HEY! diddle, diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laugh'd
To see the sport,
While the dish ran after the spoon.
(Traditional nursery rhyme)
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There was once a boy named Diddle. He lived on a farm in rural Nebraska. His head was always in the clouds day dreaming of a place where all of his animal friends could talk and play with him. His parents always told him his thoughts were nonsense, and that he needed to focus on working the farm so he could take it over one day. Even though his parents tried and tried to keep him grounded, it never worked. He continued to daydream and hope that one day he would prove to them all that his dreams were real.
(Boy on a Farm)
Late one night he was suddenly awoken by a faint voice outside his window saying, "Hey Diddle, Diddle!" He jumped out of bed to see who was there, but the only thing he saw was his cat sitting by the hay stacks staring up at his bedroom window. He heard the voice again, "Hey Diddle, Diddle!" He thought to himself, "I know I shouldn't go out late at night by myself, but I have to see who is calling my name."
He walked out on the back porch and waited for the voice again. Minutes went by, still nothing. He decided to call out, "Hello, is anyone there?" All of a sudden his cat jumped out from behind a hay bale and exclaimed, "Hey Diddle, we've been waiting for you!" Diddle couldn't believe his eyes! His cat, Charlie, was sitting on a hay bale playing a fiddle! His emotions ran wild! He was frightened, ecstatic, shocked, and overcome with joy! His dreams had finally come true! One of his animals could talk, and not only talk, he could play the fiddle!
He ran out into the yard to see if any of his other animal friends had changed. His favorite cow, Bessie, began dancing around. She told him how long they had waited to reveal themselves and how happy they were to finally be able to open up to him. Bessie was so excited that night she did something no cow had done before, she jumped over the moon! Not everyone believed that Bessie jumped the moon that night. Even Diddle's dog, Simon, laughed at the thought of Bessie making it over the moon. Simon was always jealous because he wanted Diddle all to himself. Even though some didn't believe Diddle knew what happened because he saw Bessie make it over the moon.
The next day Diddle was doing his afternoon chores still thinking about all he had witnessed the night before. He was so happy and couldn't wait for his parents to get home so he could tell them the good news over dinner. His parents were running late and his mother had called and asked him to set the table before they returned. He was just about finished setting the table when, BANG! He heard a loud noise in the kitchen. He ran to the kitchen to see what happened and was greeted by one his mothers expensive spoons from the cabinet he wasn't allowed to open. The spoon said, "Diddle you cannot tell anyone about the things you have recently learned! If you do, Mr. Dish will catch me and if that happens very bad things will happen to all of us! Please! I'm begging you! DO NOT tell anyone what you have witnessed!" Diddle was so scared that he promised before he even had time to think! He then watched as Mr. Dish chased the spoon back to his home. Diddle was sad he had to keep all of this a secret, but he knew that he would always have these special friends. Even if no one else knew, he knew.
Late one night he was suddenly awoken by a faint voice outside his window saying, "Hey Diddle, Diddle!" He jumped out of bed to see who was there, but the only thing he saw was his cat sitting by the hay stacks staring up at his bedroom window. He heard the voice again, "Hey Diddle, Diddle!" He thought to himself, "I know I shouldn't go out late at night by myself, but I have to see who is calling my name."
He walked out on the back porch and waited for the voice again. Minutes went by, still nothing. He decided to call out, "Hello, is anyone there?" All of a sudden his cat jumped out from behind a hay bale and exclaimed, "Hey Diddle, we've been waiting for you!" Diddle couldn't believe his eyes! His cat, Charlie, was sitting on a hay bale playing a fiddle! His emotions ran wild! He was frightened, ecstatic, shocked, and overcome with joy! His dreams had finally come true! One of his animals could talk, and not only talk, he could play the fiddle!
He ran out into the yard to see if any of his other animal friends had changed. His favorite cow, Bessie, began dancing around. She told him how long they had waited to reveal themselves and how happy they were to finally be able to open up to him. Bessie was so excited that night she did something no cow had done before, she jumped over the moon! Not everyone believed that Bessie jumped the moon that night. Even Diddle's dog, Simon, laughed at the thought of Bessie making it over the moon. Simon was always jealous because he wanted Diddle all to himself. Even though some didn't believe Diddle knew what happened because he saw Bessie make it over the moon.
The next day Diddle was doing his afternoon chores still thinking about all he had witnessed the night before. He was so happy and couldn't wait for his parents to get home so he could tell them the good news over dinner. His parents were running late and his mother had called and asked him to set the table before they returned. He was just about finished setting the table when, BANG! He heard a loud noise in the kitchen. He ran to the kitchen to see what happened and was greeted by one his mothers expensive spoons from the cabinet he wasn't allowed to open. The spoon said, "Diddle you cannot tell anyone about the things you have recently learned! If you do, Mr. Dish will catch me and if that happens very bad things will happen to all of us! Please! I'm begging you! DO NOT tell anyone what you have witnessed!" Diddle was so scared that he promised before he even had time to think! He then watched as Mr. Dish chased the spoon back to his home. Diddle was sad he had to keep all of this a secret, but he knew that he would always have these special friends. Even if no one else knew, he knew.
Author's Note: I had always heard this nursery rhyme growing up, but I always thought it was too short and left too much to the imagination. For example, why was a cat playing a fiddle? How did a cow jump over the moon? Why would a dish be chasing after a spoon? Most importantly, what is diddle? Is it a person, a nickname, or just slang? So I thought it would make sense to make up a boy named Diddle and tell the story of how his imagination could sometimes get the better of him.
Bibliography: This story is based on the nursery rhyme "Hey! diddle, diddle" in The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang (1897).
This turned out beautifully, Austin! Wow! the way you introduced Diddle in the first paragraph was completely vivid and compelling just through the words you used, and then you punctuated that with a wonderful picture that fits exactly. And now I want to wake up one night by a voice outside my window like that... and I know my cats WANT to talk and play the fiddle too! And seeing is believing: we don't have a cow, but maybe my husband's pick-up truck could jump over the moon. Why not?! And the ending was the best: just when you thought it might be a dream (nighttime after all!), here it turns out he can carry on these conversations in the daytime too. Now I am really jealous: washing the dishes would be so much less boring if they would just carry on a conversation with me! You took all the clues in the tiny rhyme and made it into an unforgettable story, and I like how the note highlights one by one all the questions the rhyme made you ask. This is WONDERFUL! And if you had fun with this rhyme, you might want to work with this book again later in the semester — it is one of the reading options in the UnTextbook!
ReplyDeleteI loved how you made the boy's name Diddle! It brought life and reality into a nursery rhyme that never had those components before. I really like this nursery rhyme because I also was like that as a kid. I always thought animals could talk but never revealed themselves and that toys came to life when I wasn't in the room, just like in the movie series Toy Story. You brought this story to life with all of your descriptive imagery of each character in the story! I really enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteAustin, I think this is a great expansion on a classic nursery rhyme! I agree that I have always felt this one was to short but that also means you could do alot when retelling it! I enjoyed the concept of having all the animals and objects being able to talk to the boy, that is a classic plot! I know I always wished my animals could talk as a child. That would have been so awesome!
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