 `You are old,' said the youth, `as I mentioned before, And have grown most
uncommonly fat; Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door-- Pray,
what is the reason of that?'
`You are old,' said the youth, `and your jaws are too weak For anything tougher than suet; Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak-- Pray how did you manage to do it?'
`You are old,' said the youth, `one would hardly suppose That your eye was as steady as ever; Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose-- What made you so awfully clever?' `I have answered three questions, and that is enough,' Said his father; `don't give yourself airs! Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff? Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs!' `That is not said right,' said the Caterpillar. `Not QUITE right, I'm afraid,' said Alice, timidly; `some of the words have got altered.' `It is wrong from beginning to end,' said the Caterpillar decidedly, and there was silence for some minutes. |
 
|
`In my youth,' said the sage, as he shook his grey locks, `I kept all my limbs
very supple By the use of this ointment--one shilling the box-- Allow me to
sell you a couple?'
`In my youth,' said his father, `I took to the law, And argued each case with
my wife; And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw, Has lasted the
rest of my life.'