_Child_
"Wherefore wash you, Pussy, say,
Every half-hour through the day?"
_Pussy_
"Why? Because 'twould look so bad
If a dirty coat I had;
Little face and little feet,
They too must be always neat."
So says Pussy, and I've heard
All give her a handsome word,
In the parlour she may be,
People take her on the knee,
Why all love her I can tell,--
It is for washing herself so well.
Pussy sat upon a wall,
Taking a little fresh air,
A neighbour's little dog came by--
"O Pussy! are you there?"
"Good morning, Mistress Pussy-cat,
Pray tell me how you do,"
"Quite well, I thank you," Puss replied,
"And, Doggy, how are you?"
Pussy-cat Mole
Jumped over a coal,
And in her best petticoat
Burnt a great hole.
Poor pussy's weeping,
She'll get no more milk,
Until her best petticoat's
Mended with silk.
"Leedle! leedle! leedle! our cat's dead."
"How did she die?" "Wi' a sair head."
All ye who ken'd her
When she was alive,
Come to her burying
At half-past five.
"Good day, Miss Cat, so brisk and gay,
How is it that alone you stay?
And what is it you cook to day?"
"Bread so white, and milk so sweet,
Will it please you sit and eat?"
Pussy-cat high, pussy-cat low,
Pussy-cat was a fine teazer of tow.
Pussy-cat she came into a barn,
With her bagpipes under her arm.
And then she told a tale to me,
How mousie had married a humble bee.
Then was I indeed ever so glad,
That mousie had married so clever a lad.