​​Johnny made his living selling

     apples from a cart; 
at fifty cents an apple he

     was doing rather well.
People bought his apples by

     the dozens.  In his heart
he knew his apples were the best

     that any cart could sell.

​

One day a long, black limousine

     pulled up.  Four men got out.
They all were wearing three-piece suits

     and tasseled-loafer shoes.
They said, “There is an epidemic

     you should know about:
an apple from another cart

     in town displayed a bruise!”

 

Johnny said, “I can assure

     you men that all my fruits
are fine; no bruisy apples ever

     came from this here cart.”
“We have to take precautions,” said

     the men in three-piece suits.
“Your apples must wear little masks

     and stand six feet apart.”

 

Well, that made Johnny mad you know,

     because he knew full well
his apples wouldn’t sell that way.  

     The men said, “You’re in luck.
We understand your plight.  For every

     apple you can’t sell
that has a bruise the government

     will pay an extra buck!”

 

So Johnny scratched his head.  “You know boys,

     that don’t make no sense.
I get a dollar-fifty for

     an apple with a bruise,
but for an unbruised apple I

     will just get fifty cents?”
“That’s the way it is,” declared

     the men in tasseled shoes.

 

Well, Johnny thought, “if there’s

     an epidemic, I suppose
I ought to take precautions to

     make sure that all my fruits
are free from all those bruises,

     because everybody knows
that you can always trust the men

     who wear the three-piece suits.”

 

Johnny looked at all the apples

     in his apple cart
and saw that they were close together.  

     “This will never do!
I’ll cover them with little masks

     and set them far apart,
and since there’s not much room in there,

     I’ll just display a few.”

 

That evening Johnny worried that

     his apples wouldn’t sell.
“ANOTHER APPLE BRUISE TODAY!!”

     exclaimed the headline news.
Johnny picked an apple up

     and looked it over well,
and said, “When I look closely here,

     I think I see a bruise!”

 

So Johnny took a magnifying

     glass out to the cart
and one-by-one examined every

     apple on the shelf.
A neighbor offered up his help,

     but John was very smart:
“That won’t be necessary, thanks,

     I’ll handle it myself.”

 

Johnny talked it over with

     his lovely wife, Claresse.
“To see if any apples have

     a bruise-propensity,
I thought it might be wise if I

     devise a little test,
but it is rather complicated;

     leave it all to me.”

 

And Johnny put his apples through

     his bruise-detection test,
and through this close examination

     very quickly learned
that although most displayed no bruises,

     quarantine was best
for many of them had the dreaded

     bruise-producing germ!

 

Not only that, but every one

     which may have ventured near
the bruise-producing-germy apples

     likewise should be tossed.
The apple epidemic had

     ignited public fear;
before you knew it, Johnny’s apple

     selling season’s lost.

 

He made this noble sacrifice,

     and all the people said
he was their noble hero and

     they poured out all their thanks.
He said, “aw shucks, ‘tweren’t nothin’” as

     he nobly bowed his head,
and nobly put another

     dollar-fifty in the bank.