There Was a Crooked Man

Crooked? Who me?

This is one of the most interesting images of this rhyme in that it is not clear that any of the elements are really “crooked.” The man is bent over within a border of flowers, dangling a string to a normal-looking cat with a mouse on its back. Both cat and mouse, on close inspection, have unusual bends in their tails, but one would not call any of these characters “crooked.” The house which fills half of the background has irregular trim, but only a small addition to the right seems really crooked. The only truly crooked item here is the man’s cane. The mile, the sixpence, and the stile are absent.