HOW THE OCTOPUS GOT IT ARMS

"Mama , Boo Hoo!" cried little Pus

"Boo Hoo!

They bullied me at Deep Sea School today too!

The Starfish, cousin Squid, the Man-o War and the

Crabling,

All came together to give me a drubbing.

"Don't cry so, my son. You will grow strong,

And then they will realize that you too belong.

Now run and bring me a shell, please do,

It's difficult to cut weed without a hand or two."

There were no shells, Pus searched high and low,

He sat sadly when the crab put in a show.

"Why mourning" he asked, a trite guilty,

And on hearing he said "take my two extra-sharp arms
that can cut with agility"

Pus took two arms from the Yeti crabling,

Thanked him and rushed back to help with the cooking!

Once done, he äsked "These arms, where do I keep 'em?'

Mom said, "Just for today, why don't you wear them?"

The next day to school, little Pus proudly wore,

Two arms that the crab had donated therefore.

The teacher brought order as he sternly,

Asked all his students to solve sums quickly.

Pus was good at sums et.al.,

But with the sharp arms, he could but scrawl!

The seven armed starfish felt sad to watch Pus struggle,

"Here are two of mine -keep them for school and stay out
of trouble."

Gratefully, Pus collected the arms,

That evening his mom made place in the barn.

"Two arms from the crab to help us cut,

Two arms from the starfish for writing, what luck!"

Cousin Squid came visiting and asked Pus to show,

The arms he had collected -4 trophies galore!

He said sheepishly "take two of my hands,

I use these to keep my eyes free of sand."

"And here are two of minë , said the Portugese Man-o-

War,

These help you to keep safe against dangerous beasts

from shore.

We know we bullied you a bit, we are sorry,

But now we have made amends, come let us be merry!"

So Pus and his friends swam around merrily,

They laughed and sang and became good friend, verily!

Pus's mom was however, quite in a frenzy,

As to where to keep all the arms -she was in a tizzy!

"I know," said Pus, "I know what to do!

Mom, may I wear them all on me too?

That would solve your problem of no space to keep,

Why not wear them and have fun in a heap!"

" I can help you cut seaweed while doing my sums,

I can ward off sand and protect us from scums.

I think, Ma, there is merit,

In wearing eight arms, if you can bear it.

Mama was wary of her son's new fashion,

But saw that he meant it with a passion!

"And why not," she thought, looking at all the other

creatures,

"All of them have arms as their special features!"

"Go ahead, my son, let me not fuss,

From today, you will be called Octopus!

For eight arms have you that were given by your friends,

There is strength in your friendship and friendship never

ends!"