The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-02-05
A LITERARY DISCOVERY.

A LITERARY DISCOVERY.
The curiosities of literature embrace many
changes made in the text of celebrated
works by accident or design. Sometimes
these changes are an improved reading. !"
made by some critic; sometimes they are
made to correct a supposed error, or they may
be due to accident. Many such changes have
occurred in Shakespeare, and some in less cell
ebrated works We are not aware that atten-
ton has ever been called to probable COR
ruption of one Of our nursery rhymes, known
wherever the English tongue is spoken. We
mean the one of Mother Hubbard, commonly
quoted as follows:
Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard
To get the poor dog bone,
But when she got there the cupboard was bare.
And so the poor dog had none.
This stanza has been repeated millions OF
times. Children have cried for it, and gen.
Grafton after generation has been brought up
on it, yet there is reason to believe the tai
ented author never wrote it in the above
form. The verse has never been regarded as
a very high order of poetry, but we must give
the author credit for intending to convey
some idea. In its present form it conveys
none but the disappointment of the dog. and
it ends with a defective rhyme besides
"None" does not make a good rhyme with
"bone" 1t were more than likely that the
the verso would read:
Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard
To get the poor dog bun,
But when she got there the cupboard was bare
And So the poor dog had none
This would make good rhyme and it is
reasonable reading. The bun is an old Eng
lish institution. hungry dog will eat bun
as readily as he will bone. The cupboard
of thrifty housewife would be more likely to
contain bun than bone, as the latter would
hardly be so carefully preserved. mere
bone would be thrown outside, while if it had
enough meat on it to justify putting it away,
Mother Hubbard would not have been likely
to give it to the dog So we think the substi-
tuition of "bun" for "bone, in the second line,
makes better reading than the other. Still
it conveys no lesson and expresses nothing
best and doubtless the true reading, is as fol-
lows:
Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard
To get the poor dog a bone,
But when she got there the cupboard was bare
And so the poor dog had known.
Here we have perfect rhyme, complete
picture and a moral lesson. The verse was
doubtless intended to illustrate the sagacity
of the dog. He was hungry, and in dog Ian
guage had expressed his desire for something
to eat His mistress went to the cupboard to
get him bone and found it bare. This was
a surprise to her but not to the dog. He
knew the cupboard was bare. It is not for US
to say how he knew it; how do dogs know
anything9 They certainly do know a great
deal. It is not necessary to inquire how the
dog in this case knew that the larder was
empty. The point is that the author
represents him knowing more
about the condition of the cupboard
than his mistress did. She, being of human
intelligence, went to the cupboard to get the
dog something to eat, but found it empty
stand so the poor dog had known" Here we
of the faithful house dog enjoying the discom-
future of his mistress. and the lesson that
dumb animals sometimes know more than we
do. This last reading so completely fills the
requirements of rhyme, sense and moral pur-
pose that we are forced to believe it as the
true one. This reading is singularly con-
frmed by cipher which we have discovered
by great labor, and which is now first made
known. A careful analysis of the verse will
show that it contains letters which spell the
following: Dog Sense. And what is more
remarkable still, these letters be found
whether the verse is read forward or back
ward. This mysterious cipher seems to dem
onstrate that the authors object was to con-
vey to the minds of little children an early
and impressive lesson on the sagacity of ami
mails. The verse. instead Of being a mere
nursery rhyme, as has been long supposed, is
short poem Dog Sense.
THE State Geoloeist of Illinois has recently
Ct.