The Bobtail Fox

The Bobtail Fox 🦊

Once upon a time, there was an old woman. This woman had a daughter. The woman married off her daughter. One day, she decided to visit her daughter's house. She didn't want to go empty-handed.

The old woman had two goats. She collected butter/ghee from them, put it in a small clay pot, covered the pot's mouth with a cloth, and tied the handles with a strong rope. She set off on the road with the clay pot of butter in one hand.

On the road, she met a Fox. The Fox asked the old woman: "Grandma (Anakarı), where are you going?"

The Grandma replied: "I married off my daughter, and I am going to see her."

The Fox asked: "Do you have any children left at home?"

The Grandma said: "No."

The Fox asked: "Will you adopt me? You are alone, and so am I," it said.

The Grandma replied: "I will, my son. We can be companions. I am lonely in my little house."

The Fox was very happy about this. It said to the old woman: "Grandma, since I am your son now, give me what you are holding, and I will carry it so you don't get tired."

The Grandma said: "You will get tired, my son. You are still a child, poor thing."

But the Fox insisted so much that the woman gave the pot to the Fox. The woman walked in front, and the Fox walked behind her.

The Grandma said: "My son, come walk in front of me, don't stay behind."

The Fox replied: "I am walking behind you out of respect. You walk, and I will follow you."

The Fox was secretly reaching into the pot with its paw, taking out the butter, and eating it while walking. The Fox kept walking until it put a paw into the pot and realized the butter was finished! It quickly took some dirt from the ground, put it at the bottom of the pot, and gave the handle back to the Grandma.

The Fox said: "Grandma, you take this and go into your daughter's house. I will join you in a moment."

The Grandma took the pot and went inside. Her daughter looked at the pot and saw that the inside was all dirt. "Mother, why did you bring dirt?" she asked.

The Grandma was surprised: "What dirt?"

The daughter said: "Mother, look, you brought me dirt."

The old woman became angry: "That Fox pretended to be my son! Some son he turned out to be! He ate the butter and filled the pot with dirt!"

The Fox heard what they were saying from the chimney. It laughed to itself, saying: "I did a good thing, Grandma. I ate the butter, licked it up, swallowed it, and filled the pot with dirt." It also kept wagging its tail down the chimney as it laughed.

The Grandma said: "Oh, you will see! I know what I will do to you."

Then, an idea came to her mind. She immediately asked her daughter for some black resin (tar). She smeared it nicely onto the chimney.

The Fox came to the chimney again to make fun of them. As it wagged its tail and laughed, the Fox's tail got stuck in the black resin and tore off!

This time, the Fox cried and cried: "Grandma, please give me back my tail! I promise I will never turn my way to this side again!"

The Grandma said: "Then go and bring my butter back!"

The Fox went to the goat and begged: "Goat, please give me milk, so I can use the milk to make yogurt, churn the yogurt to make buttermilk, take the butter from the buttermilk, take the butter to the Grandma. The Grandma will give me back my tail, and I will never turn my way to this side again."

The Goat said: "If you go and bring me leaves, I will give you my milk."

The Fox went to the Mulberry tree (Dut): "Brother Mulberry, brother Mulberry, please give me your leaves so I can take them to the Goat. The Goat will give me its milk, which I will use to make yogurt, the yogurt to make buttermilk, and the buttermilk to make butter, which I will take to the Grandma. She will give me back my tail, and I will never turn my way to this side again."

The Mulberry said: "If you go and bring me water, I will water my roots and give you the leaves you want."

This time, the Fox went to the Fountain (Çeşme): "Oh, Fountain, beautiful Fountain, please give me your water! I will take your water to the Mulberry, the Mulberry will give me leaves, I will take the leaves to the Goat, the Goat will give me its milk, I will use the milk to make yogurt, and the yogurt to make buttermilk, take the butter from the buttermilk, and give it to the Grandma. She will give me back my tail, and I will never turn my way to this side again."

The Fountain said: "If you go and bring children to play around me, I will give you my water."

The Fox ran to the children: "Good children, smart children, come and play your games by the Fountain. The Fountain will give me water, I will take the water to the Mulberry. The Mulberry will give me leaves, I will take the leaves to the Goat. The Goat will give me its milk, I will use the milk to make yogurt, the yogurt to make buttermilk, take the butter from the buttermilk, and give it to the Grandma. She will give me back my tail so that I don't come back here again!"

The Children said: "If you bring us eggs, we will come with you."

This time, the Fox went to the Chickens: "Oh, Chickens, dear Chickens, who else lays beautiful eggs besides you? Please give me some eggs! I will take them to the children, the children will play by the Fountain. The Fountain will give me water, I will take the water to the Mulberry. The Mulberry will give me leaves, I will take the leaves to the Goat. The Goat will give me its milk, I will use the milk to make yogurt, the yogurt to make buttermilk, take the butter from the buttermilk, and give it to the Grandma. She will give me back my tail so that I don't come back here again!"

The Chickens said: "If you bring us millet, we will give you eggs."

The Fox was looking for millet when it saw a Farmer planting millet. The Fox immediately asked the Farmer for millet. The Farmer felt sorry for the Fox and gave him a bag of millet.

The Fox took the millet to the Chickens, and the Chickens laid eggs. The Fox took the eggs to the Children, and the Children played by the Fountain. The Fountain gave the Fox water, and the Fox took the water to the Mulberry. The Mulberry gave the Fox its leaves, and the Fox took the leaves to the Goat. The Goat gave the Fox its milk. The Fox used the milk to make yogurt, then made butter from the yogurt, and took it to the Grandma.

The Grandma gave the Fox its tail back. The Fox never turned its way to that side again. The punishment for its foolish head was paid for by both its feet and its tail. It never tried to trick humans again.