“With Hans I would like to agree,
For he
Is an inch or two taller than me,
You see;
But he’s gone to the Cape with a rush and a shout,
And I had to vanish or he’d kick me out,
And he says ever since he will ‘pull mine snout
Mit glee.’
“Then Mossoo, who lives o’er the way
Is gay
At my numerous signs of decay
Each day;
He snaps his fingers right under my nose,
Laughs at my protests and treads on my toes,
And has not a pitying word for my woes
To say.
“I once could warn Ivan the bear—
Take care
How the lion you stir in his lair,
Beware!
But now he has laid his big claws on Herat,
And all I can do is to squeal like a cat,
And I fear that some day I’ll be squelched like a rat
Out there.
“But my worst and my ugliest fright,
A sight
That keeps me in shivering plight
All night,
Is the vengeance I earned from poor Pat long ago,
He’s my nearest neighbor but bitterest foe,
And ’tis only just now I’m beginning to know
His might!
“So for me there’s no Happy New Year,
Oh, dear!
But doubt, and misgiving, and fear
Are here.
My neighbors discover I’m toothless and blind,
They cuff me before and they kick me behind,
And in all the world not a friend can I find
To cheer!”