



Produced by David Edwards, John Campbell and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
book was produced from scanned images of public domain
material from the Google Books project.)









  TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

  The contractions ’t and n’t for “it” and “not” have a space
  before and after them, so we see “is n’t” and “wer n’t” and “’t is”
  in the original text. These spaces are retained in this etext. The
  consistent exceptions in both the text and the etext are “don’t”
  “can’t” and “won’t”.

  Other contractions such as “they’re” and “you’re” have a half-space
  in the original text; these words are closed up in the etext.

  Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
  corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
  the text and consultation of external sources. All misspellings
  in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.




[Illustration:

      _If this little world to-night
        Suddenly should fall thro’ space
      In a hissing, headlong flight,
        Shrivelling from off its face,
      As it falls into the sun,
        In an instant every trace
      Of the little crawling things--
        Ants, philosophers, and lice,
      Cattle, cockroaches, and kings,
        Beggars, millionaires, and mice,
      Men and maggots all as one
        As it falls into the sun--
      Who can say but at the same
        Instant from some planet far
      A child may watch us and exclaim:
        “See the pretty shooting star!”_
]




  _The_ Bashful
  Earthquake

  & _Other_ FABLES
  and VERSES by
  OLIVER HERFORD
  with many pictures
  by _the Author_

  [Illustration]

  New York: Published by
  Charles Scribner’s Sons in
  the Autumn of MDCCCXCVIII




  _Copyright, 1898_,
  BY OLIVER HERFORD.


  University Press:
  JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.




_TO THE ILLUSTRATOR_


IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF HIS AMIABLE CONDESCENSION IN LENDING
HIS EXQUISITELY DELICATE ART TO THE EMBELLISHMENT OF THESE POOR
VERSES FROM HIS SINCEREST ADMIRER

  THE AUTHOR




CONTENTS.


                                                        PAGE

  THE BASHFUL EARTHQUAKE                                   1

  THE LOVESICK SCARECROW                                   7

  THE MUSIC OF THE FUTURE                                  9

  SONG                                                    11

  THE DOORLESS WOLF                                       12

  THE BOLD BAD BUTTERFLY                                  15

  CRUMBS                                                  20

  JAPANESQUE                                              21

  THE DIFFERENCE                                          22

  WHY YE BLOSSOME COMETH BEFORE YE LEAFE                  23

  THE FIRST FIRST OF APRIL                                24

  THE EPIGRAMMATIST                                       26

  THE SILVER LINING                                       28

  THE BOASTFUL BUTTERFLY                                  31

  THE THREE WISHES                                        35

  TRUTH                                                   37

  THE TRAGIC MICE                                         38

  ABSENCE OF MIND                                         40

  THE GRADUATE                                            41

  THE POET’S PROPOSAL                                     44

  A THREE-SIDED QUESTION                                  45

  THE SNAIL’S DREAM                                       51

  A CHRISTMAS LEGEND                                      52

  HYDE AND SEEKE                                          54

  IN THE CAFÉ                                             55

  THE LEGEND OF THE LILY                                  58

  THE UNTUTORED GIRAFFE                                   60

  THE ENCHANTED WOOD                                      64

  A BUNNY ROMANCE                                         68

  THE FLOWER CIRCUS                                       72

  THE FATUOUS FLOWER                                      77

  A LOVE STORY                                            80

  YE KNYGHTE-MARE                                         83

  METAPHYSICS                                             84

  THE PRINCESS THAT WAS N’T                               86

  THE LION’S TOUR                                         89

  THE FUGITIVE THOUGHT                                    93

  THE CUSSED DAMOZEL                                      97

  A GAS-LOG REVERIE                                      101

  CUPID’S FAULT                                          103

  ALL ABOARD                                             104

  KILLING TIME                                           105

  THE MERMAID CLUB                                       107

  A SONG                                                 109

  ANGEL’S TOYS                                           110

  THE REFORMED TIGRESS                                   112

  TWO LADIES                                             115

  TO THE WOLF AT THE DOOR                                119

  THE FALL OF J. W. BEANE                                121




THE BASHFUL EARTHQUAKE




      _Crime, W