Anonymous

“ Now they were all very happy, as I told you, and loved the shepherd dearly that was so good to them—all except one foolish little lamb. And this lamb did not like to be shut up every night in the fold; and she [Pg 237] came to her mother, who was a wise old sheep, and said to her, “I wonder why we are shut up so every night? the dogs are not shut up, and why should we be shut up? I think it is very hard, and I will get away if I can, I am resolved; for I like to run about where I please, and I think it is very pleasant in the woods by moonlight.” ”

“ Like a lazy tyrant, instead of making a house for himself, the cuckoo [Pg 220] takes the first little bird’s nest he can find, and turns the poor occupant away. When we reached the tree where the cuckoo was, we saw it sitting on a small nest throwing out the eggs of a poor little bird, who was screaming in anger at the intruder.
When I told Harry what the cuckoo had been doing, he wanted to throw a stone at it, but I told him that this cuckoo [Pg 221] was only doing what all other cuckoos did, and that the poor little bird would soon build itself another nest. ”

“ HARRY’S LADDER TO LEARNING.
[Pg 146]
PART IV. HARRY’S NURSERY TALES.
[Pg 147]
NURSERY TALES.
Girls and boys come out to play,
The moon is shining bright as day;
Leave your supper and leave your sleep,
And come with your playfellows into the street;
Come with a whoop, and come with a call,
Come with a good will, or come not at all.
Come, let us dance on the open green,
And she who holds longest shall be our queen.
[Pg 148]
Little Bo-peep has lost her sheep,
And cannot tell where to find ’em;
Leave them alone, and they’ll come home,
And bring their tails behind ’em. ”

“ Into the ground. It makes a little hole and runs into the ground.
There are some young lambs. Poor things! how they creep under the hedge. What is this flower? A primrose. Where is Harry? He is sitting under a tree.
[Pg 186]
APRIL.
Now the birds sing, and the trees are in blossom, and flowers are coming out, and butterflies, and the sun shines. Now it rains. It rains and the sun shines. There is a rainbow. Oh, what fine colours! Pretty bright rainbow! No, you cannot catch it; it is in the sky. It is going away. [Pg 187] It fades. It is quite gone. I hear the cuckoo. He says, Cuckoo! cuckoo! ”

“ It is a place like the court; but instead of pales there are hurdles, which [Pg 236] are made of sticks that will bend, such as osier twigs; and they are twisted and made very fast, so that nothing can creep in, and nothing can get out. Well, and so every night, when it grew dark and cold, the shepherd called all his flock, sheep and lambs, together, and drove them into the fold, and penned them up, and there they lay as snug and warm and comfortable as could be, and nothing could get in to hurt them, and the dogs lay round on the outside to guard them, and to bark if any body came near ”

“ Let us go into the corn-fields to see if the corn is almost ripe. Yes, it is quite brown; it is ripe. Farmer Diggory! you must bring a sharp sickle and cut down the corn; it is ripe. Now it must be tied up in sheaves. Now put a great many sheaves together, and make a shock.
There is a poor old woman picking up some ears of corn; and a poor little girl with her. They are gleaning. Give them [Pg 195] your handful, Harry. Take it, poor woman, it will help to make you a loaf. ”

“ He took a great deal of care of them, and gave them sweet fresh grass to eat, and clear water to drink; and if they were sick he was very good to them; and when they climbed up a steep hill, and the lambs were tired, he used to carry them in his arms; and when they were all eating their suppers in the [Pg 235] field, he used to sit upon a stile, and play them a tune, and sing to them. And so they were the happiest sheep and lambs in the whole world. But every night this shepherd used to pen them up in a fold. Do you know what a sheepfold is? ”

“ She is paring apples, and chopping meat, and beating spice. What for, I wonder? It is to make mince-pies. Do you love mince-pies? Oh, they are very good!
Look! a pretty little robin is flying against the window. Open the window. Well, what do you want, little robin? Only a few crumbs of bread. Give him some crumbs, and he will hop, hop about the parlour, and sit upon the top of the screen, and sing—oh, he will sing all day long! [Pg 203] Now pray do not let that wicked cat take him. No, puss! you must go and catch mice; you shall not eat poor robin. ”

“ Four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,
And was not that a dainty dish to set before the king?
The king was in the parlour, counting out his money ”

“ Except the noise made by sparrows when they go to bed on a summer’s evening, I never heard the like.
While I was amusing myself by watching the titmice, Harry, who had rambled on a little way, came running back to ask me what the funny thing could be that he had [Pg 218] found. It was a mole that had been caught in a trap, and was dangling in the air with a swarm of bees around. I told Harry that the moles are blind, or nearly so, and that they live under the ground, and do great good to the farmers by eating the slugs and other things that destroy the corn ”

“ It cannot fly any further. It is going to die. What bird is it? It is a partridge. Are you not sorry, Harry? It was alive a little while ago.
Bring the ladder, and set it against the tree. Now bring a basket. We must gather apples. No, you cannot go up the ladder; you must have a little basket, and pick up apples under the tree. Shake the [Pg 197] tree. Down they come. How many have you got? We will have an apple-dumpling. Come, you must help to carry the apples into the apple-chamber. Apples make cyder. You shall have some baked pears and bread for supper, and some cyder. Are these apples? ”

“ Then the old sheep said to her, “You are very silly, you little lamb, you had better stay in the fold. The shepherd is so good to us, that we should always do as he bids us; and if you wander about by yourself, I dare say you will come to some harm.” “I dare say not,” said the little lamb. And so when the evening came, and the shepherd called them all to come into the fold, she would not come, but crept slily under a hedge and hid herself; and when the rest of the lambs were all in the [Pg 238] fold and fast asleep, she came out, and jumped, and frisked, and danced about ”

“ Harry was greatly excited at this scene, and cried to see the hawk carry away the poor little duck; but he soon laughed again, for as he watched the robber in his flight through the air, he saw a number of little birds fly after him,—sparrows, swallows, [Pg 230] finches, all chirping at him and mocking him; then a tribe of bigger birds, blackbirds, magpies, rooks, and jays, flew after him also; and as the hawk could not fly fast with the duckling in his claws, they soon overtook him, and we saw them peck at his wings and his tail, and pull his feathers [Pg 231] out ”

“ And always sings “Cuckoo”
When spring-time is near.
[Pg 188]
MAY.
Oh, pleasant May! Let us walk out in the fields. The hawthorn is in blossom. Let us go and get some out of the hedges. And here are daisies, and cowslips, and crow-flowers. We will make a nosegay. Smell, it is very sweet! What has Harry got? He has got a nest of young birds. He has been climbing a high tree for them. [Pg 189] Poor little birds! they have no feathers. Keep them warm. You must feed them with a quill. You must give them bread and milk. They are young goldfinches. ”

“ Little boys come from school at Christmas. Pray wrap them up warm, for it is very cold. Well, spring will come again some time.
[Pg 204]
THE IDLE BOY.
There was a little boy; he was not a big boy, for if he had been a big boy I suppose he would have been wiser; but this was a little boy, not higher than the table, and his papa and mamma sent him to school. It was a very pleasant morning; the sun shone, and the birds sung on the trees. Now this little boy did not much love his book, for he was but a silly little boy, as I told you; and he had a great mind to play instead of going to school. ”

“ Then the silly lamb wished she had been shut up in the fold, but the fold was a great way off. And the wolf saw her and seized her, and carried her away [Pg 239] to a dismal den; and there the wolf had two cubs, and the wolf said to them, “Here, I have brought you a young fat lamb.” And so the cubs took her, and growled over her a little while, and then ate her up.
Harry said that was a very naughty lamb. ”

“ They all flew away at our approach; but the old cock-pheasant left two of his tail-feathers in the brush-wood, which Harry soon picked up to decorate his hat with.
The next bird that caught our notice was a fly-catcher. It was sitting on a bramble catching bees and flies, and so [Pg 224] intently was it watching for them, that it did not even notice our presence, till Harry tried to put his hand on it, but then away it flew with a fine chattering. ”

“ He used to live single:
But when he got tired of this kind of life,
He left off being single, and got him a wife.
Little Robin Red-breast sat upon a tree,
Up went Pussy-cat, and down went he;
Down came Pussy-cat, and away Robin ran:
Says little Robin Red-breast, “Catch me if you can.”
Little Robin Red-breast hopp’d upon a wall,
Pussy-cat jump’d after him, and almost got a fall.
Little Robin chirp’d and sang, and what did Pussy say?
Pussy-cat said, “Mew,” and Robin flew away.
There was an old woman, and what do you think?
She lived upon nothing but victuals and drink ”

“ In a wheelbarrow.
The wheelbarrow broke,
And my wife had a fall,
Down came the wheelbarrow,
My wife, and all.
[Pg 169]
Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head.
[Pg 171]
We’re all dry with drinking on’t,
We’re all dry with drinking on’t;
The piper kiss’d the fiddler’s wife,
And I can’t sleep for thinking on’t.
I have a little sister, they call her Peep, Peep,
She wades in the water, deep, deep, deep,
She climbs up the mountains, high, high, high ”

“ I must go and plough, or else there will be no corn to make bread of.” Then the little boy thought with himself, “What! is nobody idle? then little boys must not be idle neither.” So he made haste, and went to school, and learned his lesson very well, and the master said he was a good boy. [Pg 207]
GATHERING APPLES.
See, here is Mamma, and here are Maria, and Harry, and Herbert. They are in the [Pg 208] orchard gathering apples to put into puddings. See, Mamma is shaking the tree, and Maria is catching the apples in her frock. And look, how busy Harry and Herbert are! ”

“ She wash’d all the dishes and kept the house clean;
She went to the mill to fetch me some flour,
She brought it home safe in less than half an hour;
She baked me my bread, she brew’d me my ale,
She sat by the fire and told a fine tale.
Handy-spandy, Jack-a-Dandy
Loves plum-cake and sugar-candy.
He bought some at a grocer’s shop,
And pleased, away went, hop, hop, hop.
Four-and-twenty tailors
Went to kill a snail,
The best man among them
Durst not touch her tail. ”

“ What a nice Sheep with her two pretty Lambs!
[Pg 110]
This is a pretty Tree! it is an Ash.
[Pg 111]
Look at the Cattle in the Farm-yard.
[Pg 113] [Pg 112]
HARRY’S LADDER TO LEARNING. PART III. HARRY’S NURSERY SONGS.
[Pg 115] [Pg 114]
NURSERY SONGS.
Rock-a-bye, baby, thy cradle is green ”