The town mouse and the country mouse

Now you must know that a Town Mouse once upon a time went on a visit to his cousin in the country. He was rough and ready, this cousin, but he loved his town friend and made him heartily welcome. Beans and bacon, cheese and bread, were all he had to offer, but he offered them freely. The Town Mouse rather turned up his long nose at this country fare, and said: "I cannot understand, Cousin, how you can put up with such poor food as this, but of course you cannot expect anything better in the country; come you with me and I will show you how to live. When you have been in town a week you will wonder how you could ever have stood a country life." No sooner said than done: the two mice set off for the town and arrived at the Town Mouse's residence late at night. "You will want some refreshment after our long journey," said the polite Town Mouse, and took his friend into the grand dining-room. There they found the remains of a fine feast, and soon the two mice were eating up jellies and cakes and all that was nice. Suddenly they heard growling and barking. "What is that?" said the Country Mouse. "It is only the dogs of the house," answered the other. "Only!" said the Country Mouse. "I do not like that music at my dinner." Just at that moment the door flew open, in came two huge mastiffs, and the two mice had to scamper down and run off. "Good-bye, Cousin," said the Country Mouse, "What! going so soon?" said the other. "Yes," he replied; "Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear."

The little brass kettle

Once upon a time there lived a rich man. He had a beautiful house, great fields of grain, much pasture land for his goats, many servants, and more gold than he could use in a hundred years.

But he was very greedy. The more he had, the more he wanted.

Among his servants were an old man and his wife. By saving every penny, they had bought a few acres of land and a dozen goats.

But now they were feeble, and the rich man would no longer pay them for the work they did. He said, too, that their land was his.

What could the poor man do?

One after another of the goats were sold to buy bread to eat. At last only one was left, and that was the finest one of them all.

One morning the old wife said, "Father, we must sell our last goat. I don't know how to spare the milk, but we must have money. Be sure you get a good sum for her."

So the old man took his cane and started to the town to sell the goat.

On the way he met a young man carrying a bag. The young man asked where he was going.

"I am going to the town to sell this goat," said the old man.

"What do you ask for her?" said the stranger."

"She is such a fine goat and gives such good milk that I want ten dollars for her," said the old man.

"I haven't any money," said the young stranger, "but I have something in my bag that is worth more than ten dollars."

Then he took from his bag a little brass kettle. It had four round feet and a big handle.

"Do you think I would give my goat for that kettle?" asked the old man.

Just then the little brass kettle began to sing,

"There's luck in me,

As you will see If you take me home, And we agree."

"Well," said the old man, "if that is true I think I had better take it."

So the young man took the goat, and the old man took the little brass kettle and started home. He was afraid his wife might not like the sale, so he hid the kettle in the shed.

After supper his wife said, " Well, Father, did you get ten dollars for the goat?"

"No," he said, "I have something worth more than ten dollars. Come to the shed and see".

When she saw the little brass kettle, she thought it must be a joke.

" Do you mean that you sold the goat for this brass kettle?" She asked.

" Yes" he answered, "and so would you if you could hear it sing."

Just then the kettle began to sing again.

"Take me into the house, And scour me well. Put me over the fire, But do not tell. For there's luck in me, As you will see If you take me in, And we agree."

"My," said the old woman, "what a wonderful kettle! You did just right, Father."

So she took the kettle into the house.

The next morning she made the old kettle shine like gold. Then she put it over the fire.

As soon as the fire touched it, the kettle began to sing,

"I hop, I hop, I will not stop, Till I've something sweet For you to eat."

And giving a jump the kettle went through the door. Its little round feet went bump, bump, bump, down the hard road till it came to the rich man's house. It jumped right through the window and landed on the kitchen table.

The rich man's wife was making apple dumplings. She had sugar, flour, butter, apples, and everything she needed to make fine dumplings. And there before her sat the little brass kettle.

" What a bright clean kettle," she said. "It is just the thing my dumplings."

So she put them into the kettle, and it began to sing,

"I hop, I hop."

"Where do you hop?" asked the rich woman.

And the kettle sang on,

"I hop, I hop, I will not stop, Till I stand before The poor man's door, With dumplings sweet For him to eat."

And in one leap the kettle was in the middle of the road. Its little round feet went bump, bump, bump, down the hard road. In a minute it was back at the house of the poor man.

The old woman heard a noise. There was the brass kettle before the door.

"See what the little kettle has bought us, Father," she called.

They put the kettle over the fire and had the finest apple dumplings they had ever eaten.

When the dumplings were all gone, the old wife scoured the kettle again, and put it over the fire.

As soon as it touched the fire, it began to sing,

"I hop, I hop, I will not stop Till you are fed, With your own bread."

Then the kettle jumped into the middle of the road. Its little round feet went bump, bump, bump, on the hard road. When it reached the rich man's barn, it jumped into the middle of the big floor. The servants were threshing wheat. It was the wheat that came from the poor man's fields. One of the servants saw the brass kettle.

"Ho ho!" he shouted. "How did this get here! We'll fill it with wheat."

So the men took shovels and began to fill the kettle. It took all the wheat to fill it.

As soon as the kettle was full, it began to sing,

"I hop, I hop."

"Where do you hop?" asked the men.

And the kettle sang on,

"I hop, I hop, I will not stop, Till I stand before The poor man's door, And see him fed With his own bread."

At once the little round feet went bump, bump, bump, out of the barn door and down the hard road. In a minute the kettle was back at the house of the poor man.

The old man heard a noise at the door. He opened it and in jumped the kettle,

"Look, Mother," he said, "the rich man has sent us our wheat!"

Then he began to take it from the kettle. It was enough to make bread for a long, long time.

The next morning, as the old man and woman sat before the fire, the kettle sang again,

"I hop, I hop, I will not stop, Till your hands hold Your yellow gold."

And its little round feet went bump, bump, bump, down the hard road. In a minute it was on a table in the rich man's house.

The rich man was counting money. There were bags and bags of yellow gold. The rich man saw the kettle and said, "I'll put my money in this."

When he had counted as much money as he owed the poor man, the kettle sang,

"I hop, I hop."

"Where do you hop?" asked the rich man.

And the kettle sang on,

"I hop, I hop, I will not stop, Till I stand before The poor man's door, With his own gold For him to hold."

Then the kettle gave a great jump into the road. Bump, bump, bump, went the round feet till the kettle stood in the middle of the poor man's kitchen.

"Oh, Mother, see," cried the old man, "the rich man has sent us our gold!

And the gold fell out on the floor. There was enough to last them as long as they lived.

A few days later, as the old woman was rubbing the pot it sang out,

"I hop, I hop, I hop once more, To the rich man's door Where I went before."

And bump, bump, bump, went the round feet over the hard road to the house of the rich man.

As soon as the rich man saw the kettle, he cried, "Ha! here is the kettle that took our dumplings, that fine wheat, and the yellow gold. It won't get away this time."

And giving a leap, he picked up the little kettle. As soon as the kettle felt the rich man's arms, it gave a quick jump. The handle slipped over the man's head and under his arms.

And the kettle began to hop with the rich man down the middle of the road.

The old servant and his wife heard the bump, bump, bump, of the round feet and ran to the window. They saw the little kettle hopping off with the rich | man.

"Where are you taking him?" they shouted.

And the kettle sang,

"To the land of Greed I hop, ho ho! To take this man Where he ought to go, To the land of Greed! Ha ha, ho ho! To take this man Where he ought to go."

And away it went with the rich man and was out of sight so quickly that no one could stop it. From that day to this no one has seen the little brass kettle.