Little rays of moonshine

by A. P. Herbert

Pat	Pan	Pap
PAT	PAN	PAP
pat	pan	pap

Over each column is a little picture. When you are teaching the child pap you say to her: “P-aP, pap—do you see the pretty picture? That is a nanny with a baby in her lap. She is giving the baby a bottle. The bottle has pap in it. At least, it is not pap, really, but it is called pap for the purposes of the alphabet. You remember the letters, don’t you? First there is a big P—you know, like a man with a pack on his back. Then a little a, which is like a goose on the water. Then a little p; that is like another man coming to you with a pack on his back. Now we have it all in big letters. Maggie, read them out.”

Maggie (firmly). K.

You. No, no, not K. Don’t you remember the picture?

Maggie. Yes, it was a nanny with a baby.

You. No, not that one. It was a man with a pack on his back—P.

Maggie. P.

You. That’s right. What comes next?

Maggie. A goose on the water.

You. No, that was a little a. This is a big letter. Don’t you remember the dear little hut with the window upstairs? What letter was that?