The Autobiography of a Monkey

Paine Albert Bigelow

The Autobiography of a Monkey

Part First

THE DEPARTURE FROM THE FOREST

Where the light laughs in through the tree-topsAnd sports with the tangled glade,In the depths of an Afric forestMy earliest scenes were laid.In a bower that was merry with smilaxFrom the grimace of no-where, I wokeI was born on the first day of AprilAnd they called me a jungle joke.And the voices of birds were about me —And the beat and the flutter of wing;While morning returned at the trumpetOf Tusky, our elephant king.My nurse was a crooning old beldameWho gazed in the palms of my handsAnd vowed I was destined to travelIn many and marvellous lands.But little I heeded her croaking,For I gamboled the whole day long,And swung by my tail from the tree-top,Or joined in the jungle song.

THE SONG OF THE JUNGLE

The Elephant:Oh, I am the lord of the forest and plain!The Lion, Tigers, etc.:And we are the beasts that acknowledge your reign!The Birds:And we are the minstrels that come at your call!The Monkeys:And we are the jesters that laugh at you all!Chorus, All —Oh, yes! Oh, yes! Oh, yes! Oh, yes!The tribes of the jungle are we —Our home is the darksome wildernessThat never a man shall see.The Elephant:Oh, the jungle was meant and was made for my will!The Lions, Tigers, etc.:For the sport of the chase and the zest of the kill!The Birds:For the beating of wings and the echo of song!The Monkeys:For gambol and grimace the whole season long!Chorus, All:Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Oh, yes!For all of the tribes that beWith homes in the tangled wildernessThat never a man shall see.But, alas, for the boasts of the jungle!The men came among us one day,And one with a box that made musicEnticed foolish monkeys away.The birds and the beasts of the forestWere mute at the marvellous song,But the monkeys crept out of the tree-tops —An eager and wondering throng.The birds and the beasts of the forestKept hidden and silent that day,But the monkey-folk formed a procession

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