Life, 1886-08-12 · page 3 of 16
Life — August 12, 1886 — page 3: what you’re looking at
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# "Her Reply" - Analysis This page presents a romantic poem/illustration titled "Her Reply," depicting a man and woman fishing by a stream. The man flirts ("I'd bite at your hook if I were a fish"), and the woman responds coolly that she has no interest in such games ("Such a notion is far from my wish, / For who cares to angle for suckers?"). The satire targets conventional courtship rituals of the era—specifically the coy, indirect "fishing" metaphor men used to attract women. The woman's sharp retort mocks this approach, suggesting that intelligent women saw through such transparent romantic tactics. Below are unrelated humor pieces about a hickory nut fable and an ass on a roof. The right column contains brief "Foreign Items"—brief news snippets about European events, typical of Life's satirical news section.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE- S we sat on the bank of a beautiful stream, With hooks dangling down in the water, My soul seemed to swim in a heavenly dream, So fair was New York's lovely daughter. “T’d bite at your hook if I were a fish.” With a smile her enchanting mouth puckers, As she says: ‘Such a notion is far from my wish, For who cares to angle for suckers 2?” * * * * * * * Abashed I impaled another worm, And the murmuring waters continued to murm. FABLES FOR THE TIMES. THE HAUGHTY HICKORY NUT. HICKORY NUT was once floating down a stream with some apples, when it suddenly exclaimed, with arrogant enthusiasm : “ How we apples do swim!” Scarcely were the words uttered, when a passer-by seized the Hickory Nut, carried it home, and ground it to atoms in a cider mill. MoraL: This Fable teaches that false pretence is often its own reward ; and that a liar may experience discomfiture from the very brilliancy of his own lying. THE ASS ON THE ROOF. N Ass one day climbed upon the roof of a house, and after playing about for a while, fell through into the room below. ‘The roof of a house is no proper playground for an ass,” remarked the owner of the house to the uncere- monious intruder. ‘There’s where you make a mistake,” responded the Ass ; “ for nothing but an Ass would play on such a place.” MoRAL: This Fable teaches that an event or circumstance, seemingly out of harmony with its environment, may bear some obscure correlation with the eternal fitness of things. OME of the “ green peas” we test at this season are said to be natural product. FOREIGN ITEMS. OULANGER'’S alleged coup a’éat turns out to be simply a boil on the neck. THE Bavarians are thought to be dissatisfied with the Regent Luitpold because he is not an idiot. Two French noblemen recently fought a duel in the suburbs of Paris. The weapons used were syringes charged with Apollinaris water. Each received the fire of his adversary in his shirt bosom, and an effusive reconciliation followed. It is suspected that the French Government wants to change the course of the Rhine with a big ditch and make it run through French territory. This scheme would take the wind out of some splendid German poetry. THE crank who wanted to marry Queen Victoria has changed his mind after seeing her photograph. THE Czar will give each Siberian exile an extra slug of tallow on his next birthday. Ir is estimated that the Vatican contains enough remnants of the true Cross to construct an exposition building. IT is stated that relic-hunters have carried away the largest part of Mount Blanc during the last few years. comicbooks.com