The ham broke off the plate with a jerk and rolled under the table. ‘Leave it,’ said Tom Thumb. ‘Let’s have some fish instead.’ The Tale of Two Bad Mice had its genesis in June 1903 when Potter rescued two mice from a cage-trap in her cousin Caroline Hutton's kitchen at Harescombe Grange, Gloucestershire, and named them Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca after characters in Henry Fielding's play, Tom Thumb. [1] [2] Tom Thumb was never mentioned in Potter's letters after his rescue from the trap (he may have escaped) but Hunca Munca became a pet and a model; she developed an affectionate personality and displayed good housekeeping skills. [2]

In her thirties, Potter published the highly successful children's book The Tale of Peter Rabbit and became secretly engaged to her publisher, Norman Warne, causing a breach with her parents, who disapproved of his social status. Warne died before the wedding. One morning Lucinda and Jane had gone out for a drive in the doll's perambulator. There was no one in the nursery, and it was very quiet. Presently there was a little scuffling, scratching noise in a corner near the fireplace, where there was a hole under the skirting-board. The little mouse’s name was Tom Thumb. A minute later, Tom Thumb’s wife, Hunka Munka, popped her head out too and when she saw the room was empty, she and Tom squeezed through the hole and went over to the coal box by the fire. One of the most striking things about the tale is that the mice are "bad" - transgressive, as the OP notes. They are not merely bad in their destruction of the doll's house: there are also suggestions they are bad parents. They live in a squalid hole and have a large number of children. In contrast the doll's house that they enter is clean, polite and refined. The response of the mice to this is impulsive aggression and theft. The things they choose to steal are also instructive: they take food and bedding, but reject more refined objects like a bird cage and a book case. It is not hard to view this as a metaphor in which the mice represent the working class "vermin" and the dolls a more genteel middle or upper class society. With Tom Thumbs's assistance she carried the bolster downstairs, and across the hearth-rug. It was difficult to squeeze the bolster into the mouse- hole; but they managed it somehow.When two naughty little mice discover the door to the beautiful dolls' house ajar, they just have to tiptoe inside and have a look. The temptation to try the delicious looking food in the dining room proves too great however, and chaos ensues when they discover that it will not come off the plates! Sure, they break into the house of an inanimate object (big crime I know) and smash up her stuff. But who cares? She’s only a porcelain doll. And the two mice are only trying to feed their babies. If anything they’re the victims. They’ve been teased by the fake food in the windows and tempted by falsehood. When they realise they can’t get into it by normal means, they smash it up to try and eat it. I wouldn’t call them bad, opportunistic maybe but not bad. Kutzer observes the tale is marked with a "faint echo" of the larger class issues of the times, specifically labour unrest. The mice, she suggests, can be viewed as representatives of the various rebellions of the working classes against working conditions of England and the growing local political and industrial conflicts revolving around issues such as the recognition of new unionism, working conditions, minimum wages, an 8-hour day, and the closed shop. She disapproved of the use of violence to attain reform but not of reform itself. [20] How do you think the dolls felt when they came home to find everything in their little home ruined or stolen?

Lucinda sat upon the upset kitchen stove and stared; and Jane leant against the kitchen dresser and smiled—but neither of them made any remark. On February 12, 1904 Potter wrote to Warne and apologized for not accepting his invitation to Surbiton. She wrote that progress was being made on the mouse tale, and once found Hunca Munca carrying a beribboned doll up the ladder into her nest. She noted that the mouse despised the plaster food. She assured him she could complete the book from photographs. On February 18, 1904 Warne bought the Lucinda and Jane dolls at a shop in Seven Dials and sent them to Potter. Potter wrote: The Tail of ‘Too Bad’ Mike by Iain Cameron Williams. ‘'My inspiration for The Tail of 'Too Bad' Mike came from a visit I made to London's V&A Museum in 2009, where I saw a Beatrix Potter display. I was fascinated by her life, especially her philanthropy. After leaving the museum, as it was a sunny afternoon, I walked up to Hyde Park and lay down for a while on East Albert Lawn. One of Potter's book titles kept going around in my mind and sparked my imagination. The book was The Tale of Two Bad Mice. From it, I devised the title, The Tail of 'Too Bad' Mike. That was my starting point; from there, I concocted the imaginary world of 'Too Bad' Mike.’ As the fish would not come off the plate, they put it into the red-hot crinkly paper fire in the kitchen; but it would not burn either. While Tom Thumb was up the chimney, Hunca Munca had another disappointment. She found some tiny canisters upon the dresser, labelled—Rice—Coffee—Sago—but when she turned them upside down, there was nothing inside except red and blue beads.

First up, it is likely that Hunca Munca's name is not relevant to her role in the story. According to her biographer, Judy Taylor, Potter rescued two mice from a trap and decided to name them and keep them as pets. The development of the tale came some months later, when Potter observed that the female mouse kept a tidy nest and, when given the opportunity to explore, chose to "steal" a small doll rather than doll's house food. Given that the genesis of the story came from the mouse's behaviour, well after she was named, it is possible there is no strong link. It was while The Tale of Two Bad Mice was being prepared for publication that Beatrix Potter and Norman Warne fell in love with each other. They got engaged in July 1905. The marriage never took place because Norman Warne died suddenly of lymphatic leukemia on August 25, 1905.

Then Tom Thumb lost his temper. He put the ham in the middle of the floor, and hit it with the tongs and with the shovel--bang, bang, smash, smash! Two dolls named Lucinda and Jane live in a doll's house. The house belongs to Lucinda. Jane is the cook. There is, however, no need for Jane to do any cooking because she and Lucinda do not eat and all of the food in the doll's house is made of plaster. In December 1903, The Tale of Two Bad Mice was one of three ideas for a possible future book to be published along with The Tale of Benjamin Bunny in 1904 that Beatrix Potter submitted to her publisher Norman Warne. The other two ideas were later developed into Potter's 1905 book The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan and the first chapter of her 1929 book The Fairy Caravan. Although Potter was initially somewhat reluctant to write another tale about mice so soon after the publication of The Tailor of Gloucester, both she and Warne agreed that The Tale of Two Bad Mice was the story idea that had the greatest potential. Norman Warne's decision may have been influenced by the fact that he was making a doll's house as a Christmas present for his four-year-old niece Winifred Warne at the time. Beatrix Potter used Winifred Warne's doll's house as a model for the one that appears in the illustrations in The Tale of Two Bad Mice. The book is dedicated to Winifred Warne. And very early every morning— before anybody is awake—Hunca Munca comes with her dust-pan and her broom to sweep the dollies’ house!

Such a lovely dinner was laid out upon the table! There were tin spoons, and lead knives and forks, and two dolly-chairs—all so convenient! But I'm a tough broad. I knew this holiday season would be a little rougher than most but I knew I could handle it. Then a few weeks ago I received the news that my best friend and partner would be spending the holidays away from home. As hard as I try to remain positive, cheery, and hopeful, knowing that I won't be spending my Christmas with the person I love most in this world is the eggnog my demons are toasting with in my honor. Some days are better than others, and today has been the worst of all. I came home trying really hard to be Tiny Tim on the outside, while Scrooge was taking over my heart. They found the book case and the bird cage by the coal box, but they never found the pots and pans or the baby’s cradle. And Lucinda never found her missing clothes. Hunka Munka had kept them for herself. Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca went upstairs and peeped into the dining-room. Then they squeaked with joy!

The little girl that the doll's-house belonged to, said,--"I will get a doll dressed like a policeman!"Jane was the Cook; but she never did any cooking, because the dinner had been bought ready-made, in a box full of shavings. You see them often?" asked Hunca. Her tone was casual, but Tom immediately caught the edge in her voice. What a sight met the eyes of Jane and Lucinda! Lucinda sat upon the upset kitchen stove and stared; and Jane leant against the kitchen dresser and smiled—but neither of them made any remark.