The full tale
No braver boy from coast to coast— So Stevie Flybuster liked to boast… "I'm not afraid of anyone, see! A bear? Let him come! He won't scare me! A pack of wolves? I'll kill the lot And chop them up right on the spot! Hyenas and leopards? A joke! Pure fun! Nothing but jokes to me—every one! And panthers and tigers? Just bring them here— I'd skewer them all on the point of my spear! A lion?! What's a lion? A big kitty-cat! I've read all the travel books—I know that! I know that gentleman quite well, too— He's only mean when he's hungry, it's true! A jackal? A wolf? Ooh, scary! Big deal! Just an overgrown puppy—that's how I feel! (But Rex next door? I keep away— I hate his barking, night or day!) Anyone I choose, I can beat, no doubt! I'm off across the ocean—watch out! And I won't be Stevie—you can bet on that— If I don't catch a whale! I'll eat my hat!"
And so, all day, from dawn till night, Our hero blows his horn with all his might, One day he naps out in the hay… Then jolts awake in great dismay. He looks—and there's some kind of beast Helping itself to his breakfast feast! Up he springs! He's on his feet! He howls in fright! Retreat! Retreat! Like a greyhound unleashed, away he flies! "A tiger, Dad! A tiger!" he cries. "A tiger?…" his father asks. "Is that so?" "Or a lion, maybe!… It had hooves, you know— Terrible hooves! Three legs—or four! A mouth like THIS! And horns, what's more!" "And where was it?" "There, in the hay. It just snatched my breakfast away…" Out comes Dad, and the household, all, They look… and there sits a mouse, so small: A little field mouse, sitting at ease, Nibbling away with its teeth at the cheese!…