t drank the water, etc.
Then came the Angel of Death and killed the butcher, etc.
Then came the Holy One, Blessed be He! and slew the Angel of Death,
that killed the butcher, that slew the ox, that drank the water,
that quenched the fire, that burned the staff, that beat the
dog, that bit the cat, that ate the kid, that my father bought
for two pieces of money--A kid! a kid!"

Now for the interpretation--for it is a historical and a prophetic
nursery rhyme. The kid which Jehovah the father purchased denotes the
select Hebrew race; the two pieces of money represent Moses and Aaron;
the cat signifies the Assyrians, by whom the ten tribes were taken into
captivity; the dog is representative of the Babylonians; the staff
typifies the Persians; the fire is Alexander the Great at the head of
the Grecian Empire; the water the Roman domination over the Jews; the ox
the Saracens who subdued the Holy Land and brought it under the Caliph;
the butcher is a symbol of the Crusaders' slaughter; the Angel of Death
the Turkish power; the last stanza is to show that God will take
vengeance on the Turks when Israel will again become a fixed nation and
occupy Palestine. The Edomites (the Europeans) will combine and drive
out the Turks.

Everyone, big and little, will recognise the source of the nursery fable
of "The house that Jack built."

"This is the house that Jack built.
This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house, etc.
This is the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt, etc.
This is the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat, etc.
This is the cow with a crumpled horn that tossed the little dog over
the barn, that worried the cat that killed the rat, etc.
This is the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with a crumpled
horn, that tossed the little dog over the barn, etc.
This is the man all tatters and torn, that kissed the maiden all
forlorn, that milked the cow with a crumpled horn, etc.
This is the priest all shaven and shorn, that married the man all
tatters and torn to the maiden all forlorn, etc.
This is the cock that crowed in the morn, that wakened the priest
all shaven and shorn, that married the man, etc.
This is the farmer sowing his corn, that fed the cock that crowed in
the morn, that wakened the priest all sha