Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhyme
And monkeys chewed tobacco,
And hens took snuff to make them tough,
And ducks went quack, quack, quack, O!

This is the rhyme at the beginning of the children’s fairy tale Three Little Pigs. I’m currently reading this to one of my sons as a bedtime story - it never fails to make me smile when reading it aloud!

Did a bit of research on it, it seems it was / is common to put a catchy rhyme at the beginning of traditional folk tales / fairy tales, to grab the listener’s attention.

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