The Orang-utan and the Biscuit

When I was only eight years old, I went to London zoo A really fun day out, so much to see and do I loved to see the animals, the monkeys made me laugh I marvelled at the elephants, the rhinos and giraffes I saw a lion roaring, I watched the birds of prey I saw a chimp do rude things - ‘till Mum moved me away! At lunch time an orang-utan saw the biscuit that I munched And I guess he thought that biscuit would make a tasty lunch So he reached out with a hairy arm, his eyes were filled with greed But just above his cage, a big sign said ‘Do Not Feed!’ So I shrugged at the orang-utan, and went to walk away But he was banging on the bars, just begging me to stay He looked round his enclosure, then grabbed a bamboo stick To be sure it was a good one, he ate a little bit Convinced that it was tasty, he offered it to me He was hoping for a barter, biscuit for twig you see. But I was being good, ‘Do Not Feed’ the sign had said So I said that I was sorry, and politely shook my head The orang-utan took this to mean the bamboo shoot was bad He threw it away in disgust, looked at me like I was mad And then he found another piece, held it out for me to try Waved it in my direction, a longing in his eye So I took the shoot this time, not wishing to offend I was only eight; I thought I’d made a hairy friend So I couldn’t work it out, when he still held out his hand Did he want the bamboo back? I didn’t understand I returned the shoot again, he got another one I was only eight years old; I thought this was good fun I didn’t know that I was teasing him, not sharing my Rich Tea I just thought the orang-utan wanted to make friends with me Well soon lunch time was over, and as I walked away I saw him chew bamboo shoots, in a very sulky way Only later did I understand why the ape got in a mood He hadn’t wanted my friendship, all he’d wanted was my food At the tender age of eight, I was hurt by my friend’s greed So I was secretly quite glad, that the sign said ‘Do Not Feed’ (First published in Animal Crackers) Written November 15th, 2001 © on Nov 15 2001 05:36 AM PST   0 • 14