Some walked away in company,
And some walked on alone.
Some plucked the flowers upon the banks,
Some chatted very fast,
And some were talking secretly,
And whispered as you passed.
And if, perchance, a girl came near,
Then one of these would say,
"Don't listen to our secrets, Miss,
You'll please to go away."
As Nelly White ran home from school,
Her work-bag in her hand,
She chanced to pass near Lucy Bell,
And her friend Susan Brand.
"We don't want you," said Lucy Bell,
"You little tiresome chit;
Our secrets are not meant for you,
You little tell-tale-tit."
Then both girls cried, "Tell-tale-tit,"
And pushed her roughly by;
Poor Nelly said, "I'm no such thing,"
And then began to cry.
[Page 16--Girl's Stories]
Little Red Riding Hood
Once upon a time there was a dear little girl whose mother made her a
scarlet cloak with a hood to tie over her pretty head; so people
called her (as a pet name) "Little Red Riding-Hood." One day her
mother tied on her cloak and hood and said,
"I wish you to go to-day, my darling, to see your grandmamma, and
take her a present of some butter, fresh eggs, a pot of honey,
and a little cake with my love."
Little Red Riding-Hood loved her grandmother, and was very glad to
go. So she ran gaily through the wood, gathering wild flowers and
gambolling among the ferns as she went; and the birds all sang their
sweetest songs to her, and the bluebells nodded their pretty heads,
for everything loved the gentle child.
By and by a great hungry Wolf came up to her. He wished to eat her
up, but as he heard the woodman Hugh's axe at work close by, he was
afraid to touch her, for fear she should cry out and he should get
killed. So he only asked her where she was going. Little Red
Riding-Hood innocently told him (for she did not know he was a wicked
Wolf) that she was going to visit her grandmother, who lived in a
cottage on the other side of the wood. Then the Wolf made haste, and
ran through the wood, and came to the cottage of which the child had
told him. He tapped at the door.
"Who's there?" asked the old woman, who lay sick in bed.
"It is Little Red Riding-Hood, Grandmamma," answered the Wolf in
a squeaky tone, to imitate the voice of her grandchild.
"Pull the string, and the latch will come up," said the old lady,
"for I am ill and cannot open the door."
The cruel Wolf did so, and, jumping on the bed, ate the poor
grandmother up.
Then he put on her night-cap and got into bed. By and by Little Red
Riding-Hood, who had lingered gathering flowers as she came along,
and so was much later than the Wolf, knocked at the door.
"Who's there?" asked the Wolf, mimicking her grandmother's voice.
"It is Little Red Riding-Hood, dear Grandmamma," said the child.
"Pull the string and the latch will come up," said the Wolf.
So Red Riding-Hood came in, and the Wolf told her to put down her
basket, and come and sit on the bed. When Little Red Riding-Hood drew
back the curtain and saw the Wolf, she began to be rather frightened
and said,
"Dear Grandmamma, what great eyes you have got!"
"All the better to see you with, my dear," said the Wolf, who
liked a grim joke.
"And what a large nose you have, Grandmamma!" cried the child.
"All the better to smell you with, my dear."
"And, oh! Grandmamma, what long white teeth you have!"
Alas! she reminded the greedy Wolf of eating.
"All the better to eat you with!" he growled; and, jumping out of
bed, sprang at Red Riding-Hood.
But just at that moment Hugh the woodman, who had seen the sweet
child go by, and had followed her, because he knew there was a Wolf
prowling about the forest, burst the door open, and killed the wicked
animal with his good axe. Little Red Riding-Hood clung round his neck
and thanked him, and cried for joy; and Hugh took her home to her
mother; and after that she was never allowed to walk in the greenwood
by herself.
It was said at first that the Wolf had eaten the child, but that was
not the case; and everybody was glad to hear that the first report
was not correct, and that the Wolf had not really killed Little Red
Riding-Hood.
Little Miss Jewel
Little Miss Jewel
Sat on a stool,
Eating of curds and whey;
There came a little spider
Who sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Jewel away.
Little Girl
Little girl, little girl, where have you been;
Gathering Roses to give to the Queen.
Little girl, little girl, what gave she you?
She gave me a diamond as big as my shoe.
Little Betty Blue
Little Betty Blue lost her pretty shoe;
What can Little Betty do?
Give her another, to match the other,
And then she can walk in two.
I'm Grandmamma
Last night when I was in bed,
Such fun it seemed to me;
I dreamt that I was Grandmamma,
And Grandmamma was me.
But she was such a tiny girl,
And dressed in baby clothes;
And I thought I smacked her face, because
She wouldn't blow her nose.
An I went walking up the street,
And she ran by my side;
And because I walked too quick for her,
My goodness, hoe she cried.
And after tea I washed her face;
And when her prayers were said,
I blew the candle out, and left
Poor Grandmamma in bed.
The Babes In The Wood
A long time ago there lived in an old mansion in the country a rich
gentleman and his wife, who had two dear little children, of whom
they were very fond. Sad to relate, the gentleman and lady were both
taken ill, and, feeling they were about to die, sent for the uncle of
the children, and begged him to take care of them till they were old
enough to inherit the estates.
Now this uncle was a bad and cruel man, who wanted to take the house,
the estates, and the money for himself,--so after the death of the
parents he began to think how he could best get rid of the children.
For some time he kept them till he claimed for them all the goods
that should have been theirs. At last he sent for two robbers, who
had once been his companions, and showing them the boy and girl, who
were at play, offered them a large sum of money to carry them away
and never let him see them more.
One of the two robbers began coaxing the little boy and girl, and
asking them if they would not like to go out for a nice ride in the
woods, each of them on a big horse. The boy said he should if his
sister might go too, and the girl said she should not be afraid if
her brother went with her. So the two robbers enticed them away from
the house, and, mounting their horses, went off into the woods, much
to the delight of the children, who were pleased with the great
trees, the bright flowers, and the singing of the birds.
Now, one of these men was not so bad and cruel as the other, and he
would not consent to kill the poor little creatures, as the other had
threatened he would do. He said that they should be left in the woods
to stray about, and perhaps they might then escape. This led to a
great quarrel between the two, and at last the cruel one jumped off
his horse, saying he would kill them, let who would stand in the way.
Upon this the other drew his sword to protect the children, and after
a fierce fight succeeded in killing his companion.
But though he had saved them from being murdered, he was afraid to
take them back or convey them out of the wood, so he pointed out a
path, telling them to walk straight on and he would come back to them
when he had bought some bread for their supper; he rode away and left
them there all alone, with only the trees, and birds and flowers.
They loved each other so dearly, and were so bold and happy, that
they were not much afraid though they were both very hungry.
The two children soon got out of the path, which led into the
thickest part of the wood, and then they wandered farther and farther
into the thicket till they were both sadly tired, but they found some
wild berries, nuts and fruits, and began to eat them to satisfy their
hunger. The dark night came on and the robber did not return. They
were cold, and still very hungry, and the boy went about looking for
fresh fruit for his sister, and tried to comfort her as they lay down
to sleep on the soft moss under the trees.
The next day, and the next, they roamed about, but there was nothing
to eat but wild fruits; and they lived on them till they grew so weak
that they could not go far from the tree where they had made a little
bed of grass and weeds. There they laid down as the shades of night
fell upon them, and in the morning they were both in heaven, for they
died there in the forest, and as the sun shone upon their little pale
faces, the robins and other birds came and covered their bodies with
leaves, and so died and were buried the poor Babes in the Wood.
[Page 17--Girl's Stories]
Cinderella
Cinderella's mother died while she was a very little child, leaving
her to the care of her father and her step-sisters, who were very
much older than herself; for Cinderella's father had been twice
married, and her mother was his second wife. Now, Cinderella's
sisters did not love her, and were very unkind to her. As she grew
older they made her work as a servant, and even sift the cinders: on
which account they used to call her in mockery "Cinderella." It was
not her real name, but she became afterwards so well known by it that
her proper one has been forgotten.
She was a sweet tempered, good girl, however, and everybody except
her cruel sisters loved her. It happened, when Cinderella was about
seventeen years old, that the King of that country gave a ball, to
which all the ladies of the land, and among the rest the young girl's