Page:The Chinese Boy and Girl.djvu/29

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THE NURSERY AND ITS RHYMES

ture of such rhymes, however, it is impossible to translate them into any other language.

In one of these children's songs, a cake-seller informs the public in stentorian tones that his wares will restore sight to the blind and that

They cure the deaf and heal the lame,
And preserve the teeth of the aged dame.

They will further cause hair to grow on a bald head and give courage to a henpecked husband. A girl who has been whipped by her mother mutters to herself how she would love and serve a husband if she only had one, even going to the extent of calling that much-despised mother-in-law her mother, and when overheard by her irate parent and asked what she was saying, she answers:

I was saying the beans are boiling nice
And it's just about time to add the rice.

These are rather an indication of good cheer on the part of the children than lack of filial affection. A parent must be cruel indeed to make a girl willing to give up her mother for a mother-in-law.

Another style of verses comes under the head of pure nonsense rhymes. They are wholly without sense and I am not sure they are good nonsense. They are popular, how-

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