This Little Piggy...

Mom always said that I think about things too much. 

For example:

This little piggy went to market
This little piggy stayed home
This little piggy had roast beef
This little piggy had none
This little piggy cried "wah wah wah" all the way home.

OK! I'm no stranger to metaphor, symbolism and allusion but this one has me baffled. 

This little piggy went to market seems straightforward enough. The big toe is the fattest "piggy" and is therefore taken to market to be sold. Easy!

This little piggy stayed home. Based on the previous definition, logic suggests that piggy #2 needs to be fattened up more before it can be taken to market. Or maybe this little piggy is a truffle hunter, far too valuable to sell for meat. Family pet?

This little piggy had roast beef. What? I know that pigs will eat anything, but I've never met one that dines on roast beef.  Allusion perhaps, but for what? High quality Purina Pig Chow? The good life?

This little piggy had none. Hmm... a vegetarian pig? If so, did it have tofu? Maybe it had none because the bigger piggies are more aggressive and ate all the food. I doubt that this little piggy had Nun. Pigs aren't in the habit of eating Catholics.

This little piggy cried "wah wah wah" all the way home. Castration? That'll put the ouch in your pouch! Poor little piggy :-(

BUT... why toes?* Not everyone has five toes and some have six. Is the narrative modified to accommodate for less or more toes? If so how?

More questions than answers here. 

* "Aren't they a lot like little piggies?" Old Far-Seeing Art of Inverness