The Rockaby Lady saying good-nightThe Rockaby Lady saying good-night
Miss Muffet watched a wide-eyed little boy who was wandering about and having such an adventurous time as never was. Everything was so great and strange, yet he wasn't a bit afraid, only now and then when he turned a corner he was a little prudent, as any traveler would be who had come to the end of the world and was not sure that the next step might not take him off the edge. But itnever did, for no matter how far he went, there was always a next step for him, as if the good Scotch gardener who had laid out the paths had known that such a great traveler was coming. Asshe left the garden she heard him singing to himself his glad little song,—
"The world is so full of a number of things,I think we should all be as happy as Kings."
The idea of the little song was exactly the same that Miss Muffet had had in her head for a long time, though she hadn't been able to express it so well. Even after she came back to the company, she kept repeating the words to herself.
"I think the nicest part about being happy," she confided to the spider, "is that it keeps you from being lonesome, and it makes you like such a number of things."
"And such a number of people," added Mr. Spider.
"Yes; all the different kinds. It's not because they are so very pretty. You like the queer ones too, and you are glad that the world's full of them. There's Rumpelstiltzkin, he's not at all like anybody else, and his features aren't regular, but I'm glad he came to the party. He's so interesting."
Mr. Spider was sure that if he could get every one to feel that way, it would make life easier for the members of his own family. He agreed thatthe way to keep people from being cruel was to make them happy in their own minds.
Flew away . . . into the nightFlew away . . . into the night
"And it's such an easy way," said Miss Muffet, "I wonder that nobody has thought of it before."
Into his overcoat pocketInto his overcoat pocket
Red Riding-Hood's Grandmother began to danceRed Riding-Hood's Grandmother began to dance
There is not time to tell of all that happened at the party. As to refreshments, the Old Woman who lived on victuals and drink declared that victuals and drink were nothing to the good things which Miss Muffet had provided. Before theevening was over the Pied Piper played so merrily that even Red Riding-Hood's Grandmother began to dance. The Twelve Dancing Princesses said that it was the first time that they had been able to dance as much as they liked. Before this they had had to stop when they danced the soles off their shoes; but this evening the spider had thoughtfully provided each one with several pairs.
And how did it end? All of a sudden, lights out, cobweb broken, and Miss Muffet left alone with her curds and whey? Not at all. It ended as all good parties end. The Rockaby Lady from Hushaby Street suggested that it was getting late. Then one by one the guests came to Little Miss Muffet and told her what a good time they had had, and how glad they were that Christmas comes once every year. Wynken, Blynken, and Nod sailed away in a wooden shoe. They were such dear little fellows that Miss Muffet was sorry that she hadn't noticed them till they came to say good-by. Mr. Esop put out the lights in his pavilion; and the Arabians mounted their camels and rode slowly toward Bagdad, first making the Sultana promise to tell them a story that would last through the whole Arabian Night. The Wonderlanders put on their queer bonnets and coats, all carefullywrong side out; and the Man Friday hoisted his umbrella to keep the dew off Robinson Crusoe; and Doctor Gulliver put all the Lilliputians he could catch into his overcoat pocket; and Mother Goose flew away with all her family into the night. The little people from the North were the last to get away, for it took them a long time to get on their overshoes and fur coats and mufflers, but at last they too had gone.
A long time to get on their overshoesA long time to get on their overshoes
Closed her eyesClosed her eyes
"I see by the moonlight that it's almost midnight," said the spider. "It's time for little girls to go to sleep."
Little Miss Muffet closed her eyes very tightly indeed, but she didn't close her ears, so she heard the first tinkle of sleigh-bells far away, and she knew that Santa Claus was coming.
The Spider