Fool-Youngens
By James Whitcomb Riley
Me an' Bert an' Minnie-Belle
Knows a joke, an' we won't tell!
No, we don't - 'cause we don't know
Why we got to laughin' so;
But we got to laughin' so,
"We ist kep' a-laughin'.
Wind wuz blowin' in the tree -
An' wuz only ist us three
Playin' there; an' ever' one
Ketched each other, like we done,
Squintin' up there at the sun
Like we wuz a-laughin'.
Nothin' funny anyway;
But I laughed, an' so did they -
An' we all three laughed, an' nen
Squint' our eyes an' laugh' again:
Ner we didn't ist p'ten' -
We wuz shore-'nough laughin'.
"We ist laugh' an' laugh', tel Bert
Say he can't quit an' it hurt.
Nen I howl, an' Minnie-Belle
She tear up the grass a spell
An' ist stop her yeers an' yell
Like she'd die a-laughin'.
Never sich fool-youngens yit!
Nothin' funny, - not a bit! -
But we laugh' so; tel we whoop'
Purt'-nigh like we have the croup -
All so hoarse we'd wheeze an' whoop
An' ist choke a-laughin'.