Kindergarten Read Aloud Banquet

Nursery Songs for September

A Child's Garden of Verses

The Hayloft

Through all the pleasant meadow-side
The grass grew shoulder-high,
Till the shining scythes went far and wide
And cut it down to dry.

Those green and sweetly smelling crops
They led in waggons home;
And they piled them here in mountain tops
For mountaineers to roam.

Here is Mount Clear, Mount Rusty-Nail,
Mount Eagle and Mount High;—
The mice that in these mountains dwell,
No happier are than I!

Oh, what a joy to clamber there,
Oh, what a place for play,
With the sweet, the dim, the dusty air,
The happy hills of hay!

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Week 46	Johnny Chuck Is Kept Busy	One Sunday (Part 2 of 2)	The Three Bears	The Travellers Go South	How the Home Was Built	The Trap Story	The Story of the Spies
Week 46	The Man of Derby	Old Woman, Old Woman	The Coachman	Grey Goose and Gander	There Was an Old Woman	Old Mother Hubbard	A Thorn

Frederick Richardson's Book for Children by Frederick Richardson
[Illustration]

dropcap image HE cat and the mouse
Play'd in the malt-house:

The cat bit the mouse's tail off. "Pray, puss, give me my tail."

"No," says the cat, "I'll not give you your tail till you go to the cow and fetch me some milk."

First she leapt, and then she ran,

Till she came to the cow, and thus began:

"Pray, Cow, give me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my tail again."

"No," said the cow, "I will give you no milk till you go to the farmer and get me some hay."

First she leapt, and then she ran,

Till she came to the farmer, and thus began:

"Pray, Farmer, give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again."

"No," says the farmer, "I'll give you no hay till you go to the butcher and fetch me some meat."

First she leapt, and then she ran,

Till she came to the butcher, and thus began:

"Pray, Butcher, give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer may give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again."

"No," says the butcher, "I'll give you no meat till you go to the baker and fetch me some bread."

First she leapt, and then she ran,

Till she came to the baker, and thus began:

"Pray, Baker, give me bread, that I may give butcher bread, that butcher may give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer may give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again."

"Yes," says the baker, "I'll give you some bread,

But if you eat my meal, I'll cut off your head."

Then the baker gave mouse bread, and mouse gave butcher bread, and butcher gave mouse meat, and mouse gave farmer meat, and farmer gave mouse hay, and mouse gave cow hay, and cow gave mouse milk, and mouse gave cat milk, and cat gave mouse her own tail again.