St. Landry democrat., 1882-11-04
Our Young Readers.
PROCRUSTES' BED.

PROCRUSTES' BED.
A long time ago lived Procrustes. The same
| Was dread and terror wherever his nam"
Was heard, and his country was sorely AT
By the dreadful misdeeds to which he was adj
| dicted.
For he murdered and robbed in horrible
| way!
All! he was terror, by night or by. day!
| A terrible creature, a bold and a bad one,
And mong his bad habits he's said to have had
one
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 1t.
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 a bed
That Shall measure exactly my length from
my head
To my feet, and the man who don't fit upon
that
Must be poor, miserable figure That's flat
And so, when they lack the proportions Of
beauty,
1 must set them Alright for it's plainly my
duty.
The man that's too short must be stretched
till he'll fit,
And the man that's too long must be cut off a
bit.
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 1 mention" You cannot but
saw
That this was a very original way
To settle the matter. No TWO men will be
EXactly the their
But he was determined to make them agree.
And so, when his captives were fettered and
brought
Into his stronghold. as quick as a thought
They were laid on that bed (he 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
attain!
Here's a man that's too long. Cut him off!
with a shout
Here's man that's too short. Stretch him
out! Stretch him out!'
And when they arose frem their beds, what
sight!
'Twoud 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 to be;
As bad state, surely. as one need to see.
How they hoped, how they imped, how they
The man who was Topped and the fellow
stretched out.
Procrustes looked on and he said: with
out doubt,
'Tis bad; but my height is just right to
thread,
And the man is all wrong who don't fit on that
bed.
Since that's beyond question, it isn't my
fault
If it makes them all crippled and crooked and
halt"
How long he'd have kept at this work don't
know,
But, at last, he encountered a powerful foe,
blow.
He met Theseus, of Athens, one day, and they
fought;
And Procrlstes 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 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 as a 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
other;
Besides, while he's mangled and MANNED at
his pleasure,
He has not brought one of them all to his
measure.
Every man his own fashion of growing must
keep on,
And the bed that fits him is the bed he must
sleep on"
[ do not insist that this happened just so;
1t may be 81 fiction; but this much know:
That, if but a tale of a dead long ago,
A neat little truth lies hidden behind it,
And / think, if you look, you will certainly
find it.
-CdrlottG PERU, in ". Y. Independent