"These hats are driving me mad!" The king's voice rang out through all the palace. "Why waste time with a child's bow and arrow. Fetch me the mightiest bow and arrow in all my realm -- fetch the yeoman of the bowmen!"
"Yeoman of the bowman," echoed all the lords and noblemen of the court.
A gigantic man strode out across the terrace. His bow was as big as the branch of a tree. The arrow was twice as long as Bartholomew, and thicker than his wrist.
"Yeoman of the bowmen," said the king, "shoot off this boy's hat... and make it stay off!"
Bartholomew was trembling so hard that he could scarcely stand straight. The yeoman bent back his mighty bow.
G-r-r-zibb!... Like a mad giant hornet the arrow tore through the air toward Bartholomew Cubbins.
G-r-r-zapp!... The sharp arrowhead bit through his hat and carried it off -- on and on for a full half mile.
G-r-r-zopp!... It plunked to a stop in the heart of an oak tree. Yet there on Bartholomew's head sat another hat.
The face of the yeoman of the bowmen went white as the palace walls. "It's black magic!" he shrieked.
-- Doctor Seuss The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
Michigan Maritime Museum – Executive Director
10 hours ago
