The Elephant
This song shares some lines with Miss Mary Mack.
The Elephant
The Elephant
Nursery Rhyme
Nursery Rhyme
(Historical Black American English)
(English)
My mammy gimme fifteen cents
Fer to see dat elephan' jump de fence.
He jump so high, I didn' see why,
If she gimme a dollar he mought not cry.
So I axed my mammy to gimme a dollar,
Fer to go an' hear de elephan' holler.
He holler so loud, he skeered de crowd.
Nex' he jump so high, he tetch de sky;
An' he won't git back 'fore de fo'th o' July.
My Mommy gives me fifteen cents
To see that elephant jump over the fence.
He jumped so high, I didn't see why,
If she gives me a dollar he might not cry.
So I asked my Mommy to give me a dollar,
To go and hear the elephant holler.
He hollered so loud, he scared the crowd.
Next he jumped so high, he touched the sky;
And he won't get back before the forth of July.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
This rhyme can be found in Negro Folk Rhymes, Wise and Otherwise, with a Study by Thomas W. Talley of Fisk University (1922).
Standard English version by Lisa Yannucci.
