Ballad: Gregory Parable, LL.D.

In the leafy environs adorned with ivy and bustling with the activity of bees and birds, stood a thatch-roofed, dry rot-free cottage. This quaint dwelling was home to Mary and her scholarly father, Gregory Parable, LL.D., a man of simple pleasures and profound learning. Gregory, an erudite yet childlike scholar, was deeply engrossed in Latin grammars and the ancient texts of Caesar and Balbus, often found pondering their complexities in the early spring green of his garden.

Gregory’s life was a quiet testament to his dedication to classical studies, his days filled with the pursuits of understanding the intricate facets of Latin and its literature. The cottage, a sanctuary of scholarship and simplicity, nestled on a plot of freehold land, was a place where Gregory’s academic passion found peaceful expression under its waterproof thatch.

Into this serene world entered a young man of enigmatic origins, taking up residence under Gregory’s roof. This Mystic One, as he was intriguingly referred to, embarked on pursuits of a different nature—hunting snipe and grouse with a zeal that matched Gregory’s for his scholarly endeavors. As daylight waned and the echoes of gunshots faded, the youth shifted his attention to another target, Mary, whose reciprocal glances hinted at a blossoming affection unnoticed by her absorbed father.

Mary, embodying kindness and warmth, responded with equal fervor to the lodger’s advances, their flirtations unfolding silently under the oblivious gaze of Gregory. Immersed in the world of “Musa Musae,” Gregory remained unaware of the growing connection between Mary and the Mystic One, their shared glances weaving a wordless dialogue that eluded the scholarly father’s detection.

This chapter from “The Bab Ballads” draws a vivid picture of an idyllic existence punctuated by the stirrings of young love, all under the watchful yet unseeing eyes of erudition personified by Gregory Parable, LL.D. The juxtaposition of scholarly pursuit and the universal dance of attraction plays out in the tranquil setting of the Parable household, a nexus where the cerebral and the heartfelt seamlessly intertwine.