When I was quite a young child












My temprement was not so mild
I ran around the house with glee
And distressed those most near to me
I would not be for a moment still
Even if I felt quite ill
My kin began to give up hope
And that’s when the goblin spoke
Give me the child for a year and a day
And the child will finally stay
My parents gave an unhappy look
But knew that it’s what it took
The goblin shoved me in a sack
Then carried it across his nasty back
He cackled with such spiteful glee
I could not help to cry you see
A crack opened in the Earth
And in we jumped, I think headfirst
After what seemed like the longest while
He dropped me down without reconcile
He pushed in my hands a silver harp
And told me I wasn’t very smart
He pointed at the lovely thing
And demanded that I play and sing
When I confessed I knew not how
He gave me the slightest bow
I set me fingers against the strings
And was stuck by surprise when I heard the pings
I found I could play oh so gracefully
It was magic of course, so no difficulty
He danced a merry jig to it
Jumping higher bit by bit
I played until my fingers bled
And I sorely wished I were in bed
But still I played from dawn till dusk
Though the cave smelled of a very strange musk
After many days at last
He goblin grew weary and stood fast
As my fingers slowed a bit
He yelled I would play him to sleep in a fit
A tiny gold bell was tied around my wrist
So a chance of escape would be on the short list
While he slept in a bed for the kings
I began to think very clever things
I plugged up the bell with some moss growing by
And then I had an idea quite sly
I waited for a rat to come close
And made sure the goblin was still comatose
Thrice times I wound it around the rat
And stole the moss out of the bell so fat
I made the sound of a hissing cat
And It ran through the tunnels it did at that
When the goblin woke I dived under the bed
And he went chasing the bell instead
I took a huge owl back to the top
And took the gold from the awful fop
My parents greeted me with the greatest joy
Proud at the skills I chose to employ
But the goblin came and burst through the door
And stomping he almost broke through the floor
With iron and salt we drove him away
Happy to be free another day
My behavior was slightly the better at that
Though I am now fond of keeping mangy old rats.