EVERY MOTHER’S LOVE THE BEST.

AS I went over the hills one day, I listened, and heard a mother sheep say, “In all the green world there is nothing so sweet As my little lammie with his nimble feet; With his eyes so bright, and his wool so white, Oh! he is my darling, my heart’s delight. The robin that sings in yonder tree, Dearly may dote on his darlings four, But I love my one little lammie more.” So the mother sheep and her little one, Side by side, lay down in the sun, And there let them lie on the hillside warm, While my little darling lies here on my arm. I went to the kitchen, and what did I see But the old gray cat and her kittens three; I heard her whispering soft and low, “My kittens with their tails so cunningly curled, Are the prettiest things in all the world. The birds in the tree, and the old sheep, they May love their babies exceedingly, But I love my kittens from morn to night, With their fur so soft, and clean and white. Which is the prettiest, I cannot tell, I cannot choose, I love all so well; So I will take up these kittens I love, And we’ll lie down together beneath the warm stove.” There they snugly lie under the stove so warm, While my little darling lies here on my arm. I went to the yard and saw the old hen Go clucking about with her chickens ten; She clucked, and she scratched, And she bristled away, And what do you think I heard her say? I heard her say, “The sun never did shine On anything like these ten chickens of mine. You may hunt the round moon And the stars, if you please, But you’ll never find any such chickens as these. The cat loves her kittens, The sheep loves her lamb, But they do not know what a proud mother I am. For lambs nor for kittens I won’t part with these, Though the sheep and the cat should go down on their knees. My dear, downy darlings, my sweet little things, Come nestle now cosily under my wings.” So the mother hen said, and the chickens all sped As fast as they could to their warm feather-bed. And there let them lie ’neath the feathers so warm, While my little darling lies here on my arm.