Roundabout Papers - Penn State University

Roundabout Papersancient world, are like Father Noah and his family outof the Ark. The children will gather round and say to uspatriarchs, “Tell us, grandpapa, about the old world.”And we shall mumble our old stories; and we shall dropoff one by one; and there will be fewer and fewer of us,and these very old and feeble. There will be but tenpraerailroadites left: then three then two—then one—then 0! If the hippopotamus had the least sensibility(of which I cannot trace any signs either in his hide orhis face), I think he would go down to the bottom of histank, and never come up again. Does he not see that hebelongs to bygone ages, and that his great hulking barrelof a body is out of place in these times? What has hein common with the brisk young life surrounding him?In the watches of the night, when the keepers are asleep,when the birds are on one leg, when even the littlearmadillo is quiet, and the monkeys have ceased theirchatter,—he, I mean the hippopotamus, and the elephant,and the long-necked giraffe, perhaps may laytheir heads together and have a colloquy about the greatsilent antediluvian world which they remember, wheremighty monsters floundered through the ooze, crocodilesbasked on the banks, and dragons darted out ofthe caves and waters before men were made to slay them.We who lived before railways are antediluvians—we mustpass away. We are growing scarcer every day; and old—old—very old relicts of the times when George was stillfighting the Dragon.Not long since, a company of horse-riders paid a visitto our watering-place. We went to see them, and I bethoughtme that young Walter Juvenis, who was in theplace, might like also to witness the performance. Apantomime is not always amusing to persons who haveattained a certain age; but a boy at a pantomime isalways amused and amusing, and to see his pleasure isgood for most hypochondriacs.We sent to Walter’s mother, requesting that he mightjoin us, and the kind lady replied that the boy hadalready been at the morning performance of the equestrians,but was most eager to go in the evening likewise.And go he did; and laughed at all Mr. Merryman’s68