Let's say things to the bunnies, and watch 'em skitter their tails!

Let's-oh, anything, daddy, so long as it's you and me,

And going truly exploring, and not being in till tea!

Here's your boots (I've brought 'em), and here's your cap and stick,

And here's your pipe and tobacco. Oh, come along out of it -quick!

How the Leopard Got His Spots.

I keep six honest serving-men

(They taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When

And How and Where and Who.

I send them over land and sea,

I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.

I let them rest from nine till five,
For I am busy then,

As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,

For they are hungry men.

But different folk have different views;
I know a person small-

She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!

She sends 'em abroad on her own affairs,
From the second she opens her eyes-
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!

The Elephant's Child.

This is the mouth-filling song of the race that was run by a Boomer.

Run in a single burst-only event of its kind—

Started by Big God Nqong from Warrigaborrigarooma,
Old Man Kangaroo first, Yellow-Dog Dingo behind.

Kangaroo bounded away, his back-legs working like pistonsBounded from morning till dark, twenty-five feet at a bound. Yellow-Dog Dingo lay like a yellow cloud in the distanceMuch too busy to bark. My! but they covered the ground!

Nobody knows where they went, or followed the track that they flew in,

For that Continent had n't been given a name.

They ran thirty degrees, from Torres Straits to the Leeuwin (Look at the Atlas, please), then they ran back as they came.

S'posing you could trot from Adelaide to the Pacific,
For an afternoon's run-half what these gentlemen did-
You would feel rather hot, but your legs would develop
terrific-

Yes, my importunate son, you'd be a Marvellous Kid!
The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo.

I've never sailed the Amazon,

I've never reached Brazil;

But the Don and Magdalena,

They can go there when they will!

Yes, weekly from Southampton,
Great steamers, white and gold,
Go rolling down to Rio

(Roll down-roll down to Rio!).
And I'd like to roll to Rio
Some day before I'm old!

I've never seen a Jaguar

Nor yet an Armadill—

O dilloing in his armour,
And I s'pose I never will,

Unless I go to Rio

These wonders to behold-
Roll down-roll down to Rio-
Roll really down to Rio!
Oh, I'd love to roll to Rio
Some day before I'm old!

The Beginning of the Armadilloes.

China-going P. and O.'s

Pass Pau Amma's playground close,

And his Pusat Tasek lies

Near the track of most B. I.'s

N.Y.K. and N.D.L.

Know Pau Amma's home as well
As the Fisher of the Sea knows
"Bens," M.M.'s, and Rubattinos.
But (and this is rather queer)
A.T.L.'s can not come here;
O. and O. and D.O.A.

Must go round another way.
Orient, Anchor, Bibby, Hall,
Never go that
way at all.

U.C.S. would have a fit

If it found itself on it.

And if "Beavers" took their cargoes

To Penang instead of Lagos,

Or a fat Shaw-Savill bore

Passengers to Singapore,

Or a White Star were to try a

Little trip to Sourabaya,

Or a B.S.A. went on

Past Natal to Cheribon,

Then great Mr. Lloyds would come
With a wire and drag them home!

You'll know what

my

riddle means

When you've eaten mangosteens.

The Crab That Played with the Sea.

Pussy can sit by the fire and sing,

Pussy can climb a tree,

Or play with a silly old cork and string

To 'muse herself, not me.

But I like Binkie my dog, because

He knows how to behave;

So, Binkie's the same as the First Friend was,

And I am the Man in the Cave!

Pussy will play man-Friday till

It's time to wet her paw

And make her walk on the window-sill
(For the footprint Crusoe saw);
Then she fluffles her tail and mews,

And scratches and won't attend.
But Binkie will play whatever I choose,
And he is my true First Friend!

Pussy will rub my knees with her head
Pretending she loves me hard;

But the very minute I go to my bed
Pussy runs out in the yard,

And there she stays till the morning-light;
So I know it is only pretend;

But Binkie, he snores at my feet all night,
And he is my Firstest Friend!

The Cat That Walked by Himself.

There was never a Queen like Balkis,
From here to the wide world's end;
But Balkis talked to a butterfly
As you would talk to a friend.

There was never a King like Solomon,
Not since the world began;
But Solomon talked to a butterfly

As a man would talk to a man.

She was Queen of Sabæa—.

And he was Asia's Lord

But they both of 'em talked to butterflies

When they took their walks abroad!

The Butterfly That Stamped.

THE LOOKING-GLASS

(A Country Dance)

UEEN Bess was Harry's daughter. Stand forward

QUEEN

partners all!

In ruff and stomacher and gown

She danced King Philip down-a down,

And left her shoe to show 'twas true— (The very tune I'm playing you)

In Norgem at Brickwall!1

The Queen was in her chamber, and she was middling old,
Her petticoat was satin, and her stomacher was gold.
Backward and forward and sideways did she pass,
Making up her mind to face the cruel looking-glass.
The cruel looking-glass that will never show a lass
As comely or as kindly or as young as what she was!

Queen Bess was Harry's daughter. Now hand your partners all!

'A pair of Queen Elizabeth's shoes are still at Brickwall House, Northiam, Sussex.