University of Virginia Library

I. [PART I.]

In the old town in which I live,
The event occurred of which I mean to speak;
To know what town that is, ye need not seek;
No further information shall I give.
In this town is an annual fair,
Such as, I will be bound to say,
May not be met with everywhere.
Then all the people look extremely gay,
And all the children have a holiday:
Then there are cows, and sheep, and pigs to sell,
And more than I can tell;
And booths are ranged in rows,
Full of all sorts of pretty things,
Glass necklaces, and copper rings,
And pins, and gloves, and bracelets, combs, and boxes,
And then there are such quantities of shows,
All crammed with lions, elephants, and foxes!
And for the little people, dolls and balls,
Horses and coaches, whips and penny-trumpets:
And many different sorts of stalls,
Filled with sweet cakes, and ginger-bread, and crumpets;
And then there is the learned pig,
And the great “Mister Bigg,”
The famous English Patagonian;
And the gray pony that can dance so well;
And then there is the wee, wee man,
That in seven languages can read and spell,
Though scarcely bigger than a lady's fan;
And crowds of people staring in amaze,
And thronging twenty different ways,
And pushing you against the wall,
Till you can scarcely keep your legs at all.
Well, unto this same fair
There came, the night before,
A famous dancing bear,
And several monkeys on his back he bore;
But with the monkeys we have nought to do—
The bear alone concerns our story.
Now as night's curtain had begun to drop,
And they had travelled far,
The master of the bear resolved to stop,
Just where the town lay stretching out before ye,
Until the morning, at the Golden Star;
So, without more ado,
The bear was led
Into a little shed,
And housed, as they thought, for the night.
Bruin, however, did not like his quarters,
And, without asking if the thing were right,
Or sifting an important business through,
As reasonable people do,
Walked out; nor did mine hostess nor her daughters,
Nor guest of any sort behold him go.
By this time it was dark enough;
And Bruin walked into a common rough,
That lay behind the Golden Star;
And there he wandered up and down—
When thus it came to pass,
A baker from the town
Was carrying faggots for the morning;
And he had not gone far
Before he saw what he supposed an ass,
In the dusk night-fall, shaggy, wild, and black;
So, without any warning,
He threw the faggots on his back,
Thinking it was a lucky chance
To meet with such a beast!
Bruin, thus taken by surprise,
Began to prance
And growl, and stare with fiery eyes.
The man, who never in the least
Expected such a spirited retort,
Stopped for a moment short;
Then sprang along o'er smooth and rough,
Expecting that a thing
So wild and gruff
Upon his back would make a sudden spring,
And eat him at a mouthful, sure enough!
Poor Bruin had no such intent,
But on he went,
Down to a neighbouring lane,
Picking his way as best he could.
But in my second part I will explain
The nature of the place whereon he stood.