been singing all his life about what a "dainty dish" "four and
twenty blackbirds" would make for the "king," without ever
raising the question as to whether blackbirds are good eating or
not.

We note another feature of all nursery rhymes in the
additions made by the various persons through whose hands,
--or should we say, through whose mouths they pass.

When an American or English child hears how a certain
benevolent dame found no bone in her cupboard to satisfy
the cravings of her hungry dog, its feelings of compassion
are stirred up to ask: "And then what? Didn't she get
any meat? Did the dog die?" and the nurse is compelled
to make another verse to satisfy the curiosity of the child
and bring both the dame and the dog out of the dilemma in
which they have been left. This is what happened in the
case of "Old Mother Hubbard" as will readily be seen by
examining the meter of the various verses. The original
"Mother Hubbard" consisted of nothing more than the first
six lines which contain three rhymes. All the other verses
have but four lines and one rhyme.

We find the same thing in Chinese Mother Goose. Take the
following as an example:

He ate too much,
That second brother,
And when he had eaten his fill