The House that Jack Built

Early nursery rhyme.

“Every child knows that story…” -Rose Wilder Lane.

     
In On the Banks of Plum Creek (Chapter 38, “The Day of Games”), Ma uses the girls’ slate to illustrate two stories; one was “the house that Jack built for two pieces of money.” In an existing manuscript for On the Banks of Plum Creek, Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote out the story and also illustrated it. In a letter to her mother about the manuscript, Rose Wilder Lane wrote that “every child knows that story,” so it didn’t need to be illustrated or even mentioned. Laura’s version of the story from the manuscript is below; the illustration is mine, based on those Laura drew for the manuscript:
     

This is the house that Jack built for two pieces of money.
This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built for two pieces of money.
This is the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built for two pieces of money.
This is the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt hat lay in the house that Jack built for two pieces of money.
This is the dog that chased the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt hat lay in the house that Jack built for two pieces of money.
This is the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt hat lay in the house that Jack built for two pieces of money.
This is the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt hat lay in the house that Jack built for two pieces of money.
This is the priest all shaven and shorn that married the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt hat lay in the house that Jack built for two pieces of money.

Laura left out a few verses! The story most often reads like this:

This is the house that Jack built.

This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the man all tattered and torn that kissed the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the priest all shaven and shorn that married the man all tattered and torn that kissed the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cock that crowed in the morn that waked the priest all shaven and shorn that married the man all tattered and torn that kissed the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the farmer sowing his corn that kept the cock that crowed in the morn that waked the priest all shaven and shorn that married the man all tattered and torn that kissed the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.

     

The House that Jack Built (BPC 38)