Part 28 (1/2)

OWED TO THE PLACEBO.

(”Ho ho,” said Mrs. Karp. ”Tell them how it's spelled! O-w-e-d, not o-d-e. And don't go calling it doggerel, William-it's too frisky. If you must, call it pupperel. Ho ho, ho ho.”) And I said into the air what I saw:

All hail to the placebo,

The mild, delightful, effective placebo!

Sing hoo, sing ray,

Sing night, sing day,

Sing while sitting in the latticed gazebo,

Sing while with alpenstock upon Mount Nebo;

Laurels and praise to the wondrous placebo!

Though the placebo is a pill

For the not-so-ill,

It must never occasion your mirth.

Small is its girth

Yet what on earth

From desert to firth

Can boast the worth

Of this radiant pill

For the not-so-ill?

This homely, familiar, not in the least exotic