"Shortly After Our Wild Arab Lad, Bacheet, Was Engaged, We
Drilled Him As Table Servant.
The flies were very troublesome,
and continually committed suicide by drowning themselves in the
tea.
One morning during breakfast there were many cases of felo
de se, or 'temporary insanity,' and my wife's tea-cup was full of
victims; Bacheet, wishing to be attentive, picked out the bodies
with his finger and thumb!--'Now, my good fellow, Bacheet,' I
exclaimed, 'you really must not put your dirty fingers in the
tea: you should take them out with the tea-spoon. Look here,' and
I performed the operation, and safely landed several flies that
were still kicking. 'But mind, Bacheet,' I continued, 'that you
wipe the tea-spoon first, to be sure that it is clean!' On the
following morning at breakfast we covered up the cups with
saucers to prevent accidents; but to our astonishment Bacheet,
who was in waiting, suddenly took a tea-spoon from the table,
wiped it carefully with a corner of the table-cloth, and stooping
down beneath the bed, most carefully saved from drowning, with
the tea-spoon, several flies that were in the last extremity
within a vessel by no means adapted for a spoon. Perfectly
satisfied with the result, he carefully rewiped the tea-spoon
upon the table-cloth, and replaced it in its proper position. 'Oh
Bacheet! Bacheet! you ignoramus, you extraordinary and impossible
animal!' However, there was no help for it--the boy thought he
was doing the right thing exactly.
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