Sir
Arthur, the sinner,
Ate
twelve fish for dinner,
And you may believe it’s just as
I say!
For
if you but knew it,
’Twas
I saw him do it,
And just as it happened, sir, this was
the way:
One
day this tall fish
Swallowed
this small fish
(He had just eaten a smaller one
still);
Up
came this queer one
And
gobbled that ’ere one
Didn’t he show the most magical
skill?
Then
came this other
And
chewed up his brother,
Made but one gulp, and behold he was through!
He
was a gold fish
Oh!
he was a bold fish
But before he could wink he was eaten
up too!
Up
came a flounder,
He
was a ten-pounder,
Opened his mouth, swallowed him
and was gone;
Before
you could blink, sir,
Before
he could shrink, sir,
This fish came by and the flounder was
gone!
(Alas
for my story,
’Tis
getting quite gory!
So many swallows a summer might make.)
This
one came smiling,
And,
sweetly beguiling,
Gobbled the last like a piece of hot cake;
A
cod followed after;
’Twould
move you to laughter
To see in his turn how this hake came
up,
Swallowed
that cod, sir,
As
if he were scrod, sir,
And then went by in a kind of a huff!
Last,
but not least,
Came
this fellow, the beast
Down went the hake like a small pinch
of snuff!
Then
Cap’en Jim caught him,
And
then mamma bought him,
And then Annie cooked him, served up in
a dish;
And
so this small sinner
Who
had him for dinner
’Twas just as I say, sir had
eaten twelve fish!