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96
The Inventions of the Idiot
·
John Kendrick Bangs
86
"They
should,
indeed,"
said
the
Idiot.
"And
in
such
a
fashion
that
when
they
are
governed,
curbed,
and
brought
up
they
do
not
realize
that
they
have
been
governed,
curbed,
and
brought
up.
The
man
who
plays
the
tyrant
with
his
children
isn't
the
man
for
me.
Give
me
the
man
who,
like
my
father,
is
his
son's
intimate,
personal
friend,
his
confidant,
his
chum.
It
may
have
worked
badly
in
my
case.
I
don't
think
it
has--in
any
event,
if
I
were
ever
the
father
of
a
boy
I'd
try
to
make
him
feel
that
I
was
not
a
despot
in
whose
hands
he
was
powerless,
but
a
mainstay
to
fall
back
on
when
things
seemed
to
be
going
wrong--fountain-head
of
good
advice,
a
sympathizer--in
short,
a
chum."
"You
certainly
draw
a
pleasant
picture,"
said
Mr.
Whitechoker,
kindly.
"Thank
you,"
said
the
Idiot.
"It's
not
original
with
me.
My
father
drew
it.
But
despite
my
personal
regard
for
Sammie,
I
do
think
something
ought
to
be
done
to
alleviate
the
sufferings
of
the
parent.
Take
the
mother
of
a
boy
like
Sammie,
for
instance.
She
has
him
all
day
and
generally
all
night.
Sammie's
father
goes
to
business
at
eight
o'clock
and
returns
at
six,
thinking
he
has
worked
hard,
and
wonders
why
it
is
that
Sammie's
mother
looks
so
confoundedly
tired.
It
makes
him
slightly
irritable.
She
has
been
at
home
taking
things
easy
all
day.
He
has
been
in
town
working
like
a
dog.
What
right
has
she
to
be
tired?
He
doesn't
realize
that
she
has
had
to
entertain
Sammie
at
those
hours
of
the
day
when
Sammie
is
in
his
best
form.
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