The Monkey's Disgrace
Three monkeys sat in a coconut tree,
Discussing things that are said to be;
Said one to the others, "Now listen you two,
There's a certain rumor that can't be true:
That man descended from our noble race,
The very idea is a disgrace!
"No monkey ever deserted his wife,
Starved her babies, and ruined her life;
And you've never known a mother monk,
To leave her babies with others to bunk,
Or pass them on from one to the other,
Till they scarcely know who is their mother.
"And another thing you'll never see,
A monk build a fence round a coconut tree,
And let the coconuts go to waste,
Forbidding all other monks to taste;
Why, if I put a fence around a tree,
Starvation will force you to steal from me!
"Here's another thing a monk won't do:
Go out at night and get in a stew,
Or use a gun, a club or a knife,
To take some other dumb monkey's life!
Yes, man descended, the ornery cuss,
but, brother, he didn't descend from us!
