"The Merchant's Song" is a song featured in Disney's 1978 short animated feature The Small One. The song is performed by The Three Merchants (The Mellomen), partially the Boy (Sean Marshall), an overweight potter, and a short baker. This song is based on the Boy trying to sell his donkey, Small One, to some people (a potter and a baker mostly), who deny buying him around the marketplace.
Lyrics[]
The Three Merchants:
Clink, clink, clank, clank.
Get the money to the bank.
Telling little stories you can trust.
We never ever fail
When we got to make a sale.
Oh we simply cheat a little if we must
The Boy:
Small One, Small One, Small One for sale.
One piece of silver, Small One for sale.
Please, sir. Would you like to buy my donkey?
A Potter:
No, no, little boy, I will not buy
That's a sorry bag of bones, I fear
I have buyers by the dozens
And their mothers and their cousins
Now, take the beast and go away from here!
The Three Merchants:
Oh, clink, clink, clank, clank
Get the money to the bank
Telling little stories you can trust
We never ever fail
When we got to make a sale
Oh we simply cheat a little if we must
The Boy:
Small One, Small One, Small One for sale
One piece of silver, Small One for sale
Excuse me. Would you like to buy my donkey?
A Baker:
No, no, little boy, I will not buy.
What a scrawny,
Undernourished little beast.
You will surely realize
Since my wife's a healthy size
I think I better buy a horse, at least.
The Three Merchants:
A horse?
Oh, clink, clink, clank, clank.
Get the money to the bank.
Telling little stories you can trust.
We never ever fail
When we got to make a sale.
Oh simply cheat a little if we must
The Boy:
Doesn't anybody need a donkey?
The Three Merchants:
Come, come, little boy
Take our advice.
You will never ever find a buyer here.
Three blocks straight ahead
"Three blocks," he said
You will find a jolly auctioneer.
You will find a jolly auctioneer.
The Boy:
An auctioneer?
The Three Merchants:
Yes. Now, go away.
4x((1xOh), clink, clink, clank, clank.
Get the money to the bank.
Clink, clink, clank, clank.
The Three Merchants:
Clink, clink, clank, clank.
Get the money to the bank.
Telling little stories you can trust.
We never ever fail
When we got to make a sale.
Oh we work a little harder if we must
The Boy:
Small One, Small One, Small One for sale.
One piece of silver, Small One for sale.
Please, sir. Would you like to buy my donkey?
A Potter:
No, no, little boy, I will not buy
That's a sorry bag of bones, I fear
I have buyers by the dozens
And their mothers and their cousins
Now, take the beast and go away from here!
The Three Merchants:
Oh, clink, clink, clank, clank
Get the money to the bank
Telling little stories you can trust
We never ever fail
When we got to make a sale
Oh we work a little harder if we must
The Boy:
Small One, Small One, Small One for sale
One piece of silver, Small One for sale
Excuse me. Would you like to buy my donkey?
A Baker:
No, no, little boy, I will not buy.
What a scrawny,
Undernourished little beast.
You will surely realize
Since my wife's a healthy size
I think I better buy a horse, at least.
The Three Merchants:
A horse?
Oh, clink, clink, clank, clank.
Get the money to the bank.
Telling little stories you can trust.
We never ever fail
When we got to make a sale.
Oh we work a little harder if we must
The Boy:
Doesn't anybody need a donkey?
The Three Merchants:
Come, come, little boy
Take our advice.
You will never ever find a buyer here.
Three blocks straight ahead
"Three blocks," he said
You will find a jolly auctioneer.
You will find a jolly auctioneer.
The Boy:
An auctioneer?
The Three Merchants:
Yes. Now, go away.
4x((1xOh), clink, clink, clank, clank.
Get the money to the bank.
Clink, clink, clank, clank.
Trivia[]
- On September 27, 2005, Disney released The Small One on DVD for the first time through Walt Disney's Classic Cartoon Favorites: Volume 9: Classic Holiday Stories. For the new release, The Small One, the lyric "We work a little harder if we must" is in place of " We simply cheat a little if we must". It was most likely changed to avoid negative Middle Eastern stereotypes.
- In 2009, Disney released The Small One on DVD for the second time through Walt Disney Animation Collection: Classic Short Films: Volume 7: Mickey's Christmas Carol. That same year, The Small One was released on DVD for the third time through Walt Disney Presents Countdown to Christmas.
- All original VHS releases of The Small One through Walt Disney Mini Classics have the original lyric.
- Although The Small One was released on Disney+ and despite the disclaimer saying that it was shown as originally created, the song was still present on this release, still with the modified lyric.