Page:Tales of the Punjab.pdf/224

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

202 TALES OF THE PUNJAB

Stick won't beat snake ;

Snake won’t bite Queen ;

Queen won't coax King ;

King won't kill man;

Man won't cut tree ;

And I can’t get the grain of corn

To save my life from the farmer’s wife!’

The moment the cat heard the name of mouse, she was after it; for the world will come to an end before a cat will leave a mouse alone.

'So the cat began to catch the mouse,

The mouse began to gnaw the rope,

The rope began to bind 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 snake,

The snake began to bite the Queen,

The Queen began to coax the King,

The King began to kill the man,

The man began to cut the tree ;

So the crow got the grain of corn,

And saved his life from the farmer's wife!’

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.