The Dreadful Story About Harriet And The Matches

It almost makes me cry to tell What foolish Harriet befell. Mamma and Nurse went out one day And left her all alone at play; Now, on the table close at hand, A box of matches chanc'd to stand; And kind Mamma and Nurse had told her, That, if she touch'd them, they should scold her. But Harriet said: "O, what a pity! For, when they burn, it is so pretty; They crackle so, and spit, and flame; Mamma, too, often does the same."

The pussy-cats heard this,
And they began to hiss,
And stretch their claws
And rais'd their paws;
"Me-ow," they said, "me-ow, me-o,
You'll burn to death, if you do so."

But Harriet would not take advice, She lit a match, it was so nice! It crackled so, it burn'd so clear, - Exactly like the picture here. She jump'd for joy and ran about And was too pleas'd to put it out.

The pussy-cats saw this
And said: "Oh, naughty, naughty Miss!"
And stretch'd their claws
And rais'd their paws:
"Tis very, very wrong, you know,
Me-ow, me-o, me-ow, me-o,
You will be burnt, if you do so".

And see! Oh! what a dreadful thing! The fire has caught her apron-string; Her apron burns, her arms, her hair; She burns all over, everywhere.

Then how the pussy-cats did mew,
What else, poor pussies, could they do?
They scream'd for help, 'twas all in vain!
So then, they said: "we'll scream again'
Make haste, make haste, me-ow, me-o.
She'll burn to death, we told her so."

So she was burnt, with all her clothes, And arms, and hands, and eyes, and nose; Till she had nothing more to lose Except her little scarlet shoes; And nothing else but these were found Among her ashes on the ground.

And when the good cats sat beside
The smoking ashes, how they cried!
"Me-ow, me-oo, me-ow, me-oo,
What will Mamma and Nursy do?"
Their tears ran down their cheeks so fast;
They made a little pond at last.