Living
Buying a Lock
Translated by Isaac Taylor Headland (1900) · From Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes (1900)
Oh, here we all go to buy us a lock,
What kind of a lock shall it be?
We'll buy one of silver or buy one of gold,
But what shall we use as a key?
We'll use a broom handle; if that will not do,
With a poker we'll try it alone;
But if neither the broom nor the poker will do,
We will open it then with a stone.
Cite this poem
MLA
Anonymous Chinese nursery rhymes. “Buying a Lock.” Translated by Isaac Taylor Headland. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-chinese-nursery/132/.
Chicago
Anonymous Chinese nursery rhymes. “Buying a Lock.” Translated by Isaac Taylor Headland. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-chinese-nursery/132/.
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