Boys' Column.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2060, 19 September 1885, Page 6 (Supplement)

Boys' Column.

Oxn, right tha Ciliph i,f !Jvr.la3, having r^od in an evening paper coro.itiing tha di^-tivd n f> c~.nipijsnm<mta of an os.rfaii, orJficl before him All the pbyicimu ofjfia coital, and Ir* i i^ht t^sra to nu'<e him up 1 ia r eitnitnr manner, on penalty o( I'wirig tutir heads. Ufc-n hraring thin lh* physieiann prnjtratcd themselves at the foot of tho throne, and having l<i«sed tho hem of the cth'ph'a boot, bowled dismally. Surprised at the grief of the physician?, tho Commander of the Faithful ordered them to explain why tbry " lucked up such a row." At this they all c'o.nmenced at once, each claiming that he was tho master of the occasion, and in charge of the case ; so the grand vizier tossed up a coin to e-itab-liah by lot the order of their precedence. Thin having been done, tho eiliph comminded the winner to proceed, who thus Btartcd in . 11 There was once, 0 mighty cahph, an ostrich of Bilsora, who for years had refreshed himself on pit-lids and glas3 bottles, bufc-vho, becoming li-ed of this diet, and having an appetite for olami anfl ehof-towerß, took a journey to Ciiro. Oj tho purney ho win fain to eat ioc'* ofg* and brn«s castles, and when he arrived he was ?o done up with fatigue and hunger that he was well pinged to eat the clerk of the caravansary at whioh he sojonrnsd. li hipponed that this cU j rk was a mngioian. and when he found him«cl£ in the stomach of thia ostrich he turned him aelf into a gospel terapeianco sooicty, which made the ostrich so thirsty that he drank up four oooana and a couple of gross of riverd, and finally butted. Tho caliph, enraged fit the phya'cian for what he had told, ouU-red him to be driven into tha ground like a pog, which boing done, he comraandGd the second to proceed, who thus whooped : " Know, then, 0 Commander of the Faithful, t*iat the adventurers of the O3trich of Dimapcus are greater than any yet related. One day, having eaten a maoadamiz2d void, he turned for a walk in the cou.'ti'v, and seeing before him a great templu, bjilt of rubifs and diamonds and emeralds, he entered and found that the dsvoteea were having an oypt- r Hup^per, with grab-bag attachment, and cieting lota for a cake with a ring ia id. Seeing tins, he paid four sequins at the door, which included grub, and entered. As the young girla ipproached him, he ate them up, or down, &ndj feeling stfll unsatisfied, he callcl for his supper. Stra'ghtw&y they brought him an oyster -"atew xn a barrel, which contained one oyster. "Now thfa oyster was a dragon which had hoped to be eaten by a young lady, so that he \ could enjiy her heart without being compelled to bite through her corsets. When the dragon found that ho had been eaten by tho oßtnch inrtoad, ho became very angry, and noticing some of the hdien the ostrich bad consumed walking along the macadamized road and crying beoause the ostrich hadn't swallowed the minister i too, ho betook himiolf to sottiDg up a job. ToinHng to the stumps of the qmlla sticking in the ostrich's flesh, he told thorn of their value, and brought-them to avail themselves o[ the opportunity to enrich themsehes. Tho girls dug aronnd the sttimpi with hairpin 1 ? until they could get a good nip, and tho feathers poured in in luxuriant confusion. " The ostrich looked in and watched hiraBolf disappear in profound amazment, until he wag like a bad egg, the feathers all inside. In order to relieve himself of thi3 inconvenience, he turned himself inpido out, for-,-ettin,'; that in that way he impaired the utility of his le^s and wingi, co that when he undertook to fly be couldn't steer himself, and dashing through the faca of the courthouse clock in Damascus, he was ground into feather bpd? by machiuery. Thna we should beware, 0 cahph, of flying from the appetites wo have to thopo from whose bonrne ho traveller has yet lemitted to his creditors." Tho caliph was delighted with thh story, and granted tho physician his head, which he cut off and handed to him, and ordored great rejoicings throughout the capital that the cahph had escaped tbs consequences of his wish for the stomaoh of an ostrich.