A Flea and a Fly in a Flue

A flea and a fly in a flue

Were imprisoned, so what could they do?
Said the fly, “let us flee!”
“Let us fly!” said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

A Fly and a Flea in a Flue

by Anonymous

A Fly and a Flea in a Flue

By: Anonymous

A fly and a flea in a flue

Were imprisoned, so what could they do?
Said the fly, "Let us flee!"
"Let us fly!� said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
I think, if one of those "chimscams" found a flaw in a flue, we could caution our
customer about fixing it lest the house become full of flies and fleas.
A flea and a fly in a flue
Were caught so what could they do?
Said the fly, “Let us flee.”
Said the flea, “Let us fly.”
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
What’s so funny about this? This is an old limerick that I actually remember from when I was
about 8 or 9 years old. I had a “Big Book of Jokes” that I’d read in bed, especially when I was
sick with the flu. When you think about it, the two bugs in the limerick might be suffering from
the same ailment, except their flu is spelled f-l-u-e. What’s fun rather than funny about this
limerick is saying it aloud and trying to keep it all straight because it’s filled with homophones
and homonyms too. Then of course there’s all the alliteration which for some reason seems to
be pleasing to the palate to say. So we’ve got two bugs stuck in a flue, which is a duct or pipe
for smoke and waste gases produced by a fire, a gas heater, a chimney or some other fuel-
burning device. The word is also a homophone of flu, the disease, short for influenza. The
insects themselves are homophonic as evidenced by their comments. The fly wants to flee,
spelled f-l-e-e, or escape; and the flea wants to fly, same word, true homonym only used as a
verb instead of a noun. And the last line hits us with a triple alliteration and a third homophone,
flew, a verb and the past tense of the verb, fly. Complicated isn’t it?. And THAT’s what’s so
funny!
flue: a chimney or boiler pipe that releases flames and hot gases to the air but that, in mild
weather, might have been stopped up?