The Monster's Three Wishes
starring Cookie Monster (Frank Oz)
NOTE: This comes from the Random House book, "The Sesame Street 1, 2, 3 Storybook" and I can certainly hear the voice of the genie in my head so it must have appeared on the show ... or I need a vacation :-)
Once there lived a little monster
In a kingdom far away.
And a very strange thing happened
As he brushed his teeth one day.
As he squeezed his tube of toothpaste,
Deepest thunder shook the skies.
And suddenly a genie stood
Before his very eyes.
"I'm the genie of the toothpaste,"
Said the genie with a laugh.
"I've been trapped inside that toothpaste tube
For 3 weeks and a half.
You squeezed the tube and set me free
So here is what I'll do -
I'll let you have 3 wishes
And I'll make them all come true."
"Oh boy!" exclaimed the monster,
"Wow! 3 wishes just for me!
Now let me think and then decide
What my first wish will be."
Now my favorite thing is cookies,
Thought the monster with a grin.
But first I'll wish for something nice
To keep my cookies in.
I would like a million cookies,
But before I use that wish ...
"Hey, Genie," said the monster,
"Will you please bring me a dish?"
"Will I ever!" said the genie,
"For your wish is my command."
And instantly a dish appeared
Right in the monster's hand.
"Hey, I did it!" cried the genie.
"Wow! I haven't lost my touch!"
"It's a nice dish," said the monster,
"But it won't hold very much."
The monster thought of all the cookies
That he'd soon get with his wish.
And he knew a million cookies
Couldn't fit on one small dish.
He would need something much bigger.
So the monster said, "Hey, Genie!
I would like a great big box ...
This plate is much too teeny!"
"You want a box? You've got it,"
Said the genie with a smirk.
And instantly a box appeared.
The monster cried, "Nice work!"
But although the box was pretty big
And could hold lots of stuff -
Could it hold a million cookies ...?
It just wasn't big enough.
So the monster called the genie
And said, "Boy, am I in luck!
Since you'll give me what I wish for ...
How about a great big truck?"
And right away a truck appeared
Before the monster's eyes.
"Fantastic!" cried the monster.
"It is just the perfect size!"
"It will hold a million cookies,
And I'll never have to worry.
And that is what I wish for!
Give me cookies now! Please hurry!"
"I am sorry," said the genie,
"For though cookies are delicious,
I cannot give them to you
'Cause you've used up your 3 wishes." (love that rhyme!)
"Oh, no!" exclaimed the monster.
"is it true? I just can't tell.
For although I'm good at eating things,
I do not count so well."
"Let us count these things together,"
Said the genie, "and you'll see -
The dish is 1, the box is 2,
And then the truck makes 3."
"3 things! You're right," the monster said,
"Now what am I to do?
I've used up my 3 wishes
And I'm very hungry, too!"
"Gee, that's too bad," the genie said,
"But now my job's complete."
"I'm so hungry," said the monster,
"Oh, I need something to eat!"
"I'm sad your wish for cookies
Can't come true," the genie said.
"That's okay," replied the monster ...
" ... I'll just eat the truck instead!"
And as the monster ate the truck,
The genie disappeared,
Saying, "I have seen a lot of things -
But boy ... is that guy weird!"
Transcribed by the archive's webmistress Tiny Dancer
Originally released on the album
'C' Is for Cookie! (1974) Children's Television Workshop
and on the album
Let A Frown Be Your Umbrella (1974) Children's Television Workshop
Available on the 3-DVD Set
Sesame Street - Old School, Vol. 1 (1969-1974) (2006)