Some time ago, ere we were born or thought of,
There lived a little girl, who liked to roam
Through lonely woods and lanes, unknown, unsought of
Such folk who like to stop and stay at home.
She found out curious things in all her travel
And one of her adventures I will tell:
Once, in a wood she saw a path of gravel,
Which led to a small cottage in a dell.
[Pg 33]
[Pg 34]
[Pg 35] Three basins And, as the door stood open, in walked boldly,
This child, whose name was Silverlocks, I’m told;
There was nobody there to treat her coldly,
No friend to call her back, no nurse to scold.
She found herself within a parlour charming;
And there upon the table there were placed
Three basins, sending up a smell so warming,
That she at once felt hungry, and must taste.
The largest basin first, but hot and biting
The soup was in it, and the second too;
The smallest basin tasted so inviting,
That up she ate it all, with small ado.
[Pg 36]
[Pg 37] Three chairs And next she saw three chairs, and tried to sit in
The biggest, but it was too hard and high;
The middle one she scarcely seemed to fit in,
But in the smallest chair sat easily;
And rocked herself, her ease and comfort taking,
Singing the pretty songs she knew so well;
When, oh! the little chair cracked loud, and, breaking,
Gave way all suddenly, and down she fell.
[Pg 38]
[Pg 39]
[Pg 40] “Ah, well,” she thought, “there may be beds to lie on
Upstairs; I think I’ll go at once and see.”
And so there were; she said aloud, “I’ll try one,
For I am tired and sleepy as can be.”
The biggest bed was not of feathers, surely,
It was so hard; and so she tried the next,
And found it little better; but securely
She slept upon the smallest one, unvext.
The little house belonged to bears, not persons;
The Father Bear, so very rough and large;
The Mother Bear (I have known many worse ones);
And then the little Cub, their only charge.
They had gone for a walk before their dinner;
Returning, Father growled, “Who’s touched my soup?”
“Who’s touched my soup?” said Mother, with voice thinner;
“But mine,” said little Cub, “is finished up!”
They turned to draw their chairs a little nearer;
“Who’s sat in my chair?” growled the Father Bear;
“Who’s sat in my chair?” said the Mother, clearer;
And squeaked the little Cub, “Who’s broken my small chair?”
[Pg 41]
[Pg 42]
[Pg 43] Who’s lain upon my bed? They rushed upstairs, and Father Bruin, growling,
Cried out, “Who’s lain upon my bed?”
“Who’s lain on mine?” cried Mother Bruin, howling;
But some one lies on mine “But some one lies on mine!” the small Bear said.
“We’ll kill the child, and eat her for our dinner,”
The Father growled; but said the Mother, “No;
For supper she shall be, and I will skin her.”
“No,” said the little Cub, “we’ll let her go.”
[Pg 45]
[Pg 46] Silverlocks, in sudden terror flying So Silverlocks, in sudden terror flying,
Reached home; and when the Nurse the story hears,
She says, “You are in luck, there’s no denying,
To get away in safety from
THREE BEARS.”
[Contents]
WALTER CRANE’S PICTURE BOOKS RE-ISSUE: Series list The following may be had in this series:
This Little Pig
The Fairy Ship
King Luckieboy
Mother Hubbard
The Three Bears
The Absurd A.B.C.
John Lane
The Bodley Head
London & New York
WALTER CRANE’S PICTURE BOOKS RE-ISSUE THE ABSURD A.B.C.
A, B, C, D A for the APPLE or Alphabet pie,
Which all get a slice of. Come taste it & try.
B is the BABY who gave Mr. Bunting
Full many a long day’s rabbit skin hunting.
C for the CAT that played on the fiddle
When cows jumped higher than ‘Heigh Diddle Diddle!’
D for the DAME with her pig at the stile,
’Tis said they got over, but not yet a while.
[Pg 51]
[Pg 52]
[Pg 53] E, F, G E for the Englishman, ready to make fast
The giant who wanted to have him for breakfast.
F for the Frog in the story you know,
Begun with a wooing but ending in woe.
G for Goosey Gander who wandered upstairs,
And met the old man who objected to prayers.
[Pg 54]
[Pg 55] H, I, J H for poor Humpty who after his fall,
Felt obliged to resign his seat on the wall.
I for the Inn where they wouldn’t give beer,
To one with too much and no money, I fear.
J does for poor Jack and also for Jill,
Who had so disastrous a tumble down hill.
[Pg 56]
[Pg 57]
[Pg 58] K for calm Kitty, at dinner who sat,
While all the good folks watched the dog & the cat.
L for Little man, gun and bullets complete,
Who shot the poor duck and was proud of the feat.
M for Miss Muffet, with that horrid spider,
Just dropped into tea and a chat beside her.
N for the Numerous children, they who
Were often too much for their mother in Shoe.
O the Old person that cobwebs did spy,
And went up to sweep ’em Oh ever so high!
P for the Pie made of blackbirds to sing,
A song fit for supper, a dish for a king.
[Pg 59]
[Pg 60]
[Pg 61] Q, R, S Q for Queen Anne who sat in the sun
Till she, more than the lily resembled the bun.
R stands for Richard & Robert, those men
Who didn’t get up one fine morning till ten!
S for the Snail that showed wonderful fight,
Putting no less than twenty-four tailors to flight!
T, U, V T stands for Tom, the son of the piper,
May his principles change as his years grow riper.
U for the Unicorn, keeping his eye on
The coveted crown, and its counsel the Lion.
V is for Victuals, including the drink,
The old woman lived on surprising to think!
W, X, Y, Z W for the WOMAN who not over nice,
Made very short work of the three blind mice.
X is the X that is found upon buns,
Which daughters not liking may come in for sons.
Y for Yankee Doodle of ancient renown,
Both he & his pony that took him to town.
Z for the Zany who looked like a fool,
For when he was young he neglected his school.
[Contents]
[Pg 66]
[Pg 67] WALTER CRANE’S PICTURE BOOKS RE-ISSUE: Series list The following may be had in this series:
This Little Pig
The Fairy Ship
King Luckieboy
Mother Hubbard
The Three Bears
The Absurd A.B.C.
John Lane
The Bodley Head
London & New York
The Lane Her neck did she CRANE,
As she looked up the LANE
To see the Three Bears pass by.
They all went in, oddly,
At the head of the Bodley
An A.B.C. for to buy.
Mother Hubbard and Dog She went rather nearer
To get a good look,
And when she came back
He had run through her book!
[Contents]
Transcriber’s notes: Table of Contents added to aid navigation. In the original, the text was interlaced with the illustrations. In this etext it has been placed below the associated illustration. Punctuation and spacing “A.B.C.” has been used for all occurrences. Full stops or commas have been added where omitted at the ends of lines. In The Absurd A.B.C., the positions of the apostrophes have been corrected in “Full many a long day’s rabbit skin hunting” and “went up to sweep ’em”
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