FOLK TALES

Young Man Shows True Love

A Traditional Malaysian Folktale

Retold by K. Y. Chin

This is the story of a young man's true love for his girlfriend, who he loved so much that he was brave enough to risk his life, fighting a dragon.

Two hundred years ago, there was a princess named May Yee. She was born in Malaysia. She wanted to get married to a young man, but he was very poor.

Her mother was very angry because she wanted to marry the young man. Her mother said, "Are you sure you want get married to him? You know, you are the prettiest girl in world." To that the princess said, "I know him. He is a good man. He loves me very much, and I love him too."

One day, a fierce dragon appeared in their town. It killed a lot of the villagers. Then the Queen said whoever killed the dragon would get his wish granted by her. The young man said to the Queen that he would go. After that, he took a sword and went to kill the dragon. He was afraid, but he wanted to marry the princess. He said to her, "Don't worry about me. I plan to kill the dragon. After that we can get married." Then he went to kill the dragon.

The dragon was very strong, and they fought a great battle. Fortunately, the young man killed the dragon, but not before the dragon injured his hand and leg. The princess was so happy that she cried.

After that the queen agreed they could get married, and they became a couple.

This story tells about a young man who loved his girlfriend so much that he would do anything for her. He didn't even care if he would die.

Outwitting a Crocodile

A Traditional Malaysian Folktale

Retold by Chok Yoon Foo from Malaysia

Sang Kancil is a clever, tricky mouse deer who is always finding himself in predicaments with animals that want to eat him or harm him, but he cleverly manages to escape each time. In this story, Sang Kancil outwits a big, bad crocodile.

Sang Kancil was a clever mouse deer. Whenever he was in a bad situation, he always played a clever trick to escape. In this story, Sang Kancil outwitted Sang Buaya, a big, bad crocodile, who wanted to eat him. There were many trees where Sang Kancil's lived along the river, so he never had trouble finding food. There were always lots of leaves. He spent his time running and jumping and looking into the river.

Sang Buaya, the big bad crocodile, lived in the river with other crocodiles. They were always waiting to catch Sang Kancil for dinner. One day when Sang Buaya was walking along the river, he saw some delicious fruit on the trees on the other side the river.

Sang Kancil wanted to taste the tasty-looking fruit because he was a little tired of eating leaves. He tried to think of a way to cross the river, but he had to be careful. He didn't want to be caught and eaten by Sang Buaya. He needed to trick Sang Buaya.

Sang Kancil suddenly had an idea He called out to the crocodile, "Sang Buaya! Sang Buaya!" Sang Buaya slowly came out of the water and asked Sang Kancil why he was shouting his name. He asked Sang Kancil, "Aren't you afraid I will eat you?" Then he opened his big mouth very wide to scare Sang Kancil.

Sang Kancil said, "Of course, I am afraid of you, but the king wants me to do something. He is having a big feast with lots of food, and he is inviting everyone, including you and all the other crocodiles. But first, I have to count all of you. He needs to know how many of you will come. Please line up across the river, so I can walk across your heads and count all of you."

Sang Buaya was excited and left to tell the other crocodiles about the feast with all the good food. Soon, they came and made a line across the river. Sang Kancil said, "Promise not to eat me because or I can't report to the king how many of you are coming. They promised not to eat him.

Sang Kancil stepped on Sang Buaya's head and counted one. Then he stepped on the next one and said, "Two." He stepped on each crocodile, counting each one, and finally reached the other side of the river. Then he said to Sang Buaya,"Thank you for helping me to cross the river to my new home."

Sang Buaya was shocked and angry. He shouted at Sang Kancil, "You tricked us! There is no feast, is there?" All of the crocodiles looked at Sang Buaya angrily. They were angry because he let Sang Kancil trick all of them.

Sang Kancil loved his new home on the other side of the river because he had a lot of tasty food to eat. Poor Sang Buaya was not so lucky. After that, none of the other crocodiles ever talked to him again.

The Story of the Coconut Tree

A Traditional Malaysian Folktale

Retold by Nurhayani Abu Bakar from Malaysia

This is the story of a beautiful moon princess, but it is also a story about bamboo, a plant which was once believed to be sacred.

There was once an old man. He was very, very old. Some people said he was a thousand years old! He was also very wise and he knew many things. Many people came to visit him in his cave near the sea. They always asked him to help them.

One day, a young man came to see this wise old man. "O wise father," said the young man, "I want to be useful to people. I want to serve them all my life. How can I do this?"

"That's very good," said the old man. "Here is a magic box. Do not open it until you reach home. If you open it now something will happen to you.

"Thank you, wise father," said the young man. He took the box and left. When he was out of the cave, he stopped. "I wonder what is in the box?" he said to himself. "I'm going to look."

He opened the box and at once he turned into a tall tree—a coconut tree. That was his punishment for disobeying the old man, but his still had his wish because the coconut tree is very useful to people

Real Brotherly Love

A Traditional Korean Folktale

Retold by Yun Seok Kim from Korea

In this heartwarming story, two brothers in a village show their

A long, long time ago, there lived two brothers in a village. They were both very poor. The older brother had a little more than the other one: however, he had a larger family to support than the younger brother.

One autumn, they harvested their grain, but the older one worried about his younger brother, so at night he took some grain and secretly put it in the place where his brother stored his grain.

The next day, even though he had done this, his own grain supply was not reduced. The next night he did the same thing, and again the next day. Still, his grain supply was not diminished. It stayed the same. He thought it was strange, so he hid in the field to see what happened.

A few hours later, he saw a person approaching. He went out to see who it was. The stranger was his brother who was also worried about his older brother. Each night he had been taking grain to his older brother to help him!

This was true brotherly love. After that, they lived happily the rest of their lives

Kaguya Hime - The Tale of the Bamboo Princess

A Traditional Japanese Folktale

Retold by Chifuyu Omma from Japan

This is the story of a beautiful moon princess, but it is also a story about bamboo, a plant which was once believed to be sacred.

Once upon a time there was an old man and his wife. One day he went to a bamboo grove to collect bamboo shoots, where he found a bamboo tree illuminated in the middle part. He wondered why and then became curious about what was inside. He carefully cut the bamboo and was astonished to find a pretty baby inside. He decided to pick her up and bring her back to his home. He consulted with his wife how to handle this baby, and they made up their minds to raise this baby as a gift from God.

After several years had passed, the baby grew up and was a young and beautiful lady in the town. Everyone knew her because she was graceful and beautiful. Hearing about her reputation, there were so many gentlemen who proposed marriage to her that the old parents were now very proud of her and tried to make her choose a candidates. She, however, declined any proposal. She became very sad and was crying everyday. The old parents couldn't understand why and couldn't get the daughter to answer.

On a full moon night, she decided to tell why she was crying and to say she had to leave home and go back to the moon. She was frustrated for a long time because the time for her departure had come. The moon beams arrived to transport her back to the moon. She said good-bye to her old parents and gave them an elixir of life as a good-bye gift. The old parents lived a long life after that.

Jang Hwa and Hong Ryeon A Traditional Korean Folktale Retold by Jin Taek Lee from Korea This is a traditional folk tale Korea. It includes the idea that beautiful girls are nice and ugly people are bad. Generally speaking, most Korean stories include that idea. I think it's extremely natural. Once upon a time, there were two girls—Jang Hwa and Hong Ryeon. They were sisters. They were very beautiful and nice. One day, unfortunately, their mother died and their father remarried. Their step mother who was very ugly and bad gave them pain all the time. Finally, she made a wicked scheme, and she killed them. Jong Hwa and Hong Ryeon became ghosts, and everyday they approached a country leader. The country leader asked why they appeared to him every day and they told him the facts. When he heard their story, he had the step mother arrested. This is a traditional story in Korea. It includes the idea that beautiful girls are nice and ugly people are bad. Generally speaking, most Korean stories include that idea. I think it's extremely natural. Kongi and Potgi, A Korean Cinderella Story Retold by Youngil-Seo from Korea This is a Korean "Cinderella-type" story. A beautiful young girl is mistreated by her ugly step-mother and her ugly step-sister. A long, long time ago, there were two sisters. The older sister's name was Kongi and the younger sister's name was Potgi. Kongi had a stepmother. The stepmother and Potgi disliked Kongi because she was so beautiful and kind; she was a lovely person. Potgi was very ugly; she was also a greedy and selfish person. The stepmother and Potgi always made Kongi do house chores, but she never complained about that. One day, a rich, young man held a party to look for a girl to be his bride. All of the young girls were invited to the party, but Kongi couldn't go because the stepmother ordered her to stay home and do house chores and told her not to go there. While Kongi was doing the house chores, a frog appeared in front of her. The frog did all the house chores for her, so despite the stepmother's orders, she attended the party. As soon as the young man saw her, he fell in love with her. He wanted to know more about her, but she left the party because she had to get back home before her stepmother came back home. Leaving the party hurriedly, she lost her rubber shoe. When it came off and she lost it, they young man picked it up. He was able to find the beautiful Kongi because of her rubber shoe. They got married and lived happily ever after. Explanation of this story Beauty can be very important in life. A Beautiful Lady Saves the King A Traditional Taiwanese Folktale Retold by Yu-Ling Hsieh from Taiwan This is the story of a kind who was saved when a loyal staff officer sent a beautiful woman to the palace. Thousands of years ago, there was a country that was ruled by another country. The king was a slave who worked for the foreign ruler of this country. His staff officer was trying to save the kind and his country. While the staff officer was walking along the river, he saw a beautiful lady washing clothes. He thought maybe because she was so beautiful, the foreign ruler would fall in love with her, so he sent her to the palace. Once she was there, the foreign ruler fell in love with her and didn't care about anything else, not even ruling the country. So, the lady and the staff officer saved their king and their country. In the end, they went away with their king and lived together at a place no one knew. Explanation of this story If the lady hadn't been beautiful, the staff officer wouldn't have sent her into the palace, and the foreign ruler would not have fallen in love with her. If the ruler hadn't fallen in love with her, they wouldn't have been able to save their country. So, is beauty important? I think so, even if we always deny it. The Old Man and the Golden Fish A Traditional Chinese Folktale Retold by Hoh Chee Bin from China In this story, an old fisherman receives something wonderful, but then his greed for more good things leads to grief. There was once an old man who liked fishing. He always fished in a lake, which was near his house. One day, the old man brought his fishing rod and fishing tackle and went out to the lake to fish after he had eaten his dinner. When he reached the lake, the sky was becoming dark. There was a boat beside the lake. The old man used the boat and rowed to the center of the lake. He began fishing in the center of the lake. After a while, he fell asleep. Suddenly, the old man woke up as his fishing rod was shaking. The old man pulled up the fishing rod and caught a fish. To his surprise, it was a golden fish. Even more surprising, it could talk to the old man. "Can you let me go, please?" The fish begged the old man. "No, I am going to eat you," The old man said. "Please! Let me go. If you let me go, I will give a golden rope," the fish said. "Golden rope? Is that true? How can I trust you?" the old man asked. "You can put your fishing rod into the lake and a few minutes after, you are going to get the golden rope, " said the fish. The old man listened to the fish and put the fishing rod in to the lake. After he pulled up the fishing rod, he saw a golden rope attached to the fishing line. The golden rope must be very long the old man thought because he could not see the end of the golden rope. The man was very happy and he continued to pull up the golden rope. "Let me go now that you have the golden rope," said the fish . "No, I won't let you go. I am going to sell you. I think someone will pay a very high price to get you." The old man said. The man then put the fish into a container, which was full of water and continued to up the golden rope. As the man pulled up the golden rope, his boat began to sinkinto the lake but he was too greedy and still wanted to get all of the golden rope. He continued to pull it. Finally, his boat sank completely into the lake, and the old man died.  Broken Promise A Japanese Folktale Told by Mami Takenaka from Japan In this folktale, a good person receives a reward for his kindness, but then decides he wants more and has to face the consequences. Long, long ago, some children were playing at a seaside when they found a turtle. They began to bully the turtle. After a while, a young man came and said to them, "Stop it!" The children went away then. "I really appreciate your kindness. I really would like to invite you to a wonderful palace now," the turtle said. As soon as the young man got on the back of the turtle, he was taken to a secret palace in the sea. When he arrived at the palace, he was very surprised and said to the turtle, "What a nice place!" The palace was very beautiful, and the king of the turtles gave a feast for him and he met many people. He had never seen such a good feast. He received a warm welcome there, and he was very satisfied with everything. He thought there was no other place nicer than that one. He said to the turtle, "Thank you, I am glad to have met you." When he left, the turtle said, "I am going to give you two boxes, but you can only open one of the boxes. You must not open both. Don't forget!" "All right. I will open only one." he promised. A large crowd of people said goodbye to him, and he went back to his land. After he got home, he opened the bigger of the two boxes. To his amazement, there was a great deal of gold in the box. "Heavens!" he said loudly. He was rich now. He thought, "The other one must also be full of money." He could not stand not opening the box, so he broke his promise and opened it. As soon as he opened the box, he became an old man. His hair turned white and his face was full of wrinkles. His looked like an old man over eighty years old. It all happened in a moment. After that he regretted what he did. "Just because I broke the promise..." he said, but it was too late. The Greedy Farmer A Traditional Turkish Folktale Turkan Ece from Turkey This story tells the story of a greedy man who is never satisfied with what he has. The more he gets, the more he wants. There was a farmer in a village. He was very ambitious. He wanted to make more and more money. In the spring time, when it was rainy, he called out to God, "If it were sunny, I would sow some wheat." The next day, it became sunny, and the farmer sowed some wheat. After that, he called out to God, "If it were rainy, it would be useful for my wheat." The following day, it rained. The farmer called out to God, "If you gave more rain, my wheat would grow more." The following day, it rained again. Then, in summer time, he harvested his wheat and collected it in a heap. The farmer called out to God, "If you had given more rain, my wheat harvest would have been bigger." He asked God, "Why didn't you give me more rain and more wheat?" Then God made heavy rain, and all of the farmer's wheat floated away with the water. A Magic Paint Brush Princess A Traditional Chinese Folktale Retold by Anna Luan Li Ning from China This is the story of a beautiful moon princess, but it is also a story about bamboo, a plant which was once believed to be sacred. Once upon a time, there was a young man called Ma Liang. He was poor and kind and helped a rich man to tend cattle. He liked drawing and drew pictures everywhere. One night, he dreamed that an old man gave him a magic paintbrush and asked him to use it to help poor people. When he woke up, he found the magic paintbrush in his desk. From that day on, he used the paintbrush whenever people needed help. When he saw that people had no water to use in the fields, he drew a river and the river came to life. People could bring water from the river to the field and save a lot of time and energy. When he saw it was difficult for people to till lands, he drew a cow and the cow came to life. People could use the cow to till lands very easily. So when he saw the peoples' troubles, he would use his magic paintbrush to help. Then many people knew about the magic paintbrush. But a few days later, the rich man whom Ma Liang helped heard that the magic paint brush could turn everything to life. He was a bad man so he had an idea to steal the paint brush from the young man. He knew that he could make a lot of money by turning things to life and keeping them, so he sent some people to the Ma Liang's home and took him to the prison. He got the magic paintbrush and felt very happy. Then he invited a lot of his friends to come to his home and showed them the magic paintbrush. He drew a lot of pictures, but they could not become real. He was very angry and asked some people to get Ma Liang. When Ma Liang came, he said to him, "If you draw some pictures for me and turn them to life, I will set you free." The young man knew that he was a bad man in the village. Of course he did not want to help him. He had an idea. He said to the bad man, "I can help you, but you should obey your words." The bad man felt very happy and said, "I want a golden mountain. I will go there to gather gold." The young man drew a sea first. The bad man was angry and said," Why did you draw a sea? I do not want this. I want a golden mountain. Draw it quickly." Then the young man drew a golden mountain which was far away from the sea. The bad man saw that and felt very happy. He said, "Draw a big ship quickly. I want to go there to gather gold." The young man smiled quietly and drew a big ship. The bad man jumped into the ship first and a lot of his family and friends jumped in too. When the ship sailed to the middle of the sea, the young man drew a large wave and it destroyed the ship. So the bad man and his friends died. After that, the young man lived with his family happily and kept on helping the poor people. So the magic paintbrush was known by everyone.

The Prince and the Princess

A Traditional Lebanese Folktale

Retold by Esam Elhefian

This folktale shows that the value of love and happiness can conquer evil.

I

A long time ago, there was a prince who was very brave and a great knight. There was a princess too who was very beautiful and kind. They lived happily in a big castle.

One day, a witch went to the castle and said to them "I hate you both, and I hate love, too. I am going to kill you."

"No, I will kill you and kill evil with you!" the prince replied bravely. Then, the prince tried to kill the witch, but he wasn't able to do anything because he changed into a fox as soon as the witch said "Prince, change into a fox."

Then, the princess tried to help her love, but the witch changed her into a frog. After that, the witch took them to a prison in a tower.

After a few days, someone sent a dragon to help the prisoners. The dragon went to the witch and blew some fire from his mouth and burnt her. After the witch was killed by the dragon, the prince and the princess returned to their natural selves and lived happily together for the rest of their lives.

  

Endless Love

A Traditional Korean Folktale

An original tale written by
Ji-Young Lee from Korea

This is a tale of undying love between a young couple who won the struggle to be together.

Long ago, there was a village named 'Sa-rang' in Korea. The village had two flowers that cried when a couple passed nearby. These flowers never died.

A long time ago there was a couple, Soo-il and Soon-ae, living in Sa-rang. They loved each other so much that they wanted to get married, but Soon-ae's father, who was very rich, never allowed her to marry Soo-il, who was very poor.

A few days later, her father lied to her. He told her that Soo-il got married to another girl and pushed her to marry a rich guy named Jung-bae. She was very sad because she believed her father and agreed to marry Jung-bae.

But, Soon-ae' and Jung-bae were not happy because they did not love each other. He hung out with friends, met other girls, and seldom came back home. They would not stay together long.

One day, Soon-ae heard a strange, continuous sound from outside the window, so she slowly went to the window and opened it up. When she looked down, there was Soo-il. Her heart started beating faster, and she made up her mind to go to him. She jumped down from her room, which was on the second floor, and then she felt a big pain and fainted.

When Soon-ae was able to open her eyes, she saw the people she loved. There were members of her family and Soo-il. They all looked at her with concern, but at that moment she discovered that she could not move at all. She knew her father had lied to her, and she cried every day. Soo-il came to see her every day, but her father would not let him see her.

Soo-il decided to secretly take her to a small town in the country where nobody could find them. In that town. he cut trees and sold them to make a living, while Sa-rang slowly recovered and was able to move again.

One day when Soo-il was coming back home after cutting trees, he saw a rose on the edge of a cliff. Because Soon-ae liked roses, he tried to pick the rose. Unfortunately, he slid and fell over the cliff.

While she was waiting for him as usual, some people living in the town came to her with his possessions. Immediately, she went to the place where his possessions were found even though she could not walk well.

However, when she got there, she could not find his body, only a strange flower. After that, she never ate or drank and never talked to anybody. She only thought about Soo-il, who could never return to her.

A couple of days later, she closed her eyes for ever and ever. She was buried near the place where the flower was found. After a while, her grave disappeared, and another flower appeared in the same place as the first one.

The Man Who Was a Liar

A Traditional Turkish Folktale

Retold byTurhan Ece from Turkey

A person who tells many lies is usually not believed or trusted by anyone after a while.

There was a lonely man who lived in a small town. Most of the people who were living in that town knew him because he was a liar. Before he became a loner, he had once had a family and a good job, but he sometimes told small lies to his customers. Then, he started to tell big lies to both his customers and his family.

Because of this, he and his family faced a lot of problems. He promised to be honest about his job, but he didn't keep his promises, so he lost his job. After that, his wife and children left him. He continued living in the same home along. Almost all the people who were living in the town didn't trust and believe him.

One day, a fire started in his home. He ran out of his home and hurriedly went to the center of the town and shouted to the other people to get help. "My neighbor, please help me. My home is burning."

Nobody believed him, so they didn't go to his home to help him. His home burned down completely, and he was left homeless.

There is a famous Turkish saying: The candle of someone who lies almost always burns just to midnight. After his candle goes out, nobody gives him any light. He remains without light.

Foolish Hans

Austria-Hungary

Once upon a time there was a poor peasant woman. She was a widow and had but one son. His name was Hans, and he was very stupid.
It was summertime, and his mother gave him a large pot of honey, saying, "I am sending you to town to sell this, but don't let people say too much to you." She was afraid that people would bargain too much with him.
Arriving in town, he cried out, "Buy my honey!"
The people said, "How much does it cost?"
He said, "You are saying too much to me."
"Can't we at least ask how much it costs?"
"No," he said, "you have already said too much," and he packed up and left town.
Out in the country the flies and wasps swarmed around him, wanting his honey.
"Buy my honey!" he said. They were not able to say anything to him, so he poured his honey out on the ground. "You'll have to pay me in a week," he said.
Then he went home and told his mother, "I sold the honey and will get the money in a week."
A week later he again set off for town. Because of the money for the honey he took along a stout cudgel. He arrived at the spot, and there were still bees and flies there licking up the little honey that was left.
He said, "I want my money now," but they gave him nothing.
"I'll make short work of this," he said. "I am reporting you to the judge."
He went to the judge, who asked, "Just what do you want?"
"The flies and wasps bought honey from me," he said, "and now they refuse to pay."
The judge began to laugh, seeing that he was dealing with a real simpleton. "All I can tell you, is that whenever you see a fly you should strike it dead," he answered.
Just then a fly flew onto the judge's nose, and Hans hit the fly on his nose.
"Ouch, Jeez, my nose!" cried the judge.
Then Hans said, "I was hitting at the fly, not at your nose."
Then the judge thought, "He could kill someone if he sees a fly sitting on them. And who allowed it to happen? The judge, that's what people will say." So he asked, "How much did your honey cost?"
"Three hundred florins," said Hans.
So the judge wrote him a slip and sent him with it to the cashier, and when he received his money, he returned home.

The Tale of a Butter Tub

Iceland

There lived a king and queen in their realm, and a carl and his old wife in their cottage.
Once the carl and his old wife bought for themselves a barrel full of butter, which they intended to have for their household use during the winter, but now they were at a loss where to hide the barrel, that nobody should steal out of it. At last they agreed upon having it kept at the king's palace. They readily got the king to undertake the guarding of their tub, but its owner put it into its right place, and covered it as they thought fit.
Now the autumn approached, and the old wife began to feel eager for some of the butter, and contrived at once a plan for getting her longing satisfied. One day, in fine weather, she was up early in the morning, and came in to her carl, saying she was called to the king's palace, to hold a child at baptism, wherefore she must go there. The carl said it was a matter of course. Now the old wife got ready in the greatest hurry and went to the king's palace. When she came there she said she should fetch a tiny slice of butter from the barrel. This everyone believed to be true, and she was let in to where the tub stood. Then the old woman took a great pat from the brim of the tub. After that she went home.
Then asked the carl what had been the name of the child at the king's.
The old woman answered, " Brimmy is hight [named] the well-shaped girl."
When the old woman had finished what she had first taken of the butter, she said one morning to her husband, "Eh! I am called yet once again to the king's."
"Well, go then," said the carl.
The old woman went away, and said at the king's as formerly, that she should fetch butter from the barrel. And this time, the old dame took butter away down to the middle of the tub.
When she came home, the carl asked what was the name of the child.
She answered, "Middle, is called the little girl."
When the old wife had finished this provision of butter, she said to the old man : " Yet, once more, am I called to the king's, to hold a child at baptism."
"Go then," quoth the carl.
The old wife went, and coming to the king's palace, said she came for butter. Now she took so much, that she could see the corner which the staves made with the bottom of the tub.
When she came home, the carl asked her what was the name of the child. She answered. "Logg [woodblock] is hight the ugly girl."
Now time passed till the old wife was, once more, in need of butter. Then she said to the old man, "I am called for, once more, at the king's."
"Go then," said the old man. The old woman went, and said, as formerly, that she had come for butter. This time, she took all that was left in the barrel. When she came home, the carl asked what was the name of the child.
"Bottom is hight the stubby swain," said the old woman.
Time passed, till the later months of winter came on. Then the household provisions of the old man and woman began to be rather scarce. The old man said to his old wife, that it would be best to fetch the butter tub from the king's palace. To this, the old woman agreed. They came there and asked for their barrel. It was given to them, and they saw that the covering and everything about the barrel was quite in order.
They rolled the barrel home, into the cottage. Now the carl opened the barrel, and lo! it was quite empty. He was rather startled at this, and asked his wife if she could tell the cause of it. She made believe to be no less astonished, and could find no reason for the trick they had been played.
But, at the same moment, the old wife saw a big fly, which had got into the open barrel, and she said, "Ah! There comes the wretched thief. Look here. This hateful fly has, doubtless, eaten all our butter from the tub."
This, the old man thought must be true, and ran off for the big hammer, with which he used to beat his dried fish, and would break the skull of the fly. He shut the door of the cottage, that the fly should not get out, and now chased the fly all over the place, knocking and beating at it, but never hitting save his own furniture and household chattels, which he broke to pieces. At last, the old man, being tired, sat down in fury and despair.
But then the fly came and sat on his nose. Then the carl begged his wife to kill the fly, and said, "Make haste, while it sits on the nose!" (which since has passed into a common saying). The old woman lifted up, with all her might, the hammer, and thumped it on the old man's nose, and broke his skull so well that he was dead on the spot; but the fly escaped with unbroken skull. It is unscathed yet. But the old woman is still wailing over her carl.

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