“Of course I do,” said Adjective; “for when you say this bird, that horse, these rabbits, those people; this, that, these, and those are clearly used with a noun, but do not stand instead of one.”
“Ah!” said Pronoun, “but when you say ‘look at this,’ ‘take that,’ ‘may I have these?’ ‘burn those;’ this, that, these, and those are not used with a noun, but clearly stand instead of one, and therefore they are pronouns.”
“It seems to me,” said the Judge, half to himself, “that sometimes they are adjectives, and sometimes they are pronouns.”
“That is just what I say, my lord,” cried Adjective, “and if you will allow it, I think I know of a way that will make peace between us directly. Let us call them Adjective-Pronouns, and have them between us. When they are used, not with a noun, but instead of one, then Pronoun may have them all to himself; but when they are used like adjectives, before a noun, then we will have them between us, and call them Adjective-Pronouns.”
“That seems very fair,” replied the Judge, “and I certainly allow it. Mr. Pronoun, be kind enough to give us a list of your words, and Mr. Adjective will point out any that may be used as Adjective-Pronouns.”
So Mr. Pronoun began: “I, thou, he, she, it, we, you, they, mine, thine, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs; my, thy, his, her, its, our, your, their.”
“Those last eight are between us,” said Adjective, “for they can all be used before a noun.”
“Myself, thyself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, or yourself, themselves,” said Pronoun, with a little toss of his head, “those, at least, are all mine, Mr. Adjective.”
“Continue repeating your words, sir,” said the Judge, sternly; “do not stop to talk.”
“This, that, these, those,” continued Pronoun.