Grimm Reviews – “The Crumbs on the Table”

My introductory post.  

Grimm Reviews List 1

“The Crumbs on the Table”

One day a countryman told his puppies to get up on the table and eat up all the crumbs. But the puppies said no, if the mistress caught them she’d beat them. The countryman said the mistress was out and it was okay, but the puppies still said no. The countryman nagged them so much, the puppies eventually got up on the table and ate the crumbs. That was when the mistress came home and caught them. She beat them all and threw them outside. The puppies said to the countryman, “Did you see what she did?” to which he replied, “Didn’t you expect it?”

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Did this couple never wipe off their table or what? 

I tried to figure out what the moral of this story was. I came up with, even if someone reassures you that it’s okay, you shouldn’t do something you know is wrong. I think that’s what this story is about, it’s just hard to see that over the puppy beating.

Some haiku for the season

Over the years I’ve written a few haiku for fall or for Halloween.  Some I’ve posted on places that are no longer around, so I figured I should gather them together and put them here.  Hope you enjoy.

awaiting the frost

dead leaves fall on vines plucked clean –

an empty garden

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rattling windows

creaking building, moaning wind

is it storm or ghost?

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windows rattling

moaning spirit of the house –

nightmare stage music

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smiling pumpkins watch

as black-caped vampires dance

with thin skeletons

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awoke in a field

full of shambling zombies –

my new brethren

Grimm Reviews – “The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage”

My introductory post. 

Grimm Reviews List 1

“The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage”

So a mouse, a bird, and a sausage lived together and were content. Each day the bird flew to the forest to gather the wood for the next day. The mouse kept the fire going and drew the water. The sausage did all the cooking, even swimming in the stew to give it good flavor.

One day, the bird met another bird who told him the other two probably lived easily while he did all the work. But when the bird came home he vowed to never collect wood again. No matter what the mouse or sausage said, the bird demanded they change. So they drew lots to determine who would do what. The bird was to keep the fire and draw the water, the mouse would cook, and the sausage would bring the wood.

The next day the sausage set out, but he never returned. In time the bird went out and found that a dog had eaten the sausage. The bird tried to lodge a complaint against the dog, but the dog claimed the sausage had forged letters.  So the bird returned home and told the mouse.

The mouse was sad, but she still had to cook, and since she had seen the sausage swim in the stew, she did as well, but it burned off her fur and skin and she died. When the bird went to check on the stew he couldn’t find the mouse.  As he searched for her, he started a small fire.  When he went to the well, he fell in and drowned.

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A nice happy story.

I’ve had roommates, and sometimes they cooked, but I really hope they never flavored what they cooked.

A sausage with forged letters?  Why do I feel like we’re missing out on a more interesting story?

At first I thought the moral of this story was to just be content with your lot in life. But then I figured a better moral is to not let some random person you meet on the street – or online – make you radically change your life.