Reading Notes: Nursery Rhymes, Part A

These are some of the nursery rhymes that I found the most interesting in Reading A:

Friday night's dream,
On the Saturday told,
Is sure to come true,
Be it never so old.

I've heard that if you tell your dream it won't come true, but I've never heard this before.  This makes me want to be careful about which dreams, or nightmares, that I have on Friday nights and tell people about.



THERE was a king met a king
In a narrow lane;
Says this king to that king,
"Where have you been?"

"Oh! I've been a hunting
With my dog and my doe."
"Pray lend him to me,
That I may do so."

"There's the dog take the dog."
"What's the dog's name?"
"I've told you already."
"Pray tell me again.

Dog painting by Edwin Henry Landseer. Source: Wikipedia

The answer to this riddle is that the dog's name is Take.  If the king who wants to borrow the dog isn't the smartest, I could see this being confusing to explain (which would be a funny extension to this nursery rhyme).  It seems like the kings should have some kind of funny, ironic names.  Also, why are the kings meeting? Was it by accident or are they friends?



I SAW a ship a-sailing,
A-sailing on the sea;
And, oh! it was all laden
With pretty things for thee!

There were comfits in the cabin,
And apples in the hold
The sails were made of silk,
And the masts were made of gold.

The four-and-twenty sailors
That stood between the decks,
Were four-and-twenty white mice
With chains about their necks.

The captain was a duck,
With a packet on his back;
And when the ship began to move,
The captain said, "Quack! quack!"


This sounds like an elaborate dream that a child with a wild imagination might have.  Maybe this is the dream that is had on Friday night and is told on Saturday morning.  I could see this possibly being a part of my storybook.


Bibliography:  Nursery Rhymes by Andrew Lang