I will tell you," she said. And she told him all that the king had said to her.
"Then," said the little black thing, "I will come here to your window every morning and take some flax, and bring it back at night all spun.
"If you can guess my name, you shall pay nothing for my work.
"You may try three times each night, when I bring back the skeins. But if you can't guess my name before the last day of the month, I will carry you off with me."
The queen thought that she could surely guess, so she said:
"Very well. Take the flax."
"Yes," said the little black thing, and my! how he twirled his tail!
That night he came back with five skeins of spun flax, but she could not guess his name.
So it went on day after day. Every night the little black thing brought five skeins, but she could not guess his name.
On the last day of the month the king came in to see her.
"You are doing well, my dear," said he.
"I think I shall not have to cut off your head, after all."
So he had a fine supper brought in, and they ate it together.
As they were eating, the king said:
"I was hunting to-day in the woods, and I heard a queer song. It came from a hole in the ground. I looked in, and there sat a little black thing with a long tail. He was spinning. He twirled his tail as he spun, and sang:
'Nimmy, nimmy, not!
I'm Tom Tit Tot.'"
The queen at once jumped up and danced all around the table, but she said nothing.
The king thought she was glad because her spinning was done.
That night the little black thing brought the last five skeins of flax.
"Well," he said, "what is my name? You may guess three times more."
How he twirled his tail!
"Is it Jack?" she asked.
"No, it is not Jack," he said.
"Is it Tom?" she asked.
"No, it is not Tom."
You should have seen him laugh!
"One more guess; then I take you," said the little black thing, and he twirled his tail again.
This time the queen laughed.
She looked at him a long time and then said:
"Nimmy, nimmy, not!
You're Tom Tit Tot."
At that the little black thing gave a great cry, and away he flew, out into the dark.
The queen never saw him again.
POEMS BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTI
LAMBKINS
On the grassy banks
Lambkins at their pranks;
Woolly sisters, woolly brothers,
Jumping off their feet,
While their woolly mothers
Watch by them and bleat.
FERRY ME ACROSS THE WATER
"Ferry me across the water,
Do, boatman, do."
"If you've a penny in your purse,
I'll ferry you."
"I have a penny in my purse,
And my eyes are blue;
So ferry me across the water,
Do, boatman, do."
"Step into my ferry-boat,
Be they black or blue,
And for the penny in your purse
I'll ferry you."
CORAL
"O sailor, come ashore.
What have you brought for me?"
"Red coral, white coral,
Coral from the sea.
"I did not dig it from the ground
Nor pluck it from a tree;
Feeble insects made it
In the stormy sea."
THE SWALLOW
Fly away, fly away over the sea,
Sun-loving swallow, for summer is done;
Come again, come again, come back to me,
Bringing the summer and bringing the sun.
WRENS AND ROBINS
Wrens and robins in the hedge,
Wrens and robins here and there;
Building, perching, pecking, fluttering,
Everywhere!
BOATS SAIL ON THE RIVERS
Boats sail on the rivers,
And ships sail on the seas;
But clouds that sail across the sky
Are prettier far than these.
There are bridges on the rivers,
As pretty as you please;
But the bow that bridges heaven,
And overtops the trees,
And builds a road from earth to sky,
Is prettier far than these.
FABLES FROM ÆSOP
THE LION AND THE MOUSE
A lion was asleep in the woods. A little mouse ran over his paw. The lion woke up and caught him.
"You are a very little mouse, but I think I will eat you," he said.
"Do not eat me," said the mouse, "I am so little! Let me go. Some time I may be of help to you."
The lion laughed.
"What can you do?" he said.
But he let the mouse go.
Not very long after this the lion was caught by some men and made fast with a rope.
The men left him and went to get more rope, to bind him.
"Now is my time!" said the mouse.
He ran to the lion and began to gnaw the rope.
He gnawed and he gnawed.
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