Page:St. Nicholas - Volume 41, Part 1.djvu/482

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“MELILOTTE”—A FAIRY OPERETTA
[Mar.


(Turtle Woman)

As the Tur - tle Wo-man I am known I

O! sad my lot! I nev - er smile, I'm


have no real name of my own; In Dismal Swamp

out of fash-ion all the while, You see your-self I


(Melilotte) (Turtle Woman}

live a-lone, And that's a pi-ty! O! that's a pi-ty! You

have no style, And that’s a pi-ty! O! that's a pi-ty! Ob-


cer - tain - ly would nev - er guess That, tho’ I'm ve - ry

serve my gown, which does-n’t fit, My cap I do not


fond of dress, This one is all that [ pos-sess, And

like a bit; I am a sight I do ad-mit, And

(Melilotte) (Turtle Woman}

that's a pi-ty! O! that's a pi-ty! that's a pi-ty,

pi-ty, pi-ty, pi-ty, I de - clare!

THIRD VERSE

(Turtle Woman)

But Turtle Women cannot dress
In modes that add to comeliness—
The shell impedes them, more or less—
And that 's a pity!

(Meliotte) O! that’s a pity!
(Turtle Woman)

So I am doomed, as you can see,
Behind the style to always be
Till from this turtle-shell I 'm free,
And that’s a pity!
And that 's a pity!

(At the conclusion of the song, they dance.)

Turtle Woman. I ’d thank you for a cup of tea.
I’'m just as cross as | can be!

Meliotte. Alas! good dame, what shall I do?
I 've nothing here to offer vou.

Turtle Woman. No food or drink! Unhappy maid!
That 's carelessness I am afraid.
We ’ll buy them then, if you don’t mind;
A Silver Dollar you must find.

Meliotte. (dismayed). A Silver Dollar you demand?
I never saw a thing so grand.

(She runs to the cupboard and produces
her savings-bank.)

Here is my bank—and its contents
Amount to just one hundred cents.

(The Turtle Woman takes the bank.)

Turtle Woman. One hundred cents one dollar make;
So, when I give your bank a shake
And place it in the cupboard here,
The Silver Dollar shall appear.

(She shakes the bank up and down in
time to her sing-song chant.)

One hundred pennies! Fol-de-rollar-O!
Turn into a Silver Dollar-O!

(The Turtle Woman hastily replaces the
bank in the cupboard and shuts the door.
A tremendous jingling of pennies is heard
within, which gradually ceases, and three
knocks sound from the inside of the door.)

Now open, little Melilotte,
And we shall see what you have got.

(Melilotte opens the cupboard door and
the Silver Dollar steps out briskly. His
body has the appearance of a silver dollar,
his arms and legs coming out at convenient
places. He begins to sing at once.)