Category Archives: Tales /märchen

Stories which are not regarded as possibly true.

“No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!”

Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, CA
Performance Date: 4/2/23
Primary Language: English

Text: Three little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell off and bumped his head
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”Two little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell off and bumped his head
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”One little monkey jumping on the bed
He fell off and bumped his head
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said
“Put those monkeys right to bed!”

Context: PS grew up in Las Vegas, NV with an older brother and a twin sister. He remembers his mom and dad singing this song to him when it was time to go to bed. Often, he and his siblings would be jumping on the bed and take turns jumping off of the bed into their parents arms before eventually being sent to bed. He thinks it was a tactic his parents used to tire him and his siblings out before bed so that they would sleep better.

Analysis: I believe that this tale, told in song form, is used as a cautionary tale for children about the dangers of being rambunctious. Often, little kids have the urge to jump and play on their beds, which is potentially dangerous, and this song serves as a fun way of reminding children that foolish actions have repercussions (injury). I believe it is also used a way to wrangle and tire kids out so that they are more likely to sleep throughout the night.

La Brujita Tapita

Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/1/23
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Text: La brujita Tapita vivía en un cajón

Que no tenía puertas, ni ventanas no balcón.

La brujita Tapita vivía en un cajón

Con una gran escoba y un hermoso escobillón.

La brujita hacia brujerías

Abracadabra patas de cabra, abracadabra patas de cabra, 

punch pupunch pupunch pupunch pupunch.

Un día la brujita quiso desaparecer

Mirándose al espejo dijo 1, 2 y 3.

Y cuando abrió los ojos no se vio saben por qué?

Porque la distraída se miraba en la pared

La brujita hacia brujerías

Abracadabra patas de cabra abracadabra patas de cabra

Punch pupunch pupunch pupunch pupunch

Translation:

The little witch, Tapita, lived in a drawer

That had no doors, no windows, no balcony.

The little witch, Tapita,

lived in a drawer

with a big broom and a beautiful broom.

The little witch does her spells,

Abracadabra goat legs, abracadabra goat legs,

punch pupunch pupunch pupunch pupunch.

One day the witch wanted to disappear.

Looking in the mirror she said 1, 2 and 3,

and when she opened her eyes she didn’t see herself. Do you know why?

Because, distracted, she looked at herself on the wall.

The little witch does her spells,

Abracadabra goat legs, abracadabra goat legs,

Punch pupunch pupunch pupunch pupunch.

Context: The informant learned this song when she was young from her Aunt who lives in Bolivia, but the informant grew up in California. Spanish was her first language and English was her second language. She remembers singing this tale as a kid as a fun activity with her family, and believes it was used as a cautionary tale for little kids teaching them the dangers of magic and foolishness. 

Analysis:

I believe  that this tale, told in song form, is being used as a way to teach children not to be absentminded or foolish. I believe it is supposed to scare them into thinking that something bad will happen to them (i.e., their legs turning into goat’s legs) if they aren’t careful about what they do, and how they do it. 

However, I think that by putting it to a tune and making it rhyme makes it more appealing and easier for kids to digest — They are learning without even realizing they are learning.

This tale could also be addressing a social hierarchy, placing judgment on a lower, working class  people. Further, it is criticizing their homes (living in a small drawer swith no windows, no balcony, no doors—essentially suggesting an inability to exit this state). The only object mentioned is a broom, specifically a “beautiful broom”, again placing a strong value on the work this “little witch” (which is minimizing language in itself) will be doing. And, by suggesting the little witch lives in a drawer, there is the implication that someone else, beyond the little witch, has control over open and closing the drawer and accessing its contents whenever is necessary for them—the implication being that someone above the working class will always be able to access the “little witch” when it suits them. 

Teeny Tiny Lady

Text:

“Once there was a teeny tiny lady and she lived in a teeny tiny house outside a teeny tiny village and she lived with her teeny tiny dog and her teeny tiny cat. One day the teeny tiny lady decided to go to the teeny tiny village to market. On her way home she saw a teeny tiny bone in a teeny tiny field, so she picked up the teeny tiny bone and took it to her teeny tiny house. When she got home she made herself a teeny tiny supper and she sat down to eat it. She heard a noise from her teeny tiny cupboard, very quiet, barely a whisper, ‘give me my bone.’ She shook her head and didn’t pay it much attention and she finished eating her teeny tiny supper. Then she went to her teeny tiny bed and she went to sleep. When she was laying in her teeny tiny bed the teeny tiny lady heard a teeny tiny voice from her teeny tiny cupboard saying, ‘where’s my bone?’ The teeny tiny lady was afraid so she pulled up the teeny tiny blanket to her teeny tiny face. A little bit while later she heard the voice a little bit louder, ‘Where’s my bone?’ The teeny tiny lady covered her head with the blanket and she pushed herself all the way down into her teeny tiny bed. And then she laid there for a while, and then she heard very loudly coming from the cupboard, ‘I want my bone!’ Then the teeny tiny lady stuck her head out of the blanket and she said, ‘You can have it! Take it!’ And she covered her head back up and crouched down into her bed. In the morning she got up and she went to the cupboard and she opened the cupboard and the teeny tiny bone was gone.”

Background: 

The informant first heard this tale as a child during the 1960s from either her father or uncle, because it was so long ago she can’t remember which. She says that her family enjoyed listening to a show called “Fractured Fairy Tales” one of these tales being “Old Mother Hubbard”,

“Old mother Hubbard, she went to the cupboard, to get her poor dog a bone, and when she got there the cupboard was bare and so the poor dog had none.”

She says that she used to ask questions about the fairytales they heard. The tale was an explanation for why there was no bone in the cupboard because, why would she check the cupboard if she knew there was no bone? She clearly thought there was a bone in the cupboard? 

Analysis:

This tale is used to explain why Mother Hubbard went to check the cupboard and gives context as to why she would think there was a bone in the cupboard for her dog. The use of a tale to explain and give context to another tale is very interesting as one could consider it a sequel, or in this case a prequel. Which shows that tales giving context to folklore are also considered folklore. Of course, the tale itself can be told separately from “Old Mother Hubbard” and be used as a scary story to prevent children from picking things up from the side of the road or taking something that does not belong to them.

Witch’s House

Text: 

“There’s this little girl, she’s in the woods. And then she’s like exploring the woods and she finds this house and she wants to go into the house, but it’s not her house. And she smells something really nice coming from it. She goes in and she finds a wū pó (巫婆), like a witch,  and the witch is like, ‘Do you want some of these candies and cookies and deserts?’ And the little girl is like, ‘Of course I do.’ And she eats all of the food but while she’s munching on it the witch starts to eat her because she really likes to eat childrens bones.”

Background: 

The informant first heard this from her mom in Chinese when she was around seven years old. She describes it as “a mix of Snow White and Hansel and Gretel in the most messed up way.” She doesn’t remember the context of why she was told the story.

Analysis: 

The above tale greatly resembles the tale of Hansel and Gretel, two siblings getting lost in the woods and meeting a witch who likes to eat children. Though this tale doesn’t have a happy ending compared to Hansel and Gretel. While the story may be a little different, it still carries the same message. Don’t trust strangers. A message that has been important in many cultures and likely has multiple tales to express its importance. The ending is used to press the idea that interacting with people you don’t know can have extreme consequences and won’t always end happily.

Who’s going to sleep with me on this dark and stormy night?

It was a dark and stormy night, and this old lady was sitting on her porch, watching the storm come in. She goes, “who’s going to sleep with me on this dark and stormy night?” In the woods, she could hear someone reply, “I will.” So she scurries inside. Then she comes back out later on, smokes her pipe back outside, and asks again, “who’s going to sleep with me on this dark and stormy night?” She hears a little bit closer, “I will.” So she runs back inside. A little bit of time passes. She’s sitting in her family room, and she asks, “who’s going to sleep with me on this dark and stormy night?” Right outside her door, she hears, “I will.” So she runs upstairs and gets in bed. She asks again, “who’s going to sleep with me on this dark and stormy night?” Right outside her door, she hears “I will.” She hides under the covers, and then she hears footsteps walking towards her. One cover goes off… two covers go off… BOO!

Informant’s dad would tell this story to her. It was supposed to scare her. He would tell it often at bedtime. Her dad got it from his dad. She thought it was funny, but it didn’t scare her. She didn’t tell it to anyone else.

This tale is one that seems fairly specific to this person’s family, as she’s not exactly sure where it comes from and I can’t find it either. I think this tale is a great example of one to collect, because it provides a rich story and has a clear goal, of scaring the listener. My informant also provided a lot of context that makes sense for it, such as it being told to her at bedtime. I find it interesting that she never found the story scary, just funny. It makes me wonder if she was too old for it to be genuinely scary to her, and it would be better geared towards even younger children, or if the tale is just a little cheesy overall. Maybe a mix of both. I think this is great in terms of folklore because the informant told me about the specific ways it connected to her family and how her father enjoyed the story a lot and enjoyed telling it to her.