You know that pussy likes to be clean, and that she washes herself
carefully, and her little kittens, also, until they are big enough to
wash themselves; but there are other creatures, much smaller than the
cat, who like to be clean.
Do you know what shrimps or prawns are? I daresay you have often eaten a
shrimp! Have you ever counted its ten long legs? On the front pair there
are two tiny brushes, and the prawn has been seen to stand up on his
eight hind legs, and brush himself with the tiny tufts on his front
legs, to get all the sand away. Is not that clever for such a little
fellow?
There is another creature, very much smaller than the prawn, that is
particularly clean, though we do not like to have it in our houses.
If the housemaid sees its little "parlour" in the corner of a room, she
sweeps it away. You remember who it was that said: "Will you walk into
my parlour?" It was the spider, and it is the spider who is so very fond
of being clean, that it cannot bear to have a grain of dust anywhere
about its body. Its hairs and legs are always kept perfectly clean.
Then there is the tiny ant, which is smaller than a fly, and it loves to
keep itself nice and clean, so if
(Blackboard)
Shrimps and Spiders and Ants like to be Clean,
Children should like to be Clean.