either put up his umbrella or roll his
chair indoors as he felt inclined.
But perhaps we cannot get nearer the soul of the old man than by
recalling a conversation which occurred during an invasion of the
children, a conversation between him and his guests which is thrown
into a sort of rhyme for easy memorizing, passing from one speaker to
another without more than the natural pause for reply.
Obviously, the children began it:
"Ol' Daddy Do-funny,
How do you come on?"
"Po'ly, thank Gord,
honey,
Po'ly dis morn.
My ol' spine it's sort o' stiff,
An' my arms
dey 'fuze to lif'.
An' de miz'ry 's in my breas',
An' I got some
heart-distress.
An' de growin' pains dey lingers,
In my knee-j'ints
an' my fingers,
But I'm well, praise Gord, dis mornin'."
"Ol' Daddy Do-funny,
What cuyus talk!
How is you well, when you
Can't even walk?"
"Hush, you foolish chillen, hush!
What's dat singin' in de brush?
Ain't dat yonder blue de sky?
Feel de cool breeze passin' by!
Dis ol'
painful back an' knee,
Laws-a-mussy, _dey ain't me!
I'm well,
praise Gord, dis mornin'!_"
RUTH McENERY STUART.
[Illustration]
CONTENTS
Page
Daddy's Weather Prayer 3
The Old Rooster 4
The Butterfly 5
The Wren 6
The Watermelon 7
The Gourd 8
Judge Owl 9
The Mosquito 10
Confession 11
The Game-Cock 12
The Epicure 13
The Mule 14
The Grubworm 15
Rain or Shine 16
Little Green Tree-Toad 17
Sparrows 18
The Fly 19
The Little Chicken 20
The Scare-Crow 21
The Yellow Rose 22
The Ambitious Cow 23
Tried by Fire 24
Jack O' Lantern 25
The Flea 26
Will o' the Wisp 27
The Mole 28
The Runt 29
The Monkey 30
The Aristocrat 31
The Crawfish 32
The Angleworm 33
The Chimney-Swallow 34
Catching Doodle-Bugs 35
The Porcupine 36
Ants 37
The Parrot 38
The Rattle-Snake 39
The Persimmon 40
In Harness 41
The Canary 42
Answering Back 43
Dat's De Way My Lady'll Do 44
The Mammy Alligator 46
The New Rich 47
The Wibbly Wabbly Calf 48
The Turkey-Gobbler 50
The Cauliflower 51
The Step-Mother 52
The Frog 53
The Rat 54
The Mocking-Bird 55
The Mushroom 56
The Measuring Worm 57
The Top-Knot Hen 58
Too Familiar 59
The 'Possum 60
The Owl 61
The Chameleon 62
The Caterpillar 63
Dr. Drake 64
The Peacock 65
The Alligator 66
The Terrapin 67
The Dandelion 68
The Cud 69
The Mirror 70
Goslings 71
The Pet 72
The Guinea-Hen 73
The Moon 74
The Hen-Roost Man 75
A Guilty Conscience 76
The Bat 77
Incubator Chickens 78
The Firefly 79
The Thistle 80
The Gray Squirrel 81
Look Out for Mister Bee 82
The Rose 83
The Locomotive 84
The Goat 85
The Fig 86
The Frizzled Chicken 87
The Endless Song 88
The Eel 90
The Rain-Crow 91
The Giraffe 92
The Black Sheep 93
The Prize-Winner 94
The Dog 95
DADDY DO-FUNNY'S WISDOM JINGLES
DADDY'S WEATHER PRAYER
One asks for sun, an' one for rain,
An' sometimes bofe together;
I
prays for sunshine in my heart,
An' den forgits de weather.
[Illustration]
THE OLD ROOSTER
Ef de hoa'se ol' rooster wouldn't crow so loud
He mought pass for
yo'ng in de barn-yard crowd;
But he strives so hard an' he steps so
spry
Dat de pullets all winks whilst he marches by.
An' he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--
An' he ain't by 'isself in dat.
[Illustration]
THE BUTTERFLY
Sis' Butterfly aimed to work all right,
But 'er wings dey was heavy,
an' 'er head too light;
So she riz in de air, 'ca'ze she see she was made
Jes' to fly in de sun in de beauty parade.
An' she ain't by 'erself in dat, in dat--
An' she ain't by 'erself in dat.
[Illustration]
THE WREN
She's a citizen-bird, Sis little brown Wren,
She nests in de spring an'
de fall again;
"Race suicide" talk nuver fazes her,
'Ca'ze she's good
for 'er ten little wrens a year.
An' she ain't by 'erself, my ladies, in dat--
No, she ain't by 'erself in
dat.
[Illustration]
THE WATERMELON
Oh, Watermilion sho' is good to eat!
But de darkie rates it twice-t mo'
sweet,
'Ca'ze it's ap' to b'long to de yether man,
An' it's mighty hard
to lif' by sleight o' han'.
An' it ain't by itself, made sweet like dat--
No, it ain't by itself like
dat.
[Illustration]
THE GOURD
De green gou'd on de sunny shed
Was mighty proud of his pethy head,
So he nuver pondered or studied or trained,
An' now he's ol' an'
rattle-brained.
An' he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--
An' he ain't by 'isself in dat.
[Illustration]
JUDGE OWL
Jedge Owl 's so pompious on 'is limb,
You'd s'pose dey was nobody
roun' but him;
He's afeard ef he was too polite
You'd ax 'im whar he
spent de night.
But he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--
But he ain't by 'isself in dat.
[Illustration]
THE MOSQUITO
Wid so much Christian blood in 'is veins,
You'd think Br'er
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