An old woman finds a crooked sixpence and spends it on a little pig. Her journey home soon becomes a troublesome adventure when the pig refuses to cross a stile. Determined to get home before nightfall, she asks one helper after another for assistance. Each refuses until the old woman discovers what will persuade them to act.
The Little Pig and the Stile
One day, an old woman was sweeping her house when she found a little crooked sixpence. Pleased with her discovery, she decided to visit the market and buy herself a little pig.
The purchase seemed simple enough, and she set off for home with her new animal. However, the journey came to a halt when she reached a stile, a set of steps or a narrow barrier used to cross a fence.
The pig refused to go over it.
The old woman tried to persuade the animal, but it would not move. She began to worry that she would never reach home that night. Looking around for help, she spotted a dog and called to it.
The Dog, the Stick and the Fire
“Dog, bite pig,” she said. The pig would not cross the stile, and without the dog’s help, she feared she would be stranded on the road.
The dog refused.
The old woman continued along the way until she came across a stick. She asked the stick to beat the dog so that the dog would bite the pig. That, she hoped, would finally make the stubborn animal cross the stile.
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But the stick would not help either.
Further along, she encountered a fire. She asked it to burn the stick, explaining that the stick would not beat the dog, the dog would not bite the pig, and the pig would not cross the stile.
The fire refused.
By now, the old woman had a long chain of problems, with every new helper depending on the one before it. Still, she did not give up. She continued searching for someone or something willing to help.
Water and the Ox
The next thing the old woman encountered was water. She asked the water to quench the fire, hoping that this would set the entire chain in motion.
The fire would not burn the stick, the stick would not beat the dog, the dog would not bite the pig, and the pig would not cross the stile.
But the water refused.
The old woman went on and met an ox. She begged it to drink the water so that the water would quench the fire. If the fire acted, she reasoned, the stick might beat the dog, the dog might bite the pig, and the pig might finally cross the stile.
The ox would not drink.
Her requests had become increasingly complicated, yet the answer remained the same. Each helper waited for another to act first, and the old woman was no closer to getting her pig home.
The Butcher and the Rope
The old woman travelled further until she met a butcher. She asked him to kill the ox, explaining that the ox would not drink the water needed to quench the fire.
The butcher refused.
Not far away, she came across a rope. She asked it to hang the butcher, hoping to force the butcher to kill the ox. That would allow the ox to drink the water, the water to quench the fire, and the remaining helpers to do their part.
The rope refused too.
The old woman was running out of options. Her little pig still would not cross the stile, and every attempt to find help had led to another refusal.
Then she met a rat.
The Rat, the Cat and the Cow
The old woman asked the rat to gnaw the rope. If the rope could act against the butcher, she explained, the butcher would kill the ox, the ox would drink the water, the water would quench the fire, the fire would burn the stick, the stick would beat the dog, and the dog would bite the pig.
The pig, at last, might cross the stile.
The rat refused.
Just when the old woman seemed to have exhausted every possibility, she met a cat. She asked it to kill the rat, repeating the whole chain of trouble that had kept her from getting home.
The cat listened but would not agree immediately.
Instead, it made a demand of its own. If the old woman would go to a nearby cow and bring it a saucer of milk, the cat promised to kill the rat.
At last, the old woman had found someone willing to help, provided she first fulfilled a condition. She hurried to the cow and asked for milk.
The cow, however, wanted something in return. It told the old woman to fetch a handful of hay from a nearby haystack. Only then would it provide the milk.
The old woman went straight to the haystack, gathered a handful of hay and carried it back to the cow.
The Chain Finally Works
The cow ate the hay and gave the old woman the milk. She placed it in a saucer and hurried back to the cat.
Once the cat had lapped up the milk, it began to kill the rat. With the rat finally acting, the chain of refusals began to unravel.
The rat gnawed the rope. The rope acted against the butcher, and the butcher killed the ox. The ox drank the water, and the water quenched the fire.
The fire then burned the stick. The stick beat the dog, and the dog bit the pig.
At last, the frightened little pig jumped over the stile.
The old woman could finally continue her journey. After all her searching, pleading and bargaining, she had secured the help she needed and reached home that night.
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Moral Lesson
Persistence can help solve a problem, even when the first attempts fail. The old woman succeeds by continuing to search for assistance and by meeting the needs of those willing to help her. The tale also shows how one action can set off a chain of consequences, with each step depending on the one before it.
Knowledge Check
1. What did the old woman find while sweeping her house?
She found a little crooked sixpence.
2. Why could the old woman not get home at first?
The little pig she had bought refused to cross a stile.
3. Why did the old woman ask the water to quench the fire?
She hoped the fire would burn the stick, which would beat the dog, causing the dog to bite the pig so that it would cross the stile.
4. What did the cat demand before agreeing to help?
The cat asked the old woman to bring it a saucer of milk.
5. What did the cow require in exchange for the milk?
The cow asked the old woman to fetch a handful of hay from a haystack.
6. How did the old woman finally get her pig across the stile?
After the old woman supplied the hay and milk, the cat killed the rat, and the chain of actions continued until the dog bit the pig, frightening it into jumping over the stile.
Source
“The Old Woman and Her Pig” appears in Joseph Jacobs’s English Fairy Tales (1890).
Explore More Joseph Jacobs’ English Fairy Tales
- The Three Little Pigs: The Tale of Cleverness and Survival
- The Horned Women: An Irish Folktale of Twelve Witches
- The Three Sillies: An English Fairy Tale
- Cap o’ Rushes: An English Fairy Tale
- Kate Crackernuts: An English Fairy Tale
