Daddy Do-Funnys Wisdom Jingles | Page 6

it's keepin' yo' eyes turned to'des de right,
An'
to'des de wrong jes' shettin' 'em tight--
Lookin' out for ways to be
polite--
Dat's de way my lady'd do!
It ain't how many ears you got
Dat makes you listen an' learn an' do;

Else a hill o' corn in a garden plot
Would be 'way ahead o' me an'
you;
But it's shettin' yo' ears to heartless speech,
An' listenin' whilst
de teachers teach,
An' strivin' to practise mo' 'n to preach--
Dat's de
way my lady'll do!
It ain't how many tongues you got,
'Les' shoes would talk an' wagons,
too;
An' all de bells would gabble a lot,
An' tattle an' brag de long
day th'ough;
But it's gyardin' yo' tongue f'om talk dat's wrong,
An'
passin' a helpful word along,
An' maybe singin' a hopeful song--

Dat's de way my lady'll do!
[Illustration]
THE MAMMY ALLIGATOR
Said de mammy alligator, wid a motherly grin:
"I nuver liked babies
wid dey dimples tucked in,
But our little pet, wid its horny hide,

Like its mammy's an' its daddy's, is de fam'ly pride."
An' dey ain't by deyselves in dat, in dat--
An' dey ain't by deyselves in
dat.
[Illustration]
THE NEW RICH

Sis' Mush A. Roon sprung up over night
An' to name whar she sprung
f'om ain't polite;
But she spreads 'erself wuss'n me or you,
An' wid
on'y one foot to stan' on, too.
An she ain't by er new-come self in dat--
No, she ain't by 'erself in
dat.
[Illustration]
THE WIBBLY WABBLY CALF
Cunnin' little donkey-baby--
"Ye-haw! Ye-haw!" What a funny laugh!
Soun' jes like a creaky,
cranky
Seesaw--seesaw!
Wasn't nothin' funny roun' dat
We saw--we saw!
'Tel we glimpsed de stagger-gait dat
He saw--he saw!
Brindle strikin' swagger-gait when
She saw--she saw--_her wibbly wabbly calf_!
[Illustration]
Den we j'ined wid Mister Donkey,
"He-haw! He-haw!" How we-all did laugh!
But we laughed at
some'h'n' mo' dan
He saw--he saw!
Donkey couldn't see de ears dat
We saw--we saw!
Rabbit lopin' down de road, we
Three saw--three saw!
Wagged his ears an' called him daddy!
"Haw-haw! Haw-haw!" How dat--who dat laugh?
An' de last to see

de joke was _wibbly wabbly calf_!
[Illustration]
THE TURKEY-GOBBLER
Ol' Gobbly struts aroun' de stable
An' th'ows out hints o' de rich man's
table,
An' he h'ists his tail an' spreads it wide,
To display his cuyus
graveyard pride.
But he ain't by 'isself in pride like dat--
But he ain't by 'isself in dat.
[Illustration]
THE CAULIFLOWER
When de cabbage got ambitiom, in a uppish hour
An' lost 'is head an'
bu'st into flower
Wid 'is brains outside, an addled, at dat--
He sot
'isself up for a 'ristocrat.
An' he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--
An' he ain't by 'isself in dat.
[Illustration]
THE STEPMOTHER
Sis' Dominick follers her brood o' ducks
To de bayou's edge, an' she
clucks an' clucks:
'Dis stepmammy job, oh me, oh me!
Ain't all dat
it's quacked up to be!"
But she ain't by 'erself in dat, in dat--
But she ain't by 'erself in dat.
[Illustration]
THE FROG
Ol' Br'er Frog ain't much to sing,
But he clairs a log in a single spring,

An' jedgin' 'im by his bigoty ways,
He's clean forgot 'is tadpole

days!
But he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--
But he ain't by 'isself in dat.
[Illustration]
THE RAT
Br'er Rat in de corn-bin over-fed
An' under-worked, an' now he's
dead;
He craved to live lak a bloated chief,
An' now he ain't nothin'
but a ol' dead thief.
An' he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--
No, he ain't by 'isself in dat.
[Illustration]
THE MOCKING-BIRD
Br'er mockin'-bird sings in de live-oak shade,
A secon'-hand chant or
a serenade;
He'll take off a pa'tridge, a robin, or a jay,
But he'd
nuver make a name no other way.
But he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--
But he ain't by 'isself in dat.
[Illustration]
THE MUSHROOM
Dey's many a musharoon good to de tas'e
An' rich for de table, dat
goes to was'e
'Ca'ze folks don't dast to gether it in
For de way it
favors its dung-hill kin.
An' it ain't by itself condemned like dat--
No, it ain't by itself in dat
[Illustration]
THE MEASURING WORM

When Br'er Measurin'-worm strikes out so brave,
Makin' tend he kin
measure you for yo grave,
Wid all 'is stride an' all 'is stren'th
He
can't measure mo'n 'is own little len'th.
An' he ain't by 'isself made cheap like dat--
No, he ain't by 'isself like
dat.
[Illustration]
THE TOP-KNOT HEN
Hit's a proper pride in Sis' Top-knot's breast
Dat makes 'er step to
march 'er crest;
Yit jalousy follers 'er 'roun' de shed
On de count o'
dat innercent tufted head.
An' she ain't by 'erself pursued lak dat--
No, she ain't by 'erself in dat.
[Illustration]
TOO FAMILIAR
De cantelope gits mighty bilious
F'om runnin' wid punkins too
familias,
So it's banished out for its sociable sin
Along wid its yaller
kitchen kin.
An' it ain't by itself in dat, in dat--
An' it ain't by itself in dat.
[Illustration]
THE 'POSSUM
Br'er 'Possum makes pertend he's dead
Whilst shots goes whizzin'
over 'is head.
But