iggy 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 met a cat, and 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:

"Cow, cow, give me some 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, 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 and fetch us a
bucket of water, we'll give you the hay." So away the old woman
went; but 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 drank 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 to pig, the
pig in a great fright jumped over the stile, and so the old woman
got home that night in time to boil some apple dumplings for her
husband's supper.

[Illustration: The Flying Pig.]

The Flying Pig

Dickery, dickery dar