On Babies by Jerome K. Jerome. Short summary

5 seconds

Jerome doesn’t understand why all babies wear shirts that have long sleeves. He also thinks that a good solution is to introduce different styles for boys and girls.

1 minute

An English writer cannot understand the reason why all babies wear long-sleeved shirts. One day he decided to talk about this subject with a woman whose name is unknown. But she could not answer his question. Moreover, it seemed to Jerome that she resented him. After that, the author decided not to try to get into the essence of the above-mentioned question anymore.

The English writer believes that different styles for boys and girls should be introduced, so that in the future it would be easy to distinguish them. In Jerome’s opinion, neither hair, speech, nor clothing can reliably determine their gender. The author adds that anyone, according to an unknown law of nature, invariably makes the mistake of calling a little boy a girl and vice versa. He states that after an incorrect determination of sex all relatives begin to consider the loved one a fraud, as well as a complete idiot.

The English poet advises never to call babies by the word «it».