the penalty threatened is rather an indication of the
untruthfulness of the parent or nurse than a promise of reform in
the child, for they are told that,

If you steal a needle
Or steal a thread,
A pimple will grow
Upon your head.

If you steal a dog
Or steal a cat,
A pimple will grow
Beneath your hat.


Boys are warned of the dire consequences if they wear
their hats on the side of their heads or go about with ragged
coats or slipshod feet.

If you wear your hat on the side of your head,
You'll have a lazy wife, 'tis said.
If a ragged coat or slipshod feet,
You'll have a wife who loves to eat.

Those rhymes which manifest the affection of parents for
children cultivate a like affection in the child. We have in
the Chinese Mother Goose a rhyme called the Little Orphan,
which is a most pathetic tale. A little boy tells us that,

Like a little withered flower,