Let 'em go out with him, i jucks! with fishin'-pole and gun,-- And ekal chances, fish and ducks, and take the _rain_, er _sun_, Jes as it pours, er as it blinds the eye-sight; _then_, I guess, 'At they'd acknowledge, in their minds, their disadvantages. CI And yit _he'd_ be the last man out to flop his wings and crow Insultin'-like, and strut about above his fallen foe!-- No-_sir_! the hand 'at tuk the wind out o' their sails 'ud be The very first they grabbed, and grinned to feel sich sympathy. CII Doc gits off now and then and takes a huntin'-trip somewhere 'Bout Kankakee, up 'mongst the lakes-- sometimes'll drift round there In his canoe a week er two; then paddle clean on back By way o' old Wabash and Blue, with fish--all he kin pack,-- [Illustration] CIII And wild ducks--some with feathers on 'em yit, and stuffed with grass. And neighbers--all knows he's bin _gone_-- comes round and gits a bass-- A great big double-breasted "rock," er "black," er maybe _pair_ Half fills a' ordinary crock.... Doc's _fish_'ll give out there CIV Long 'fore his _ducks_!--But folks'll smile and blandish him, and make Him tell and _tell_ things!--all the while enjoy 'em jes fer sake O' pleasin' _him_; and then turn in and la'nch him from the start A-tellin' all the things ag'in they railly know by heart. [Illustration] CV He's jes a _child_, 's what Sifers is! And-sir, I'd ruther see That happy, childish face o' his, and puore simplicity, Than any shape er style er plan o' mortals otherwise-- With perfect faith in God and man a-shinin' in his eyes. [Illustration] TAMÁM. * * * * * Transcriber's Note: All variations in spelling, inconsistent hyphenation and spelling have been retained as they appear in the original text. End of Project Gutenberg's Rubaiyat of Doc Sifers, by James Whitcomb Riley