Page:Carroll - Sylvie and Bruno.djvu/179

XI] 'I'm getting stout, as you may see:
 * It is but seldom I am well:

I cannot feel my ancient glee
 * In listening to the dinner-bell:

But you, you gambol like a boy,
 * Your figure is so spare and light:

The dinner-bell's a note of joy
 * To such a healthy appetite!'

Said Peter 'I am well aware
 * Mine is a state of happiness:

And yet how gladly could I spare
 * Some of the comforts I possess!

What you call healthy appetite
 * I feel as Hunger's savage tooth:

And, when no dinner is in sight,
 * The dinner-bell's a sound of ruth!

'No scare-crow would accept this coat:
 * Such boots as these you seldom see.

Ah, Paul, a single five-pound-note
 * Would make another man of me!'

Said Paul 'It fills me with surprise
 * To hear you talk in such a tone:

I fear you scarcely realise
 * The blessings that are all your own!