Thursday, March 26, 2026

The Yak

 

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
  (A desolate region of snow)
Has for centuries made it a nursery pet,
  And surely the Tartar should know!
 
Then tell your papa where the Yak can be got
  And if he is awfully rich
He will buy you the Creature--or else he will not.
  (I cannot be positive which.)
 
-Hilaire Belloc
 
This is from Hilaire Belloc's The Bad Child's Book of Beasts of 1896.  
 
Off travelling and this was scheduled in advance. Not in Thibet...

4 comments:

  1. What kind of string? And what did you pack to read?

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    1. A fairly thick string I assume! More like rope, but he needed the rhyme.

      Our trip was Italy, Parma and Genoa in fact, so I reread Charterhouse of Parma--not that that has much to do with the actual Parma. But I just took my Kobo and I also read another Project Gutenberg Chicago novel--the Cliff-Dwellers by Fuller. Thinking of my previous post's comment, it's more the Chicago one sees--they're Cliff-Dwellers because they work in high rises.

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