CHIMBORAZO was a very unhappy boy. He pouted, and he sulked, and he said, “Oh, dear! oh, dear! oh, dear! oh, dear!” He said it till everybody was tired of hearing it.
“Chimborazo,” his mother would say, “please don’t say, ‘Oh, dear!’ any more. It is very annoying. Say something else.”
“Oh, dear!” the boy would answer, “I can’t! I don’t know anything else to say. Oh, dear! Oh, dear!! oh, DEAR!!!”
One day his mother could not bear it any longer, and she sent for his fairy godmother, and told her all about it.
“Humph!” said the fairy godmother. “I will see to it. Send the boy to me!”
So Chimborazo was sent for, and came, hanging his head as usual. When he saw his fairy godmother, he said, “Oh, dear!” for he was rather afraid of her.
“‘Oh, dear!’ it is!” said the godmother sharply; and she put on her spectacles and looked at him. “Do you know what a bell-punch is?”
“Oh, dear!” said Chimborazo. “No, ma’am, I don’t!”
“Well,” said the godmother, “I am going to give you one.”
“Oh, dear!” said Chimborazo, “I don’t want one.”