So I asked you: "What’re you going up the mountains for?"
But you kept heading on - in your hunger for the fray
"Mount Elbrus?" I said, "You saw it from the plane before".
Then you laughed at me, said: "Come with me today."

Since then you’ve been so sweet and affectionate to me:
You’re my mountaineer, my bold rock climber!
And the first time you pulled me from a crack so nimbly,
You smiled at me, my bold rock climber.

And because of all those cursed little cracks
That I got stuck in as I praised the lunch you made,
You swung round, and would give me two little smacks.
But was I upset? No - remember what I said:

"Oh how affectionate, and how kind to me,
My lady mountaineer, my bold rock climber!"
Every time that you pulled me from a crack so nimbly
You’d scold me, my bold rock climber.

And on every step of every climb
You just would never trust in me, dear.
You roped me in a little tighter to you each time.
My latex-supple mountaineer.

"Oh how unaffectionate, how unkind to me,
My lady mountaineer, my bold rock climber!"
Every time that you pulled me from a crack so nimbly
You’d scold me, my bold rock climber.

With my last strength, I pulled after you
And now you are just arm’s length away.
"Enough, dear," I will say as I climb up to you
But I just barely manage to say:

"Oh how affectionate, and how sweet to me,
My mountain-side love, my bold rock climber!"
Now you and I are roped together, see,
And you and I are both rock-climbers.