The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late
There is an inn, a merry old innbeneath an old grey hill,And there they brew a beer so brownThat the Man in the Moon himself came downone night to drink his fill.
The ostler has a tipsy catthat plays a five-stringed fiddle;And up and down he saws his bowNow squeaking high, now purring low,now sawing in the middle.
The landlord keeps a little dogthat is mighty fond of jokes;When there's good cheer among the guests,He cocks an ear at all the jestsand laughs until he chokes.
They also keep a hornéd cowas proud as any queen;But music turns her head like ale,And makes her wave her tufted tailand dance upon the green.
And O! the rows of silver dishesand the store of silver spoons!For Sunday there's a special pair,And these they polish up with careon Saturday afternoons.
The Man in the Moon was drinking deep,and the cat began to wail;A dish and a spoon on the table danced,The cow in the garden madly prancedand the little dog chased his tail.
The Man in the Moon took another mug,and then rolled beneath his chair;And there he dozed and dreamed of ale,Till in the sky the stars were pale,and dawn was in the air.
Then the ostler said to his tipsy cat:'The white horses of the Moon,They neigh and champ their silver bits;But their master's been and drowned his wits,and the Sun'll be rising soon!'
So the cat on the fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle,a jig that would wake the dead:He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune,While the landlord shook the Man in the Moon:'It's after three!' he said.
They rolled the Man slowly up the hilland bundled him into the Moon,While his horses galloped up in rear,And the cow came capering like a deer,and a dish ran up with the spoon.
Now quicker the fiddle went deedle-dum-diddle;the dog began to roar,The cow and the horses stood on their heads;The guests all bounded from their bedsand danced upon the floor.
With a ping and a pang the fiddle-strings broke!the cow jumped over the Moon,And the little dog laughed to see such fun,And the Saturday dish went off at a runwith the silver Sunday spoon.
The round Moon rolled behind the hill,as the Sun raised up her head.She* hardly believed her fiery eyes;For though it was day, to her surprisethey all went back to bed!