[Yen How:]
Oh, my name is Yen How, I'm a Mandarin great,
And this is my famous umbrella of state,
And these are the robes that my office contrives,
And these, if you please, are my six little wives.
[Wives:]
Yes, we are his six little wives.
[Yen How:]
Kow-tow, kow-tow
To the great Yen How,
And wish him the longest of lives,
With his one little, two little, three little, four little,
Five little, six little wives!
[Wives:]
Kow-tow, kow-tow
To the great Yen How,
And wish him the longest of lives,
[Yen How:]
With his one little, two little, three little, four little,
Five little, six little wives!
[Yen How:]
But I never forget when my temper they vex,
That my six little darlings have six little necks;
So it's possible quite when again I arrive,
That these six little women will only be five!
[Wives:]
Alas, we shall only be five!
[Yen How:]
Kow-tow, kow-tow
To the great Yen How,
And wish him the longest of lives,
With his one little, two little, three little, four little,
Five little, live little wives!
[Wives:]
Kow-tow, kow-tow
To the great Yen How,
And wish him the longest of lives,
[Yen How:]
With his one little, two little, three little, four little,
Five little, live little wives!
[Yen How:]
Though a hair of their heads it would pain me to hurt,
Yet I fear there is one who's a bit of a flirt,
And if I should catch her and anything more,
Then my six little pets I must limit to four,
[Wives:]
His pets he will limit to four.
[Yen How:]
Kow-tow, kow-tow
To the great Yen How,
And wish him the longest of lives,
With his one little, two little, three little, four little,
Left little, live little wives!
[Wives:]
Kow-tow, kow-tow
To the great Yen How,
And wish him the longest of lives,
[Yen How:]
With his one little, two little, three little, four little,
Left little, live little wives!
[Yen How:]
Of course they're the six little wives that I love,
And suspicion I think they're completely above
But if anything wrong I should happen to see
I shall order a further reduction to three.
[Wives:]
A further reduction to three.
[Yen How:]
Kow-tow, kow-tow
To the great Yen How,
And wish him the longest of lives,
With his one little, two little, three little, lone little,
Left little, live little wives!
[Wives:]
Kow-tow, kow-tow
To the great Yen How,
And wish him the longest of lives,
[Yen How:]
With his one little, two little, three little, lone little,
Left little, live little wives!
[Yen How:]
They are beautiful girls and they're all very young,
But each of my six little wives has a tongue,
If their chatter annoys I must put on the screw,
And my talkative poppets will dwindle to two!
[Wives:]
His poppets will dwindle to two.
[Yen How:]
Kow-tow, kow-tow
To the great Yen How,
And wish him the longest of lives,
With his one little, two little, lorn little, lone little,
Left little, live little wives!
[Wives:]
Kow-tow, kow-tow
To the great Yen How,
And wish him the longest of lives,
[Yen How:]
With his one little, two little, lorn little, lone little,
Left little, live little wives!
[Yen How:]
And if when my favours are showered on two,
Those two take to fighting, as two women do,
There's one thing alone that remains to be done--
My dovecot in future must hold only one.
[Wives:]
His dovecot will only hold one!
[Yen How:]
Kow-tow, kow-tow
To the great Yen How,
And wish him a very long life,
With his one little, last little, lorn little, lone little,
Left little, live little wife!
[Wives:]
Kow-tow, kow-tow
To the great Yen How,
And wish him a very long life,
[Yen How:]
With his one little, last little, lorn little, lone little,
Left little, live little wife!
[Yen How:]
But of one little wife I shall weary, I fear,
So the last of the six will in time disappear,
And Yen How will be seen, if her loss he survives
Starting bus'ness again with a dozen new wives!
[Wives:]
Oh, think of a dozen new wives!
[Yen How:]
Kow-tow, kow-tow
To the great Yen How,
And wish him the longest of lives,
With his two little, four little, six little, eight little,
Ten little, twelve little wives!
[Wives:]
Kow-tow, kow-tow
To the great Yen How,
And wish him the longest of lives,
[Yen How:]
With his two little, four little, six little, eight little,
Ten little, twelve little wives!