Various

“ The first drop loosened the bean, the second softened it, and the third sent it down her throat.
Hen-alie was well again; Cock-alu was ready to clap his wings and crow for joy; and the little hen turned quietly away to her solitary perch.
“Nay,” said Hen-alie, “but you shall not go unrewarded; see, here is a pair of silk stockings for you, and here is green fire which will make the most beautiful feathers in the world grow all over your body! Take them all, you good little thing, and to-morrow morning you will come out the handsomest hen in the yard!” ”

“ Thumbelina loved the swallow dearly. Her eyes were full of tears as she watched the bird disappearing till he was only a tiny speck of black.
And now sad days came to little Thumbelina.
The golden corn was once more waving in the sunshine above the house of the field-mouse, but Thumbelina must not go out lest she lose herself among the corn.
Not go out in the bright sunshine! Oh, poor little Thumbelina!
“You must get your wedding clothes ready this summer,” said the field-mouse. “You must be well provided with linen and worsted. My neighbor the mole will wish a well-dressed bride.” ”

“ Butterflies were flitting here and there in the sunshine. A pretty little white one fluttered onto the leaf on which sat Thumbelina. He loved the tiny maiden so well that he settled down beside her.
Now she was quite happy! Birds around her, flowers near her, and the water gleaming like gold in the summer sunshine. What besides could little Thumbelina wish?
She took off her sash and threw one end of it round the butterfly. The other end she fastened firmly to the leaf. On and on floated the leaf, the little maiden and the butterfly. ”

“ That night the little girl and boy drove home by moonlight from their grandmother’s farm. When they were in their own room they looked out of the window toward the corn-field. They saw the corn-shocks, like wigwams, with black shadows. They saw the tree dark against the sky. They saw the big round yellow moon rising above the ridge of the field. They saw the pumpkin table and pumpkin chairs. They saw, sitting on one chair, the Rabbit, with his ears sticking straight up as he ate his parsley and cabbage. ”

“ She fetched warm cotton and laid it over the bird.
“Even down on the cold earth he will be warm now,” thought the gentle little maiden.
“Farewell,” she said sadly, “farewell, little bird! Did you sing to me through the long summer days, when the leaves were green and the sky was blue? Farewell, little swallow!” and she stooped to press her tiny cheeks against the soft feathers.
As she did so, she heard—what could it be? pit, pat, pit, pat! Could the bird be alive? Little Thumbelina listened still. Yes, it was the beating of the little bird’s heart that she heard. ”

“ Chatter laughed at this.
“The shadows are getting long,” he said. “If you wish to be home before sunset, we must start back.”
“Wait a minute!” cried the rabbit, sitting up and sniffing the air. “I smell carrots!”
“Never mind,” said the squirrel.
“Never mind carrots? Oh, Chatter Chuk! You don’t know how good they are.”
“Well, we haven’t any time to find them,” he replied. “For my part, I could run home in five minutes, but you are so clumsy it will take you an hour. Where are you going now?”
“Just over here,” said Fuzzy Wuz. “Those carrots can’t be far off.” ”

“ The fox when he came to the farmer’s gate,
Who should he see but the farmer’s drake;
I love you well for your master’s sake,
And long to be picking your bone, e-ho!
The gray goose she ran round the hay-stack.
Oh, ho! said the fox, you are very fat;
You’ll grease my beard and ride on my back
From this unto yonder wee town e-ho!
Old Gammer Hipple-hopple hopped out of bed,
She opened the casement, and popped out her head.
Oh! husband, oh! husband, the gray goose is dead,
And the fox is gone through the town, oh! ”

“ PUSSY’S WHEELS BY ANNIE W. McCULLOUGH
I wonder what you’re thinking of, my darling little cat.
It may be meat, it may be cream, that makes you nice and fat;
It may be all the fun you have in barn-loft warm and dry;
It may be mice you try to catch as by their hole you lie.
Perhaps you think of trees to climb, with birds that sing up there,
They always get away from you, although you creep with care. ”

“ Once in a while they would pause while Fuzzy Wuz nibbled a green leaf or Chatter Chuk cracked a fallen nut in his strong teeth, to see if it was sound and sweet.
“It seems funny for me to be on the ground so long,” he said. “But I invited you to walk with me, and of course a rabbit can’t run up a tree and leap from limb to limb, as my people do.”
“That is true,” admitted Fuzzy; “nor can squirrels burrow in the ground, as rabbits do.”
“They have no need to,” declared the squirrel. “We find a hollow tree, and with our sharp teeth gnaw a hole through the shell and find a warm, dry home inside.” ”

“ We’re safe from Juggerjook here,” she said.
“I’m not sure of that,” remarked the squirrel, uneasily. “One is never safe from punishment if he is discovered breaking the law. I hope the magician was asleep and did not hear us.”
“I hope so, too,” added the rabbit; and then they ran along at more ease, rambling through the forest paths and enjoying the fragrance of the woods and the lights and shadows cast by the sun as it peeped through the trees. ”

“ The excitement on finding the child safe and sound may be better imagined than described. How she was kissed, cried, and laughed over, what questions were asked and not answered, as she was taken into an adjoining room and arrayed in a complete suit of Gretel’s clothes, even to the klompen, for, alas! her French shoes were now in no condition to be worn, the pretty blue frock torn and stained and hopelessly wet, the hat with its dainty plume crushed and useless; indeed, every article she had worn looked only fit for the rag-bag. ”

“ I know it is like buds in the warm time.”
“Hush,” said Papa Hare, very low and deep. “You are not good. When you are good, and the moon is high in the sky, and it is just like day, I will take you far out in the wood, and you may run and jump and play and eat the food that is best for you.”
“I do not want to go out in the wood, and run and jump and play when the moon is high in the sky. I want to do just as I like. I want to eat the red buds from the red bush,” said the Wee Hare.
“Shut your eyes, and put your ears down, and take your nap,” said his Mama. “You are too tiny to go away from me. ”

“ One day her mother said to her: “Come, Red Riding-Hood, I want you to go and see your grandmother, and take her a piece of cake and a bottle of wine; for she is ill and weak, and this will do her good. Make haste and get ready before the weather gets too hot, and go straight on your road while you are out, and behave prettily and modestly; and do not run, for fear you should fall and break the bottle, and then grandmother would have no wine. And when you pass through the village, do not forget to courtesy and say ‘Good-morning’ to every one who knows you.” ”

“ Now, one day this teeny-tiny woman put on her teeny-tiny bonnet and went out of her teeny-tiny house to take a teeny-tiny walk. And when this teeny-tiny woman had gone a teeny-tiny way, she came to a teeny-tiny gate; so the teeny-tiny woman opened the teeny-tiny gate, and went into a teeny-tiny meadow. And when this teeny-tiny woman had got into the teeny-tiny meadow, she saw a teeny-tiny bone on a teeny-tiny stone, and the teeny-tiny woman said to her teeny-tiny self: “This teeny-tiny bone will make me some teeny-tiny soup for my teeny-tiny supper.” ”

“ You know you must hide from Man, and Dog, and Hawk; but I must tell you that you are to hide from Cat, also.”
“Who is CAT?” said Tiny Hare.
“CAT is not so big as DOG. She has soft fur and two big wild eyes.”
“She is just like me,” said Tiny Hare. “I have soft fur and big eyes; then CAT is just a Hare.”
“The very idea!” said Mama Hare. “You have not big wild eyes, and your tail is not long like CAT’S. CAT is not good for a Hare to meet. She can run very fast, and she has a claw for each toe,” and she gave Tiny Hare a wee bite.
“Does CAT live in our wood?” said Tiny Hare. ”

“ The Bookshelf begins with the dawn of intelligence in the child, and goes with him through the morning of childhood, and into the noonday of youth. It contains a complete stock of finger-plays, action-plays, lullabies, and other entertaining and educational material enjoyable to babies and little children; it reaches into and through the high-school age. In fact, the Bookshelf, with its valuable scientific and natural-history material, its information about inventions and industries, and its literary treasures, is an asset to the library even of an adult. ”

“ The little boy was examining the box.
“Do rabbits gnaw through wood, Father?” he asked.
“No, my son,” was the reply.
“But there is a hole here. And see! There are the splinters upon the ground.”
The man examined the box in turn, somewhat curiously.
“How strange!” he said. “These are marks of the squirrel’s teeth. Now, I wonder if the squirrel was trying to liberate the rabbit.”
“Looks like it, Daddy; doesn’t it?” replied the boy.
“I never heard of such a thing in my life,” declared the man. “These little creatures often display more wisdom than we give them credit for. ”

“ Down under the mud the old toad was very busy, decking the best room with buttercups and buds of water-lilies to make it gay for her little daughter-in-law, Thumbelina.
“Now we will go to bring her little bed and place it ready,” said the old toad, and together she and her son swam out to the leaf where little Thumbelina sat.
“Here is my handsome son,” she said, “he is to be your husband,” and she bowed low in the water, for she wished to be very polite to the little maiden. ”

“ THE CAT AND THE MOUSE [J] The cat and the mouse
Played in the malt-house:
The cat bit the mouse’s tail off. “Pray, puss, give me my tail.” “No,” says the cat, “I’ll not give you your tail, till you go to the cow, and fetch me some milk.”
First she leaped, and then she ran,
Till she came to the cow, and thus began:
“Pray, Cow, give me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again.” “No,” said the cow, “I will give you no milk, till you go to the farmer, and get me some hay.” ”

“ Children as young as three are ready for the simplest sort of stories, but it is so hard for us grown-ups to become children again that many of us have found difficulty in suiting our language and thought to their eager but unfurnished minds. These bedtime stories and little tales of babies and animals and girls and boys are therefore a real godsend.
Soon comes the time when the little folk are ready to learn about the letters and the numbers and the days of the week. ”

“ All at once, Maggie, the little girl who lived up-stairs, ran into the dark corner to hide from Johnnie, just for fun. And what do you think she saw?
The four little mice peeping out of the door, and the poor, frightened mama mouse and the little baby at the window.
Maggie stopped just a minute to whisper gently to little, gray Mrs. Squeaky, “Don’t be frightened, ‘Little Old Woman Who Lives in the Shoe.’ I’ll never, never tell anybody where you live. No, I won’t even tell Johnnie or my kitty. They might try to catch you. ”

“ I always told you so! I will do anything for you; I’ll go round the world for you, I’ll travel as far as the sun for you! You know I would! Tell me, what shall I do for you?”
“Crow!” said Hen-alie.
“Oh, that is such a little thing!” said Cock-alu, and crowed with all his might. He crowed so loud that he woke the farmer’s wife, and the dog and the cat, and all the pigeons and horses in the stable, and the cow in the stall. He crowed so loud that all the neighbors’ cocks heard him and answered him, and they woke all their people; and thus Cock-alu woke the whole parish. ”

“ This is the Horse that pranced and neighed when he saw the Woodman sober and staid who slung the Ax with a shining blade that chopped the Tree of a dusky shade that gave the Wood that heated the Oven that baked the Cake that fed the Doll that lived in the House that Jill built. ”

“ As Aunt Polly walked she looked here, and she looked there. And she called:
“Little Boy Blue! Come blow your horn.
The sheep’s in the meadow, the cow’s in the corn.”
Where do you think Aunt Polly found him? When the head-farmer asked her, “Where’s the little boy that looks after the sheep?” Aunt Polly said: “He’s under the haycock, fast asleep.”
“Shall we go wake him?” said the head-farmer.
“No, no; let him lie,” said Aunt Polly. “For if we should wake him, ‘he’d cry, cry, cry.’”
You see Little Boy Blue got up so early, he grew sleepy. And the sun was hot. And the haymow made a soft pillow. ”