“At something I saw to-day, my love,” says the King.  “I was out a-hunting, and by chance I came to a place I’d never been in before.  It was in a wood, and there was an old chalk-pit there, and out of the chalk-pit there came a queer kind of a sort of a humming, humming noise.  So I got off my hobby to see what made it, and went quite quiet to the edge of the pit and looked down.  And what do you think I saw?  The funniest, queerest, smallest, little, black Thing you ever set eyes upon.  And it had a little spinning-wheel and it was spinning away for dear life, but the wheel didn’t go so fast as its tail, and that span round and round—­ho-ho-ha-ha!—­you never saw the like.  And its little feet had buckled shoes and bows on them, and they went up and down in a desperate hurry.  And all the time that small, little, black Thing kept bumming and booming away at these words: 

  “Name me, name me not,
   Who’ll guess it’s Tom-Tit-Tot.”

Well, when she heard these words the Queen nearly jumped out of her skin for joy; but she managed to say nothing, but ate her supper quite comfortably.

And she said no word when next morning the small, little, black Thing came for the flax, though it looked so gleeful and maliceful that she could hardly help laughing, knowing she had got the better of it.  And when night came and she heard that knocking against the window-panes, she put on a wry face, and opened the window slowly as if she was afraid.  But that Thing was as bold as brass and came right inside, grinning from ear to ear.  And oh, my goodness! how That’s tail was twirling and whisking!

“Well, my beauty,” says That, giving her the five skeins all ready spun, “what’s my name?”

Then she put down her lip, and says, tearful like, “Is—­is—­That—­Solomon?”

“No, it ain’t,” laughs That, smirking out of the corner of That’s eye.  And the small, little, black Thing came further into the room.

So she tried again—­and this time she seemed hardly able to speak for fright.

“Well—­is That—­Zebedee?” she says.

“No, it ain’t,” cried the impet, full of glee.  And it came quite close and stretched out its little black hands to her, and O-oh, its tail...!!!

“Take time, my beauty,” says That, sort of jeering like, and its small, little, black eyes seemed to eat her up.  “Take time!  Remember! next guess and you’re mine!” Well, she backed just a wee bit from it, for it was just horrible to look at; but then she laughed out and pointed her finger at it and said, says she: 

          “Name me, name me not,
          Your name is
               Tom
                tit
               TOT.”

And you never heard such a shriek as that small, little, black Thing gave out.  Its tail dropped down straight, its feet all crumpled up, and away That flew into the dark, and she never saw it no more.