June 14. Story of the Day: Grandchild and Crow

This comes from an old booklet by George Alexander Kohut: Some Passover rhymes and their parallels. In his discussion of Had Gadya, he offers a version from Thailand ("far-off Siam" as he says in his note).

The story refers to teelseed, which is another word for sesame seed; find out more at Wikipedia. Here is a Sudanese farmer harvesting sesame:

The story would be classified as ATU 2030. The Old Woman and her Pig, although in this case the difficult animal is the crow who is eating the crops. A distinctive feature of the resulting chain is the "strand" (beach, shoreline) which is asked to "hem in" the water, and then the elephant is asked to stomp on the strand. Usually the elephant is the one who is asked to drink up the water, but including the strand adds a new link to the chain!

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THE GRANDCHILD AND THE CROW

Once grandmother and grandfather planted beans and teelseed and made the grandchild keep watch. The grandchild did not keep watch. Then the crow came and ate seven grains and seven measures of grandmother and grandfather's beans and teelseed; grandmother came, grandmother scolded, grandfather came, grandfather beat. 

"Go, go visit Brother Hunter." 

"O Brother Hunter, please, Brother Hunter, help to shoot the crow; the crow ate seven grains and seven measures of grandfather and grandmother's beans and teelseed; grandmother came, grandmother scolded, grandfather came, grandfather beat."

"What is that to me? Don't know, don't care. Go, go visit Brother Mouse." 

"O Brother Mouse, please, Brother Mouse, help to bite the bowstring of Brother Hunter. Brother Hunter does not shoot the crow; the crow ate seven grains and seven measures of grandfather and grandmother's beans and teelseed; grandmother came, grandmother scolded, grandfather came, grandfather beat."

"What is that to me? Don't know, don't care. Go, go visit Brother Cat." 

"O Brother Cat, please, Brother Cat, help to bite the mouse. The mouse does not bite the bowstring of Brother Hunter; Brother Hunter will not shoot the crow; the crow ate seven grains and seven measures of grandfather and grandmother's beans and teelseed; grandmother came, grandmother scolded, grandfather came, grandfather beat."

"What is that to me? Don't know, don't care. Go, go visit Brother Dog." 

"O Brother Dog, please, Brother Dog, help to bite the cat. The cat does not bite the mouse; mouse will not bite the bowstring of Brother Hunter; Brother Hunter will not shoot the crow; the crow ate seven grains and seven measures of grandfather and grandmother's beans and teelseed; grandmother came, grandmother scolded, grandfather came, grandfather beat."

"What is that to me? Don't know, don't care. Go, go visit Brother Earpick." 

"O Brother Earpick, please, Brother Earpick, help to clean the ear of the dog. The dog does not bite the cat; the cat will not bite the mouse; the mouse will not bite the bowstring of Brother Hunter; Brother Hunter will not shoot the crow; the crow ate seven grains and seven measures of grandfather and grandmother's beans and teelseed; grandmother came, grandmother scolded, grandfather came, grandfather beat." 

"What is that to me? Don't know, don't care. Go, go visit Brother Fire." 

"O Brother Fire, please, Brother Fire, help to burn the earpick. The earpick does not clean the ear of the dog; the dog will not bite the cat; the cat will not bite the mouse; the mouse will not bite the bowstring of Brother Hunter; Brother Hunter will not shoot the crow; the crow ate seven grains and seven measures of grandfather and grandmother's beans and teelseed; grandmother came, grandmother scolded, grandfather came, grandfather beat." 

"What is that to me? Don't know, don't care. Go, go visit Brother Water." 

"O Brother Water, please, Brother Water, help to extinguish the fire. The fire does not burn the earpick; the earpick will not clean the ear of the dog; the dog will not bite the cat; the cat will not bite the mouse; the mouse will not bite the bowstring of Brother Hunter; Brother Hunter will not shoot the crow; the crow ate seven grains and seven measures of grandfather and grandmother's beans and teelseed; grandmother came, grandmother scolded, grandfather came, grandfather beat." 

"What is that to me? Don't know, don't care. Go, go visit Brother Strand." 

"O Brother Strand, please, Brother Strand, help to hem in the water. The water does not extinguish the fire; the fire will not burn the earpick; the earpick will not clean the ear of the dog; the dog will not bite the cat; the cat will not bite the mouse; the mouse will not bite the bowstring of Brother Hunter; Brother Hunter will not shoot the crow; the crow ate seven grains and seven measures of grandfather and grandmother's beans and teelseed; grandmother came, grandmother scolded, grandfather came, grandfather beat." 

"What is that to me? Don't know, don't care. Go, go visit Brother Elephant."

(elephant in Thailand)

"O Brother Elephant, please, Brother Elephant, help to put down the strand. The strand does not hem in the water; the water will not extinguish the fire; the fire will not burn the earpick; the earpick will not clean the ear of the dog; the dog will not bite the cat; the cat will not bite the mouse; the mouse will not bite the bowstring of Brother Hunter; Brother Hunter will not shoot the crow; the crow ate seven grains and seven measures of grandfather and grandmother's beans and teelseed; grandmother came, grandmother scolded, grandfather came, grandfather beat." 

"What is that to me? Don't know, don't care. Go, go visit Brother Gnat." 

"O Brother Gnat, please, Brother Gnat, help to sting the elephant's eye. The elephant will not put down the strand; the strand will not hem in the water; the water will not extinguish the fire; the fire will not burn the earpick; the earpick will not clean the ear of the dog; the dog will not bite the cat; the cat will not bite the mouse; the mouse will not bite the bowstring of Brother Hunter; Brother Hunter will not shoot the crow; the crow ate seven grains and seven measures of grandfather and grandmother's beans and teelseed; grandmother came, grandmother scolded, grandfather came, grandfather beat." 

"All right. Ugh! Come on." 

The gnat went to sting the eye of the elephant. Then Brother Elephant said, "Don't sting me, please. Your servant will go and put down the strand." 

The strand then said, "Don't put me down, please. Your servant will hem in the water, when the water will extinguish the fire, and the fire will burn the earpick, and the earpick will clean the ear of the dog, and the dog will bite the cat, and the cat will bite the mouse, and the mouse will bite the bowstring of the hunter, and the hunter will shoot the crow." 

The crow said, "Don't shoot me, please. The crow will undertake to give back the beans and teelseed one hundred thousand fold and more." 

Little grandchild at last did its work well, and then the story comes to an end.

NOTES

Out of the many curious analogues to "Had Gadya" I select the following from far-off Slam, first printed in Truebuer's Record for February, 1890.


CHAIN: crow - hunter - mouse - cat - dog - earpick - fire - water - strand - elephant - gnat