And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
This boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "The Elephant
Is very like a snake!"

The FOURTH reached out his eager hand,
And felt about the knee,
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he;
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"

The FIFTH, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'n the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most,
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan."

The SIXTH no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong.

[Illustration: Elephant and Clown having Tea.]

[Page 187--Mixed Animal Land]

An Address to a Mouse

Sly little, cowering, timorous beastie!
Oh what a panic's in thy breastie!
You need not start away so hasty,
With bickering speed:
I should be loth to run and chase thee
I should indeed!

I'm truly sorry man's dominion
Hath broken Nature's social union,
And justifies that ill opinion
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor earth-born companion,
And fellow mortal.

Sometimes, I doubt not, thou dost thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou must live;
A little barley in the shieve
Is small request;
And all thou tak'st, I do believe,
Will ne'er be missed.

R. Burns

Song of the Toad

I am an honest toad,
Living here by the road;
Beneath a stone I dwell,
In a snug little cell.

When the rain patters down,
I let it wet my crown;
And now and then I sip
A drop with my lip.

And now a catch a fly,
And now I wink my eye,
And now I take a hop,
And now and then I stop.

And this is all I do,
And yet they sat it's true
That the toad's face is sad,
And his bite is very bad.

Oh! naughty folks they be
Who tell such tales of me!
For I'm an honest toad
Just living by the road,
Hip, hip, hop.

Mosquito Song

In a summer's night