Produced by John Bickers, Ian Hodgson, Dagny and Emma Dudding
Certain persons have interrogated the author as to why there was sucha demand for these tales that no year passes without his giving aninstalment of them, and why he has lately taken to writing commasmixed up with bad syllables, at which the ladies publicly knit theirbrows, and have put to him other questions of a like character.
The author declares that these treacherous words, cast like pebbles inhis path, have touched him in the very depths of his heart, and he issufficiently cognisant of his duty not to fail to give to his specialaudience in this prologue certain reasons other than the precedingones, because it is always necessary to reason with children untilthey are grown up, understand things, and hold their tongues; andbecause he perceives many mischievous fellows among the crowd of noisypeople, who ignore at pleasure the real object of these volumes.
In the first place know, that if certain virtuous ladies—I sayvirtuous because common and low class women do not read these stories,preferring those that are never published; on the contrary, othercitizens' wives and ladies, of high respectability and godliness,although doubtless disgusted with the subject-matter, read thempiously to satisfy an evil spirit, and thus keep themselves virtuous.Do you understand, my good reapers of horns? It is better to bedeceived by the tale of a book than cuckolded through the story of agentleman. You are saved the damage by this, poor fools! besideswhich, often your lady becomes enamoured, is seized with fecundagitations to your advantage, raised in her by the present book.Therefore do these volumes assist to populate the land and maintain itin mirth, honour and health. I say mirth, because much is to bederived from these tales. I say honour, because you save your nestfrom the claws of that youthful demon named cuckoldom in the languageof the Celts. I say health, because this book incites that which wasprescribed by the Church of Salerno, for the avoidance of cerebralplethora. Can you derive a like proof in any other typographicallyblackened portfolios? Ha! ha! where are the books that make children?Think! Nowhere. But you will find a glut of children making bookswhich beget nothing but weariness.
But to continue. Now be it known that when ladies, of a virtuousnature and a talkative turn of mind, converse publicly on the subjectof these volumes, a great number of them, far from reprimanding theauthor, confess that they like him very much, esteem him a valiantman, worthy to be a monk in the Abbey of Theleme. For as many reasonsas there are stars in the heavens, he