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Carolyn Wells
Mother Goose's Menagerie
(Illustrated Edition)
Children's Book Classic Illustrator: Peter Newell
Published by
Advanced Digital Solutions & High-Quality eBook Formatting
[email protected] 2017 OK Publishing ISBN 978-80-272-2305-3
Table of Contents
The Cow That Jumped Over the Moon
The Four-And-Twenty Blackbirds
The Frog Who Would A-Wooing Go
The Pussy-Cat Who Visited the Queen
The Mouse That Ran Up the Clock
To my niece
M A R G E R Y W E L L S
Tim and Tilly
Two little children, once there were,
Whose names were Tim and Tilly.
His skin was brown and rosy; her
Fair face was like a lily.
And they were just as good as gold,
And always did as they were told.
Their pretty ways
Deserve much praise,
Dear little Tim and Tilly.
One summer morning, hand in hand
Along the roadside walking,
Tilly and Tim went singing, and
Occasionally talking,
When, being tired, they thought it best
Upon a stone to sit and rest.
To them there came
An aged Dame
Along the roadside walking.
"Good-morning," said she, "children dear;"
"Good-day," said they, politely.
Her dress was just a trifle queer,
Though not at all unsightly.
She wore a quilted petticoat,
A cap with buckles at the throat,
A peaked hat,
With brim quite flat,
But not at all unsightly.
"Perhaps, my dears, you don't know me;"
"No, ma'am," they answered, smiling.
"Why, I am Mother Goose," said she
(Her manner was beguiling).
"I'm on a journey to my Zoo,
I'm sure that it would interest you,
And if you'd care
To visit there—"
"Yes, ma'am!" they answered, smiling.
"Jump on my broomstick, then," she cried,
"Dear little Tim and Tilly,
T will be a long and rapid ride,
I hope you won't be chilly."
They took their places nothing loth,
She wrapped her cloak about them both;
With wild delight
They held on tight
And were not even chilly.
After they'd gone a mile or three,
They reached their destination;
And Mother Goose said pleasantly,
"Welcome to my plantation."
Then every kind of sound was heard,
The purr of cat and song of bird,
The bark of dog
And croak of frog,
Around the whole plantation.
Joyfully Tim and Tilly spied
Animals of all ages;
Some walking with a stately stride,
And some shut up in cages.
In kennels, stables, stalls, and pens,
In coops and holes and caves and dens,
In ponds and brooks,
In nests and nooks,
Were creatures of all ages.
Now Tilly, as I must admit,
Was just a trifle fearful;
But Tim said, "I don't mind a bit,
They're all so kind and cheerful."
And this was true. You never saw
Animals that inspired less awe;
Even the Bears
Sat in their lairs
With aspect kind and cheerful.
"Dear Mother Goose," then Tilly said,
"May we not interview them?
That dog, and lamb, and robin red,
I feel as if I knew them!"
Said Mother Goose,