The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1880-09-24
TIE HOUSE THAT JACk BUILT. I"


THE HOUSE THAT JACk BuILT."
IA CURIOUS ACCOUNT OF TnE ORIGIN on
THE wELL-KNowN NURSERY STORY.
From the london Congregational Magazine.
AS the occupations and pleasures of
childhood produce powerful impression
on tbs memory, it is probable every
reader who has passed his infantile day
in an English nursery recollects the de-
light with which he repeated that puer-
lie iinglinC legcnd "Thc House that
Jack Built" Very few, however, are
at all aware of the original form of its
composition or the particular subject it
was designated to illustrate. Fewer still
would suspect that it is only an accom-
modated and altered translation of an
ancient paraboical hymn, sung by the
Jews mt the feast of the Passover, and
commemorative of the principal events
in the history of that people. Yet such
is actually the fact. The original, in the
Chaldce language, is now lying before
me- and as il may not be uninteresting
to the readers of the Congregational
| Nogd-jnc | will here furnish them with
a literal translation of it, and then add
! the Interpretation as given By Il. n.
Leberecht, Lcipsic, 1881. The hymn 1t
self is found in Sepher lIaggadah, vol.
ume %:
1. AKA, IL Kid, my father bought
For two pieces OF money:
Kid, u kid.
!. Then camc the cat and ate the KID
Tn At my father bought
For two pieces Of money:
A Kid, a kid.
3. Then come the dog that bit the cat
That ate the Kid
That my father bought
For two pieces OF money:
Akid KID
4. Then came the staff and beat the dog
That bit the cat
That ate the kid
That my father bought
Fer two pieces OF money:
kid kidl
5. Tnen came the fire and burned thcstaG
Thai beat the dog
Thlt hit tho cat
That ate the XII
That my father bought
For two pieces OF money:
KID, u KID
g. Then came the water aGd qucnched the Are
That burned the staG
Tint beat the dog
That bit the cat
That ate the kid
That my father bought
For two pieces Of money:
y kid, kid.
:. Then came the OK and drank the watcr
That qu@nch'd the fire
Tint burned the stan
That hcat the dog
That bit the Cat
That ate the Kid
That my father hcugat
For two pieces OF money:
XIX kid.
5. Then came the butcher aud slew the OK
That drank the water
That Quenchud the fire
That burned The stan
That beat the dog
That bit the cat
That ate the kid
That my father bought
For two pieces of money:
kid, KID
.. Then came the angel OF death and killed the
butcher
That slew the OK
That drank the water
That quenched the iire
That burned the staff
That beat the dog
That bit the cat
That ate the Kid
That lny father bought
For two pieces OF money:
\ Kid, a kid
10. Then came the Holy One, blessed be lie, And
killed the angel OF death
That killed he butcher
That slew the OK
That drank the water
That quenched the IRE
That burned the stan
That beat the dog
That bit the cat
That ate the kid
That my father bought
For two pieces Of money:
a KID, Kid.
The following is the interpretation:
l. The kid, which is one of the pure
animals, denotes the Hebrews. The
father by whom it was purchased is .Ie
hoyah, who represents Himself as sus-
tanning this relation to the Hebrew ma
tom. The pieces of money signify Mo
ses and Aaron, through whose mediation
the Hebrews were brought out of
Egypt
=. The cat denotes the Assyrians, by
whom the Ten Tribes were carried into
captivity.
3. The dog is symbolical of the Bah
ylonians.
A. The staff signifies the Persians.
8. The fire indicates the Grand En-
| pire under Alexander the Great.
6. The water betokens the Roman or
the fourth of the great monarchies to
whom the Jews We're subjected.
:. The OK is symbol of the Sara
Gems, who subdued Palestine and brought
it under the chaliphate,
| S. The butcher that killed the OK de.
notes the Crusaders by whom the Holy
Land was wrested out of the hands of
the Sarcens
Q, The angel of death signifies the
Turkish power, by which the land of
Palestine was taken from the Franks, to
whom it is still subject.
| TO- The commencement of the tenth
Stanza Is designated to show that God
viii take signal vengeance on the Turks,
immediately after whose overthrow the
Jews are to be restored to their own land
and hive under the government of their
long expected Messiah
SYMPTOMS Slight pain in the side, the
SKIN ana eyes assume thick yell
low coat, digestion is Impaired, and un-
pleasant sinking sensation at the pit of the
'iomache is experienced, the bowels are ir-