By Shel SilversteinThe gypsies are coming, the old people say,
To buy little children and take them away
Fifty cents for fat ones
Twenty cents for lean ones
Fifteen cents for dirty ones
Thirty cents for clean ones
A nickel each for mean ones
The gypsies are coming, and maybe tonight
To buy little children and lock them up tight.
Eighty cents for husky ones
Quarter for the weak ones
Penny each for noisy ones
A dollar for the meek ones
Forty cents for happy ones
Eleven cents for sad ones
And, kiddies, when they come to buy,
It won’t do any good to cry,
But—just between yourself and I—
They NEVER buy the bad ones!
This poem is not fair to the Roma People and that is why Silverstein changed the title to the "Goonies are Coming" in a later edition of Where the Sidewalk Ends. Even though the poem is offensive, I still like to see the monetary values put on the different kinds of children. The highest price, $1.00, goes to the "meak ones" and the lowest price, 1 cent, goes for the "noisy ones."
From low to high:
1 cent . . . noisy
5 cents . . . mean
11 cents . . . sad
15 cents . . . dirty
20 cents . . . lean
25 cents . . . weak
30 cents . . . clean
40 cents . . . happy
50 cents . . . fat
80 cents . . . husky
$1.00 . . . meak
What would you pay for cute ones?
It's not racist, you dunderhead! People need to grow a thicker skin. Stop looking for Inequality Boogeymen and learn to enjoy life a little!
ReplyDeleteYes, loosen those tightywhities . . . Unless that’s racist too ...
DeleteI guess your skin’s so thick it’s made you dense in the head. Roma people have been stereotyped for kidnapping children and drawn with offensively exaggerated stereotyped features for a very long time. There’s still British people who use G*psy as a slur to mean their ethnic group is all thieves. Like how racists often refer to black people they know nothing about as “thugs” - a violent and unfair stereotype of a whole people or culture. Also a silly assumption that people who stand up for treating people right don’t enjoy life lol. I’m enjoying my Where the Sidewalk Ends book very much despite this poem still being in there disappointing. I’m glad he changed the name, but it also isn’t his best work in any way.
DeleteHi! Thanks for commenting and yes, I agree with you actually.
ReplyDelete