DERIVATIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2299, 24 March 1898, Page 57

DERIVATIONS.

OLTLA PODEIDA. This is a Spanish digit, lfc takes in Sp&iti the place of ihe French -pot aufeu, into which every sort of eatable is thrown. Hence ie is employed to designate odds and ends or a. mixture of scraps. , Itj is called " podrida," or putrid, because amongst the poor the bits are co often recooked that they becomeputrid. PUNCH AND JUDY. The tale of " Punch and Jndy " is taken from a drama attributed to Silvio Fiorillo, an Italian comedian of the seventeenth century. Briefly stated it is as follows -.—Punch in a fife cf jealousy strangles his infant child, when Judy flies to her revenge. She fetches a bludgeon, with which she belabours her husband, till Punch, exasperated, seizes another bludgeon and beats her to death, then flings' into <,he street the two dead bodies. The bodies attract the notice of a police officer, who enters the house. Punch flies for his life, being arrested by an officer of the Inquisition. He is shut no in prison, from which he escapes by a golden key. The test is an allegory, showing how Punch triumphs ocer all the Ills that flesh is heir to — Ennui, in the shape of a dog, is overcome ; Disease, in the guise of a doctor. Is kicked out ; Death is beaten to death ; and in the end the Devil himself is outwitted. WHERE IGNORANCE IS BLISS. The quotation " Where ignorance Is bliss 'tis folly to be wise " is from Gray's " Ode on a Distant Prcspecfc of Eton College." The Ode is, of course, not so well known as tha Elegy. It was General Wolf© who said, before the storming of Quebec, that he would rather be the author of Gray's Elegy than the conqueror of Quebec. DOWN THE NEVER NEYEtt. Drifting onward, never ceasing, To mysterious destiny ;- Every moment, life decreasing, Nearer draws the open sea. " * Drifting outward, drifting ever, Slowly, sadly, sileatly, - ~ Down the stream of Nevec Never Outward to the open sea. Yondpr in the distance yawuing is the last gieat "certainty, Lightness, darkness, night and morning-— „ - Still we drift toward the sea. Eich moment sees a throng embarking, JSach moment" sees a throng go free— Ail thefv chartered courses marking For the deep, dark, open sea. Abandoned hopes and vainfu! pleasures Fading, sinking in the lea, Health, and wealth, and worldly treasures-^ Lost ia all but open saa. Thro' storm and calm we 1-epp the river Leadiug to eternity Down the woadrous Never Never To dead nien'd land- -to open sea. Ruler great, commanding Heaven, Life, and Death, and Destiny, Why are we forever driven Oiirtvavd to the open sea 1 Creator of tnis wondrous world, Judge of all that is to be, Must we be forever hurled Outward to the open sea? From birth to death a passing hour Down the river t.o the sea — King of all the powers of power Must birth and death ftu-evar bef Wellington, March 1898. — Thos. M'Makon.