To regard these rhymes as the direct inventions of the children themselves would be as mistaken as to attribute folk poetry to the masses. Most songs for children originate with grown people, yet they are childish and contain only what children can appreciate, for the principle of selection decides their fate. At the same time, original artistic production is exhibited by children in alliteration and rhythm as well as in rhyme. Thus, I noticed in Marie G——, when she was about three years old, a disposition to sportive variation of familiar rhymes appearing simultaneously with the rhythmic arrangement of words. The first rhyme evolved entirely from the profundities of her own genius came to light at the beginning of her fourth year, in the shape of this strange couplet, which she repeated untiringly: “Naseweis vom Wasser weg Welches da liegt noch mehr Dreck.” Another child, Rudolf F——, also in his fourth year, declaimed persistently this original poem: “Hennemäs’che, Weideidäs’che, Sind ja lauter Käsebäs’che.” Pleasure in overcoming difficulties is an essential feature of all play. The determined onset against opposition, which is so conspicuous in play, shows how important is the fighting instinct, so deeply rooted in us all. Even in the lall-monologue, when the child accidentally produces a new sound by means of some unusual muscular effort, he intentionally repeats it (Baldwin’s persistent imitation[82]). Older children playfully cultivate dexterity of articulation by repeating rapidly difficult combinations of sounds. The commonest are those where the difficulty is mainly physiological, as Wachs-Maske, Mess-Wechsel; Der Postkutscher putzt den Postkutschkasten; L’origine ne se desoriginalisera jamais de son originalité; Si six scies scient six cyprès; She stood at the door of Burgess’s fish-sauce shop welcoming him in; If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where is the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked? And many similar ones. Others require quickness of wits as well, as in these verses: “This is the key to the gate Where the beautiful maidens wait. The first is called Binka, The second Bibiabinka, The third Senkkrenkknokiabibiabinka. Binka took a stone, And for Senkkrenkknokiabibiabinka broke a bone, So that Senkkrenkknokiabibiabinka began to moan.”[83] Occasionally some obscurity in the language used involves a comic element, as— “Basanneli, Basanneli, Schlag ’uff und stand a Licht Es geht a Haus im Geist herum, Ich greif, er fürcht mich an. Zünd’s Kühele an, zünds Kühele an, S’Lauternle will a Kälble han, Und wie der Teig am Himmel steht, Da schiesst der Tag in Ofa.”[84]