Question:

Does anyone know the last line to the nursery rhyme"Rub a dub dub"?

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I have heard various answers but remember the terminology is for a four year old. (no complicated words)

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7 ANSWERS


  1. I can barely remember the first two lines.


  2. three men in a tub. And how do you think they got there?   The butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker.  They all jumped out of a rotten potato!  Turn 'em out knaves all three.

  3. the version I heard was shortened. I'ts a little silly:

        

         rub a dub dub

         three men in a tub

         if the tub had been stronger,

         my story would have been longer!

  4. According to a Mother Goose books which I own:

    Rub-a-dub-dub

    Three men in a tub.

    And how do you think they got there?

    The butcher, the baker,

    The candlestick maker,

    They all jumped out of a baked potato

    'Twas enough to make a man stare.

  5. Rub a dub dub,

    Three men in a tub,

    And who do you think they be?

    The butcher, the baker,

    The candlestick maker.

    Turn them out, knaves all three!

  6. The oldest known printed version from the 14th century goes:

    Hey! Rub-a-dub-dub! Ho! Rub-a-dub-dub! Three maids in a tub,

    And who do you think were there?

    The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker,

    And all of them gone to the fair!

    This is interpreted as describing otherwise respectable tradesmen attending a peep-show.[1][2]

    Another version runs:

    Rub a dub dub,

    Three men in a tub,

    And who do you think they be?

    The butcher, the baker,

    The candlestick maker.

    Turn them out, knaves all three!

    The use of "be" instead of "are" may be an early modern English variant, an example of the subjunctive mood, or simply poetic license to achieve a rhyme. A knave is a journeyman or apprentice.

    An alternative ending line is:

    They all sailed out to sea.

    A further alternative version exists which seems to be popular more in the United States than in the other English speaking countries. It goes as follows:

    Rub-a-dub-dub

    Three men in a tub,

    And how do you think they got there?

    The butcher, the baker,

    The candlestick maker,

    They all jumped out of a rotten potato!

    T'was enough to make a fish stare.

    though recently the word fish is sometimes replaced with the word man.

  7. a boy in a tub.

            im thinking.

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