Arthur Rackham

“ The mouse ran down,
Hickory, dickory, dock.
Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross
To see a fine lady upon a white horse;
With rings on her fingers, and bells on her toes,
She shall have music wherever she goes. ”

“ An oracle had foretold that she would one day give birth to a son, who would kill her father. So Acrisius for safety’s sake shut her up in a tower, where, nevertheless, she was visited by Zeus in a shower of gold and became the mother of Perseus. Acrisius put the mother and child into a chest and exposed them on the sea. ”

“ The cat, however, manages by a succession of clever tricks to make his master’s fortune. He gains for him the fine castle and vast estates that belonged to an ogre by the same device that Loge used to get the Ring of the Niblungs from Alberich. He calls at the castle and, by pretending to doubt the ogre’s magic powers, he induces him to change himself first into a lion and then into a mouse, whereupon he falls upon him and eats him up. ”

“ The monster took the knife, and thinking to follow Jack’s example with impunity, killed himself on the spot.” 14 JACK AND THE BEAN STALK Jack clambers down the beanstalk and chops it through with his axe; and the giant who is descending after him falls to the earth and is killed. 15 PUSS IN BOOTS Puss in Boots was the sole possession of a poor youth. ”

“ Two legs sat upon three legs,
With one leg in his lap;
In comes four legs,
And runs away with one leg;
Up jumps two legs,
Catches up three legs,
Throws it after four legs,
And makes him bring back one leg. ”

“ III
A carrion-crow sat on an oak,
⁠Fol de riddle, lol de riddle, hi-ding do,
Watching a tailor mend his cloak;
⁠Sing heigh, sing ho, the carrion-crow,
⁠Fol de riddle, lol de riddle, hi-ding do! ”

“ To wrap the baby bunting in.
II.
Baa, baa, black sheep,
⁠Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
⁠Three bags full:
One for my master,
⁠And one for my dame,
And one for the little boy
⁠Who lives in our lane. ”

“ She found them indeed, but it
⁠made her heart bleed,
⁠For they ‘d left their tails
⁠behind them.
THREE BLIND MICE
Three blind mice! See how they run!
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with the carving-
⁠knife,—
Did you ever see such fun in your life
Did you‍As three blind mice?
PUSSY-CAT, PUSSY-CAT
“Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat, where have you been?”
“I ’ve been up to London to look at the Queen.”
“Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat, what did you there?” ”

“ They went to church, and married was she:
The Fly has married the Bumblebee.
Drawn by Arthur Rackham.
A TEN O’CLOCK SCHOLAR
A dillar, a dollar,
A ten o’clock scholar,
What makes you come so soon? ”