THE THREE VOICES

There once was a man who asked for pie,

In a piping voice up high, up high;

And when he asked for a salmon roe,

He spoke in a voice down low, down low;

But when he said he had no choice,

He always spoke in a medium voice.

I cannot tell the reason why

He sometimes spoke up high, up high;

And why he sometimes spoke down low,

I do not know, I do not know;

And why he spoke in the medium way,

Do n't ask me, for I cannot say.