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    If you've got time and you don't mind I'll tell you quite a story. A crazy tale about a snake forsaking fame and glory. So grab a chair and comb your hair and don't be chickenhearted. Don't blab or swear--treat others fair--and let's get this story started.

    Most snakes just like to slink around and slither on their belly. They hiss at you and wear a frown and turn your knees to jelly. But there's a snake that never bites and which does not fit that profile. This snake is just one reading, writing, rapping, rhyming reptile.

    His name is Percy and he doesn't know that he's a snake. He thinks that he's a poet in the jungle by mistake. And on a sunlit sunny day when other snakes are hunting, he'll climb a tree for all to see and he is really something.

    "Don't loan a goat your coat," he'll say, and crowds will gather 'round. They hoot and holler and they always try to put him down. For in the jungle it was bad to speak with class and wit. You were supposed to howl, or growl, or yowl, or even hiss.

    But Percy didn't care one bit about their stupid rules. He only wanted happiness, an audience, and food. But then one day he gave a speech and no insults were shouted. No hoots were heard. No creatures screeched. No boos were booed about it. No sticks or stones or broken bones were thrown at Percy's gizzards. Poor Percy sat there all alone and then up popped a lizard.

    So Percy asked the lizard, "Where can all the creatures be? There's no one here to hear my speech, except for you and me."

    As the lizard stared at Percy, Percy saw she was excited. Then the lizard's color changed from red to blue to green to violet. When she opened up her mouth to speak, she caught a fly instead. She swallowed it, then looked around at Percy and she said, "Haven't you heard? Some people came and took them captive in the night. They even tried to capture me. Oh yes, they gave me quite a fright. They took them all--the large, the small--they took the greatest and the least. They even took the mighty lion, the king of all the beasts.

    "I hear they're going to take them all and put them in a zoo. You'd better run. You'd better hide before they capture you. And as for me, I shall not flee, I'm going to stay right here. I'll change my coloration and I'll try to disappear."

    With that, the lizard climbed a tree and quickly started fading. As Percy watched in disbelief, she vanished in the shading. Then Percy thought, "This will not do. I cannot live alone. I'll climb a tree where I can see my friends and bring them home."

    So Percy started climbing. Up a tree he went. He climbed a little higher then he went out on a limb. He'd never climbed this high before. Percy was in awe. He took a look around the place and this is what he saw. He saw a bitter beet, a buttered bee, and a bouncing baby beetle. He saw a flea, a fluff of fleece, and an ounce of flaming Cheetos. He saw a clock going tick and tock on a dock whose deck was dotted. Though Percy saw for miles around, no animals were spotted.

    So he climbed a little higher, maybe fifty feet or more. He started getting tired and his tail was getting sore. Now he was high up in the tree, much higher than before. So he took a look around the place and this is what he saw. He saw a nutty newt, a knotted net, and a gnat as it was knitting. He saw a poot, a model jet, and a mat designed for sitting. He saw a fly with a cherry pie waving 'Hi!' as it was flyin'. But Percy saw no antelopes, no elephants, or lions.

    So he climbed a little higher. It was late and getting later. He wished that he had picked a tree that had an elevator. The ground was far beneath him when Percy reached the top. He reached as high as he could reach and this is what he saw. He saw a rubber hose, some stubby toes, and a nose that had a booger. He saw a rose, some dirty clothes, and a bowl of golden sugar. He saw a bug on a yellow rug in a jug performing labor. And then he saw a cargo ship and all his friends and neighbors.