MOTHER,' cried a little mouse,
Hurrying down the cellar stairs,
'As I was coming through the house
I met the kitten unawares.
'And as I passed she called to me:
"Come back! come back! I've much to tell.
And most delighted I shall be
If your mamma would come as well."
'So mother, let us hurry, do!
To keep her waiting would be rude:
And asking me, as well as you,
I think was very kind and good.'
But mother mouse with terror cried—
Her eyes were round, her cheeks were pale,
And leaping to her baby's side
She held him by the paw and tail.
'No, no!' said she; 'you must not go!
You should not trust a kitten's word.
Her claws are sharp: she is our foe—
The direful foe of mouse and bird.'
But when an hour had passed away,
The baby mouse said soft and low:
'I wonder what she had to say?
I'll just creep out and ask her now.'
And heedless of his mother's call,
In self-opinion sadly vain,
He met the kitten in the hall—
And never more came back again.