From Hilaire Belloc's Moral Alphabet:
W
My little victim, let me trouble you
To fix your active mind on W.
The Waterbeetle here shall teach
A sermon far beyond your reach:
He flabbergasts the Human Race
By gliding on the water's face
With ease, celerity, and grace;
But if he ever stopped to think
Of how he did it, he would sink.
MORAL
Don't ask Questions!
He also wrote several Cautionary Tales for Children. Here are a few titles:
Jim: Who Ran Away from His Nurse, and Was Eaten by a Lion
Henry King: Who Chewed Bits of String, and Was Early Cut Off in Dreadful Agonies
Matilda: Who Told Lies, and Was Burned to Death
Franklin Hyde: Who Caroused in the Dirt and Was Corrected by His Uncle
Godolphin Horne: Who Was Cursed with the Sin of Pride, and Became a Boot-Black
Perhaps my favourite is 'Maria: Who Made Faces and a Deplorable Marraige'.
See what I mean? What a funny man.
About Me
- Miss Puritan Chickie
- I am a young lady who enjoys reading and writing, and discussing what I read and write. I like good books, good food, good wine, and good conversation. I also enjoy cooking and baking bread. I am a baptised member of the one holy catholic and apostolic church.
2 comments:
I wonder if Arlene Mosel was fond of Helloc. She's the author of a child's book titled "Tikki tikki tembo": "a retelling of a Chinese folktale. 'Two mischievous little brothers named Chang and Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo and an old well play crucial roles in convincing the ancient Chinese that grand long names can be very dangerous indeed.'"
Kelly
I've told that story to my kids - they think it's so funny.
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