Tom-Tit-Tot

Once upon a time, there was a woman. One day, she baked five pies, but when she took them out of the oven, the crust was so overcooked and hard that it was impossible to bite through. So she said to her daughter:

"Put the pies on that shelf over there, my dear! Let them sit for a while; maybe they'll soften up."

She meant that the crust might become softer.

But the girl thought, "Well, if they're going to soften up, I might as well eat them now," and she started devouring the pies with gusto. She ate every last one, leaving nothing behind.

When dinnertime came, the mother said to her daughter:

"Go and bring one of the pies! I think they've softened by now."

The girl went to the kitchen but found no pies there—only empty dishes. She returned and said:

"They haven't softened yet."

"Not even one?" asked the mother.

"Not even one," replied the daughter.

"Well, whether they've softened or not," said the mother, "we'll still have one for dinner."

"How can we?" the girl wondered. "They haven't softened yet!"

"Whatever they're like, we'll eat them," said the woman. "Go and bring the best one."

"There are no best or worst ones," said the girl. "I ate them all. So there's nothing to bring until they soften."

The mother saw there was nothing to be done. She moved her spinning wheel near the door and started spinning. As she spun, she sang:

Our daughter ate five, five whole pies in a day.
Our daughter ate five, five whole pies in a day.

At that moment, the king was passing by. He heard her singing but couldn't make out what it was about. He stopped and asked:

"Who are you singing about?"

The mother was too ashamed to admit what her daughter had done, so she changed the song:

Our daughter spun five, five whole skeins in a day.
Our daughter spun five, five whole skeins in a day.

"My goodness!" exclaimed the king. "I've never heard of anyone spinning so quickly!" Then he said to the woman, "Listen, I've been looking for a bride, and now I've decided to marry your daughter. But remember: for eleven months of the year, your daughter will eat whatever she wants, wear whatever she chooses, and enjoy herself with whomever she pleases. But in the last month of the year, she must spin five skeins a day, or I will have her executed."

"Very well," agreed the mother, who was eager to marry her daughter to the king.

"As for spinning five skeins a day," she thought, "we'll figure something out when the time comes. He'll probably forget about it anyway."

The wedding took place. For eleven months, the young queen ate whatever she wanted, wore whatever she chose, and enjoyed herself with whomever she pleased.

As the eleventh month drew to a close, she began to worry about having to spin five skeins a day. "Does the king even remember his threat?" she wondered.

But the king never mentioned it, so she decided he had forgotten.

However, on the very last day of the eleventh month, the king took his wife to a room she had never seen before. The room was completely empty except for a spinning wheel and a stool.

"Now, my dear," said the king, "tomorrow I will lock you in this room. You'll be given food and flax, and if you don't spin five skeins by evening, your head will roll!"

And he left to attend to his business.

The poor girl was terrified—she had always been lazy and didn't know how to spin. "What will become of me tomorrow?" she thought. "There's no one to help me!" She sat on the stool and began to cry bitterly.

Suddenly, she heard a soft knock. She stood up and quickly opened the door. And what did she see? A tiny black imp with a long tail. He looked at her curiously and asked:

"Why are you crying?"

"What's it to you?"

"Just curious. But tell me, why are you crying?"

"Even if I tell you, it won't help."

"Who knows!" said the imp, wagging his tail.

"Well," sighed the queen, "it might not help, but it probably won't hurt either."

So she told him everything—about the pies and the skeins, the whole story.

"This is what I'll do for you," said the black imp. "Every morning, I'll come to your window and take all the flax. In the evening, I'll bring you the spun skeins."

"And what will you take in return?" asked the queen.

The imp glanced at her and replied:

"Every evening, I'll ask you three times what my name is. If by the end of the month you can't guess, you'll be mine!"

The queen thought that over a whole month, she'd surely figure out his name, so she agreed.

"Very well, I accept."

"Good!" said the imp, wagging his tail excitedly.

The next morning, the king took his wife to the room where flax and food for the day had already been brought. He said:

"Here's your flax, my dear. If you don't spin it by evening, you'll lose your head!"

He left and locked the door.

As soon as he was gone, there was a knock at the window.

The queen jumped up and opened it. There, sitting on the windowsill, was the little black imp!

"Where's the flax?" he asked.

"Here," said the queen, handing it to him.

That evening, there was another knock. The queen opened the window, and this time the imp held five skeins of flax.

"Take them!" he said, handing her the skeins. "Now, tell me, what's my name?"

"Bill, perhaps?" said the queen.

"No, wrong," said the imp, wagging his tail.

"Then Ned?"

"Wrong again," said the imp, wagging his tail faster.

"Maybe Mark?"

"No, no, wrong again," said the imp, wagging his tail even faster, and then he vanished.

That evening, the king came to the room. He saw the five skeins of flax and said:

"Well, my dear, I won't have to execute you today! Tomorrow morning, you'll get more food and flax." And he left.

Day after day, flax and food were brought to her, and every morning and evening, the black imp appeared. All day, the queen thought and wondered what name to give him that evening. But she never guessed correctly. And as the month drew to a close, the imp looked at her more gleefully, wagging his tail faster after each wrong answer.

Finally, the second-to-last day arrived. The imp, as usual, came with five skeins and asked:

"So, have you figured out my name yet?"

"Nicodemus?" said the queen.

"No."

"Samuel?"

"No."

"Then maybe Methuselah?"

"No, no, and no!" shouted the imp, his eyes glowing like embers. "Listen! There's only one day left! If you don't guess, tomorrow evening you'll be mine!"

And he disappeared.

The queen was terrified. But then she heard the king approaching. He entered the room, saw the five skeins, and said:

"Well, my dear, I think you'll spin another five skeins by tomorrow evening, so I won't have to execute you. Let's have dinner together."

Dinner was brought, along with a second stool for the king, and the couple began to eat. But before the king could take more than two bites, he suddenly stopped and burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked the queen.

"Just listen!" he replied. "Today, I went hunting in the forest and wandered into an unfamiliar place. There was an abandoned chalk pit there. And I thought I heard something buzzing inside. I got off my horse, went to the pit, and looked down. And who do you think I saw? A tiny black imp, the funniest little thing! Guess what he was doing? Spinning on a tiny spinning wheel, faster than anything! As he spun, he wagged his tail and sang:

Nimmy-Nimmy-Not,
And I'm Tom-Tit-Tot!"

When the queen heard this, she nearly jumped for joy! But she said nothing.

The next morning, when the imp came for the flax, he looked at her even more gleefully.

That evening, the queen heard his knock at the window. She opened it and saw the imp sitting on the windowsill, grinning from ear to ear. His tail was wagging faster than ever!

"So, what's my name?" he asked, handing her the last skeins.

"Solomon?" she said, pretending to be scared.

"No, wrong!" he said, stepping closer.

"Then Zebedee?"

"Wrong again!" he laughed, wagging his tail so fast it was just a blur.

"Think carefully! If you're wrong, you're mine!" And he reached out his little black hands.

The queen, looking him in the face, took a step back, then another. She pointed at him, laughed, and finally said:

Nimmy-Nimmy-Not,
And you're Tom-Tit-Tot!

When the imp heard this, he let out a screech and vanished into the darkness outside the window. From that day on, he was never seen again.

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Tom-Tit-Tot

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