Samuel West - The Jumblies CBeebies Bedtime Stories

Hello. My name's Sam.

I've come to read you a bedtime story.

And tonight's is one of my favourites.

It's a very old nonsense poem.

It's called that because it's full of strange and silly things.

It's called The Jumblies, and it's by Edward Lear.

The pictures are by Sam McPhillips.

Are you sitting comfortably?

Then I'll begin.

They went to sea in a sieve, they did,

In a sieve they went to sea.

In spite of all their friends could say,

On a winter's morn, on a stormy day,

In a sieve they went to sea!

And when the sieve turned round and round,

And every one cried, "You'll all be drowned!"

They called aloud,

"Our sieve ain't big, but we don't care a button!

"We don't care a fig! In a sieve we'll go to sea!'"

Far and few, far and few,

Are the lands where the Jumblies live.

Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,

And they went to sea in a sieve.

They sailed away in a sieve, they did,

In a sieve they sailed so fast,

With only a beautiful pea-green veil

Tied with a riband by way of a sail,

To a small tobacco-pipe mast.

And every one said, who saw them go,

"Oh, won't they be soon upset, you know!

"For the sky is dark, and the voyage is long,

"And happen what may, it's extremely wrong,"

In a sieve to sail so fast!'

Far and few, far and few,

Are the lands where the Jumblies live.

Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,

And they went to sea in a sieve.

The water it soon came in, it did,

The water it soon came in.

So to keep them dry, they wrapped their feet

In a pinky paper all folded neat,

And they fastened it down with a pin.

And they passed the night in a crockery-jar,

And each of them said, "How wise we are!

"Though the sky be dark, and the voyage be long,

"Yet we never can think we were rash or wrong,

"While round in our sieve we spin!"

Far and few, far and few,

Are the lands where the Jumblies live.

Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,

And they went to sea in a sieve.

And all night long they sailed away,

And when the sun went down,

They whistled and warbled a moony song

To the echoing sound of a coppery gong,

In the shade of the mountains brown.

"O Timballo! How happy we are,

"When we live in a sieve and a crockery-jar,

"And all night long in the moonlight pale,

"We sail away with a pea-green sail,

"In the shade of the mountains brown!"

Far and few, far and few,

Are the lands where the Jumblies live.

Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,

And they went to sea in a sieve.

They sailed to the Western Sea, they did,

To a land all covered with trees,

And they bought an owl, and a useful cart,

And a pound of rice, and a cranberry tart,

And a hive of silvery bees.

And they bought a pig, and some green jack-daws,

And a lovely monkey with lollipop paws,

And 40 bottles of Ring-Bo-Ree,

And no end of Stilton cheese.

Far and few, far and few,

Are the lands where the Jumblies live.

Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,

And they went to sea in a sieve.

And in 20 years they all came back,

In 20 years or more,

And every one said, "How tall they've grown!

"For they've been to the lakes, and the Torrible Zone,

"And the hills of the Chankly Bore."

And they drank their health, and gave them a feast

Of dumplings made of beautiful yeast.

And everyone said, "If we only live,

"We too will go to sea in a sieve,

"To the hills of the Chankly Bore!"

Far and few, far and few,

Are the lands where the Jumblies live.

Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,

And they went to sea in a sieve.

I hope you enjoyed that funny story. It was called The Jumblies.

Now it's time for you to climb into your own little sieve boat

and sail off to sleep.

I hope you have sweet dreams.

See you soon.