"She went a little further, and she met a rope. So she said, 'Rope! rope! hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox,' &c. But the rope would not.
"She went a little further, and she met a rat. So she said, 'Rat! rat! gnaw rope; rope won't hang butcher,' &c. But the rat would not.
"She went a little further, and she met a cat. So she said, 'Cat! cat! kill rat; rat won't gnaw rope,' &c. 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 said to her, 'If you will go to yonder haystack,[*] and fetch me a handful of hay, I'll give you the milk.' So away went the old woman to the haystack; and she brought the hay to the cow.
"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; the little pig in a fright jumped over the stile; and so the old woman got home that night."
[*] Or haymakers, proceeding thus in the stead of the rest of this paragraph:—"And fetch me a wisp of hay, I'll give you the milk.—So away the old woman went, 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."
DXCVII.
Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse both lived in a house,