"Rat, rat, gnaw rope;
Rope won't hang butcher;
Butcher won't kill ox;
Ox won't drink water;
[Illustration: "RAT, RAT, GNAW ROPE."]
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Piggy won't get over the stile;
And I shan't get home to-night."
But the rat would not. She went a little farther, and she met a cat. So
she said--
"Cat, cat, kill rat;
Rat won't gnaw rope;
Rope won't hang butcher;
Butcher won't kill ox;
Ox won't drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Piggy won't get over the stile;
And I shan't get home to-night."
But the cat said to her, "If you will go to yonder cow, and fetch me a
saucer of milk, I will kill the rat." So away went the old woman to the
cow, and said--
[Illustration: "COW, COW, GIVE ME A SAUCER OF MILK."]
"Cow, cow, give me a saucer of milk;
Cat won't kill rat;
Rat won't gnaw rope;
Rope won't hang butcher;
Butcher won't kill ox;
Ox won't drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Piggy won't get over the stile;
And I shan't get home to-night."
But the cow said to her, "If you will go to yonder haymakers, and fetch
me a wisp of hay, I'll give you the milk." So away the old woman went to
the haymakers, and said--
"Haymakers, give me a wisp of hay;
Cow won't give me milk;
Cat won't kill rat;
Rat won't gnaw rope;
Rope won't hang butcher;
Butcher won't kill ox;
Ox won't drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
[Illustration: "HAYMAKERS, GIVE ME A WISP OF HAY."]
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Piggy won't get over the stile;
And I shan't get home to-night."
But the haymakers said to her,--"If you will go to yonder stream, and
fetch us a bucket of water, we'll give you the hay." So away the old
woman went; but when she got to the stream, she found the bucket was
full of holes. So she covered the bottom with pebbles, and then filled
the bucket with water, and away she went back with it to the haymakers;
and they gave her a wisp of hay.
As soon as the cow had eaten the hay, she gave the old woman the milk;
and away she went with it in a saucer to the cat. As soon as the cat had
lapped up the milk--
The cat began to kill the rat;
The rat began to gnaw the rope;
The rope began to hang the butcher;
The butcher began to kill the ox;
The ox began to drink the water;
The water began to quench the fire;
The fire began to burn the stick;
The stick began to beat the dog;
The dog began to bite the pig;
[Illustration: "THE CAT BEGAN TO KILL THE RAT."]
The little pig in a fright jumped over the stile;
And so the old woman got home that night.
[Illustration: Music