This is the man that shoots the hares; <br />This is the coat he always wears: <br />With game-bag, powder-horn, and gun <br />He's going out to have some fun. <br /> <br />He finds it hard, without a pair <br />Of spectacles, to shoot the hare. <br />The hare sits snug in leaves and grass <br />And laughs to see the green man pass. <br />Now, as the sun grew very hot, <br />And he a heavy gun had got, <br />He lay down underneath a tree <br />And went to sleep, as you may see. <br />And, while he slept like any top, <br />The little hare came, hop, hop, hop, <br />Took gun and spectacles, and then <br />On her hind legs went off again. <br /> <br />The green man wakes and sees her place <br />The spectacles upon her face; <br />And now she's trying all she can <br />To shoot the sleepy, green-coat man. <br />He cries and screams and runs away; <br />The hare runs after him all day <br />And hears him call out everywhere: <br />'Help! Fire! Help! The Hare! The Hare!' <br /> <br />At last he stumbled at the well, <br />Head over ears, and in he fell. <br />The hare stopped short, took aim and, hark! <br />Bang went the gun—she missed her mark! <br /> <br />The poor man's wife was drinking up <br />Her coffee in her coffee-cup; <br />The gun shot cup and saucer through; <br />'Oh dear!' cried she; 'what shall I do?' <br />There lived close by the cottage there <br />The hare's own child, the little hare; <br />And while she stood upon her toes, <br />The coffee fell and burned her nose. <br />'Oh dear!' she cried, with spoon in hand, <br />'Such fun I do not understand.'<br /><br />Heinrich Hoffmann<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-story-of-the-man-that-went-out-shooting/
