A Forest Story/Announcement

by Josef Kožíšek

Layout 2

ANNOUNCEMENT.
 
We wish the esteemed public to know
That to-night at the clearing, will be a fine show.
The actors will gather in numbers great,
And on the moss will act in state.
And I, Frog, of well known fame
Will be General Manager of the same.
Therefore as such, I greet you all,
Parents and children, large and small,
Both rich and poor, I invite to view
A performance that will be entirely new.
I have in the cast no king or prince.
They went out of fashion sometime since.
But citizen actors, trained by me,
Show acting as it ought to be.
The bumble bee brings his bass viol,
The cricket his fiddle does play.
The mouse comes in search of his bride,
The firefly lights the way.
The badger sick with raspberry juice is made well.
Of the vicious King Serpent the rabbit will tell,
How Knight Hedgehog appears, to slay him in fight,
Which to the small children may seem a sad sight.
But that he really is dead do not fear
For after the show most alive he’ll appear.
And everything then will be happy and grand
And you’ll think you’ve been living in fairy land.
Now come see our show, when the sun is down.
The big ones, one ducat, the children, one crown.
And those who’ve no money we’ll surely not see,
Just jump on the benches and so get in free.