Each bullhead also has a tin dipper chained to his gills, and through the
live-long day, till far into the night, he invites the cosmopolitan tramp
to come and quench his never-dying thirst.
The frog pond is another celebrated watering place. I saw it in the early
part of May, and if there had been any water in it, it would have been a
fine sight. Nothing contributes to the success of a pond like water.
I ventured to say to a Boston man that I was a little surprised to find a
little frog pond containing neither frogs or pond, but he said I would
find it all right if I would call around during office hours.
While sitting on one of the many seats which may be found on the Common
one morning, I formed the acquaintance of a pale young man, who asked me
if I resided in Boston. I told him that while I felt flattered to think
that I could possibly fool anyone, I must admit that I was only a pilgrim
and a stranger.
He said that he was an old resident, and he had often noticed that the
people of the Hub always Spoke to a Felloe till he was tired. I afterward
learned that he was not an actual resident of Boston, but had just
completed his junior year at the State asylum for the insane. He was sent
there, it seems, as a confirmed case of unjustifiable Punist. Therefore
the governor had Punist him accordingly. This is a specimen of our
capitalized joke with Queen Anne do-funny on the corners. We are shipping
a great many of them to England this season, where they are greedily
snapped up and devoured by the crowned heads. It is a good hot weather
joke, devoid of mental strain, perfectly simple and may be laughed at or
not without giving the slightest offense.
Drunk in a Plug Hat.
This world is filled with woe everywhere you go. Sorrow is piled up in the
fence corners on every road. Unavailing regret and red-nosed remorse
inhabit the cot of the tie-chopper as well as the cut-glass cage of the
millionaire. The woods are full of disappointment. The earth is convulsed
with a universal sob, and the roads are muddy with tears. But I do not
call to mind a more touching picture of unavailing misery and ruin, and
hopeless chaos, than the plug hat that has endeavored to keep sober and
maintain self-respect while its owner was drunk. A plug hat can stand
prosperity, and shine forth joyously while nature smiles. That's the place
where it seems to thrive. A tall silk hat looks well on a thrifty man with
a clean collar, but it cannot stand dissipation.
I once knew a plug hat that had been respected by everyone, and had won
its way upward by steady endeavor. No one knew aught against it till one
evening, in an evil hour, it consented to attend a banquet, and all at
once its joyous career ended. It met nothing but distrust and cold neglect
everywhere, after that.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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