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THE FÚFUMAL
by Kate Gladstone

Fúfu, small rabbit,      fastest of hoppers,
Works in woodland      his ways of evil:
Field-mice he finds,      then hammers with head-blows,
Vexing the queen      of the Vanir folk.

Down came good Freya,    frowning at Fúfu.
Said she to the warren-born:      "No worth I find
In your smiting of cheese-thieves.      Smirk not, but obey me.
To change from your ways,    three chances you'll have.
And if you change not,      then a nithing you'll be."

Yet Fúfu, four-footed,    fastest of hoppers,
Still works in woodland      his ways of evil:
Field-mice he finds,      then hammers with head-blows,
Vexing the queen      of the Vanir folk.

Down came good Freya,      frowning at Fúfu,
Said she to the short-tailed:      "Shame do I find
In your smacking of squeakers,      Smirk not, but obey me.
To change from your ways,    two chances you have
And if you change not,      then a nithing you'll be."

Yet Fúfu, long-footed,      fastest of hoppers,
Still works in woodland      his ways of evil:
Field-mice he finds,    then hammers with head-blows,
Vexing the queen      of the Vanir folk.

Down came good Freya,      frowning at Fúfu,
Said she to the buck-toothed:      "Badness I find
In your smashing of hole-gnawers,      Smirk not, but obey me.
To change from your ways,      one chance you now have
And if you change not,      then a nithing you'll be."

Yet Fúfu, carrot-glad,      fastest of hoppers,
Still works in woodland      his ways of evil:
Field-mice he finds,    then hammers with head-blows,
Vexing the queen      of the Vanir folk.

Down came good Freya,      frowning at Fúfu,
Said she to the long-eared,      "You've lost your last chance.
Three warnings you've wasted.    Now you shall obey me.
To change from your ways,      no chance you now have:
Now and forever,      a nithing shall be!"

THE MORAL:
Hare whose heart      hates field-scurriers
Soon shall see      himself made outlaw.

The preceding is from rec.music.filk. Kate, after having heard somewhere that "Little Bunny Foo Foo" is based on a Verdi tune (can't verdify this myself), wrote a set of Italian operatic lyrics to LBFF. After that, of course, she had to bardify it. Reprinted with permission.

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5/1/2007 Update: The Italian opera version is here.
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