Page:Stories and story-telling (1915).djvu/203

 "A long time ago when pigs had wings And pups grew in the tree-tops, In that good time donkeys brayed in rhyme And fiddles danced the barn hops"—

"That's very strange," said the pig; "can it be true? I'll ask the old witch owl about it. I'd like a pair of wings; I'd fly high, I can tell you." So

With a run and a squeal Away went the pig, With an odd little reel;

and he left the path to the wood to make for a barn half a mile off, where the old witch owl lived.

On the way he met a pup whose father had told him to guard the kennel while he himself went in search of a bone. The pup was rolling on the ground in the sunshine.

"O roly-poly pup," called out the pig, "what do you think I heard this morning?"

"What?" said the roly-poly pup, running away from the kennel.

"A long time ago when pigs had wings And pups grew in the tree-tops, In that good time Donkeys brayed in rhyme And fiddles danced the barn hops."

"That's very strange," said the pup; "can it be true? We'll ask the old witch owl about it. I'd