THE CAT TO-DAY 229 



gayety in their dancing measures, and the simplest 

 narratives have a touch of picturesqueness, never 

 lost on infancy. Even an A, B, C verse, which 

 we try to make as imbecile as words will allow, can 

 assume a pleasing form in the nurseries of France. 

 What, for example, could be more hopelessly unin 

 teresting or irrelevant than the English 



&quot; Great A, little a, Bouncing B, 

 Cat s in the cupboard, and can t see me.&quot; 



Such a vapid statement insults the intelligence of 

 a baby. The Germans do better. They have sev 

 eral rhymes, the shortest and simplest of which 

 was the first word picture ever grasped by my own 

 dawning intelligence. 



&quot; A, B, C, 



Die Katze liegt im Schnee, 

 Der Schnee ging hinweg, 

 Die Katze liegt im Dreck.&quot; 



Prettier than this is the version sung in Saxony 

 and Austria. 



&quot; A, B, C, 



Die Katze liegt im Schnee ; 

 Als sie wieder raus kam, 

 Hatt sie weisse Stiefeln an ; 

 Weisse Stiefeln muss sie haben, 

 Dass sie kann nach Dresden traben.&quot; 



Little Parisians, as well as little Teutons, delight 

 in Pussy s snowy socks. 



