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Read Ebook: The Bad Child's Book of Beasts by Belloc Hilaire B T B Basil Temple Blackwood Illustrator
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Ebook has 61 lines and 5996 words, and 2 pages
Illustrator: Ian Basil Gawaine Temple, Lord. Blackwood
THE BAD CHILD'S BOOK OF BEASTS
Verses by H. BELLOC
Pictures by B. T. B.
DUCKWORTH, 3 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN
Child! do not throw this book about; Refrain from the unholy pleasure Of cutting all the pictures out! Preserve it as your chiefest treasure.
Child, have you never heard it said That you are heir to all the ages? Why, then, your hands were never made To tear these beautiful thick pages!
Your little hands were made to take The better things and leave the worse ones. They also may be used to shake The Massive Paws of Elder Persons.
And when your prayers complete the day, Darling, your little tiny hands Were also made, I think, to pray For men that lose their fairylands.
DEDICATION
Master EVELYN BELL Of Oxford
Evelyn Bell, I love you well.
INTRODUCTION
I CALL you bad, my little child, Upon the title page, Because a manner rude and wild Is common at your age.
The Moral of this priceless work Will make you--from a little Turk-- Unnaturally good.
Do not as evil children do, Who on the slightest grounds Will imitate the Kangaroo, With wild unmeaning bounds:
Do not as children badly bred, Who eat like little Hogs, And when they have to go to bed Will whine like Puppy Dogs:
Who take their manners from the Ape, Their habits from the Bear, Indulge the loud unseemly jape, And never brush their hair.
But so control your actions that Your friends may all repeat. 'This child is dainty as the Cat, And as the Owl discreet.'
The Yak
As a friend to the children commend me the Yak. You will find it exactly the thing: It will carry and fetch, you can ride on its back,
Or lead it about with a string.
The Tartar who dwells on the plains of Thibet Has for centuries made it a nursery pet, And surely the Tartar should know!
The Polar Bear
The Polar Bear is unaware Of cold that cuts me through: For why? He has a coat of hair. I wish I had one too!
The Lion
The Lion, the Lion, he dwells in the waste, He has a big head and a very small waist; But his shoulders are stark, and his jaws they are grim, And a good little child will not play with him.
The Tiger
The Tiger on the other hand, is kittenish and mild, He makes a pretty playfellow for any little child; And mothers of large families Will find a Tiger well repay the trouble and expense.
The Dromedary
The Dromedary is a cheerful bird: I cannot say the same about the Kurd.
The Whale
The Whale that wanders round the Pole Is not a table fish. You cannot bake or boil him whole Nor serve him in a dish;
But you may cut his blubber up And melt it down for oil. And so replace the colza bean .
The Camel
"The Ship of the Desert."
The Hippopotamus
I shoot the Hippopotamus with bullets made of platinum, Because if I use leaden ones his hide is sure to flatten 'em.
The Dodo
The Dodo used to walk around, And take the sun and air. The sun yet warms his native ground--
The Dodo is not there!
The voice which used to squawk and squeak Is now for ever dumb--
Yet may you see his bones and beak All in the Mu-se-um.
The Marmozet
The species Man and Marmozet Are intimately linked; The Marmozet survives as yet, But Men are all extinct.
The Camelopard
How shall I hunt this quadruped? I cannot tell! Not I!
I'll buy a little parachute , I'll fill it full of arrowroot And other necessary things, And I will slay this fearful brute With stones and sticks and guns and slings.
The Learned Fish
This learned Fish has not sufficient brains To go into the water when it rains.
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