Once upon a time there was an old Sow with three little Pigs, and as she had not enough to keep them, she sent them out to seek their fortune.

The first that went off met a Man with a bundle of straw, and said to him, "Please, Man, give me that straw to build me a house"; which the Man did, and the little Pig built a house with it. Presently came along a Wolf, and knocked at the door, and said, "Little Pig, little Pig, let me come in."

To which the Pig answered, "No, no, by the hair of my chinny chin chin."

"Then I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in!" said the Wolf. So he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew his house in, and ate up the little Pig.

The second Pig met a Man with a bundle of furze, and said, "Please, Man, give me that furze to build a house"; which the Man did, and the Pig built his house. Then along came the Wolf and said, "Little Pig, little Pig, let me come in."

"No, no, by the hair of my chinny chin chin."

"Then I'll puff and I'll huff, and I'll blow your house in!" So he huffed and he puffed, and he puffed and he huffed, and at last he blew the house down, and ate up the second little Pig.

The third little Pig met a Man with a load of bricks, and said, "Please, Man, give me those bricks to build a house with"; so the Man gave him the bricks, and he built his house with them.

So the Wolf came, as he did to the other little Pigs, and said, "Little Pig, little Pig, let me come in."

"No, no, by the hair of my chinny chin chin." "Then I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in." Well, he huffed and he puffed, and he huffed and he puffed, and he puffed and he huffed; but he could not get the house down. When he found that he could not, with all his huffing and puffing, blow the house down, he said, "Little Pig, I know where there is a nice field of turnips."

"Where?" said the little Pig.

"Oh, in Mr. Smith's home-field; and if you will be ready to-morrow morning, I will call for you, and we will go together and get some for dinner."

"Very well," said the little Pig, "I will be ready. What time do you mean to go?"

"Oh, at six o'clock."

Well, the little Pig got up at five, and got the turnips and was home again before six.

When the Wolf came he said, "Little Pig, are you ready?"

"Ready!" said the little Pig, "I have been and come back again, and got a nice pot-full for dinner."

The Wolf felt very angry at this, but thought that he would be up to the little Pig somehow or other; so he said, "Little Pig, I know where there is a nice apple-tree." "Where?" said the Pig.

"Down at Merry-garden," replied the Wolf; "and if you will not deceive me I will come for you, at five o'clock to-morrow, and we will go together and get some apples."

Well, the little Pig woke at four the next morning, and bustled up, and went off for the apples, hoping to get back before the Wolf came; but he had farther to go, and had to climb the tree, so that just as he was coming down from it, he saw the Wolf coming, which, as you may suppose, frightened him very much. When the Wolf came up he said, "Little Pig, what! are you here before me? Are they nice apples?"

"Yes, very," said the little Pig; "I will throw you down one." And he threw it so far that, while the Wolf was gone to pick it up, the little Pig jumped down and ran home.

The next day the Wolf came again, and said to the little Pig, "Little Pig, there is a Fair in the Town this afternoon: will you go?"

"Oh, yes," said the Pig, I will go; what time shall you be ready?"

"At three," said the Wolf.

So the little Pig went off before the time, as usual, and got to the Fair, and bought a butter churn, and was on his way home with it when he saw the Wolf coming. Then he could not tell what to do. So he got into the churn to hide, and in doing so turned it round, and it began to roll, and rolled down the hill with the Pig inside it, which frightened the Wolf so much that he ran home without going to the Fair.

He went to the little Pig's house, and told him how frightened he had been by a great round thing which came down the hill past him.

Then the little Pig said, "Hah! I frightened you, did I? I had been to the Fair and bought a butter churn, and when I saw you I got into it, and rolled down the hill."

Then the Wolf was very angry indeed, and declared he would eat up the little Pig, and that he would get down the chimney after him.

When the little Pig saw what he was about, he hung on the pot full of water, and made up a blazing fire, and, just as the Wolf was coming down, took off the cover of the pot, and in fell the Wolf.

And the little Pig put on the cover again in an instant, boiled him up, and ate him for supper, and lived happy ever after.

Once upon a time there were Three Bears, who lived together in a house of their own, in a wood. One of them was a Little, Small, Wee Bear; and one was a Middle-sized Bear, and the other was a Great, Huge Bear. They had each a pot for their porridge; a little pot for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized pot for the Middle Bear, and a great pot for the Great, Huge Bear. And they had each a chair to sit in; a little chair for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized chair for the Middle Bear, and a great chair for the Great, Huge Bear. And they had each a bed to sleep in; a little bed for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized bed for the Middle Bear, and a great bed for the Great, Huge Bear.

One day, after they had made the porridge for their breakfast, and poured it into their porridge-pots, they walked out into the wood while the porridge was cooling, that they might not burn their mouths by beginning too soon to eat it.

And while they were walking, a little Girl called Goldenlocks came to the house. First she looked in at the window, and then she peeped in at the keyhole; and seeing nobody in the house, she turned the handle of the door. The door was not fastened, because the Bears were good Bears, who did nobody any harm, and never suspected that anybody would harm them. So Goldenlocks opened the door, and went in; and well pleased she was when she saw the porridge on the table. If she had been a thoughtful little Girl, she would have waited till the Bears came home, and then, perhaps, they would have asked her to breakfast; for they were good Bears—a little rough or so, as the manner of Bears is, but for all that very good-natured and hospitable. But the porridge looked tempting, and she set about helping herself.

So first she tasted the porridge of the Great, Huge Bear, and that was too hot for her. And then she tasted the porridge of the Middle Bear, and that was too cold for her. And then she went to the porridge of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and tasted that; and that was neither too hot nor too cold, but just right, and she liked it so well that she ate it all up.

Then Goldenlocks sat down in the chair of the Great, Huge Bear, and that was too hard for her. And then she sat down in the chair of the Middle Bear, and that was too soft for her. And then she sat down in the chair of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and that was neither too hard nor too soft, but just right. So she seated herself in it, and there she sat till the bottom of the chair came out, and down she came plump upon the ground.

Then Goldenlocks went upstairs into the bedchamber in which the three Bears slept. And first she lay down upon the bed of the Great, Huge Bear, but that was too high at the head for her. And next she lay down upon the bed of the Middle Bear, and that was too high at the foot for her. And then she lay down upon the bed of the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and that was neither too high at the head nor at the foot, but just right. So she covered herself up comfortably, and lay there till she fell fast asleep.

By this time the Three Bears thought their porridge would be cool enough; so they came home to breakfast. Now Goldenlocks had left the spoon of the Great, Huge Bear standing in his porridge.

"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN AT MY PORRIDGE!" said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. And when the Middle Bear looked at hers, she saw that the spoon was standing in it too.

"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN AT MY PORRIDGE!" said the Middle Bear, in her middle voice. Then the Little, Small, Wee Bear looked at his, and there was the spoon in the porridge-pot, but the porridge was all gone.

"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN AT MY PORRIDGE, AND HAS EATEN IT ALL UP!" said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.

Upon this the Three Bears, seeing that someone had entered their house, and eaten up the Little, Small, Wee Bear's breakfast, began to look about them. Now Goldenlocks had not put the hard cushion straight when she rose from the chair of the Great, Huge Bear.

"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR!" said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice.

And Goldenlocks had squatted down the soft cushion of the Middle Bear.

"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR!" said the Middle Bear, in her middle voice.

And you know what Goldenlocks had done to the third chair.

"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR, AND HAS SAT THE BOTTOM OUT OF IT!" said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.

Then the Three Bears thought it necessary that they should make farther search; so they went upstairs into their bedchamber. Now Goldenlocks had pulled the pillow of the Great, Huge Bear out of its place.

"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN LYING IN MY BED!" said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice.

And Goldenlocks had pulled the bolster of the Middle Bear out of its place.

"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN LYING IN MY BED!" said the Middle Bear, in her middle voice.

And when the Little, Small, Wee Bear came to look at his bed, there was the bolster in its place; and the pillow in its place upon the bolster; and upon the pillow was the head of Goldenlocks—which was not in its place, for she had no business there.

"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN LYING IN MY BED—AND HERE SHE IS!" said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.

Goldenlocks had heard in her sleep the great, rough, gruff voice of the Great, Huge Bear, and the middle voice of the Middle Bear, but it was only as if she had heard someone speaking in a dream. But when she heard the little, small, wee voice of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, it was so sharp, and so shrill, that it awakened her at once. Up she started; and when she saw the Three Bears on one side of the bed she tumbled herself out at the other, and ran to the window. Now the window was open, because the Bears, like good, tidy Bears, as they were, always opened their bedchamber window when they got up in the morning. Out Goldenlocks jumped, and ran away as fast as she could run—never looking behind her; and what happened to her afterwards I cannot tell. But the Three Bears never saw anything more of her.

One day a peasant saw a bear asleep in the forest, so he crept up to him and cut off one of his hind paws with an axe. And he brought the paw home, and said to his wife: "Boil some soup from the flesh, and knit some warm gloves out of the wool." So she took off the skin, threw the flesh into the pot to boil, and sat down to spin the wool.

And when Bruin woke up, he found his paw gone. There was no help for it, so he cut a bit of wood off a tree, hewed it, tied it on instead of his leg, and set out for the village. As he went along he sang

"Hobble, hobble, hobble,

On my lime-tree leg,

On my birchen crutch!

The water's asleep,

And the earth's asleep,

The whole village is asleep,

Only one woman's awake,

And she's boiling my flesh,

Sitting on my skin,

And spinning my wool!"

And the peasant's wife got very frightened, and hid as quick as she could in the cellar under the floor. And Bruin went into the house, and saw there was no one there. So he took his bit of skin, got his flesh out of the pot and made off.

Two men were walking along one summer day. Soon it

became too hot to go any further and, seeing a large

plane tree nearby, they threw themselves on the

ground to rest in its shade.

Gazing up into the branches one man said to the other:

“What a useless tree this is. It does not have fruit or

nuts that we can eat and we cannot even use its

wood for anything.”

“Don’t be so ungrateful,” rustled the tree in reply.

“I am being extremely useful to you at this very

moment, shielding you from the hot sun.

And you call me a good-for-nothing!”

Moral: All of God’s creations have a good purpose.

Islam teaches us that we should never belittle Allah’s blessings.

There was once a man who had three sons, the youngest of whom was called the Simpleton. He was laughed at and despised and neglected on all occasions. Now it happened one day that the eldest son wanted to go into the forest, to chop wood, and his Mother gave him a beautiful cake and a bottle of wine to take with him, so that he might not suffer from hunger or thirst. When he came to the wood he met a little old grey man, who, bidding him good-day, said: "Give me a small piece of the cake in your wallet, and let me drink a mouthful of your wine; I am so hungry and thirsty." But the clever son answered: "If I were to give you my cake and wine, I should have none for myself, so be off with you," and he left the little man standing there, and walked away.

Hardly had he begun to chop down a tree, when his axe slipped and cut his arm, so that he had to go home at once and have the wound bound up. This was the work of the little grey man.r /> Thereupon the second son went into the wood, and the Mother gave him, as she had given to the eldest, a sweet cake and a bottle of wine. The little old man met him also, and begged for a small slice of cake and a drink of wine. But the second son spoke out quite plainly. "What I give to you I lose myself—be off with you," and he left the little man standing there, and walked on. Punishment was not long in coming to him, for he had given but two strokes at a tree when he cut his leg so badly that he had to be carried home.

Then said the Simpleton: "Father, let me go into the forest and chop wood." But his Father answered him: "Your brothers have done themselves much harm, so as you understand nothing about wood-cutting you had better not try." But the Simpleton begged for so long that at last the Father said: "Well, go if you like; experience will soon make you wiser." To him the Mother gave a cake, but it was made with water and had been baked in the ashes, and with it she gave him a bottle of sour beer. When he came to the wood the little grey man met him also, and greeted him, and said: "Give me a slice of your cake and a drink from your bottle; I am so hungry and thirsty." The Simpleton replied: "I have only a cake that has been baked in the ashes, and some sour beer, but if that will satisfy you, let us sit down and eat together." So they sat themselves down, and as the Simpleton held out his food it became a rich cake, and the sour beer became good wine.

So they ate and drank together, and when the meal was finished, the little man said: "As you have a good heart and give so willingly a share of your own, I will grant you good luck. Yonder stands an old tree; chop it down, and in its roots you will find something." Saying this the old man took his departure, and off went the Simpleton and cut down the tree. When it fell, there among its roots sat a goose, with feathers of pure gold.

He lifted her out, and carried her with him to an inn where he intended to stay the night. Now the innkeeper had three daughters, who on seeing the goose were curious to know what wonderful kind of a bird it could be, and longed to have one of its golden feathers. The eldest daughter thought to herself, "Surely a chance will come for me to pull out one of those feathers"; and so when the Simpleton had gone out, she caught the goose by the wing. But there her hand stuck fast! Shortly afterwards the second daughter came, as she too was longing for a golden feather. She had hardly touched her sister, however, when she also stuck fast. And lastly came the third daughter with the same object. At this the others cried out, "Keep off, for goodness' sake, keep off!" But she, not understanding why they told her to keep away, thought to herself, "If they go to the goose, why should not I?" She sprang forward, but as she touched her sister she too stuck fast, and pull as she might she could not get away; and thus they had all to pass the night beside the goose.

The next morning the Simpleton took the goose under his arm and went on his way, without troubling himself at all about the three girls who were hanging to the bird. There they went, always running behind him, now to the right, now to the left, whichever way he chose to go.

In the middle of the fields they met the parson, and when he saw the procession he called out, "Shame on you, you naughty girls, why do you run after a young fellow in this way? Come, leave go!" With this he caught the youngest by the hand, and tried to pull her back, but when he touched her he found he could not get away, and he too must needs run behind. Then the sexton came along, and saw the parson following on the heels of the three girls. This so astonished him that he called out, "Hi! Sir Parson, whither away so fast? Do you forget that today we have a christening?" and ran after him, and caught him by the coat, but he too remained sticking fast.

As the five now ran on, one behind the other, two labourers who were returning from the field with their tools, came along. The parson called out to them and begged that they would set him and the sexton free. No sooner had they touched the sexton, than they too had to hang on, and now there were seven running after the Simpleton and the goose.

In this way they came to a city where a King reigned who had an only daughter, who was so serious that no one could make her laugh. Therefore he had announced that whoever should make her laugh should have her for his wife. When the Simpleton heard this he went with his goose and his train before the Princess, and when she saw the seven people all running behind each other, she began to laugh, and she laughed and laughed till it seemed as though she could never stop.

Thereupon the Simpleton demanded her for his wife, but the King was not pleased at the thought of such a son-in-law, and he made all kinds of objections. He told the Simpleton that he must first bring him a man who could drink off a whole cellarful of wine. At once the Simpleton thought of the little grey man, who would be sure to help him, so off he went into the wood, and in the place where he had cut down the tree he saw a man sitting who looked most miserable. The Simpleton asked him what was the cause of his trouble.

"I have such a thirst," the man answered, "and I cannot quench it. I cannot bear cold water. I have indeed emptied a cask of wine, but what is a drop like that to a thirsty man?"

"In that case I can help you," said the Simpleton. "Just come with me and you shall be satisfied."

He led him to the King's cellar, and the man at once sat down in front of the great cask, and drank and drank till before a day was over he had drunk the whole cellarful of wine. Then the Simpleton demanded his bride again, but the King was angry that a mean fellow everyone called a Simpleton should win his daughter, and he made new conditions. Before giving him his daughter to wife he said that the Simpleton must find a man who would eat a whole mountain of bread. The Simpleton did not stop long to consider, but went off straight to the wood. There in the same place as before sat a man who was buckling a strap tightly around him, and looking very depressed. He said:

"I have eaten a whole ovenful of loaves, but what help is that when a man is as hungry as I am? I feel quite empty, and I must strap myself together if I am not to die of hunger."

The Simpleton was delighted on hearing this, and said: "Get up at once and come with me. I will give you enough to eat to satisfy your hunger."

He led him to the King, who meanwhile had ordered all the meal in the Kingdom to be brought together, and an immense mountain of bread baked from it. The man from the wood set to work on it, and in one day the whole mountain had disappeared.

For the third time the Simpleton demanded his bride, but yet again the King tried to put him off, and said that he must bring him a ship that would go both on land and water.

"If you are really able to sail such a ship," said he, "you shall at once have my daughter for your wife."

The Simpleton went into the wood, and there sat the little old grey man to whom he had given his cake.

"I have drunk for you, and I have eaten for you," said the little man, "and I will also give you the ship; all this I do for you because you were kind to me."

Then he gave the Simpleton a ship that went both on land and water, and when the King saw it he knew he could no longer keep back his daughter. The wedding was celebrated, and after the King's death, the Simpleton inherited the Kingdom, and lived very happily ever after with his wife.

When I was a farmer, a Farmer's Boy,

I used to keep my master's HORSES,

With a Geewo here, and a Geewo there,

And here a Gee, and there a Gee,

And everywhere a Gee;

Says I, My pretty lass, will you come to the banks of the Aire oh?

When I was a farmer, a Farmer's Boy,

I used to keep my master's LAMBS,

With a Baabaa here, and a Baabaa there,

And here a Baa, and there a Baa,

And everywhere a Baa;

With a Geewo here, and a Geewo there,

And here a Gee, and there a Gee,

And everywhere a Gee;

Says I, My pretty lass, will you come to the banks of the Aire oh?

When I was a farmer, a Farmer's Boy,

I used to keep my master's HENS,

With a Chuckchuck here, and a Chuckchuck there,

And here a Chuck, and there a Chuck,

And everywhere a Chuck;

With a Baabaa here, and a Baabaa there,

And here a Baa, and there a Baa,

And everywhere a Baa;

With a Geewo here, and a Geewo there,

Says I, My pretty lass, will you come to the banks of the Aire oh?

When I was a farmer, a Farmer's Boy,

I used to keep my master's PIGS,

With a Gruntgrunt here, and a Gruntgrunt there,

And here a Grunt, and there a Grunt,

And everywhere a Grunt;

With a Chuckchuck here, and a Chuckchuck there,

And here a Chuck, and there a Chuck,

And everywhere a Chuck;

With a Baabaa here, and a Baabaa there,

With a Geewo here, and a Geewo there,

Says I, My pretty lass, will you come to the banks of the Aire oh?

When I was a farmer, a Farmer's Boy,

I used to keep my master's DUCKS,

With a Quackquack here, and a Quackquack there,

And here a Quack, and there a Quack,

And everywhere a Quack;

With a Gruntgrunt here, and a Gruntgrunt there,

With a Chuckchuck here,

With a Baabaa here,

With a Geewo here,

Says I, My pretty lass, will you come to the banks of the Aire oh?

When I was a farmer, a Farmer's Boy,

I used to keep my master's DOGS,

With a Bowwow here, and a Bowwow there,

And here a Bow, and there a Wow,

And everywhere a Wow;

With a Quackquack here, and a Quackquack there,

With a Gruntgrunt here,

With a Chuckchuck here,

With a Baabaa here,

With a Geewo here,

Says I, My pretty lass, will you come to the banks of the Aire oh?

When I was a farmer, a Farmer's Boy,

I used to keep my master's CHILDREN,

With a Shouting here, and a Pouting there,

And here a Shout, and there a Pout,

And everywhere a Shout;

With a Bowwow here, and a Bowwow there,

With a Quackquack here,

With a Gruntgrunt here,

With a Chuckchuck here,

With a Baabaa here,

With a Geewo here,

Says I, My pretty lass, will you come to the banks of the Aire oh?

When I was a farmer, a Farmer's Boy,

I used to keep my master's TURKEYS,

With a Gobblegobble here, and a Gobblegobble there,

And here a Gobble, and there a Gobble;

And everywhere a Gobble;

With a Shouting here, and a Pouting there,

With a Bowwow here,

With a Quackquack here,

With a Gruntgrunt here,

With a Chuckchuck here,

With a Baabaa here,

With a Geewo here,

Says I, My pretty lass, will you come to the banks of the Aire oh?

The Faithless Parrot

There once lived happily together, in a fine house, a tortoise-shell Cat and a pretty white Dog: the Cat’s name was Tittums; the Dog’s, Fido. In course of time the pretty Dog fell in love with the Cat, and only waited for a good chance to disclose his affections. This came one day, when Tittums had put her paws on the fender, dropped her head a little on one side, half closed her eyes, and seemed thinking of nothing at all. Then Fido, who lay stretched at full length upon the hearth-rug, looked steadfastly at her, and heaving a gentle whine, said,—

“Oh, Tittums, I’ve fallen in love!”

“Indeed!” replied the prudent Cat, not wishing to show him how anxious she was.

“Yes, indeed,” continued the little Doggy, rather hurt at her coldness: “it’s you that I’ve fallen in love with. Do you like me, Tittums?”

But Tittums would not answer, even with a single purr-r! and it was only upon her giving him a sly look out of the corner of her left eye that he guessed how much she did like him. However, made bold by even this small token of esteem, he came quietly up, and sat by her side; even going so far, at last, as to take her out for a short walk down the garden-path, where they looked through the railings at the people passing by.

“Well,” said Fido to himself, “I have no doubt but she will love me in time; all the more, as I have great hopes of growing bigger before the spring.”

But one morning, when Tittums came in from a visit she had been paying her mamma, she was followed by a gentleman from the tropics, who, with all the impudence of his race, made himself quite at home, pressed Tittums’ paw to his heart, called her “the loveliest of Cats,” asked her to oblige him with a song, which he had been told she could sing very sweetly, and never took the least notice of poor Fido, who was sitting in the corner. To tell the truth, poor Fido was very cross, and began to growl quite savagely; the more so when, to his dismay, he beheld the pleasure with which Tittums heard all this nonsense. He could not think what right the bold stranger had to come there unasked; for all that he had bright red and green feathers, a rakish, broad-brimmed hat, and a gold-headed walking-cane, he was not good-looking, that was very certain.

But Tittums was very much struck by his appearance and bearing; his feathers were so pretty, he spoke so many languages, shrieked so terribly and in such a loud voice, had travelled so much, and was so struck by the beauty of Tittums, that, poor little Cat as she was, she ceased to care a button for faithful Fido, and kept all her sly glances for Mr. Paul Parrot.

“Lovely Tittums,” said Mr. Paul, “you must forget such upstart puppies as Fido. Listen to me—I am a traveller—I speak five languages,—I have a palace made of golden bars, within which is a perch fit for a king,—I have a pension of bread and milk and Barcelona nuts: all of which I will share with you. To-morrow we will go for a trip into the field next to the house. Good-by for the present, my dear Pussy Cat;” and he went away kissing his hand.

Poor Fido howled. Naughty Tittums!

As day followed day, Miss Puss neglected her little Dog more and more. She walked out with Mr. Paul Parrot, she sang to him, looked kindly at him, and, in fact, only seemed happy when he was by. Poor Fido was true to his first love, although almost brought to despair; he got very thin indeed, and his fine bushy coat, which he had kept nice and clean, became ragged and dirty.

Indeed, Mr. Parrot carried all before him; he was so grand, so loving, and so clever, that Fido from being deserted became despised, and was indeed thinking about running far away.

One evening, just after dark, as he was roaming about, feeling very sad, and thinking that, perhaps, it would be better to run away than to use the meat-hook, he all at once found himself in the next garden, and while he was looking round him, he heard voices.

“Lovely Mrs. Daw,” said one of the voices which he seemed to recognize, “I am a traveller—I speak five languages—I have a palace made of golden bars, within which is a perch fit for a king,—I have a pension of bread and milk and nuts; all of which I will share with you. To-morrow we will fly for an excursion on to the great oak-tree in Farmer Hodges’ field.”

“Dear me!” thought Fido, “this must be Mr. Parrot.” And, sure enough, so it was,—Mr. Parrot, indeed, and making the warmest of love to old Mrs. Daw, the widow of Miser Jack Daw, who, during a long life, and by means of stealing and saving, had laid by a large fortune, which he had left Mrs. Daw to enjoy.

The old widow seemed very much pleased at the warmth of Mr. Paul’s love, and no doubt thought that every word he said was true; leering round at him with her old eyes, and wishing that she had put on a clean muslin cap, as it might have made her look even younger than she thought she did.

As for Fido, he almost jumped for joy; he ran home as soon as ever he could.

“Oh, Tittums!” said he, heedless of her scornful looks, “what do you think I have found out? There is that rascal of a Paul Parrot, who pretends so much love for you, courting Widow Daw at this very moment; and if you come at once you may see it with your own eyes.”

“Nonsense!” replied Tittums: “I do not believe it.”

“Well,” said the Dog, “to convince you, if you will only come to the other side of the wall you shall see that what I have said is quite true.”

But Pussy, trusting in the honour of Mr. Paul, would not believe a word, and it was only after a great deal of persuasion that she was induced to jump over the wall and listen.

Mr. Paul and Mrs. Daw were still courting, and the Parrot was trying, by coaxing the old lady, to find out how much she was worth, and where all her treasures were hid. Indeed Mrs. Daw was just on the point of telling him her secret, when Tittums, unable to contain herself, rushed at Mr. Paul and scratched his face.

“Oh, you bad Parrot!” she said; “did you not promise to marry me, and take me to your golden palace?”

“Golden palace!” screamed Mrs. Daw: “why, you wicked bird, that’s what you promised me. Stay, ma’am, what did he say besides?—did he promise you any bread and milk, or any Barcelona nuts?”

“Yes, he did—he did—he did,” continued the Cat, scratching and clawing the false, faithless Parrot as she spoke.

“Well,” said Pussy, now fairly exhausted, “I hope you are satisfied: if ever you come near our house again, I’ll scratch out every feather you have on your back;” and so she left him, taking Fido with her, who, in spite of his general good nature and the Parrot’s rage, could not resist giving him two or three sharp bites.

As soon as Mrs. Daw was left alone with Paul, she began to upbraid him with his falseness,—“You vulgar, stuck-up, ugly, awkward deceiver! you have neither honesty enough to live by, nor wings enough to fly with.” Whereupon she jumped at him and gave him such a plucking as spoilt his good looks.

Never after this was the Parrot able to hold up his head. Every one scorned him; even his golden palace turned out to be a brass cage; and for his misdeeds a chain was fastened round his leg. He was confined to a wooden perch, which, out of pure spite, he was always pecking.

Old Widow Daw kept her secret, and remained unmarried.

Tittums could not help admiring the constancy of Fido; and when in the spring he had grown bigger, and was promoted to a sweet red and black collar, Pussy found that she loved him very much indeed, and made up her mind never more to forsake him.