Verse and Prose for Beginners in Reading | Page 6

Coo-coo!?Let me speak a word, too!?Who stole that pretty nest?From little yellow-breast?"
"Not I," said the sheep; "oh, no!?I wouldn't treat a poor bird so.?I gave wool the nest to line,?But the nest was none of mine.?Baa! Baa!" said the sheep; "oh, no,?I wouldn't treat a poor bird so."
"To-whit! to-whit! to-whee!?Will you listen to me??Who stole four eggs I laid,?And the nice nest I made?"
"Bob-o'-link! Bob-o'-link!?Now what do you think??Who stole a nest away?From the plum-tree, to-day?"
"Coo-coo! Coo-coo! Coo-coo!?Let me speak a word, too!?Who stole that pretty nest?From little yellow-breast?"
"Caw! Caw!" cried the crow;?"I should like to know?What thief took away?A bird's nest to-day?"
"Cluck! Cluck!" said the hen;?"Don't ask me again,?Why, I haven't a chick?Would do such a trick.?We all gave her a feather,?And she wove them together.?I'd scorn to intrude?On her and her brood.?Cluck! Cluck!" said the hen,?"Don't ask me again."
"Chirr-a-whirr! Chirr-a-whirr!?All the birds make a stir!?Let us find out his name,?And all cry 'for shame!'"
"I would not rob a bird,"?Said little Mary Green;?"I think I never heard?Of anything so mean."?"It is very cruel, too,"?Said little Alice Neal;?"I wonder if he knew?How sad the bird would feel?"
A little boy hung down his head,?And went and hid behind the bed,?For he stole that pretty nest?From poor little yellow-breast;?And he felt so full of shame,?He didn't like to tell his name.

I saw a ship a-sailing,?A-sailing on the sea;?And oh, it was all laden?With pretty things for thee!
There were comfits in the cabin,?And apples in the hold;?The sails were made of silk,?And the masts were made of gold!
The four and twenty sailors,?That stood between the decks,?Were four and twenty white mice,?With chains about their necks.
The captain was a duck,?With a packet on his back;?And when the ship began to move.?The captain said, "Quack! Quack!"

Jack and Jill went up the hill,?To fetch a pail of water;?Jack fell down, and broke his crown,?And Jill came tumbling after.

Little Bo-peep has lost her sheep,?And can't tell where to find them;?Leave them alone, and they'll come home,?And bring their tails behind them.
Little Bo-peep fell fast asleep,?And dreamed she heard them bleating;?But when she awoke, she found it a joke,?For they were still a-fleeting.
Then up she took her little crook,?Determined for to find them;?She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed,?For they'd left all their tails behind 'em.

Little boy blue, come blow your horn,?The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn;?Where's the little boy that tends the sheep??He's under the haycock, fast asleep.?Go wake him, go wake him. Oh, no, not I;?For if I awake him, he'll certainly cry.

Little girl, little girl, where have you been??Gathering roses to give to the queen.?Little girl, little girl, what gave she you??She gave me a diamond as big as my shoe.

Little Jack Horner sat in the corner,?Eating a Christmas pie;?He put in his thumb, and he took out a plum,?And said, "What a good boy am I!"

Little Johnny Pringle had a little pig;?It was very little, so was not very big.?As it was playing beneath the shed,?In half a minute poor Piggie was dead.?So Johnny Pringle he sat down and cried,?And Betty Pringle she lay down and died.?There is the history of one, two, and three,?Johnny Pringle, Betty Pringle, and Piggie Wiggie.

Little Miss Muffet
She sat on a tuffet,
Eating of curds and whey;
There came a black spider,
And sat down beside her,
Which frightened Miss Muffet away.

There was a little man,?And he had a little gun,?And his bullets were made of lead, lead, lead;?He went to the brook.?And he saw a little duck,?And shot it through the head, head, head.?He carried it home?To his wife Joan,?And bade her a fire to make, make, make,?To roast the little duck,?He had shot in the brook,?And he'd go and fetch the drake, drake, drake.

Little Tommy Tucker?Sing for your supper.?What shall I sing??White bread and butter.
How shall I cut it?Without any knife??How shall I marry?Without any wife?
PROVERBS AND POPULAR SAYINGS.
At sixes and sevens.?Beauty is but skin deep.?Half a loaf is better than no bread.?Better late than never.?Better live well than long.?Beware of no man more than thyself.?Birds of a feather will flock together.?Christmas comes but once a year;?And when it comes, it brings good cheer;?But when it's gone, it's never the near.?Brag is a good dog, but Holdfast is a better.?By fits and starts.?By and by is easily said.?Care will kill a cat.?Cats hide their claws.?Constant dropping wears the stone.?Count not your chickens before they are hatched.?Debt is the worst poverty.?Do not spur a free horse.?Don't cry till you are out of the wood.?Drive thy business; let not that drive thee.?Early to bed, and early to rise,?Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.?East or west, home is best.?Enough is as good as a feast.?Everybody's business is nobody's business.
HAPPY THOUGHT.
The world is so full of a number of things,?I'm sure we should all be as happy