Once upon a time there was a little black girl, and her name was Little Black Mingo.

She had no father and mother, so she had to live with a horrid cross old woman called Black Noggy, who used to scold her every day, and sometimes beat her with a stick, even though she had done nothing naughty.

One day Black Noggy called her, and said, "Take this chatty down to the river and fill it with water, and come back as fast as you can, QUICK NOW!"

So Little Black Mingo took the chatty and ran down to the river as fast as she could, and began to fill it with water, when Cr-r-rrrack!!! Bang!!! A horrible big Mugger poked its nose up through the bottom of the chatty and said "Ha, ha!! Little Mingo, I'm going to eat you up!"