In the past, when you were no more than a baby
Your father brought his young wife and you to this cottage
They were a lovely couple
But not lovely neighbors
You see, your mother was with child
And she developed an unusual appetite
She admired my beautiful garden
And she told your father
That what she wanted more than anything, in the world, was
Greens, greens, nothing but greens
Parsley, peppers, cabbages and celery
Asparagus, and watercress, and fiddleferns, and lettuce
He said, "All right", but it wasn't, quite
'Cause I caught him in the autumn in my garden one night
He was robbing me, raping me
Rooting through my rutabaga
Raiding my arugula and ripping up the rampion
My champion! My favorite!
I should have laid a spell on him right there
I could have turned him into stone
Or a dog
Or a chair
But I let him have the rampion I'd lots to spare
In return, however, I said, "Fair is fair
You can let me have the baby that your wife will bear
And we'll call it square"
I had a brother?
No. But, you had a sister
Where is she?
She's mine now! And you'll never find her
Small price to pay for what else your father stole from me
It cost me my youth, my beauty
My mother warned me
She would punish me with the curse of ugliness if I ever lost any of them
Lost what?
The beans
Beans?
The special beans
I'd let him go, I didn't know
He'd stolen my beans
I was watching him crawl back over the wall
When bang! Crash! A lightning flash!
Well, that's another story, never mind, anyway
At last the big day came
I made my claim
"Oh, don't take away the baby"
They shrieked and screeched
But I did
And I hid her where she'll never be reached
Your father cried, and your mother died
When for extra measure, I admit it was a pleasure
I said, "Sorry, I'm still not mollified"
And I laid a little spell on them
You too, son
That your family tree would always be a barren one