“Hey, dere’s a great big elephant down th’ way
Goin’ ’round talkin’, I’m sorry t’say,
About yo’ momma in a scandalous way!”
“Yea, he’s talkin’ ’bout yo’ mamma an’ yo’ grandma, too;
And he don’ show too much respect fo’ you.
Now, you weren’t there an’ I sho’ am glad
’Cause what he said about yo’ momma made me mad!”
Signifyin’ monkey, stay up in yo’ tree
You are always lyin’ and signifyin’
But you better not monkey wit’ me.
The lion said, “Yea? Well, I’ll fix him;
I’ll tear that elephant limb from limb.”
Then he shook the jungle with a might roar
Took off like a shot from a forty-four.
He found the elephant where the tall grass grows
And said, “I come to punch you in your long nose.”
The elephant looked at the lion in surprise
And said, “Boy, you better go pick on somebody your size.”
But the lion wouldn’t listen; he made a pass;
The elephant slapped him down in the grass.
The lion roared and sprang from the ground
And that’s when that elephant really went to town.
I mean he whupped that lion for the rest of the day
And I still don’t see how the lion got away
But he dragged on off, more dead than alive,
And that’s when that monkey started his signifyin’ jive.
The monkey looked down and said, “Oooh wee!
What is this beat up mess I see?
Is that you, Lion? Ha, ha! Do tell!
Man, he whupped yo’head to a fare-thee-well!
“Give you a beatin’ that was rough enough;
You’ s’pposed to be the king of the jungle, ain’t dat some stuff?
You big overgrown pussycat! Don’ choo roar
Or I’ll hop down there an’ whip you some more.”
The monkey got to laughing and a’ jumpin; up an’ down,
But his foot missed the limb and plunged to the ground.
The lion was on him with all four feet
Gonna grind that monkey to hamburger meat.
The monkey looked up with tears in his eyes
And said, “Please, Mr. Lion, I apologize,
I meant no harm, please, let me go
And I’ll tell you something you really need to know.”
The lion stepped back to hear what he’d say,
And that monkey scampered up the tree and got away.
“What I wanted to tell you,” the monkey hollered then,
“Is if you fool with me, I’ll sic the elephant on you again!”
The lion just shook his head, and said, “You jive…
If you and yo’ monkey children want to stay alive,
Up in them trees is where you better stay’
And that’s where they are to this very day.
Signifyin’ monkey, stay up in yo’ tree
You are always lyin’ and signifyin’
But you better not monkey wit’ me.
Work Cited
Talk That Talk: An Anthology of African American Storytelling
Ed. Linda Goss and Marian E. Barnes Simon & Schuster/Touchstone, NY: 1989 (p.456- 457)
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