Tales of walking, eating, watching and playing. Vintage treasures and simple pleasures ... the things that make her happy.

Thursday 1 August 2013

Three Blind Mice ...

She found a little book ...
The story of their lives ...
She had always thought the popular rhyme consisted of just a few lines ...
... how wrong she was!
 Three small mice,
Pined for some fun.
They made up their minds to set out to roam;
Said they, “Tis dull to remain at home”,
And all the luggage they took was a comb,
These three small mice.
Three bold mice,
Came to an inn.
“Good evening, Host, can you give us a bed”,
But the host he grinned and he shook his head.
So they all slept out in a field instead,
These three bold mice.
Three cold mice,
Woke up next morn.
They each had a cold and a swollen face,
Through sleeping all night in an open space;
So they rose quite early and left the place,
These three cold mice.
Three hungry mice,
 searched for some food.
But all they found was a walnut shell,
That lay by the side of a dried up well;
Who has eaten the nut the they could not tell,
Three hungry mice.
Three starved mice,
Came to a farm.
The farmer was eating some bread and cheese;
So they all went down on their hands and knees,
And squeaked, “pray, give us a morsel please”,
These three starved mice.
Three glad mice,
Ate all they could.
They felt so happy they danced with glee;
But the farmer’s wife came in to see,
What might this merry-making be
Of three glad mice.
Three poor mice,
Soon changed their tune.
The farmer’s wife said, “What are you at,
And why were you capering round like that? 
Just wait a minute: I’ll fetch the cat”.
Oh dear!  Poor mice.
Three scared mice,
Ran for their lives.
They jumped out onto the window ledge,
The mention of “cat” set their teeth on edge;
So they hid themselves in the bramble hedge,
These three scared mice.
Three sad mice,
What could they do?
The bramble hedge was most unkind:
It scratched their eyes and made them blind,
And soon each mouse went out of his mind,
These three sad mice.
Three blind mice,
See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer’s wife,
Who cut off their tails with the carving knife.
Did you ever see such a sight in your life
As three blind mice?

Three sick mice,
Gave way to tears
They could not see and they had no end;
They sought a chemist and found a friend
He gave them some “Never too late to mend”,
These three sick mice.
Three wise mice,
Rubbed, rubbed away
And soon their tails began to grow ,
And their eyes recovered their sight , you know;
They look in the glass and it told them so.
These three wise mice.
Three proud mice,
Soon settled down.
The name of their house I cannot tell,
But they’ve learnt a trade and are doing well.
If you call upon them, ring the bell
Three times twice.
The End!
After living with the thought of the three, unhappy, 
blind, dock tailed mice for all these years, 
she is so glad it all turned out well after all for these three dapper chaps!



24 comments:

Plain Jane said...

Crikey I think I've just been through all the emotions there - dread, pity and relief! But what's with the comb? Glad it all ended well - I don't think I could have stood any more misfortune! Jane x

Deborah said...

Wonderful!
Bee happy x

Rosemary said...

Wonderful tale - no pun intended. I only knew the bit about them having their tails cut off with a carving knife.
Gorgeous illustrations too, they remind me a bit of Beatrice Potter's.

JJ said...

Very nice site. I am your newest follower.

Castles Crowns and Cottages said...

teeeheee...I SO ENJOYED THIS! It has been years since I sang this sweet song, but in my experience with it, we were only taught the first stanza! I never, ever learned the rest of the story!

Vintage Jane, I love your world! I am going to follow you, for I enjoy a secret place where only mice and rabbits, fox terriers and other sundrie creatures live to tell their tales. Thank you for coming to visit me, and I believe we have crossed paths before, but this time, I must buy a ticket to enter your blog frequently. Have a super day, Anita

Sopa Azul said...

Looks like a lovely book!! :D

Crafty in the Med said...

Hello Jane

I realised this morning that you have been following me for a while...very sorry I didn't contact you before now.
However I am now following you!
I see you are a Somerset gal ,I am from Somerset too...born in Williton and brought up in Minehead. I miss the West country and try to get home when I can :-)

We live and learn! I always thought the Three Blind Mice was just a rhyme too. Love the book and more so the illustrations!

keep well

Amanda :-)
PS: Giveaway now open!

Tricia said...

Thank you - I finally have a good "end" to this sad story. It has always seemed so sad to me.

Outcast said...

This is so cool, especially since the first song I ever learned to play in school on the recorder was Three Blind Mice haha, such a warming post Jane, love it.

Flaming Nora said...

Blimey! I have nowt else to say.

Vix said...

What a wonderful book, I love those sweet mice and the big fat cat! x

The Dainty Dolls House said...

Good grief!! Am glad it all turned better there at the end. Got a little sad there, haha!! This was awesome!! Have a great weekend x

KC'sCourt! said...

What a wonderful book.
Julie xxxxx

Streetcomber said...

The old rhymes could be very dark in places. I have a children's book of verses from my Father in Law, dated around 1908, and they are very bleak! But it's nice that yours has a happy ending...

nilly said...

Wonderful!
And a bit like Old Mother Hubbard which also has many verses. I've visited her cottage in Devon!

Maria said...

Ooh so am I..My heart was in my hand then Mrs VJ! ~ Delightful Such a lovely tale and the pictures are really sweet! ~ What a wonderful find! Hope you are enjoying this 'fabby' summer, I don't want it to end...Hugs Maria x Thanks for kind words always!!

the woolly dog said...

Gosh like most people I never knew there were any more verses! lovely black and white illustrations, thank you for sharing x

Anne said...

Well!! Who knew that?

rusty duck said...

Oh that's lovely!! Great find.

Willow said...

So glad to have gotten the whole story Jane, grapevine version was a bit sad werent it !

A Treasured Past said...

WOw! I never knew there was more than one verse either and a happy ending :) I must show the kids.

Barbara said...

I’ve never seen this version before. I’m so glad those poor old mice were OK in the end. Thanks for calling in to see me earlier today; I’m glad you did as I had forgotten to call on you for a while. I’m going to enjoy a good read of all your recent post now. Barbara.

Barbara said...

I was in a second-hand book shop in Winchester yesterday and could not believe my eyes when I spotted a copy of this! It was only the other day when I was telling you I had never seen it before – such a strange coincidence! I bought it of course!

Tazas y Cuentos said...

Hello! I enjoyed this post a lot! I love this nursery rhyme and all these illustrations.
Perhaps you want to visit my post about this rhyme:

http://tazasycuentos.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/tres-ratones-ciegos-three-blind-mice.html

Besos from Argentina! Silvina