ATU 2032. The Healing of the Injured Animal


At this site:
Cushing. The Cock and the Mouse
Crane. The Cock and the Mouse
Crane. The Sexton's Nose
La Chanson de Bricou [French; online at Hathi]

ATU 2032: An animal (mouse) is wounded (by another animal) and asks for help. He is told that this will happen only if he brings a particular object (fulfills some other request). The injured animal has to ask someone else for this object. This develops into a chain of demands and counter-requests, until finally someone (thing) agrees without a counter-request. The animal is treated for his injury, or else he dies before all the requests are granted.
In Spanish and Portuguese variants, a toad asks a magpie to throw something ( a nut) down from a tree. The magpie is afraid its beak will break, but the toad promises to repair it. The beak breaks and the toad goes after horsehair to mend it. He is sent to fulfill other requests, until finally someone does not make a counter-request. Everyone in the chain gets what he or she wanted, and finally the toad brings the horsehair to the magpie.

Z43 The cock's whiskers. A mouse throws a nut down and hits the cock on the head. He also steals the cock's whiskers. The cock goes to get an old woman to cure him. The final formula is: Fountain give up water for forest, forest give up wood for baker, baker give up bread for dog, dog give up hairs to cure the cock. (Variant: mouse loses tail.)
Z43.1 Toad asks magpie in tree to throw down a chestnut. Magpie refuses, saying it might break its beak. Toad promises, if that happens, to get a horsehair to tie it up again. Magpie throws chestnut and breaks beak. Toad asks ass for hair, but ass first demands grass; mower demands sheep; shepherd, pup; mother dog, bread; baker, stumps. Toad cuts the stumps and gets the hair.


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