46.1 Little White Mouse. 
 
 i 
 
 The good Boy. 
 
 This good little boy 
 Is reading his bible, 
 
 He knows very well 
 He ought not to be idle, 
 
 . .-. ..■,*»- • -. i-ii'i.rr.CuMT-niT 
 
■M£ 
 
 Thus careless of the splendour that 
 awaited her, the keeper of the poultry 
 sat on a stone in the middle of the yard 
 when the king's son arrived : he was 
 crooked, and marked with every kind" of 
 deformity. " If you persist in refusing 
 me, I will order you to be put to death 
 instantly." "I will never marry you; 
 you are too ugly, and too wicked* I 
 prefer poverty with my poultry to you." 
 Page 17. 
 
 I 
 
THE LITTLE 
 
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 Printed and published by 
 
 HENRY MOZLEY AND SONS. 
 Price One Penny. 
 
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THE LITTLE WHITE MOUSE. 
 
 The king and queen of the Land of 
 Pleasure were so attached to each other 
 that nothing was wanting to make them 
 happy. 
 
 The king of the Land of Tears con- 
 ceived a deadly hatred against the king 
 of the Land of Pleasure. 
 
 This wicked wretch determined to 
 spread his army through the territory of 
 his happy neighbour, but his intention 
 reached the king of the Land of Pleasure, 
 he put every thing in the best state of 
 defence, took a tender leave of the queen, 
 and marched to meet the enemy 
 
f 
 
 6 THE LITTLE 
 
 The queen gave way to sorrow/' Alas! 
 if the king should fall in battle, I shall 
 be left in the power of a cruel monster, 
 and my child will be born a slave. The 
 king wrote to her every day ; one morn- 
 ing when she was watching for the mes- 
 senger, she saw him coming at full speed, 
 with fear pictured in his countenance. 
 "G! madam, all is lost: the king is' 
 slain, the army defeated, and the fero- 
 cious conqueror almost at our gates." 
 
 The poor queen fell senseless : her at- 
 tendants carried her to bed ; and no scene 
 could have been more affecting. The 
 wicked king, at the head of his savage 
 troops, entered the palace, where he 
 found the queen overwhelmed with sor- 
 row and despair. He seized her by the 
 hair, and dragging her from the bed, he 
 threw her across his shoulders, and car- 
 ried her away without remorse. She be- 
 sought him to have pity on her, but he 
 said to her, " Weep on ; your complaints 
 are a diversion to me." 
 
 He carried her to his own capital ; and 
 
WHITE MOUSE. 
 
 F 
 
 
 he took the most dreadful oaths that he 
 would hang her ; but he was informed 
 that the queen would soon become a 
 mother. 
 
 When he knew this, a thought struck 
 him, that if she should have a daughter, 
 he would marry her to his son ; and, 
 he sent for a fairy. When she arrived, 
 he led her into a tower, in which the 
 queen was confined. Nothing could 
 
 equal the unpleasantness of her apart- 
 ment. The bed was an old mattress. 
 
8 THE LITTLE 
 
 In this miserable condition the queen 
 passed both day and night, weeping bit- 
 terly at her own situation, and for the 
 death of her husband. 
 
 The fairy embraced the queen, and, 
 whispered, "Take courage, madam, your 
 misfortunes will soon be at an end: I 
 hope to contribute to your happiness. ,, 
 The queen was a little consoled and en- 
 treated her to have pity on a poor un- 
 happy princess, 
 
 The king growing impatient, " Come, 
 come;' said he, " let us not have so many 
 compliments ; I brought you here to in- 
 form me, whether the queen will have a 
 daughter or a son?" "She will have a 
 daughter," replied the fairy, " who will 
 be the most beautiful princess that has 
 ever been seen." " If she be not very 
 beautiful and accomplished," said the 
 king, " I will hang her mother with the 
 child at her neck; and nothing shall 
 prevent it " Having said this, he left 
 the place with the fairy, the queen wept 
 bitterly, thus lamenting her unhappy 
 
 ■ 
 

 WHITE MOUSE 9 
 
 fate. "Alas! what shall I do? If I 
 have a beautiful little girl, he will give 
 her to his reptile of a son ; and if she is 
 ugly, he will hang us both. Cannot I 
 conceal it from him so that he can never 
 ft see it." 
 
 The time approached when the little 
 princess was to come into the world, and 
 the distress of the queen augmented 
 daily : the jailer gave her nothing but 
 three boiled peas, and a small bit of 
 black bread for her food during the day. 
 One evening, while she was employed 
 in spinning, she saw entering, at a small 
 hole, a pretty little mouse, as white as 
 snow. "Ah, pretty creature, what do 
 you come here to seek ? I have but three 
 peas to last me all day: begone, if you 
 wish not to fast." — The little mouse ran 
 about here and there, and skipped like 
 a little monkey. The queen was so 
 pleased with it, that she gave it the only 
 pea that remained for her supper. 
 " Here, poor little thing, eat this : I have 
 got no more ; but I give it thee willing- 
 
 * 
 
10 THE LITTLE 
 
 ly." The instant she had done this 
 there appeared upon the table two par- 
 tridges and two pots of preserves. 
 " Really, a good turn is never lost." 
 She ate a little ; but with fasting so long 
 her appetite was almost gone. She threw 
 sweetmeats to the mouse, who having 
 nibbled them away, began to leap about 
 with more glee than before. 
 
 The next morning the gaoler brought 
 the queen three peas, which he had put 
 as usual in a large dish, to mock her 
 sufferings: the little white mouse came 
 softly, and eat them all three, as well as 
 the bread. When the queen wished to 
 dine, she found nothing there, at which 
 she was very angry with the mouse. 
 " What a wicked little beast ! if he con- 
 tinues thus, I shall die with hunger." 
 As she was going to cover the plate she 
 found it full of things good to eat: but 
 while she was eating, a thought came 
 into her head, that, in a few days, the 
 king would perhaps kill her child, and 
 she & quitted the table to weep. " Ah ! 
 
WHITE MOUSE. 1 1 
 
 is there no way of saving it?" At the 
 time she pronounced these words, she 
 perceived the mouse playing with some 
 long straws : she took some of them, and 
 began to work :" u If I have enough of 
 straw I will make a basket to put my 
 little daughter in, and I will give \i out 
 of the window to the first charitable per- 
 son who will take care of it." 
 
 She began to work very diligently: 
 she never wanted straw ; for the mouse 
 always brought some; and at meal- 
 times, the queen always gave her the 
 three peas, and found in exchange a 
 number of dishes of delicate meats. 
 
 One day as the queen was looking 
 out of the window, to see how she 
 should let it down, she perceived an old 
 woman leaning upon a stick, who spoke 
 to her thus : — " I know your trouble, 
 madam ; and, if you wish it, I will serve 
 you." Alas ! my dear friend, you will 
 much oblige me, if you will come every 
 evening to receive my child, whom I 
 will let down to you : you must feed and 
 
12 THE LITTLE 
 
 nurse it ; and if ever I am rich, I will 
 repay you well/' " I wish for no pecu- 
 niary reward, but I am very nice in my u 
 eating, and wish for nothing so much 
 as a fat mouse. If you find one in your 
 prison, kill it and throw it me : your in- 
 fant will be the better for it." 
 
 The queen began to weep without 
 answering ; and the old woman, after 
 having waited a little, asked her why 
 she cried ? " It is, that there only comes 
 into my chamber one little mouse, so 
 engaging, that I cannot kill it." How ! 
 do you like a rogue of a mouse, who eats 
 every thing, better than your own child ? 
 Very well, madam, you are not to be 
 pitied : remain in the good company you 
 have chosen ; I can have plenty of mice ; 
 so I care but little about it ;" and scold- 
 ing in this manner, she hobbled away. 
 
 Although the queen had a good repast, 
 and the mouse played about as usual, 
 she never raised her eyes from the 
 ground, and tears ran down her cheeks. 
 
 On this same night the little princess 
 
WHITE MOUSE. 13 
 
 made her entrance into the world : her 
 beauty surpassed all that the queen had 
 ever beheld: instead of crying at her 
 birth, as other children do, she smiled 
 at her affectionate parent, and extended 
 her little hands, as if she had already a 
 o-ood understanding. The queen caress- 
 ed her fondly, " Alas ! my dear child, if 
 you fall into the hands of the wicked 
 king, it will cost you your life." She 
 shut it up in the basket, with a paper, on 
 which was written, 
 O ! you whose steps the favouring 
 
 powers direct 
 To these lone scenes, your generous aid 
 
 I claim ; 
 My hapless child, in infant years, protect 
 From sorrow's grasp — and Juliet be her 
 
 name : 
 and having turned away for a moment, 
 she looked again, and found the infant 
 dressed in the finest clothes : she kissed 
 it and shed a torrent of tears, not know- 
 ing how to part with her. 
 
 At this moment in came the little 
 
14 THE LITTLE 
 
 mouse, and jumped into the basket. 
 " Ah ! little creature, how much it costs 
 me to save your life! I shall perhaps 
 lose my dear Juliet. Any other than 
 me would have killed you, and given 
 you to the dainty old woman ; but I 
 could not consent to it." "You will 
 not repent it, madam, I am not unwor- 
 thy of your friendship." The queen was 
 thunderstruck when she heard the mouse 
 speak; but her surprise augmented 
 when she perceived its little visage 
 change to that of a woman, and the paws 
 become hands and feet. At length the 
 queen, hardly daring to look up, discov- 
 ered the figure to be the fairy that had 
 visited her before, and who had prom- 
 ised to put an end to her misfortune and 
 sufferings. " I wished to try the good- 
 ness of your heart," said the fairy : " I 
 now know that you are worthy of my 
 friendship. Fairies like me, who possess 
 treasures and riches do not seek so much 
 for the luxuries of life, as for friendship, 
 and we seldom find it." " Is it possible, 
 
WHITE MOUSE. 15 
 
 great fairy, that you, who are so power- 
 ful and wealthy, find it such a great 
 trouble to gain a friend ?" " Yes, because 
 persons seldom love us but for interest ; 
 but when you loved me as a mouse, and 
 it seemed from a disinterested motive, I 
 wished to put you to a still greater trial ; 
 I took the figure of an old woman ; and 
 it was me who spoke to you at the bot- 
 tom of the tower: you have^always an- 
 swered my best expectation/' At these 
 words she embraced the queen ; then she 
 kissed the infant princess, and said, 
 "My pretty little girl, you shall hence- 
 forward be your mother's consolation ; 
 you shall be richer than your father ; you 
 shall live for an hundred years without 
 illness, wrinkles, or old age." The en- 
 raptured queen begged that the fairy 
 would take Juliet away, and be careful 
 of her ; adding, " I give her to be your 
 
 daughter." 
 
 The fairy thanked her ; she put the 
 little one in the basket, which she let 
 down to the bottom of the tower, and 
 
16 
 
 THE LITTLE 
 
 having again taken the form of a mouse, 
 she descended by the cord ; but when 
 she got down, she could not find the 
 child any where ; and remounting in a 
 great fright, "All is lost/' cried she, 
 my enemy Cancaline has carried away 
 the princess. 
 
 When the jailer entered and perceiv- 
 ed what had taken place, he went to in- 
 form the king, who came in a great 
 passion to ask for the child ; but she told 
 him that a fairy had carried it away by 
 force. At this the king said, " I prom- 
 ised to hang thee, and I will keep my 
 word." He then dragged her to a wood, 
 and was going to hang the queen, when 
 the fairy, having rendered herself invi- 
 sible, pushed him down and carried away 
 his intended victim to her palace. She 
 was treated with every attention ; and if 
 it had not been for the thoughts of her 
 little daughter, she could have been 
 happy. 
 
 Fifteen years passed away without 
 any change. At this period there was 
 
WHITE MOUSE. 17 
 
 great talk that the son of the wicked 
 monarch had fallen in love with the 
 keeper of his poultry, and that she refu- 
 sed to accept him for her husband. This 
 refusal surprised every one: the nuptial 
 dresses were prepared, and the ceremo- 
 ny was expected soon to take place. 
 The little white mouse determined to see 
 this extraordinary damsel, and trans- 
 ported herself to the capital. She en- 
 tered the poultry-yard, and found her 
 dressed in a coarse woollen gown, with 
 her feet bare, and a cap of goat skin on 
 
 her head. 
 
 Careless of the splendour that awaited 
 her, she sat on a stone when the kings 
 son arrived : he was marked with every 
 kind of deformity. " If you persist in 
 refusing me, I will order you to be put 
 to death." " I will never marry you ; 
 you are too ugly, and too wicked/' 
 
 The little white mouse observed her 
 with admiration. As soon as the prince 
 retired, the fairy assumed the figure of 
 an old shepherdess. " Good day, fair 
 
18 THE LITTLE 
 
 damsel, the fowls do credit to your care 
 of them/ 5 The young woman looked at 
 her with a countenance full of sweet- 
 ness : " They wish to persuade me to 
 quit my employment for a crown which 
 1 do not want : pray, good mother, what 
 is your advice?" " My child, a crown is 
 a dazzling object; but you cannot im- 
 agine the trouble it is to those who wear 
 it." But suppose 1 do know all this, 
 still I would refuse to accept it, because 
 1 know not even the name of those who 
 gave me birth." Tell me then who pla- 
 ced you here." "A fairy, named Can- 
 caline, she almost killed me, without the 
 least provocation. Tired of my suffer- 
 ings, I ran away from her, and met the 
 son of the wicked king, who asked if I 
 would enter into his service: I consent- 
 ed, and was placed to take care of his 
 poultry. Alas! he conceived a most 
 violent love for me, and has so teased 
 me that I have no comfort left." 
 
 The fairy suspected she had at last 
 met with the princess Juliet, and she 
 
WHITE MOUSE. 19 
 
 asked her name. " I am called Juliet, 
 but who gave me that name I never 
 knew." The fairy threw herself on her 
 neck exclaiming, " Juliet, I have known 
 you long ; 1 am delighted to find you so 
 sensible and so lovely ; take the clothes 
 that are before you, and put them on." 
 
 The princess obeyed ; " who do you 
 suppose yourself to be, my dear child ?" 
 < k Really, I could fancy myself to be the 
 daughter of some great king." " Should 
 you be glad of it?" " yes, certainly, for 
 it would give me the power of assisting 
 many that are in distress." " Be happy 
 then, for you are born of royal parents: 
 to-morrow you shall know more." 
 
 The fairy then returned to the queen. 
 " 1 bring you, madam, the happiest ti- 
 dings." " Alas ! what tidings of joy can 
 come to me, who have lost both my 
 husband and my child ?" " It is always 
 right to hope ; I have seen the princess 
 your daughter, and she is more beauti- 
 ful than the dawning day." She then 
 related the whole of her discovery. " I 
 
o 
 
 THE LITTLE 
 
 am determined/' said the queen, " that 
 she shall not marry the prince , pray ^o 
 and bring her to me." 
 
 The son of the wicked king- left Ju- 
 liet in a great rage at her refusal, and 
 went into the gardens to consider what 
 he should do ; here he cried so loud, 
 that his father overheard him, and in- 
 quired the cause of his distress. " How 
 can I he otherwise than afflicted, to be 
 thus set at defiance by a keeper of poul- 
 try ?" " What will not she love you ? I 
 am determined she shall be put to death." 
 He then called his guards. " Go, and 
 bring her here immediately." 
 
 They went and seized her, and shut 
 her up in a tower. At this moment the 
 fairy and the good queen arrived in a 
 flying chariot ; and on hearing the sad 
 fate to which her daughter was just con- 
 demned, " Be of good comfort," said 
 the fairy, you shall be made happy, and 
 your enemies punished." The king re- 
 tired to bed. The fairy then resumed 
 the form of the little white mouse, and 
 
WHITE MOUSE. 21 
 
 bit his ear ! at which, he turned the other 
 side and she bit that also : he cried out 
 for assistance, and when his attendants 
 came, they found both his ears bleeding 
 very much. While they were seeking 
 the mouse, she was gone into the prince's 
 room, to inflict vengeance upon him: 
 she eat out one of his eyes, which left 
 him in total darkness ; for he was blind 
 of the other before. He leaped out of 
 bed, seized his sword, and ran to his fa- 
 ther, who also had taken his sword, 
 swearing that he would kill every one 
 that came in his way till the mouse was 
 found. 
 
 When he saw his son, he scolded him, 
 and the prince, not knowing the voice, 
 attacked him furiously ; the king made 
 a violent cut at him with his sword, and 
 received a severe wound from his son at 
 the same moment ; so that they borh fell 
 to the ground bleeding profusely. All 
 their subjects, who hated them mortally, 
 now dreading them no longer, dragged 
 them into the river. 
 
22 THE LITTLE 
 
 Thus ended the days of the wicked 
 king and his son. The good fairy, who 
 had seen all that passed, went immedi- 
 ately to seek the queen, and they went 
 together to the black tower, where the 
 princess Juliet was confined. The fairy 
 struck three times with a little ring on 
 the great door, which opened instantly: 
 they found the poor princess with scarce- 
 ly spirits to speak a word. The queen 
 ran to embrace her: "My dear child, I 
 am thy mother, the queen of the Land 
 of Pleasure," exclaimed she, and then 
 gave her an account of her birth. When 
 Juliet heard these happy tidings, she was 
 nearly dying with joy : she threw her- 
 self at the feet of the queen, and wet her 
 hands with tears that she shed upon 
 them. She likewise caressed the good 
 fairy, who had conferred so many ob- 
 ligations on them both. The fairy said 
 to them, " Is it not time now to think of 
 amusing ourselves ; let us go to the hall 
 of the castle, and harangue the people/' 
 They moved gracefully to every one 
 

 WHITE MOUSE. 23 
 
 they met, whether rich or poor. When 
 the great hall was full, the good fairy 
 said to the subjects of the tyrant, that she 
 would recommend them to choose for 
 their sovereign the daughter of a neigh- 
 jjrj bouring king, whom she then presented 
 to them. " Under so amiable a queen," 
 said she, "you cannot fail to live in a 
 state of continual happiness and tran- 
 quillity. " At these words the people 
 cried out with one voice, " Yes ! yes ! 
 we choose her for our queen, and wetrust 
 she will make us amends for the mise- 
 ries we have so long endured." 
 
 Henry Mozley and Sons, Printers, Derby. 
 
 t muu t 
 
nrTnirriiMfiWmiTilBl 
 
 iiBMiimniMm 
 
 46.] Little White Mouse. 
 
 Naughty Girl. 
 
 My sweet little girl should be cheerful and 
 mild, 
 
 And should not be fretful, and cry! 
 Oh, why is this passion ? remember, my child,, 
 
 God sees you, who lives in the sky.