"If all the world was paper, And if all the sea was ink, And if the trees were bread and cheese, What would we do for drink?"       Then all the folk, both great and small, Began to beat their brains, But they could not answer him at all, In spite of all their pains. But still he wandered here and there, This man of great renown, And still he questioned everywhere, The folk of Haarlem town:       "If all the world was paper, And if all the sea was ink, And if the trees were bread and cheese, What would we do for drink?"       Full thin he grew, as, day by day, He toiled with mental strain, Until the wind blew him away, And he ne'er was seen again. And now methinks I hear you say,      "Was ere a man so foolish, pray, Since first the world began?"      Oh, hush! I'll tell you secretly Down East there dwells a man, and he Is asking questions constantly, That none can answer, that I see, Yet he's a wise-wise man! H. Pyle

And ever the question asked:

And if all the sea was ink,

What would we do for drink?"

Began to beat their brains,

In spite of all their pains.

This man of great renown,

The folk of Haarlem town:

And if all the sea was ink,

What would we do for drink?"

He toiled with mental strain,

And he ne'er was seen again.

Since first the world began?"

Yet he's a wise-wise man!

H. Pyle

 Prev. P 58/99 next