I've figgered out that worryin' don't pay a little bit,
Fer every feller's got to have some trouble in his day;
An' wonderin' what's comin' next don't help to sidetrack hit--
You can't foretell afflictions, or stop 'em, thataway!
It's better jest to take what's sent
And stand it, ef you ain't content!
Looks like to me that every one has got a large amount
Of things to bear that he don't like, as through this life he goes;
And though of happy days we're apt to lose the rightful count,
Things even up before we die, as every old man knows.
There ain't no great monopoly
On sickness ner bad luck, I gee!
We've got to stand our share of pain and meet a heap of sorrow;
We've got to shoulder burdens that no one likes to tote;
But worryin' about the load, and thinkin' of th' morrow
Don't make it one mite easier, er cheerfuller, I note!
Th' way to do is jest t' grin
And hope for better times ag'in;
"But I _can't_ grin!" some people say.
Then don't--but bear it, anyway!
'LIZABETH ANN'S PICTURE
Ma wanted a good, new picture of me; so pa says, "'Lizabeth Ann,
You come down town at noon to-day, and we'll go to the picture man;
But don't tell mother--we'll have a surprise for her on Christmas day,
And give her a real nice photograft--I know just what she will say."
"Oh, goody!" I says, "I am awful glad! I'll be there at noon, you see."
(I like to have a secret with pa--it's awful much fun for me.)
I runned away at 'leven o'clock, and ma didn't see me go,
Although I had dressed in my very best--and that takes time, you know--
My party frock, and my best kid shoes; my furs and my "picture" hat,
And my new red coat--the one she says, "Be careful, my dear, of that."
And when I got to his office, pa looked awful surprised, and said,
"Dear me, what a dressed-up little girl! Why, really, you turn my head!"
And then we went to the picture man. He's nice enough, I s'pose,
But what do you think he said to me? "You seem to be mostly clothes!"
So pa and the man made me _undress_, till all that I had on me
Was my shirtwaist slip--my arms and neck was bare as they both could be!
It made me feel umbarrassed! And then I guess that I nearly cried,
But pa just patted me on the head and said _he_ was satisfied.
And now the pictures are finished up, and one is already framed;
But ma'll be mad, I am pretty sure--I know that _I_ feel ashamed;
For all that you see is my head and neck--and not a bit of my dress--
She'll think I was funny to go down-town with so little on, I guess!
Yet pa says, "Never you mind, my dear--blame it on me or the man;
But mother will like it, you see if she don't--she wanted _you_,
'Lizabeth Ann."