CHAPTER VI
Jingles, Fables, and Folk-Lore
The first stories told to a child are almost
invariably the Mother Goose rhymes
and jingles, beginning perhaps with:
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man!
So I will, master, as fast as I can:
Pat it, and prick it, and mark it with T,
And toss in the oven for Tommy and me.
Or this, from the Chinese Mother Goose (Fleming H. Revell Company):
Pat, pat,
A swallow's nest we'll make,
And if we pat some money out
We'll buy ourselves a cake.
These are usually accompanied by appropriate finger plays.
Can we give a tangible reason for this choice? Why do all mothers turn to them with unwavering fidelity? Why do all children love them?
There can be but one answer. Before a child is able to follow the thread of the sim-
