GEORGE
WHO PLAYED WITH A DANGEROUS TOY AND SUFFERED A CATASTROPHE OF CONSIDERABLE DIMENSIONS
by: Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953)
- hen George’s Grandmamma was told
- That George had been as good as Gold,
- She Promised in the Afternoon
- To buy him an Immense BALLOON.
- And so she did; but when it came,
- It got into the candle flame,
- And being of a dangerous sort
- Exploded with a loud report!
- The Lights went out! The Windows broke!
- The Room was filled with reeking smoke.
- And in the darkness shrieks and yells
- Were mingled with Electric Bells,
- And falling masonry and groans,
- And crunching, as of broken bones,
- And dreadful shrieks, when, worst of all,
- The House itself began to fall!
- It tottered, shuddering to and fro,
- Then crashed into the street below
- Which happened to be Savile Row.
- When Help arrived, among the Dead
- Were Cousin Mary, Little Fred,
- The Footmen (both of them), The Groom,
- The man that cleaned the Billiard-Room,
- The Chaplain, and The Still-Room Maid.
- And I am dreadfully afraid
- That Monsieur Champignon, the Chef,
- Will now be permanently deaf
- And both his aides are much the same;
- While George, who was in part to blame,
- Received, you will regret to hear,
- A nasty lump behind the ear.
- MORAL
- The moral is that little Boys
- Should not be given dangerous Toys.
"George" is reprinted from Cautionary Tales for Children. Hilaire Belloc. 1907. |
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