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Fables for the Frivolous
Fables for the Frivolous
Book Excerpt
ughtered the innocent goose.
He made her a gruel of acid
Which she very obligingly ate,
And at once with a touchingly placid
Demeanor succumbed to her fate.
With affection that passed the platonic
They buried her under the moss,
And her epitaph wasn't ironic
In stating, "We mourn for our loss."
And THE MORAL: It isn't much use,
As the woodcutter found to be true,
To lay for an innocent goose
Just because she is laying for you.
THE RUDE RAT
AND
THE UNOSTENTATIOUS OYSTER
Upon the shore, a mile or more
From traffic and confusion,
An oyster dwelt, because he felt
A longing for seclusion;
Said he: "I love the stillness of
This spot. It's like a cloister."
(These words I quote because, you note,
They rhyme so well with oyster.)
A prying rat, believing that
She needed change of diet,
In
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If you (or you children) enjoy Dr. Seuss books, or if you are old enough to have enjoyed the cartoon version of the Rocky and Bullwinkle show, you will love this. You will also have a good time if you just wanted to see what could be done to liven up the fables of Aesop and LaRochfoucald. I first found some poems of Carryl fifty years ago in Louis Untermeyer's anthology of British and American poetry. By that time Carryl's books were out of print, and since that time even Mr. Untermeyer has dropped him. This is not great literature, but it is fun. In nowhere else, other than the two places I have mentioned, can you find such outrageously ingenious rhymes and such uproariously funny puns. If yous can interest your school age children in this book, it will have the additional benefit of broadening their vocabulary ( a great help on their SATs) since Carryl uses Words and doesn't (like Dr. Seuss) have to invent his rhymes.
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