120
POEMS BY CLARA A. MERRILL
A MYSTERY EXPLAINED
Hi Sambo—don' yo' talk dat way— Aint yo' a silly coon! A talkin' 'bout de mystery Ob de man date in de moon! I tell yo' 'taint no mystery 'Bout de moon, or how it acts, I reckon ef yo'd like to know I kin tell yo' all de facts.
'Tis dis:—Yo ' see when de world was new De moon was roun' an' clear; An' kep' a shinin' ebery night Jus' so, year arter year.—'Till dis man he done some drefful t'ing— He ran, but dey cotched him soon An' widout no odds dey banished him An' sent him to de moon.
Dey see'd him lookin' down to earth Whar dey wouldn't let him stay; Den solemn like, an' bery slow He turn he face away.—
