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Title: More Beasts (For Worse Children)
Author: Hilaire Belloc
Illustrator: B. T. B.
Release date: November 6, 2008 [eBook #27176]
Most recently updated: January 4, 2021
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, some images
courtesy of The Internet Archive and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MORE BEASTS (FOR WORSE CHILDREN) ***
MORE BEASTS
FOR WORSE CHILDREN
MORE BEASTS
(For WORSE CHILDREN)
VERSES
BY
H.B.
PICTURES
BY
B.T.B.
LONDON:
DUCKWORTH AND CO.
3 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden.
DUCKWORTH AND CO.
3 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden.
DEDICATION.
To
Miss ALICE WOLCOTT BRINLEY,
Of Philadelphia.
Miss ALICE WOLCOTT BRINLEY,
Of Philadelphia.
MORE BEASTS
FOR WORSE CHILDREN
INTRODUCTION
The parents of the learned child
(His father and his mother)
Were utterly aghast to note
The facts he would at random quote
On creatures curious, rare and wild;
And wondering, asked each other:
(His father and his mother)
Were utterly aghast to note
The facts he would at random quote
On creatures curious, rare and wild;
And wondering, asked each other:
"An idle little child like this,
How is it that he knows
What years of close analysis
Are powerless to disclose?
Our brains are trained, our books are big,
And yet we always fail
How is it that he knows
What years of close analysis
Are powerless to disclose?
Our brains are trained, our books are big,
And yet we always fail
To answer why the Guinea-pig
Is born without a tail.
Is born without a tail.
Whereas the Indian Elephant
Will only read The Times.
Will only read The Times.
Perhaps he found a way to slip
Unnoticed to the Zoo,
And gave the Pachyderm a tip,
Or pumped the Wanderoo.
Or even by an artful plan
Deceived our watchful eyes,
And interviewed the Pelican,
Who is extremely wise."
Unnoticed to the Zoo,
And gave the Pachyderm a tip,
Or pumped the Wanderoo.
Or even by an artful plan
Deceived our watchful eyes,
And interviewed the Pelican,
Who is extremely wise."
"Oh! no," said he, in humble tone,
With shy but conscious look,
"Such facts I never could have known
But for this little book."
With shy but conscious look,
"Such facts I never could have known
But for this little book."
FOOTNOTE:
[A] Sometimes called the "Lion-tailed or tufted Baboon of Ceylon."
The Python
However, if you feel inclined
To get one (to improve your mind,
And not from fashion merely),
Allow no music near its cage;
To get one (to improve your mind,
And not from fashion merely),
Allow no music near its cage;
And when it flies into a rage
Chastise it, most severely.
Chastise it, most severely.
I had an aunt in Yucatan
Who bought a Python from a man
And kept it for a pet.
She died, because she never knew
These simple little rules and few;—
Who bought a Python from a man
And kept it for a pet.
She died, because she never knew
These simple little rules and few;—
The Welsh Mutton
The Cambrian Welsh or Mountain Sheep
Is of the Ovine race,
His conversation is not deep,
But then—observe his face!
Is of the Ovine race,
His conversation is not deep,
But then—observe his face!
The Porcupine
What! would you slap the Porcupine?
Unhappy child—desist!
Alas! that any friend of mine
Should turn Tupto-philist.[B]
Unhappy child—desist!
Alas! that any friend of mine
Should turn Tupto-philist.[B]
How much more bad to beat a beast
With prickles on its skin.
With prickles on its skin.
FOOTNOTE:
[B] From τυπτω=I strike; φιλεω=I love; one that loves to strike. The word is not found in classical Greek, nor does it occur among the writers of the Renaissance—nor anywhere else.
The Scorpion
The Scorpion is as black as soot,
He dearly loves to bite;
He is a most unpleasant brute
To find in bed, at night.
He dearly loves to bite;
He is a most unpleasant brute
To find in bed, at night.
The Crocodile
Whatever our faults, we can always engage
That no fancy or fable shall sully our page,
So take note of what follows, I beg.
This creature so grand and august in its age,
In its youth is hatched out of an egg.
That no fancy or fable shall sully our page,
So take note of what follows, I beg.
This creature so grand and august in its age,
In its youth is hatched out of an egg.
And oft in some far Coptic town
The Missionary sits him down
To breakfast by the Nile:
The heart beneath his priestly gown
Is innocent of guile;
The Missionary sits him down
To breakfast by the Nile:
The heart beneath his priestly gown
Is innocent of guile;
When suddenly the rigid frown
Of Panic is observed to drown
His customary smile.
Of Panic is observed to drown
His customary smile.
The Vulture
He very, very rarely feels
As well as you and I.
As well as you and I.
His eye is dull, his head is bald,
His neck is growing thinner.
Oh! what a lesson for us all
To only eat at dinner!
His neck is growing thinner.
Oh! what a lesson for us all
To only eat at dinner!
The Bison
The Viper
Yet another great truth I record in my verse,
That some Vipers are venomous, some the reverse;
A fact you may prove if you try,
That some Vipers are venomous, some the reverse;
A fact you may prove if you try,
The Llama
The Llama is a woolly sort of fleecy hairy goat,
With an indolent expression and an undulating throat
Like an unsuccessful literary man.
With an indolent expression and an undulating throat
Like an unsuccessful literary man.
And I know the place he lives in (or at least—I think I do)
It is Ecuador, Brazil or Chili—possibly Peru;
You must find it in the Atlas if you can.
It is Ecuador, Brazil or Chili—possibly Peru;
You must find it in the Atlas if you can.
The Llama of the Pampasses you never should confound
(In spite of a deceptive similarity of sound)
With the Lhama who is Lord of Turkestan.
(In spite of a deceptive similarity of sound)
With the Lhama who is Lord of Turkestan.
For the former is a beautiful and valuable beast,
But the latter is not lovable nor useful in the least;
And the Ruminant is preferable surely to the Priest
Who battens on the woful superstitions of the East,
The Mongol of the Monastery of Shan.
But the latter is not lovable nor useful in the least;
And the Ruminant is preferable surely to the Priest
Who battens on the woful superstitions of the East,
The Mongol of the Monastery of Shan.
The Chamois
The Chamois inhabits
Lucerne, where his habits
(Though why I have not an idea-r)
Give him sudden short spasms
On the brink of deep chasms,
And he lives in perpetual fear.
Lucerne, where his habits
(Though why I have not an idea-r)
Give him sudden short spasms
On the brink of deep chasms,
And he lives in perpetual fear.
The Frozen Mammoth
It is known to the whole of that primitive group
That the carcass will furnish an excellent soup,
Though the cooking it offers one drawback at least
(Of a serious nature I own):
That the carcass will furnish an excellent soup,
Though the cooking it offers one drawback at least
(Of a serious nature I own):
The Microbe
The Microbe is so very small
You cannot make him out at all,
But many sanguine people hope
To see him through a microscope.
His jointed tongue that lies beneath
A hundred curious rows of teeth;
His seven tufted tails with lots
Of lovely pink and purple spots,
You cannot make him out at all,
But many sanguine people hope
To see him through a microscope.
His jointed tongue that lies beneath
A hundred curious rows of teeth;
His seven tufted tails with lots
Of lovely pink and purple spots,
| On each of which a pattern stands, Composed of forty separate bands; His eyebrows of a tender green; All these have never yet been seen— But Scientists, who ought to know, Assure us that they must be so. . . . Oh! let us never, never doubt What nobody is sure about! |