Part 4

When a Goop goes out to visit, 'T isn't very pleasant, is it, To hear him ask his friends for things to eat? And to hear the little sinner Say he wants to stay to dinner Is a piece of impoliteness hard to beat!

"Mother said that I could stay If you asked me!" is the way That a Goop will make them ask him to remain. It is better to be slighted Than to stay when not invited, For they never ask a Goop to come again!

PICKING and STEALING

When you are fetching bread, I trust You never nibble at the crust

When in the kitchen, do you linger And pinch the cookies with your finger?

Or do you peck the frosted cake? Don't do it, please, for Mother's sake!

LOYALTY

Mother's found your mischief out! What are you going to do? Cry and sulk, or kick and shout? Tell your mother all about Brother's mischief, too?

Or, Take your punishment, and say, "I'll be better, now!" Never mind the horrid way Brother treated you, at play; Don't tell it, anyhow!

It is the Goops, who have no shame, Who say, "'Twas some one else to blame!"

INDOLENCE

There was a Goop who lay in bed Till half-past eight, the sleepy-head! He couldn't find his stockings, for He'd thrown them somewhere on the floor! He couldn't find his reading-book; He had forgotten where to look! His breakfast grew so very cold, This lazy Goop began to scold; And then he blamed his mother, kind! "You made me late to school!" he whined.

THE LAW OF HOSPITALITY

There is a very simple rule That every one should know; You may not hear of it in school, But everywhere you go, In every land where people dwell, And men are good and true, You'll find they understand it well, And so I'll tell it you:

To every one who gives me food, Or shares his home with me, I owe a debt of gratitude, And I must loyal be. I may not laugh at him, or say Of him a word unkind; His friendliness I must repay, And to his faults be blind!

THE FLOWER HOSPITAL

I dreamed I found a sunlit room Filled with a delicate perfume, Where, moaning their sweet lives away, A thousand lovely flowers lay. They drooped, so pale, and wan, and weak, With hardly strength enough to speak, With stems so crushed and leaves so torn It was too dreadful to be borne! And one white lily raised her head From off her snowy flower bed. And sighed, "Please tell the children, oh! They should not treat the flowers so! They plucked us when we were so gay, And then they threw us all away To wither in the sun all day! We all must fade, but we'll forgive If they'll let other flowers live!"

PUPPY GOOPS

Candy in the cushions Of the easy-chair; Raisins in the sofa-- How did they get there? The little Goop who's greedy Does it every day, Like a little puppy, Hiding bones away!

EXAGGERATION

Don't try to tell a story To beat the one you've heard; For if you try, you're apt to lie, And that would be absurd!

Don't try to be more funny Than any one in school; For if you're not, they'll laugh a lot, And think you are a fool!

NOISE! NOISE! NOISE!

Do you slam the door? Do you drag your feet? Making noise enough for four Hundred thousand Goops, or more, Tearing up the street?

Clattering down the stairs, Storming through the hall, Pounding floors, upsetting chairs, Do you think your father cares For your noise, at all?

STEALING RIDES

I thought I saw a little Goop Who hung behind a cart; I looked again. He'd fallen off! It gave me such a start! "If he were killed, some day," I said, "'Twould break his mother's heart!"

UNTIDY GOOPS