There was once a man who had a Tabby, and she was so terribly large and such a glutton that he couldn't keep her any longer. So she was to go to the river with a stone around her neck, but first she was given a good meal. The old woman set a bowl of porridge and a little trough of drippings in front of her. The Tabby gobbled it down, and then jumped out through the window. The man was in the barn threshing.
'Good day to you, man of the house,' said the Tabby.
'Good day to you, Tabby,' said the man. 'Have you had any food today?' he said.
'Oh, I've had a little, but I'm almost fasting,' said the Tabby, 'I've only had a bowl of porridge and a trough of drippings, and hey-hey if I don't take you too!' And then she went and gobbled the man up.
When she had done that, she went into the cowshed; there sat the old woman milking. 'Good day to you, old woman in the cowshed,' said the Tabby.
'Good day, is that you Tabby?' said the old woman. 'Have you eaten up your food?' she said.
'Oh, I've eaten a little today, but I'm almost fasting,' said the Tabby, 'I've only had a bowl of porridge, and a trough of drippings and the man of the house, and hey-hey if I don't take you too!' she said, and then she went and gobbled up the old woman.
'Good day you, cow in the stall,' said the Tabby to the bell-cow.
'Good day to you, Tabby,' said the bell-cow. 'Have you had any food today?' she said.
'Oh, I've had a little, but I'm almost fasting,' said the Tabby. 'I've only had a bowl of porridge, and trough of drippings, and the man of the house, and the old woman in the cowshed, and hey-hey if I don't take you too!' said the Tabby, and then she went and gobbled up the bell-cow too.
Then she headed for the home pasture. There stood a man chopping leafy branches for fodder.
'Good day to you, fellow in the leafy woods,' said the Tabby.
'Good day to you Tabby; have you had any food today?' said the branch-chopper.
'Oh, I've had a little, but I'm almost fasting,' said the Tabby. 'I've only had a bowl of porridge, and a trough of drippings, and the man of the house, and the old woman in the cowshed, and the bell-cow in the stall, and hey-hey if I don't take you too!' she said, and then she went and gobbled up the branch-chopper too.
Then she came to a rock-pile. There stood the stoat, peering out. 'Good day to you, stoat in the rock-pile,' said the Tabby.
'Good day to you, Tabby; have you had any food today?' said the stoat.
'Oh, I've had a little, but I'm almost fasting,' said the Tabby. 'I've only had a bowl of porridge, and a trough of drippings, and the man of the house, and the old woman in the cowshed, and the bell-cow in the stall, and the branch-chopper in the home pasture, and hey-hey, if I don't take you too!' said the Tabby, and then she went and gobbled up the stoat too.
When she had gone a little farther, she came to a hazel bush. There sat the squirrel gathering nuts.
'Good day to you, squirrel in the bush,' said the Tabby.
'Good day to you, Tabby; have you had any food today?' said the squirrel.
'Oh, I've had a little, but I'm almost fasting,' said the Tabby. ''ve only had a bowl of porridge, and a trough of drippings, and the man of the house, and the old woman in the cowshed, and the bell-cow in the stall, and the branch-chopper in the home pasture, and the stoat in the rock-pile, and hey-hey if I don't take you too!' said the Tabby, and then she went gobbled up the squirrel too.
When she had gone a bit farther she met the fox, who was slinking about on the edge of the woods.
'Good day to you, Slypaws,'said the Tabby.
'Good day to you, Tabby; have you had any food today?' said the fox.
'Oh, I've had little, but I'm almost fasting,'said the Tabby. 'I've only had a bowl of porridge, and a trough of drippings, and the man of the house, and the old woman in the cowshed, and the bell-cow in the stall, and the branch-chopper in the home pasture, and the stoat in the rock-pile, and the squirrel in the bush, and hey-hey if I don't take you too!' said the Tabby, and then she went and gobbled up the fox too.
When she had gone a little farther, she met a hare.
'Good day to you, Hoppity Hare,'said the Tabby.
'Good day to you, Tabby; have you had any food today?' said the hare.
'Oh, I've had a little, but I'm almost fasting,' said the Tabby. 'I've only had a bowl of porridge, and a trough of drippings, and the man of the house, and the old woman in the cowshed, and the bell-cow in the stall, and the branch-chopper in the home pasture, and the stoat in the rock-pile, and the squirrel in the bush, and Slypaws the Fox, and hey-hey if I don't take you too!'said the Tabby, and then she went and gobbled up the hare too.
When she went a little farther she met a wolf.
'Good day to you, Glutton Greylegs,' said the Tabby.
'Good day to you Tabby; have you had any food today?' said the wolf.
'Oh, I've had a little, but I'm almost fasting,' said the Tabby. 'I've only had a bowl of porridge, and a trough of drippings, and the man of the house, and the old woman in the cowshed, and the bell-cow in the stall, and the branch-chopper in the home pasture, and the stoat in the rock-pile, and the squirrel in the bush, and Slypaws the Fox, and Hoppity Hare, and hey-hey if I don't take you too!' said the Tabby, and then she went and gobbled up the wolf too.
Then she went to the forest, and when she had gone far, and farther than far, over hill and deep dale, she met a bear-cub.
'Good day to you, Frisky Bear,' said the Tabby.
'Good day to you, Tabby; have you had any food today?' said the bear-cub.
'Oh, I've had a little, but I'm almost fasting,' said the Tabby. 'I've only had a bowl of porridge, and a trough of drippings, and the man of the house, and the old woman in the cowshed, and the bell-cow in the stall, and the branch-chopper in the home pasture, and the stoat in the rock-pile, and the squirrel in the bush, and Slypaws the Fox, and Hoppity Hare, and Glutton Greylegs, and hey-hey if I don't take you too!' said the Tabby. and then she went and gobbled up the bear-cub too.
When the Tabby had gone a bit farther, she met the she-bear who was clawing at tree stumps until the splinters flew, so angry was she at losing her cub.
'Good day to you, Snappish She-bear,' said the Tabby.
'Good day to you, Tabby; have you had any food today?' said the she-bear.
'Oh, I've had a little, but I'm almost fasting," said the Tabby. 'I've only had a bowl of porridge, and a trough of drippings, and the man of the house, and the old woman in the cowshed, and the bell-cow in the stall, and the branch-chopper in the home pasture, and the stoat in the rock-pile, and the squirrel in the bush, and Slypaws the Fox, and Hoppity Hare, and Glutton Greylegs, and Frisky Bear, and hey-hey if I don't take you too!' said the Tabby, and then she went and gobbled up the she-bear too.
When the Tabby had gone a little farther, she met the he-bear himself.
'Good day to you, Bruin Fine-Fellow,' said the Tabby.
'Good day to you, Tabby; have you had any food today?' said the bear.
'Oh, I've had a little, but I'm almost fasting,' said the Tabby. 'I've only had a bowl of porridge, and a trough of drippings, and the man of the house, and the old woman in the cowshed, and the bell-cow in the stall, and the branch-chopper in the home pasture, and the stoat in the rock-pile, and the squirrel in the bush, and Slypaws the Fox, and Hoppity Hare, and Glutton Greylegs, and Frisky Bear, and the Snappish She-bear, and hey-hey if I don't take you too!' said the Tabby, and then she went and gobbled up the he-bear too.
Then the Tabby went far, and farther than far, until she came to a settled neighborhood again; there she met a bridal procession on the road.
^'Good day to you, bridal procession on the road,' said the Tabby.
'Good day to you, Tabby; have you had any food today?' said the bridal procession.
'Oh, I've had a little, but I'm almost fasting,' said the Tabby. 'I've only had a bowl of porridge, and a trough of drippings, and the man of the house, and the old woman in the cowshed, and the bell-cow in the stall, and the branch-chopper in the home pasture, and the stoat in the rock-pile, and the squirrel in the bush, and Slypaws the Fox, and Hoppity Hare, and Glutton Greylegs, and Frisky Bear, and the Snappish She-bear, and Bruin Fine-Fellow, and hey-hey if I don't take you too!' said the Tabby, and then she flew at them, and gobbled them up both bride and bridegroom, and the whole procession, with master of revels, and fiddler, and horses, and every last one of them.
When she had gone a bit farther, she came to the church. There she met a funeral procession.
'Good day to you, funeral procession by the church,' said the Tabby.
'Good day to you, Tabby; have you had any food today?' said the funeral procession.
'Oh, I've had a little, but I'm almost fasting,' said the Tabby. 'I've only had a bowl of porridge, and a trough of drippings, and the man of the house, and the old woman in the cowshed, and the bell-cow in the stall, and the branch-chopper in the home pasture, and the stoat in the rock-pile, and the squirrel in the bush, and Slypaws the Fox, and Hoppity Hare, and Glutton Greylegs, and Frisky Bear, and the Snappish She-bear, and Bruin Fine-Fellow, and the bridal procession on the road, and hey-hey if I don't take you too!' said the Tabby, and then she turned on the funeral procession and gobbled them up, mourners and all.
When the Tabby had put an end to them, she made her way up to the heavens, and when she had gone far, and farther than far, she met the Moon in the sky.
'Good day to you, Moon in the sky,' said the Tabby.
'Good day to you, Tabby; have you had any food today?' said the Moon.
'Oh, I've had a little, but I'm almost fasting,' said the Tabby. ''ve only had a bowl of porridge, and a trough of drippings, and the man of the house, and the old woman in the cowshed, and the bell-cow in the stall, and the branch-chopper in the home pasture, and the stoat in the rock-pile, and the squirrel in the bush, and Slypaws the Fox, and Hoppity Hare, and Glutton Greylegs, and Frisky Bear, and the Snappish She-bear, and Bruin Fine-Fellow, and the bridal procession on the road, and the funeral procession by the church, and hey-hey if I don't take you too!' said the Tabby, and then she turned on the Moon and gobbled her up, both wax and wane.
Then the Tabby went far, and farther than far, until she met the Sun.
'Good day to you, Sun in the heavens,' said the Tabby.
'Good day to you, Tabby; have you had any food today?' said the Sun.
'Oh, I've had a little, but I'm almost fasting,' said the Tabby. 'I've only had a bowl of porridge, and a trough of drippings, and the man of the house, and the old woman in the cowshed, and the bell-cow in the stall, and the branch-chopper in the home pasture, and the stoat in the rock-pile, and the squirrel in the bush, and Slypaws the Fox, and Hoppity Hare, and Glutton Greylegs, and Frisky Bear, and the Snappish She-bear, and Bruin Fine-Fellow, and the bridal procession on the road, and the funeral procession by the church, and the Moon in the sky, and hey-hey if I don't take you too!' said the Tabby, and then she turned on the Sun in the heavens and gobbled him up.
Then the Tabby went far, and farther than far, until she came to a bridge. There she met a great big Billy-goat.
'Good day to you, Billy on the bridge so broad,' said the Tabby.
'Good day to you, Tabby; have you had any food today?' said the Billy-goat.
'Oh, I've had a little, but I'm almost fasting,' said the Tabby. 'I've only had a bowl of porridge, and a trough of drippings, and the man of the house, and the old woman in the cowshed, and the bell-cow in the stall, and the branch-chopper in the home pasture, and the stoat in the rock-pile, and the squirrel in the bush, and Slypaws the Fox, and Hoppity Hare, and Glutton Greylegs, and Frisky Bear, and the Snappish She-bear, and Bruin Fine-Fellow, and the bridal procession on the road, and the funeral procession by the church, and the Moon in the sky, and the Sun in the heavens, and hey-hey if I don't take you too!' said the Tabby.
'You'll have to fight me first!' said the Billy-goat, and butted the Tabby so hard that she flew off the bridge and into the river, and there she burst.
Then out they crept, and home they flew, and were just as good as before, everyone the Tabby had eaten: the man of the house, and the old woman in the cowshed, and the bell-cow in the stall, and the branch-chopper in the home pasture, and the stoat in the rock-pile, and the squirrel in the bush, and Slypaws the Fox, and Hoppity Hare, and Glutton Greylegs, and Frisky Bear, and the Snappish She-bear, and Bruin Fine-Fellow, and the bridal procession on the road, and the funeral procession by the church, and the Moon in the sky, and the Sun in the heavens.
from Norwegian Folk Tales, © Pantheon Books, New York, translation of Norske folke-eventyr.
Originally published: Oslo, Dreyers Forlag, 1960. ISBN 0-394-71054-1
Drawing by Theodor Kittelsen.BACK TO:
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