Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 November 1889 — THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT. [ARTICLE]

THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.

Carious Hebraic Origin of the BestKnown of Nursery Legends. It Is said that the Jewish original of this celebrated cumulative is an altered translation of an ancient parabolical hjfmn which the Jews were wont to sing at the feast of the passover. It was written in the Chaldee language, according to a writer in Notes and Quiries, and may be found in “Septer Haggadah,” vol. xxiii. There is a tenth stanza begining: “Then came the Holy One—Blessed be He—that killed the Angel of Death,” etc. The following is the translation of the parable: 1. The kid, one of the pure animals, denotes the Hebrews. The father who purchased it is Jehovah, wbo is represented as sustaining this relation with the Hebrew nation. The two pieces of money signify Moses, Aaron, through whose mediation the Hebrews were brought out of Egypt. 2. The cat is the Assyrians, by whom the ten tribic were carried into captivity. 3. The dog symbolizes the Babylonians. 4. The stick or the staff signifies the Persians. 5. The fire indicates the Grecian empire under Alexander the Great. The water betokens the Romans, or the fourth of the great monarchies to which the Jews were subjected. 7. lhe ox means the Saracens, whc subdued Palestine, and brought it under the authority of the caliph. 8. The butcher denotes the crusaders, who wrested the holy land from the grasp of the Saracens. 9. The Angel of Death is the Turkish power, by whose might Palestine was taken from, the Franks. 10 The beginning of this stanza was designed to show that God will take signal vengeance on the Turks immediately after whose overthrow the Jews are to be restored to their native land, where they will dwell in safety under the rule of the long-ex-pected Messiah. - 1 1 Bryers’ hand made Mascot cigar, only 5 cents.