The house that Jack built, inside out
(Originally posted 2012-08-17 on linguotopia.)
tl;dr
This is Jack, the man the house the malt the rat the cat the dog the cow the maiden the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married kissed milked tossed worried killed ate lay in was built by.
I’ve often thought that “The house that Jack built” would be better inside out.
For convenience, here is the final verse of the original (from Wikipedia):
This is the farmer sowing his corn
That kept the cock that crowed in the morn
That woke the priest all shaven and shorn
That married the man all tattered and torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog that worried the cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
Pulling this inside-out, those qualifying phrases ("sowing his corn", "all shaven and shorn") just get in the way – and the rhymes are lost anyway. Let's get rid of them:
This is the farmer
That kept the cock
That woke the priest
That married the man
That kissed the maiden
That milked the cow
That tossed the dog
That killed the rat
That lay in the house that Jack built.
inside out
Instead of
This is the house that Jack built.
This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.
…
We have
This is the farmer.
This is the cock the farmer kept.
This is the priest the cock the farmer kept woke.
This is the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married.
This is the maiden the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married kissed.
This is the cow the maiden the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married kissed milked.
This is the dog the cow the maiden the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married kissed milked tossed.
This is the cat the dog the cow the maiden the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married kissed milked tossed worried.
This is the rat the cat the dog the cow the maiden the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married kissed milked tossed worried killed.
This is the malt the rat the cat the dog the cow the maiden the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married kissed milked tossed worried killed ate.
This is the house the malt the rat the cat the dog the cow the maiden the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married kissed milked tossed worried killed ate lay in.
This is Jack, the man the house the malt the rat the cat the dog the cow the maiden the man the priest the cock the farmer kept woke married kissed milked tossed worried killed ate lay in was built by.