Slovenly Betsy | Page 2

on the ground.?And when the good cats sat beside?The smoking ashes, how they cried,?"Me-ow, me-o! Me-ow, me-oo!?What will Mamma and Nursey do?"?Their tears ran down their cheeks so fast?They made a little pond at last.
[Illustration]
WHAT HAPPENED TO LAZY CHARLOTTE
"Here, Charlotte," Said Mamma One Day.?"These stockings knit while I'm away,?And should you fail, be sure you'll find?Mamma is strict, although she's kind."
[Illustration]
But Charlotte took a lazy fit,?And did not feel inclined to knit;?And soon upon the ground let fall?Needles, and worsted, hose, and all.?"I shall not knit," said she, "not I;?At least not now, but by and by;"?Then stretched, and yawned, and rubbed her eyes,?Like sluggards, when 'tis time to rise.
[Illustration]
But when Mamma came home, and found?The work all strewed upon the ground,?Quoth she, "You will not knit, and so?To school barefooted you shall go."
This put poor Charlotte in a fright.?And though she knew it served her right,?She wept, and begged, and prayed; but still?She could not change her mother's will.
[Illustration]
To school, where all were spruce and neat,?Poor Charlotte went with naked feet.?Some showed their pity, some their pride,?While Charlotte hid her face and cried.
[Illustration]
THE CRY-BABY
"Oh, why are you always so bitterly crying??You surely will make yourself blind.?What reason on earth for such sobbing and sighing,?I pray, can you possibly find??There is no real sorrow, there's nothing distressing,?To make you thus grieve and lament.?Ah! no; you are just at this moment possessing?Whatever should make you content.
[Illustration]
Now do, my dear daughter, give over this weeping,"?Such was a kind mother's advice.?But all was in vain; for you see she's still keeping?Her handkerchief up to her eyes.
[Illustration]
But now she removes it, and oh! she discloses?A countenance full of dismay;?For she certainly feels, or at least she supposes?Her eyesight is going away.?She is not mistaken, her sight is departing;?She knows it and sorrows the more;?Then rubs her sore eyes, to relieve them from smarting, And makes them still worse than before.
[Illustration]
And now the poor creature is cautiously crawling?And feeling her way all around;?And now from their sockets her eyeballs are falling;?See, there they are down on the ground.?My children, from such an example take warning,?And happily live while you may;?And say to yourselves, when you rise in the morning,?"I'll try to be cheerful today."
[Illustration]
THE STORY OF ROMPING POLLY
"I pray you now, my little child,"?Thus once a kind old lady?Spoke to her niece in accents mild,?"Do try to be more steady.?I know that you will often see?Rude boys push, drive, and hurry;?But little girls should never be?All in a heat and flurry."
[Illustration]
While thus the lady gave advice?And lectured little Polly,?To see her stand with downcast eyes,?You'd think she'd owned her folly.?She did, and many a promise made;?But when her aunt departed,?Forgetting all, the silly maid?Off to the playground started.
[Illustration]
Now see what frolic and what fun,?The little folks are after;?Away they jump, away they run,?With many a shout and laughter.
[Illustration]
But fools who never will be taught,?Except by some disaster,?Soon find their knowledge dearly bought,?And of a cruel master.?This little girl, who, spite of all?Her good old aunt had spoken,?Would romp about, had such a fall?That her poor leg was broken.
[Illustration]
In sore amaze, those standing by?Then placed her on a barrow;?But oh! to hear her scream and cry?Their souls it sure did harrow.
[Illustration]
See how her brother bursts in tears,?When told the dreadful story;?And see how carefully he bears?The limb all wet and gory.
[Illustration]
Full many a week, screwed up in bed,?She lingered sad and weary;
[Illustration]
And went on crutches, it is said,?Until she died so dreary.
[Illustration]
THE STORY OF A DIRTY CHILD
The little girls whom now you'll see?Were sisters in one family;?And both enjoyed an equal share?Of a kind mother's anxious care.?This one in neatness took a pride,?And oft the brush and comb applied;
[Illustration]
Oft washed her face, and oft her hands;?See, now, thus occupied she stands.
[Illustration]
The other--oh! I grieve to say?How she would scream and run away,?Soon as she saw her mother stand,?With water by, and sponge in hand.?She'd kick and stamp, and jump about,?And set up such an awful shout,?That one who did not know the child,?Would say she must be going wild.
[Illustration]
In consequence it came to pass,?While one was quite a pretty lass,?And many a fond admirer gained,?And many a little gift obtained;
[Illustration]
The other, viewed with general scorn,?Was left forsaken and forlorn;?For no one can endure to see?A child all dirt and misery.?Behold how needful 'tis that we?Should clean in dress and person be;?Or else, believe me, 'tis in vain?We hope affection to obtain.
[Illustration]
A sloven will be always viewed?With pity by the wise and good;?While ev'n the vicious and the base?Behold with scorn a dirty face.
[Illustration]
ENVIOUS MINNIE
Now Minnie was a pretty girl,?Her hair so gracefully did curl;?She had a slender figure, too,?And rosy cheeks, and eyes of blue.?And yet, with all those beauties rare,?Those angel eyes and curly hair,?Oh! many, many faults had she,?The worst of which was jealousy.?When