Poor TOM was a deal to be pitied as well as blamed; for although he was
the one who committed the crime, he was not the only one who reaped a
benefit therefrom. But the traditional historian tells us, he was the
only one who was punished therefor; so, while we blame him, let us shed
a tear of sympathy because he alone got the beating, the others the
eating. The scene is graphically described thusly--
"Tom, Tom the Piper's son,
Stole a pig, and away he run."
Here we see Tom, the good-for-nothing, standing idly around, listening
to the witching strains of his father's bagpipe, played by the
industrious musician before the doors of the well-to-do villagers, with
the laudable view of obtaining the wherewith to purchase the meat that
both might eat; and while the instrument that has well served its day
and generation is groaning and wheezing under the pressure brought to
bear upon it, TOM'S eyes, roving around from window to door, happen to
light on a beautiful sucking-pig, that reposes in all the innocent
beauty of baby pighood before the open door of a zealous stickler for
human rights.
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