# Sing-Song: The City Mouse Lives in a House;— - Source: Sing-Song (sing-song.gutenberg.org), Public domain, Christina Rossetti, pictures by Arthur Hughes, 1872, via Project Gutenberg - Reading level: Ages 4 to 6 - Subjects: Poems, Animals, Nature - Topics: mouse, city, cockatoo, i’ll, little, alice - Length: 303 words, about 2 min - Original: - Page: - Open in Sprouts: The city mouse lives in a house;— The garden mouse lives in a bower, He’s friendly with the frogs and toads, And sees the pretty plants in flower. ## The city mouse eats bread and cheese;— The city mouse eats bread and cheese;— The garden mouse eats what he can; We will not grudge him seeds and stalks, Poor little timid furry man. ## What does the donkey bray about? What does the donkey bray about? What does the pig grunt through his snout? What does the goose mean by a hiss? Oh, Nurse, if you can tell me this, I’ll give you such a kiss. ## The cockatoo calls “cockatoo,” The cockatoo calls “cockatoo,” The magpie chatters “how d’ye do?” The jackdaw bids me “go away,” Cuckoo cries “cuckoo” half the day: What do the others say? ## Three plum buns Three plum buns To eat here at the stile In the clover meadow, For we have walked a mile. ## One for you, and one for me One for you, and one for me, And one left over: Give it to the boy who shouts To scare sheep from the clover. ## A motherless soft lambkin A motherless soft lambkin Alone upon a hill; No mother’s fleece to shelter him And wrap him from the cold:— I’ll run to him and comfort him, I’ll fetch him, that I will; I’ll care for him and feed him Until he’s strong and bold. ## Dancing on the hill-tops Dancing on the hill-tops, Singing in the valleys, Laughing with the echoes, Merry little Alice. ## Playing games with lambkins Playing games with lambkins In the flowering valleys, Gathering pretty posies, Helpful little Alice. ## If her father’s cottage If her father’s cottage Turned into a palace, And he owned the hill-tops And the flowering valleys, She’d be none the happier, Happy little Alice. ## Picture credits - Arthur Hughes, Public domain () - Arthur Hughes, Public domain () - Arthur Hughes, Public domain () - Arthur Hughes, Public domain () - Arthur Hughes, Public domain ()