* * *
There was an old farmer of Readall,
Who made holes in his face with a needle,
Then went far deeper in
Than to pierce through the skin,
And yet strange to say he was made beadle.
Колол человек из Опорта
Иголки в щеку ради спорта,
Попробовал глубже –
И взяли на службу
Посыльным в суде. Ради спорта.
* * *
There was an eccentric old draper
Who wore a hat made of brown paper;
It went up to a point,
Yet it looked out of joint,
The cause of which he said was 'vapour'.
Из бумаги свернул себе кепи
Продавец в лавке драпа и крепа
Развалилась шляпенция,
Не стерпев конкуренции;
От запарки размякли все скрепы.
* * *
There was once a young man of Oporta,
Who daily got shorter and shorter,
The reason he said
Was the hod on his head,
Which was filled with the heaviest mortar.
Молодой человек из Алоста
Что ни день то короче был ростом,
Потому что корыто
В голове было скрыто,
И к тому же с цементом – всё просто.
His sister, named Lucy O'Finner,
Grew constantly thinner and thinner;
The reason was plain,
She slept out in the rain,
And was never allowed any dinner.
Его же сестрица Памела
Всё больше и больше худела –
И ночью, и днём
Спала под дождём,
При этом обедов не ела.