Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse

Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse lived together in a little house.

Titty Mouse went to gather ears of corn, and Tatty Mouse went to gather ears of corn.

So they both went to gather ears of corn.

Titty Mouse picked an ear of corn, and Tatty Mouse picked an ear of corn.

So they both picked ears of wheat.

Titty Mouse began to make a pudding, and Tatty Mouse began to make a pudding.

So they both began to make puddings.

Tatty put her pudding into a pot of boiling water to cook, and Titty put her pudding into a pot, but the pot tipped over and scalded Titty to death.

Tatty sat down and wept bitterly. Then the three-legged stool asked her:

“Why are you crying, Tatty?”

“Oh!” replied Tatty. “Titty is dead, and that’s why I’m crying.”

“Then I’ll start hopping,” said the stool, and it began to hop.

Then the broom in the corner asked:

“Stool, oh stool, why are you hopping?”

“Titty is dead, Tatty is crying, so I’m hopping,” replied the stool.

“Then I’ll start sweeping,” said the broom, and it began to sweep the floor.

“Wait, broom!” called the door. “Why are you sweeping?”

“Oh!” replied the broom. “Titty is dead, Tatty is crying, the stool is hopping, so I’m sweeping.”

“Then I’ll start creaking,” said the door, and it began to creak.

“Listen, door, why are you creaking?” asked the window.

“Oh!” replied the door. “Titty is dead, Tatty is crying, the stool is hopping, the broom is sweeping, so I’m creaking.”

“Then I’ll start rattling,” said the window, and it began to rattle.

Outside the window in the yard stood an old bench. It heard the window rattling and asked:

“Window, window, why are you rattling?”

“Oh!” replied the window. “Titty is dead, Tatty is crying, the stool is hopping, the broom is sweeping, the door is creaking, so I’m rattling.”

“Then I’ll start jumping around the house,” said the bench, and it began to jump.

Now, you should know that a tall hazel tree grew near the house. The hazel tree asked the bench:

“Bench, oh bench, why are you jumping around the house?”

“Oh!” replied the bench. “Titty is dead, Tatty is crying, the stool is hopping, the broom is sweeping, the door is creaking, the window is rattling, so I’m jumping around the house.”

“Then I’ll shed my leaves,” said the hazel tree, and it shed its beautiful green leaves.

A little bird sat on one of its branches. It saw all the leaves falling and asked:

“Tell me, hazel tree, why have you shed your leaves?”

“Oh!” replied the hazel tree. “Titty is dead, Tatty is crying, the stool is hopping, the broom is sweeping, the door is creaking, the window is rattling, the bench is jumping, so I’ve shed my leaves.”

“Then I’ll pluck out all my feathers,” said the bird, and it plucked out all its pretty little feathers.

At that moment, a little girl was passing through the yard. She was carrying a jug of milk for supper for her brothers and sisters. She saw the poor bird, all plucked and without a single feather, and asked:

“Dear bird, why are you so bare?”

“Oh!” replied the bird. “Titty is dead, Tatty is crying, the stool is hopping, the broom is sweeping, the door is creaking, the window is rattling, the bench is jumping, the hazel tree has shed its leaves, so I’ve plucked out all my feathers.”

“Then I’ll spill the milk,” said the girl, and she threw the jug of milk on the ground.

Nearby, at the very top of a ladder, stood an old man: a haystack covered with reeds. The old man saw that the girl had spilled the milk and asked:

“Girl, why did you spill the milk? Now your brothers and sisters will go to bed without supper.” And the girl replied:

“Titty is dead, Tatty is crying, the stool is hopping, the broom is sweeping, the door is creaking, the window is rattling, the bench is jumping, the hazel tree has shed its leaves, the bird has plucked out all its feathers, so I’ve spilled the milk.”

“Oh, what a tragedy!” said the old man. “Then I’ll tip over the ladder and break my neck.”

And he tipped over the ladder and broke his neck. Then the tall hazel tree fell to the ground with a crash, crushing the old bench and the house; the house collapsed, and the window flew out; the door sprang open and knocked over the broom; the broom overturned the stool, and poor little Tatty Mouse perished under the ruins.

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Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse

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