"How long will it take to get there now?" asked Lulu.
"That is a hard question to answer," replied the Enchanted Banjo, "but I will sing a little in order to pass away the time." And so the Banjo sang:
THE CRAB AND THE LOBSTER
The Lobster and the Crab once met
Where all the sand was nice and wet,
And bowing nicely, down they sat
To have a pleasant, friendly chat.
They talked about the weather; next
How with their children they were vexed;
Then said the Crab: "I often fret
About the Rules of Etiquette."
"Now I," the Lobster said, "am, too,
Disturbed by it the same as you.
I do not like these folks who say
One should act thus, or talk this way.
"My nature is, indeed, mine own;
Why, if the King called from his throne
For me to go ahead, he'd find
That I should quickly drop behind."
"I, too," the Crab declared, "am odd,
And at some formal laws I nod.
In this one thing I take great pride:
When I walk straight, I step aside."
Oh, children, pray take heed of this—
You, little boy; you, little miss—
The Lobster and the Crab do thus
Because they are like most of us.
The Crab goes on in sidewise tracks
And when the Lobster leads, it backs!
They do so, for it is, you know,
The only way that each can go.