One of those highly infectious tunes you learn as a child. One site said it was originally a
minstrel song. Whether or not it is (I doubt it), it goes way back and no one seems to know the
writer. There doesn't seem to be a definitive version of it. Here are two of the most common:
I went to the animal fair,
The birds and the beasts were there,
The big baboon by the light of the moon
Was combing his auburn hair.
The monkey bumped the skunk,
And sat on the elephant's trunk;
The elephant sneezed and fell to his knees,
And that was the end of the monk!
The monk! (the monk...the monk...the monk...)
[at which point one generally begins the whole thing over again making it a never-ending song]
I went to the animal fair,
All the birds and the beasts were there.
The big baboon by the light of the moon,
Was combing his auburn hair.
You should have seen the monk
He sat on the elephant's trunk.
The elephant sneezed and fell on his knees
And what became of the monk? (the monk...the monk...the monk...)
Another version has "the birds and the bees" all there and a racoon standing in for the baboon. I've also heard that the offending monkey "climbed" or "stepped" on the poor elephant's trunk. Sometimes he falls out of his bunk.
My favorite was the one mom sang with this variation:
The monkey he got drunk
And stepped on the elephant's trunk
The elephant sneezed and fell to his knees,
And that was the end of the monk!
The monk! (the monk...the monk...the monk...)
Good old mom.
I also found a second verse to it but I've never heard it sung:
Said a flea to a fly in the flue,
Said the flea, "Oh, what shall we do?"
Said the fly, "let us flee!" Said the flea, "Let us fly!"
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
Now I need to get that song out of my head....