Text 41

Doctor Foster went to Gloucester

In a shower of rain;

He stepped in a puddle,

Right up to his middle,

And never went there again.

Доктор Фостер

Отправился в Глостер.

Весь день его дождь поливал.

Свалился он в лужу,

Промок еще хуже,

И больше он там не бывал.

(Перевод С.Маршака)

Three wise men of Gotham,

They went to sea in a bowl,

And if the bowl had been stronger

My song had been longer.

Три мудреца в одном тазу

Пустились по морю в грозу.

Будь попрочнее cтарый таз,

Длиннее был бы мой рассказ.

(Перевод С. Маршака)

Scratch a nursery rhyme, and you'll get some underlining "biography". In the first nursery rhyme above, for instance, there's a curious rhyme puddle – middle. The seemingly imperfect rhyme implies the Old English word "piddle". The poem might refer to a legend about King Edward I of England (1239—1307) who got stuck in deep mud when passing through Glouster. The king allegedly refused to ever visit the city again.

Gotham is a real place name of a village near Nottingham. The villagers had weird reputation for doing all sorts of nonsensical things like catching the moon in the lake with their nets, etc. The explanation makes sense though. The legend has it that once King John the Lackland (1167—1216) planned to pass through their fields. If he had done that, the royal road would have become a public one. To prevent the King from doing so, the villagers pretended they were all weird if not feeble-minded. The King thought it better not to consort with fools. The property remained intact.

Some poems, however, are real horror stories. The following poem has terrified young listeners for centuries. Yet, such poetry may be instrumental in preparing kids to deal with darker sides of life (Text 42). For example, little Robert Southey, a would-be Romantic poet, was said to be terrified by that skin-and-bone stuff. Tearful, he used to ask to stop reading it. Well, who knows what would have become of him had he not listened to such poems.