Jumblies

They went to sea in a Sieve, they did
In a Sieve they went to sea:
In spite of all their friends could say
On a winter’s morn, on a stormy day
In a Sieve they went to sea!
And when the Sieve turned round and round
And every one cried, ‘You’ll all be drowned!’
They called aloud, ‘Our Sieve ain’t big
But we don’t care a button! we don’t care a fig!
In a Sieve we’ll go to sеa!’
Far and few, far and few
Are thе lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue
And they went to sea in a Sieve

They sailed away in a Sieve, they did
In a Sieve they sailed so fast
With only a beautiful pea-green veil
Tied with a riband by way of a sail
To a small tobacco-pipe mast;
And every one said, who saw them go
‘O won’t they be soon upset, you know!
For the sky is dark, and the voyage is long
And happen what may, it’s extremely wrong
In a Sieve to sail so fast!’
Far and few, far and few
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue
And they went to sea in a Sieve

The water it soon came in, it did
The water it soon came in;
So to keep them dry, they wrapped their feet
In a pinky paper all folded neat
And they fastened it down with a pin
And they passed the night in a crockery-jar
And each of them said, ‘How wise we are!
Though the sky be dark, and the voyage be long
Yet we never can think we were rash or wrong
While round in our Sieve we spin!’
Far and few, far and few
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue
And they went to sea in a Sieve

And all night long they sailed away;
And when the sun went down
They whistled and warbled a moony song
To the echoing sound of a coppery gong
In the shade of the mountains brown
‘O Timballo! How happy we are
When we live in a sieve and a crockery-jar
And all night long in the moonlight pale
We sail away with a pea-green sail
In the shade of the mountains brown!’
Far and few, far and few
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue
And they went to sea in a Sieve

They sailed to the Western Sea, they did
To a land all covered with trees
And they bought an Owl, and a useful Cart
And a pound of Rice, and a Cranberry Tart
And a hive of silvery Bees
And they bought a Pig, and some green Jack-daws
And a lovely Monkey with lollipop paws
And forty bottles of Ring-Bo-Ree
And no end of Stilton Cheese
Far and few, far and few
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue
And they went to sea in a Sieve

And in twenty years they all came back
In twenty years or more
And every one said, ‘How tall they’ve grown!’
For they’ve been to the Lakes, and the Torrible Zone
And the hills of the Chankly Bore;
And they drank their health, and gave them a feast
Of dumplings made of beautiful yeast;
And everyone said, ‘If we only live
We too will go to sea in a Sieve,—
To the hills of the Chankly Bore!’
Far and few, far and few
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue
And they went to sea in a Sieve