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FRENCH NURSERY RHYMES.
29

JOKESTER STAINS HIMSELF WITH REDCURRANTS.

He rubbed onto himself up to his ears,
A mouth of redcurrant juice,
Then he made a cry like a peacock:
"Ouch! I'm bleeding!" His mother
Runs up, panting for breath,
And the imp[1] bursts into laughter.

JOKESTER NOSE-BLOWS OUT HIS HEAD.

One of Jokester's pranks,
When he would blow his nose in public,
Was to make the noise of a trumpet
In a loud, indiscrete manner.
He didn't consider, the scoundrel,
That his neck was no longer holding well.
One day when he did his clarinet,
Blowing his nose into a napkin,
He blew his dry nose so hard
That he blew off his head with it!

  1. Espiègle, from "Eulenspiegel," name of a legendary German jester (XIVth century), arch little fellow.