May 12. Story of the Day: Grain of Corn

Today's story comes from Tales of the Punjab by Flora Annie Steel. You can click that link to see more stories from this book.

This is yet another example of ATU 2030. The Old Woman and her Pig.

Flora Steel has adapted the Punjabi version in order to add some rhyme to her English version (the crow fights with the farmer's wife for its life) and the result is a fun story in English, but make sure you read the notes at the bottom for the actual Punjabi version; Steel has added some elements to her version and removed others. For example, in the Punjabi version the elephant threatens to drink the sea!

Want more? Click here for previous Stories-of-the-Day.

THE GRAIN OF CORN

Once upon a time a farmer's wife was winnowing corn, when a crow, flying past, swooped off with a grain from the winnowing basket and perched on a tree close by to eat it. The farmer's wife, greatly enraged, flung a clod at the bird with so good an aim that the crow fell to the ground, dropping the grain of corn, which rolled into a crack in the tree.

The farmer's wife, seeing the crow fall, ran up to it, and seizing it by the tail, cried, 'Give me back my grain of corn, or I will kill you!'

The wretched bird, in fear of death, promised to do so, but, lo and behold! when he came to search for the grain, it had rolled so far into the crack that neither by beak nor claw could he reach it.

So he flew off to a woodman, and said—

  'Man! man! cut tree;
  I can't get the grain of corn
  To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the woodman refused to cut the tree; so the crow flew on to the
King's palace, and said—

  'King! king! kill man;
  Man won't cut tree;
  I can't get the grain of corn.
  To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the King refused to kill the man; so the crow flew on to the
Queen, and said—

    'Queen! Queen! coax King;
    King won't kill man;
    Man won't cut tree;
    I can't get the grain of corn
    To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the Queen refused to coax the King; so the crow flew on till he met a snake, and said—

    'Snake! snake! bite Queen;
    Queen won't coax King;
    King won't kill man;
    Man won't cut tree;
    I can't get the grain of corn
    To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the snake refused to bite the Queen; so the crow flew on till he met a stick, and said—

    'Stick! stick! beat snake;
    Snake won't bite Queen;
    Queen won't coax King;
    King won't kill man;
    Man won't cut tree;
    I can't get the grain of corn
    To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the stick refused to beat the snake; so the crow flew on till he saw a fire, and said—

    'Fire! fire! burn stick;
    Stick won't beat snake;
    Snake won't bite Queen;
    Queen won't coax King;
    King won't kill man;
    Man won't cut tree;
    I can't get the grain of corn
    To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the fire refused to burn the stick; so the crow flew on till he met some water, and said—

    'Water! water! quench fire;
    Fire won't burn stick;
    Stick won't beat snake;
    Snake won't bite Queen;
    Queen won't coax King;
    King won't kill man;
    Man won't cut tree;
    I can't get the grain of corn
    To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the water refused to quench the fire; so the crow flew on till he met an ox, and said—

    'Ox! ox! drink water;
    Water won't quench fire;
    Fire won't burn stick;
    Stick won't beat snake;
    Snake won't bite Queen;
    Queen won't coax King;
    King won't kill man;
    Man won't cut tree;
    I can't get the grain of corn
    To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the ox refused to drink the water; so the crow flew on till he met a rope, and said—

    'Rope! rope! bind ox;
    Ox won't drink water;
    Water won't quench fire;
    Fire won't burn stick;
    Stick won't beat snake;
    Snake won't bite Queen;
    Queen won't coax King;
    King won't kill man;
    Man won't cut tree;
    I can't get the grain of corn
    To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the rope wouldn't bind the ox; so the crow flew on till he met a mouse, and said—

    'Mouse! mouse! gnaw rope;
    Rope won't bind ox;
    Ox won't drink water;
    Water won't quench fire;
    Fire won't burn stick;
    Stick won't beat snake;
    Snake won't bite Queen;
    Queen won't coax King;
    King won't kill man;
    Man won't cut tree;
    I can't get the grain of corn
    To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

But the mouse wouldn't gnaw the rope; so the crow flew on until he met a cat, and said—

    'Cat! cat! catch mouse;
    Mouse won't gnaw rope;
    Rope won't bind ox;
    Ox won't drink water;
    Water won't quench fire;
    Fire won't burn stick;
    Stick won't beat snake;
    Snake won't bite Queen;
    Queen won't coax King;
    King won't kill man;
    Man won't cut tree;
    And I can't get the grain of corn
    To save my life from the farmer's wife!'

The moment the cat heard the name of mouse, she was after it; for the world will come to an end before a cat will leave a mouse alone.

    'So the cat began to catch the mouse,
    The mouse began to gnaw the rope,
    The rope began to bind the ox,
    The ox began to drink the water,
    The water began to quench the fire,
    The fire began to burn the stick,
    The stick began to beat the snake,
    The snake began to bite the Queen,
    The Queen began to coax the King,
    The King began to kill the man,
    The man began to cut the tree;
    So the crow got the grain of corn,
    And saved his life from the farmer's wife!'

NOTES
[LKG: I have rearranged Steel's presentation of the English and Punjabi texts to make them easier to see in tandem, interweaving the items.]

Usne kahâ, 'Lap, lap, khâûngî!'

  The cat said, 'I will eat him up at once!'

Phir gîâ mûsâ ke pâs, 
'Mûsâ, re mûsâ, ab khâ jâoge?' 
'Ham bhî nâre katenge.'
  [The cat] went to the mouse,
  'Mouse, mouse, will you be eaten?'

  [Mouse] 'I will gnaw the thong.'

Phir gîâ nâre ke pâs, 
'Nâre, re nâre, ab kâte jâoge?' 
'Ham bhî hâthî bandhenge.'
  [The mouse] went to the thong,
  'Thong, thong, will you be gnawed?'

  [Thong] 'I will bind the elephant.'

Phir gîâ hâthî ke pâs, 
'Hâthî, re hâthî, ab bandhe jâoge?' 
'Ham bhî samundar sûkhenge.'
  [The thong] went to the elephant,
  'Elephant, elephant, will you be bound?'

  [Elephant] 'I will drink up the ocean.'

Phir gîâ samundar ke pâs, 
'Samundar, re samundar, ab sukhe jâoge?' 
'Ham bhî âg bujhâenge.'
  [The elephant] went to the ocean,
  'Ocean, ocean, will you be drunk up?'

  [Ocean] 'I will quench the fire.'

Phir gîâ âg ke pâs, 
'Âg, rî âg, ab bujhâî jâogi?' 
'Ham bhî lâthî jalâvenge.'
  [The ocean] went to the fire,
  'Fire, fire, will you be quenched?'

  [Fire] 'I will burn the stick.'

Phir gîâ lâthî ke pâs, 
'Lâthî, re lâthî, ab jal jâoge?' 
'Ham bhî sâmp mârenge.'
  [The fire] went to the stick,
  'Stick, stick, will you be burnt?'

  [Stick] 'I will beat the snake.'

Phir gîâ samp ke pâs, 
'Sâmp, re sâmp, ab mâre jâoge?' 
'Ham bhî rânî dasenge?'
  [The stick] went to the snake,
  'Snake, snake, will you be beaten?'

  [Snake] 'I will bite the queen.'

Phir gîâ rânî ke pâs, 
'Rânî, rî rânî, ab dasî jâoge?' 
'Ham bhî râjâ rusenge.'
  [The snake] went to the queen,
  'Queen, queen, will you be bitten?'

  [Queen] 'I will storm at the king.'

Phir gîâ râjâ ke pâs, 
'Râjâ, re raja, ab rânî rus jâoge?' 
'Ham bhî khâtî dândenge.'
  [The queen] went to the king,
  'King, king, will you be stormed at by the queen?'

  [King] 'I will beat the woodman.'

Phir gîâ khâtî ke pâs,'
'Khâtî, re khâtî, ab dande jâoge?' 
'Ham bhî khund kâtenge.'
  [The king] went to the woodman,
  'Woodman, woodman, will you be beaten?'

  [Woodman] 'I will cut down the trunk.'

Phir gîâ khund ke pâs, 
'Khund, re khund, ab kâte jâoge?' 
'Ham bhî chanâ denge.'
  [The woodman] went to the trunk,
  'Trunk, trunk, will you be cut down?'

  [Trunk] 'I will give you the pea.'

~  ~  ~

Phir gîâ billî ke pâs,
  He then went to the cat (saying),
'Billî, rî billî, mûsâ khâogî'
  'Cat, cat, eat mouse.
Khâtî khûnd pâr nâ!
  Woodman won't cut tree!
Khûnd chanâ de nâ!
  Tree won't give peas!
Râjâ khâtî dande nâ!
  King won't beat woodman!
Râjâ rânî russe nâ!
  Queen won't storm at king!
Sapnâ rânî dase nâ!
  Snake won't bite queen!
Lâthî sapnâ mâre nâ!
  Stick won't beat snake!
Âg lâthî jalâve nâ!
  Fire won't burn stick!
Samundar âg bujhâve nâ!
  Sea won't quench fire!
Hâthî samundar sukhe nâ!
  Elephant won't drink up sea!
Nâre hâthî bandhe nâ!
  Thong won't bind elephant!
Mûsâ nâre kâte nâ!
  Mouse won't nip thong!
Lûngâ phir chorûn? nâ!'
  I'll take (the pea) yet, I won't let it go!'


CHAIN (English): crow - corn - tree - man - king - queen - snake - stick - fire - water - ox - rope - mouse - cat

CHAIN (Punjabi): bird - pea - tree - woodman - king - queen - snake - stick - fire - sea - elephant - thong - mouse - cat