In this playful sibling squabble, a bossy brother tells his sister to go to bed and rest her weary head. She fires back with threats of a “battered hide” and scratches. He escalates dramatically: he’ll turn her into mutton broth, killing her as easily as a moth. Unimpressed, she looks him in the eye and says, “Only try!” So he scurries to the cook, asking to borrow a frying-pan to make an Irish stew—with his sister as the main ingredient. The cook, incredulous, repeats the request and hears the gruesome plan, then answers with a single, flat “No.” The rhyme finishes with the deadpan moral: “Never stew your sister.” The whole poem bounces along with a nursery-rhyme lilt, making the absurd threat feel like a gleeful game. The sister’s defiant calm and the cook’s firm refusal undercut the brother’s bluster, creating a mood that’s mischievous, mock-serious, and very funny.
Brother And Sister — Summary
"SISTER, sister, go to bed! Go and rest your weary head." Thus the prudent brother said.
"Do you want a battered hide, Or scratches to your face applied?" Thus his sister calm replied.
"Sister, do not raise my wrath. I'd make you into mutton broth As easily as kill a moth"
The sister raised her beaming eye And looked on him indignantly And sternly answered, "Only try!"
Off to the cook he quickly ran. "Dear Cook, please lend a frying-pan To me as quickly as you can."
And wherefore should I lend it you?" "The reason, Cook, is plain to view. I wish to make an Irish stew."
"What meat is in that stew to go?" "My sister'll be the contents!" "Oh" "You'll lend the pan to me, Cook?" "No!"
Moral: Never stew your sister.