I've taught them how to be polite, To keep their bibs all clean and white, To say, "Mee-oo" for "If you please," And never to be cross, or tease.
My darlings, Muff and Puff and Fluff, Stop always when they've had enough: They never come unwashed or late, They never crowd or push the plate.
My care has not been vainly spent; That's why I purr with such content; For I'm the milk-white puss, you know, That sits close by--their mother--SNOW.
DID you ever hear of a great bear and a little bear made of stars? And a big dog? And a lion? If you never did, I suppose you would like to be told where they are,--such astonishing things as animals made of stars. But, if you think a minute, you will see that every thing that has any thing to do with stars must be up in the sky.
Now this very night, if the stars come out before you go to bed, I want you to look for the Great Bear. It is not a real bear, of course; but it is a kind of picture of a bear. I wish it could growl, to give you an idea where it is, because, it really looks so little like a bear, it is very hard to find. It is nearly overhead now; but you needn't be a bit frightened. The Great Bear has never been known to drop down on little girls and boys.
There is a funny thing about this bear. Part of him is a big dipper, and I think you will find him out by that. If you can find the seven bright stars in the shape of a dipper, you have found the bear's tail and a part of his body.
And now I want to tell you how it happens that these stars are called the Great Bear. If you look up in the sky some bright starlight night, you will see there a good many different figures, in stars; and a long time ago, people gave names to these figures. To one of them they gave the name of the Great Bear; to another, the Little Bear; to another, the Great Dog; and so on. These different star-figures are called constellations. They really look very little like the things they are named for: so I can't expect you to find them without help.
Now, it is very convenient to have the stars divided up in this way. When I asked you to find the red star last winter, it would have been a great help to you if I had told you what constellation it was in; but you might not have known what I meant by a constellation.