English Fairy Tales / Английские сказки. Elementary

So she said, “Butcher! butcher! kill the ox; the ox doesn’t drink the water, the water doesn’t quench the fire, the fire doesn’t burn the stick, the stick doesn’t beat the dog, the dog doesn’t bite the pig, the pig doesn’t get over the stile, and I shan’t get home tonight.” But the butcher refused.

She went a little further, and she met a rope. So she said, “Rope! rope! hang the butcher, the butcher doesn’t kill the ox, the ox doesn’t drink the water, the water doesn’t quench the fire, the fire doesn’t burn the stick, the stick doesn’t beat the dog, the dog doesn’t bite the pig, the pig doesn’t get over the stile, and I shan’t get home tonight.

She went a little further, and she met a rat. So she said, “Rat! rat! gnaw rope, rope doesn’t hang the butcher, the butcher doesn’t kill the ox, the ox doesn’t drink the water, the water doesn’t quench the fire, the fire doesn’t burn the stick, the stick doesn’t beat the dog, the dog doesn’t bite the pig, the pig doesn’t get over the stile, and I shan’t get home tonight.

She went a little further, and she met a cat. So she said, “Cat! cat! kill the rat, the rat doesn’t gnaw the rope, the rope doesn’t hang the butcher, the butcher doesn’t kill the ox, the ox doesn’t drink the water, the water doesn’t quench the fire, the fire doesn’t burn the stick, the stick doesn’t beat the dog, the dog doesn’t bite the pig, the pig doesn’t get over the stile, and I shan’t get home tonight.

So the old woman went away to the cow.

But the cow said to her, “If you go to that haystack and fetch me some hay, I’ll give you the milk.”

So the old woman went away to the haystack, and she brought the hay to the cow.

When the cow ate the hay, it gave the old woman the milk, and she went with it in a saucer to the cat.

When the cat lapped up[62 - lapped up – вылакала] the milk, the cat began to kill the rat, the rat began to gnaw the rope, the rope began to hang the butcher, the butcher began to kill 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 dog, the dog began to bite the pig, the little pig in a fright jumped over the stile, and so the old woman got home that night.