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"Swiftly the Jolly Planter flew,
And were not we a joyous crew,
At last to sight the land?

A glee there was on every brow,
That like a Christian soul, the Cow
Appear'd to understand.

"And was not she, a mad-like thing To land again and taste the spring, Instead of fiery glass:

About the verdant meads to scour, And snuff the honey'd cowslip flower, And crop the juicy grass!

"Whereby she grew as plump and hale As any beast that wears a tail,

Her skin as sleek as silk;

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And through all parts of England now
Is grown a very famous Cow,
By giving Rum-and-Milk!"

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THE THREE BROTHERS

BY THOMAS HOOD.

-Now confess and know,

Wit without money sometimes gives the blow."

VALENTINE

ABENDALI of Bagdad had three sons. the two eldest, very tall and proper youths for their years; but the youngest, on account of the dwarfishness of his stature, was called Little Agib. He had, notwithstanding, a wit and shrewdness very unusual to any, especially of his childish age; whereas his brothers were dull and slow of intellect, to an extraordinary degree.

Now Abendali, though he had money, was not rich enough to leave behind him

a competence for each of his sons; wherefore he thought it best to teach them in the first instance to scrape together as much as they could; accordingly, calling them all to him, on some occasion, he presented to each a small canvas purse, with a sequin in it, by way of handsel, and then spoke to them to this effect:

"Behold! here is a money-bag a-piece, with a single sequin, for you must furnish the rest by your own industry. I shall require every now and then to look into your purses, in order to see what you have added; but to that end you shall not have any recourse to theft, or violent robbery, for money is often purchased by those methods at too dear a rate; whereas the more you can obtain by any subtle stratagems, or smart strokes of policy, the greater

will be my opinion of your hopefulness and abilities."

The three brethren accepted of the purses with great good-will, and immediately began to think over various plans of getting money; so quickly does the desire of riches take root in the human bosom. The two elder ones, however, beat about their wits to no purpose, for they could not start a single invention, except of begging alms, which they would not descend to; whereas the Little Agib added another piece of money to his sequin before the setting

of the sun.

It happened that there lived at some distance from Abendalı an old lady, who was bed-ridden, but very rico, and a relation of the former, though at some degrees removed. As she was thus ying in her

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