Nursery Rhymes

Ever have one of those ah-hah moments? I was teaching a classic nursery rhyme to a young child when I had to STOP and actually notice what I was reciting, (and asking her to learn)! example:
hey diddle diddle
the cat and the fiddle
the cow jumped over the moon.
the little dog laughed
to see such sport
and the dish ran away with the spoon...

Let's ponder this for a moment.

So was the dog laughing AT the cow for doing a remarkable feat? Did he think he could do it better? What about the dish and spoon? Were they involved with other dinnerware before they decided to "run away" with each other? The cat playing a fiddle is fairly cool to visualize, however all in all I would have to give some serious thought as to what message I was wanting the little ears to learn.