I love nursery rhymes. I recently came across this brilliant "review paper" on the prevalence of injuries in nursery rhymes. They express concern over the lack of appropriate medical help for Humpty Dumpty after he broke into pieces or Jack after he broke his crown. It was a fun read. It also got me thinking about the disturbing amount of violence in these rhymes. Three blind mice repeatedly get their tails cut off and an engine driver runs over Piggy just because he didn't care! I love these rhymes, but as I sing them to Keerthana I wonder if I can edit out these injuries while keeping the charming scenarios and the simple rhyme schemes. Here is an attempt:
Jack and Jill went up the hill,
To fetch a pail of water,
Jack danced down, all the way to town,
and Jill came prancing after!
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty dropped a crystal ball,
All the kings horses and all the kings men,
Couldn't put the crystal together again!
Three blind mice, three blind mice
See how they run.
They always ran to the farmers wife,
Who sliced up their cheese with a butter knife,
Have you ever seen such a thing in your life
As three blind mice.
Piggy on the railway,
Picking up stones,
Along came an engine,
With some ice cream cones.
"Oh", said the piggy,
"That's tasty fare!"
"Oh," said the engine driver,
"It's because I care!"
And I leave you with one of Keerthana's favorites in it's original form.
