Once upon a time animal stories

by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey

But the little old man heard Turpie, and he sat up in bed, and he said:

“Little dog Turpie barks so loudly that I can neither slumber nor sleep. In the morning I will take off his head.”

So when it came morning, the little old man took off Turpie’s head, and then Turpie could not bark any more.

That night the Hobyahs came again, skip- ping along on the tips of their toes, and they called out:

“Tear down the hemp stalks. Eat the little old man, and carry off the little old woman.”

Now, since little dog Turpie could not bark any more, there was no one to frighten the Hobyahs away. They tore down the hemp stalks, they took the little old woman away in their bag, but the little old man they could not get, for he hid himself under the bed.

Then the Hobyahs hung the bag which held the little old woman up in their house, and they poked it with their fingers, and they cried:

“Look you! Look you!”

But when it came daylight, they went to sleep, for Hobyahs, you know, sleep all day.

The little old man was very sorry when he found that the little old woman was gone. He knew then what a good little dog Turpie had been to guard the house at night, so he brought Turpie’s tail, and his legs, and his head, and gave them back to him again.