"
So they set out on their journey, and when they arrived at the church
the pot stood in its old place--but it was empty! "Ah," said the
mouse, "I see what has happened; now I know you are indeed a faithful
friend. You have eaten the whole as you stood godfather; first
_Top-off_, then _Half-out_, then--"
"Will you be quiet?" cried the cat. "Not a word, or I'll eat you." But
the poor mouse had "_All-out"_ at her tongue's end, and had scarcely
uttered it when the cat made a spring, seized her in his mouth, and
swallowed her.
This happens every day in the world.
* * * * *
THE SWEET SOUP
Once on a time there was a poor but very good little girl, who lived
alone with her mother, and when my story begins, they had nothing in
the house to eat. So the child went out into the forest, and there she
met an old woman, who already knew her distress, and who presented her
with a pot which had the following power. If one said to it, "Boil,
little pot!" it would cook sweet soup; and when one said: "Stop,
little pot!" it would immediately cease to boil. The little girl took
the pot home to her mother, and now their poverty and distresses were
at an end, for they could have sweet broth as often as they pleased.
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