The Nursery Rhymes of England Part 5

Simple Simon met a pieman Going to the fair; Says Simple Simon to the pieman, "Let me taste your ware."

Says the pieman to Simple Simon, "Show me first your penny."

Says Simple Simon to the pieman, "Indeed I have not any."

Simple Simon went a fis.h.i.+ng For to catch a whale: All the water he had got Was in his mother's pail.

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XLVII.

Punch and Judy, Fought for a pie, Punch gave Judy A sad blow on the eye.

XLVIII.

There was a crooked man, and he went a crooked mile, He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile: He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse, And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

XLIX.

Solomon Grundy, Born on a Monday, Christened on Tuesday, Married on Wednesday, Took ill on Thursday, Worse on Friday, Died on Sat.u.r.day, Buried on Sunday: This is the end Of Solomon Grundy.

L.

Robin the Bobbin, the big-bellied Ben, He eat more meat than fourscore men; He eat a cow, he eat a calf, He eat a butcher and a half; He eat a church, he eat a steeple, He eat the priest and all the people!

A cow and a calf, An ox and a half, A church and a steeple, And all the good people, And yet he complain'd that his stomach wasn't full.

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LI.

There was a fat man of Bombay, Who was smoking one suns.h.i.+ny day, When a bird, called a snipe, Flew away with his pipe, Which vex'd the fat man of Bombay.

LII.

My dear, do you know, How a long time ago, Two poor little children, Whose names I don't know, Were stolen away on a fine summer's day, And left in a wood, as I've heard people say.

And when it was night, So sad was their plight, The sun it went down, And the moon gave no light!

They sobb'd and they sigh'd, and they bitterly cried, And the poor little things, they lay down and died.

And when they were dead, The Robins so red Brought strawberry leaves, And over them spread; And all the day long, They sung them this song, "Poor babes in the wood! poor babes in the wood!

And don't you remember the babes in the wood?"

LIII.

There was a man, and he had naught, And robbers came to rob him; He crept up to the chimney pot, And then they thought they had him.

But he got down on t'other side, And then they could not find him; He ran fourteen miles in fifteen days, And never look'd behind him.

LIV.

There was a little man, And he had a little gun, And he went to the brook, And he shot a little rook; And he took it home To his old wife Joan, And told her to make up a fire, While he went back, To fetch the little drake; But when he got there, The drake was fled for fear, And like an old novice, He turn'd back again.

LV.

THE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS.

Once upon a time there was an old sow with three little pigs, and as she had not enough to keep them, she sent them out to seek their fortune. The first that went off met a man with a bundle of straw, and said to him, "Please, man, give me that straw to build me a house;"

which the man did, and the little pig built a house with it. Presently came along a wolf, and knocked at the door, and said,--

"Little pig, little pig, let me come in."

To which the pig answered,--

"No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin."

The wolf then answered to that,--

"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in."

So he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew his house in, and eat up the little pig.

The second little pig met a man with a bundle of furze, and said, "Please, man, give me that furze to build a house;" which the man did, and the pig built his house. Then along came the wolf, and said,--

"Little pig, little pig, let me come in."

"No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin."

"Then I'll puff, and I'll huff, and I'll blow your house in."

So he huffed, and he puffed, and he puffed, and he huffed, and at last he blew the house down, and he eat up the little pig.

The third little pig met a man with a load of bricks, and said, "Please, man, give me those bricks to build a house with;" so the man gave him the bricks, and he built his house with them. So the wolf came, as he did to the other little pigs, and said,--

"Little pig, little pig, let me come in."

"No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin."

"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in."