Use to be nice man too, dey say,
Jeremie Bonami,
Talk wit' hees frien' in a frien'ly way
Sam' as you'se'f an' me—
Of course it 's purty beeg job he got,
An' no wan expec' heem talk a lot,
But still would n't hurt very moche, I 'm sure,
If wance in a w'ile he 'd say, "Bonjour."
Yi! Yi! to see heem come down de hill
Some mornin' upon de fall,
W'en de pig is fat an' ready to kill,
He don't know hees frien' at all—
Look at hees face an' it seem to say,
"Important duty I got to-day,
Killin' de pig on de contree side,—
Is n't dat some reason for leetle pride?"
Lissen de small boy how dey shout
W'en Jeremie 's marchin' t'roo
De market place wit' hees cane feex out
Wit' ribbon red, w'ite an' blue—
An' den he jomp on de butcher's block,
An' affer de crowd is stop deir talk,
An' leetle boy holler no more "Hooray,"
Dis is de word Jeremie he say—
"I 'm de only man on de w'ole Ste. Flore
Can kill heem de pig jus' right,
Please t'ink of dat, an' furdermore
Don't matter it 's day or night,
Can do it less tam, five dollar I bet,
Dan any pig-sticker you can get
From de w'ole of de worl', to w'ere I leev'—
Will somebody help to roll up ma sleeve?
"Some feller challenge jus' here an' dere,
An' more on deir own contree,
But me—I challenge dem ev'ryw'ere
All over de worl'—sapree!
To geev' dem a chance, for dere might be some
Beeg feller, for all I know,
But if dey 're ready, wall! let dem come,
An' me—I 'm geevin' dem plaintee show."
Challenge lak dat twenty year or more
He 's makin' it ev'ry fall,
But never a pig-sticker come Ste. Flore
'Cos Jeremie scare dem all—
No wonder it 's makin' heem feel so proud,
Even Emperor Germanie
Can't put on de style or talk more loud
Dan Jeremie Bonami.
But Jeremie's day can't las' alway,
An' so he commence to go
W'en he jomp on de block again an' say
To de crowd stan'nin' dere below,
"Lissen, ma frien', to de word I spik,
For I 'm tire of de challenge until I 'm sick,
Can't say, but mebbe I 'll talk no more
For glory an' honor of ole Ste. Flore.
"I got some trouble aroun' ma place
Wit' ma nice leetle girl Rosine,
An' I see w'en I 'm lookin' on all de face,
You 're knowin' jus' w'at I mean—
Very easy to talk, but w'en dey come
For seein' her twenty young man ba Gum!
I tole you ma frien', it was purty tough,
'Sides wan chance in twenty is not enough—
"Now lissen to me, all you young man
Is wantin' ma girl Rosine—
I offer a chance an' you 'll understan'
It 's bes' you was never seen—
Tree minute start I 'll geev'—no more—
An' if any young feller upon Ste. Flore
Can beat me stickin' de pig nex' fall,
Let heem marry ma girl Rosine—dat 's all."
All right—an' very nex' week he start,
De smartes' boy of de lot—
An' he 's lovin' Rosine wit' all hees heart,
De young Adelard Marcotte—
Don't say very moche about w'ere he go,
But I t'ink mese'f it was Buffalo—
An' plaintee more place on de State dat's beeg
W'ere he don't do not'ing but stick de pig.