(Found) "Close my mouth, pull in my tongue..."

[PaulMmn]

Humans are enslaved on not-Earth. Masters use humans as 'horses' and ride on humans' shoulders. All children are taught a 'nursery rhyme...'

There's a revolt (of course). Our Hero and one or more others (at least his girlfriend, IIRC) escapes to the 'temple,' which humans are forbidden to enter. The Masters are hot on his heels! That's where OH remembers the nursery rhyme, and the line, "Close my mouth, pull in my tongue." It sounds backwards, but it's really instructions to close the door of the temple, then pull in the ramp. The temple is, of course, the spaceship by which humans had arrived on this planet in the first place.

OH and crew remember another line of the rhyme-- "Find the worm that's striped with red..." They do, but can't read the label, "Emergency Blastdown / Earth." They take off, but it will be weeks before they recite the rest of the rhyme which has instructions for Long Sleep...

Anyone have a clue?

--Paul E Musselman

 

[PaulMmn]

Found it! The story's included in:
A Quest-Lover's Treasury of the Fantastic
By Margaret Weis

The story is "The Silk and The Song" by Charles L Fontenay

I remembered the rhyme imperfectly. It said:

Twinkle, twinkle, golden star,
I can reach you, though you're far.
Shut my mouth and find my head,
Find a worm that's striped with red,
Feed it to the turtle shell,
Then go to sleep, for all is well.

--Paul E Musselman

 

[tinkerdan]

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