The Weaver’s Mischief
In the weaver’s house lived a nest of frogs—
a whole bunch of tree-frogs!
They eat, they drink, they sing all day—
tai re, na re na!
The wise weaver’s son turned foolish one day;
he brought a measuring scoop,
and the weaver smacked the frogs’ heads.
With his thread and spindle,
the weaver climbed up a branch—
there sat a tree-frog,
and it slapped him on the cheek!
With his thread and spindle,
the weaver tried again to climb—
and a tree-frog kicked him right on the chin!
Kicked by the frog,
the weaver rolled round and round;
fourteen thousand frogs
jumped onto his back!
Under the weight of their feet,
the poor fool of a weaver panted and wheezed—
“Don’t hit me, don’t hit me,
O Lord of the frogs!”
