d: "Butcher! butcher!
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 sha'n't get home to-night." But the butcher wouldn't kill the
ox.

A little further on she met a rope. So she said: "Rope! rope! 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 sha'n't get home to-night." But the
rope wouldn't hang the butcher.

A little further on she met a rat. So she said: "Rat! rat! 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 sha'n't get home
to-night." But the rat wouldn't gnaw the rope.

A little further on 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
sha'n'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.

But the cow refused to give the milk unless the old woman first gave her a
handful of hay. So away went the old woman to the haystack; and she
brought the hay to the cow.

When 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 it 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; the little pig in a
fright jumped over the stile; and so the old woman did get home that
night.

* * * * *

The briefest examination of these three stories reveals the fact that one
attribute is beyond dispute in each. Something happens, all the time.
Every step in each story is an event. There is no time spent in
explanation, description, or telling how people felt; the stories tell
what people did, and what they said. And the