Page:An argosy of fables.djvu/381

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"Now there is that hen,"

Said the cross little wren,

"She's fed till she's fat as a drum;

While I strive and sweat

For each bug that I get,

And nobody gives me a crumb.

"I can't see for my life

Why the old farmer's wife

Treats her so much better than me.

Suppose on the ground

I hop carelessly round

For a while and just see what I'll see."

Said this cute little wren,

"I'll make friends with the hen,

And perhaps she will ask me to stay;

And then upon bread

Every day I'd be fed,

And life would be nothing but play."

So down flew the wren,

"Stop to tea," said the hen;

And soon biddy's supper was sent;

But scarce stopping to taste,

The poor bird left in haste

And this was the reason she went:

When the farmer's kind dame

To the poultry-yard came,

She said—and the wren shook with fright—