The Complete Works of Artemus Ward — Part 1: Essays, Sketches, and LettersWard, Artemus
General
The Complete Works of Artemus Ward — Part 1: Essays, Sketches, and Letters
Ward, Artemus
American wit and humor
One beautiful day last August, Mr. Elmer of East Cleveland, sent his
hired colored man, of the name of Jeffries, to town with a two-horse
wagon to get a load of lime. Mr. Elmer gave Jeffries 5 dollars with
which to pay for the lime. The horses were excellent ones, by the
way, nicely matched, and more than commonly fast. The colored man
of the name of Jeffries came to town and drove to the Johnson Street
Station where he encountered a frail young woman of the name of
Jenkins, who had just been released from jail, where she had been
confined for naughtical conduct (drugging and robbing a sailor).
"Will you fly with me, adorable Jenkins?" he unto her did say, "or
words to that effect," and unto him in reply she did up and say:
"My African brother, I will. Spirit," she continued, alluding to a
stone jug under the seat in the wagon, "I follow!" Then into the
two-horse wagon this fair maiden got and knavely telling the
"perlice," to embark by the first packet for an unromantic land
where the climate is intensely tropical, and where even Laplanders,
who like fire, get more of a good thing than they want--doing and
saying thus the woman of the name of Jenkins mounted the seat with
the colored man of the sweet name of Jeffries; and so these two
sweet, gushing children of nature rode gaily away. Away towards the
setting sun. Away towards Indiana--bright land of cheap whisky and
corn doin's!
1.59. NAMES.
Any name which is suggestive of a joke, however poor the joke may
be, is often a nuisance. We were once "confined" in a printing-
office with a man named Snow. Everybody who came in was bound to
have a joke about Snow. If it was Summer the mad wags would say we
ought to be cold, for we had Snow there all the time--which was a
fact, though we sometimes wished Snow was where he would speedily
melt. Not that we didn't like Snow. Far from it. His name was
what disgusted us. It was also once our misfortune to daily mingle
with a man named Berry, we can't tell how many million times we
heard him called Elderberry, Raspberry, Blueberry, Huckleberry,
Gooseberry, &c. The thing nearly made him deranged. He joined the
filibusters and has made energetic efforts to get shot but had not
succeeded at last accounts, although we hear he has been "slewd"
numerously. There is a good deal in a name, our usually correct
friend W. Shakespeare to the contrary notwithstanding.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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