“The Fox and the Grapes”

Description

"A hungry fox one day did spy Some rich ripe grapes that hung so high And to him they seemed to say, 'If you can get us down, you may.'" After an hour of trying, the fox admits failure, "Then he went away, and he swore that the grapes were sour."

Supplemental text

Fox and the Grapes, The
  Complete text(s)

          *** A ***

From Helen Hartness Flanders & George Brown, Vermont Folk-Songs
& Ballads, p. 247. Sent in by Ida B. Morgan of Jeffersonville,
Vermont. Received March 15, 1931.

A hungry fox one day did spy
Some rich ripe grapes that hung so high
And to him they seemed to say,
"If you can get us down, you may."

He licked his chops for near an hour
Till he found the grapes beyond his power;
Then he went away, and he swore the grapes were sour,
Fol de deedle lol, de deedle lol de day.

Notes

This is, of course, a retelling of Aesop's fable, "The Fox and the Grapes"; Cass-Beggs also refers to Maria Edgeworth's 1833 book of instructive stories for children, although she isn't clear about whether this story is there. She notes that [Welllington] Thompson reported learning the song as a small boy in Ontario (he was born in 1866). - PJS

Recordings

• Wellington Thompson, "A Hungry Fox" (on Saskatch01)

References

1. Flanders/Brown, p. 247, "The Fox and the Grapes" (1 text)
2. cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 479, "The Fox and the Grapes" (source notes only)
3. ST GC479a (Full)
4. Roud #3713
5. BI, GC479a