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255

THE SMITH AND THE KING

A smith upon a summer's day
Did call upon a King;
The King exclaimed, “The Queen's away,
Can I do anything?”
“I pray you can,” the Smith replied;
“I want a bit of bread.”
“Why?” cried the King. The fellow sighed:
“I'm hungry, sire,” he said.
“Dear me! I'll call my Chancellor,
He understands such things;
Your claims I cannot cancel, or
Deem them fit themes for kings.”
“Sir Chancellor, why here's a wretch
Starving—like rats or mice!”
The Chancellor replied, “I'll fetch
The First Lord in a trice.”
The First Lord came, and by his look
You might have guessed he'd shirk;
Said he, “Your Majesty's mistook,
This is the Chief Clerk's work.”
256

The Chief Clerk said the case was bad,
But quite beyond his power,
Seeing it was the Steward had
The keys of cake and flour.
The Steward wept; “The keys I've lost,”
Said he; “but in a span
I'll call the Smith. Why, Holy Ghost!
Here is the very man.”
“Hurrah! hurrah!” they loudly cried,
“How cleverly we've done it!
We've solved this question deep and wide,
Well nigh ere we'd begun it.”
“Thanks!” said the Smith; “O fools and vile:
Go moulder on the shelf!
The next time I am starving I'll
Take care to help myself.”
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