Rereading Dr. Seuss

Master of nonsense rhymes and creative word play, children's favorite author Dr. Seuss needs no introduction. 'One fish, Two fish' is one of those introductory books which a parent can read it aloud. Wikipedia entry on this 1960 classic says:

It is a simple rhyming book for beginning readers, with a freewheeling plot about a boy and a girl named Jay and Kay and the many amazing creatures they have for friends and pets. Interspersed are some surreal and unrelated skits, such as a man named Ned whose feet stick out from his bed, a creature who has a bird in his ear, and one man named Joe who cannot hear the other man's call.

As a parent and as a student of science my mind stuck at possibilities of taking some conscious deviations. Not a parody, not a spoof. It is about the possibility of constructing another structure with his blocks.

My deviations follow below the stanzas.

One fish, Two fish,

Red fish, Blue fish,

Black fish, Blue fish,

Old fish, New fish. [...]

Oh me! Oh my!

Oh me! oh my!

What a lot of funny things go by.

all images from archive.org

Some have two feet and some have four.

Some have six feet and some have more.

Where do they come from? I can't say.

But I bet they have come a long, long way.

"O' Darwin, my Darwin! Our joyous trip has began.

The Beagle has taken every rock, bone, finch and corn.

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel hopeful and daring;

We see them come, we see them go.

Some are fast. Some are slow.

Some are high. Some are low.

Not one of them is like another.

Don't ask us why, go ask your mother.

But O Charles! Charles! Charles!

O the similitude of Wallace, Alfred.

Where the origin of species is real,

Together, co-published".

Say! Look at his fingers! One, two, three...,

How many fingers do I see?

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,

Eight, nine, ten. He has eleven!

Eleven! This is something new.

I wish I had eleven too! [...]

"Five, six, seven

Eight, nine, ten

He has eleven.

Did you notice that 'seven' and 'eleven' is not even even?"

We like our bike. It is made for three.

Our Mike sits up in back, you see.

We like our Mike, and this is why:

Mike does all the work when the hills get high.

"Mike is like my catalyst, Mike is my enzyme

Mike provides the energy of activation.

He remains unaffected, he's my salvation".

Hello there, Ned. How do you do? Tell me, tell me what is new?

How are things in your little bed? What is new? Please tell me Ned.

I do not like this bed at all. a lot of things have come to call.

A cow, a dog, a cat, a mouse. Oh! What a bed! Oh! What a house! [...]

Chaos. entropy, disorderliness! The Second Law of Thermodynamics

My hat is old, my teeth are gold.

I have a bird I like to hold.

My shoe is off, my foot is cold.

My shoe is off, my foot is cold.

I have a bird I like to hold.

My hat is old, my teeth are gold.

And now my story is all told. [...]

Palindromic story or a multiple of 11?

It is fun to sing if you sing with a Ying.

My Ying can sing like anything.

I sing high and my Ying sings low.

And we are not too bad, you know. [...]

"Of frequency, amplitude, pitch and scale

Through which my tenors in opera, regale".

Hop, hop, hop!

I am a Yop.

All I like to do is hop,

From finger top to finger top.

I hop from left to right and then...

Hop, hop! I hop right back again.

I like to hop all day and night.

From right to left and left to right.

Why do I like to hop, hop, hop?

I do not know. Go ask your Pop. [...]

"Reactants to product and product to reactants.

To know why, call Lois Le Chatelier, the consultant".

Who is this pet?

Say! He is wet.

You never yet met a pet, I bet,

As wet as they let this wet pet get. [...]

Have you ever seen such sentences where e's galore?

Hello, hello. Are you there?

Hello! I called you up to say hello.

I said Hello. Can you hear me, Joe?

Oh no, I cannot hear your call.

I cannot hear your call at all.

This is not good, and I know why.

A mouse has cut the wire, goodbye!

Internet outages in 'democratic' countries, is not an exception but a norm.

And now, Good night.

It is time to sleep.

So we will sleep with our pet Zeep.

Today is gone. Today was fun.

Tomorrow is another one.

Every day, from here to there. funny things are everywhere.

Every day, from here to there. funny things are everywhere!

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