There once was an oyster whose story I tell, who

 found that some sand had got into his shell. It

was only a grain, but it gave him great pain. For

oysters have feelings although they’re so plain.

Now, did he berate the harsh workings of fate

that had brought him to such a deplorable state?

Did he curse at the government, cry for election,

and claim that the sea should have given him

protection? No, he said to himself as he lay on a

shell, since I cannot remove it, I shall try to

improve it. Now the years have rolled around,

as the years always do, and he came to his

ultimate destiny ~ stew! And the small grain of

sand that had bothered him so was a beautiful

pearl all richly aglow. Now the tale has a

moral; for isn’t it grand, what an oyster can