Exchange of Compliments

At ten o'clock last night an ugly fellow,

Of skinny exterior and most ungracious manner,

Was thrown with a total loss of gravity

From the flapping doors of the Blue Lantern.

He lurched in most ungainly fashion past this person's shop —

This person standing at his door —

And used base language of an unpolished nature,

Calling him Ugly Yellow Bastard,

Hop Fiend and Dirty Doper,

Eater of Dogs and Cheater at Puckapoo,

Son-of-a-Bitch and devotee of vice.

This person did not respond in like manner,

Knowing that he is not himself all-perfect,

Nor even in every hour

A devout follower of the teachings of the Four Books.

He contented himself with repeating in a far-reaching tone,

The words of the lofty Lao Tzu:

When pot upon stove reproveth kettle for blackness,

Pot speaking out of turn.