But the fire would not.

I went along a little way farther and met some water.

  “Water, water, quench fire! 
  Fire will not burn hatchet. 
  Hatchet will not hack staff. 
  Staff will not beat kid. 
  Kid will not go. 
  See, by the moonlight, it is almost midnight. 
  Time kid and I were home an hour and a half ago.”

But the water would not.

I went along a little way farther and met an ox.

  “Ox, ox, drink water! 
  Water will not quench fire. 
  Fire will not burn hatchet. 
  Hatchet will not hack staff. 
  Staff will not beat kid. 
  Kid will not go. 
  See, by the moonlight, it is almost midnight. 
  Time kid and I were home an hour and a half ago.”

But the ox would not.

I went along a little way farther and met a rope.

  “Rope, rope, hang ox! 
  Ox will not drink water. 
  Water will not quench fire. 
  Fire will not burn hatchet. 
  Hatchet will not hack staff. 
  Staff will not beat kid. 
  Kid will not go. 
  See, by the moonlight, it is almost midnight. 
  Time kid and I were home an hour and a half ago.”

But the rope would not.

I went along a little way farther and met some grease.

  “Grease, grease, grease rope! 
  Rope will not hang ox. 
  Ox will not drink water. 
  Water will not quench fire. 
  Fire will not burn hatchet. 
  Hatchet will not hack staff. 
  Staff will not beat kid. 
  Kid will not go. 
  See, by the moonlight, it is almost midnight,
  Time kid and I were home an hour and a half ago.”

But the grease would not.

I went along a little way farther and met a rat.

  “Rat, rat, gnaw grease! 
  Grease will not grease rope. 
  Rope will not hang ox. 
  Ox will not drink water. 
  Water will not quench fire. 
  Fire will not burn hatchet. 
  Hatchet will not hack staff. 
  Staff will not beat kid. 
  Kid will not go. 
  See, by the moonlight, it is almost midnight. 
  Time kid and I were home an hour and a half ago.”

But the rat would not.

I went along a little way farther and met a cat.

  “Cat, cat, catch rat! 
  Rat will not gnaw grease. 
  Grease will not grease rope. 
  Rope will not hang ox. 
  Ox will not drink water. 
  Water will not quench fire. 
  Fire will not burn hatchet. 
  Hatchet will not hack staff. 
  Staff will not beat kid. 
  Kid will not go. 
  See, by the moonlight, it is almost midnight. 
  Time kid and I were home an hour and a half ago.”

But the cat would not.

I went along a little way farther and met a dog.