Josh Billings on Ice, and Other ThingsBillings, Josh
General
Josh Billings on Ice, and Other Things
Billings, Josh
American wit and humor
"_Paul._"--Yu ask me what i think ov the "Gift Distributing bizziness,"
and i don't hesitate tew say, that it has awl the premonitory simptums
ov a dead beat.
I hav alwus found that when enny man offers tew giv me ten dollars for
50 cents, he lies; i may think he means to do it, but he don't think
so; but i may possibly cum within 2 dollars and a half ov it once, and
if i do, i hav dun well, a grate deal better than i will the next time.
I never put enny money into these swindles, and would as soon undertake
tew raize a good sized greenback bi planting a shinplaster back ov the
hog pen.
If yu get desperate, and feel az tho yu must gamble, or die, go 25
cents, odd or even, on the number ov hairs in a kat's back, and count
them; this will cool yu oph.
"_Peter._"--I kant simpathize with yu, for i never was in love miself,
and don't kno what iz best tew grease it with.
Put a plaster on yur back, and see if that won't help yu.
If yu don't git enny better, wash in kerosene ile, and eat sum green
persimmons; if that don't make yu feel enny more eazier, git sea-sick,
and lift up things; this will cure 9 times out ov ten.
If yu find you don't git enny better, take another dose ov
sea-sickness.
If yu keep a gitting, finally, more wuss, yu hav got the real old
yeller love, and no mistake.
Thare iz only one kure for this kind, and that iz the ile ov wedlock;
but this iz very powerful, and wants tew be took with grate caution.
I hav known one dose ov it tew give a man phitts for life.
"_Brahma Pootra._"--Speaking ov hens, leads me tew remark, in the fust
place, that hens, thus far, are a suckcess.
They are domestick, and occasionally are tuff.
This iz owing tew their not being biled often enuff in their yunger
daze; but the hen ain't tew blame for this.
Biled hen is universally respekted.
Thare is a grate deal ov originality tew the hen--exactly how mutch i
kant tell, historians fight so mutch about it. Sum say Knower had hens
with him in the ark, and sum say he didn't. So it goes which and
tuther.
I kant tell yu which was born fust, the hen or the egg; sumtimes i
think the egg was--and sumtimes i think the hen was--and sumtimes i
think i don't kno, and i kant tell now, which way is right, for the
life of me.
Laying eggs is the hen's best grip.
A hen that kant lay eggs--is laid out.
One egg is konsidered a fair day's work for a hen. i hav heard ov their
doing better, but i don't want a hen ov mine tew do it--it is apt tew
hurt their constitution and by-laws, and thus impaire their futer
worth.
The poet sez, beautifully:
"Sumboddy haz stole our old blew hen!
I wish they'd let her bee;
She used tew lay 2 eggs a day,
And Sundays she'd lay 3."
This sounds trew enuff for poetry, but i will bet 75 thousand dollars
that it never took place.
This bet stands open till the 17th day ov November next, at halff past
twelve o'clock.
"_Student._"--Rats originally cum from Norway, and i wish they had
originally staid thare.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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