| |
From “The English Struwwelpeter”
IT almost makes me cry to tell | |
| What foolish Harriet befel. | |
| Mamma and Nurse went out one day | |
| And left her all alone at play; | |
| Now, on the table close at hand, | 5 |
| A box of matches chanced to stand; | |
| And kind Mamma and Nurse had told her, | |
| That, if she touched them, they should scold her. | |
| But Harriet said: “O, what a pity! | |
| For when they burn it is so pretty; | 10 |
| They crackle so, and spit, and flame; | |
| Mamma, too, often does the same.” | |
| |
| The pussy-cats heard this, | |
| And they began to hiss, | |
| And stretch their claws | 15 |
| And raise their paws; | |
| “Me-ow,” they said, “me-ow, me-o, | |
| You ’ll burn to death, if you do so.” | |
| |
| But Harriet would not take advice, | |
| She lit a match, it was so nice! | 20 |
| It crackled so, it burned so clear,— | |
| Exactly like the picture here. | |
| She jumped for joy and ran about, | |
| And was too pleased to put it out. | |
| |
| The pussy-cats saw this | 25 |
| And said: “Oh, naughty, naughty Miss!” | |
| And stretched their claws | |
| And raised their paws: | |
| “’T is very, very wrong, you know, | |
| Me-ow, me-o, me-ow, me-o, | 30 |
| You will be burnt, if you do so.” | |
| |
| And see! Oh! what a dreadful thing! | |
| The fire has caught her apron string; | |
| Her apron burns, her arms, her hair; | |
| She burns all over, everywhere. | 35 |
| |
| Then how the pussy-cats did mew; | |
| What else, poor pussies, could they do? | |
| They screamed for help, ’t was all in vain! | |
| So then they said: “We ’ll scream again; | |
| Make haste, make haste, me-ow, me-o, | 40 |
| She ’ll burn to death, we told her so.” | |
| |
| So she was burnt, with all her clothes, | |
| And arms, and hands, and eyes, and nose; | |
| Till she had nothing more to lose | |
| Except her little scarlet shoes; | 45 |
| And nothing else but these was found | |
| Among her ashes on the ground. | |
| |
| And when the good cats sat beside | |
| The smoking ashes, how they cried! | |
| “Me-ow, me-oo, me-ow, me-oo, | 50 |
| What will Mamma and Nursy do?” | |
| Their tears ran down their cheeks so fast, | |
| They made a little pond at last. | |
| |
