In days gone by, when cows could fly
And goblins rode on bears;
When fairies danced upon the green
And giants moped in lairs,
There lived alone upon a shelf
A tinsie, winsie little elf.
Just when the stars came out at night
And moonbeams filled the earth with light,
Down from his perch this little elf
Would jump and wander by himself.
He wore a pair of little wings
Tied in their place by golden strings.
One day he took a kind of notion
To take a trip upon the ocean.
He combed his hair and washed his face
And put his little wings in place,
Then from his shelf he softly stole
And went to see his friend the mole
Who gave to him a pea-green boat
And guaranteed that it would float.
A funny thing about this boat
'Twas patterned from a ten-pound note.
The little elf was greatly pleased
And laughed until he sneezed and sneezed;
He launched his boat upon the sea
And kicked his little heels in glee.
The mole looked on in glad surprise
(For in those days all moles had eyes.)
He shouted out a loud farewell
As the little row-boat rose and fell.
The elf picked up a golden oar
And soon lost sight of mole and shore.
The elf rowed out for quite a way
And in the waves did sport and play,
Until at length the sun sank low
And then he thought it time to go.
Now just as luck would have it then
A prowling sea gull left his den.
The savage sea gull loudly laughed
To see an elf in such a craft,
And swooping down upon the water
He did a thing he hadn't oughter,
For with his strong and sturdy beak
He caused the boat to spring a leak.
He said he longed for a little change
And the bank-note boat was just in range;
The poor young elf gave one big holler
Just as the sea gull made a swallow
(And this is strange indeed to follow
For a gull himself is just a swallow.)
The faithful mole heard this loud yell
And rushed down to the shore pell-mell.
Alas, alas he was too late
And saw his friend's unhappy fate;
He groaned, and shrieked and tore his fur
And raised an awful din and stir.
The sea gull heard this awful racket
And seized the mole, just like a packet.
He carried him across the seas
To teach the young gulls A B C's.
But the loving mole went blind with rage
And they had to put him in a cage,
And ever since that fatal night
The moles have all been out of sight.