Explore "The Crocodile" by Oliver Herford on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
A crocodile once dropped a line / To a Fox to invite him to dine; / But the Fox wrote to say / _He was dining, that day,_ / _With a Bird friend_, and begged to decline.
She sent off at once to a Goat.
"Pray don't disappoint me," she wrote; / But he answered too late, / _He'd forgotten the date,_ / _Having thoughtlessly eaten her note_.
The Crocodile thought him ill-bred, / And invited two Rabbits instead; / But the Rabbits replied, / _They were hopelessly tied_ / _By a previous engagement_, and fled.
Then she wrote in despair to some Eels, / And begged them to "drop in" to meals; / But the Eels left their cards / _With their coldest regards_, / And took to what went for their heels.
Cried the Crocodile then, in disgust, / "My motives they seem to mistrust.
Their suspicions are base, / Since they don't know their place, -- / I suppose if I _must_ starve, I _must_! "