By Ernestine Cobern Beyer

Too Many Tails

There once was a monkey named Bimbo, my dear,
Who lived in a country far distant from here.
He could scamper and climb, he could swing from a limb,
Or hang upside-down if it suited his whim.
Yet he sighed and he moped without pause or restraint.
"I've only one tail!" was his constant complaint.
"If only one tail is so handy," thought he,
"How dapper and dandy a second would be!"

Now, it happened one day as he swung through the wood,
Sighing and moping as only he could,
He came to a well where he paused for a drink,
Then sat himself down for a moment to think.
And of course, being Bimbo, he thought without fail:
"Oh my! How I'd like an additional tail!"

Well, honest to goodness! Believe it or not,
He found when he presently rose from the spot,
That the wish he'd been wishing had promptly come true!
Instead of one tail, Bimbo now possessed two!
You see, quite by chance (Oh, it's wondrous to tell!)
He had happened to drink from a magical well!

He scampered away with his tails in the air,
And finding a branch, he played happily there.
But after awhile, an idea occurred
Which I think you'll agree was a trifle absurd.

"If two tails," he thought, "are so much to my liking,
"Three would be even more handsome and striking!"
With this in his mind, he swung earthward, and then,
He drank from the Magical Well once again.
Yes, greedily thirsty, he drank like a fish--
And Bimbo once more was granted his wish!

Filled to the brim with both water and glee,
He merrily clambered a coconut tree.
But once he was there, I am sorry to say,
He found that his tails were a bit in the way.
Tail number one caught a branch in its grip,
Tail number two gave a swish and a flip,
And catching another branch high from the ground,
It wrapped itself firmly and fondly around.
As for tail number three--with embarrassing zest,
It tightly encircled a large hornets' nest.

Hearing his outcries, the animals came
And laughed to behold Bimbo's sorrow and shame.
But finally loosing himself, the poor monk,
Followed by hornets, fell plunkety-plunk!
And where did he land? Do you want me to tell?
He landed head-first in the Magical Well!
Wiser (and wetter!) he climbed out . . . and then,
He heartily wished to have one tail again!
"Those two extra tails, though delightful," thought he,
"Came pretty near making a monkey of me!"