He knows of no water, By field or by flood; Of his limited hope Bengalese, When they find he arrives, May not rise from their picnic and run for their lives, But simply bow on that beautiful plain, And offer Sir Tiger a glass of champagne. They woke me, I think, Gently Tiger crouches along, A sweet subdued familiar lay As ever was warbled by beast of prey; And all so softly, tunefully done, That it made no more sound Than his shade on the ground; So the Bengalese heard it, never a one! Gently Tiger steals along, "Mild as a moonbeam," meek as a lamb,— What so suddenly changes his song From a tune to a growl? "Och! by my sowl, Nothing on earth but the smell of the ham!" He quickens his pace, The illigant baste, And he's running a race With himself for a taste. And he 's taken to roaring, and given up humming, Just to let the two Bengalese know he is coming. What terrors sieze The Bengalese As the roar of the Tiger reaches the ear, Their hair is standing on end with fear. Looks thrice as red with fright as his head, All they can hear, in their terrible fear, Where its echoes keep rolling round and round, If an earthquake had shattered a thousand kegs, He's at 'em, he 's on 'em, the jungle guest! His wits will sometimes be at their best. So the presence of Tiger, I find, Inspires our heroes with presence of mind. There's no time to be lost Down the glasses are tossed; The Bengalese have abandoned their grub, And they're dodging their gentleman round the Tub. Active and earnest they nowhere lodge, And he can't get at them, because of their dodge. Never before such a scrape were in, Nor ever yet used-can you well have a doubt of it ?— So uncommonly artful a dodge to get out of it. Tiger keeps prowling, Howling, and growling; He feels himself that their dodge is clever; And sharpened their limbs to sever. "If I mean to dine, I had better begin," And then, with a grin, And a voice the loudest that ever was heard, He roars, "Never trust to a tiger's word, If this dodge shall last much longer! You Bengalese, And prepare to be eaten up, if you please. Here goes! here goes!" and he gave a spring. Which bursts from their most intelligent Tub, Of which-though it does not follow In every case of argumentation It is full because it is hollow. For, not having a top, and no inside things, As much as to say, "I only wish you may get it! But much as I may respect your ability, The Tiger has leapt up, heart and soul. But the Tub! the Tub! Ay, there's the rub! At present he 's balanced atop of the Tub, And the rest of his hide, Not weighing so much as his head and his legs, A pure understandin' Of the just equilibrium of casks and of kegs, Nor taught mathematics, To work out the problems of Euclid with pegs,- turned over. The Tiger at first had a hobby-horse ride, And the question is next, long as fortune may frown or him, How the two Bengalese are to keep the Tub down on him. 'Bout this there's no blunder, The Tiger is under The Tub! My verse need not run To the length of a sonnet, To the Tiger inside, Who no more in his pride Can roam over jungle and plain, But sheltered alike from the sun and the rain, Around its interior his sides deigns to rub And longs for his freedom again. The two Bengalese, Not at all at their ease, Hear him roar, And deplore Their prospects as sore, Forgetting both picnic and flask; Each, wondering, dumb, What of both will become, But increasing their weight By action of muscle and sinew, In order that forcibly you, Mr. Tub, Whom their niggers this morning May still keep the Tiger within you. |