Little People: An Alphabet

Excerpt

A for Arab.

This Arab is upset, I fear;
Look at his pretty shield and spear.
He's stuck two pistols in his sash,
And, dear me, how his eyes do flash!
At home he has a horse to ride;
To "scour the desert" is his pride.
His horse is of the purest breed;
Some people call his horse a steed.
Here is your little brother Boer,
Of course, you've heard of him before;
He has a naughty Uncle Paul,
Who used to want to eat us all.
Although he does not wear a tie
He's just as white as you or I,
And just as fond of cake and fruit;
The difference is that he can shoot.

C for Chinaboy.

Li has a pigtail and a fan,
And yet he's not a Chinaman;
In fact, he is his mother's joy,
A merry little Chinaboy.
His father is a Mandarin,
His father's name is Loo Too Sin.
They put no sugar in his tea,
Yet he's as good as good can be.
Miss Gretchen Groople! She is Dutch:
In Holland there are many such.
Her shoes are wooden, like the floor;
How nice she keeps her pinafore!
She says that there is nothing finer
Than the Dutch Queen, Wilhelmina;
She says that she has never seen a
Sweeter Queen than Wilhelmina.

E for English.

The English are a splendid race,
Sturdy of limb, honest of face;
They own (this is geography)
Much of the land and all the sea.
That is to say, they rule the waves,
They never, never will be slaves.
They're brave, but do not want to fight,
And if you're English you're all right.
The French can cook, and fence, and dance,
They're fond of shouting "Long live France!"
They make the prettiest hats and frocks,
Also French pickles and French clocks.
They shave their poodles, drink much wine,
And laugh a great deal when they dine.
French boys play soldiers now and then,
And must be soldiers when they're men.

G for German.

Hans, as you see, to town has been;
His waistcoat's red, his sunshade green.
He lives beside the river Iser,
And calls his emperor the Kaiser.
In Germany, no end of toys
Are made for English girls and boys.
The English children merely break them;
Hans sits at home and helps to make them.
In Hungary they hunt and fish;
Between ourselves, I often wish
I lived there, for it must be grand;—
I've heard the Blue Hungarian Band.
In Hungary a boy wears white
Blouses, his knickers fit him tight,
He has top boots of patent leather,
And in his hat a peacock's feather.

I for Indian.

The Indian boy is neatly dressed;
He has no shirt, he wears a crest
Of eagle's feathers on his head,
His skin is of a coppery red.
If you said to him, "You and I
Will run and catch a butterfly,"
The Indian boy would say, "No! No!
I wish to chase the buffalo."
The little Japs are rather small,
Even their fathers are not tall;
They're very fond of parasols,
They dress themselves just like their dolls.
They live beneath the sunniest skies,
Their hair is black to match their eyes;
Their robes are black to match their hair,
And, O! what tiny shoes they wear.

K for Kaffir.

This Kaffir looks a trifle sly,
He smiles and smiles, I wonder why?
Perhaps he's playing at a game,
Or thinking of his long, long name.
His name, you know, is Washington
Neb-u-chad-nez-zar Solomon
Sambo Snowball Timothy Jack
Adolphus Rule Britannia Black.
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