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2
Mr. and Mrs. Brown's
adventure
with a Mouse

Some nice magic lantern slide sets from the story 'Die Maus oder Die gestörte Nachtruhe', part of: 'Drei Bilderbogen und ihre Entwürfe', written and illustrated by the German author Wilhelm Busch.
mr. mrs. brown wilhelm busch


This is the original English reading that could be declaimed by a lanternist during his performance:
 
lantern slide brown mouse busch
"Hark ! hark ! said old Brown
to his wife Mary Jane,
"There ! listen and soon
We shall hear it again.
Bless the woman, don't snore so;
You're shaking the house.
Wake up ! what's that noise ?
Don't you think it's a mouse ?"
Mrs. Brown  had ceased snoring,
And now was awake :
She afterwards owned
She was all of a shake.
A mouse was the one thing
She dreaded the most :
Even more than a housebreaker,
Fire, or - a ghost.
"Oh ! Solomon, dearie,"
She coaxingly said,
"I think I can hear it
Just under my head.
There's a stick in the corner,
Do get out and look ;
It's behind my red petticoat
There on the hook."

Now Brown was a good-natured man
On the whole,
So, without more ado,
He just managed to roll
To his feet on the floor,
And then - stealthily crept
To the spot where his wife said
The stick had been kept.
The mouse in the meantime
Was no wise inclined
To remain on the spot,
As though deaf, lame, and blind;
So he scampered away
With his tail in the air,
And ran up the bedpost
As fast as a hare.
Brown turned himself round,
And aimed a fierce blow
At the mouse (which of course,
Didn't hit him, you know),
But, as ill lurk would have it,
Alighted instead
On the bed-clothes which covered
The old woman's head.
For the old dame lay covered
Quite up in the clothes,
With a very small opening
Near to her nose,
Through which she was breathing
At very great pains,
While her legs stood upright
Like some ancient remains.
Now the mouse, who had beaten
A rapid retreat,
Leaping right over on to
The old lady's feet,
So tickled her soles
With its little sharp claws,
That she jumped out of bed
Without making one pause.
 
The mouse ran immediately
Under the bed,
And Solomon followed
With shoulders and head.
But the mouse changed his mind,
When he saw a fresh chance,
Which caused Mrs. Brown
To perform a small dance.

 

In her horror she fled
To the opposite side
Of the room for a refuge,
And opening wide
Her new green umbrella,
She hid behind that,
While Brown tried to catch
The poor mouse in his hat.
But mice will not walk
Into that kind of cage,
And Solomon failing
Flew into a rage,
He flung off his nightcap,
And cried, "If I can take
But hold of its tail,
I will crash it to pancake!"
 
At length an expedient
Rose to his brain,
Which made him pursue
His poor victim again;
He hunted him wildly,
He fled helter-skelter,
Then ran to the night-cap,
And hid there for shelter.
 
Brown crept up on tiptoe,
And grasping it tight,
He danced and he capered
With joy and delight.
"Look here! " he exclaimed,
"I have caught it at last."
"That's right, dear," his wife said,
"Do pray hold it fast ! "
lantern slide brown mouse busch
And now it was captured,
In close consulation
The happy pair settled
Its best destination ;
A tub, with a lid
Firmly held on the top
Was the pit into which
The poor mouse was to drop.
"Ah, no, Sir," the mouse said,
"I'm not such a flat
As to fall in with such
An arrangement as that."
Mrs. Brown gave a scream,
"Oh, Solomon, see !
That nasty thing 's hopped
From the hole like a flea.
Oh! Take it away !!
Ah ! ! !- it's under my feet ! "
(With sundry things else
Which I need not repeat.)
"Oh! it's going down my back
Do take it away,
I know it will bite me,
Oh ! do make haste, pray ! "
"Stop, stop, my dear," Brown said,
"Don't be in a flurry,"
(Things are seldom well done
If they're done in a hurry.)
Then he suddenly seized
Its long tail, and so caught it,
But scarce to that empty old tub
Had he brought it,
Than the mouse, twisting round
Closed its teeth till they ground.
"Oh my finger ! oh ! oh!
Mary Jane! here, mamma!
Come and take it away ;
Here, mother ! I say !
Oh, the pain ! it is dreadful !
Oh, take it off, do!
Pray don't be afraid,
For it cannot hurt you."
 
lantern slide brown mouse busch
Now his dear Mary Jane,
With great presence of mind
Seized a bottle of water,
Just standing behind,
And poured in so much
That it rose to the brink ;
Then they popped the mouse in
And expected he'd sink.
But he swam like a duck,
And jumped over the side,
And then down the washstand
He managed to glide.
But Solomon aimed
Such a violent blow
That, although for the mouse
He was rather too slow,
He upset his wife,
And the basin and all,
In one long watery
Clattering sprawl.
The mouse made the most
Of the sprawl and the clatter,
While the neighbours all wondered
What could be the matter.
He scuttled away to his hole
At full speed,
And arrived just in time
For the family feed,
But before disappearing,
The mouse, records tell
That he turned on his heel
And thus wished them farewell,-
"Strange people I've seen
(Sometimes up, sometimes down),
But never before,
My dear Solomon Brown,
Have I seen in my walks
Round the cupboards and shelves,
Such a comical pair
As your worthy old selves.
Give my love to the old lady
Stretched on the floor,
And when she wakes up
Say I hope she'll be sure
To hang on the hook,
By the side of the door,
The old green umbrella
We noticed before.
When I'm passing this way,
'Twill afford me delight
To look in and see you ;
I wish you good night.'
 

 
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Last update: 26-05-2021.
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