Lilliput Levee :: :: University of Virginia Library

Here comes Queen Mab in her coach-and-six!
Look out for mischievous fairy tricks!
Look out, good girls! Look out, brave boys!
I know she comes to bewitch your toys!
Hither she floats, like the down of a thistle!—
So mind the peg-top; and mind the hoop;
Bring down the kite with a sudden swoop;
Hide the pop-gun; and plug up the whistle;
But don't say Dolly's a-bed with the croup:
For, if you tell her a fib, my dear,
She'll fasten the door-key to your ear!

II.

Then the Kite went flying up to the Moon,
And the Man with the Sticks, who lives up there,
Kick'd it through with his clouted shoon,
And the tail hung dangling down in the air.

But Harry wouldn't let go the string,
Although it nearly broke with the strain;
Said he: “Well, this is a comical thing,
But the kite is mine, and I'll have it again!”

“Now whistle three times,” cried cunning Nell,
“And over your shoulder throw your shoe,
And pull once more, and say this spell:
Fustumfunnidostantaraboo!”

But Harry made a mistake in the charm,
Saying, “Fustumfunnidostantaboorack!”
And a dreadful pain went all up his arm,
And he fell down, shouting, right on his back.

Then Nell took hold, and pulled the string,
And the kite came down, all safe and sound;
But a piece of the moon it away did bring,
Which you may have for a silver pound!

III.

Said Thomas, with the round straw hat,
“My pop-gun bring to me,
And hey! to shoot the Tabby Cat
Up in the Cherry-tree!

“Last night she stole my supper all,
She must be better taught;
And I shall make her caterwaul
‘I'm sorry,’ as she ought.”

Then Thomas, taking hasty aim
At Tabby on the bough,
Hit Tabby's mistress, an old Dame
Who had a Brindled Cow.

The Brindled Cow could not abide
To see her mistress struck,
And after trembling Thomas hied,—
Said he, “It's just my luck.”

She tossed him once, she tossed him twice,
When Tabby at her flew,
Saying, “Tom, your custard was so nice
That I will fight for you.”

The old Dame flung the pellet back,
And, when Tom picked it up,
He cried, “The pellet has turned, good lack!
To a custard in a cup!”

And so it had! The Brindled Cow,
The Dame, and Tabby Cat
Were much surprised. “It's strange, I vow,”
Said Tom in the round hat.

But nothing came amiss to him;
He ate the custard clean—
There was a brown mark round the rim
To show where it had been.

IV.

“Pegtop, pegtop—fast asleep!
Pray, how long do you mean to keep
Humming and droning and spinning away?
Do you mean to keep on all day?
Ten minutes have passed since your nap was begun;
Pegtop, when will your nap be done?

“Forty winks, forty, and forty more!
You never slept so long before;

This is a pretty sleep to take!
Boxer, Boxer, yawn and wake!”

Then said Marian, “Never fear;
Dolly's night-cap, Richard dear,
Put on Boxer—perhaps he thinks
He would like forty times forty winks!”

Three o'clock, four o'clock, all day long,
Richard's pegtop hummed so strong,
Hummed away and would not stop—
Dick had to buy another top!
For though this Boxer was certainly clever,
Who wants a pegtop to hum for ever?

All the Queen's horses and all the Queen's men
Couldn't get Boxer to wake again;
They made him a house, and put him in;
The people came to see Boxer spin;
“A penny a-piece,” said Dick, “and cheap,
To see my Pegtop's wonderful sleep!”

V.

Katy had quarrelled and would not speak
To Cousin John,

Who, trying to kiss her on the cheek,
With her bonnet on,
Had crumpled her bonnet at the border,
And put the trimming in disorder.

“Pray let me kiss you, Katy dear,”
Said John so gay;
“Now, Master John,” said Kate severe,
“Please get away!
And if you don't, I only hope
You'll get hit with my skipping-rope!”

Skip, skip
Never trip;
Round and round!
“Does it touch the ground?
Don't I skip well?” said sulky Kate;
But, oh, at last
Her feet stuck fast—
Her pretty feet,
So small and neat,
Were glued by magic to the skipping-cord,
Which turned into a Swing! And then my lord
Johnny said, “This is fine, upon my word!”

Backwards and forwards Katy swung;—
To the magic rope, which by nothing hung,
Frightened out of her breath she clung—
An apple for the Queen, and a pear for the King!
Wasn't that a wonderful swing?
It kept on going like anything!

“John!” said Katy, turning faint,
And the colour of white paint,
“Save me from this dreadful swing!”
Then our Johnny made a spring
Up to Kate, and held her tight,
And kissed her twice, with all his might,
Which stopped the magic swing; and Katy then,
Said “Thank you, Jack!” and kissed him back again.

VI.

Then the Children all said, “She spoils our play:
We must really get Queen Mab away;
She musn't bewitch our Toys too much.
Who will speak to her? Does she talk Dutch?
John knows Magic, and Greek, and such;
No one than John can be cleverer—
Perhaps he knows how to get rid of Her!”

VII.

Six White Mice, with harness on,
What do you think of Cousin John,
Who taught them so,
And made them go?—
Six white mice, with harness on!

A wee coach, gilt like the Lord Mayor's own!
Made by Cousin John alone,
Bright and gay,—
On a Lord Mayor's day
Just such a coach is the Lord Mayor's own!

Marian's Doll come out for a ride,
Dressed like a queen in pomp and pride:
The six wee mice,
That trot so nice,
Draw Marian's Doll come out for a ride!

Every mouse had a silver bell
Round its neck, as I've heard tell;
Tinkle tink!—
But who would think
Of a harnessed mouse, with a silver bell?

“What can six white mice intend?”
Thought Queen Mab, with her hair on end—
“And silver bells,
And what-not else—
What can six white mice intend?

“When was such a procession seen?
It frightens me, as I'm a Queen!”
So she stopped her tricks,
And her coach and six
Drove away with the Fairy Queen.