The Tale of Two Bad Mice (Beatrix Potter Originals)

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What a sight met the eyes of Jane and Lucinda! Lucinda sat upon the upset kitchen stove and stared; and Jane leant against the kitchen dresser and smiled—but neither of them made any remark. Two dolls named Lucinda and Jane live in a doll's house. The house belongs to Lucinda. Jane is the cook. There is, however, no need for Jane to do any cooking because she and Lucinda do not eat and all of the food in the doll's house is made of plaster. Between November 26, 1903 and December 2, 1903, Potter took a week's holiday in Hastings, and, though there is no evidence that she did so, she may have taken one or both mice with her. She composed three tales in a stiff-covered exercise book during a week of relentless rain: Something very very NICE (which, after much revision, eventually became The Pie and the Patty-Pan in 1905), The Tale of Tuppenny (which eventually became Chapter 1 in The Fairy Caravan in 1929), and The Tale of Hunca Munca or The Tale of Two Bad Mice. [3] [4] [5] Potter hoped that one of the three tales would be chosen for publication in 1904 as a companion piece to Benjamin Bunny, which was then a work in progress. "I have tried to make a cat story that would use some of the sketches of a cottage I drew the summer before last," she wrote to her editor Norman Warne on December 2, "There are two others in the copy book ... the dolls would make a funny one, but it is rather soon to have another mouse book?", referring to her recently published The Tailor of Gloucester. [5] Winifred Warne and the doll's house built by her uncle Norman Warne

Tom Thumb began to carve the ham but the knife was only a toy and it broke, hurting him. He put the hurt finger in his mouth. Potter confidently asserted her tales would one day be nursery classics, and part of the process in making them so was marketing strategy. [23] She was the first to exploit the commercial possibilities of her characters and tales with a Peter Rabbit doll, a board game (The Game of Peter Rabbit), and a nursery wallpaper between 1903 and 1905. [24] Similar "side-shows" (as she termed the ancillary merchandise) were conducted over the following two decades. [25] The dolls, on the other hand, they’re pure evil. They lounge around the house all day teasing mice with food, and even go as far as to lay down traps for the poor creatures. Then, if that wasn’t enough reason to hate them, they bring in a policeman to enforce their fascist means of control. Instead of talking to the mice they just go straight to the authorities. There’s no reasoning to be had with these nasty dolls. The doll’s-house stood at the other side of the fire-place. Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca went cautiously across the hearthrug. They pushed the front door—it was not fast. A minute afterwards, Hunca Munca, his wife, put her head out, too; and when she saw that there was no one in the nursery, she ventured out on the oilcloth under the coal-box.While Tom Thumb was up the chimney, Hunca Munca had another disappointment. She found some tiny canisters upon the dresser, labelled—Rice—Coffee—Sago—but when she turned them upside down, there was nothing inside except red and blue beads. So I may be overdosing a bit on nostalgia tonight, but I'm feeling oddly sentimental and wanted to share my thoughts. The Tale of Two Bad Mice is a children's fantasy story by the British author and illustrator Beatrix Potter. It was first published in 1904. So that is the story of the two Bad Mice,—but they were not so very very naughty after all, because Tom Thumb paid for everything he broke.

The little mouse’s name was Tom Thumb. A minute later, Tom Thumb’s wife, Hunka Munka, popped her head out too and when she saw the room was empty, she and Tom squeezed through the hole and went over to the coal box by the fire. The policeman doll was borrowed from Winifred Warne. She was reluctant to part with it but the doll was safely returned. Many years later she remembered Potter arriving at the house to borrow the doll: Such a lovely dinner was laid out upon the table! There were tin spoons, and lead knives and forks, and two dolly-chairs--all SO convenient!

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One day, when the house is empty, the two naughty mice, Tom Thumb and his wife, Hunca Munca, make themselves at home, only to find that the delicious looking ham that they were planning to devour is made of plaster, and the fish is glued to the plate! On the other side of the replace was the beautiful doll’s house. The two mice tip-toed cautiously across the rug in front of the fire to take a closer look. But Hunca Munca had a frugal mind. After pulling half the feathers out of Lucinda’s bolster, she remembered that she herself was in want of a feather bed. How do you think the dolls felt when they came home to find everything in their little home ruined or stolen?

Celebrity Death Match Special: The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch versus The Tale of Two Bad Mice The book-case and the bird-cage were rescued from under the coal-box—but Hunca Munca has got the cradle, and some of Lucinda’s clothes. Thank you so much for the queer little dollies; they are exactly what I wanted ... I will provide a print dress and a smile for Jane; her little stumpy feet are so funny. I think I shall make a dear little book of it. I shall be glad to get done woth[ sic] the rabbits ... I shall be very glad of the little stove and the ham; the work is always a very great pleasure anyhow. [8]

They found the book case and the bird cage by the coal box, but they never found the pots and pans or the baby’s cradle. And Lucinda never found her missing clothes. Hunka Munka had kept them for herself. Between 1907 and 1912 Potter wrote miniature letters to children as from characters in her books. The letters reveal more about their characters and their doings. Though many were probably lost or destroyed, a few are extant from the characters in Two Bad Mice. In one, Jane Dollcook has broken the soup tureen and both her legs; in another, Tom Thumb writes to Lucinda asking her to spare a feather bed which she regrets she cannot send because the one he stole was never replaced. Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca have nine children and the parents need another kettle for boiling water. Hunca Munca is apparently not a very conscientious housekeeper because Lucinda complains of dust on the mantlepiece. [15]

One morning Lucinda and Jane had gone out for a drive in the doll's perambulator. There was no one in the nursery, and it was very quiet. Presently there was a little scuffling, scratching noise in a corner near the fireplace, where there was a hole under the skirting-board. But I'm a tough broad. I knew this holiday season would be a little rougher than most but I knew I could handle it. Then a few weeks ago I received the news that my best friend and partner would be spending the holidays away from home. As hard as I try to remain positive, cheery, and hopeful, knowing that I won't be spending my Christmas with the person I love most in this world is the eggnog my demons are toasting with in my honor. Some days are better than others, and today has been the worst of all. I came home trying really hard to be Tiny Tim on the outside, while Scrooge was taking over my heart. Lucinda sat upon the upset kitchen stove and stared; and Jane leant against the kitchen dresser and smiled—but neither of them made any remark. The Tale of Two Bad Mice is included as a segment in the 1971 Royal Ballet film Tales of Beatrix Potter.Such a lovely dinner was laid out upon the table! There were tin spoons, and lead knives and forks, and two dolly-chairs—all so convenient! Between 1992 and 1996, a number of Beatrix Potter's tales were turned into an animated television series and broadcast by the BBC, titled The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends. One of the episodes is an adaptation of both The Tale of Two Bad Mice and The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse. In the episode, Hunca Munca is voiced by Felicity Kendal and Tom Thumb is voiced by Rik Mayall. It first aired on the BBC on June 29, 1994. A reviewer in Bookman thought Two Bad Mice a pleasant change from Potter's rabbit books ( Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny) and believed neither Tom Thumb or Hunca Munca were completely bad, noting they both looked innocent and lovable in Potter's twenty-seven watercolour drawings. The reviewer approved Potter's "Chelsea-china like books" that were Warne's "annual marvels ... to an adoring nursery world". [3] Beatrix Potter (1866–1943) loved the countryside and spent much of her childhood drawing and studying animals. 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit', first published in 1902, was her first book. She later went on to publish more than twenty tales and collections of rhymes. As the fish would not come off the plate, they put it into the red-hot crinkly paper fire in the kitchen; but it would not burn either.