THE SPIDER AND THE FLY
‘There’s a
person in my soup, sir,’
said the spider
to the fly.
‘I wouldn’t
worry, it’s free of charge,’
Said the fly
with a wink of his eye.
‘I don’t think
you understand me,’
Said the spider,
feeling down.
‘If we fail to
avail this miniature male,
Of some help,
I’m sure he will
drown!’
The fly was
vexed by the spider,
That he should
show such unease
For a creature
so perfectly useless,
That spread nothing
but death and disease.
‘It’s only a
man!’ the fly quarrelled.
‘He’s not worth
keeping alive.
If we save the
young knave from his consommé grave
Then we may
As well let them
all thrive!’
‘But look how
the poor thing suffers!
He can barely
swim any more!
My arachnid
sense of fair justice
Says we should
even the score.’
The bluebottle
softened inside
He knew his pal
spoke with clout.
‘We shall lend
our small friend a spoon with a bend
To see if
He finds his way
out.’
‘I’ll bet you he
doesn’t make it,’
Said the fly, a
fiver in hand.
Cried the spider
in absolute outrage,
‘You’d bet on
the life of a man?’
They watched as
the creature struggled
To get a grasp
on the spoon.
‘He will die!’
laughed the fly. ‘The spoon’s far too high!
He may as
Well try for the
moon!’
Yet bit by bit
the man climbed
Towards the edge
of the bowl
‘Come on!’
yelled the spider. ‘I know you can do it!
For the sake of
your humanoid soul!’
With a final
push and an effort
The man fell out
and away.
‘I’m amazed! In
a daze!’ screamed the fly all ablaze.
‘He is free
And free he will
stay!’
The spider
grinned with approval,
Glad that his
soup was now clean.
‘You see, dear
boy, the good we have done,
When we could
have been terribly mean?’
The fly said ‘I
think you are right, sir.
It would have
been dreadfully crude,
To behave in a
way at the end of the day
That’s not kind,
Just awfully
rude.’
‘Do you have any
bread?’ asked the spider,
‘To go with this
very fine meal?’
The fly shook
his head, said ‘I’m sorry.
But bread isn’t
part of the deal.’
The spider was
most disappointed,
That his friend
could this him deny.
So he ate his
old mate that he dipped in his plate.
After all he
Was only a fly.
