The Tale of Two Bad Mice

There was once a beautiful doll's house. It was red, with white windows and real curtains.Two dolls lived in it, Lucinda and Jane. Jane was the cook.One morning the two dolls went out for a ride, and the house was left empty.

Under the floor lived two mice, Tom Thumb and his wife, Hunca Munca.Tom Thumb pushed open the front door of the doll's house and crept inside.On the dining table he saw a fine dinner: a red ham, a yellow fish, and a tall pudding.

But nothing would come off the plates. The food was not real — it was only painted plaster.Tom Thumb was so cross that he hit the ham with a little toy knife.The hard plaster would not break, so the two mice threw the whole dinner on the floor.

They pulled and banged until the pretty meal was all in pieces.Then Hunca Munca began to carry things back to the mouse-hole.She took a small bed, some blankets, and a tiny chair from the doll's house.

She wanted the bookcase as well, but it was far too big to fit through the hole.When the two dolls came home, they stared at the mess and could not understand it.The little girl who owned the house set a toy policeman by the front door.

But Tom Thumb was sorry for what he had done.On Christmas Eve he put a bent old coin into the dolls' stocking, and now Hunca Munca comes every morning with her brush to sweep the doll's house.