“You know I’m tired of that song,” protested the Donkey. Nevertheless he sang it, and was roundly applauded. Then, to oblige the Great Huge Bear, he sang The Land of Nod, and with such skill that the Bear dozed off into one of his half-sleeps.
As to the next song, Doctor Fox and Doctor Goose fell into a fresh wrangle. One wanted Doctor Foster and the other called for Jack and Jill.
“Sing both of them,” giggled the Owl. But this suggestion didn’t help matters much, as each Doctor demanded that his favorite song be sung first. At last the Donkey, who had a positive genius for settling disputes, sang both songs in this fashion:
“Doctor Foster went to Gloucester,
To fetch a pail of water.
He stepped in a puddle up to his middle,
And Jill came tumbling after.
Then Jack and Jill went up a hill
In a shower of rain.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,