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<h4 class = "headline"> JACK AND JILL.</h4>     Little boys, sit still— Girls, too, if you will— And let me tell you of Jack and Jill; For I think another Such sister and brother Were never the children of one mother! For an idle lad, As he was, Jack had No traits, after all, that were very bad. He, was simply Jack, With the coat on his back Patched up in all colors from gray to black. Both feet were bare; And I do declare That he never washed his face; and his hair Was the color of straw— You never saw Such a crop—as long as the moral law! When he went to school, It was the rule (Though ’twas hard to say he was really a fool) To send him at once, So thick was his sconce, To the block that was kept for the greatest dunce. <ANTIMG src = "images/pic65c.png" width-OBS="107" height-OBS="230" alt = "Jill with slate"> And Jill! no lass Scarce ever has Made bigger tracks on the country grass; For her only fun Was to romp and run, Bare-headed, bare-footed, in wind and sun.  Wherever went Jack, Close on his track, With hair unbraided and down her back, Loud-voiced and shrill, She followed, until No one said “Jack” without saying “Jill.”  But to succeed In teaching to read Such a harum-scarum, was work indeed! And I’m forced to tell That her way to spell Her name was with only a single ‘l.’ <ANTIMG src = "images/pic65d.png" width-OBS="106" height-OBS="72" alt = "fly with speller">     Yet they were content. One day they were sent To the hill for water, and they went. They did not drown, But Jack fell down, With a pail in his hand, and broke his crown! And Jill, who must go And always do Exactly as Jack did, tumbled too! Just think, if you will, How they rolled down hill— Straw-headed Jack and bare-footed Jill! But up Jack got, And home did trot, Nor cared whether Jill was hurt or not; While his poor bruised knob Did burn and throb, Tear falling on tear, sob following sob! He could run the faster, So a paper plaster Had bound up the sight of his disaster Before Jill came; And the thoughtful dame, For a break in her head, had fixed the same. <ANTIMG src = "images/pic66c.png" width-OBS="75" height-OBS="104" alt = "silhouette of Jill's mother beating her">   But Jill came in, With a saucy grin At seeing the plight poor Jack was in; And when she saw That bundle of straw <ins class = "correction" title = "( invisible">(</ins>His hair) bound up with a cloth, and his jaw   Tied up in white, The comical sight Made her clap her hands and laugh outright! The dame, perplexed And dreadfully vexed, Got a stick and said, “I’ll whip her next!”     How many blows fell I will not tell, But she did it in earnest, she did it well, Till the naughty back Was blue and black, And Jill needed a plaster as much as Jack!    The next time, though, Jack has to go To the hill for water, I almost know That bothering Jill Will go up the hill, And if he falls again, why, of course she will!    <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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