The Tale of Two Bad Mice

ONCE upon a time there was a very beautiful doll's-house; it was red brick with white windows, and it had real muslin curtains and a front door and a chimney.



IT belonged to two Dolls called Lucinda and Jane; least it belonged to Lucinda, but she never ordered meals.



Jane was the Cook; but she never did any cooking, because the dinner had been bought ready-made, in a box full of shavings.



THERE were two red lobsters and a ham, a fish, a pudding, and some pears and oranges.



They would not come off the plates, but they were extremely beautiful.

ONE morning Lucinda and Jane had gone out for a drive in the doll's perambulator. There was no one in the nursery, and it was very quiet. Presently there was a little scuffling, scratching noise in a corner near the fire-place, where there was a hole under the skirting-board.



Tom Thumb put out his head for a moment, and then popped it in again.

Tom Thumb was a mouse.



A MINUTE afterwards, Hunca Munca, his wife, put her head out, too; and when she saw that there was no one in the nursery, she ventured out on the oilcloth under the coal-box.



Helen Beatrix Potter (1866 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as The Tale of Peter Rabbit, which was her first commercially published work in 1902. Her books, including 23 Tales, have sold more than 250 million copies. An entrepreneur, Potter was a pioneer of character merchandising. In 1903, Peter Rabbit was the first fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy, making him the oldest licensed character.