It was a spelling bee.  The magician had never had one, but he thought it was better late than never, and so he sent word around that he would have his bee just outside of the town, on the green grass.  Everybody came, because they had to.  When the magician said they must do a thing, there was no help for it.  So they all marched in a long procession, the magician at the head with his dictionary open at the “bee” page.  Every now and then he turned around and waved his wand, so as to keep the musicians in good time.  The cock-of-the-walk led the band and he played on his own bill, which had holes in it, like a flute.  The rabbit beat the drum, and the pig blew the horn, while old Mother Clink, who was mustered in to make up the quartette, was obliged to play on the coffee-mill, because she understood no other instrument.

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The king came, with his three body-guards marching in front.  The first guard was a wild savage with bare legs, and a gnat stung him on the knee, which made the second guard laugh so much that the third one who carried the candles had a chance to eat a penny-dip, without any person seeing him.  The king rode in his chariot, drawn by two wasps.  He was a very warm gentleman, and not only carried a parasol to keep off the sun, but the head ninny-hammer squirted water on the small of his back to keep him cool.

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The court tailor rode on a goat, and he carried his shears and the goose he ironed with.  He balanced himself pretty well until a bird sat on his queue, and that bent him over backward so that he nearly fell off.

The queen also came; she was bigger than the king and had to have cats to draw her chariot.  The cats fought a good deal, but the driver, who was a mouse, managed to get them along.  The footman was also a mouse, and the queen had two pet mice that sat at her feet or played with her scepter.  After the queen came the chief jumping jack, who did funny tricks with bottles as he danced along.

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Then came the ladies of the court.  They sat in nautilus shells, which were each borne by two bearers.  The first shell went along nicely, but the men who carried the second were lazy and the lady beat them with a hair-brush.  As for the bearers of the last shell, they had a fight and took their poles to beat each other, leaving their shell, with the lady in it, on the ground.  She didn’t mind, for she thought that if they went off and left her, she wouldn’t have to do any spelling.  So she stayed in her shell and smiled very contentedly.

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The town bell-man walked along in grand state ringing his bell, and the cock-who-could-n’t-walk rode on a wheelbarrow and crowed by note.  The old ram wheeled the barrow, in which was also a basket containing the hen and chickens.  The smallest chicken tried to crow in tune with his father, but nobody could hear whether he crowed right or wrong—­and what is more, nobody cared.