The Spider’s Tale

“Really, Fly, you ought to know
Better, surely, than to go
Into Mr. Spider’s net.
Luckily I’m here to set
You free”; but ere I could have stirred,
Mr. Spider’s voice I heard
Crying in an angry tone:
“Better let my lunch alone!

“One would think, for all you care,
Spiders could subsist on air.
Listen to this tale and see
If you don’t agree with me!”
* * * * *
I sat down without a word,
Following is the tale I heard:

THE TALE.

A Prince who sought
His lost Bride, caught
In the toils of a witch,—woe betide her!—
When riding one night
Through a forest, caught sight
Of a Spi in the web of a Flyder.

(As perhaps you surmise,
I have tried to disguise,
The names, with the best of intention:
For I make it my plan,
Whenever I can,
To avoid any personal mention.)

Said the Prince to the Spi,
“Supposing that I
Should deliver you out of this hatefulness,
Will you pay me in kind,
And help me to find
My Bride?—Can I count on your gratefulness?”

Said the Spi, “Without doubt,
If you will let me out
From the web of the terrible Flyder,
By all means—oh, yes!
You shall find your Princess,
For I will myself be your guider!”

One jerk! He was free,
And his buzzing and glee
Drove the Prince to the verge of distraction.
The Flyder, meanwhile,
Wore a cynical smile,
And a look of—well—not satisfaction.

The Prince paid no heed,
But mounted his steed,
And started the Princess to find.
The Spi led the way,
But little dreamed they
That the Flyder had mounted behind!

He found her, it’s true,
And the wicked witch, too,
Who fled when he up and defied her;
But while being wed,
Hanging over her head,
The Princess caught sight of the Flyder!

At the terrible sight,
Her reason took flight,
Till she was completely bereft of it,
When she drained a tureen
Full of cold Paris green,
And the Prince swallowed all that was left of it!

Listening to the Spider, I
Quite forgot poor Mr. Fly
And his pitiable plight
Till the tale was finished quite,
Then, alas! too late I knew,
Mr. Fly was finished, too.