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Michael Sinestro
Our friends now found themselves within a cave To them much comfort and safety it gave Water and shelter in ample supply The bullfrog’s croaking for their lullaby But daily from the cave they had to go For there within the cave no food did grow They fed by day, then to the cave took flight For fear of predators that roamed by night The creatures of the wild all walked in fear Of the ‘cave creature’ and would not draw near They kept their distance from its fearsome lair Not knowing it was but a bullfrog there And so by day, with predators abed The animals went out and safely fed Though in the day there was no danger nigh The lamb by nature was timid and shy And with the others kept close company Yet still she went about most nervously As weeks went by, however, she did see That full of fright she had no need to be Then she waxed ever bolder day by day And further from her friends the lamb did stray Now one day she was munching on the grass Full heedless of the time as it did pass Far from friends and the safety of the cave But little thought to her peril she gave Until she saw the sun was sinking low “Oh, dear! To the cave I must quickly go” Thus thought the lamb, but now it was too late Already she was soon to meet her fate As to the cave the poor lamb tried to fly A pack of wolves before her met her eye And so there, in the poor lamb’s darkest hour A pack of wolves did have her in their power You would have thought the wolves, without a care Would kill and eat the lamb right then and there But in a fairy tale this is not true To eat their prey RAW simply would not do They took the lamb to their forest retreat To cook her properly and THEN to eat Once in their den, the wolves then quickly took To quarrelling over who would be the cook And who would fetch the water and the wood And what method of cooking would be good Then, as the pack of wolves argued and fought To the lamb’s little brain there came a thought Just then the wolves a new dispute did start Which piece of a lamb was the choicest part
The lamb piped in, “The right hind leg, of course” Hoping another argument to force To her delight the plan worked perfectly As each wolf cried, “The right hind leg’s for me” They fell to blows, and in the chaos then The lamb cautiously crept out of the den Back to the cave the lamb then made her way The wolves pursued her, after long delay For they were so distracted by their fight They had not noticed when the lamb took flight In deepest hunger they followed her trail Right to the cave, and then began to wail “Alas! For the cave creature now does feast Upon our dinner. What a witless beast To flee from us, who would her quickly kill Into the jaws that now will eat their fill” And with that thought the wolves then skulked away To fill their bellies with some other prey The lamb never again would go outside Alone, but by her friends she would abide “There’s strength in numbers”, so the lamb would say “But only if in agreement they stay”
Bibliography
1) The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer edited by A. Kent Hieatt and Constance Hieatt Bantam Books ISBN 0-553-21082-3
2) The Canterbury Tales edited by V.A. Kolve and Glending Olson W.W. Norton & Company ISBN 0-393-95245-2
3) Medieval English Verse translated by Brian Stone Penguin Books, Ltd. ISBN 0-14-044144-1
4) The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages general editor Norman F. Cantor Penguin Putnam, Inc. ISBN 0-670-10011-0
5) Medieval Panorama edited by Robert Bartlett The J. Paul Getty Museum ISBN 0-89236-642-7
6) Life in a Medieval City/Life in a Medieval Castle by Joseph and Frances Gies Harper and Row, Publishers ISBN 0-06-090880-7/0-06-090674-X
Atlas of the Medieval World by Rosamond McKitterick Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-522158-3
The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval Europe edited by George Holmes Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-285220-5
Numerous general encyclopedias and dictionaries |
