Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-02-11
ORIGIN OF FARlLlAR THINGS.

some one in q happy fit Of imagina-
ton but 10 is said TO be founded on
fact. The Greek historian and bioe-
rapher, StrabO, says that one day, IS
a lady, named Rh0dOpis, was bathing
in the Nile the wind carried away
one Of her sandals, and laid It at the
feet Of the king Of Egypt, who was
then holding a court Of Justice in the
open air, not far of. HIS curiosity
was excited by the singuiarity Of the
event, and by the elegance Of the san
dial, and he offered q reward for the
discovery Of the owner Of It. The
lady claimed it, and It was found To
fit her exactly. She was very beauti-
ful, and the king married her. She ia
remembered In history as ssfhe rosv-
checked queen Of Egypt, and lived
two thousand years before the Chris
tian era. The story Of Blue Beard
has also been traced 70 q historical ba-
sis. Giles de Laval, marshal Of France
In 1429, was distinguished for his milf
tary abilities, but he rendered himself
Infamous by his extraordinary imuie-
ty and debaueheries, sdd by murder
ing his wives. He had q long herd
OF bluish-black color, Whencs he was
called Blue-Beard. Unemployed those
who pretended TO be sOFeerers to Dis
cover hidden treasures, and he cor
rupted young persons OF both sexes to
attach them 90 him, after which he
killed them for the sake OF their blood.
which he used for his i-ncantations.
By order OF the Duke Of Brittany he
was burned alive In q field near
Nantes, In the year 1440. The story
OF Jack the GiantKiuer has been
supposed to be derived rom the a
Of King Arthur with his rebeiious
Cornish vassals, who figure as Ogres
q giants, while the king appears IS
Jack. Many 0 eases might be
cited. THE House that Jack buiItU
has interesting a~nteeedents. Tbf5 a.
NOUS jtngiing legend, believed to be
an imitation OF q medieval HebreU
parable IN the form Of q hymn. was
commemorative Of the Dri-ciosI
events In the history OF the Jewish
people. The original is 10 be found
in the Jewish collection called taa Sa-
pher Aaggahah, vol. ., ana an inter
probation Of Il was given To the world
so tar back as 1731, by =. y. Leb-
recht, Of Leipsic. There are ten
verses. The first consists Of two lines
and a short refrain, thus: "a kid. a
kid my father bought Tor two pieces
OF money, " (refraiHl "a kid. kid.1
This refrain is repeated az the end Of
each verse. The second verse COM
mences with the words: saThan came
the cat, and ate the kid, that my faith
er bought for two pieces Of money!
Inc third verse runs, 'ithen came
the dog, and bit the cat, that
ate the kid" etc. The fourth is.
"then came the star. and beat
the dog, that oft the cat" etc. The
NTH Is, "then came the fire, and
burned the STIFF, that beat the d0r.u
etc. The sixth IS, "then came the
water, and qUSnched the fire. that
burned the stafi," etc. The seventh
Is, 'then came the OK, and drank the
water, that qUenehed the hre.u etc.
The eight iG, ''then came the butcher.
and slew the OK, that drank the wa
ter, etc. The ninth is. ffthen came
the angel of death, and killed the
butcher, that slew the OK etc. The
tenth and last runs, 'ftheu-csue the
Holy One, Blessed be He. and killed
the Angel of Death. that killed the
butcher, that slew the OK. that drank
the water, that Guenched the fire. that
burned the staff, that beat the dog.
that bit the cat, that ate the kid. tbst
myafather bought for two pieces of
money; e kid, a kid"
1t is evident thst this IS the model
on which The House that lack
Built" "a Health to the Barley
Now" and other similar reduDIfeat-
i've verses, have been framed. These.
however, are purely humorous, and
have no more serious object thaB to
tickle the ear and amuss the fancy.
But the ancient Hebrew hymn above
cited has a deep Specification, and &C.
eOrding to literary authority f'this is
Interpretation thereof" The kid.
is one Of the clean animals. de-
aOtes the children Of Israel. The
Father by whom It is purchased is
Jehovah, who represents himself IS
sustaining this relation to them. The
pieces Of money signify Moses
and Aaron, through whose agency the
-sraeIites were brought cut Of Egypt.
The cat denotes the Assyrians. by
whom the ten tribes were carried into
eaptlylty. The dog symOOlizes The
who overthrow the As
yr1ans, and who subjected the re.
naming two tribes. The staff signf-
les Cyrus the Mede, who overthrow
q BaDylOnlan Empire, restored the
temple and replaced. the Jews in their
iauve land The fire indicates Alex
nder the Great, VINO cOuquered Pal
IN and destroyed the Persian en-
IRE. Inc water betOkFns the RO-
mans, VINO oyerspread the then known
Iorld nke q Hood, and destroyed Jeru-
alem and Jewish nationality. The
< Is a symbol OF the Saracens, who
1bdued Palestine and annexed il TO
heir empire. The butcher that kfIei
OK denotes the crusaders, By whom
Holy Land was for a short time
rested out of the hands OF the Sara
ms. The Angel Of Death signifies
he Turkish PSWer, by which Pales-
was taken from the Crusaders
I'D the Franks, and to whom is is
III subject. The commencement of
le tenth verse was interpreted TO
ear that, some day OF other, God
III take signal vengeance on the
urks, and that Immediately after
leir overthrow the Jews are to be
to their own land, and live
lder the government Of their long
,pected Messiah. As this style OF
imposition admits OF Indefinite ex-
nsl9n, it is not easy TO attach auy
lie to it. The verse relating to the
inks may have been s~ddedIOng after
e others; for, in fact, their CONQUEST
Palestine made no difference to the
VS. the Turks Wrested it from the
ameluke Sultans Of Egypt, so that
thing more took place, as far as the
lws were concerned, than a change
m one set Of MOhammedan tyrsnts
another.