The Mikado/See how the Fates their gifts allot
Mikado:
See how the Fates their gifts allot,
For A is happy — B is not.
Yet B is worthy, I dare say,
Of more prosperity than A!
Ko-Ko, Pooh-Bah & Pitti-Sing:
Is B more worthy?
Katisha:
I should say
He's worth a great deal more than A.
All:
Yet A is happy!
Oh, so happy!
Laughing, Ha! ha!
Chaffing, Ha! ha!
Nectar quaffing, Ha! ha! ha!
Ever joyous, ever gay,
Happy, undeserving A!
Ever joyous, ever gay,
Happy, undeserving A!
Ko-Ko, Pooh-Bah & Pitti-Sing:
If I were Fortune — which I'm not —
B should enjoy A's happy lot,
And A should die in miserie —
That is, assuming I am B.
Mikado & Katisha:
But should A perish?
Ko-Ko, Pooh-Bah & Pitti-Sing:
That should be
(Of course, assuming I am B).
All:
B should be happy!
Oh, so happy!
Laughing, Ha! ha!
Chaffing, Ha! ha!
Nectar quaffing, Ha! ha! ha!
But condemned to die is he,
Wretched meritorious B!
But condemned to die is he,
Wretched meritorious B!
[Exeunt Mikado & Katisha]