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Little Bo-peep fell fast asleep, And dreamt she heard them bleating; But when she awoke she found it a joke, For still they all were fleeting.
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Then up she took her little crook, Determined for to find them; She found "em indeed, but it made her heart bleed, For they"d left their tails behind "em.
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It happened one day, as Bo-peep did stray Unto a meadow hard by, There she espied their tails, side by side, All hung on a tree to dry.
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Then she heaved a sigh, and wiped her eye, And ran o"er hill and dale-o, And tried what she could, as a shepherdess should, To tack to each sheep its tail-o.
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As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives, Every wife had seven sacks, Every sack had seven cats, Every cat had seven kits.
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives, How many were there going to St. Ives?
Go to bed first, a golden purse; Go to bed second, a golden pheasant; Go to bed third, a golden bird.
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There was an old woman, and what do you think?
She lived upon nothing but victuals and drink; Victuals and drink were the chief of her diet, Yet the plaguey old woman would never be quiet.
She went to the baker"s to buy some bread; And when she came home her husband was dead.
She went to the clerk, to toll the great bell; And when she came back, her husband was well.
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Some little mice sat in a barn to spin, p.u.s.s.y came by, and she popped her head in.
"Shall I come in and cut your threads off?"
"Oh, no, kind sir, you will snap our heads off."
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