Abiyoyo

by Pete Seeger

If you've got any small kids at your home, you might try telling them this story.

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who played the ukulele. He'd go around town --

"Ploop ploop ploop ploop, ploop ploop ploop ploop, ploop ploop ploop ploop, ploop ploop ploop ploop."

The grownups said, "Get that thing out of here." Not only that, the boy's father was getting

in trouble. He was a magician. He had a magic wand. He'd go, "Zoop, zoop," and make

things disappear.

But the father played too many tricks on people.

Somebody would be doing a hard job of work -- "Zzzz, zzz, zzz, zzz." Up comes the father

with his magic wand, and -- "Zoop!" no saw.

He'd go up to somebody about to drink a nice, cold glass of something -- "Zoop!" the glass

disappears.

He'd come up to someone about to sit down after a hard day's work -- "Zoop," no chair.

People said to the father, "You get out of here too! Take your magic wand, and you and

your son..." The boy and his father were ostracized. (It means they made them live on the

edge of town.)

Now in this town, they used to tell stories. The old people used to tell stories about the

giants that lived in the old days. They used to tell a story about a giant called Abiyoyo.

They said he was as tall as a house... and could eat people up! Of course, nobody believed

them, but they told the story anyway.

One day... one day, the sun rose blood-red over the hill. The first people got up and looked

out of their windows. They saw a great big shadow over the sun. They could feel the whole

ground shake. Women screamed! Strong men fainted! "Run for your lives, Abiyoyo's

coming!"

He comes to the sheep pasture, grabs a whole sheep... "CHOMP!"

He comes to the cow pasture, grabs a whole cow... "CHOMP!"

The men yell, "Grab your most precious possessions and run, run!"

Just then, the boy and his father woke up."Hey, pa! What's coming over the field?"

"Oh, son, that's Abiyoyo. Oh, if I could only get him to lie down, I could make him

disappear!"

The boy says, "Come with me, father." He grabs his father by one hand, his father gets the

magic wand, the boy gets the ukulele, they run across the field... people yell, "Don't go near

him! He'll eat you alive!"

There was Abiyoyo. He had long fingernails because he never cut them, slobbery teeth

because he never brushed them, stinking feet because he didn't wash them... he raised his

claws... and the boy whips out his ukulele, and starts to sing:

Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo. Abiyoyo yo yoyo yo yoyo. Abiyoyo yo yoyo yo yoyo.

Well, you know the giant had never heard a song about himself before. And a foolish grin

spread over the giant's face. And the giant started to dance.

Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo.

The boy went faster.

Abiyoyo yo yoyo yo yoyo. Abiyoyo yo yoyo yo yoyo.

Huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh... the giant got out of breath. He staggered. He fell down

flat on the ground.

Zoop, zoop!

People looked out their windows. Abiyoyo had disappeared! They ran across the fields.

They lifted the boy and his father up on their shoulders. They said, "Come back to town.

Bring your damn ukulele, we don't care anymore!" And they all sang,

Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo. Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo.

https://m3englishmd.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/abiyoyo-script.pdf

Summary :

The book of Jonah poses fascinating questions for us to ponder. Do we truly forgive and love our enemies? And do we run from God when faced with our failures? By examining ourselves through Jonah’s story, we can learn to trust God in his decisions and give all our concerns to him, knowing that he desires to save every individual and reunite with them forever.

https://bibleproject.com/videos/jonah/

My Little Book About, Jonah & The Whale

New Seasons Publishing. Publications International, Ltd. 1992. ISBN: 1-56173-807-7. Illustration by Gary Torrisi.

https://m3englishmd.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/abiyoyo-script.pdf

Ten Traveling Tigers by Louisa Ernesto. Illustrated by Lisa Campbell Ernst. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.

ISBN: 0-395-90310-6.