hour and a half ago."
But the rope would not.

Just then a large brown mouse ran across the meadow, and she said,--

"Mouse, mouse, 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;
Pig won't go.
I see by the moonlight,
It's long past midnight;
Time pig and I were home an hour and a half ago."
"Yes," said the mouse, "I will if you
will give me some cheese."

So the old woman put her hand in her pocket, and found a nice piece of
cheese; and when the mouse had eaten it,

The mouse 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,
And the pig began to go.

But what time the old woman and her pig got home, you, nor I, nor nobody
knows.

148

Teachers and parents owe a greater debt of
gratitude to Joseph Jacobs than to any other
modern student of folklore. He was born in
Australia in 1854, spent most of his life in
scholarly pursuits in England, and died in
America in 1916. In his six volumes of English,
Celtic, Indian, and European fairy tales he
gave the world versions of its best known and
most representative folk stories in a form
suited to children while remaining true in all
essentials to the original oral versions of the
folk. This combination of scientific accuracy
and literary workmanship is very rare. In the
introductions and notes to these various
volumes may be found a wealth of information
which the general reader can understand without
the necessity of special training in the
science of folklore. And best of all, these
volumes can be had at prices that are
comparatively cheap.

The following story of "Henny-Penny" is given
in the fine version by Joseph Jacobs in his
_English Fairy Tales_. He heard it as a child
in Australia and he thinks "the fun consists in
the avoid