In a word . . . Babe

One of the joys in life is hearing things small children come out with. The lack of any filter can be an endless source of mirth.

There was a four-year-old relative of my own who was recently busily weeding a flower bed with great industry.

Eventually completing her mighty task, she announced, urbi et orbi ". . . the flowers are happy now".

Or the three-year-old grandson of a family friend who told his grandfather “. . . Granda, I love you.”

His grandmother was listening and asked “. . . what about me?” Her grandson thought about it, then said, “. . . I love you too but not when you’re shouting at Granda.” That silenced her, for a while.

But a longtime favourite of my own from such “mouth of babes” stories, one I treasure, concerns another young relative and grandson of my late uncle Tom, then in the last days of his life on this earth.

Tom was visited in hospital by his daughter Mary and her lively young son Robert. Now Tom had a particularly soft spot for Robert, then a five- year-old red-head who was full of mischief and always in trouble. Which, of course, is no longer the case.

Anyhow Robert brought in a packet of Maltesers sweets for his grandfather, which he gave to him on arrival at the hospital bed.

Tom, understanding precisely what Robert hoped would happen next, took the sweets, praised his grandson mightily, thanked him profusely for the sweets and put them in a bedside locker, which he then closed firmly.

Robert was perplexed. This was not going to plan. He was silent for a bit, then whispered something to his mother. She was aghast.”Don’t say such a thing,” she said.

Tom was naturally curious and asked “. . .what did he say?” but Mary could not bring herself to repeat Robert’s overwhelming question. “What did he say?” insisted Tom. Caught between her father and a hard place Mary eventually relented. Gingerly, she repeated “. . . he said ‘when Granda dies can I have the sweets?’.” It was the last great belly-laugh my uncle Tom had.

He died three days later and no doubt the happier for Robert’s question.

Babe is thought to have originated with the early Middle English word baban, which probably originated as a nursery word for a child. More recently it has been superseded by "baby".

[ inaword@irishtimes.com ]