Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Don't spray it.


Been overdosing on Mother Goose. Here's a little known jewel:
Whistle, daughter, whistle,
And you shall have a sheep.
Mother, I cannot whistle,
Neither can I sleep.*
Whistle, daughter, whistle,
And you shall have a cow.
Mother, I cannot whistle,
Neither know I how.
Whistle, daughter, whistle,
And you shall have a man.
Mother, I cannot whistle,
But I'll do the best I can.
This, days after my grandmother waggled her finger at me over lunch and said (around a mouthful of raisin bread), "Hsst! Ladies never whistle!" Perplexing when one's only sources of Old World counsel contradict each other.
*Intentional correllation between sleep and sheep?

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