Page:The Bab Ballads.djvu/40

38 Her father incessantly lashed her,
 * On water and bread
 * She was grudgingly fed;

Whenever her father he thrashed her
 * Her mother sat down on her head.

saw her, and loved her, with reason,
 * For beauty so bright,
 * Sent him mad with delight,

He purchased a stall for the season
 * And sat in it every night.

His views were exceedingly proper,
 * He wanted to wed,
 * So he called at her shed

And saw her progenitor whop her—
 * Her mother sit down on her head.

"So pretty," said he, "and so trusting!
 * You brute of a dad,
 * You unprincipled cad,

Your conduct is really disgusting.
 * Come, come, now, admit it's too bad!

"You're a turbaned old Turk, and malignant—
 * Your daughter
 * I intensely adore

And I cannot help feeling indignant,
 * A fact that I hinted before.

"To see a fond father employing
 * A deuce of a knout
 * For to bang her about,

To a sensitive lover's annoying."
 * Said the bagman, "Crusader, get out."