 | A Flight of Fancies |  |
113
SQUIRREL AND COW
A Squirrel, sitting on a bough,
Was greatly puzzled by a Cow.
“I'd give a nut to learn,” he said,
“If, when it's time to go to bed,
You knock those branches off your head.
Was greatly puzzled by a Cow.
“I'd give a nut to learn,” he said,
“If, when it's time to go to bed,
You knock those branches off your head.
“I cannot find a single trace
Of knowledge in your foolish face.
It would be hard for such a Fright,
With one half red, the other white,
To feel that what she does is right.
Of knowledge in your foolish face.
It would be hard for such a Fright,
With one half red, the other white,
To feel that what she does is right.
“Instead of looking like a clown,
You ought to dress yourself in brown,
And then, by taking exercise,
As Squirrels, Pigeons, Butterflies,
And Honey-Bees, reduce your size.
You ought to dress yourself in brown,
And then, by taking exercise,
As Squirrels, Pigeons, Butterflies,
And Honey-Bees, reduce your size.
“How can you dully contemplate
The creatures that the Woodfolk hate?
How can you let that girl (whose teeth
I rather like) from Deadman's Heath
So tug and squeeze you underneath?
The creatures that the Woodfolk hate?
How can you let that girl (whose teeth
I rather like) from Deadman's Heath
So tug and squeeze you underneath?
114
“Too big to frolic on a bough,
You live and die a nutless cow!—
A parent satisfied to fail
Her calf, and feed a milking-pail,
And whisk a limp and ropey tail.”
You live and die a nutless cow!—
A parent satisfied to fail
Her calf, and feed a milking-pail,
And whisk a limp and ropey tail.”
“You brown barbarian of the beech,”
('Twas thus the Cow began her speech)
“A head possessing so immense
A stock-in-trade of impudence
Has little room for commonsense.
('Twas thus the Cow began her speech)
“A head possessing so immense
A stock-in-trade of impudence
Has little room for commonsense.
“By being scolded and abused
I'm far less angry than amused.
Though vulgar chatterboxing serves
To help you criticise my curves,
It fails to get upon my nerves.
I'm far less angry than amused.
Though vulgar chatterboxing serves
To help you criticise my curves,
It fails to get upon my nerves.
“Within this easy-going brain
I look for what will best explain
The folly of your narrow view,
And find it in the fact that you
Have never had a cud to chew.
I look for what will best explain
The folly of your narrow view,
And find it in the fact that you
Have never had a cud to chew.
“Remain as proud as Punch to be
The russet tenant of a tree,
And I, content with horns and tail,
Will gladly browse along the vale
And fill at morn and eve a pail.
The russet tenant of a tree,
And I, content with horns and tail,
Will gladly browse along the vale
And fill at morn and eve a pail.
115
“I know a dozen friends who say
That if the upper parts were grey,
The under-regions and the jaws
As crimson as a bunch of haws,
A Squirrel might deserve applause.
That if the upper parts were grey,
The under-regions and the jaws
As crimson as a bunch of haws,
A Squirrel might deserve applause.
“But Wisdom gives the perfect suit
To every animal and fruit.
For all of us, however dressed,
However tailed, however tressed,
The plan adopted is the best.”
To every animal and fruit.
For all of us, however dressed,
However tailed, however tressed,
The plan adopted is the best.”
| A Flight of Fancies | |