The Fox - folksong

THE FOX as sung by Burl Ives



1.
The fox went out on a chase one night
Prayed to the moon to give him light
For he’d many a mile to go that night
Before he reached the town-o, town-o town-o,
For he’d many a mile to go that night before he reached the town -o
2.
He ran 'til he came to a great big pen
Where the ducks and the geese were kept therein
Said, “A couple of you gonna grease my chin
Before I leave this town o, town o, town-o
Couple of you gonna grease my chin before I leave this town-o.”
3.
He grabbed the gray goose by the neck
Threw a duck across his back
He didn't mind the quack, quack quack
And the legs all dangling down-o, down-o, down-o
He didn’t mind the quack, quack quack and the legs all dangling down-o.
4.
Then old mother Flipper Flopper jumped out of bed
Out of the window she cocked her head
Cryin' ,“John, John the grey goose is gone
and the fox is on the town-o, town-o, town-o
Cryin’,“John, John the grey goose is gone and the fox is on the town-o”
5.
Then John he ran to the top of the hill,
blew his horn both loud and shrill.
Fox, he said, “I’d better flee with my kill
or they’ll soon be on my trail-o, trail-o, trail-o/
Fox, he said, “I’d better flee with my kill or they’ll soon be on my trail-o.
6.
Well, the fox he came to his cozy den
There were the little ones, eight, nine, ten
They said, “Daddy, better go back again
'cause it must be a mighty fine town-o, town-o, town-o
They said, “Daddy, better go back again cause it must be a mighty fine town-o.
7.
Well, the fox and his wife without any strife
Cut up the goose with a carving knife
They never had such a supper in their life
and the little ones chewed on the bones-o, bones-o, bones-o
They never had such a supper in their life and the little ones chewed on the bones-o.


VOCABULARY

Verse 1
1. “a chase” is (a) for some cheese (b) with his fox friends (c) on a hunt
2. “For he’d many a mile to go” “for” means what? __________________

Verse 2
3. “ ’til ” is short for “until [a preposition]. Can you use this word in a sentence?

4. “gonna” is slang, a sort of street talk (often used in songs and casual conversation)
It means “is or are going to . . .”

“A couple of you gonna [are going to ] grease my chin.” This means
(a) I’m going to eat you.
(b) shave my whiskers
(c) get oil on your clothes

Verse 3
5. “grabbed the gray goose”
“grabbed” is the past tense of the verb “to grab”. “Grabbed” means
(a) ran around
(b) ate
(c) held onto

6. “the legs all dangling down” “dangling” means
(a) stopping
(b) hanging
(c) throwing

Verse 4
7. “she cocked her head” means
(a) She bent her head sideways
(b) She cooked dinner
(c) She looked straight ahead

8. Who is old mother Flipper Flopper? and Who is John?


Verse 5
9. John “blew his horn both loud and shrill” “shrill” means
(a) a quiet sound
(b) a loud high sound
(c) thrilled
This is a common usage: She has a shrill voice.


10. “they’ll soon be on my trail” means
(a) people will go to jail
(b) people will come after me
(c) people will drive their car

11. “I’d better flee” means
(a) I must leave in a hurry
(b) I must kill you
(c) I must stay and eat

Verse 6
12. “The fox came to his cozy den.” “cozy” means
(a) crazy
(b) dark
(c) comfortable

13. “It must be a might fine town.” “mighty fine” means
(a) very strong
(b) very nice
(c) really small

Verse 7
14. “The fox and his wife without any strife” “strife means
(a) got married
(b) did not argue
(c) divorced his wife

GRAMMAR
15. In each verse, please underline every subject with one line, the verb with two lines and next to each verse, tell what tense the verb is.

16. RHYMES are words that have the SAME SOUNDS.
Some rhymes are “perfect rhymes”, as in VERSE 1 “light rhymes with “night”
Some rhymes are “sort of rhymes” as in VERSE 2
“pen” sort of rhymes with “therein” and “chin”,
but “therein” and “chin” are perfect rhymes

17. In VERSE 3, “neck” sort of rhymes with _______________ and ___________ ,
but “quack” rhymes with _____________________

18. In VERSE, “bed” rhymes with _______________ .
and _______________ sort of rhymes with ______________

19. In VERSE 5, “hill” rhymes with _______________ and ______________.

20. In VERSE 6, “ten” rhymes with with _______________ and ______________.
21. In VERSE 7, ”strife” rhymes with with _______________ and ______________.

22. In VERSE 5, “I’d better flee” and in VERSE 6, “Daddy, [you’d] better go back again” HAD BETTER means MUST and is used with the base form of the verb.
Here are sme examples:
(a) He’d better pay me back by tomorrow, or I’ll be very angry.
(b) I’d better go to school now, or I’ll be late.
(c) You’d better do your homework, or you won’t learn the lesson.
(d) Now, please write your own sentence using HAD BETTER.


23. “They never had SUCH A supper in their life” [lives]
SUCH A or SUCH AN is used with a noun
SUCH is used with plural and non-count nouns

For example, singular:
I read such an interesting book last weekend!
I read such a good book last weekend that I want to recommend it for you to read.

plural:
I saw such good movies in the theater that I have to buy the DVDs
They had such good food at the wedding that I wanted to write a thank-you note to the bride.

(a) Please write your own SUCH A/AN sentence.


(b) Try writing a sentence using SUCH


CONVERSATION (Talk to your partner)
1. What did the fox do? __________________________________________________
2. What did John do? ____________________________________________________
3. How many little foxes were in the den? What did they want their daddy to do? Why?



4. Do you think John and Mother Flipper Flopper should be angry at the fox or do you think the fox has the right to feed his family? Discuss what you think with your partner.
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