Lil' Shelf
Cover of Comical Folk

Comical Folk

Traditional

ages 2 to 5nursery rhymesread aloudabout 35 seconds aloud

A daft little portrait of a couple in Fife who, quite absurdly, could see with their eyes and talk with their tongues. The joke works entirely by stating the obvious, which is exactly the sort of thing small children find hilarious.

From Mother Goose / Nursery Rhymes (traditional). See the whole collection.

In a cottage in Fife
    Lived a man and his wife
Who, believe me, were comical folk;
    For, to people's surprise,
    They both saw with their eyes,
And their tongues moved whenever they spoke!

When they were asleep,
    I'm told, that to keep
Their eyes open they could not contrive;
    They both walked on their feet,
    And 'twas thought what they eat
Helped, with drinking, to keep them alive!

Public domain. Text from The Real Mother Goose (Blanche Fisher Wright, 1916), via Project Gutenberg. View the source edition

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