Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-11-02
Our Young Folks.
PROCRUSTES.

OUI lOuIlS EOAkSs
PROGRESSES.
long time ago lived Procrustes. The same
Was d dread and terror wherever his name
Was heard, and his country was sorely af-
By the dreadful misdeeds to which he was ad-
For he murdered and robbed in horrible
way!
Ah! he was a terror, by night or by day,
A terrible creature, bold and bad one,
And mong his bad habits he's said to have had
That was worse than the rest and cruelty sad
And YOU, when you hear it, will surely admit
That he had not the smallest good reason
for it.
He had an idea, this very bad man,
That he was the only right pattern and plan
OF stature. That one who was taller than he,
Procrustes, Or shorter, must certainly be
Too short or too tail. So he said: - Let me
For the illy-built man who is taller or shorter
I'll do what can, tor feel that orter.
" I've hit the idea. I'll have me bed
That shall measure exactly my length from
To my feet, and the man who don't fit upon
that
And so, when they lack the proportions Of
1 must set them Alright, for it's plainly my
The man that's too short must be stretched
till he'll fit,
So I'll measure them all by this bed, and their
height,
Where it differs from mine, will quickly set
right,
In the way that mention You cannot but
That this was a very original way
To settle the matter. No TWO men will be
Exactly the same in their stature. All! me,
But he was determined to make them agree.
And so. when his captives were fettered and
brought
They were laid on that bed the had wonderful
strength)
To see if they were of the requisite length.
Such stretching, such saving, such trimming!
What pain
Did they all have to bear, the right length to
" Here's man that's too long. Cut him off,"
with a shout.
" Here's man that's too short. Stretch him
out! Stretch him out!''
sight!
'Twould have made the heart ache to have
seen their sad plight;
For the worst of it was that, when all was
done,
They were not at all like Procrustes not one;
There was not one like to the other, and none
Was himself as he was intended be;
AS bad a state, surely, as one need to see.
How they hoped, how they imped, how they
hobbled about,
The man who W, was Topped and the fellow
Procrustes looked on, and he said: with
out doubt,
IT'S bad; but my height is just right to a
thread,
And the man is all wrong who don't fit on that
bed.
Since that's beyond question, it isn't my
If it makes them all crippled and crooked and
halt
How long he'd have kept at this work don't
But, at last, he encountered powerful foe,
Who cleverly gave him the long-deserved
He met Theseus, of Athens, one day, and they
fought:
And Procrustes went down in the dust, as he
ought;
For Theseus most boldly and openly said
He didn't acknowledge the right of the bed
As a standard for him. He declared, quite at
ease:
I've right to be tall or be short, as please.
Procrustes may grow to be tall tree,
But why should that make any difference to
me?
He has made a most needless and murder
Gus bother;
His stature is good for himself, and none
Besides, while he's mangled and MANNED at
his pleasure,
Every man his own fashion of growing must
And the bed that fits him is the bed he must
sleep on.
do not insist that this happened just so:
1t may be a fiction; but this much L know:
That, if but tale of dead long ago,
neat little truth lies hidden behind it,
And think, if you look, you will certainly
NCarlotta PERU. IN, ~ Y. Indepeudent.