Hippopotamus, and blew bubbles into her
ear when she was sleeping in the water after meals; but he never let any
one touch Kolokolo Bird.

At last things grew so exciting that his dear families went off one by
one in a hurry to the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo
River, all set about with fever-trees, to borrow new noses from the
Crocodile. When they came back nobody spanked anybody any more; and ever
since that day, O Best Beloved, all the Elephants you will ever see,
besides all those that you won't, have trunks precisely like the trunk
of the 'satiable Elephant's Child.

I KEEP six honest serving-men;
(They taught me all I knew)
Their names are What and Where and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
_I_ give them all a rest.

_I_ let them rest from nine till five.
For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
For they are hungry men:
But different folk have different views;
I know a person small--
She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!
She sends 'em abroad on her own affairs,
From the second she opens her eyes--
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!

[Illustration: The Sing-song of Old Man Kangaroo]

THE SING-SONG OF OLD MAN KANGAROO

NOT always was the Kangaroo as now we do behold him, but a Different
Animal with four short legs. He was grey and he was woolly, and his
pride was inordinate: he danced on an outcrop in the middle of
Australia, and he went to the Little God Nqa.

He went to Nqa at six before breakfast, saying, 'Make me different from
all other animals by five this afternoon.'

Up jumped Nqa from his seat on the sand-flat and shouted, 'Go away!'

He was grey and he was woolly, and his pride was inordinate: he danced
on a rock-ledge in the middle of Australia, and he went to the Middle
God Nquing.

He went to Nquing at eight after breakfast, saying, 'Make me different
from all other animals; make me, also, wonderfully popular by five this
afternoon.'

Up jumped Nquing from his burrow in the spinifex and shouted, 'Go away!'

He was grey and he was woolly, and his pride was inordinate: he danced
on a san