The Cock The Mouse and the Little Red Hen Read online

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  THE COCK, THE MOUSE

  AND THE LITTLE RED HEN

 

 

  _The_ COCK, _The_ MOUSE _and the_ LITTLE RED HEN

  An Old Tale Retold _by_ FELICITE LEFEVRE

 

  With 24 Illustrations _by_ TONY SARG

  MACRAE . SMITH . COMPANY Philadelphia

  To My Nieces CECILIA GARRY and NELLY MELVILLE and to my little friend HARFORD LURY this book is dedicated with my love

  4511 Nineteenth Printing _Manufactured in the United States of America_

  THE COCK, THE MOUSE

  AND THE LITTLE RED HEN

  Once upon a time there was a hill, and on the hill there was a pretty little house.

  It had one little green door, and four little windows with green shutters, and in it there lived

 

 

  A Cock

 

  and A Mouse

  and A Little Red Hen

 

  On another hill close by there was another little house. It was very ugly.

 

  It had a door that wouldn't shut,

 

  and two broken windows, and all the paint was off the shutters

  And in this house there lived

 

 

  A BOLD BAD FOX and FOUR BAD LITTLE FOXES

 

  One morning these four bad little foxes

 

 

  came to the big bad Fox and said:

  "Oh, Father, we're so hungry!"

  "We had nothing to eat yesterday," said one.

  "And scarcely anything the day before," said another.

  "And only half a chicken the day before that," said the third.

  "And only two little ducks the day before that," said the fourth.

 

  The big bad Fox shook his head for a long time, for he was thinking.

 

  At last he said in a big gruff voice:

  "On that hill over there I see a house. And in that house there lives a Cock."

  "And a Mouse," screamed two of the little foxes.

 

  "And a little Red Hen," screamed the other two.

  "And they are nice and fat," went on the big bad Fox. "This very day, I'll take my great sack, and I will go up that hill, and in at that door, and into my sack I will put the Cock, and the Mouse, and the little Red Hen."

 

  "I'll make a fire to roast the Cock," said one little fox.

  "I'll put on the saucepan to boil the Hen," said the second.

 

  "And I'll get the frying pan to fry the Mouse," said the third.

 

 

  "And I'll have the biggest helping when they are all cooked," said the fourth, who was the greediest of all.

  So the four little foxes jumped for joy, and the big bad Fox went to get his sack ready to start upon his journey.

 

 

  But what was happening to the Cock and the Mouse, and the little Red Hen, all this time?

 

  Well, sad to say, the Cock and the Mouse had both got out of bed on the wrong side that morning.

 

 

  The Cock said the day was too hot, and the Mouse grumbled because it was too cold.

  They came grumbling down to the kitchen, where the good little Red Hen, looking as bright as a sunbeam, was bustling about.

  "Who'll get some sticks to light the fire with?" she asked.

  "_I_ shan't," said the Cock.

  "_I_ shan't," said the Mouse.

  "Then I'll do it myself," said the little Red Hen.

  So off she ran to get the sticks.

 

  "And now, who'll fill the kettle from the spring?" she asked.

 

  "_I_ shan't," said the Cock.

  "_I_ shan't," said the Mouse.

 

  "Then I'll do it myself," said the little Red Hen. And off she ran to fill the kettle.

 

 

  "And who'll get the breakfast ready?" she asked, as she put the kettle on to boil.

 

  "_I_ shan't," said the Cock.

 

 

  "_I_ shan't," said the Mouse.

  "I'll do it myself," said the little Red Hen.

 

  All breakfast time the Cock and the Mouse quarrelled and grumbled. The Cock upset the milk jug, and the Mouse scattered crumbs upon the floor

 

  "Who'll clear away the breakfast?" asked the poor little Red Hen, hoping

 

  they would soon leave off being cross.

  "_I_ shan't," said the Cock.

  "_I_ shan't," said the Mouse.

  "Then I'll do it myself," said the little Red Hen.

  So she cleared everything away, swept up the crumbs, and brushed up the fireplace.

 

 

  "And now, who'll help me to make the beds?"

  "_I_ shan't," said the Cock.

  "_I_ shan't," said the Mouse.

 

 

  "Then I'll do it myself," said the little Red Hen.

  And she tripped away upstairs.

  But the lazy Cock and Mouse each sat down in a comfortable arm-chair by the fire

 

  and soon fell fast asleep.

 

 

  Now the bad Fox had crept up the hill, and into the garden, and if the Cock and Mouse hadn't been asleep, they would have seen his sharp eyes peeping in at the window.

  "Rat tat tat, Rat tat tat", the Fox knocked at the door.

 

 

  "Who can that be?" said the Mouse, half opening his eyes.

  "Go and look for yourself, if you want to know," said the rude Cock

 

  "It's the postman perhaps," thought the Mouse to himself, "and he may have a letter for me." So without waiting to see who it was, he lifted the latch and opened the door.

  As soon as he opened it in jumped the big Fox, with a cruel smile upon his face!

 

 

  "Oh! oh! oh!" squeaked the Mouse as he tried to run up the chimney.

  "Doodle doodle do!" screamed the Cock, as he jumped on the back of the biggest arm-chair

  But the Fox only laughed, and without more ado he took the little Mouse by the tail, and popped him into the sack, and seized the Cock by the neck and popped him in too.

 

 

  Then the poor little Red Hen came running down-stairs to see what all the noise was about, and the Fox caught her and put her into the sack with the others.

 

 

  Then he took a long piece of string out of his pocket, wound it round and round and round the mouth of the sack, and tied it very tight indeed.

 

  After that he threw the sack over his back and set off down the hill.

 

  "Oh! I wish I hadn't been so cross," said the Cock, as they went bumping about.

  "Oh! I wish I hadn't been so lazy," said the Mouse, wiping his eyes with the tip of his tail.

  "It's never too late to mend," said the little Red Hen. "And don't be too sad.

 

  See, here I have my little work-bag, and in it there is a pair of scissors, and a little thimble, and a needle and thread. Very soon you will see what I am going to do."

  Now the sun was very