Evening star., 1894-11-03
HONEYMOON QUARRELS
As Typi6ed by the Spider That Frightened
Miss Muffet
Interesting Session of the Mother
Goose Club-Views Expressed About
WeIl-KnOwn Rhymes.

Written Exclusively for The Evening Star.
Although the Mother Goose Club always
meets promptly at 8 o'clock the lamps
were already lighted in Mrs. Fin de
Siecle's drawing room when the meeting
was called to order last Thursday afternoon.
The hostess, sitting in the rose-colored
light OF lamp shaded by an enormous
pagoda of crinkley pink paper apologized
for the early illumination.
Il thought" she said, that inasmuch as
we shall be wanting lights before we are
through, 1 would just save time by light
ing up before We begin. Besides, these fall
skies give one the indigoes so. think it's
a positive relief to shut them out"
"Just hear that woman" said the Con-
gressman's wife to her best friend, the
woman in the cerise collar. "She's forty Il
she's day. Thank heaven can still stand
daylight"
"Yes, indeed. you can" returned the
cerise collar, with the smile that only ones
best friend can give. ''you keep your COM
plexion wonderfully"
The Congressman's wife made no reply
as the meeting had already begun. How
ever. a woman does not soon forget thing
of that kind.
''The verse 1 have" said the wearer Of
the blue that admits Of several construc.
tions.
Little Miss Mufret
Sat on a tuffet
Eating Of curds and whey.
There came a black spider,
Who sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away
Il take the delight of the little girl with
honeymoon. interrupted by the first quar-
rel. Even If Miss Muffet does come back
the curds and whey will have lost their
original SAVIOR, and she will be always look.
ing over her shoulder for the spider. The
worst OF life Is that one never forgets un.
pleasant things, and the first quarrel 10
only the opening wedge for the coldness
that comes between SO many husbands and
wives who really love each other"
MY dear girl" said the woman with q
past, did you ever hear Of a honeymoon
without quarrel In it7 For my part, I
think all this talk about honeymoon bliss
is nonsense. I've ceased to believe in pur.
| gatory since my honeymoon. 1t would be
unnecessary to have honeymoons and pur-
gatory In the same universe"
"Oh, don't think you can be right" the
bluet hat said in a shocked way, as she
| felt her back hair with her bare left hand
on the third finger of which was a new
that And" hurriedly, "the poem may
| mean so many other things. You know. You
all know how one unpleasant thing can
mar your recollection Of a pleasant time,
| a woman who faints every time she hears
| the waltz from Faust Faust was her curda
| and whey, you Know. She was playing that
waltz on the piano one day when her hus-
band was brought home dead That was
the black spider, don't you understand
Good heavens!' exclaimed Mrs. Fin de
Steele. you give one the horrors. / sup
pose everybody has had some dish of curda
and whey spoiled by a spider. so let's not
think Of such unpleasant things. Let's GO
on, who comes next?"
"I think / do" said the Congressman's
wife, "and have a verse about women.
There was an old woman, and what do
you think?
She lived upon nothing. but victuais and
drink.
victuals and drink were all Of her diet,
And yet this old woman could never be
quiet
"She has enough to eat. She has enough
to wear, and her clothes are sufficiently Of
the mode of the day to be worn with sat
isfaction. She has a comfortable home. a
good, social position. and none Of the soul
wearing guides of poverty. Her husband
is one of the best men on EARTH"
"The tragedies of the world are the lives
of women whose husbands are the best
men on EARTH" murmured the woman with
past.
'She has all these things and what more
does woman need to make her happy2
Yet she is not happy. Why7 Surely the
desire to be something more than a hum
drum housewife ought not to make her
unhappy. surely tne tnOught that sne Is
only an incident In her husbands life ought
not to distress her. My dear sisters. the
trouble lies in this: The modern woman is
not satisfied with her sphere. She is tired
of being the well-cared-for domestic animal
she has always been. She wants to live her
own life, to possess an individuality of her
own, to be a power in the world. to become
a human being. Men may talk of the
beauty of womanliness and all that but did
you ever meet a man who wished he were
woman? And did you ever meet a woman
who didn't wish she were manf The
mistake was made when women were first
allowed to think. A woman ought not to
be able to read or write or think. She
ought to be kept in a harem seeing only
the one man Providence has vouchsafed
her. AS long the present customs con-
tinue women are going to presume to have
ideas, and just the minute a woman begins
to have ideas her power of being contented
In the feminine sphere Is gone forever"
We'll, for my part" said Mrs. Fin de
Steele, serene in the consciousness of the
softening effect Of rosy lamp light. 'T have
no quarrel with the fates that made me a
woman. / think most of this talk about the
woes Of women is nonsense. II the woman
in the verse had to go out in the world q
bit and earn her own living, / think you'd
hear nothing more from her. She Is dis
contented simply because she has too easy
a time There are women In this world
who ought to be whipped yes, actually
whipped-once a fortnight. They'd love
their husbands all the better for doing II,
too, for IL a man wants to make his wife
adore him just let him abuse her bit"
"Well, did I ever!' said the Congress-
mans wife. And after the things you've
said to me-"
my dear. I change my mind as often az
I change my gown. I want to get my
mind evenly worn, you know"
You are frivolous said the Congress.
mans wife, rising. "and I spurn you. I
have some shopping to do. anyway, and
they do say You can get the loveliest dress
goods at Blank's-so reasonable. too. Come
with me. dear Miss West End. do"