September 28. Story of the Day: The Woman and the Berries

This version comes from The McCloskey Primer by Margaret Orvis McCloskey, with illustrations by Charles Copeland. For a Scots version, see Chalmers' Popular Rhymes of Scotland: The Wife and her Bush of Berries (online at Hathi).

This is classified as ATU 2030 The old woman and her pig.

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THE WOMAN

AND HER BEAUTIFUL BUSH OF BERRIES

There was a woman who had a beautiful bush of berries, and she wanted to pick them, but she could not do that unless she had somebody to keep her house. So she went to a kid and said, "Kid, kid, come and keep my house till I pick my beautiful bush of berries."

"Indeed, no," said the kid, "I'll not keep your house till you pick your beautiful bush of berries."

Then the woman went to a dog and said, "Dog, dog, bite kid; kid will not keep my house till I pick my beautiful bush of berries."

"Indeed," said the dog, "I'll not bite the kid, for the kid never did me any harm."

Then the woman went to a stick and said, "Stick, stick, beat dog; dog will not bite kid, and kid will not keep my house till I pick my beautiful bush of berries."

"Indeed," said the stick, "I'll not beat the dog, for the dog never did me any harm."

Then the woman went to a fire and said, "Fire, fire, burn stick; stick will not beat dog, dog will not bite kid, and kid will not keep my house till I pick my beautiful bush of berries."

"Indeed," said the fire, I'll not burn the stick, for the stick never did me any harm."

Then the woman went to some water and said, "Water, water, quench fire; fire will not burn stick, stick will not beat dog, dog will not bite kid, and kid will not keep my house till I pick my beautiful bush of berries."

"Indeed," said the water, "I'll not quench the fire, for the fire never did me any harm."

Then the woman went to an ox and said, "Ox, ox, drink water; water will not quench fire, fire will not burn stick, stick will not beat dog, dog will not bite kid, and kid will not keep my house till I pick my beautiful bush of berries."

"Indeed," said the ox, "I'll not drink the water, for the water never did me any harm."

Then the woman went to an ax and said, "Ax, ax, strike ox; ox will not drink water, water will not quench fire, fire will not burn stick, stick will not beat dog, dog will not bite kid, and kid will not keep my house till I pick my beautiful bush of berries."

"Indeed," said the ax, "I'll not strike the ox, for the ox never did me any harm."

Then the woman went to a smith and said, "Smith, smith, grind ax; ax will not strike ox, ox will not drink water, water will not quench fire, fire will not burn stick, stick will not beat dog, dog will not bite kid, and kid will not keep my house till I pick my beautiful bush of berries."

"Indeed," said the smith, "I'll not grind the ax, for the ax never did me any harm."

Then the woman went to a rope and said, "Rope, rope, hang smith; smith will not grind ax, ax will not strike ox, ox will not drink water, water will not quench fire, fire will not burn stick, stick will not beat dog, dog will not bite kid, and kid will not keep my house till I pick my beautiful bush of berries."

"Indeed," said the rope, "I'll not hang the smith, for the smith never did me any harm."

Then the woman went to a mouse and said, "Mouse, mouse, gnaw rope; rope will not hang smith, smith will not grind ax, ax will not strike ox, ox will not drink water, water will not quench fire, fire will not burn stick, stick will not beat dog, dog will not bite kid, and kid will not keep my house till I pick my beautiful bush of berries."

"Indeed," said the mouse, "I'll not gnaw the rope, for the rope never did me any harm."

Then the woman went to a cat and said, "Cat, cat, kill mouse; mouse will not gnaw rope, rope will not hang smith, smith will not grind ax, ax will not strike ox, ox will not drink water, water will not quench fire, fire will not burn stick, stick will not beat dog, dog will not bite kid, and kid will not keep my house till I pick my beautiful bush of berries."

"Indeed," said the cat, "I'll not kill the mouse, for the mouse never did me any harm."

"Do it," said the woman, "and I'll give you milk and bread."

With that, the cat ran to kill the mouse, the mouse rang to gnaw the rope, the rope ran to hang the smith, the smith ran to to grind the ax, the ax ran to strike the ox, the ox ran to drink the water, the water ran to quench the fire, the fire ran to burn the stick, the stick ran to beat the dog, the dog ran to bite the kid, and the kid kept the woman's house till she picked her beautiful bush of berries.

NOTES

The refractory kid of this Scotch tale is very close to the pig that would not get over the stile. The series of personages in the Scotch story is almost the same as that of "The Old Woman and her Pig," and in one version the likeness is made complete by the following introduction:

There was a wife that lived in a wee house by herself, and as she was sweepin the house one day she found twal (two) pennies. So she thought to herself what she wad do wi her twal pennies, and at last she thought she couldna do better than gang wi't to the market and buy a kid. Sae she gaed to the market and coffed a fine kid. And as she was gaun home, she spied a bonny bush of berries growin beside a brig. And she said to the kid, "Kid, kid, keep my house," etc.