Irish Americans -- Humor; Irish-American wit and humor
“Th' nex' day in comes a man with a suit iv clothes that looks like a
tablecloth in a section house, an' says he: 'Poor ignorant haythen,' he
says, 'what manner iv food d'ye ate?' he says. 'Rice,' says I, 'an' rats
is me fav'rite dish,' I says. 'Deluded wretch,' says he. 'I riprisint
Armour an' Company, an' I'm here to make ye change ye'er dite,' he says.
'Hinceforth ye'll ate th' canned roast beef iv merry ol' stock yards or
I'll have a file iv sojers in to fill ye full iv ondygistible lead,'
he says. An' afther him comes th' man with Aunt Miranda's Pan Cakes
an' Flaked Bran an' Ye'll-perish-if-ye-don't-eat-a-biscuit an' other
riprisintatives iv Westhern Civilization, an' I'm to be shot if I don't
take thim all.”
“Thin a la-ad runs down with a chain an' a small glass on three sticks
an' a gang iv section men that answers to th' name iv Casey, an'
pro-ceeds f'r to put down a railroad. 'What's this f'r?' says I. 'We
ar-re th' advance guard iv Westhren Civilization,' he says, 'an we're
goin' to give ye a railroad so ye can go swiftly to places that ye don't
want to see,' he says. 'A counthry that has no railroads is beneath
contimpt,' he says. 'Casey,' he says, 'sthretch th' chain acrost yon
graveyard,' he says. 'I aim f'r to put th' thrack just befure that large
tombstone marked Riquiescat in Pace, James H. Chung-a-lung,' he says.
'But,' says I, 'ye will disturb pah's bones,' says I, 'if ye go to
layin' ties,' I says. 'Ye'll be mixin' up me ol' man with th' Cassidy's
in th' nex' lot that,' I says, 'he niver spoke to save in anger in his
life,' I says. 'Ye're an ancestor worshiper, heathen,' says the la-ad,
an' he goes on to tamp th' mounds in th' cimitry an ballast th' thrack
with th' remains iv th' deceased. An' afther he's got through along
comes a Fr-rinchman, an' an Englishman, an' a Rooshan, an' a Dutchman,
an' says wan iv them: 'This is a comfortable lookin' saloon,' he says.
'I'll take th' bar, ye take th' ice-box an' th' r-rest iv th' fixtures.'
'What f'r?' says I. 'I've paid th' rent an' th' license,' says I. 'Niver
mind,' says he. 'We're th' riprisintatives iv Westhren Civilization,'
he says, 'an' 'tis th' business iv Westhren Civilization to cut up th'
belongings iv Easthren Civilization,' he says. 'Be off,' he says, 'or
I'll pull ye'er hair,' he says. 'Well,' says I, 'this thing has gone
far enough,' I says. 'I've heerd me good ol' cast-iron gods or josses
abused,' I says, 'an' I've been packed full iv canned goods, an' th'
Peking Lightnin' Express is r-runnin' sthraight through th' lot where
th' bones iv me ancesthors lies,' I says. 'I've shtud it all,' I says,
'but whin ye come here to bounce me off iv me own primises,' I says,
'I'll have to take th' leg iv th' chair to ye,' I says. An' we're to th'
flure.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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