Ding, dong, bell! My pretty pussy is drowned, is drowned! Ding, dong, bell! Pussy’s in the well. Who put her in? Little Tommy Lin. Who pulled her out? Great Johnny Stout. What a naughty boy was that, To drown the poor, poor pussy-cat, Who never did him any harm, But killed the mice in his father’s barn. Ding, dong, bell! I am sad, so sad, dear Queen! [Illustration: MY PUSSY’S IN THE WELL] MY OWN TALE Pussy-cat Mew jumped over a coal, And in her best petticoat burnt a great hole. Poor Pussy’s weeping, she’ll have no more milk Until her best petticoat’s mended with silk. Mew! mew! mew! I am Pussy-cat Mew. [Illustration: PUSSY-CAT MEW] THREE TALES I am the cat, that caught the rat, That ate the malt, That lay in the house that Jack built. I am the dog, that worried the cat, That caught the rat, That ate the malt, That lay in the house that Jack built. I am the kitten all forlorn, That scratched the dog, That worried the cat, That caught the rat, That ate the malt, That lay in the house that Jack built. [Illustration: PRIZE-WINNERS] A SIGHT TO SEE The cat and the dog and the kitten Were as brave as brave could be, But when they came to visit the Queen, Why, they were a sight to see! A ’FRAID-CAT’S TALE Once I was a ’fraid-cat, dear Queen. All the kittens and cats laughed at me and sang this song about me. _C_ was a cat who ran after a rat, But her courage did fail When he seized on her tail. Now what do you think that cat did do? She jumped in a chair and cried, Mew! mew! _I_ was the cat who ran after the rat, But my courage did fail When he seized on my tail. Mew! mew! [Illustration: MY COURAGE DID FAIL] FROM THE NORTH POLE I came from the land of the snow, from the land of the Eskimo, where the summer is all day and the winter is all night. We dress in fur coats up there. It’s cold, so cold one can hardly wink. But I am proud of my land, for the North Pole is there. The dogs have seen it. They tell us so. And what the dogs say is true, you know. [Illustration: A LITTLE ESKIMO] THE TWINS We are twin kittens. There are two of us, and we look just alike. Our brothers and sisters cannot tell us apart. Even our mother cannot tell us apart. When one of us says “Mew!” the other says “Mew!” When one is hungry, the other is hungry. When one is sleepy, the other is sleepy. We are afraid, dear Queen, that we are beginning to be sleepy right now. We have had such fun at your party! [Illustration: TWO SLEEPY KITTENS] DO WE LOOK ALIKE