August 16. Story of the Day: Cat, Cock, and Fox

This story comes from Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales by R. Nisbet Bain with illustrations by Noel L. Nisbet. Its classification is ATU 61B: Cat, Rooster, and Fox.

This is more an example of folkloric repetition in the form of a series rather than a chain tale per se, but I thought it was such an elegant bit of repetition that I wanted to include it here! Plus the whole idea of a cat and a rooster befriending one another, allied against the trickster fox, is very appealing too since they are often enemies. The loyalty of the cat and the rooster to one another earns them a well-deserved happy ending here I think.

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

THE CAT, THE COCK, AND THE FOX

There was once upon a time a cat and a cock, who agreed to live together, so they built them a hut on an ash-heap, and the cock kept house while the cat went foraging for sausages.

One day the fox came running up: “Open the door, little cock!” cried she.

(photo by D. Salvagnin)

“Pussy told me not to, little fox!” said the cock.

“Open the door, little cock!” repeated the fox.

“I tell you, pussy told me not to, little fox!”

At last, however, the cock grew tired of always saying “No!” so he opened the door, and in the fox rushed, seized him in her jaws, and ran off with him.

Then the cock cried:
“Help! pussy-pussy!
That foxy hussy
Has got me tight
With all her might.
Across her tail
My legs do trail
Along the bridge so stony!”

The cat heard it, gave chase to the fox, rescued the cock, brought him home, scolded him well, and said, “Now keep out of her jaws in the future, if you don’t want to be killed altogether!”

Then the cat went out foraging for wheat, so that the cock might have something to eat. He had scarcely gone when the sly she-fox again came creeping up. “Dear little cock!” said she, “pray open the door!”

“Nay, little fox! Pussy said I wasn’t to.” But the fox went on asking and asking till at last the cock let him in. Then the fox rushed at him, seized him by the neck, and ran off with him.

Then the cock cried out:
“Help! pussy-pussy!
That foxy hussy
Has got me tight
With all her might.
Across her tail
My legs do trail
Along the bridge so stony!”

The cat heard it, and again he ran after the fox and rescued the cock, and gave the fox a sound drubbing. Then he said to the cock, “Now, mind you never let her come in again, or she’ll eat you.”

But the next time the cat went out, the she-fox came again, and said, “Dear little cock, open the door!”

“No, little fox! Pussy said I wasn’t to.” But the fox begged and begged so piteously that, at last, the cock was quite touched, and opened the door. Then the fox caught him by the throat again, and ran away with him, and the cock cried:
“Help! pussy-pussy!
That foxy hussy
Has got me tight
With all her might.
Across her tail
My legs do trail
Along the bridge so stony!”

The cat heard it, and gave chase again. He ran and ran, but this time he couldn’t catch the fox up; so he returned home and wept bitterly, because he was now all alone.

At last, however, he dried his tears and got him a little fiddle, a little fiddle-bow, and a big sack, and went to the fox’s hole and began to play:
“Fiddle-de-dee!
The foxy so wee
Had daughters twice two,
And a little son too,
Called Phil.––Fiddle-dee!
Come, foxy, and see
My sweet minstrelsy!”

Then the fox’s daughter said, “Mammy, I’ll go out and see who it is that is playing so nicely!” So out she skipped, but no sooner did pussy see her than he caught hold of her and popped her into his sack.

Then he played again:
“Fiddle-de-dee!
The foxy so wee
Had daughters twice two,
And a little son too,
Called Phil.––Fiddle-dee!
Come, foxy, and see
My sweet minstrelsy!”

Then the second daughter skipped out, and pussy caught her by the forehead, and popped her into his sack, and went on playing and singing till he had got all four daughters into his sack, and the little son also.

Then the old fox was left all alone, and she waited and waited, but not one of them came back. At last she said to herself, “I’ll go out and call them home, for the cock is roasting, and the milk pottage is simmering, and ’tis high time we had something to eat.” So out she popped, and the cat pounced upon her, and killed her too.

Then he went and drank up all the soup, and gobbled up all the pottage, and then he saw the cock lying on a plate.

“Come, shake yourself, cock!” said puss.

So the cock shook himself, and got up, and the cat took the cock home, and the dead foxes too. And when they got home they skinned them to make nice beds to lie upon, and lived happily together in peace and plenty.

And as they laughed over the joke as a good joke, we may laugh over it too!

June 28. Story of the Day: Sparrow and Bush

This story is from Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales by R. Nisbet Bain with illustrations by Noel L. Nisbet. You can read about the Cossacks at Wikipedia, and you will also see a reference to Tatars (Tartars) in the story.

This is classified as ATU 2030. The Old Woman and her Pig. In this case, the starting point is an obstinate bush that will not swing the sparrow. Notice how the story has two different ways of repeated the accumulation: the sparrow is the one who repeats the request and the explanatory chain as you would expect, but at one point you'll see that the pattern shifts where the narrator repeats the chain and brings it on back down to the bush, and then the bush tells the sparrow where to go next. It's as if the poor little sparrow needed a break to catch is breath before resuming his quest!

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

THE SPARROW AND THE BUSH

(house sparrow)

A sparrow once flew down upon a bush and said, “Little bush, give good little sparrow a swing.”

“I won’t!” said the little bush.

Then the sparrow was angry, and went to the goat and said, “Goat, goat, nibble bush, bush won’t give good little sparrow a swing.”

“I won’t!” said the goat.

Then the sparrow went to the wolf and said, “Wolf, wolf, eat goat, goat won’t nibble bush, bush won’t give good little sparrow a swing.”

“I won’t!” said the wolf.

Then the sparrow went to the people and said, “Good people, kill wolf, wolf won’t eat goat, goat won’t nibble bush, bush won’t give good little sparrow a swing.”

“We won’t!” said the people.

Then the sparrow went to the Tartars and said, “Tartars, Tartars, slay people, people won’t kill wolf, wolf won’t eat goat, goat won’t nibble bush, bush won’t give good little sparrow a swing.”

But the Tartars said, “We won’t slay the people!” and the people said, “We won’t kill the wolf!” and the wolf said, “I won’t eat the goat!” and the goat said, “I won’t nibble the bush!” and the bush said, “I won’t give the good little sparrow a swing.”

“Go!” said the bush, “to the fire, for the Tartars won’t slay the people, and the people won’t kill the wolf, and the wolf won’t eat the goat, and the goat won’t nibble the bush, and the bush won’t give the dear little sparrow a swing.”

But the fire also said, “I won’t!” (they were all alike) –– “go to the water,” said he.

So the sparrow went to the water and said, “Come water, quench fire, fire won’t burn Tartars, Tartars won’t slay people,  people won’t kill wolf, wolf won’t eat goat, goat won’t nibble bush, bush won’t give good little sparrow a swing.”

But the water also said, “I won’t!”

So the sparrow went to the ox and said, “Ox, ox, drink water, water won’t quench fire, fire won’t burn Tartars, Tartars won’t slay people, people won’t kill wolf, wolf won’t eat goat, goat won’t nibble bush, bush won’t give little sparrow a swing.”

“I won’t!” said the ox.

Then the sparrow went to the pole-axe and said, “Pole-axe, pole-axe, strike ox, ox won’t drink water, water won’t quench fire, fire won’t burn Tartars, Tartars won’t slay people, people won’t kill wolf, wolf won’t eat goat, goat won’t nibble bush, bush won’t give little sparrow a swing.”

“I won’t!” said the pole-axe.

So the sparrow went to the worms and said, “Worms, worms, gnaw pole-axe, pole-axe won’t strike ox, ox won’t drink water, water won’t quench fire, fire won’t burn Tartars, Tartars won’t slay people, people won’t kill wolf, wolf won’t eat goat, goat won’t nibble bush, bush won’t give little sparrow a swing.”

“We won’t!” said the worms.

Then the sparrow went to the hen and said, “Hen, hen, peck worms, worms won’t gnaw pole-axe, pole-axe won’t strike ox, ox won’t drink water, water won’t quench fire, fire won’t burn Tartars, Tartars won’t slay people, people won’t kill wolf, wolf won’t eat goat, goat won’t nibble bush, bush won’t give little sparrow a swing.”

“I won’t!” said the hen, “but go to the sparrow-hawk, he ought to give the first push, or why is he called the Pusher!”

So the sparrow went to the sparrow-hawk and said, “Come, pusher, seize hen, hen won’t peck worms, worms won’t gnaw pole-axe, pole-axe won’t strike ox, ox won’t drink water, water won’t quench fire, fire won’t burn Tartars, Tartars won’t slay people, people won’t kill wolf, wolf won’t eat goat, goat won’t nibble bush, bush won’t give little sparrow a swing.”

Then the sparrow-hawk began to seize the hen, the hen began to peck the worms, the worms began to gnaw the pole-axe, the pole-axe began to hit the ox, the ox began to drink the water, the water began to quench the fire, the fire began to burn the Tartars, the Tartars began to slay the people, the people began to kill the wolf, the wolf began to eat the goat, the goat began to nibble the bush, and the bush cried out:

“Swing away, swing away, swi-i-i-i-ing!
Little daddy sparrow, have your fli-i-i-ing!”