WHY TIGERS CAN'T CLIMB by Arthur Guiterman

This tale is of the Tiger and his Aunt, who is the Cat;
    They dwelt among the jungles in the shade of Ararat,
The Cat was very clever, but the Tiger , he was slow;
     He couldn't catch the Nilghau nor the heavy Buffalo;
His claws were long and pointed, but his wit was short and blunt;
      He begged his Wise Relation to instruct him how to hunt.

The Cat on velvet pattens stole along the quiet hill;
       "Now this," she whispered "Nephew, is the way to stalk your kill."
The Cat drew up her haunches on the mossy forest couch;
       "And this," she said "my Nephew, is the proper way to crouch."
She hurtled through the shadows like a missile from a sling;
       "And that, my loving Nephew, is the only way to spring!"

Oh, hungry was the Nephew, and the Aunt was sleek and plump;
         The Tiger at his Teacher made his first apprentice jump,
He did it very ably, but the Cat, more quick than he,
         Escaped his clutching talons and ran up a cedar tree,
And purred upon the Snarler from the bough on which she sat
        "How glad I am, my Nephew, that I didn't teach you that!"

And, since that Curtailed Lesson in the Rudiments of crime,
         The most ambitious Tiger hasn't learned to climb.


-HOPE