BOBBY LEARNS WHY MEN LIFT THEIR HATS
Bobby ran home with his new hat.
He showed it to Mother.
“That’s a nice hat for a little man,” said Mother. “You are old enough now to lift your hat when you meet a friend on the street.”
“Why should I lift my hat, Mother?” asked Bobby.
“Gentlemen always lift their hats,” said Mother.
“Daddy does,” said Bobby. “I’ll ask him to tell me about it.”
That night Bobby asked, “Daddy, why do men lift their hats?”
“Sit down,” said Father. “I’ll tell you about it.”
Bobby and Betty drew up their chairs.
“A long, long time ago,” said Father, “there were knights who dressed in full armor.”
“I’ve seen pictures of them,” said Bobby. “Mother showed us a picture of a knight in full armor.”
“In those days,” added Father, “it was not safe for a knight to go out unless he was dressed in full armor. But when a knight was among his friends, he took off his helmet.”
“Why did he take off his helmet?” asked Bobby.
“He was among friends,” answered Daddy. “It was safe to do it. And so when a knight took off his helmet, he the same as said, ‘I am in the presence of friends.’”
“That was a nice way to say it,” said Betty.
“Yes, dear,” said Father. “And a man has a nice way of saying about the same thing.”
“What is a man’s nice way of saying the same thing, Father?” asked Bobby.
“It is by lifting his hat,” answered Father.
“What does he say when he lifts his hat?” asked Bobby.
“When a man lifts his hat, it’s a way of saying, ‘I am in the presence of friends.’”
“That’s a good story,” said Bobby. “I like it.”
“Put on your hat, my little man,” said Father. “Play you are walking on the street. Betty, play you are a friend.”
Bobby put on his hat and walked up and down the room. Soon Betty met him. Bobby lifted his hat as he passed her.
“Well done, young man,” said Father. “Now tell me what you meant to say when you lifted your hat.”
“I am in the presence of a friend,” said Bobby. “That’s what I meant to say.”
For study and play:
Politeness is to do and say,
The kindest thing in the kindest way.
If a body meet a body
Coming through the town,
If a body greet a body,
Need a body frown?
—Selected
There was an old man of Brest,
Who was always funnily drest.
He wore gloves on his nose,
And a hat on his toes,
And a boot in the midst of his chest.
—Cosmo Monkhouse
