Once upon a time, in a land far away, lived a poor farmer on a tiny farm. He had a few animals like you often find on a farm; cats and dogs, a cow and a horse, sheep, a goat and some chickens -- but he also had one very special rooster.

One day this rooster was scratching and pecking at the dirt in the road that went by the farm, when suddenly his beak hit something hard and shiny. He pecked all around it and saw that it was a beautiful silver dollar. He picked it up in his beak, and as he was holding it, shining and sparkling in the sunlight, a car came down the road, screeched to a halt right next to him, and Mr. Stingyman got out.

Now Mr. Stingyman had lots and lots of money. He had a special vault made of stone and steel 40 feet high and 40 feet wide and a 100 yards long where he kept all his money. But he was so stingy, he never gave anything to anybody. He just kept putting all his money in his money vault and by now it was almost full. But he was never satisfied, he always wanted more. And so when he saw the silver dollar he wanted it. Mr. Stingyman said, "Hey rooster, gimme that dollar." The rooster said, "No, I won't, I'm taking it back to the farmer." "No you won't," said Mr. Stingyman, and he grabbed the rooster by the neck, yanked the silver dollar away from him, jumped in his car and drove off. When he got home he threw the silver dollar in his money vault and locked the door again.

Now the little rooster got really angry. He went to Mr. Stingyman's house, got up on the window sill and started singing at the top of his voice:

"Hey Mr. Stingyman, listen to me holler! Cock a doodle doodle doo, give me back my dollar!"

He kept singing this over and over and over, till Mr. Stingyman got real tired of it and he called his son, whose name was Tightwad, and he said, "Tightwad! Take that rooster and throw him in the well!" So Tightwad grabbed the rooster and threw him in the well.

But the little rooster wasn't frightened; he just started singing to his belly:

"Belly, belly, belly, take in all the water."

Glugglugglugglugglugglugglug... and he took in all the water! Then he climbed out of the well, jumped up on the window sill and started singing as loud as he could.

"Hey Mr. Stingyman..."

Mr. Stingyman got even madder than before. He said to his son, "Tightwad! Take that rooster and throw him in the flaming furnace!" So Tightwad grabbed the rooster and threw him in the flaming furnace.

But the little rooster still wasn't frightened; he just started singing to his belly again:

"Belly, belly, belly, let out all the water."

Whoooosh... and the water put out the fire. Then the little rooster got out of the furnace, jumped up on the window sill and started singing again:

"Hey Mr. Stingyman..."

Now Mr. Stingyman was furious. He yelled, "Tightwad! Take that rooster and throw him in the beehive!" And Tightwad grabbed the rooster and threw him in the beehive.

But the little rooster still wasn't frightened; he just started singing again:

"Belly, belly, belly , take in all the bees."

Bzzzzzzzzz... and he took in all the bees. Then he got out of the beehive, jumped up on the windowsill and started singing at the top of his lungs:

"Hey, Mr. Stingyman..."

Now Mr. Stingyman was as mad as he could be! He roared, "Tightwad! Bring that rooster over here. I'm going to stuff him in my baggy pants and sit on him!" So Tightwad grabbed the rooster and brought him to Mr. Stingyman and Mr. Stingyman stuffed him in his baggy pants and sat right down on him.

But the little rooster still wasn't frightened. He just started singing:

"Belly, belly, belly, let out all the bees."

Buzz, Buzz, Buzz! And the bees all came buzzing out and started biting Mr. Stingyman. "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" He yelled and hollered and jumped up and down. "Take this rooster to the money vault and let him take his lousy silver dollar!"

So Tightwad grabbed the little rooster and ran all the way to the money vault, opened the door and let him in. The little rooster took a good, long look all around, then started singing very, very softly:

"Belly, belly, belly, take in all the money."

Clinkclinkclink... and he took in all the money. Then he ran home as fast as he could and gave it all to the poor farmer. And as far as we know, they lived happily ever after!  

Many thanks to Gemini for permission to display these lyrics.
© Laszlo Slomovits ASCAP . All rights reserved. Used with permission.

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