\\ 
 
Cornell University Library 
 PZ 10.3.B99L7 
 
 
'M 
 
 Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924012052936 
 
The Little Small Red Hen 
 
 Once upon a time, 
 
 Though I can't say exactly when, 
 There lived, away in the country, 
 
 A Little 5mall Red Hen. 
 
The Little Red Hen's House 
 
She wore a nice little apron, 
 And a little sunbonnet too, 
 
 And she wall^ed picketty=pecketty, 
 As little Hens always do. 
 
 \ She had lived the whole of her little life, 
 — Au^be same little house; it stood 
 
 a lonely spot, 
 CORNELL I edge of a wood. 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 LIBRARY 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 M&lcolm K. Whyte 
 
.-^i 
 
 The Little Red Hen's H 
 
5he wore a nice little apron, 
 
 And a little sunbonnet too, 
 And she walked picketty=pecketty, 
 
 As little Hens always do. 
 
 She had lived the whole of her little life, 
 In the same little house ; it stood 
 
 All by itself, in a lonely spot, 
 Just at the ed£:e of a wood. 
 
It was very snug and cosy and warm, 
 And the garden wasn't big, 
 
 But just what a Little Small Red Hen 
 Could nicely manage to dig. 
 
 And once upon a time- 
 Just the same time, of course, ' 
 
 There also lived a Wicked Old Fox, 
 Among the heath and gorse. 
 
On the Look=out 
 
Silently, slyly, he crept round the fields. 
 Stealing gcesQ and ducks and cocks. 
 
 Dressed in a hat and long great coat. 
 This wicked, cunning old Pox. 
 
 His house was perched on top of the hill. 
 It was made of rock and stone; 
 
 He and his wife, old Mother Pox, 
 They lived there all alone. 
 
It was large and damp and draughty. 
 
 Ugly and cold and bare; 
 A tidy Little Small Red Hen 
 
 Would never be happy there. 
 
 Now, the Wicked Old Fox had often tried 
 
 Over and over again, 
 To catch by some sly trick or other 
 
 The Little Small Red Hen. 
 
Mr. Fox puts on his Thinking Cap 
 
»^y (I 
 
 Mr. Fox's House on the Hill 
 
But she was far too clever for him, 
 She never let him find her, 
 
 And whenever she left her little house 
 She would lock the door behind her. 
 
 One morning, very early indeed, 
 
 Before the sun was hot, 
 The Wicked Old Fox said to Mother Fox, 
 
 ** Put on the big black pot. 
 
A Game of " I Spy " 
 
** I'm going to have another try, 
 I shall soon be back, and then 
 
 ^I promise you'll see at last I've caught 
 The Little 5mall Red Hen." 
 
 So he put on his cap and shouldered a sack. 
 And walked very sly and slow; 
 
 And after a while he came in sight 
 Of the snug little house below. 
 
In Hiding 
 
And he laid the sack very softly down 
 On the ground behind a tree, 
 
 And then lay down to wait and watch, 
 As quiet as quiet could be. 
 
 He was getting tired of waiting there, 
 When the house=(ioor opened wide. 
 
 And the Little Small Red Hen came forth 
 To gather sticks outside ; 
 
I 1 1 
 
 An Unwelcome Visitor 
 
Walking picketty=pecketty, 
 
 Exceedingly neat and prim;^ 
 And the Wicked Old Fox lay watching; 
 
 She never once thought of him I 
 
 While she was picking up the sticks 
 
 He slipped behind the door, 
 And laughed **Ho! Ho!'* to himself, very low, 
 
 As he put the sack on the floor. 
 
The Little Red Hen returns Home 
 
He stood there, hiding and chuckling, 
 And peeping through the cracli, 
 
 And he saw the Little Small Red Hen, 
 In a minute or two, come back. 
 
 She stepped inside with her bundle of sticks. 
 
 As cheerful as one could be. 
 
 When the Wicked Old Fox sprang full at 
 her throat. 
 
 ** Fve got you now !" cried he. 
 
**What good are bolts and bars?" he said, 
 
 ** How silly you must be 
 To think that they could ever keep out 
 
 A cunning old Fox like me I'' 
 
 Of course the poor Little Small Red Hen 
 Was now in a terrible fright. 
 
 She gave a scream and dropped her sticks, 
 They tumbled left and right. 
 
Out of Reach 
 
In a Fix 
 
\ 
 
 But she just Had time to fly on a beam 
 
 \ That went across overhead, 
 Quite out of reach of the Wielded Old Fox. 
 "But I'll have i^oii yet," he said. 
 
 Then he ^ began to run round and round, 
 AiidVound and round beneath. 
 
 Looking up every now and then, 
 Laughing arid showing his teeth. 
 
 / \ 
 
It made her dreadfully dizzy and faint, 
 She gave a cluck and a lurch, 
 
 5he gave a flap and a flutter and flop, 
 And fell right off her perch. 
 
 Then the Wicked Old Fox threw open his sack, 
 And in less than half a minute 
 
 He had picked her up with a cry of joy, 
 And hastily stuffed her in it. 
 
Caught at Last 
 
The Vision of Mr. Fox 
 
He swung it over his shoulder, and smiled, 
 
 And started off for his den ; 
 '*How nice youMl be for supper!" said he, 
 My dear Little Small Red Hen ! " 
 
 (( 
 
 So there she was, poor thing, you see. 
 Shut up quite tight in the sack; 
 
 She found it most unpleasant there, 
 Close and stuffy and black. 
 
The Little Red Hen peeps out 
 
But she thought of her little scissors, 
 
 In her apron pocket hid. 
 ''I will cut a hole and see where 1 am," 
 
 5he said. And so she did. 
 
 Now the sun was hot, and all the time 
 
 It was getting hotter still ; 
 And the Wicked Old Fox grew very tired 
 
 As he climbed the heathy hill. 
 

 ^f^ 
 
 \v.U?i!^ 
 
 A Look Round 
 
He dropped on a mossy bank, and said— 
 
 **It may be lazy— but 
 I think ril just have forty winks," 
 
 And his wicked eyes blinked and shut. 
 
 The Little Small Red Hen, indeed, 
 
 Was also very glad 
 To rest a bit from the jogs and jolts. 
 
 And the bangs and bumps she'd had* 
 
 
^..liui i jj^jM iii i nnFnjW i it i .n ii ii i p i m,.,..,^j.J.iM WPfi 
 
 
 *isi *- 
 
 Fret' Once More 
 
And she thought, *' If I cut a little hole. 
 
 Why not a big one too?" 
 And she cut a slit that was long enough 
 
 To let her whole self through! 
 
 Wasn't she pleased to be free again I 
 She said, '*\ must run double-quick; 
 
 But before 1 go V\\ manage to play 
 The Wicked Old Fox a trick I'* 
 
A hard nut for Mr. Pox to crack 
 
And she took a great big knobby stone, 
 As large as a lump of coal, 
 
 And heaved and pushed, and pushed and 
 heaved, 
 Till she got it through the hole. 
 
 And then she scuttled panting home 
 As fast as her legs would go, 
 
 Not walking picketty=pecketty 
 This time,— oh dear no I 
 
She scuttered and fluttered down the hill, 
 
 And scampered through her door. 
 
 ''Thank goodness!" she said, all out of 
 breath, 
 
 ** Tm safe at home once more I" 
 
 But when the Wicked Old Fox woke up. 
 It was getting dark and late. 
 
 He shouldered the sack, and found it now 
 A most remarkable weight. 
 
"^ 'M ^c 
 
 Full Speed for Home 
 

 Old Mother Fox's Washing Day 
 
"Dear me!" he said, "she weighs lil^e a 
 goose I 
 
 I thought she'd be light as a wren ; 
 What a splendid supper we'll have to=night 
 
 Off the Little Small Red Hen ! " 
 
 So heavily, wearily trudged he home, 
 And kept shifting the sack about ; 
 
 And when at last he came to his door. 
 There was old Mother Fox looking out. 
 
She said to him, "You look tired, my dear," 
 And he answered, **Ah, she's caught I" 
 
 And he puffed and licked his lips and said, 
 "She's twice as fat as I thought I" 
 
 He asked, " My love, is the pot on the boil ? " 
 "It's boiling fast," she replied. 
 
 He said, "Then take the lid off, my dear, 
 And we'll pop her plump inside I " 
 
 \ 
 
^ ^ 
 
 
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 A Treat in Store 
 
Something Qood for Supper 
 
So old Mother Fox took off the Hd, 
 
 Hot and steaming and black, 
 
 While the Wicked Old Fox, with hurry and 
 haste. 
 
 Untied the mouth of the sack. 
 
Splash I 
 
And— 5PLASH I went in the great big stone, 
 
 't ^^^ a splash ! my word ! 
 I don't suppose a splash so loud 
 
 Has ever before been heard., 
 
 The bees and birds and bunnies all, 
 \ Who had gone to bed for the night, 
 
 For miles around, woke up with a jump 
 In a most tremendous fright. 
 
The sad end of Mr, Fox and his Wife 
 
And the boiling water in tlie pot 
 
 Splashed out on every side, 
 And terribly scalded the Wicked Old Fox, 
 
 And old Mother Fox, and they died. 
 
 There they lay, all still and stark. 
 Up in the house on the hill ; 
 
 There they lay, and, for all I know, 
 There they are lying still. 
 
A Quiet Life 
 
But the Hen lived happily, just as before, 
 In her dear little house by the wood, 
 
 Walking picketty=pecketty. 
 
 Working as hard as she could. 
 
 "I've had a great many troubles I 
 I hope they won't happen again; 
 
 Anything for a quiet life !" 
 
 5aid the Little Small Red Hen. 
 
iV\V -P^ 
 

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