## The Project Gutenberg eBook of The cock, the mouse, and the little red hen

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: The cock, the mouse, and the little red hen

an old tale retold

Author: Félicité Lefèvre

Illustrator: Tony Sarg

Release date: September 13, 2009 [eBook #29980]
Most recently updated: January 5, 2021

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29980

Credits: Produced by Louise Hope, David Edwards and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COCK, THE MOUSE, AND THE LITTLE RED HEN ***

The original (printed) book came in at least two versions. In the edition used for this e-text, some full-color illustrations had a red frame and the others were unframed. The line drawings alternated between reddish magenta and blue-green. In another version, all color illustrations had the same black frame, and all line drawings were black-and-white. In this e-text, red frames are as printed; black frames were added by the transcriber to make illustrations look cleaner.

| Thumbnails Title Page Text Note on Colors |

# THE COCK, THE MOUSE
AND THE LITTLE RED HEN

To My Nieces
CECILIA GARRY and NELLY MELVILLE
and
to my little friend
HARFORD LURY
this book is dedicated
with my love

###### 4511
NINETEENTH PRINTING
Manufactured in the United States of America

# THE COCK, THE MOUSE
AND THE LITTLE RED HEN

Once upon a time there was
a hill, and on the hill there
was a pretty little house.

It had one little green
door, and four little windows
with green shutters,
and in it there lived

A Cock

and A Mouse

and A Little Red Hen |

On another hill close by
there was another little
house. It was very ugly.

It had a door
that wouldn’t shut,

and two broken windows,
and all the paint
was off the shutters

And in this house
there lived

A BOLD BAD FOX
and FOUR BAD
LITTLE FOXES

One morning these
four bad little foxes

came to the big bad Fox and said: |

“Oh, Father, we’re so
hungry!”

“We had nothing to eat
yesterday,” said one.

“And scarcely anything
the day before,” said another.

“And only half a chicken
the day before that,” said
the third.

“And only two little
ducks the day before that,”
said the fourth.

The big bad Fox shook
his head for a long time,
for he was thinking.

At last he said in a
big gruff voice:

“On that hill over there
I see a house. And in that
house there lives a Cock.”

“And a Mouse,” screamed
two of the little foxes.

“And a little Red Hen,”
screamed the other two.

“And they are nice and fat,”
went on the big bad Fox.
“This very day, I’ll take my
great sack, and I will go up
that hill, and in at that door,
and into my sack I will put
the Cock, and the Mouse,
and the little Red Hen.”

| “I’ll make a fire to roast the Cock,” said one little fox.

“I’ll put on the saucepan to boil the Hen,” said the second. |

“And I’ll get the frying pan to fry the Mouse,” said the third. |

| “And I’ll have the biggest helping when they are all cooked,” said the fourth, who was the greediest of all.

So the four little foxes
jumped for joy, and the
big bad Fox went to get
his sack ready to start
upon his journey.

But what was happening
to the Cock and the Mouse,
and the little Red Hen, all
this time?

Well, sad to say, the Cock and
the Mouse had both got out of
bed on the wrong side that
morning.

The Cock said the day was
too hot, and the Mouse grumbled
because it was too cold.

They came grumbling down
to the kitchen, where the good
little Red Hen, looking as bright
as a sunbeam, was bustling about.

“Who’ll get some sticks to
light the fire with?” she asked.

“I shan’t,” said the Cock.

“I shan’t,” said the Mouse.

“Then I’ll do it myself,” said
the little Red Hen.

So off she ran to get the sticks.

“And now, who’ll fill
the kettle from the
spring?” she asked.

| “I shan’t,” said the Cock.

“I shan’t,” said the Mouse. |

“Then I’ll do it myself,”
said the little Red Hen.
And off she ran to
fill the kettle.

“And who’ll get the
breakfast ready?” she
asked, as she put the
kettle on to boil.

“I shan’t,” said the Cock. |

| “I shan’t,” said the Mouse.

“I’ll do it myself,”
said the little Red Hen.

All breakfast time the
Cock and the Mouse quarrelled
and grumbled. The
Cock upset the milk jug,
and the Mouse scattered
crumbs upon the floor

“Who’ll clear away the
breakfast?” asked the poor
little Red Hen, hoping

they would soon leave
off being cross.

“I shan’t,” said the Cock.

“I shan’t,” said the Mouse.

“Then I’ll do it myself,”
said the little Red Hen.

So she cleared everything
away, swept up the crumbs,
and brushed up the fireplace.

“And now, who’ll help
me to make the beds?”

“I shan’t,” said the Cock.

“I shan’t,” said the Mouse.

“Then I’ll do it myself,”
said the little Red Hen.

And she tripped away
upstairs.

But the lazy Cock and
Mouse each sat down in a
comfortable arm-chair by
the fire

and soon fell
fast asleep.

Now the bad Fox had
crept up the hill, and into
the garden, and if the Cock
and Mouse hadn’t been
asleep, they would have seen
his sharp eyes peeping in
at the window.

“Rat tat tat, Rat tat tat”, the Fox knocked at the door.

“Who can that be?” said the
Mouse, half opening his eyes.

“Go and look for yourself, if
you want to know,” said the
rude Cock

“It’s the postman perhaps,”
thought the Mouse to himself,
“and he may have a letter
for me.” So without waiting to
see who it was, he lifted the
latch and opened the door.

As soon as he opened it
in jumped the big Fox, with
a cruel smile upon his face!

“Oh! oh! oh!” squeaked the
Mouse as he tried to run up
the chimney.

“Doodle doodle do!” screamed
the Cock, as he jumped on the
back of the biggest
arm-chair

But the Fox only laughed,
and without more ado he
took the little Mouse by the
tail, and popped him into
the sack, and seized the
Cock by the neck and popped
him in too.

Then the poor little Red
Hen came running down-stairs
to see what all the
noise was about,

and the Fox caught her
and put her into the sack
with the others.

Then he took a long piece of
string out of his pocket, wound
it round and round and
round the mouth of
the sack, and tied it very
tight indeed.

After that he threw the sack
over his back and set off down
the hill.

“Oh! I wish I hadn’t been
so cross,” said the Cock, as
they went bumping about.

“Oh! I wish I hadn’t been
so lazy,” said the Mouse, wiping
his eyes with the tip of his tail.

“It’s never too late to mend,”
said the little Red Hen. “And
don’t be too sad.

See, here I have my little
work-bag, and in it there is
a pair of scissors, and a
little thimble, and a needle
and thread. Very soon you
will see what I am going
to do.”

Now the sun was very hot,
and soon Mr. Fox began to
feel his sack was heavy,
and at last he thought he
would lie down under a
tree and go to sleep for
a little while.

So he threw the sack down
with a big bump, and very
soon fell fast asleep.

Snore, snore, snore, went
the Fox.

As soon as the little Red
Hen heard this, she took
out her scissors, and began
to snip a hole in the sack,
just large enough for the
Mouse to creep through.

“Quick,” she whispered to
the Mouse, “run as fast as you
can and bring back a stone
just as large as yourself.”

Out scampered the Mouse,
and soon came back, dragging
the stone after him.

“Push it in here,” said
the little Red Hen, and he
pushed it in in a twinkling.

Then the little Red Hen
snipped away the hole, till
it was large enough for the
Cock to get through.

“Quick,” she said, “run
and get a stone as big as
yourself.”

Out flew the Cock, and
soon came back quite out
of breath, with a big stone,
which he pushed into the
sack too.

Then the little Red Hen
popped out,

got a stone as big as
herself, and pushed it in.

Next she put on her thimble,
took out her needle and thread,
and sewed up the hole as
quickly as ever she could.

When it was done, the
Cock and the Mouse and
the little Red Hen ran home
very fast, shut the door

after them, drew the bolts,
shut the shutters, and drew
down the blinds and felt
quite safe.

The bad Fox lay fast asleep
under the tree for some time,
but at last he woke up.

“Dear, dear,” he said, rubbing
his eyes and then looking at
the long shadows on the grass,
“how late it is getting. I must
hurry home.”

So the bad Fox went
grumbling and groaning
down the hill

till he came to the
stream.

Splash! In went one foot.
Splash! In went the other,
but the stones in the sack
were so heavy that at the
very next step down tumbled
Mr. Fox into a deep pool.

And then the fishes carried
him off to their fairy caves
and kept him a prisoner there,
so he was never seen again.

And the four greedy
little foxes had to go
to bed without any
supper.

But the Cock and the
Mouse never grumbled
again. They lit the fire,
filled the kettle, laid the
breakfast, and did all the
work, while the good little
Red Hen had a holiday, and
sat resting in the big arm-chair.

No foxes ever troubled
them again, and for all I
know they are still living
happily in the little house
with the green door and
green shutters, which stands
on the hill.

### Thumbnails

If pictures do not show as facing pairs, you may need to make your browser window a little wider.

#### Title Page Text

The COCK, The MOUSE
and the
LITTLE RED HEN
AN OLD TALE RETOLD
by
FÉLICITÉ LEFÈVRE
WITH 24 ILLUSTRATIONS
by
TONY SARG
MACRAE · SMITH · COMPANY
PHILADELPHIA

#### Technical Note on Colors

The colors used in the line drawings represent the transcriber’s best guess. To try an alternative version, do one of two things:
Open the “images” directory, rename the folder line_main (to anything) and then rename line_alt to line_main.
Or, if you are comfortable editing HTML text, globally change line_main to line_alt in this file. (The Technical Note has been formatted so you will not accidentally change anything in this paragraph.) Save under a new name to keep both versions.

The illustrations with a gold background are taken from the endpapers.

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COCK, THE MOUSE, AND THE LITTLE RED HEN ***
Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed.
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
START: FULL LICENSE

## THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG™ LICENSE

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg License available with this file or online at www.gutenberg.org/license.
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg name associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg License when you share it without charge with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country other than the United States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed:

> This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg™ License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg website (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg works unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg electronic works provided that:

- • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from the use of Project Gutenberg works calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg trademark, but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.”
- • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works.
- • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of receipt of the work.
- • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg’s goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg collection will remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg and future generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.
The Foundation’s business office is located at 41 Watchung Plaza #516, Montclair NJ 07042, USA, +1 (862) 621-9288. Email contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
Most people start at our website which has the main PG search facility: www.gutenberg.org.
This website includes information about Project Gutenberg, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.