Origin of "The House That Jack Built."

Auckland Star, Volume VII, Issue 1971, 3 June 1876, Page 5 (Supplement)

Origin of "The House That Jack Built."

The following is certainly a 'literary curiosity.' We extract it from an English paper which gives it on the authority of the • Bombay Guardian,' which paper thus introduces the ' hymn :— 'We are indebted to a friend for the following interesting communication :—

• The following translation of a Hebrew hymn is copied from one of the publications of the Percy Society. It is originally written in Rabbinical Chaldee, and has a sort of lifting measure. No doabt many will bo surprised to find that the familiar nursery tale, which has been told to arauso children, in England, for many generations, has had so serious an original:— A Translation of a Hymn from the Sepher Haggadah. folio 23 1 A kid, a kid, my father bought For two pieces of money. A kid, a kid. 2 Then came the cat that ato the kid That my father bought For two pieces of money. A kid, a kid. 3 Then camo the dog ani bit the cat That ate the kid, &c. 4 Them came the staff and beat the dog That bit the cat, &o. i 5 Then came the fire and burned tho staff That beat the dog, &c. 6 Then came the water and quenched the That burned the staff, &o. [fire 7 Then came the ox and drank tho water That quenched the fire, &c. 8 Then came the butcher and slew the ox That drank the water, &c, 9 Then came the angel of death and killed the butcher That slew the ox, &c. 10 Then came the Holy One, blessed be he, And killed the angel of death, That killed tho butcher, That killed 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. The following is the interpretation : —

1. The kid, which is one of the pure animals, denotes the Hebrew nation. The father by whom it was purchased is Jehovah, who represents iiimself in this relation to the Hebrews. The two piecos of money are Moses and Aaron.

2. The cat denotes the Assyrians, who took the ten tribes.

3 The dcg is symbolical of the Babylonians, who destroyed the Assyrian monarchy.

4 The staff signified the Persians, who destroyed the Babylonian kingdom.

5. The iire indicates the Greek Empire under Alexander, which destroyed the Persian.

6. The water denotes the Eoman power which destroyed the Grecian.

7. The ox is the symbol of the Saracens, who destroyed the Roman power in the Holy Land. 8. The butcher is the crusader, who drove the Saracens off the Holy Land,

9. The angel of death is the Turkish power, to which the land of Palestine is still subject.

10. The commencement of the tenth stanza is designed to show that God will take signal vengeance on the Turks, immediately after whose overthrow the .Tews are to be restored to their own land and live under the government of their long-oxpected Messish.'

Before his marriage Bonghue praised the artistic manner in which his wife " banged" her hair. Now he complains of the cruel manner in which she bangs his head.

Tyndall's Intended —A brother savant (aays a Brooklyn paper)recently rallied Professor Tyndall upon the subject of his rumored engagement to a daughter of Lord Hamilton. The great scientist did not deny the soft impeachment. Eacouraged hereby, his friend pursued the subject with the yiew of discovdring what special attraction could have conquered a man who had so long resisted the fascinations of the sex. "Is she prettier than other ledies you have seen ?" he asked. "No." "Is she more cultivated?" "No." "What, then, is her particular charm?" "She has less dynamic force," said the Professor.

" Charlea 1" she murmured, aa they strolled along the Tremont Street Mall the ether evening, and gazed upwards at the bejewclcd firmament. " Charles dear, which is Venus and which is Adonis 1"