Mother Goose's Bicycle Tour

Chapter 5: HIGH DIDDLE-DIDDLE.

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About This Book

The collection frames a lighthearted bicycle tour taken by an elderly rhyming hostess and her goose, using that journey to present a wide assortment of nursery verses, parodies, and short poems. Familiar jingles and character pieces alternate with comic vignettes, riddles, and enigmata, often interspersed with French phrases and playful foreign allusions. Stanzas range from sing-song originals to humorous rewrites, accompanied by occasional scene-setting lines and a glossary. The overall tone is whimsical and theatrical, aimed at young readers through melodic rhythm, visual suggestion, and gentle absurdity.

HIGH DIDDLE-DIDDLE.

High diddle-diddle, the cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon.

Regardez donc cette vache agile,

Qui saute par-dessus la lune.

Je vais au marché à l’instant,

I’m going to the market now,

Pour acheter cette vache surprenante,

To buy that remarkable cow.

The well-known cat and the wonderful cow,

On the picture now you may see,

Ainsi que le chien intelligent,

Qui avait beaucoup ri.

THE QUEENS OF THE CARDS.

Les dames des cartes,
Elles firent des tartes
All on a summer’s day.

Les valets des cartes
Volèrent ces tartes,
And took them clean away.

Les rois des cartes
Cherchèrent les tartes,
And beat the knaves full sore.

Les valets des cartes
Rapportèrent les tartes,
And vow’d they’d steal no more.