小亨利的綠色森林

THE OYSTER

 There once was an oyster

Whose story I tell

Who found that some sand

Had got into her shell.

It was only a grain

But it gave her a great pain.

For oysters have feelings

Althogh they're so plain.

Now, did she berate

The harsh working of fate

That had brought her

To such a deplorable state?

Did she curse at the government

Cry for election

And claim that the sea should

Have given her protection?

"No," she said to herself

As she lay in her shell,

"Since I can not remove it,

I shall try to improve it."

Now the years have rolled around

As the years always do

And she came to her ultimate

Destiny -- stew.

And the small grain of sand

That had bothered her so

Was a beautiful pearl

All rich aglow.

Now the tale has a moral

For isn't it grand

What an oyster can do

With a morsel of sand?

What couldn't we do

If we'd only begin

With some of the things

That get under our skin?