“…..’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…” We all know Clement Clarke Moore’s wonderful Christmas poem, but did you
ever wonder about that mouse? Well this is his story…
T’was the night before Christmas
And little Stanley the mouse
Could sense the excitement
As he stole round the house.
Something was different,
Coloured lights and decorations,
And strangers in the house
Called friends and relations.
There was a tree that twinkled,
A holly and mistletoe smell,
And candles on the mantelpiece,
Stockings hung there as well.
For an inquisitive mouse
Lots of new things to explore;
Stanley raced around so excited,
Looking for more.
Climbing up the sparkling tree,
He surprised the fairy on top,
Then sliding off from a branch
He landed on boxes with a “plop!”
He didn’t know what was in them,
Or how much joy they would bring,
He just sniffed the bright paper
And had a chew on the string.
Then Stanley spotted something,
It was a sight for sore eyes,
There by the hearth a plate,
Loaded with sweet smelling pies.
He danced across the room,
Had his Christmas now come?
A plate full of happiness,
Oh what a treat for his tum!
But before he could eat one
Stanley got such a fright
As he heard a voice cry out,
“Phew, this chimney is tight!”
Then soot started falling,
And then crash, a man appeared,
Dressed in a sooty red coat,
With a long, sooty white beard.
He dusted himself down,
Took a sack from his back,
And with a “Ho! Ho! Ho!”
Parcels he began to unpack.
Stanley quickly dashed away,
Now a frightened little mouse,
Went back behind the skirting,
Back to his safe little house.
And as he watched through a crack
His pies disappeared,
Eaten by the old man
With sooty white beard
Then the old man sighed,
“Suppose it’s time I moved on,”
And he went back to the chimney
And in a flash he was gone.
And as Stanley watched all this
He was sure he could hear
Clattering hooves on the roof
That sounded a bit like reindeer.
Stanley crept carefully from his house
And to his surprise,
There by the skirting board
Was one of the pies,
And a note that simply said
“Stanley this one is for you,
Making folks happy at Christmas
Is just what I do.”
So little Stanley slept happily
All through that Christmas day,
Full from eating the pie
Left by the man with the sleigh.
