The Tale of the Turnip

The grandfather planted a turnip—it grew big, very big. The time came to harvest the crop. The grandfather started pulling the turnip out of the ground: he pulled and pulled, but he couldn’t pull it out.

He called the grandmother for help. The grandmother grabbed the grandfather, the grandfather grabbed the turnip: they pulled and pulled, but they couldn’t pull it out. Seeing that nothing was working, the grandmother called their granddaughter, Tanechka.

Then the granddaughter grabbed the grandmother, the grandmother grabbed the grandfather, the grandfather grabbed the turnip: they pulled and pulled, but they couldn’t pull it out. Nothing worked. The turnip didn’t budge an inch.

The granddaughter called the dog, Zhuchka. And so it all started again: Zhuchka grabbed the granddaughter, the granddaughter grabbed the grandmother, the grandmother grabbed the grandfather, the grandfather grabbed the turnip: they pulled and pulled, but they couldn’t pull it out.

Zhuchka called the cat, Murka. Murka grabbed Zhuchka, Zhuchka grabbed the granddaughter, the granddaughter grabbed the grandmother, the grandmother grabbed the grandfather, the grandfather grabbed the turnip: they pulled and pulled, but they couldn’t pull it out. Nothing worked.

What to do? Then Murka called the mouse. The mouse grabbed Murka, Murka grabbed Zhuchka, Zhuchka grabbed the granddaughter, the granddaughter grabbed the grandmother, the grandmother grabbed the grandfather, the grandfather grabbed the turnip: they pulled and pulled—and finally pulled out the turnip!

More fairy tales

• No Goat with Nuts
• The Sun, the Moon, and Raven Voronovich
• Ivan the Cow's Son
• The Fox Midwife
• Chernushka