A SPIDER AND A FLY BY DON MARQUIS

A SPIDER AND A FLY BY DON MARQUIS

“a spider and a fly

i heard a spider

and a fly arguing

wait said the fly

do not eat me

i serve a great purpose

in the world

you will have to

show me said the spider

i scurry around

gutters and sewers

and garbage cans

said the fly and gather

up the germs of

typhoid influenza

and pneumonia on my feet

and wings

then i carry these germs

into households of men

and give them diseases

all the people who

have lived the right

sort of life recover

from the diseases

and the old soaks who

have weakened their systems

with liquor and iniquity

succumb it is my mission

to help rid the world

of these wicked persons

i am a vessel of righteousness

scattering seeds of justice

and serving the noblest uses

it is true said the spider

that you are more

useful in a plodding

material sort of way

than i am but i do not

serve the utilitarian deities

i serve the gods of beauty

look at the gossamer webs

i weave they float in the sun

like filaments of song

if you get what i mean

i do not work at anything

i play all the time

i am busy with the stuff

of enchantment and the materials

of fairyland my works

transcend utility

i am the artist

a creator and demi god

it is ridiculous to suppose

that i should be denied

the food i need in order

to continue to create

beauty i tell you

plainly mister fly it is all

damned nonsense for that food

to rear up on its hind legs

and say it should not be eaten

you have convinced me

said the fly say no more

and shutting all his eyes

he prepared himself for dinner

and yet he said i could

have made out a case

for myself too if i had

had a better line of talk

of course you could said the spider

clutching a sirloin from him

but the end would have been

just the same if neither of

us had spoken at all

boss i am afraid that what

the spider said is true

and it gives me to think

furiously upon the futility

of literature

archy”

THE GIVING TREE BY SHEL SILVEERSTEIN

THE GIVING TREE BY SHEL SILVEERSTEIN

Once there was a tree....

and she loved a little boy.

And everyday the boy would come

and he would gather her leaves

and make them into crowns

and play king of the forest.

He would climb up her trunk

and swing from her branches

and eat apples.

And they would play hide-and-go-seek.

And when he was tired,

he would sleep in her shade.

And the boy loved the tree....

very much.

And the tree was happy.

But time went by.

And the boy grew older.

And the tree was often alone.

Then one day the boy came to the tree

and the tree said, 'Come, Boy, come and

climb up my trunk and swing from my

branches and eat apples and play in my

shade and be happy.'

'I am too big to climb and play' said

the boy.

'I want to buy things and have fun.

I want some money?'

'I'm sorry,' said the tree, 'but I

have no money.

I have only leaves and apples.

Take my apples, Boy, and sell them in

the city. Then you will have money and

you will be happy.'

And so the boy climbed up the

tree and gathered her apples

and carried them away.

And the tree was happy.

But the boy stayed away for a long time....

and the tree was sad.

And then one day the boy came back

and the tree shook with joy

and she said, 'Come, Boy, climb up my trunk

and swing from my branches and be happy.'

'I am too busy to climb trees,' said the boy.

'I want a house to keep me warm,' he said.

'I want a wife and I want children,

and so I need a house.

Can you give me a house ?'

' I have no house,' said the tree.

'The forest is my house,

but you may cut off

my branches and build a

house. Then you will be happy.'

And so the boy cut off her branches

and carried them away

to build his house.

And the tree was happy.

But the boy stayed away for a long time.

And when he came back,

the tree was so happy

she could hardly speak.

'Come, Boy,' she whispered,

'come and play.'

'I am too old and sad to play,'

said the boy.

'I want a boat that will

take me far away from here.

Can you give me a boat?'

'Cut down my trunk

and make a boat,' said the tree.

'Then you can sail away...

and be happy.'

And so the boy cut down her trunk

and made a boat and sailed away.

And the tree was happy

... but not really.

And after a long time

the boy came back again.

'I am sorry, Boy,'

said the tree,' but I have nothing

left to give you -

My apples are gone.'

'My teeth are too weak

for apples,' said the boy.

'My branches are gone,'

said the tree. ' You

cannot swing on them - '

'I am too old to swing

on branches,' said the boy.

'My trunk is gone, ' said the tree.

'You cannot climb'

'I am too tired to climb' said the boy.

'I am sorry,' sighed the tree.

'I wish that I could give you something....

but I have nothing left.

I am just an old stump.

I am sorry....'

'I don't need very much now,' said the boy.

'just a quiet place to sit and rest.

I am very tired.'

'Well,' said the tree, straightening

herself up as much as she could,

'well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting

Come, Boy, sit down. Sit down and rest.'

And the boy did.

And the tree was happy.

THE GIVING TREE BY SHEL SILVERSTEIN

SPOON FEEDING BY W.R.INGE

SPOON FEEDING BY W.R.INGE

Disclaiming against the tendency of modern living conditions to “spoon-feed” the individual, the Very Rev. W. R. Inge, London’s “Gloomy Dean” who is presently upon a lecture tour of the United States, comes to the conclusion, in the course of an article in The Living Age, that nature will make us pay for our easy mode of life, to day. Nature, he argues, will take away any faculty that is not used. 

He cites the savage “who never had any trouble with his teeth,” as against the individual of to day. The savage kept “healthy by the hard work in tearing tough meat without the help of knife and fork.” These implements, he contends, and the art of cookery are reducing man to a toothless animal and are perhaps responsible for such evils as appendicitis and cancer, from which savages hardly suffer at all...............

EQUIPMENT BY EDGAR ALBERT GUEST

EQUIPMENT BY EDGAR ALBERT GUEST

Figure it out for yourself, my lad,

You've all that the greatest of men have had,

Two arms, two hands, two legs, two eyes,

And a brain to use if you would be wise.

With this equipment they all began,

So start for the top and say 'I can.'

Look them over, the wise and great,

They take their food from a common plate

And similar knives and forks they use,

With similar laces they tie their shoes,

The world considers them brave and smart.

But you've all they had when they made their start.

You can triumph and come to skill,

You can be great if only you will,

You're well equipped for what fight you choose,

You have legs and arms and a brain to use,

And the man who has risen, great deeds to do

Began his life with no more than you.

You are the handicap you must face,

You are the one who must choose your place,

You must say where you want to go.

How much you will study the truth to know,

God has equipped you for life, But He

Lets you decide what you want to be.

Courage must come from the soul within,

The man must furnish the will to win,

So figure it out for yourself, my lad,

You were born with all that the great have had,

With your equipment they all began.

Get hold of yourself, and say: 'I can.'