American Thumb-prints: Mettle of Our Men and WomenStephens, Kate
History
American Thumb-prints: Mettle of Our Men and Women
Stephens, Kate
National characteristics, American; University of Kansas; Women -- Social conditions
[2] Other societies also have vitality. The sortie of a handful of
students one November night following election, a dinner each year
celebrates. Grangers supposedly inimical to the interests of the
University had won at the polls. The moon shone through a white, frosty
air; the earth was hard and resonant. What the skulkers accomplished
and the merry and hortative sequent to their furtive feast were told at
the time by the beloved professor of Latin, the “professoris alicujus.”
“T. C.’S” HORRIBILES.
Jam noctis media hora. In cœlo nubila spissa
Stellas abstulerant. Umbrarum tempus erat quo
Horrenda ignavis monstra apparent. Pueri tum
Parvi matribus intus adhærent. Non gratiorem
Noctem fur unquam invenit. Sed qui veniunt post
Hanc ædem veterem? Celebrantne aliqua horrida sacra
Mercurio furum patrono? Discipuline?
Non possunt! Tuti in lectis omnes requiescunt!
Estne sodalicium studiosorum relevans se
Magnis a curis? Sed cur huc conveniunt tam
Furtivi? In manibus quidnam est vel sub tegumentis?
O pudor! Et pullos et turkey non bene raptos!
Vina etiam subrepta professoris alicujus
(Horresco referens) e cella! Dedecus! Est nil
Tutum a furibus? En pullos nunc faucibus illis
Sorbent! Nunc sunt in terra, tum in ictu oculi non
Apparebunt omne in æternum! Miseros pullos,
Infelices O pueros! Illi male capti
A pueris, sed hi capientur mox male (O! O!!)
A Plutone atro!
Forsan lapsis quinque diebus, cum sapiens vir
Omnes hos juvenes ad cenam magnificenter
Invitavit. Tempore sane adsunt. Bene laeti
Judex accipiunt et filia pulchra sodales
Hos furtivos. Ad mensam veniunt. Juvenes cur
Tam agitantur? Quid portentum conspiciunt nunc?
Protrudunt oculi quasi ranarum! Nihil est in
Mensa præter turkeys! Unus quoque catino!
Solum hoc, præterea nil!
[3] The translation is that of C. D. Yonge.
[4] The ancient classic and early English writers afforded many
instances of their people’s culinaria, and only when their content
became familiar did I find that the Rev. Richard Warner had, in the
last part of the eighteenth century, gone over the ground and chosen
like examples--perhaps because they were the best. This quotation, and
another one or two following, are solely found in our libraries in
his admirable book here cited. Master Warner, writing nearer the old
sources, had the advantage of original manuscripts and collections.
[5]
“Tusser, they tell me, when thou wert alive,
Thou, teaching thrift, thyselfe could’st never thrive.”
[6] The printers, William and Andrew Bradford.
[7] John Jerman.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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