Yorksher Puddin': A Collection of the Most Popular Dialect Stories from the Pen of John HartleyHartley, John
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Yorksher Puddin': A Collection of the Most Popular Dialect Stories from the Pen of John Hartley
Hartley, John
English language -- Dialects -- England -- Yorkshire; Yorkshire (England) -- Fiction
fall asleep in a while, but aw wakkened i' gooid time ith mornin an' th'
furst thing aw luk'd for wor that nooat, an' thear it wor, all reight.
Then aw gate up an walked aght a bit wol th' braikfast wor ready. Aw
hadn't gooan far when aw met a chap smokin a cigar, an' thinks aw, awl
have a cigar. Soa aw went into a shop an' axed far a gaoid cigar. 'Do yo
want it very mild?' he axed. 'Noa,' aw sed, 'let me have it as strong as
owt yo have.' For, thinks aw, aw'l let him see at awm noa new
beginner,--tho to spaik th' truth aw dooant think aw'd iver smok'd hauf
a duzzen i'mi life. 'That's the best and strongest cigar you can buy,'
he sed, holdin one up between his finger an thumb, but keepin a gooid
distance off. 'Weel,' aw sed, 'aw'l tak that.' 'But these cigars are
sixpence each.' Is that all?' aw sed, as aw threw daan mi five
paand nooat. As sooin as he saw that he picked it up an' held it up to
th' leet, an stroked it, and luk'd at me an' smiled; and he seemed to
tak a fancy to me all at once, an' axed m'e whear aw lived, an what they
call'd me, an' a lot o' things beside. Then he gave me a leet for mi
cigar, an' he sed he thowt aw wor a judge ov a cigar as sooin as he saw
me, an' he had just one box 'at he'd like me to give my opinion on.
Weel, aw worn't gooin to say at aw didn't know th' difference between a
penny cigar an' one worth a shillin, soa he showed me a box, an' aw
luk'd at 'em an' smel'd at 'em, an' tried to luk wise, an then aw sed,
they did seem a varry nice cigar. 'You are right, sir,' he sed, 'I see
you understand them,--I wish there were a few more like you.' An then he
sed in a whisper, 'at that wor th' only box he had o' that sooart, in
fact ther'd niver nobbut been that an' another, a'n t'other wor sent as
a present to th' Duke o' Wellington, but th' Duke, he sed wornt hauf as
gooid a judge as aw wor; an' he'd sell me that box for two paand, an' it
wor worth three. Aw wor beginnin to feel a bit sickly wi that aw wor
smokin, an' aw didn't care to tawk mich, an' as he hadn't given me onny
change, aw just nodded mi heead, and he had lapped up th' box in a
crack, and handed it me, an three soverings, an' wished me gooid day an
hoped aw'd call agean, and bowed me aght oth shop i' less time nor it
taks to tell it. As sooin as awd getten a few yards away, aw threw mi
cigar into th' street an' detarmined aw'd niver smook agean befoore
braikfast. Them cigars didn't last long, for ov coarse aw allus carried
a lot i' mi pocket, an' as that used to spoil' em a friend o' mine
persuaded me to buy a cigar case. He sell'd it me varry cheap, nobbut
ten shillin; an' then another gate me to subscribe a guinea to a cricket
club, an' aw wondered ha it wor 'at aw'd niver made friends wi'
some o'th' members befoor, for they wor a nice lot. At th' end of
three days mi cigars wor all done, an' soa wor mi five paand nooat. All
aw had wor a empty cigar box, a pastboard cigar case worth abaat
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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