. Comment on humour in the poem, "The Tale of Custard the Dragon'.
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The Tale of Custard the Dragon – Ogden Nash has written a poem about a little girl Belinda who owns many pets, namely, a black kitten named ink, grey mouse named blink, yellow dog named mustard and a coward dragon named custard. The poet has described every character to be brave except the dragon who is a coward. But the whole situation changes when a pirate attacked Belinda’s house. No one else had the guts to face him, it was the dragon that killed the pirate. All the characters are happy because they are saved by the dragon but quickly change their thoughts and describe themselves to be more powerful had the situation not been so confusing for all of them.
The Tale of Custard the Dragon Summary – The tale of custard the dragon is a ballad. It is a humorous poem about a cowardly dragon named custard. Custard is a pet of Belinda, a little girl who lives in a little white house with her pets. She had a black kitten named ink, a grey mouse named blink, a yellow dog mustard and a cowardly dragon custard. The poet says that all of them are very brave except the dragon. Others were described as brave and are compared with animals like bear, tiger or lion but the dragon is very timid. He always demands a safe place for himself. All the other characters make fun of him. But one night they are surprised by the entry of a pirate in the house. All of them get frightened and start hiding here and there. But to everyone’s surprise, the dragon not only tackles him but also eats him up. As all of them are saved by custard, they thank him. But at the end, they realize that they used to make fun of the dragon because of his being timid. So, all of them suddenly start saying that they are more brave and could have handled the situation in a much better way. Here the poet has tried to say that sometimes a timid person is the actual hero in the toughest situations of life.
The poem 'The Tale of Custard the Dragon' is a humorous ballad by Ogden Nash.
- The poem has many elements of humour, like the names of the characters, the storyline and the poet's depiction of the characters.
- The names of the characters– Custard, Mustard, Ink and Blink are unconventional names and are hilarious. Each name throws up funny images, especially Custard, who is a dragon.
- The poet's description of the characters also adds to the humour quotient. First he describes them all(except Custard) as brave, and paints an exaggerated picture of their bravery. Yet, when it is time to act, they behave in the most cowardly manner. Ink 'trickled down' while Blink 'mouseholed'. Custard saved the situation, but afterwards everyone is busy praising their own bravery and making excuses. It is as if nothing had happened at all!
- The storyline is also funny, with Belinda tickling the dragon, and everyone else laughing at him. All the dragon wants is to hide. The appearance of the pirate is another hilarious part of the poem. He is wicked like the pirates in fairy tales and does not have good intentions. Despite being a pirate, his aim is lousy. Also, the pirate dies a comic death- by being eaten up by a dragon called Custard.
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