FOOTNOTE:
[A] Pronounced lan-yap. Lagniappe is a small gratuity which New Orleans children always expect and usually get with a purchase. Retail druggists keep jars of candy, licorice, or other small confections for that purpose.
UNCLE EPHE'S ADVICE TO BRER RABBIT
UNCLE EPHE'S ADVICE TO BRER RABBIT
Hunter comin' quick's he can!
H'ist yo'se'f! Don't cross de road,
Less 'n he'll hit you fur a toad!
Hoppit—lippit! Bull-frog gait!
Hoppit—lippit—lippit—hoppit!
Goodness me, why don't you stop it?
Ter limp along wid sech a habit!
'F you'd balumps on yo' hime-legs straight,
An' hurry wid a mannish gait,
An' kivir yo' tail wid a cut-away coat,
Rabbit-hunters by de dozen
Would shek yo' han' an' call you cousin,
Dey'd ax' you home ter eat yo' dinner!
But don't you go, 'caze ef you do,
Dey'll set you down to rabbit-stew.
'Ll meck you wish you was back in de fiel'.
An' ef you'd stretch yo' mouf too wide,
You know yo' ears mought come ontied;
To show yo' little cotton tail,
An' den, 'fo' you could twis' yo' phiz,
Dey'd reconnize you who you is;
Dey'd have you skun an' in a pie,
Or maybe roasted on a coal,
Widout one thought about yo' soul.
Des rig yo'se'f out slick an' nice,
An' tie yo' ears down, like I said,
An' hide yo' tail an' lif' yo' head.
"'WELL, ONE MO' RABBIT FUR DE POT'"
It wouldn't hurt ter put on boots.
Den walk straight up, like Mr. Man,
An' when he offer you 'is han',
But don't you show yo' rabbit lip.
An' don't you have a word ter say,
No mo'n ter pass de time o' day.
Des 'low you gwine ter hunt some hares,
An' ax 'im is he seen a jack—
An' dat 'll put 'im off de track.
Instid o' bein' et wid rice,
Ur baked in pie, ur stuffed wid sage,
You'll live ter die of nachel age.
Don't trimble so. An' don't you run!
Come, set heah on de lorg wid me—
Hol' down yo' ears an' cross yo' knee.
MAY BE SO
MAY BE SO
O'er flower-bed and clover-rick,
When little Miss Penelope,
Who watched them from grandfather's knee,
And, "Where do flowers go to when they die?"
For questions hard as hard can be
I recommend Penelope.
Of dodging things too hard to say,
By giving fantasies instead
Of serious answers, so he said,
Its soul mounts in a butterfly;
Just now a dozen snow-wings sped
From out that white petunia bed;
A dozen shrivelled cups or more;
Each pansy folds her purple cloth,
And soars aloft in velvet moth.
Of yellow frills to take a nap,
'Tis but that this surrender brings
Her soul's release on golden wings."
Said little Miss Penelope;
"Because I'm sure, dear grandpa, you
Would only tell the thing that's true.
Real angels of the flowers that die?"
Grandfather's eyes looked far away,
As if he scarce knew what to say.
The golden hair upon her brow,
"I can't—exactly—say—I—know—it;
I only heard it from a poet.
Great mysteries of flowers and wings,
And marvels of the earth and sea
And sky, they tell us constantly.
Because we lack their finer sight;
And they, lest we should think them wrong,
Weave their strange stories into song
So confidently stated too,
That we, not knowing yes or no,
Can only hope they may be so."
With ifs or buts or may-be-sos;
So let us play we're poets, too,
And then we'll know that this is true."
THE END
THE WORKS OF WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS
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STOPS OF VARIOUS QUILLS. Poems. Illustrated by Howard Pyle. 4to, Cloth, Ornamental, Uncut Edges and Gilt Top, $2 50.
THE DAY OF THEIR WEDDING. A Story. Illustrated by T. de Thulstrup. 12mo, Cloth, $1 25.
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CRITICISM AND FICTION. With Portrait. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00. (In the Series "Harper's American Essayists.")
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