Jonathan Bing’s Manners
by Beatrice Curtis Brown
Jonathan Bing takes off his hat
Whenever he meets a Tabby-cat;
Jonathan Bing bows down to his toes
Whenever he passes a sheep he knows.
Oh search from Paris to old Japan,
There’s none so courtly as Jonathan!
I’ve seen him murmur a “how-d’you-do?”
To a tired forsaken dancing-shoe;
I’ve seen him lend his handkerchief
To a watering-can that had come to grief;
I’ve seen him pat, without disdain,
An orphan goldfish who had a pain,
And he even lights a fire, I’m told,
To warm the air when the weather’s cold.
So what does it matter if people say
That he eats his peas in a vulgar way,
Or opens his mouth, to yawn, so wide
That twenty chickens could roost inside?
Oh search from Paris to old Japan,
There’s none so courtly as Jonathan!
Hello, I was wondering where you got the image for eating peas with honey. I looks like a book I once read. I am trying to find it again. Could you help me?
Hi Mary. I found that image on an Etsy site and she only said that she found it in a children’s poetry book from the 1950s which no longer had its cover or opening pages. So, she did not credit the illustrator or book and I haven’t been able to find that either. Sorry! I wish I could be more help.
Thanks for your help!