Tommy, My Son

“Tommy, my son,”
Said the old tabby cat,
“Go catch us some mice,
And be sure that they’re fat.
There’s one family
Lives in the carpenter’s barn;
They’ve made them
A nest of the old lady’s yarn.
But the carpenter
Has a young cat of his own
That is healthy and proud
And almost full grown,
And consider it, son,
An eternal disgrace.
To come home at night
With a scratch on your face.”