Lesson:

1. My little white kitten's asleep on my knee;


As white as the snow or the lilies is she;


She wakes up with a purr


When I stroke her soft fur:


Was there ever another white kitten like her?





2. My little white kitten now wants to go out


And frolic, with no one to watch her about;


'Little kitten,' I say,


'Just an hour you may stay,


And be careful in choosing your places to play.'





3. But night has come down, when I hear a loud 'mew;'


I open the door, and my kitten comes through;


My white kitten! ah me!


Can it really be she—


This ill-looking, beggar-like cat that I see?





4. What ugly, gray streaks on her side and her back!


Her nose, once as pink as a rosebud, is black!


Oh, I very well know,


Though she does not say so,


She has been where white kittens ought never to go.





5. If little good children intend to do right,


If little white kittens would keep themselves white,


It is needful that they


Should this counsel obey,


And be careful in choosing their places to play.