THE CAT= 



And the old utensil of tin 

 Was cold and comfortless within; 

 She therefore wish'd, instead of those, 

 Some place of more serene repose, 

 Where neither cold might come, nor air 

 Too rudely wanton with her hair; 

 And sought it in the likeliest mode 

 Within her Master's snug abode. 



A drawer, it chanced, at bottom lined 

 With linen of the softest kind, 

 With such as merchants introduce 

 From India, for the ladies' use, 

 A drawer impending o'er the rest, 

 Half open in the topmost chest, 

 Of depth enough, and none to spare, 

 Invited her to slumber there; 

 Puss with delight beyond expression 

 Surveyed the scene and took possession. 

 Recumbent at her ease ere long, 

 And lull'd by her own humdrum song, 

 She left the cares of life behind, 

 And slept as she would sleep her last, 

 When in came, housewifely inclined, 

 The chambermaid, and shut it fast, 

 By no malignity impell'd, 

 But all unconscious whom it held. 



145 



