former is a beautiful and valuable beast,
But the latter is not lovable nor useful in the least;
And the Ruminant is preferable surely to the Priest
Who battens on the woful superstitions of the East,
The Mongol of the Monastery of Shan.

The Chamois

[Illustration]

The Chamois inhabits
Lucerne, where his habits
(Though why I have not an idea-r)
Give him sudden short spasms
On the brink of deep chasms,
And he lives in perpetual fear.

The Frozen Mammoth

[Illustration]

This Creature, though rare, is still found to the East
Of the Northern Siberian Zone.

[Illustration]

It is known to the whole of that primitive group
That the carcass will furnish an excellent soup,
Though the cooking it offers one drawback at least
(Of a serious nature I own):

[Illustration]

If the skin be _but punctured_ before it is boiled,
Your confection is wholly and utterly spoiled.

[Illustration]

And hence (on account of the size of the beast)
The dainty is nearly unknown.

The Microbe

[Illustration]

The Microbe is so very small
You cannot make him out at all,
But many sanguine people hope
To see him through a microscope.
His jointed tongue that lies beneath
A hundred curious rows of teeth;
His seven tufted tails with lots
Of lovely pink and purple spots,

[Illustration]

On each of which a pattern stands,
Composed of forty separate bands;
His eyebrows of a tender green;
All these have never yet been seen--
But Scientists, who ought to know,
Assure us that they must be so. . . .
Oh! let us never, never doubt
What nobody is sure about!

End of Project Gutenberg's More Beasts (For Worse Children), by Hilaire Belloc

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