The Cat, the Weasel, and the Young Rabbit

John Rabbit's palace under ground / Was once by Goody Weasel found. / She, sly of heart, resolved to seize / The place, and did so at her ease. / She took possession while its lord / Was absent on the dewy sward, / Intent upon his usual sport, / A courtier at Aurora's court. / When he had browsed his fill of clover / And cut his pranks all nicely over, / Home Johnny came to take his drowse, / All snug within his cellar-house. / The weasel's nose he came to see, / Outsticking through the open door. / 'Ye gods of hospitality! ' / Exclaim'd the creature, vexèd sore, / 'Must I give up my father's lodge? / Ho! Madam Weasel, please to budge, / Or, quicker than a weasel's dodge, / I'll call the rats to pay their grudge! ' / The sharp-nosed lady made reply, / That she was first to occupy. / The cause of war was surely small -- / A house where one could only crawl! / And though it were a vast domain, / Said she, 'I'd like to know what will / Could grant to John perpetual reign, -- / The son of Peter or of Bill, -- / More than to Paul, or even me. ' / John Rabbit spoke -- great lawyer he -- / Of custom, usage, as the law, / Whereby the house, from sire to son, / As well as all its store of straw, / From Peter came at length to John. / Who could present a claim, so good / As he, the first possessor, could? / 'Now,' said the dame, 'let's drop dispute, / And go before Raminagrobis,[1] / Who'll judge, not only in this suit, / But tell us truly whose the globe is. ' / This person was a hermit cat, / A cat that play'd the hypocrite, / A saintly mouser, sleek and fat, / An arbiter of keenest wit. / John Rabbit in the judge concurr'd, / And off went both their case to broach / Before his majesty, the furr'd. / Said Clapperclaw, 'My kits, approach, / And put your noses to my ears: / I'm deaf, almost, by weight of years. ' / And so they did, not fearing aught. / The good apostle, Clapperclaw, / Then laid on each a well-arm'd paw, / And both to an agreement brought, / By virtue of his tuskèd jaw.

[1]: _Raminagrobis._ -- This name occurs in Rabelais (Book III., ch. 21), where, however, it is not the name of a cat, but of a poet -- understood to be meant for Guillaume Cretin, who lived in the times of Kings Charles VIII., Louis XII., and Francis I. See note to Bohn's edition of Rabelais.