It is the first real November night. The moon is just past full, and it was coming up as we went to the train station to pick up Mami. We were listening (and singing along) to “The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night”, a most appropriate song for this time of year. It was a favorite of my childhood, and my mother’s, and now my children’s.

The fox went out on a chilly night,
He prayed to the moon to give him light,
For he’d many miles to go that night
Before he reached the town-o, town-o, town-o,
For he’d many miles to go that night
Before he reached the town-o.

The kids especially love the part about the farmer’s wife: “Old Mother Slipperslop jumped out of bed/Out of the window POPPED HER HEAD” they bellow with great glee. It is wonderful to have such a song that bridges generations.

Peter Spier perfectly captures the mood of this old folk song in his illustrations of sly Reynard making his rounds. (The setting in a New England village strikes a true note for those of us in the Northeast.) The tune is to be found at the book’s end for those not already familiar with this great old song.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 17th, 2005 at 10:47 pm and is filed under Books, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.