Jingles

Chapter 32: Answers, Not Questions, Cause Trouble

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About This Book

A compact anthology of short rhymes and playful verse written in early childhood and arranged by the ages at which they were composed. The pieces use a childlike voice to render animal songs, holiday verses, riddles, light moral observations, and wordplay, occasionally experimenting with other languages and invented turns of phrase. Humorous sketches and simple portraits of daily life alternate with fanciful imaginings, and lively illustrations accompany the poems to emphasize their spontaneous charm and the development of a young poet’s imagination.

Answers, Not Questions, Cause Trouble

This story was told to the author by Mrs. Frederick Guthrie, of Chicago, Ill.

MOTHER.

"Don't bother your father with questions, Ervane,

He's tired of hearing you ask to explain

Why fishes can't walk or ride on the land?

How lizards and fleas can live in the sand?

What causes the sun to set in the west

And always to sleep in one golden nest?

When will the time come for children to fly

And play in the clouds with the birds in the sky?

Such foolish, vain questions, they trouble your dad

And sometimes I fear they make him quite sad."

"No, mother," replied the inquisitive lad,

"It's the ANSWERS not QUESTIONS that trouble poor Dad."