What the First Little Mouse Saw and Heard
on Her Travels"When I first went out into the world," said the little
mouse, "I fancied, as so many of my age do, that I already knew
everything, but it was not so. It takes years to acquire great
knowledge. I went at once to sea in a ship bound for the north. I
had been told that the ship's cook must know how to prepare every
dish at sea, and it is easy enough to do that with plenty of sides
of bacon, and large tubs of salt meat and mouldy flour. There I
found plenty of delicate food, but no opportunity for learning how
to make soup from a sausage skewer. We sailed on for many days and
nights; the ship rocked fearfully, and we did not escape without a
wetting. As soon as we arrived at the port to which the ship was
bound, I left it, an
