Explore "The Grocery Man and the Bear" by Ring Lardner on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
He was weary of all of his usual joys; / His books and his blocks made him tired, / And so did his games and mechanical toys, / And the songs he had always admired; / So I told him a story, a story so new / It had never been heard anywhere; / A tale disconnected, unlikely, untrue, / Called The Grocery Man and the Bear.
I didn't think much of the story despite / The fact 'twas a child of my brain.
And I never dreamt, when I told it that night, / That I'd have to tell it again; / I never imagined 'twould make such a hit / With the audience of one that was there / That for hours at a time he would quietly sit / Through The Grocery Man and the Bear.
To all other stories, this one is preferred; / It's the season's best seller by far, / And out at our house it's as frequently heard / As cuss-words in Mexico are.
When choo-choos and horses and picture books fail, / He'll remain, quite content, in his chair, / While I tell o'er and o'er the incredible tale / Of The Grocery Man and the Bear.