July 10. Story of the Day: The Mouse's Tail

This is another story from Persian Tales by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer. It is an example of ATU 2034. The Mouse Regains its Tail... although in this version, the mouse has not regained his tail by the story's end! Instead, the story ends abruptly with a story-ending formula that occurs in many of the Persian tales. The actual chain could either go on and on, or we could imagine that the blacksmith might comply, allowing the poor mouse to work her way on back down to the start of the chain, with the cobbler sewing the tail back on.

The story makes reference to the Jews of Iran, and you can find out more about the Persian Jews at Wikipedia. The story also makes reference to Gypsies, the Roma people, who have also lived in Iran for many centuries. You can read in Wikipedia about the legend from the Persian epic Shahnameh about how the Roma came to Iran.

Looking for more stories? Click here for previous Stories-of-the-Day. You can also find several other stories from Lorimer's Persian Tales!

THE SAD TALE

OF THE MOUSE'S TAIL

(Public Domain Pictures)

Once upon a time there was a time when there was no one but God.

The Mouse went out a-stealing and fell into a trap, and her tail got torn off.

Away she went to the Cobbler and said:
Cobbler, Cobbler, sew on my tail!

The Cobbler said: "Run away and bring me some thread so that I can sew on your tail."

The Mouse ran to the Jew and said:
Jew, Jew, give me a thread
To give to the Cobbler to sew on my tail.

"Bring me an egg," said the Jew, "and I'll give you a thread."

So she came to the Hen and said:
Tutoo, Tutoo, give me an egg
To give to the Jew, who'll give me a thread
To give to the Cobbler to sew on my tail.

The Hen said: "Go and bring me a grain of corn and I'll give you an egg."

So she came to the Corn Heap and said:
Corn Heap, Corn Heap, give me a grain
To give to the Hen, who'll give me an egg
To give to the Jew, who'll give me a thread
To give to the Cobbler to sew on my tail.

"Bring me a sieve," said the Corn Heap, "so that I can get you a grain of corn."

So she came to the Tinker and said:
Gipsy, Gipsy, give me a sieve
To give to the Corn Heap, who'll give me a grain
To give to the Hen, who'll give me an egg
To give to the Jew, who'll give me a thread
To give to the Cobbler to sew on my tail.

"Go and bring me a goat-skin," said the Tinker, "so that I may make a sieve for you."

So she came to the Goat and said:
Goat, Goat, give me a skin
To give to the Tinker, who'll make me a sieve
To give to the Corn Heap, who'll give me a grain
To give to the Hen, who'll give me an egg
To give to the Jew, who'll give me a thread
To give to the Cobbler to sew on my tail.

The Goat said: "Go and bring me some grass, and I'll give you a skin."

So she came to the Farmer and said:
Farmer, Farmer, give me some grass
To give to the Goat, who'll give me a skin
To give to the Tinker, who'll make me a sieve
To give to the Corn Heap, who'll give me a grain
To give to the Hen, who'll give me an egg
To give to the Jew, who'll give me a thread
To give to the Cobbler to sew on my tail.

"Go and bring me a spade," said the Farmer, "so that I can dig you up some grass."

So she came to the Blacksmith and said:
Blacksmith, Blacksmith, give me a spade
To give to the Farmer, who'll give me some grass
To give to the Goat, who'll give me a skin
To give to the Tinker, who'll make me a sieve
To give to the Corn Heap, who'll give me a grain
To give to the Hen, who'll give me an egg
To give to the Jew, who'll give me a thread
To give to the Cobbler
TO SEW ON MY TAIL!

And now my story has come to an end, but the sparrow never got home.

CHAIN: cobbler/thread - Jew/egg - hen/grain - heap/sieve - tinker/skin - goat/grass - farmer/space - blacksmith