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The Folktale
Stith Thompson

AT 238

he Keen Sight of the Dove and the Keen Hearing of the Frog

The Folktale from Ireland to India

III – The Simple Tale

2. Animal tales

B. The Northern Animal Cycle and Reynard the Fox

One of the most interesting literary products of the Middle Ages in western Europe is the collection of animal tales which eventually formed the satirical epic known from its most famous example as the Roman de Renart. The literary history of this group of writings is not to our purpose. [332] But no discussion of the oral tale in Europe can neglect stories with such vitality as those which are collected by the scores and sometimes hundreds in lands around the Baltic, which even seven hundred years ago were well enough known to form an animal epic, and which within the past four centuries have traveled to Africa and on slave ships to all parts of the New World.

A considerable group of these tales early aroused the interest of Kaarle Krohn, and to them he applied for the first time the rigorous analytical study which has later become known as the historical-geographical method. [333] He observed that these tales still had a very vigorous life in Finland and Russia, and that most of them also formed a part of the Reynard cycle. By a close analysis of the details, he examined the question of origin and subsequent history of these stories.

He found that in practice one particular series of episodes was ordinarily handled as a unit. In this series the stupid bear or wolf is placed in opposition to the sly fox. Such an opposition Krohn does not find in the literary fables, but it is an essential part of this whole group of episodes, [334] as well as of a few related independent stories. The cycle which forms the principal part of Krohn's study usually consists of five parts, any one of which may also be found as a self-sufficient anecdote.

The fox sees a man hauling a wagon load of fish. He lies down in the road where the wagon must pass and plays dead. The man throws him onto the wagon of fish and the fox throws the fish off behind and carries them away. He tells his friend the bear about his experience. In some versions of the tale the bear tries the same trick but is caught and killed (Type 1). In others the fox suggests to the bear how he, too, may get fish, namely by fishing with his tail through a hole in the ice. He freezes fast and when he is attacked, he loses his tail (Type 2). As an independent episode, this is often used to explain why the bear has no tail. While the bear has been fishing through the ice, the fox has gone to a woman's house and told her about the bear. While she is away chasing the bear, the fox slips into the house where the woman has been churning and feasts on the milk and [p. 220] butter. When the woman returns she drives him out and beats him with the churn-dash, so that he is all covered with butter and milk. When he finds the bear, who is complaining about his misfortunes in the ice, he claims to have had an even worse time and makes the bear believe that his brains have been knocked out (Type 3). In fact, the fox is in such a poor way that he says the bear must act as his riding horse. As he is riding the bear, he sings out, "The sick is carrying the well," but misreports the song to the stupid bear. Eventually, however, the bear realizes the deception and throws him off (Type 4). [335] The fox now escapes into a hole under the roots of a tree with the bear after him. When the bear seizes him by a hind leg, the fox calls out, "Bite ahead, you are only biting the tree root." The bear lets loose and they go on their separate ways (Type 5). [336]

Although three out of five of these episodes (Types 1, 2, and 4) find a place in the medieval animal epic, Krohn brings forth convincing evidence that the whole cycle developed in the folk tradition of northern Europe. He infers from the distribution of the complete cycle, as well as of the independent parts, that the combination has existed for about a thousand years. He finds that the antagonist to the fox is the bear in western and southern Finland, and the wolf in northeast Finland. Speaking of his own study, he says,

It was clear that into Finland there came from the west Scandinavian versions, and from the east Russian versions of one and the same tale, and that Finland was not a land through which tales traveled, but was rather the final destination of two streams of tradition. . . . The most southern part of northern Europe which can be conceived of as the home of the tale of the bear and the fox is northern Germany. . . . We can conclude that in Germany the whole chain of adventures was present before the settling of the Saxons. . . . From Germany on the one hand the original form with the bear reached Scandinavia and on the other hand the form with the wolf, influenced by the fable literature and the animal epic, reached Russia. [337]

The other adventures of the fox and the wolf (or bear) more frequently appear as independent tales. In general, Krohn finds that they have much the same history as the regular cycle. In one of these episodes (Type 7) they wager as to which of them can first name three different trees. The bear names different varieties of the same tree, so that the fox wins the wager. In another (Type 8) the bear sees a magpie and envies its colors. The fox offers to paint him so that he will be even more beautiful. Following the fox's prescription, the bear lies on a haystack which the fox sets fire [p. 221] to. The bear gets thoroughly burned. Sometimes this episode explains why the bear's fur now has a singed appearance. [338]

Neither of these two episodes entered the animal epic, but they are favorites in northern Europe. The tale of how the fox played godfather (Type 15), however, does appear in the Reynard cycle, though its origin seems to be in the northern Germanic countries. In this story the fox pretends that he has been invited to be a godfather of a newborn child. In this way he sneaks away and steals the butter or honey which he and the bear have stored in common. Each time he returns, the bear asks him the name of the child. The fox always replies in a manner suggesting the truth. For example, he says that the child's name is "Well Begun," "Half Done," or the like. When the bear realizes what has happened, they fall into a dispute as to which has stolen the provisions. The fox smears the sleeping bear with the honey or butter and thus proves that he is the thief. As those familiar with the Grimm collection will remember, the tale is frequently told of a cat and a mouse, or of a cock and a hen. Of all the stories belonging to this general cycle, this is perhaps the best known in other parts of the world than central Europe. It is to be found in most parts of Asia, all over Africa, in the Negro, the Spanish, the Portuguese, and the French traditions in America, and among the North American Indians.

In contrast to the wide popularity of the tale of the fox as godfather, the episode in Reynard the Fox concerning the oath on the iron (Type 44) is apparently not found outside of Russia and Yugoslavia. It usually appears as a sequel to the more popular tale. In the dispute concerning the theft of the supplies, the fox denies his guilt and swears by touching an iron trap. The bear follows his example, but hits the iron so hard that his paws are caught.

The fox's persuasive powers are shown in two more stories studied by Krohn, both of which are confined to the folklore of northern Europe. The first of these (Type 20C) begins with a cumulative tale in which the animals flee because they are afraid that the world is coming to an end or that there will be a war. Their fear has been caused by a nut which has fallen on the cock's head. [339] In their despair, they agree that they shall eat each other up. The fox persuades them that the smallest should be eaten first. Frequently as a part of this tale the fox induces the wolf to eat his own entrails (Type 21).

Some of the other episodes studied by Krohn, and having much the same history as the main cycle, are Aarne's Types 36, 37, and 43. In the first of these the fox in disguise violates the she-bear who is caught in a tree cleft. To avoid later recognition, he covers himself with soot and is mistaken for [p. 222] the pastor. In the second of these episodes the bear searches for a nursemaid for the young bears. The fox takes service and eats the young bears up. In the third, the bear builds a house of wood and the fox one of ice. In the summer the fox tries to drive the bear out of his house.

Gerber [340] believes that the last of these tales, as, indeed, all of the incidents concerned with building or construction, belongs essentially to a series of transactions between a man and a demon or ogre. [341] He says:

The connection between the Northern animal tale and the Norman or North-French demon tale is unmistakable, and, like the next adventure [the deceptive crop division], [342] and perhaps also the one following, is a proof of the close relations between the tales of the bear and the fox and the demon tales. The demon tale was most likely the source of the other because it is more natural. Is it in the relation between these tales that we are to seek, perhaps, the reason why the fox is called Michael with all Scandinavians?

Another story of the bear or wolf and the fox which seems to be definitely outside the cycle we have been considering is about how the bear is persuaded to bite the seemingly dead horse's tail (Type 47A). He is dragged off by the horse and the hare sees him and asks him where he is going. The hare laughs so much that he splits his lip. Sometimes in this tale the dupe is a fox. Krohn is convinced that this is not an original Bear (Wolf)-Fox tale, but that it only later passed over into this group and that finally, in the north, the characters were reversed. The latter part of the tale, about the hare, belongs to a group of legends, many of them doubtless of independent origin in various parts of the world, which explain how the hare obtained his split lip.

Throughout the entire group of animal tales thus far discussed the dupe is sometimes the bear and sometimes the wolf, but the clever animal is almost consistently the fox. It is interesting that as these have spread from their original home, the fox has given way to the hare or the rabbit and even to the lowly spider. [343]

In addition to those animal tales studied by Krohn, several other episodes from the Reynard cycle are known in folk tradition. The simple tale of the wolf who is the guest of the dog and who drinks too much and insists on singing until he is attacked and killed (Type 100) was not only retold by fabulists in the Renaissance but is also familiar over all of Europe and in central Asia, and has even been found among the American Indians of the Southwest. Another dog story belonging to the Reynard cycle shows [p. 223] much more definite Oriental affinities, and probably origin, since it appears in the Jātaka and is popular today in India and surrounding countries. This is the tale of The Dog and the Sparrow (Type 248). A man has run over the dog, who is a friend of the sparrow. The sparrow takes vengeance, so that the man loses his horse, his property, and finally his life. Whatever its origin, the tale has become well known all over Europe and has been recorded among the Negroes of Jamaica.

The Reynard cycle also contains several incidents concerned with a war between groups of animals. These are not always clearly separated, but the whole series seems to come eventually from the Orient, probably, from India. Sometimes there is a war between the domestic and wild animals. A cat raises her tail and the cowardly wild animals think it is a gun and flee (Type 104). Or the war may be between the birds and the quadrupeds. In this case, the fox's lifted tail is to be the signal for attack. The birds arrange for the gnat to stick the fox under the tail. He drops it, and the quadrupeds flee (Type 222). In the third anecdote, the cowardly wild animals do not even have the excuse of a war. They have never seen a cat before, and hide from her. When she shrieks, the bear falls out of the tree and breaks his backbone (Type 103). All three of these tales are very popular, especially in the Baltic states, and two of them have been recorded in various parts of America.

Finally, in the Reynard cycle, are to be mentioned the two related animal tales which have received more thorough study than any other. The first of these is sometimes not strictly an animal story, but may be concerned almost entirely with objects (Type 210); the other deals entirely with animals (Type 130). In the first, Aarne [344] conceives that the original Asiatic form tells how an egg, a scorpion, a needle, a piece of dung, and a mortar (or some other hard object) go together on a journey. They find themselves in the house of an old woman during her absence and hide themselves in various places, lying in wait to harm her. Each attacks her in his characteristic fashion and drive her forth or kill her. This form of the tale is found in India, in the Malay peninsula, and in Japan, and it has spread over a good part of Europe. The corresponding tale in Europe, however, has as its actors a group of animals who hide themselves either in a wolf's den or a robber's home. The hiding and the attack on the returning owner are the same in all forms of the tale. It is the animal versions that have been most popular in Europe and that have usually been carried to America.

The objects which journey together are also found in the story of The Bean, the Straw, and the Coal (Type 295), though in quite another connection. The coal burns the straw in two and falls into the water, and the bean laughs until he splits. This tale, found in fable collections of the sixteenth century, has a peculiar oral distribution. In Europe it is known only from Germany east but is reported as very common in the West Indies and [p. 224] is told among the American Indians in what are apparently borrowings from the French and Spanish. [345]

By no means all the stories in the northern animal cycle appeared in the medieval beast epic. Indeed, the animal cycle for countries like Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Russia is surprisingly extensive. In addition to the stories found in other countries and in literary works, a great many have attained popularity only in a limited geographical range and have been reported in but a few versions. In spite of their geographical limitations, however, a score or more of these are so well known in their own area that

they cannot be disregarded in any account of the animal tradition of Europe. [346]

[332] For a good discussion of the relation of the Reynard cycle to the oral animal tale and to the fables, see A. Graf, Die Grundlagen des Reineke Fuchs (FF Communications No. 38, Helsinki, 1921); L. Sudre, Les sources du roman de Renart (Paris, 1893).

[333] Bär (Wolf) und Fuchs.

[334] In his list of tale types Aarne had this chain of incidents in mind when he arranged his first five numbers, since the chain consists of Aarne's types 1 to 5 inclusive.

[335] A special modification of this anecdote popular among the Negroes of the West Indies and of the United States, and also known among the Indians, tells how rabbit rides fox a-courting. He has boasted to his lady-love that the fox is his riding horse (Type 72).

[336] For a good discussion of this cycle, in the light not only of his original study but of other researches over nearly fifty years, see Krohn, Übersicht, pp. 18ff.

[337] Krohn, loc. cit.

[338] Similar tales concern the burning of the bear with a red hot iron (Type 152*), and the castrating of the bear (Type 153), or sometimes of the ogre (Type 1133).

[339] For further discussion of this tale, see Type 2033, p. 233, below.

[340] Adolph Gerber, "Great Russian Animal Tales," Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, VI, 55. Gerber's whole article is very valuable for its discussion of these and similar animal tales.

[341] For this group of incidents, see Types 1097 and 1030, pp. 222 and 198, above.

[342] Type 9B. Here is told of the bear and the fox the same tale as is frequently told of the man and the ogre. They raise a garden together and are allowed to choose whether they will take the crops above the ground or below the ground. See p. 198, above.

[343] See Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus cycle and Beckwith, Jamaica Anansi Stories.

[344] Tiere auf der Wanderschaft.

[345] A peculiar analogue to the story of the objects traveling together is the well-known American Indian tale of Turtle's War Party. In this story the turtle recruits a war party of strange objects (knife, brush, awl, etc.) and animals. Because of their nature, the companions get into trouble. See p. 322, below. Attention may be also called at this point to an essentially literary tale of The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage who keep house together, each with appropriate duties, and succeed until they unwisely exchange their roles (Type 85). It is popular in Germany, perhaps from Grimm, but little known outside.

[346] The tales referred to are: The Fox Tricks the Wolf into Falling into a Pit (Type 30); The Bear Pulls Mountain Ashes Apart so that Fox's Old Mother Can Get Berries (Type 39); The Bear and the Honey (Type 49); The Contest of Frost and the Hare (Type 71); The Needle, the Glove, and the Squirrel (Type 90); The Hungry Fox Waits in Vain for the Horse's Lips (Scrotum) to Fall Off (Type 115); The Bear on the Hay-Wagon (Type 116); The Lion Frightened (Type 118); The Three Rams on the Bridge (Type 123*); The Wild Animals on the Sleigh (Type 158); Captured Wild Animals Ransom Themselves (Type 159); The Fox Eats His Fellow-lodger (Type 170); Sheep, Duck, and Cock in Peril at Sea (Type 204); Straw Threshed a Second Time (Type 206); The Council of Birds (Type 220); Wedding of the Turkey and the Peacock (Type 224); The Goose Teaches the Fox to Swim (Type 226); The Rearing of the Large-headed and Large-eyed Bird (Type 230); The Heathcock and the Bird of Passage (Type 232); The Keen Sight of the Dove and the Keen Hearing of the Frog (Type 238); The Frog Enticed out of his Hole (Type 242); The Crow Marries (Type 243*); Tame Bird and Wild Bird (Type 245); The Ant Carries a Load as Large as Himself (Type 280); and The Gnats and the Horse (Type 281*).

Types:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9B, 15, 20C, 21, 30, 36, 37, 39, 43, 44, 47A, 49, 71, 72, 85, 90, 100, 103, 104, 115, 116, 118, 123*, 130, 152*, 153, 158, 159, 170, 204, 206, 210, 220, 222, 224, 226, 230, 232, 238, 242, 243*, 245, 248, 280, 281*, 295, 1030, 1097, 1133, 2033