The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-06-12
THE DAILY NEWS.
Il FISH sTORT.
A Parable with . Moral.
BY ENNIS RANDOLPH.

=, ,hs obssspeake and her tribute streams,
whore broadening out to tne ess sst sts ,ss S,ne;
Thers svms osh that is called the oT1m-
4 asS OF wonderful beauty and force ,-so
he bites Ike steel.trap and pulis 1 nAe A'i'''
He is heavy Of girh at the dorsai nn,
Rut tspering downward Keen and thin'
long rs salmon bu, not 20 stout
Ana snriury and swift as the mountain troul
For often at night, in sportiVe m9oa me- a.od
IA comes to the brim Of the moon.N nooo'
And tosses ghttering curve alon
Lffs The silver bow Of the god, then soit
He plaahes deiiciously back in the spray.
And the tremulous circles 60 spreading e"as'
Dovn nv the poaree of the York's broad stream
An old darsey lived. Of the ancient regime;
His laugh was loud, though his lot was low,
He loved his old master and hated ms noe'
small and meagre was this old NED,
And many long winters bad frosted MS heau
And bated his force and v1gor.
But tho his wool all white had become,
And his fase wrnkled up like Naan"omans
ano n,s mack was bent be was thought BY some
A remarkapls hale old Niger
But he suffered be s;d ~ %,.s a,a IN Sede De back
sT,ll n a old massa give him his time TO his'seib
And The to,Lworn old bondsman was laid on the
shelf
Though all philauthropists clearly can see
The degrading fects Of slavery,
Icsn,t help thinking that this old creature
was great advance upon African natuIe,
And straiRhter OF khip and thinner OF lip
Than his grandsire who came IN the Yankee ship.
Albeit bent with the weary toll
OF sixty ears on 'slave-trooden" col.
Untaught and thrifness and feeble Of mind
His life e. gentle-hts heart was k1no.
He lived in house, he loved bis wife,
BE was higoer far In his hopes and bis lie,
And pobler man, with his hoe in bis hand,
Ihan an African prince in his native land.
To an African prince in the land Of his birth
with his negative calf and bis convex shin,
Triangular teeth, and his pupRent SKIN
30 bloated OF body, 30 meagre OF hmo,
or passions 80 fierce and Of reason 30 Ohm;
60 cruel in war and 80 torpid In peace,
60 strongly addicted to entralls and grease;
So partial to eating by morning light.
In ths bl,ctest Of b!acr superstitions down-trod,
In his horrible rites and his beasty god.
with theIr bloody and loathsome and hideous
Hns r.,ss u.s nothing to do With - Fish-story.
Hspuy old Rdward, his labor was done,
With nothing to do but to st in the sun,
md free to follow his darling work
Of playing hi: Addle and catching his hsh.
ehad earne his plny-time vi b labor long,
So, lfke the other old Ned of the soog.
He laid do~ the shovel and the ho.,
And caught up the fddle and the DOW.
How cannot say
That his style Of play
T.,nld nit the Ialons Of the present day,
For the tor, de force Of The great e. Psganani
Hsn never round favor in OLD Virgtnny.
He never PLAYED o tune that went sow,
For h perfectly scorned an sdago;
1nt Iith eysa half closed and due-beatng toe,
ne sbo. g .ns a,r nis sssin0ui sa%1 DOW
But saving steadil, jusl in the middle
He plsy ed Dy the rule
OF ,he strietest school
OF the old.fishioned plantton Niger fiddle.