Fancy Mice

One fine day I went to the Doctor's To get some anti-acne cream He saw I was depressed and said "Life's not as hard as it might seem I know that being an adolescent Is not particularly pleasant But if you had a worthwhile hobby You'd soon forget about your body" "What sort of thing did you have in mind?" I asked Doctor Grice "Well anything like stamp collecting Or breeding fancy mice Now that's something that I used to do It helped me when I was feeling blue They're economical to keep And they will help you to escape from misery" I thanked the Doctor and I went To the Citizens' Advice Bureau I asked about the National Mouse Club And they gave me all the info I wrote to the NMC And said I'd join if they'd let me Two days later if I remember They wrote back - I was a member In the yearbook was the address Of a man who lived near me An experienced breeder and former President of the NMC I rang and asked him if I could Come and see his fancy stud He said "Of course you can young man Come at once", so off I rang In the darkened cellar There were rows and rows of boxes In them there were Pink-Eyed White Mice Creams and Silver Foxes One by one we looked at them Discussing every specimen The kind man told me everything he knew About fancy mouse breeding Finally I left his house But not empty-handed He'd given me some Pink-Eyed Whites Of National Mouse CLub Standard I took them home and put them in A box covered with wire netting I gave them lots of Sunflower seed And hoped that they would start to breeder Two weeks passed and then at last One of the does got fatter I knew that in a week or so That mouse would be a mother I put her in a separate cage And gave her lots of food and hay I kept notes in my Mouse Diary Of how she was progressing each day So proud was I of the pregnany I felt I was the father I must admit but I couldn't help it I began to fall in love with her Oh many hours we spent together Whileshe prepared for her litter I knew that she should be called a name And instantly I thought of Jane Three days later Jane gave birth To several baby mice They were pink and hairless But me and Jane thought they were nice We watched them grow up each day And helped them cope with puberty And when they had reached adulthood They mated with each other to improve the stud Eventually my best young mice Were good enough for showing So I went to the next mouse show And soon my pride was glowing For in the Pink-Eyed White section My mice caused a sensation The mouse judge couldn't believe his eyes And gave my two mice first and second prize For three years I bred my mice And prizes they kept winning But still my favourite mouse was Jane Though she was old and skinny One cold night at feeding time I opened her box just in time To see her lying in the cage She was dying of old age I picked her up and wrapped her In a piece of cotton wool She was still alive But she looked terribly ill I sat up with her all night But fell asleep until the light Of morning filled my nursery And woke me up, oh misery Jane lay in her woolly bed As silent as a stone For she had passed away that night Now I was all alone I ran out into the road And cried that I was on my own At last I reached the countryside Beneath a tree I sat and cried and cried All day long I lay beneath the tree And thought of Jane At last I rose and started walking Down a country lane I head a shout and saw there was A pretty girl up on a horse I looked at her body and hair And suddenly I didn't care