The old woman met an ox.

She said, "Ox, ox, drink water. Water won't quench fire, Fire won't burn stick, Stick won't beat dog, Dog won't bite pig, Pig won't get over the stile, And I can not get home to-night."

The ox said, "I won't drink water."

The old woman met a butcher.

She said, "Butcher, butcher, kill ox. Ox won't drink water, Water won't quench fire, Fire won't burn stick, Stick won't beat dog, Dog won't bite pig, Pig won't get over the stile, And I can not get home to-night."

The butcher said, "I won't kill ox."

The old woman met a rope.

She said, "Rope, rope, hang butcher. Butcher won't kill ox, Ox won't drink water, Water won't quench fire, Fire won't burn stick, Stick won't beat dog, Dog won't bite pig, Pig won't get over the stile, And I can not get home to-night."

The rope said, "I won't hang butcher."

The old woman met a rat.

She said, "Rat, rat, gnaw rope. Rope won't hang butcher, Butcher won't kill ox, Ox won't drink water, Water won't quench fire, Fire won't burn stick, Stick won't beat dog, Dog won't bite pig, Pig won't get over the stile, And I can not get home to-night."

The rat said, "Get me some cheese, And I will gnaw the rope."

The old woman got some cheese.

She gave it to the rat.

The rat began to gnaw the rope, The rope began to hang the butcher, The butcher began to kill the ox, The ox began to drink the water, The water began to quench the fire, The fire began to burn the stick, The stick began to beat the dog, The dog began to bite the pig, The pig got over the stile, And the old woman got home that night.