For my daughter...

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;

hush( "little baby" );

sub hush {
    my $papa = bless {}, 'Daddy';
    print "Hush ",shift,",\n";
    print "Don't say a word.\n";

    if ( $papa->buy_you( "mockingbird" )->("doesn't sing") ) {
    if ( $papa->buy_you( "diamond ring" )->("turns brass") ) {
    if ( $papa->buy_you( "looking glass" )->("gets broke") ) {
    if ( $papa->buy_you( "billy goat" )->("won't pull") ) {
    if ( $papa->buy_you( "cart and bull" )->("falls down") ) {
         print "You'll still be the prettiest baby in town.\n";
    } } } } }
}

package Daddy;
sub buy_you {
    my $gift = $_[1];
    print "Papa's gonna buy you a $gift.\n\n";
    return sub { print "And if that $gift ", shift, ",\n" }
}

[download]

If you know other lyrics to this, please let me know. This is a traditional song with seemingly countless versions and I'm trying to collect as many as I can. For instance, other common gifts include "a dog named rover", "a diamond mine", "a horse and cart", "a cart and mule", or "a shetland pony" though there are many others too.

In other variations the last line is sometimes changed to "Papa's gonna buy you another one day" or "So hush little baby, don't you cry/Your Mommy loves you and so do I." In all versions, "Papa" can be switched for "Daddy", "Mommy", or "Mama." Some versions use "show" instead of "buy."

How did your parents sing it to you?

Edit: moved the articles to eliminate printing the lyrics like "If that a mockingbird . . .". Also changed $something to $gift for readability.

-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";

In reply to A Lullabye by sauoq

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