“Now I have water,
Now I have coal,
Now I am oiled,
Now do I know
How I should go?”
But the fireman said:
“All in good time, my engine,
Steady, steady,
’Til you’re ready.
Learn to know
Before you go.”
Then he said to the engineer, “We must give our engine some sand.” So they took some sand and they filled the sand domes on top of the boiler so that he could send sand down through his two little pipes and sprinkle it in front of his wheels when the rails were slippery. And all the time the sand kept saying:
“When ice drips,
And wheel slips,
I am sand
Close at hand.”
When the new engine felt his sand-dome filled with sand he said eagerly:
“Now I have water,
Now I have coal,
Now I am oiled,
Now I have sand,
Now do I know
How I should go?”
But the engineer said:
“All in good time, my engine,
Steady, steady,
’Til you’re ready.
Learn to know
Before you go.”
Then he said to the fireman, “We must light our engine’s headlight.” So the fireman took a cloth and he wiped the mirror behind the light and polished the brass around it. Then he filled the lamp with oil. Then the engineer struck a match and lighted the lamp and closed the little door in front of it. And all the time the light kept saying: