‘you are lazy,’ said the eldest magician. ‘so your children shall be lazy. they shall be the laziest people in the world. they shall be called the malazy—the lazy people; ’ and he held up his finger to the moon and said, ‘o fisherman, here is the man too lazy to row home. pull his canoe home repetition of the word lazy makes the tone humorous repetition of the word fisherman makes the tone playful repetition of the word fisherman makes the tone serious

The correct answer is that repetition of the word lazy makes the tone humorous.

The repetition of words or phrases is a rhetorical device commonly used to add emphasis and stress in writing. It is generally applied in poetry and prose.

In this case, as in books for children, the repetition is used as a comedic device to draw the reader's attention.

- repetition of the word lazy makes the tone humorous

Explanation:

Rememeber that repetition is when a phrase or a word is repeated several times in order to create certain rhythm and put emphasis to an idea. Another use for repetition is to create humor, most of times simple phrases are repeated multiple times. It's discussed if the simple repetition of the phrase is enough to create humor or if something else is necessary. Some state that repetitions with slight variations are the ones that create humor.

In this case the word lazy is the one that brings humor to the text. We can see that the speaker not only repeats it but plays with the word, changing it and using it in different contexts.