ABSTRACT
When I first started work in children’s folklore, I dutifully asked my five, six-, and seven-year-old informants all the prescribed questions: Where did you learn that? Why do you think it’s funny? What do you call it? They would, after the weeks passed, bear this with strained patience. With their heads cocked to one side and their eyes narrowed, they would answer, “I didn’t learn it from anybody. I made it up!” “Can’t you see why it’s funny? It’s funny, that’s all!” I would persist and get the answers I needed for my collection.
