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ILLUSTRATED WITH ETCHINGS BY
GEORGE CRUIKSHANK
THE
BEE AND THE WASP
A FABLE IN VERSE
[Illustration]
BASIL MONTAGU PICKERING
196 PICCADILLY LONDON W.
[Illustration]
Lays of Ancient Babyland
_to which are added_
divers small Histories
not known to the
_Ancients_.
[Illustration]
Lays of Ancient Babyland
to which are added
DIVERS SMALL HISTORIES
not known to the
ANCIENTS
_Dedicated, with much respect, but without
permission, to the_
BABIES OF ENGLAND
[Illustration: ALDI
DISCIP.
ANGLVS]
LONDON
BASIL M. PICKERING, 196, PICCADILLY
1857
[Illustration]
TO AUGUSTA MARY,
_for whose amusement the following stories were
from time to time written,_
THIS LITTLE VOLUME,
_in which they are now collected, is inscribed
for a memorial of the happy
days of her earliest
childhood._
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
CONTENTS.
Whittington and his Cat 1
The Three Wishes 33
Little Red-riding-hood 43
Jack the Giant-killer 55
DIVERS SMALL HISTORIES
The Vain Mouse 79
Cock Robin and Jenny Wren 83
The Proud Eagle 87
Young Lumpkin’s Hyæna 91
The Young Thrushes 95
M. P., or the Magpie 101
The Pigeon and the Hen 105
The Oyster and the Muscle 109
The True History of
MAISTER WHITTINGTON
AND HIS CAT.
_As it is spoken or sung in the streets of the
great city of London on the ninth
day of November._
[Illustration]
Whittington and his Cat.
God prosper long our good Lord Mayor,
And give him wealth and wit!
A little wisdom too mote well
His judgement-seat befit.
Come listen all ye prentice lads,
Sore set to drudge and fast,
How that good luck and industrie
Will make a man at last.
[Sidenote: Whittington,]
When our third Edward ruled the land,
A king of glorious fame,
An humble boy there lived also,
Dick Whittington by name.
[Sidenote: an orphan boy,]
His father and his mother too
Were laid beneath the sod:
But he was left, and all alone
The path of misery trod.
[Sidenote: destitute,]
No woollen hose wore he, nor shoes
Upon his shivering feet;
A tatter’d cloak was all he had
To ward the rain and sleet.
Yet, though his breast was cold without,
His heart was warm within;
And he grumbled not, for well he wot
That envy is a sin.
[Sidenote: but industrious,]
And he would fight with all his might
To earn his daily bread:
Alas, to think how oft he went
All supperless to bed!
[Sidenote: had heard great reports of London.]
Now he had heard of London town,
And what the folks did there:
How aldermen did eat and drink,
And plenty had to spare.
And how the streets were full of shops,
And shops were full of food;
Of beef, and mutton, cheese and ham,
And every thing that’s good.
And how the men and women all
Were lords and ladies there;
And little boys were rigg’d as smart
As monkeys at a fair.
But what most wonderful did seem,
Of all he had heard told,
Was how the streets of that great town
Were paved with solid gold.
[Sidenote: Resolved to get there,]
Heyday! thought he, if only I
Could get to that fine place!
’Twould not be long ere I would change
My miserable case.
[Sidenote: he makes his way on foot.]
Now started off for London town
Before the break of day,
He fared beside a waggoner
Who drove his team that way.
All day they trudged until the sun
Had sunk behind the hill;
And when he rose again next morn
He saw them trudging still.
[Sidenote: His joy to behold that land of plenty.]
At length a multitudinous smoke
Hid half th’ horizon round:
And such a sight of chimney-pots!
Dick gaped with joy and stound.
He thought how often he had lain
Beneath the cold damp air;
While here was house-room sure for all,
And fires i’faith to spare.
’Twere hard indeed if one should need
A chimney-corner here:
And from the drays that block’d the ways
Small lack could be of beer.
’Twas thus thought Dick, and so full quick
The waggoner he left;
And was not long, ere thro’ the throng
His nimble way he cleft.
[Sidenote: His subsequent disappointment;]
Thro’ street, thro’ lane, full fast he ran;
But marvell’d to behold
The ways all strown with dirt and stone,
And not with solid gold.
And folks were not all lords he thought,
Nor ladies of degree:
For here were rags, and here were tags,
As in his own countrie.
[Sidenote: when hungry and cold,]
Yet, where such plenty seem’d of all
A hungry lad mote need,
Tho’ rags were there he did not care:
He could not fail to speed.
[Sidenote: he is neither fed by the victualler;]
So at a shop he made a stop:
Before his well-spread board
The vict’ller stood, in jolly mood;
Dick thought he was a lord.
In cap ydight and waistcoat white
He beckon’d folks within;
While fumes arose to tell the nose
Of all that savoury bin.
Dick’s joy was great to see the meat;
So in he ran with haste:
Alas! roast beef is nought but grief
To such as may not taste.
The vict’ller’s eye right scornfully
Scann’d Dick from foot to head;
Who begg’d, for love of God above,
A bit of meat and bread.
“For one small groat it may be bought;
“I’faith it is not dear:
“But no sirloin withouten coin,
“Nor room for beggars here.”
Thereat a pamper’d cur rush’d forth
And bit Dick’s naked feet:
Who by the wrathful victualler
Was shoved into the street.
[Sidenote: nor covered by the clothier;]
Next shivering in his tatter’d dress
He view’d a clothier’s store;
But, as he was all penniless,
They drove him from the door.
Ah, tradesmen sleek! ah, Christians meek!
Why will ye swell with pride,
When ragged want or wretched woe
Stands shivering at your side?
[Sidenote: nor even heeded by any body.]
Alas, poor boy! what could he do?
The busy crowd swept past:
But all on self intent, or pelf,
No eye on him was cast.
He strove to beg: some heard him not,
And some would not believe:
Some heard him and believed him too,
But yet would not relieve.
[Sidenote: Want most grievous in the midst of plenty.]
Oh! hunger is a galling thing,
Where nought is there to eat;
But three times more it galleth sore
To starve midst bread and meat.
[Sidenote: At last he is noticed by a merchant-citizen,]
Now just as Dick all spent and sick
Had laid him down to die,
A citizen of gentle mien
It chanced came walking by.
A merchant he of high degree,
With ruffles all of lace;
And Nature’s true nobility
Was blazon’d in his face.
[Sidenote: who takes him home, and feeds him.]
He up did pick and home led Dick,
And gave him food to eat:
Then sent him to a clean warm bed,
Not back into the street.
“Thank God! for that I pass’d that way
“This night,“ the good man cried;
“For had I walk’d another way,
“Poor boy! he might have died.”
The morning come, Dick early rose,
And thank’d him from his heart;
And told him how no friend on earth
He had to take his part.
[Sidenote: This merchant becomes his friend.]
“Then I’m your friend,” the kind man cried,
“And you shall live with me:
“And you shall tend my merchandize,
“And keep my granary.”
[Sidenote: and employs him in his granary;]
How danced for joy the lucky boy,
To see his alter’d plight!
He watch’d his granary by day,
And lock’d it fast by night.
Now stored within this granary,
Were corn and wine and oil,
And cheese and other precious things
Which rats and mice do spoil.
[Sidenote: where there lived a cat,]
So there with Dick ydwelt a cat;
A tabby cat was she:
As sleek and soft, and eke as fat,
As any cat could be.
[Sidenote: of social temper,]
And she about his legs would purr,
And on his knees would sit;
And every meal he took, for her
He saved a dainty bit.
[Sidenote: and high quality.]
And not a mouse came near her house
But swallow’d was alive:
And not a rat but felt her pat:
No wonder she did thrive!
[Sidenote: The birth of a kitten:]
Now scarce three moons had waned and fill’d,
Since Dick’s lone hours she cheer’d,
When at her side, as Heaven will’d,
A kitten there appear’d.
[Sidenote: and Dick’s twofold delight thereafter.]
Then Dick’s delight was doubled quite;
For one may well avouch,
Whatever fun there was in one
In two was twice as much.
[Sidenote: This kitten’s surpassing beauty,]
All black and red this kitten’s head
Look’d like a polish’d stone:
All red and black this kitten’s back
Like tortoiseshell it shone.
Full sure I am that well its dam
Might dote on such a kit:
The very rats that flee from cats
Would stand and stare at it.
[Sidenote: and most pleasant humour.]
Its tail it whisk’d and leapt and frisk’d,
In weather fair and foul:
Or cold, or hot, it matter’d not
To such a merry soul.
But who could see such joyful glee
And not be joyous too?
So Dick forgot his sorry lot
And laugh’d as others do.
[Sidenote: Dick acquires his first property.]
Which when the merchant saw, and how
The kitten it was grown,
Of his free gift to Whittington
He gave it for his own.
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[Illustration]
PART II.
Come listen all, both great and small,
Of high and low degree;
That ye may know this true story
And live in charity.
As wealth by waste and idle taste
Soon falls to penury,
So small estate becometh great
By luck and industry.
Content then be in poverty,
In wealth of humble mind;
Like children of one family
To one another kind.
[Sidenote: The venture of the merchant]
This merchant now in foreign parts
A venture fain would make;
And all the folk of his household
Were free to share the stake.
[Sidenote: joined by each of his domestics.]
One risk’d a shilling, one a groat,
And one a coin of gold;
And every one his stake anon
To the ship’s captain told.
[Sidenote: Dick’s jesting offer]
Then half in jest, and half in shame,
Dick fetch’d his kitten down:
“I too,” he to the captain cried,
“Will venture all my own.”
[Sidenote: to the surprise of all]
The servants laugh’d: Dick would have wept,
And therefore laugh’d the more;
But soon they stared for wonderment
Who laugh’d so loud before.
[Sidenote: taken in earnest by the Captain.]
For now the Captain, “Done,” he cried,
“A bargain by my fay:”
And call’d the ship’s-mate in a trice,
To stow the cat away.
[Sidenote: The cat is taken aboard.]
He came so quick, no time had Dick
To countervail his joke:
So all aboard poor Puss was stored
Among the sea-going folk.
[Sidenote: The ship sails.]
Now from her mooring, all ataut,
Put off at turn of tide,
Adown the river’s ebbing flood
The gallant bark did glide.
And, like some heavenward-soaring bird,
She faced the open seas;
And seem’d as sick of land to spread
Her wings before the breeze.
[Sidenote: The cat at sea.]
Then, as she flew, Puss fetch’d a mew,
As if to say--poor me!
To think that I a land-bred cat
Should thus be press’d to sea!
But, ere a week was past and gone,
He changed this plaintive tone,
And, like a jolly sailor-boy,
Purr’d gaily up and down.
For lean and fat a ship-board cat
He found hath both to spare;
And legs by hosts for rubbing posts
Are always lounging there.
And then he oft would run aloft,
And just look out to sea;
Nor e’er a boy could scream _ahoy_
In shriller note than he.
[Sidenote: The ship’s course.]
The fresh wind blew; the light bark flew,
And clear’d the channel’s mouth;
Through Biscay’s bay then cut her way,
And bore towards the South.
[Sidenote: Bound for Africa.]
For she was bound for Afric ground,
Where wretched negroes dwell;
Who waste their days in idle ways,
As I am loth to tell.
Nathless the soil withouten toil
God’s gracious bounty yields;
And gum drops free from every tree
Along the sunny fields.
And we are told how dust of gold
Stains all the river sands:
And huge beasts shed their ivory tusks
About the desert lands.
[Sidenote: The unthriftiness of the negroes.]
Now what is not with trouble got
Is seldom kept with care:
For foresight and economy
To idlesse strangers are.
So these poor souls their goodly stores,
Not needed for the day,
For trifles and for tromperie
They barter all away.
[Sidenote: The ship sails past the cape of St. Vincent;]
Three days, three nights our gallant ship
Her southward course had steer’d,
When o’er her larboard at the dawn
Saint Vincent’s cape appear’d.
Still southward yet three days three nights
Her steady prow she bore;
But when again Sol gilt the main
Was spied Marocco’s shore.
[Sidenote: anchors off the coast of Marocco.]
Now shouts of joy and busy noise
Salute the rising day:
The coast was made, the ship was stay’d,
And anchor’d in the bay.
As when a stranger hawk, that long
Hath soar’d in middle air,
Borne earthward on a tree alights,
And makes his station there;
The myriad tenants of the grove
Would fain his purpose know;
And flock around, yet hold aloof
For fear to meet a foe:
[Sidenote: The wonderment of the negroes.]
’Twas thus the negroes throng’d the beach,
To view a ship at sea:
While some drew down their light canoes;
What mote the strange bark be?
Or friend--or foe? They long’d to know,
Yet durst not venture near:
Till soon the boat was all afloat,
And off to lay their fear.
[Sidenote: Their king and queen]
Afront were seen a king and queen,
Whom all the rest obey’d:
And all the good things of the land
Belong’d to them, ’twas said.
[Sidenote: invited by the Captain]
Which when the captain heard, and how
They had an ample hoard,
Their companie requested he
To dine with him on board.
[Sidenote: go on board.]
Now, wafted o’er the azure lake,
The king and eke his queen,
Behold them seated on the deck:
The captain sat between.
[Sidenote: Puss salutes his Majesty after European fashion.]
But ere the dinner it was served,
While yawn’d the king for meat,
Just to divert the royal mind,
Puss rubb’d against his feet.
Now you must know the royal toe
It ticklish was to touch:
But Puss rubb’d he so daintily,
The king he liked it much.
Then to his bride he spake aside,
And e’en was speaking yet,
When lo!--the platter came,--whereat
The rest he did forget.
[Sidenote: The dinner.]
Now both did eat their fill of meat,
As suiteth royalty:
No lack was there of the ship’s best fare,
And grog flow’d copiously.
[Sidenote: Puss joins the carousal,]
And both did quaff, and both did laugh,
And both sang merrily:
Till Puss could stay no more away,
But came to join the glee.
[Sidenote: his pleasantry.]
His tail he whisk’d, and leapt and frisk’d,
As he was wont before:
Whereat the king and eke the queen
For very mirth did roar.
[Sidenote: The royal whim]
Then up he gat, and sware an oath--
That, for so droll a thing,
In barter, of his choicest goods
A shipload he would bring.
[Sidenote: indulged at much cost.]
Thereat the captain--“Done,” he cried
“A bargain by my fay!”
And sent his whole ship’s-company
To fetch the goods away.
[Sidenote: A merry night.]
Now laugh’d the king and laugh’d the Queen,
And laugh’d the captain he:
A bargain struck at festive board
Doth please so mightily.
The goods were brought, the ship was fraught,
And stow’d away full tight.
The king and queen, they drank till e’en,
And slept on board that night.
[Sidenote: The next morning.]
The captain rose at early dawn
And call’d to th’ king anon:
“This cat is thine, this cargo’s mine;
And now I must begone.”
The king awoke and waked the queen,
Who slept so heavily,
That full ten minutes pass’d away,
Before that she could see.
[Sidenote: The king’s maudlin humour.]
Then clasping Puss within her arms
She nursed him like a child.
The king his humour now was sad;
Nathless the monarch smiled.
[Sidenote: The king and queen depart with puss.]
Then down the vessel’s side he stepp’d,
And down the queen stepp’d she.
And Puss was handed down perforce
To join their company.
Alongside lay the king’s canoe,
Well mann’d with negroes ten;
Who swift row’d off the royal pair,
With Puss all snug between.
[Sidenote: The ship weighs anchor,]
Then sung the Captain--“all hand’s up,
The anchor haul amain:
Unfurl the sails, and point the prow
For British lands again.”
[Sidenote: and sails homeward.]
Tis done: from out the tranquil bay
Our goodly vessel glides;
And, homeward bound, on Ocean’s back
Right gallantly she rides.
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