Jack and His Pony, Tom

H. Belloc

Jack had a little pony, Tom.

He frequently would take it from

The stable where it used to stand

And give it sugar with his hand.

He also gave it oats and hay

And carrots twenty times a day

And grass in basketfuls and greens

And swedes and mangels: also beans;

And patent foods from various sources

And bread—which isn’t good for horses—

And chocolate and apple-rings,

And lots and lots of other things

The most of which do not agree

With Polo Ponies such as he,

130And all in such a quantity

As ruined his digestion wholly

And turned him from a Pono Poly

—I mean a Polo Pony—into

A case that clearly must be seen to,

Because he swelled and swelled and swelled.

Which, when the kindly boy beheld,

He gave it medicine by the pail

In malted milk, and nutmeg ale,

And yet it only swelled the more

Until its stomach touched the floor;

And then it heaved and groaned as well

And staggered, till at last it fell

And found it could not rise again.

Jack wept and prayed—but all in vain.

The pony died, and, as it died,

Kicked him severely in the side.

Moral

Kindness to animals should be

Attuned to their brutality.

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