Old Sultan
a fable of Aarne-Thompson type 101by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
translated by
D. L. Ashliman
© 1998
A farmer had a loyal dog named Sultan who had grown old and lost all his teeth so that he could no longer grab hold of anything.
One day the farmer stood before the house door with his wife and said, "Tomorrow I am going to shoot old Sultan dead. He is no longer worth anything."
The woman, who had pity for the loyal dog, answered, "Couldn't we keep him alive for having served us faithfully for so many years?"
"So what?" said the man. "You're not being smart. He hasn't a tooth left in his mouth. No thief would be afraid of him. He's got to go now. If he has served us before, then he's already been paid with a good living."
The poor dog, who was lying nearby in the sun, heard everything and was sad that tomorrow was to be his last day. He had a good friend, the wolf, and that evening he sneaked out into the woods and complained to him about his upcoming fate.
"Listen, kinsman," said the wolf, "be of good cheer. I will help you out of your difficulty. I have a plan. Early tomorrow your master will go to the hayfield with his wife, and they'll take their little baby with them, because there's no one else in the house. While they are at work they will lay the baby behind the hedge in the shade, as usual. You lie down next to it as though you want to watch over it. Then I'll come out of the woods and steal the baby. You must run after me vigorously as though you want to chase me away. I'll drop the baby, and you can bring it back its parents. They will then believe that you have rescued it and will be much too thankful to you to do you any harm. On the contrary, you will be so much in their grace that they will give you everything."
The dog liked the proposal, and they carried it out just as it had been planned.
The father cried out when he saw the wolf running across the field with his baby, and he was jubilant when he saw old Sultan bringing it back. He said, "Not a hair on your body will be harmed, and we will feed you as long as you live." And to his wife he said, "Go right home and something for old Sultan that he won't need to chew, some bread soup. And bring him the pillow from my bed. I'll give to him to lie on."
From now on old Sultan had everything he could want.
Soon afterward the wolf paid him a visit and was happy that everything had succeeded so well. "Now kinsman," he said, "you surely will close one eye if from time to time I take one of your master's fat sheep. It is really hard to make a living these days."
"Don't count on it," answered the dog. "I can't allow that. I'll remain loyal to my master."
The wolf did not believe he was speaking seriously, and that night he sneaked by to fetch himself a sheep. But loyal Sultan had revealed the wolf's intentions to the farmer, who was waiting for him, and he combed the wolf's hair something fiercely with a threshing flail. The wolf fled, crying at the dog, "Just wait, you bad fellow. You'll pay for this."
The next morning the wolf sent the hog to challenge the dog to come into the woods and settle their differences. The only second that old Sultan could find was a cat that had only three legs. As they advanced, the poor cat limped along while sticking its tail into the air with pain. The wolf and his second were already in place, but when they saw their opponent approaching, they thought he had a saber with him, for that is what the cat's raised tail looked like to them. And as the poor beast hobbled along on three legs, they thought it was picking up stones to throw at them.
Thus both of them took fear. The wild hog crawled into the leaves, and the wolf jumped into a tree. When the dog and the cat arrived they wondered why no one was to be seen. Now the wild hog was not able to hide himself completely in the leaves, and his ears stuck out a little. While the cat was carefully looking around, the hog wiggled its ears. The cat, thinking it was a mouse, jumped on one of them and bit into it mightily. The hog jumped up with a great shout and ran off crying, "The guilty one is sitting there in the tree."
The dog and the cat looked up and saw the wolf, who then shamefully had to admit that he had been afraid, and with that he made peace with the dog.