Story: The Sad Tail of the Yorkie's Toy

Inspired by The Sad Tale of the Mouse's Tail, part of the Persian Tales unit. Story source: Persian Tales, translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer and illustrated by Hilda Roberts (1919).

My Dog Jessie... Pouting about her toy under the couch

One day the yorkie lost her toy under the couch.

So she went to her human and barked at her to help.

The girl said: go to the store and buy a flashlight so I can see.
So the yorkie ran to the store and asked the clerk for a flashlight for the girl so she could see

The clerk replied: go to your grandparents to get money and I'll give you the flashlight
So the yorkie went to her grandparents and begged for money to pay the clerk for the flashlight to give to the girl so she could see

The grandparents replied: go to the bank and ask for money
So the yorkie went to the bank to ask the teller for money for the grandparents to give her to pay the clerk for the flashlight to give to the girl so she could see

The teller replied: go to my boss's house to get the key to the vault
So the yorkie went to the boss's house to get the key so the teller could access the vault for the grandparents to give her money to play the clerk for the flashlight to give to the girl so she could see

The boss replied: go to the locksmith to make a key
So she went to the locksmith to get the key for the boss so the teller could access the vault for the grandparents to give her money to play the clerk for the flashlight to give to the girl so she could see

The locksmith replied: ask my assistant to gather the materials
So she went to the assistant and said....
Gather the materials for the locksmith to make the key for the boss so the teller could access the vault for the grandparents to give her money to play the clerk for the flashlight to give to the girl so she could see MY LOST TOY UNDER THE COUCH!

Author's Note: My dog was being really annoying about her toy under the couch when I was reading this story, and so I decided to give her a story of her own. The mouse was so willing to do whatever it took to get his tail sewn back on, just like my yorkie begs until she gets what she wants. This story is meant to build and be a little chaotic, which was really fun to write considering I have never written a story quite like this. I encourage you to take a look at the original story in order to understand why I wrote the story like this.

Reading Notes: Persian Tales-Part B

Persian Tales, translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer and illustrated by Hilda Roberts (1919).

Beautiful Saffron Flowers by Xtendo

Fayiz and the Peri Wife: One day a married man was approached by a beautiful goddess. She loved him just as much as he loved her. She was a Peri, and they were to be married. She made him promise to her that he would never tell anyone who she was or she would leave him. He promised and they had sons. Again she made him promise to tell no one about the sons. But then he grew homesick of his original family, and so he left with permission. He swore not to tell, but when his wife begged him and threatened suicide, he caved in and told her everything. The voice of the Peri wife was heard and she condemned him. He left the family and spent the rest of his life longing for his Peri bride.

The Hemp-Smoker's Dream: One day a man smoked hemp and then went to be groomed. When he saw himself, he thought he was so handsome that he deserved the Chinese princess. So he set off to get her. Along the way, some more men joined his little troop in the quest for the girl. The King decided that the men had to do a series of challenges before he would give them his daughter. When they completed them all, they rode away back to their country with her. But all the way there they fought for her. Then the man sobered up and found himself in the barbers chair.

The Story of the Wolf-Bride: There was once a man who had a cursed son (he was to be eaten by a wolf). So the man decided to lock his son up. When it was time for the boy to be married, the dad brought his cousin to marry him, but she turned into a wolf. The girl tore him to pieces, and then turned back into herself. When people came to check on them, they asked what happened and she explained.

The Man Who Went to Wake His Luck: There were two brothers who were one rich and one poor. The poor one came to his brothers house to see someone tending to the horses. He asked who the man was and he replied that he was Luck. The poor man asked where his was, but he had to go find him sleeping in a cave. On his way, many asked him to ask Luck questions of their bad luck. He found Luck, and Luck answered all of the questions. Then instead of marrying the queen or taking some of the farmers gold, he went to the wolf to tell him that he must eat a man, so the wolf ate him.

Tortoise Bowl-On-The-Back and the Fox: When a tortoise was sowing seed, a fox would come by and say "God give you strength" but when crop came, the fox wanted some for himself. So the two decided to race for ownership. The tortoise told his brother to hide out and claim that he was the winner, that the fox would tell no difference between them. The plan worked and the fox hung his head in greedy shame.

The Shepherd Who Found a Treasure: This was a strange story of how two shepherds were at work, but one was sleeping. The other saw a fly come out of his nose and land on a rock. Then the awake shepherd woke up the sleeping one and told him that he could have his pay if he listened to his dream. So he made up a crazy dream until the other went to go to work.  Meanwhile, the one who was awake the whole time saw that under the rock that the fly landed on what gems. He lost his wages, but had enough money through the gems to stop working.

The Merchant and the Saffron: One day. a wealthy merchant bought a whole bunch of saffron with jewels and dumped it on the ground. Then he unfortunately went bankrupt and became a really poor man. One day, he was wandering around when he came across the man who sold him the saffron. He allowed him to come and be a shepherd basically. After a few years, the man's luck came back, and the saffron man gave him some money to purchase goods to sell. He oversold everything and continued business until he was a well-off man yet again.

Shah Abbas and the Poor Mother: When a king went to the town dressed as a beggar, he saw a family who was starving. He shared his ash soup with them and gave them a ring to give to a baker for bread. The baker accused her of stealing the ring, and she had her ears cut off. Then when the king came back and saw how there were now, he decided to take them to the palace. He told the people to apply salve to heal her ears, but he still felt bad. So he went to the baker and showed him the matching ring, to which the baker and the punisher of the woman were stripped of their wealth and it was given to the little family.

The Apparition of the Prophet Khizr: When a very poor man was desperate for money, he went to the palace and told the prince that he would take him to the man he wanted if he was paid first. The prince agreed but said if he didn't, then he would die. So the day came that the poor man was to die, and he had to explain to his wife that he did it so that she may live comfortably. When he went to the king to die, the king asked his men what should be done. Three described harsh deaths, but one said to give him a village and money. He claimed that his doing had to be the Khizr. And so the other three men were fired, and the fourth was kept for his generosity while the poor man and his wife lived happily.

The Story of the Baker and the Grateful Fish: One day a baker who was kind to fish, was given a job by a man who tried to kill him. The baker was saved by a bird just in time, and put him into a sort of inescapable place. His master told him to throw all of the jewels around him up so that he could take them, only to leave him to die. He decided it would be better to die by being eaten by fish rather than vultures, so he jumped in to the water. The fish that he fed saved him, and the baker was able to trick the past servant into death just the way he was murdering others.

Reading Notes: Persian Tales-Part A

Persian Tales, translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer and illustrated by Hilda Roberts (1919).

All of these mouse stories reminded me of "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie" 

The Wolf and the Goat: There was once a mother goat with four children. When she left one day, she warned the kids to not let in a wolf. They would know if it was her by seeing a red hand reach through the door. Although, the wolf was listening and came to the door with a red paw. The kids left him in and he carried off the three that weren't hiding. When the mother came back and asked what had happened, they went to approach the wolf for a fight at his house. The two got prepared for battle, but when it was time the goat asked to drink in the river first. The goat drank nothing, and the wolf drank so much that he couldn't jump over the river. When he fell in, the goat tore open his stomach with her horns, killing him.

The City of Nothing-in-the-World: When a girl got hurt and needed ointment, her aunt gave her two eggs to take to the market for trade. Unfortunately, the girl lost the eggs on the way there, but she dd find a coin in her pocket. She traded it for a tower, in which she found one egg as a hen, and the other a cock. She went to get him first, and was given rice as he did work for the village. When rubbing a walnut on his back, a tree grew and she was able to plant melons. When she cut a melon open, her knife was lost and she went to look for it. There was a town inside and she went to a restaurant. She then ate a bowl of food that had a hair at the bottom of it. The hair led to a line of camels that had gear on them, including her knife.

Susku and Mushu: When the little beetle was leaving to get married, the mouse stopped her and asked her to marry him. She then asked him a series of questions like where she would sleep and what he would hit her with when they fought. The beetle was satisfied with the answers and the mouse left to take a bath. The beetle left and fell into a stream, asking someone to get her husband to help her. He got a couple of carrots and saved her with a make shift ladder. Then the mouse wanted some soup, and so the beetle began to cook when she fell into the pot. The mouse was so sad that she had drown that he poured ash on his head. Then the story gets really weird and a crow shakes, then a tree, the water turned muddy, corn stood on their heads, a farmer impaled himself, the daughter put curds on herself, and finally the mom cut off her two thumbs and cooked them.....

The Boy Who Became a Bulbul: One day a father and his son made a bet. The boy actually won, but the father cheated, and so he cut off his own son's head. Then he took the head to his wife (the step-mom) and she cooked it. Then when the sister came home and said that she was hungry, they told her to get some of the meat cooking in the pot. When she opened the lid, she saw her brother's head and ran off to tell her teacher. The teacher told her to not eat any of the meat, and to take all of the bones when they were done. She was to bury him in a corner with rose water, and pray to the bones. On the seventh day of the seventh week, he turned into a bird. He flew to a needle maker and took a bundle before heading home. He then put the bundle of needles in the mom's mouth and flew off to a candy maker. He took candy to his sister and placed in in her mouth.

The Wolf-Aunt: There once was a very poor man who had a wife and seven little girls to feed. He worked a long day when a woman claiming to be his long lost sister stopped him and asked about his life. She felt bad for him as she was very rich, and invited the poor family to come live with her. As the family became healthier, the wife decided to cook her sister-in-law a meal for thanks. She give the food to her daughter to take her the food, but before reaching the house, the girl saw her aunt as a wolf eating a man. The husband didn't believe the wife when she told him, so in the night she took all of her daughters back to their old house. The husband went to his "sister" to complain, and when he was asleep, she shifted into her wolf form and ate him.

Nim Tanak, or Half-Boy: One day a king with four wives came across a holy man. The king told him that he had no children and so he was given four apples for his wives to eat. Three of them ate their apples, but on only ate half. When the kids were born, he pushed that wife and her half son away. Later, a demon fell in love with the daughter and stole her away. So the king sent one of the sons to go and save her. When that son failed, the king sent another. The second son failed as well, and the half boy was the only one left. The king would never ask him to save her, so he went himself. He cut the demon in half, saved his sister, and freed his brothers. Then the king loved him and made him the heir to the thrown.

Muhammad Tirandaz, The Archer: When a shawl weaver was at work, he accidentally killed who mice at once. People saw what happened and told him that he should be an archer. So he went and bought a bow and arrow, and went out to the woods. Then a kings horseman saw him and decided to take him to the king. The king showered him with gifts and a job. One day a war came to be and he had to fight with no experience. He accidentally let his horse loose towards the enemy, but they got scared. And so he was seen as the savior of everyone and was appointed commander in chief. 

The Praying Baker: One day a King dressed up as a beggar and went to a bakery. He saw the baker praying and went in to give him an expensive ring for some bread. Then he went back to the castle and told one of his men to get the ring back. They tricked the baker and stole the ring back, only for the king to call him to the palace and ask for it, threatening death. The baker asked for time and the king left to go hunt when the ring fell into the river. A fish ate it and when a fisherman caught it, he sold it to the baker. The baker took it to the king and he was robed in honor.

The Sad Tale of the Mouse's Tail: When the mouse fell into a trap, she lost her tail. So she went to the cobbler to get it sewn back, but he needed thread from the Jew, who needed eggs from the hen, who needed a sieve from the tinker, who needed goat skin from the goat, who needed grass from the farmer, who needed a spade from a blacksmith.