There was a Serpent who had to sing,

He simply gave up Serpenting.

Because.

He didn’t like his Kind of Life;

He couldn’t find a proper Wife;

He was serpent with a soul;

He got no Pleasure down his Hole.

And so, of course,

He had to Sing,

And sing he did,

Like anything!

 

The Birds, they were Astounded;

And various Measures Propounded to stop the Serpent’s Awful Racket: They bought a Drum.

He wouldn’t Whack it.

They sent,

You always send to Cuba 

And got a Most Comodious Tuba;

They got a Horn,

They got a Flute,

But Nothing would suit.

He said, look Birds,

All this is futile:

I do not like to Bang or Tootle.

And then he cut loose with a Horrible Note

That practicly split the top of His Throat.

You see, he said,

With a Serpent’s Leer,

I’m serious about my Singing Career.

And the Woods Resounded with many a shriek,

As the Birds flew off to the End of Next Week.

 

有一隻蛇必須唱歌，

他只是放棄了緩慢而彎曲地行動。

因為。

他不喜歡他的生活；

他找不到一位合適的妻子；

他是有靈魂的蛇；

他在洞裡沒有快樂。

當然，

他不得不唱，

他唱了，

就像其他動物！

 

鳥兒，他們很震驚；

並提出了各種措施來阻止蛇的可怕喧嚷：他們買了一個鼓。

他不會打鼓。

他們發送出去，

你總是發送到古巴

並獲得了最寬敞的大號；

他們有一個小號，

他們得了長笛，

但沒有什麼比較適合。

他說，看吧，鳥兒們，

這一切都是徒勞的：

我不喜歡砰砰作響或持續輕輕吹笛。

然後他毫無約束唱出一個可怕的音符

實際上他的喉嚨頂部裂開了。

你看，他說，

有著蛇的媚眼，

我對待我的歌唱生涯是認真的。

森林裡充斥了許多尖叫聲，

而鳥飛走了，直到下禮拜結束。