Irish Americans -- Humor; Irish-American wit and humor
“But with a bachelor 'tis diff'rent. Ye an' I ar-re settin' here
together an' Clancy dhrops in. Clancy's wife's away an' he's out f'r a
good time an' he comes to me f'r it. A bachelor's f'r th' enjymint of
his marrid frinds' vacations. Whin Clancy's wife's at home an' I go to
see him he r-runs th' pail out in a valise, an' we take our criminal
dhrink in th' woodshed. Well, th' three iv us sits here an' pass th'
dhrink an' sing our songs iv glee till about ilivin o'clock; thin ye
begin to look over ye'er shouldher ivry time ye hear a woman's voice an'
fin'lly ye get up an' yawn an' dhrink ivrything on th' table an' gallop
home. Clancy an' I raysume our argymint on th' Chinese sityation an'
afterwards we carol together me singin' th' chune an' him doin' a razor
edge tinor. Thin he tells me how much he cares f'r me an' proposes to
rassle me an' weeps to think how bad he threats his wife an' begs me
niver to marry, f'r a bachelor's life's th' on'y wan, an' 'tis past
two o'clock whin I hook him on a frindly polisman an' sind him
thrippin'--th' polisman--down th' sthreet. All r-right so far. But in
th' mornin' another story. If Clancy gets home an' finds his wife's
rayturned fr'm th' seaside or th' stock yards, or whereiver'tis she's
spint her vacation, they'se no r-rest f'r him in th' mornin'. His head
may sound in his ears like a automobill an' th' look iv an egg may make
his knees thremble, but he's got to be off to th' blacksmith shop,
an' hiven help his helper that mornin'. So Clancy's gettin' r-rich an'
puttin' a coopoly on his house.”
“But with me 'tis diff'rent. Whin Phibbius Apollo as Hogan calls th'
sun, raises his head above th' gas house, I'm cuddled up in me couch
an' Morpus, gawd iv sleep, has a sthrangle holt on me. Th' alarm clock
begins to go off an' I've just sthrength enough to raise up an' fire
it through th' window. Two hours aftherward I have a gleam iv human
intillygince an' hook me watch out fr'm undher th' pillow. 'It's eight
o'clock,' says I. 'But is it eight in th' mornin' or eight in th'
evenin'?' says I. 'Faith, I dinnaw, an' divvle a bit care I. Eight's
on'y a number,' says I. 'It riprisints nawthin',' says I.”
“They'se hours enough in th' day f'r a free man. I'll turr-n over an'
sleep till eight-wan and thin I'll wake up refrished,' I says. 'Tis
ilivin o'clock whin me tired lids part f'r good an' Casey has been here
to pay me eight dollars an' findin' me not up has gone away f'r another
year.”
“A marrid man gets th' money, Hinnissy, but a bachelor man gets
th' sleep. Whin all me marrid frinds is off to wurruk pound in' th'
ongrateful sand an' wheelin' th' rebellyous slag, in th' heat iv th'
afthernoon, ye can see ye'er onfortchnit bachelor frind perambulatin' up
an' down th' shady side iv th' sthreet, with an umbrelly over his head
an' a wurrud iv cheer fr'm young an' old to enliven his loneliness.”
“But th' childher?” asked Mr. Hennessy slyly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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