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 



" Great A, little a, Bouncing B, 

 Cat 's in the cupboard, and can't see me.'' 



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. 



" A, B, c, 



Die Katze liegt im Schnee, 

 Der Schnee ging hinweg, 

 Die Katze liegt im Dreck." 



Prettier than this is the version sung in Saxony 

 and Austria. 



" 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." 



Little Parisians, as well as little Teutons, delight 

 in Pussy's snowy socks. 



