第2章 Snippy and Snappy(1)

Snippy and Snappy were two little field-mice.

Snippy was Snappy's sister.

Snappy was Snippy's brother.

They lived with their father and mother in a cozy nook in a hay field.

They lived in a hay field.

A big grassy hay field.

A field full of flowers and fun.

Snippy and Snappy liked this big grassy hay field and played in it all day long.

But when evening came,they hurried home to their cozy little nook for then the light was lit and Mother Mouse sat and knitted jackets for her little family.

Father Mouse sat there too and read aloud from his newspaper.This newspaper was small enough for a mouse to read,and it was called THE MOUSE PAPER.

Father Mouse read about the big wide world and the many big things in it.

He read about gardens in big fields —

He read about houses in big gardens —

He read about kitchen cupboards in big houses —

But most often he read about big yellow cheeses in big kitchen cupboards!

"What is a kitchen cupboard?"said Snippy to Snappy.

"Something with cheese in it,"said Snappy to Snippy.

"I wish we could find a kitchen cupboard full of cheese,"said Snippy,"For I'm very FOND of cheese."

"I too,"said Snappy."I'm VERY fond of cheese."

Now one day,as Snippy and Snappy were playing with Mother Mouse's big blue knitting ball,it rolled way outside of their cozy nook.

"Oh,let's roll it some more!"cried Snippy."Maybe it will lead us somewhere."

"Oh,yes,"cried Snappy,"maybe it will lead us to a kitchen cupboard full of cheese!"

So they rolled it and rolled it.

They rolled it up,they rolled it down,They rolled it up and up and down.

They rolled it up and DOWN and down,They rolled it up AND DOWN.

They rolled it over this and that.

And over things both round and flat.

And over things both small and tall.

Along a long,long garden wall.

But by and by they stopped.

"Let's sit down and rest awhile,"said Snippy to Snappy."I'm so hot and tired."

"Oh yes,let's,"said Snappy to Snippy."I'm so hot and tired too."

So they cuddled down under a tent of wild flowers and soon they were fast asleep.

But suddenly there was a rustle RUSTLE RUSTLE and a bustle BUSTLE BUSTLE,and before Snippy and Snappy knew what had happened,something pink and plump darted down among the flowers and snatched up the big blue knitting ball.

Snippy jumped up and Snappy jumped up.

They both grabbed the string of the knitting ball,and pulled at it.But the string broke in two,and Snippy and Snappy fell in a heap on the ground!

"We simply must get back that knitting ball,""We simply must,"said Snappy."We'd better follow it."

So they followed it.

They followed it up,they followed it down —They followed it up and up and down.

They followed it up and DOWN and down —They followed it UP AND DOWN.

They followed it over this and that,and over things both round and flat —

And over things both small and tall —AND THEN?

—over the garden wall!

And what did Snippy and Snappy see there?

"A house!"cried Snippy.

"Yes,a house!"cried Snappy.

"In houses there are kitchen cupboards,"said Snippy.

"And in kitchen cupboards there is CHEESE,"said Snappy.

Snippy and Snappy were so excited about the cheese,they forgot all about Mother Mouse's big blue knitting ball.

They ran down the long path to the house and scampered in through the big open door.

But alas!poor Snippy,and alas!poor Snappy —there was no cheese to be seen.What they did see,though,made them open their eyes in wonder.How puzzled they were!You see,Snippy and Snappy were field-mice and had never been in a house before,so what could they know about all the things people have in their homes?

On the floor was a fuzzy rug with a border of flowers around it.

"What's this?"asked Snippy.

"It's a hay field,I guess,"said Snappy,"only these flowers don't smell like flowers,and they're so flat we could never hide under them."

Then Snappy found a footstool which had a green fringe around it.

"Look,Snippy,"he cried,"here's a tree with funny leaves,and it's a tree with FOUR trunks."

But Snippy had found a mop.

"Such a queer plant,"she cried."It has a wooden stem and not a SINGLE leaf —and its roots grow outside of the ground."