"'My mother once gave me a rat-tail to eat,' Miss Kitten replied
thoughtfully. 'I believe I would rather have that than anything else,'
and she looked longingly at young Mr. Rat's tail.

"'Oh, no indeed, you can't have that! Perhaps I spoke too sharply about
the cheese; but you can't have my tail.'

"'Yes, she can,' growled old Mrs. Cat from the door, where she had been
listening. Then she pounced upon young Mr. Rat and ate him, giving the
tail to her kitten. There is a good lesson in that story, old Mr. Turtle
says."

"So there is, Mrs. Goose, and one needn't look long in order to find
it," your Aunt Amy replied, and then she asked that question which had
been in her mind ever since the bird began to talk. "Have you ever heard
about the Mrs. Goose who laid golden eggs?"




THE TRUE STORY OF THE GOLDEN EGGS.


"Indeed I have," Mrs. Goose replied quickly. "Surely I ought to know all
about her, for she was a great-great-grandmother of mine, and if I'm not
mistaken, some of our family have her picture which Mr. Ape painted,
when he set himself up as an artist. That is another case where
discontent, when matters were going on as well as ever could have been
expected, brought its punishment."