Tale 80: The Stubborn Tepig (Ash)

(real tale: The Old Woman and Her Pig)

"Hey Ash--I'd like to see you try and tell a chain tale with a longer list." Misty suggests.

"If you forget, we'll jog your memory." Brock assures Ash before he can protest.

Ash thinks for a moment, takes a deep breath, and begins "Once a young lady went into town and bought herself a Tepig as a pet. But on the way back, they came to a fence in the middle of the road, and no matter how the lady tried, the Tepig wouldn't jump over the fence. So she went out and asked a Growlithe to nip the Tepig's tail, but the Growlithe said no--he felt that the Tepig should not be nipped if it wasn't doing anything. So she asked a stick to whack the Growlithe, who would not nip the Tepig's tail, and the stick said no--it thought whacking the Growlithe for no reason was silly."

"So far so good." Brock smiles.

"Then the lady asked the fire to burn the stick, who wouldn't whack the Growlithe, who wouldn't nip the Tepig's tail. But the fire said no--a stick wasn't much to burn." Ash continues. So she asked the water to put out the fire, who wouldn't burn the stick, who wouldn't whack the Growlithe, who wouldn't nip the Tepig's tail. But the water said no--if the fire wasn't burning anything important, why put it out?"

"That's five items so far..." Misty muses.

"So the lady asked a Tauros to drink the water, who wouldn't put out the fire, who....um..." Ash pauses to remember where he is in the list.

"The Tauros wouldn't drink the water, who wouldn't put out the fire, who wouldn't burn the stick, who wouldn't whack the Growlithe, who wouldn't nip the Tepig's tail." Brock easily rattles off the whole list.

"Thanks." Ash smiles. "So the lady asked a butcher to kill the Tauros, who wouldn't drink the water, who wouldn't put out the fire, who wouldn't burn the stick, who wouldn't whack the Growlithe, who wouldn't nip the Tepig's tail. But the butcher just laughed--that was a silly reason to kill a Tauros."

"He remembered that time." Brock tells Misty.

"So the lady asked a rope to hang the butcher, who wouldn't kill the Tauros, who wouldn't drink the water, who wouldn't put out the fire, who wouldn't burn the stick, who wouldn't whack the Growlithe, who wouldn't nip the Tepig's tail." Ash rattles off the growing list. This is getting easier and harder at the same time...

"What did the rope do?" Melody snaps him from his thoughts.

"The rope said no--that was a silly reason to kill a man." Ash replies. "So the lady went and asked a Rattata to chew the rope, who wouldn't hang the butcher, who wouldn't kill the Tauros, who wouldn't drink the water, who wouldn't put out the fire, who wouldn't burn the stick, who wouldn't whack the Growlithe, who wouldn't nip the Tepig's tail."

"Come on, Ash!" Brock urges. "Only one or two more items to go!"

Ash takes another deep breath, then continues. "Then the lady asked a Persian to catch the Rattata, who wouldn't chew the rope, who wouldn't hang the butcher, who wouldn't kill the Tauros, who wouldn't drink the water, who wouldn't put out the fire, who wouldn't burn the stick, who wouldn't whack the Growlithe, who wouldn't nip the Tepig's tail. The Persian agreed, in exchange for some milk. The lady readily complied, giving the Persian some of the milk she bought in town..."

He sighs as he tries to remember the whole list. "and the Persian caught the Rattata, who chewed the rope, who hung the butcher, who killed the Tauros, who drank the water, who put out the fire, who burnt the stick, who whacked the Growlithe, who nipped the Tepig's tail."

Applause fills the air. "You did it!" Misty smiles.

"Eight items is a new record for you." Brock agrees.

Ash just concludes "The Tepig squealed with fright and jumped over the fence, allowing the lady to continue home. "But the Tepig didn't come out of its pen that night!"

More applause fills the tent, so Ash takes a bow for his friends...