This is ATU 122F Wait till I am Fat Enough, which is a tale type that is not based on a chain, and this is the only chain example I have found (so far anyway). This story, however, does have a chain which is reminiscent of the fleeing pancake. In this case, the lamb goes through a series of encounters on his way to his grandmother's, and then meets with those same animals in reverse on his way back home, starting ominously with a jackal (who often plays a role like that of the fox in Europe), which means the jackal will be the last creature he confronts on the return.
As often, the author did not include the full chain, but I have taken the liberty of adding them in to the story here. You can see Steel's (shorter) version online at Internet Archive.
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THE LAMBIKIN
Once upon a time there was a wee wee Lambikin, who frolicked about on his little tottery legs, and enjoyed himself amazingly.
Now one day he set off to visit his Granny, and was jumping with joy to think of all the good things he should get from her, when whom should he meet but a Jackal, who looked at the tender young morsel and said—'Lambikin! Lambikin! I'll eat you!'
But Lambikin only gave a little frisk, and said—
'To Granny's house I go,
Where I shall fatter grow,
Then you can eat me so.'
Nânî kol jâwângû:
Motâ tâjâ âwângâ
Pher tûn main nûn khâwângâ.
The Jackal thought this reasonable, and let Lambikin pass.
By and by he met a Vulture, and the Vulture, looking hungrily at the tender morsel before him, said—'Lambikin! Lambikin! I'll eat you!'
But Lambikin only gave a little frisk, and said—
'To Granny's house I go,
Where I shall fatter grow,
Then you can eat me so.'
The Vulture thought this reasonable, and let Lambikin pass.
And by and by he met a Tiger, who likewise said—'Lambikin! Lambikin! I'll eat you!'
But Lambikin only gave a little frisk, and said—
'To Granny's house I go,
Where I shall fatter grow,
Then you can eat me so.'
The Tiger thought this reasonable, and let Lambikin pass.
Next he met a Wolf, who likewise said—'Lambikin! Lambikin! I'll eat you!'
But Lambikin only gave a little frisk, and said—
'To Granny's house I go,
Where I shall fatter grow,
Then you can eat me so.'
The Wolf thought this reasonable, and let Lambikin pass.
Then he met a Dog, who also said—'Lambikin! Lambikin! I'll eat you!'
But Lambikin only gave a little frisk, and said—
'To Granny's house I go,
Where I shall fatter grow,
Then you can eat me so.'
The Dog thought this reasonable, and let Lambikin pass.
Finally he met an Eagle, who, when he saw the tender little morsel, said—
'Lambikin! Lambikin! I'll eat you!'
But Lambikin replied, with a little frisk—
'To Granny's house I go,
Where I shall fatter grow,
Then you can eat me so.'
The Eagle thought this reasonable, and so he too let Lambikin pass.
At last he reached his Granny's house, and said, all in a great hurry, 'Granny, dear, I've promised to get very fat; so, as people ought to keep their promises, please put me into the corn-bin at once!
So his Granny said he was a good boy, and put him into the corn-bin, and there the greedy little Lambikin stayed for seven days, and ate, and ate, and ate, until he could scarcely waddle, and his Granny said he was fat enough for anything, and must go home. But cunning little Lambikin said that would never do, for some animal would be sure to eat him on the way back, he was so plump and tender.
'I'll tell you what you must do,' said Master Lambikin,' you must make a little drumikin out of the skin of my little brother who died, and then I can sit inside and trundle along nicely, for I'm as tight as a drum myself.'
So his Granny made a nice little drumikin out of his brother's skin, with the wool inside, and Lambikin curled himself up snug and warm in the middle, and trundled away gaily.
Soon he met with the Eagle, who called out—
'Drumikin! Drumikin!
Have you seen Lambikin?'
And Mr. Lambikin, curled up in his soft warm nest, replied—
'Lost in the forest, and so are you,
On, little Drumikin! Tum-pa, tum-too!'
Wan piâ lelkarâ: wan pî tû.
Chal dhamkiriâ! Dham! Kâ! Dhû!
'How very annoying!' sighed the Eagle, thinking regretfully of the tender morsel he had let slip.
Meanwhile Lambikin trundled along, laughing to himself, and singing—
'Tum-pa, tum-too;
Tum-pa, tum-too!'
Then he met the Dog, who asked him the same question—
'Drumikin! Drumikin!
Have you seen Lambikin?'
And to the Dog that little sly-boots replied—
'Lost in the forest, and so are you,
On, little Drumikin! Tum-pa, tum-too;
Tum-pa, turn-too; Tum-pa, tum-too!'
Then the Dog sighed to think of the tender little morsel he had let slip.
Next he met the Wolf, who asked him the same question—
'Drumikin! Drumikin!
Have you seen Lambikin?'
And to the Wolf the Lambikin replied—
'Lost in the forest, and so are you,
On, little Drumikin! Tum-pa, tum-too;
Tum-pa, turn-too; Tum-pa, tum-too!'
Then the Wolf sighed to think of the tender little morsel he had let slip.
Then he met the Tiger, who asked him the question—
'Drumikin! Drumikin!
Have you seen Lambikin?'
And to the Tiger the Lambikin replied—
'Lost in the forest, and so are you,
On, little Drumikin! Tum-pa, tum-too;
Tum-pa, turn-too; Tum-pa, tum-too!'
Then the Tiger sighed to think of the tender little morsel he had let slip.
And again he met the Vulture, who asked him the question—
'Drumikin! Drumikin!
Have you seen Lambikin?'
And to the Vulture the Lambikin replied—
'Lost in the forest, and so are you,
On, little Drumikin! Tum-pa, tum-too;
Tum-pa, turn-too; Tum-pa, tum-too!'
Then the Vulture sighed to think of the tender little morsel he had let slip.
At last the Jackal came limping along, for all his sorry looks as sharp as a needle, and he too called out—
'Drumikin! Drumikin!
Have you seen Lambikin?'
And Larnbikin, curled up in his snug little nest, replied gaily—
'Lost in the forest, and so are you,
On, little Drumikin! Tum-pa—'
But he never got any further, for the Jackal recognised his voice at once, and cried, 'Hullo! you've turned yourself inside out, have you? Just you come out of that!'
Whereupon he tore open Drumikin and gobbled up Lambikin.
NOTES
Lambikin.—The words used were Panjâbî: lelâ, lerâ, lekrâ, and lelkarâ, a small or young lamb.
Lambikin's Songs.—Of the first the words were Panjâbî—
Nânî kol jâwângû:
Motâ tâjâ âwângâ
Pher tûn main nûn khâwângâ.
Of the second song—
Wan piâ lelkarâ: wan pî tû.
Chal dhamkiriâ! Dham! Kâ! Dhû!
These the rhymes render exactly. The words dham, kâ, dhû are pronounced sharply, so as to imitate the beats on a drum.
Drumikin.—The dhamkîriâ or dhamkirî in Panjâbî is a small drum made by stretching leather across a wide-mouthed earthen cup (piyâlâ). The Jatts make it of a piece of hollow wood, 6 inches by 3 inches, with its ends covered with leather.
CHAIN: jackal vulture tiger wolf dog eagle
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