You are old, Father William,
the young man said,
and your hair has become very white,
and yet you incessantly
stand on your head.
Do you think at your age it is right?
In my youth,
Father William replied to his son,
I feared it might injure the brain,
but now that I am perfectly sure I have none,
why, I do it again and again.
You are old, said the youth,
as I mentioned before,
and have grown most uncommonly fat,
yet you turned a back somersault
in at the door.
Pray, what is the reason of that?
In my youth, said the sage,
as he shook his grey locks,
I kept all my limbs very supple
by the use of this ointment.
Once shilling the box,
allow me to sell you a couple.
You are old, said the youth,
and your jaws are too weak
for anything tougher than suet.
Yet you finished the goose
with the bones and beak.
Pray, how did you manage to
do it?
In my youth, said his father,
I took to the law,
and argued each case
with my wife.
And the muscular strength
which it gave to me jaw
has lasted the rest of me life.
You are old, said the youth.
One would hardly suppose
that your eye was as steady
as ever.
Yet you balanced an eel
on the end of your nose.
What made you so awfully clever?
I have answered three questions,
and that is enough,
said his father.
Don't give yourself airs.
Do you think I can listen all day
to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you downstairs.