Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, October 14, 1914 — John Shaqi
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, October 14, 1914Various
History
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, October 14, 1914
Various
English wit and humor -- Periodicals
I found a Chinese town called "Ning-po," which strikes me as very much
like "Bing-go," and Celia found another one called "Yung-Ping," which
might just as well be "Yung-Bing," the obvious name of Bingo's heir when
he has one. These facts being communicated to Bingo, his nose
immediately began to go back a little and his tub to develop something
of a waist. But what finally decided him was a discovery of mine made
only yesterday. _There is a Japanese province called Bingo._ Japanese,
not Chinese, it is true; but at least it is Oriental. In any case
conceive one's pride in realising suddenly that one has been called
after a province and not after a poodle. It has determined Bingo
unalterably to grow up in the right way.
You have Bingo now definitely a Pekinese. That being so, I may refer to
his ancestors, always an object of veneration among these Easterns. I
speak of (hats off, please!) Ch. Goodwood Lo.
Of course you know (I didn't myself till last week) that "Ch." stands
for "Champion." On the male side Champion Goodwood Lo is Bingo's
great-great-grandfather. On the female side the same animal is Bingo's
great-grandfather. One couldn't be a poodle after that. A fortnight
after Bingo came to us we found in a Pekinese book a photograph of
Goodwood Lo. How proud we all were! Then we saw above it, "Celebrities
of the Past. The Late----"
Champion Goodwood Lo was no more! In one moment Bingo had lost both his
great-grandfather and his great-great-grandfather!
We broke it to him as gently as possible, but the double shock was too
much, and he passed the evening in acute depression. Annoyed with my
tactlessness in letting him know anything about it, I kicked Humphrey
off his stool. Humphrey, I forgot to say, has a squeak if kicked in the
right place. He squeaked.
Bingo, at that time still uncertain of his destiny, had at least the
courage of the lion. Just for a moment he hesitated. Then with a pounce
he was upon Humphrey.
Till then I had regarded Humphrey--save for his power of rolling the
eyes and his habit of taking long jumps from the music-stool to the
book-case--as rather a sedentary character. But in the fight which
followed he put up an amazingly good resistance. At one time he was
underneath Bingo; the next moment he had Bingo down; first one, then the
other, seemed to gain the advantage. But blood will tell. Humphrey's
ancestry is unknown; I blush to say that it may possibly be German.
Bingo had Goodwood Lo to support him--in two places. Gradually he got
the upper hand; and at last, taking the reluctant Humphrey by the ear,
he dragged him laboriously beneath the sofa. He emerged alone, with tail
wagging, and was taken on to his mistress's lap. There he slept, his
grief forgotten.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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