Ding-dong, ding-dong! Do you hear the yonder clanging? The church bells now toll the five o’clock hour, and it is time for our sweet boy Henry to take his evening’s rest. Come, good Christian neighbors, and let us all wish the young fellow a good-night!
Here he is, our sleepy little moppet! Soon the sun shall pinken and the foxes and geese shall retire to their pens, and so it goes that you, too, pretty Henry, must have your boy’s sleep.
What’s that, pretty Henry? You wish to roll your ball in the garden? Not at this hour, you silly monkey! Playtime is finished for today.
No, no, nor is it the time for mitt jousting, Henry. You’ve had your day’s amusements and you’ve suckled your eve’s milk, so now you must go to your bed.
Henry. Don’t be defiant, dear boy. A boy-child must sleep plentifully if he wishes to grow big and fat.
Now, be a good lad and have a brandy to heavy your eyelids.
Ah, yes, there’s that drowsy coming on. Come now, attend to your bed chores while you’ve still got legs.
Yes, good, give those milk-teeth a hearty scrub. As they say, a washed mouth makes sweeter prayers! Finish that up, then go to the toilet to make your evening diarrheas.
What a well-trained lad you are, pretty Henry! Always faithful in your discharge! After you’ve emptied all your pellets, make haste to your bedchamber and put on your sleeping costume.
O, Henry, you precious idiot. You’ve become dressed in your sleeping britches, but you’ve forgotten the blouse!
Yes, good, that’s it. Pull the blouse all the way down over your tum-tum and get into bed.
O, dear. You seem bothered. Is something the matter, pretty Henry?
What’s that you’re pointing at? The closet? Ah, I see. You’re scared that Willie Winkie has come to your closet to haunt you in the night. Let us have a look then, and you shall see that there is no cause for fright.
See? Nothing in your closet but your cotton-wool trousers and school gowns. Just close your eyes, forget your worries, and soon the slumber ferry will come deliver you into darkness.
Yes, good, just like that. A sleepy babe in his nest.
O, what a lovely treat! The townspeople have arrived to wish you a pleasant sleep. “Good-night, pretty Henry!” they say. Good-night, indeed!
Now you, dear readers, now it is your turn to bid our darling midget a good-night. Go and tell him your wishes in the comments!
There now. Our runt is on the kip. Let us go quietly so he may have his forty winks. Good-night, pretty Henry. May your dreams be warmed by God’s good breath, and may the bald moon shepherd your rest.
