The Life and Perambulations of a Mouse
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Dorothy Kilner >> The Life and Perambulations of a Mouse
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While she was so employed, a young gentleman, about ten years of
age, very genteelly dressed, entered the room, and in a familiar
manner asked her how she did. 'I am very well, thank you, my
dear,' replied she: 'and pray, Master George, how does your mamma
and papa do; and all your brothers and sisters?' 'They are all
very well, thank you,' returned the boy: 'And I am come to bring
you a slice of cake, which my grandpapa gave me yesterday.' Then
throwing his arms round her neck, he went on saying, 'Oh! my dear,
dear Betty Flood, how I do love you! I would do anything in the
world to serve you. I shall save all my Christmas-boxes to give
to you; and when I am a man, I will give you a great deal of
money. I wish you were a lady, and not so poor.' 'I am much
obliged to you, my dear,' said she, 'for your kind good-wishes;
but, indeed, love, I am very well contented with my station: I
have a good husband, and three good children, and that is more
than many a lady can say; and riches, Master George, unless people
are good, and those one lives with are kind and obliging, will
never make anybody happy. What comfort, now, do you think a body
could ever have at Squire Stately's? I declare, if it was put to
my choice, I would rather a thousand times be as I am. To be
sure, they are very rich; but what of that? they cannot eat gold;
neither can gold ease their hearts when they are bursting almost
with pride and ill-nature. They say, indeed, that Madam Stately
would be kind enough, if they would let her rest; but what with
the Squire's drinking and swearing, and the young gentleman's
extravagance, and her daughter's pride and quarrelling, she is
almost tired out of her life. And so, Master George, I say I had
rather be poor Betty Flood, with honest Abraham for my husband,
than the finest lady in the land, if I must live at such a rate.
To be sure, nobody can deny but that money is very desirable, and
people that are rich can do many agreeable things which we poor
ones cannot; but yet, for all that, money does not make people
happy. Happiness, Master George, depends greatly upon people's
own tempers and dispositions: a person who is fretful and cross
will never be happy, though he should be made king of all England;
and a person who is contented and good-humoured will never be
wretched, though he should be as poor as a beggar. So never fret
yourself, love, because Betty Flood is poor; for though I am poor,
I am honest; and whilst my husband and I are happy enough to be
blessed with health, and the use of our limbs, we can work for our
living; and though we have no great plenty, still we have
sufficient to support us. So pray, dear, eat your cake yourself,
for I would not take it from you for ever so much.' They then
disputed for some time who should have it: at last, George
scuffled away from her, and put it into the closet, and then,
nodding his head at her, ran away, saying, he must go to school
that moment.
Betty Flood then ate her breakfast; and we heard her say something
about the nasty mice, but what we could not make out, as she
muttered softly to herself. She then came to the trunk behind
which we lay, and taking out of it a roll of new linen, sat down
to needlework. At twelve o'clock her husband and son returned; so
moving her table out of the way, she made room for them at the
fire, and, fetching the frying pan, dressed some rashers of the
nice bacon we had before tasted in the cupboard. The boy, in the
mean time, spread a cloth on the table, and placed the bread and
cold pudding on it likewise: then, returning to the closet for
their plates, he cried out, 'Lauk! father, here is a nice hunch of
plum-cake; can you tell how it came?' 'Not I, indeed, Tom,'
replied his father; 'I can tell no more than the carp at the
bottom of the squire's fish-pond.' 'Oh, I will tell you.' said
Mrs. Flood; 'I know how it came. Do you know, that dear child,
Master George Kendall, brought it for me; he called as he went to
school this morning. I told him I would not have it; but the dear
little soul popped it into the cupboard, and ran away without it.
Bless his little heart! I do think he is the sweetest child that
ever was born. You may laugh at me for saying so; but I am sure I
should have thought the same if I had not nursed him myself.'
'Indeed,' replied her husband, 'I do not laugh at you for saying
so, for I think so too, and so must everyone who knows him; for
when young gentlemen behave as he does, everybody must love and
admire them. There is nothing I would not do to help and serve
that child, or any of his family; they always are so kind, and
speak as civilly to us poor folk as if we were the first lords or
ladies in the land. I am sure, if it were needful, I would go
through fire and water for their sakes; and so would every man in
the parish, I dare say. But I wonder who would do as much to help
Squire Stately or any of his family, if it was not that I should
think it my duty (and an honest man ought always to do that,
whether he likes it or not); but I say, if it was not that it
would be my duty to help my fellow-creature, I would scarcely be
at the trouble of stepping over the threshold to serve them, they
are such a set of cross, good-for-nothing gentry. I declare, it
was but as we came home to dinner now, that we saw Master Sam
throwing sticks and stones at Dame Frugal's ducks, for the sake of
seeing them waddle; and then, when they got to the pond, he sent
his dog in after them to bark and frighten them out of their wits.
And as I came by, nothing would serve him but throwing a great dab
of mud all over the sleeve of my coat. So I said, "Why, Master
Sam, you need not have done that; I did nothing to offend you; and
however amusing you may think it to insult poor people, I assure
you it is very wicked, and what no good person in the world would
be guilty of." He then set up a great rude laugh, and I walked on
and said no more. But if all gentlefolk were to behave like that
family, I had rather be poor as I am, than have all their riches,
if that would make me act like them.' 'Very true, Abraham,'
replied his wife, 'that is what I say, and what I told Master
George this morning; for to be poor, if people do not become so
through their own extravagance, is no disgrace to any body: but
to be haughty, cruel, cross, and mischievous, is a disgrace to all
who are so, let their rank be as exalted as it may.'
Here the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of a man,
who begged Mr. Flood to assist him in unloading his cart of flour,
as his man was gone out, and he could not do it by himself.
'Well, I will come and help you, with all my heart,' said Flood;
'and so shall Tom too: will you, my lad? I cannot live without
help myself; and if I do not assist others, I am sure I shall not
deserve any when I want it.' So saying, he left his house; and
his wife, after cleaning and putting in their proper places those
things which had been used at dinner, again sat down to her
sewing.
Soon after the clock had struck six, the man and his son returned;
and, sitting round the fire, they passed the evening in social
conversation, till they went to bed, which was a little after
eight; and they convinced me, by their talk and behaviour, that
happiness in this world depends far more upon the temper and
disposition of the heart, than upon any external possessions; and
that virtue, and a desire to be useful to others, afford far
greater satisfaction and peace of mind than any riches and
grandeur can possibly supply without such necessary
qualifications. After they were all fallen asleep, we crept out;
and, leaving the candle unmolested, which was again placed on the
tinder-box by the bed-side, we hastened into the closet, where we
regaled heartily, and devoured that part of the plum-cake which
Tom had very generously left for his sister Polly, who we found
was expected home the next day.
We then retired to our safe retreat, and thought we might venture
to stay for one more night's provisions without running any danger
from our too frequent return to the same place. But in the
morning we found our scheme frustrated; for, on the woman's going
to the closet to get her breakfast, she observed the robbery which
we had committed, and exclaimed, 'Some teasing mice have found
their way into the closet: I will borrow neighbour Savewell's
trap to-night, and catch some of the little toads; that I will!'
After hearing this, it would have been madness to make any further
attempts: we therefore agreed to watch for an opportunity, and
escape on the very first that offered. Accordingly, about noon,
when Mrs. Flood was busily employed in making some pancakes, we
slipped by her unobserved, and crept out at the same hole by which
we first entered. But no sooner were we in the open road, than we
repented our haste, and wished that we had continued where we were
till the darkness of the night might better have concealed us from
the observation of anyone. We crept as close to the wall of the
house (as far as it reached, which was but a few paces) as we
possibly could, and then stepped into a little ditch, which we
were soon obliged to leave again, as the water ran in some parts
of it almost up to the edge.
At length we reached a little cottage, which we were just
entering, when a cat that was sleeping unnoticed by us upon a
chair, jumped down, and would certainly have destroyed me (who
happened to go first) had she not at the same moment tried to
catch my brother, and by that means missed her aim, and so given
us both an opportunity to escape, which we did by scrambling
behind a brick that a child had been playing with by the side of
the door. Fortunately, the brick lay too close to the house for
the cat to get her paw behind it, so as to be able to reach us;
though to avoid it we were obliged to use the greatest precaution,
as she could thrust it in a little way, so that if we had gone one
inch too near either end, she would certainly have dragged us out
by her talons. In this dreadful situation did we spend some
hours, incessantly moving from one end of the brick to the other;
for the moment she had, by the entrance of her paw at one end,
driven us to the other, she stepped over, and again made us
retreat. Think with what dreadful terror our little hearts must
have been oppressed, to see our mortal enemy so closely watching
us, expecting every moment when she shook the brick with her two
forepaws in searching, and with her mouth endeavoured to lift it
up, that she would be so far able to effect her purpose, as to
make it impossible for us to escape her jaws. But, happily for
us, it had somehow or other got so wedged that she could not move
it to any distance; though it kept momentarily increasing our
terrors, by shaking as she strove to turn it.
From this state of horror, however, we were at length delivered by
a little boy of about two years old, who came out of the house,
and taking the cat up round its body with both hands, tottered
away with it, and shut the door.
Finding ourselves thus unexpectedly once more at liberty, we
determined to make use of it, by seeking some safer retreat, at
least, till night should better hide us from public view.
Terrified almost out of our senses, we crept from behind the
brick, and, after running a few yards, slipped under the folding
doors of a barn, and soon concealed ourselves amidst a vast
quantity of threshed corn. This appeared to us the most desirable
retreat that we had yet found; not only as it afforded such
immense plenty of food, but also as we could so easily hide
ourselves from the observation of any one: beside, as it did not
appear to be a dwelling-house, we could in security reside, free
from any danger of traps, or the cruelty of man. We therefore
congratulated each other, not more on account of the wonderful
escape which we had, than upon our good fortune in coming to a
Spot so blessed with peace and plenty.
After we were a little recovered from the fatigue of mind, as well
as of body, which we had lately gone through, we regaled very
heartily upon the corn that surrounded us, and then fell into a
charming sleep, from which we were awakened the next morning by
the sound of human voices. We very distinctly heard that of a
boy, saying, 'Let us mix all the threshed corn with the rest that
is not threshed, and that will make a fine fuss, and set John and
Simon a swearing like troopers when they come and find all their
labour lost, and that they must do all their work over again.'
'And do you think there is anything so agreeable in giving people
trouble, and hearing them swear,' replied another voice, 'that you
can wish to do it? For my part. I think it is so wicked a thing,
that I hate to hear anybody guilty of it, much less would I be the
cause of making them commit so great a sin; and as for giving them
all their trouble over again, so far would it be from affording me
any pleasure, that on the contrary it would give me great pain;
for however you may think of it, Will, I assure you, it always
gives me much uneasiness to see people labouring and working hard.
I always think how much I should dislike to be obliged to do so
myself, and therefore very sincerely pity those who must. On no
account therefore will I do anything to add to their labour, or
that shall give them unnecessary work.'
'Pooh!' answered Will, 'you are wonderfully wise; I, for my part,
hate such super-abundant wisdom; I like to see folk fret, and
stew, and scold, as our maids did last week when I cut the line,
and let all the sheets, and gowns, and petticoats, and frocks, and
shirts, and aprons, and caps, and what not, fall plump into the
dirt. O! how I did laugh! and how they did mutter and scold! And
do you know, that just as the wash ladies were wiping their
coddled hands, and comforted themselves with the thought of their
work being all over, and were going to sip their tea by the
fireside, I put them all to the scout; and they were obliged to
wash every rag over again. I shall never forget how cross they
looked, nay, I verily believe Susan cried about it; and how I did
laugh!'
'And pray,' rejoined the other boy, 'should you have laughed
equally hearty if, after you had been at school all day, and had
with much difficulty just got through all your writing, and
different exercises, and were going to play, should you laugh, I
say, if somebody was to run away with them all, and your master
oblige you to do them all over again? Tell me, Will, should you
laugh, or cry and look cross? And even that would not be half so
bad for you, as it was for the maids to be obliged to wash their
clothes over again; washing is very hard labour, and tires people
sadly, and so does threshing too. It is very unkind, therefore,
to give them such unnecessary trouble; and everything that is
unkind, is wicked; and I would not do it upon any account, I
assure you.' 'Then I assure you,' replied Will, 'you may let it
alone; I can do it without your assistance.' He then began mixing
the grain and the chaff together, the other boy strongly
remonstrating against it, to which he paid no attention; and
whilst he was so employed, two men, Simon and John, entered the
barn.
'Why, how now, Master Billy,' said Simon; 'what are you about?
What business have you to be here? You are always doing some
mischief or other! I wish, with all my heart, that you were kept
chained like a dog, and never suffered to be at liberty, for you
do more harm in an hour, than a body can set right again in a
month!' Will then took up hats full of the corn and chaff, and
threw it in the two men's faces; afterwards taking up a flail, he
gave Simon a blow across his back, saying, at the same time, 'I
will show you the way to thresh, and separate the flesh from the
bones.' 'O! will you so, young squire?' said John; 'I will show
you the way to make naughty boys good.' He then left the barn,
but presently returned accompanied by a gentleman, upon the sight
of whom Will let fall the flail, which he was till then
brandishing over Simon's head, and was going away, when the
gentleman taking hold of his hand, said, 'You do not stir from
this place, Master William, nor have one mouthful of breakfast,
till you have asked the men pardon for your behaviour, and
likewise sifted every grain of corn from the chaff which you have
mixed with it. When you have done that, you may have some food,
but not before; and afterward you may spend the rest of the day in
threshing, then you will be a better judge, my boy, of the fatigue
and labour of it, and find how you should like, after working hard
all day, to have it rendered useless by a mischievous boy.
Remember, William, what I have now said to you, for I do insist
upon being minded; and I promise you, that if you offer to play,
or do anything else today, you shall be punished very severely.'
The gentleman then went away. Will muttered something, I could
not exactly hear what, began to sift the corn, and so much had he
mixed together, that he did not go in for his breakfast till after
I had heard the church clock strike one, though it was before
eight when he came into the barn. In about an hour he returned,
and the other boy with him, who addressed him, saying, 'Ah! Will,
you had better have taken my advice, and not have done so: I
thought what you would get by your nice fun as you called it. I
never knew any good come of mischief; it generally brings those
who do it into disgrace; or if they should happen to escape
unpunished, still it is always attended with some inconvenience:
it is an ill-natured disposition which can take pleasure in giving
trouble to any one.' 'Do hold your tongue, James,' replied Will;
'I declare I have not patience to hear you preach, you are so
prodigiously wise, and prudent, and sober; you had better go
indoors and sew with your mamma, for you talk just as if you were
a girl, and not in the least like a boy of spirit.' 'Like a
girl!' resumed James. 'Are girls then the only folk who have any
sense, or good nature? Or what proof does it shew of spirit to be
fond of mischief, and giving people trouble? It is like a monkey
of spirit indeed; but I cannot say, that I see either spirit or
sense in making the clean clothes fall into the dirt, or mixing
the corn and chaff, for the sake of making the poor servants do
them all over again: if these things are a sign of any spirit. I
am sure it is of an evil one, and not at all such as I wish to
possess, though I no more want to sit still, or work with a
needle, than you do; but I hope there are other ways of showing my
spirit, as you call it, than by doing mischief, and being
ill-natured. I do not think my papa ever seems to be effeminate,
or want sufficient spirit; but he would scorn to give unnecessary
trouble to anybody: and so will Tom Vaulter, though no boy in the
world loves play better than he does; he plays at cricket the best
of any boy in the school, and I am sure none can beat him at
tennis; and as for skipping, I never saw a boy skip so well in all
my life; and I am sure he would beat you, with all your spirit,
out and out twenty times, either at running, or sliding, or
swimming, or climbing a tree. And yet he never gives trouble to
anybody for the sake of fun; he is one of the best-tempered boys
in the world; and whether it is like a girl or not, he always does
what he knows to be right and kind; and if that is being like
girls, why, with all my heart; I like girls well enough, and if
they behave well I do not see why you should speak so
contemptuously of them. My papa always says that he loves girls
just as well as boys, and none but foolish and naughty boys
despise and tease them.' Just as he said these words, Simon and
John entered the barn, and seeing Will stand idle, 'Come, come,
young gentleman,' said John, 'take up your flail and go to work,
sir, to work! to work! night will be here presently, and you have
done nothing yet.' Presently after the gentleman returned, and
enforced John's advice for him to mind his work.
After Master Will had continued his employment some little time,
he began to cry, saying, his arms ached ready to drop off, and his
hand was so sore he could not bear it. 'Then doubtless,' replied
his father, 'you would prodigiously like, after you have been
labouring all day, to have your work to do over again, for the
sake of diverting a foolish boy. But go on, William, I am
determined that you shall, for one day, know what it is to work
hard, and thereby be taught to pity, and help, not add to the
fatigue of those who do.' The boy then went on with his business,
though not without making great complaints, and shedding many
tears. At length, however, evening came; and the gentleman, his
son, and the two men, all went away, leaving Longtail and myself
to enjoy our abundance. We passed another night in the sweetest
undisturbed repose, and in the day had nothing to alarm our fears.
In short, our situation was every way so perfectly happy and
desirable, that we thought, although our mother had charged us not
to return frequently to the same place, yet she could not mean
that we should not take up our abode in a spot so secure and
comfortable. We therefore determined to continue where we were,
till we should find some cause for removing. And happy had it
been for us if we had kept to this resolution, and remained
contented when we had everything requisite to make us so. Instead
of which, after we had thus, free from care, passed our time about
seven months, like fools as we were, we began to grow weary of our
retirement, and of eating nothing but the same food; and agreed
that we would again venture forth and seek for some other lodging,
at the same time resolving, in case we could find no habitation
that suited us, to return to the barn where we had enjoyed so many
days of plenty and repose.
Accordingly, one fine moonlight Monday night, after securing our
supper on the corn, we set forth, and travelled for some distance
without any further molestation than our own natural fears
created. At length we came to a brick house, with about five or
six windows in front, and made our way into it through a small
latticed window which gave air into the pantry; but on our arrival
here we had no opportunity of so much as observing what it
contained, for on our slipping down a cat instantly flew at us,
and by the greatest good luck in the world, there chanced to be a
hole in one of the boards of the floor close to the spot where we
stood, into which we both were happy enough to pop, before she
could catch us. Here we had time to reflect, and severely blame
ourselves for not being satisfied with our state in the barn.
'When,' said I, addressing myself to my brother, 'when shall we
grow wise, and learn to know that certain evil always attends
every deviation from what is right. When we disobeyed the advice
of our mother, and, tempted by cakes and other dainties,
frequently returned to the same dangerous place, how severely did
we suffer for it? And now, by our own discontent, and not being
satisfied when so safely though more humbly lodged, into what
trouble have we not plunged ourselves? How securely have we lived
in the barn for the last seven months, and how happily might we
still have continued there, had it not been for our restless
dispositions? Ah! my brother, we have acted foolishly. We ought
to have been contented when we were at peace, and should have
considered that if we had not everything we could wish for, we had
every thing that was necessary; and the life of a mouse was never
designed for perfect happiness. Such enjoyment was never intended
for our lot; it is the portion only of beings whose capacities are
far superior to ours. We ought then to have been contented; and
had we been so, we should have been as happy as our state of life
would have admitted of.' 'What you say is certainly very true,'
replied Longtail, 'and I sincerely wish that we had thought of
these things before. But what must we now do? we said we would
return to the barn in case of difficulties, but that is now
impossible, as, if we attempt to retreat, the cat that drove us in
here, will certainly destroy us; and yet in proceeding, what
difficulties must we encounter, what dangers may we not run! Oh!
my beloved Nimble,' continued he, 'what a life of hazard is ours!
to what innumerable accidents are we hourly exposed! and how is
every meal that we eat at the risk of our very existence!'
'It undoubtedly is,' replied I; 'but with all its troubles we
still are very desirous of preserving it: let us not then, my
brother, indulge our hearts with murmuring and finding fault with
that life, which, notwithstanding all its evils, we value so
highly. Rather let us endeavour to learn experience, and, by
conducting ourselves better, escape many of those troubles which
we now suffer.' So saving, I advised him to follow me: 'for,'
added I, 'it is impossible for us to exist in the spot in which we
are at present; we must therefore strive to work our way into some
other house or apartment, where we can at least find some food.'
To this Longtail agreed; the rest of the night, and all the next
day, we spent in nibbling and finding our way into a closet in the
house, which richly repaid us for all our toil, as it contained
sugar-plums, rice, millet, various kinds of sweetmeats, and what
we liked better than all the rest, a paper of nice macaroons. On
these we feasted most deliciously till our hunger was fully
satisfied, and then creeping into a little hole, just big enough
to contain us both, behind one of the jars of sweetmeats, reposed
ourselves with a nap, after our various and great fatigues which
we had gone through. I never was a remarkably sound sleeper, the
least noise disturbs me, and I was awakened in the morning by the
servant-maid's coming into the room to sweep it, and get it ready
for the reception of her mistress and family, who soon after
entered. As I wanted to know from whom the voices I heard
proceeded, I stepped softly from behind the jar and just peeped
under the door into the room, where I discovered a gentleman, two
ladies, and a little boy and girl.
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