Tradition and verse — not medical advice

The Little Big Man

Rabindranath Tagore, The Crescent Moon (1913, Macmillan and Company). Public domain.

Shown in author's own English -- not a translation we made.

I am small because I am a little child. I shall be big when I am as old as my father is.

My teacher will come and say, "It is late, bring your slate and your books."

I shall tell him, "Do you not know I am as big as father? And I must not have lessons any more."

I shall dress myself and walk to the fair where the crowd is thick.

My uncle will come rushing up to me and say, "You will get lost, my boy; let me carry you."

I shall answer, "Can't you see, uncle, I am as big as father. I must go to the fair alone."

Mother will say, "What are you about, naughty child?"

I shall tell her, "Mother, don't you know, I am as big as father, and I must give silver to my nurse."

In plain words (ours, not the poet's): a child imagines all the grown-up things they'll get to do once they're as big as their father — no lessons, no one to carry them, no rules.

Why public domain: Tagore wrote The Crescent Moon in English himself, first published London 1913. US: pre-1929 publication, public domain in the US. Tagore died 1941; public domain in India (life + 60 years) since 2002.

Read the original in full

Back to lullabies · Bedtime stories