(From “Alice’s Adventures Underground”[22])
We lived beneath the mat
Warm and snug and fat
But one woe, and that
was the cat!
To our joys
a clog. In
our eyes a
fog, On our
hearts a log
Was the dog!
When the
cat’s away,
Then
the mice
will
play,
But, alas!
one day; (So they say)
Came the dog and
cat, Hunting
for a
rat,
Crushed
the mice
all flat,
Each one,
as he sat,
Under-
neath
the mat,
Warm &
snug
& fat.
Think
of
that!
[22] This was the story told on July 4, 1862, to the three Miss
Liddells, which was afterwards developed into “Alice in Wonderland.”
A facsimile of the story, as written in manuscript for Alice Liddell,
was published in 1886. The above poem does not appear in “Alice in
Wonderland,” its place being taken by an entirely different “Mouse
Tail.”