An Exciting Story

… in a great big clipper ship,

going from this land into that,

in a sailor’s  suit and cap …

-- Lou Reed  ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=nz6nq4AhFZE )

Doctor Dolittle had a good idea.  He decided to have an adventure.

He decided to get together his trusty ship  and sail to Antarctica,

to seek out the Penguin King.

He took along his friends for crew and company:

Tommy, Polynesia, Gub-Gub, and all the rest.

They packed special things in their duffel bags,

good things to eat, and things to keep warm.

This was an important scientific expedition.

Doctor Dolittle knew the penguin language very well,

but he needed to clear up some fine points about relative clauses and intransitive verbs.

They sailed, and they sailed, and they sailed.

Finally they reached Antarctica.  Lots of ice!

They looked all around as if they were lost.

Then Doctor Dolittle pulled out a map.

“It says here the Penguin King lives at the South Pole.”

So they all pulled on their mittens  and walked to the South Pole.

“Look!” said Gub-Gub. “Up ahead -- the Penguin King!”

And there he was.

He perched on a throne, and wore a golden crown.

That way everybody knew that he was King.

They said things like “Your Highness” and “Your Majesty” a lot.

It was fun.

Doctor Dolittle and the Penguin King said things in penguin talk.

The Penguin King asked how things were back at Oxford, where he’d read Greats.

Doctor Dolittle said that things back at Oxford were just swell.

Meanwhile Gub-Gub  played with the chicks.

“Well, it’s time for my nap,” said the Penguin King.

“Yes,” said the Doctor, “and we must be back at Puddleby in time for tea.”

So they shook hands (or flipper, as the case may be),

and Doctor Dolittle sailed back to England,

brushed his teeth, and went to bed.

Night night, sleep tight --

Don’t let the bedbugs bite !