Audio: Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash

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The Tale of Custard the Dragon
by Ogden Nash

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Belinda lived in a little white house,
With a little black kitten
and a little gray mouse,
And a little yellow dog
and a little red wagon,
And a realio, trulio, little pet dragon.

Now the name of the little
      black kitten was Ink,
And the little gray mouse,
     she called him Blink,
And the little yellow dog
    was sharp as Mustard,
But the dragon was a coward,
and she called him Custard.

Custard the dragon had big
   sharp teeth,
And spikes on top of him
   and scales underneath,
Mouth like a fireplace,
chimney for a nose,
And realio, trulio
   daggers on his toes.

Belinda was as brave as a barrel full of bears, And Ink and Blink chased lions down the stairs, Mustard was as brave as a tiger in a rage, But Custard cried for a nice safe cage.
Belinda tickled him, she tickled him unmerciful, Ink, Blink and Mustard, they rudely called him Percival, They all sat laughing in the little red wagon At the realio, trulio, cowardly dragon. Belinda giggled till she shook the house, and Blink said Weeck! which is giggling for a mouse, Ink and Mustard rudely asked his age, When Custard cried for a nice safe cage.

	Suddenly, suddenly they heard a nasty sound, And Mustard growled, and they all looked around. Meowch! cried Ink, and Ooh! cried Belinda, For there was a pirate, climbing in the winda.
Pistol in his left hand, pistol in his right, And he held in his teeth a cutlass bright, His beard was black, one leg was wood; It was clear that the pirate meant no good. Belinda paled, and she cried Help! Help! But Mustard fled with a terrified yelp, Ink trickled down to the bottom of the household, And little mouse Blink strategically mouseholed.

But up jumped Custard
snorting like an engine,
Clashed his tail like
irons in a dungeon,
With a clatter and a clank
and a jangling squirm,
He went at the pirate like
a robin at a worm.

The pirate gaped at Belinda's dragon,
And gulped some grog from his pocket flagon,
He fired two bullets, but they didn't hit,
And Custard gobbled him, every bit.

Belinda embraced him, Mustard licked him,
No one mourned for his pirate victim.
Ink and Blink in glee did gyrate
Around the dragon that ate the pirate.

But presently up spoke little dog Mustard,
I'd been twice as brave if I hadn't been flustered.
And up spoke Ink and up spoke Blink,
We'd have been three times as brave, we think,
And Custard said, I quite agree
That everybody is braver than me.

Belinda still lives in her little white house,
With her little black kitten and her little gray mouse,
And her little yellow dog and her little red wagon,
And her realio, trulio little pet dragon.

Belinda is as brave as a barrel full of bears,
And Ink and Blink chase lions down the stairs,
Mustard is as brave as a tiger in a rage,
But Custard keeps crying for a nice safe cage.

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Acknowledgements: Morgan Friedman Ogden Nash Online,
For information about Ogden Nash or the use of his works,
contact Frances Rider Smith.

Ogden Nash poems and stories
Copyright © by Linell Nash Smith and Isabel Nash Eberstadt.

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(1902-1971)

Some of Ogden Nash's
verses have almost
become proverbial:

The Camel has
a single hump,
The dromedary two,
Or is it just the other way,
I'm never sure -- are you?

Candy is dandy;
But liquor is quicker

I think that
I shall never see
A billboard
lovely as a tree;
Indeed, unless
the billboards fall
I'll never see a tree at all

(parody of the poem
Trees by Joyce Kilmer)

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REELY'S AUDIO POEMS

The Tale of Custard the Dragon
by Ogden Nash

Belinda lived in a little white house,
With a little black kitten
and a little gray mouse,
And a little yellow dog
and a little red wagon,
And a realio, trulio, little pet dragon.

Now the name of the little
      black kitten was Ink,
And the little gray mouse,
     she called him Blink,
And the little yellow dog
    was sharp as Mustard,
But the dragon was a coward,
and she called him Custard.

Custard the dragon had big
   sharp teeth,
And spikes on top of him
   and scales underneath,
Mouth like a fireplace,
chimney for a nose,
And realio, trulio
   daggers on his toes.

Belinda was as brave as
a barrel full of bears,
And Ink and Blink chased
lions down the stairs,
Mustard was as brave
as a tiger in a rage,
But Custard cried for
a nice safe cage.

Suddenly, suddenly they
    heard a nasty sound,
And Mustard growled, and
    they all looked around.
Meowch! cried Ink, and
     Ooh! cried Belinda,
For there was a pirate,
    climbing in the winda.

But up jumped Custard
snorting like an engine,
Clashed his tail like
irons in a dungeon,
With a clatter and a clank
and a jangling squirm,
He went at the pirate like
a robin at a worm.

Go to the Poll

VJ Web Designs

email: webmaster@reelyredd.com

REELY'S AUDIO POEMS

The Tale of Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash

Belinda lived in a little white house, With a little black kitten and a little gray mouse, And a little yellow dog and a little red wagon, And a realio, trulio, little pet dragon.

Now the name of the little black kitten was Ink, And the little gray mouse, she called him Blink, And the little yellow dog was sharp as Mustard, But the dragon was a coward, and she called him Custard.

Custard the dragon had big sharp teeth, And spikes on top of him and scales underneath, Mouth like a fireplace, chimney for a nose, And realio, trulio daggers on his toes.

Belinda was as brave as a barrel full of bears, And Ink and Blink chased lions down the stairs, Mustard was as brave as a tiger in a rage, But Custard cried for a nice safe cage.

Suddenly, suddenly they heard a nasty sound, And Mustard growled, and they all looked around. Meowch! cried Ink, and Ooh! cried Belinda, For there was a pirate, climbing in the winda.

But up jumped Custard snorting like an engine, Clashed his tail like irons in a dungeon, With a clatter and a clank and a jangling squirm, He went at the pirate like a robin at a worm.

Go to the Poll

VJ Web Designs

email: webmaster@reelyredd.com

The Tale of Custard the Dragon
by Ogden Nash

Belinda lived in a little white house,
With a little black kitten
and a little gray mouse,
And a little yellow dog
and a little red wagon,
And a realio, trulio, little pet dragon.

Now the name of the little
black kitten was Ink,
And the little gray mouse,
she called him Blink,
And the little yellow dog
was sharp as Mustard,
But the dragon was a coward,
and she called him Custard.

Custard the dragon had big
sharp teeth,
And spikes on top of him
and scales underneath,
Mouth like a fireplace,
chimney for a nose,
And realio, trulio
daggers on his toes.

Belinda was as brave as
a barrel full of bears,
And Ink and Blink chased
lions down the stairs,
Mustard was as brave
as a tiger in a rage,
But Custard cried for
a nice safe cage.

Suddenly, suddenly they
heard a nasty sound,
And Mustard growled, and
they all looked around.
Meowch! cried Ink, and
Ooh! cried Belinda,
For there was a pirate,
climbing in the winda.

But up jumped Custard
snorting like an engine,
Clashed his tail like
irons in a dungeon,
With a clatter and a clank
and a jangling squirm,
He went at the pirate like
a robin at a worm.