UNCLE MOUSER’S STORY
The next day passed very quickly, for the Three Little Kittens went to
town to buy yarn for mittens for Twinkle Toes.
When evening came, they all sat round the fire and the Three Little
Kittens danced up and down before Uncle Mouser, and Twinkle Toes danced
round and round.
They all said, “Please tell us a story.”
Uncle Mouser answered,
“I will tell you a story in prose and rhyme,
For I make up stories just half my time.”
The Three Little Kittens danced up and down and cried, “Tell us a true
story, tell us something that really, truly happened.”
Uncle Mouser rocked to and fro, to and fro, in the little rocking chair
and said,
“I would not like to see you in tears,
So I’ll think back for several years.”
“Oh Uncle Mouser, oh Uncle Mouser,” cried the Three Little Kittens, “we
cannot wait years and years for a story.”
Twinkle Toes waltzed round and round.
Old Mother Kit-Cat’s needles went “click, click, click.”
By and by Old Uncle Mouser said, “By my whiskers, I do know one true
story about a little kitten, who liked to wash dishes, and do kitchen
work.”
Old Mother Kit-Cat stopped knitting suddenly, and leaned forward and her
eyes grew as big as saucers.
She said, “Did you say, liked to wash dishes and do kitchen work?”
Old Uncle Mouser answered, “I will tell you the story as it was told me
by my old Aunt Tabby.” Then he began.
Once upon a time the Old Man of the Fire said to the King, “I wonder if
any kitten in the world likes to wash dishes and do kitchen work?”
The King said, it could not be possible that any kitten liked to do these
things, so the Little Old Man of the Fire said, “I travel everywhere over
hill and dale, and wherever a fire is, there am I. What will you give me
if I find a kitten who likes to do kitchen work?”
[Illustration: ONCE UPON A TIME THE OLD MAN OF THE FIRE SAID TO THE KING]
The King replied, “I will give you a thousand miles of sun to burn
morning and evening.”
The Little Old Man of the Fire ran over hill and dale singing,
“I am the Little Old Man of the Fire,
Ha, ha, I am happy, I never tire.”
My! what a long search he had.
He found plenty of kittens who hated to do kitchen work, and he was
afraid they all hated to wash dishes.
He was about to give up the search, when one night he saw a light on a
far hill, twinkle, twinkle.
He followed the light and soon came to a little wee house on the hill.
A little Kitten was singing,
“Pile the dishes up higher, higher,
Bring in the wood and make more fire,
Of kitchen work I never tire,
Pile the dishes up higher, higher.”
Dishes were piled up to the ceiling.
The Little Old Man of the Fire was so happy, he danced with glee.
The Little Old Man of the Fire rapped on the door and the kitten called,
“Come in.”
The Little Old Man stepped inside, and for the first time in four and
twenty hours, the little Kitten stopped work.
Her gingham apron changed to an apron of gold.
Her white cap changed to a gold crown.
She became a real Princess.
She had been under a spell until the Little Old Man of the Fire came in.
They joined hands and ran merrily over hill and dale singing all the way.
When the King saw the Princess he ordered a great wedding, and made her
Queen, and he gave the Little Old Man of the Fire miles and miles of sky
to burn every night.
One day, long after that, the King asked the Queen “How did you happen to
like to work?” and she answered, “I said to myself,
“I try to like the work I do,
Some day my wishes will come true.”
The King said,
“If we try to like our work,
Then I’m sure we’ll never shirk.”
The King and Queen looked out at the evening sky, and they knew the
Little Old Man of the Fire was at work, for they saw a very beautiful
sunset.
The story was ended.
Uncle Mouser rocked to and fro.
Old Mother Kit-Cat said, as her needles flew to and fro, “That does not
sound like a true story to me, it sounds to my old ears like a Fairy
Tale.”
Uncle Mouser replied, “I can only tell the story as Aunt Tabby told it to
me.”
If you guessed yesterday, and to-day, and to-morrow, you could not guess
what happened next.
The Three Little Kittens slipped out of their three little rocking-chairs
and went “pit-a-pat,” into the kitchen.
[Illustration: PUT THE DISHES IN NEAT PILES UPON THE TABLE]
Twinkle Toes followed them waltzing every step of the way.
They began to wash dishes.
Splash, splash, went the water.
Clatter, clatter went the supper dishes as Twinkle Toes put them in neat
piles on the table.
The Three Little Kittens sang as they worked,
“We like the suds and water sweet,
To wash the dishes is a treat.”
Once more Old Mother Kit-Cat’s eyes grew as big as saucers, and she said
in a whisper, “I guess that was a true story after all.”