"
Now, what's de mattah, honey?
Ain't you neber gwine ter sleep?
Dose spookies ain't a-comin';
Dey's gwine off down de street.
Now shet yo' eyes up tight,
An' go right off to sleep;
An' to-morrow for yo' breakfus'
You'll hab' possum for to eat.
So, don't cry no mo', my honey,
Jes' close yo' little eye,
While mammy rocks you in her a'ms
An' sings de--
"Lullaby," etc.
MANDALAY
RUDYARD KIPLING
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' eastward to the sea,
There's a Burma girl a-settin', an' I know she thinks o' me;
For the wind is in the palm-trees, an' the temple-bells they say:
"Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!"
Come you back to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay:
Can't you 'ear their paddles chuckin' from Rangoon to Mandalay?
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!
'Er petticut was yaller an' 'er little cap was green,
An' 'er name was Supi-yaw-lat--jes' the same as Theebaw's Queen,
An' I seed her fust a-smokin' of a whackin' white cheroot,
An' a-wastin' Christian kisses on an 'eathen idol's foot:
Bloomin' idol made o' mud--
Wot they called the Great Gawd Budd--
Plucky lot she cared for idols when I kissed 'er where she stud!
On the road to Mandalay--
When the mist was on the rice fields an' the sun was droppin' slow,
She'd git 'er little banjo an' she'd sing "_Kullalo-lo_!"
With 'er arm upon my shoulder an' her cheek agin my cheek
We useter watch the steamers an' the hathis pilin' teak.
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