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<h2 class="head"><em>How a Fisherman Corked<br/>up His Foe in a Jar</em></h2>
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<div>A fisherman lived on the shore,</div>
<div class="i1">(It’s a habit that fishers affect,)</div>
<div>And his life was a hideous bore:</div>
<div class="i1">He had nothing to do but collect</div>
<div>Continual harvests of seaweed and shells,</div>
<div class="i1">Which he stuck upon photograph frames,</div>
<div>To sell to the guests in the summer hotels</div>
<div class="i1">With the quite inappropriate names!</div>
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<div>He would wander along by the edge</div>
<div class="i1">Of the sea, and I know for a fact</div>
<div>From the pools with a portable dredge</div>
<div class="i1">He would curious creatures extract:</div>
<div>And, during the season, he always took lots</div>
<div class="i1">Of tourists out fishing for bass,</div>
<div>And showed them politely impossible spots,</div>
<div class="i1">In the culpable way of his class.</div>
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<div>It happened one day, as afar</div>
<div class="i1">He roved on the glistening strand,</div>
<div>That he chanced on a curious jar,</div>
<div class="i1">Which lay on a hummock of sand.</div>
<div>It was closed at the mouth with a cork and a seal,</div>
<div class="i1">And over the top there was tied</div>
<div>A cloth, and the fisherman couldn’t but feel</div>
<div class="i1">That he ought to see what was inside.</div>
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<div>This shows us the fisher beginning to blow</div>
<div>Of preserving himself while he pickled his foe.</div>
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<div>But what were his fear and surprise</div>
<div class="i1">When the stopper he held in his hand!</div>
<div>For a genie of singular size</div>
<div class="i1">Appeared in a trice on the sand,</div>
<div>Who said in the roughest and rudest of tones:</div>
<div class="i1">“A monster you’ve foolishly freed!</div>
<div>I shall simply make way with you, body and bones,</div>
<div>And that with phenomenal speed!”</div>
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<div>The fisherman looked in his face,</div>
<div class="i1">And answered him boldly: “My friend,</div>
<div>How you ever were packed in that space</div>
<div class="i1">Is something I don’t comprehend.</div>
<div>Pray do me the favor to show me how you</div>
<div class="i1">Can do it, as large as you are.”</div>
<div>The genie retorted: “That’s just what I’ll do!”</div>
<div>And promptly reëntered the jar.</div>
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<div>The fisherman corked him up tight:</div>
<div class="i1">The genie protested and raved,</div>
<div>But for all he accomplished, he might</div>
<div class="i1">As well all his shouting have saved.</div>
<div>And, whenever a generous bonus is paid,</div>
<div class="i1">The fisherman willingly tells</div>
<div>The singular tale of this trick that he played,</div>
<div>To the guests in the summer hotels.</div>
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<div><em>The Moral</em>: When fortune you strike,</div>
<div class="i1">And you’ve slipped through a dangerous crack,</div>
<div>Get as forward as ever you like,</div>
<div class="i1">But never, oh, <em>never</em> get back!</div>
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