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 gotAnd if he is awfully richHe 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...

So fun! I love it. :D
ReplyDeleteIsn't it hilarious?
DeleteWhat kind of string? And what did you pack to read?
ReplyDeleteA fairly thick string I assume! More like rope, but he needed the rhyme.
DeleteOur 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.