Roundabout Papers - Penn State University

Roundabout Papersthe hasty-pudding, instantly ripped open his own stupidwaistcoat and interior. They were cruel, brutal, disgusting,with their sharpened teeth, immense knives,and roaring voices! but they always ended by being overcomeby little Tom Thumbkins, or some other smart littlechampion.Yes; they were conquered in the end there is no doubt.They plunged headlong (and uttering the most frightfulbad language) into some pit where Jack came withhis smart couteau de chasse and whipped their brutalheads off. They would be going to devour maidens,“But ever when it seemedTheir need was at the sorest,A knight, in armor bright,Came riding through the forest.”And down, after a combat, would go the brutal persecutor,with a lance through his midriff. Yes, I say, this isvery true and well. But you remember that round theogre’s cave the ground was covered, for hundreds andhundreds of yards, with the bones of the victims whomhe had lured into the castle. Many knights and maidscame to him and perished under his knife and teeth.Were dragons the same as ogres? monsters dwelling incaverns, whence they rushed, attired in plate armor,wielding pikes and torches, and destroying stray passengerswho passed by their lair? Monsters, brutes, rapacioustyrants, ruffians, as they were, doubtless theyended by being overcome. But, before they were destroyed,they did a deal of mischief. The bones roundtheir caves were countless. They had sent many bravesouls to Hades, before their own fled, howling out oftheir rascal carcasses, to the same place of gloom.There is no greater mistake than to suppose that fairies,champions, distressed damsels, and by consequenceogres, have ceased to exist. It may not be ogreable tothem (pardon the horrible pleasantry, but as I am writingin the solitude of my chamber, I am grinding myteeth—yelling, roaring, and cursing—brandishing myscissors and paper-cutter, and as it were, have becomean ogre). I say there is no greater mistake than to sup-136