Tubby Schaumann & Who Killed Cock Robin?

The denouement is taking forever, but with Tubby "getting there" is the thing:

I saw everything through a veil: the streets, the people moving with us or coming toward us. Voices, the noise of carriages I heard as in a dream, and suddenly found myself sitting at a table by the window in the Golden Arms, with Tubby Schaumann sitting down beside me. Huffing and puffing and then taking a deep breath he said with a sigh, "There!" and after a while, "Well, well, well, well, who killed Cock Robin?"

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And who is Cock Robin? There are a few possibilities:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cock_Robin

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And what is an English rhyme doing in a German novel? The rhyme isn't in Tubby, just the allusion. Apparently "versions" of the story exist in other countries, including Germany.

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The "long version" of the English rhyme:

Who killed Cock Robin?

I, said the Sparrow

with my bow and arrow,

I killed Cock Robin.

Who saw him die?

I, said the Fly,

with my little eye,

I saw him die.

Who caught his blood?

I, said the Fish,

with my little dish,

I caught his blood.

Who'll make the shroud?

I, said the Beetle,

with my thread and needle,

I'll make the shroud.

Who'll dig his grave?

I, said the Owl,

with my pick and shovel,

I'll dig his grave.

Who'll be the parson?

I, said the Rook,

with my little book,

I'll be the parson.

Who'll be the clerk?

I, said the Lark,

if it's not in the dark,

I'll be the clerk.

Who'll carry the link?

I, said the Linnet,

I'll fetch it in a minute,

I'll carry the link.

Who'll be chief mourner?

I, said the Dove,

I mourn for my love,

I'll be chief mourner.

Who'll carry the coffin?

I, said the Kite,

if it's not through the night,

I'll carry the coffin.

Who'll bear the pall?

We, said the Wren,

both the cock and the hen,

We'll bear the pall.

Who'll sing a psalm?

I, said the Thrush,

as she sat on a bush,

I'll sing a psalm.

Who'll toll the bell?

I said the Bull,

because I can pull,

I'll toll the bell.

All the birds of the air

fell a-sighing and a-sobbing,

when they heard the bell toll

for poor Cock Robin.