She stood and listened very attentively , but no tears came into her eyes . ` I 'll tell thee everything I can ; There 's little to relate . I saw an aged aged man , A-sitting on a gate . `` Who are you , aged man ? '' I said , `` and how is it you live ? '' And his answer trickled through my head Like water through a sieve . He said `` I look for butterflies That sleep among the wheat : I make them into mutton-pies , And sell them in the street . I sell them unto men , '' he said , `` Who sail on stormy seas ; And that 's the way I get my bread -- A trifle , if you please . '' But I was thinking of a plan To dye one 's whiskers green , And always use so large a fan That they could not be seen . So , having no reply to give To what the old man said , I cried , `` Come , tell me how you live ! '' And thumped him on the head . His accents mild took up the tale : He said `` I go my ways , And when I find a mountain-rill , I set it in a blaze ; And thence they make a stuff they call Rolands ' Macassar Oil -- Yet twopence-halfpenny is all They give me for my toil . '' But I was thinking of a way To feed oneself on batter , And so go on from day to day Getting a little fatter . I shook him well from side to side , Until his face was blue : `` Come , tell me how you live , '' I cried , `` And what it is you do ! '' He said `` I hunt for haddocks ' eyes Among the heather bright , And work them into waistcoat-buttons In the silent night . And these I do not sell for gold Or coin of silvery shine But for a copper halfpenny , And that will purchase nine . `` I sometimes dig for buttered rolls , Or set limed twigs for crabs ; I sometimes search the grassy knolls For wheels of Hansom-cabs . And that 's the way '' -LRB- he gave a wink -RRB- `` By which I get my wealth -- And very gladly will I drink Your Honour 's noble health . '' I heard him then , for I had just Completed my design To keep the Menai bridge from rust By boiling it in wine . I thanked him much for telling me The way he got his wealth , But chiefly for his wish that he Might drink my noble health .
And now , if e'er by chance I put My fingers into glue Or madly squeeze a right-hand foot Into a left-hand shoe , Or if I drop upon my toe A very heavy weight , I weep , for it reminds me so , Of that old man I used to know -- Whose look was mild , whose speech was slow , Whose hair was whiter than the snow , Whose face was very like a crow , With eyes , like cinders , all aglow , Who seemed distracted with his woe , Who rocked his body to and fro , And muttered mumblingly and low , As if his mouth were full of dough , Who snorted like a buffalo -- That summer evening , long ago , XXXXX on a gate . '
A-sitting Hansom-cabs Menai Rolands day haddocks halfpenny mountain-rill mutton-pies waistcoat-buttons