TOM TIT TOT

Once upon a time there was a woman, and she baked five pies. And when they came out of the oven, they were that overbaked the crusts were too hard to eat. So she says to her daughter: Darter, says she, put you them there pies on the she f, and eave !em there a itt e, and they come again."She meant, you know, the crust wou d get soft. #ut the gir , she says to herse f: $e , if they come again, % eat !em now. And she set to work and ate !em a , first and ast. $e , come supper&time the woman said: 'o you, and get one o them there pies. % dare say theyve come again now. (he gir went and she ooked, and there was nothing but the dishes. So back she came and says she: )oo, they aint come again. )ot one of !em* says the mother. )ot one of !em, says she. $e , come again, or not come again, said the woman % have one for supper. #ut you cant, if they aint come, said the gir . #ut % can, says she. 'o you, and bring the best of !em. #est or worst, says the gir , %ve ate !em a , and you cant have one ti thats come again. $e , the woman she was done, and she took her spinning to the door to spin, and as she span she sang: +y darter ha ate five, five pies to&day. +y darter ha ate five, five pies to&day. (he king was coming down the street, and he heard her sing, but what she sang he cou dnt hear, so he stopped and said: $hat was that you were singing, my good woman* (he woman was ashamed to et him hear what her daughter had been doing, so she sang, instead of that: +y darter ha spun five, five skeins to&day. +y darter ha spun five, five skeins to&day. Stars o mine, said the king, % never heard te of any one that cou d do that. (hen he said: -ook you here, % want a wife, and % marry your daughter. #ut ook you here, says he, e even months out of the year she sha have a she ikes to eat, and a the gowns she ikes to get, and a the company she ikes to keep. but the ast month of the year she have to spin five skeins every day, and if she dont % sha ki her.

A right, says the woman. for she thought what a grand marriage that was. And as for the five skeins, when the time came, there d be p enty of ways of getting out of it, and ike iest, hed have forgotten a about it. $e , so they were married. And for e even months the gir had a she iked to eat, and a the gowns she iked to get, and a the company she iked to keep. #ut when the time was getting over, she began to think about the skeins and to wonder if he had !em in mind. #ut not one word did he say about !em, and she thought hed who y forgotten !em. /owever, the ast day of the ast month he takes her to a room shed never set eyes on before. (here was nothing in it but a spinning& whee and a stoo . And says he: )ow, my dear, here you be shut in to&morrow with some victua s and some f a0, and if you haven t spun five skeins by the night, your head go off. And away he went about his business. $e , she was that frightened, shed a ways been such a gat ess gir , that she didnt so much as know how to spin, and what was she to do to&morrow with no one to come nigh her to he p her* She sat down on a stoo in the kitchen, and aw, how she did cry, /owever, a of a sudden she heard a sort of a knocking ow down on the door. She upped and opened it, and what shou d she see but a sma itt e b ack thing with a ong tai . (hat ooked up at her right curious, and that said: $hat are you a&crying for* $hats that to you* says she. )ever you mind, that said, but te me what youre a&crying for. (hat wont do me no good if % do, says she. 1ou dont know that, that said, and twir ed thats tai round. $e , says she, that wont do no harm, if that dont do no good, and she upped and to d about the pies, and the skeins, and everything. (his is what % do, says the itt e b ack thing, % come to your window every morning and take the f a0 and bring it spun at night. $hats your pay* says she. (hat ooked out of the corner of that s eyes, and that said: % give you three guesses every night to guess my name, and if you havent guessed it before the months up you sha be mine. $e , she thought shed be sure to guess thats name before the month was up. A right, says she, % agree.

A right, that says, and aw, how that twir ed thats tai . $e , the ne0t day, her husband took her into the room, and there was the f a0 and the days food. )ow theres the f a0, says he, and if that aint spun up this night, off goes your head. And then he went out and ocked the door. /e2d hard y gone, when there was a knocking against the window. She upped and she opened it, and there sure enough was the itt e o d thing sitting on the edge. $heres the f a0* says he. /ere it be, says she. And she gave it to him. $e , come the evening a knocking came again to the window. She upped and she oped it, and there was the itt e o d thing with five skeins of f a0 on his arm. /ere it be, says he, and he gave it to her. )ow, whats my name* says he. $hat, is that #i * says she. )oo, that aint, says he, and he twir ed his tai . %s that )ed* says she. )oo, that aint, says he, and he twir ed his tai . $e , is that +ark* says she. )oo, that aint, says he, and he twir ed his tai harder, and away he f ew. $e , when her husband came in, there were the five skeins ready for him. % see % shant have to ki you to&night, my dear, says he. you have your food and your f a0 in the morning, says he, and away he goes. $e , every day the f a0 and the food were brought, and every day that there itt e b ack impet used to come mornings and evenings. And a the day the gir sat trying to think of names to say to it when it came at night. #ut she never hit on the right one. And as it got towards the end of the month, the impet began to ook so ma icefu , and that twir ed thats tai faster and faster each time she gave a guess. At ast it came to the ast day but one. (he impet came at night a ong with the five skeins, and that said, $hat, aint you got my name yet* %s that )icodemus* says she. )oo, taint, that says. %s that Samm e* says she. )oo, taint, that says. A&we , is that +ethusa em* says she. )oo, taint that neither, that says. (hen that ooks at her with thats eyes ike a coa o fire, and that says:

$oman, theres on y to&morrow night, and then you be mine, And away it f ew. $e , she fe t that horrid. /owever, she heard the king coming a ong the passage. %n he came, and when he sees the five skeins, he says, says he, $e , my dear, says he, % dont see but what you have your skeins ready to&morrow night as we , and as % reckon % shan t have to ki you, % have supper in here to&night. So they brought supper, and another stoo for him, and down the two sat. $e , he hadnt eaten but a mouthfu or so, when he stops and begins to augh. $hat is it* says she. A&why, says he, % was out a&hunting to&day, and % got away to a p ace in the wood %d never seen before And there was an o d cha k&pit. And % heard a kind of a sort of a humming. So % got off my hobby, and % went right 3uiet to the pit, and % ooked down. $e , what shou d there be but the funniest itt e b ack thing you ever set eyes on. And what was that doing, but that had a itt e spinning&whee , and that was spinning wonderfu fast, and twir ing thats tai . And as that span that sang: )immy nimmy not +y names (om (it (ot. $e , when the gir heard this, she fe t as if she cou d have 4umped out of her skin for 4oy, but she didnt say a word. )e0t day that there itt e thing ooked so ma icefu when he came for the f a0. And when night came, she heard that knocking against the window panes. She oped the window, and that come right in on the edge. (hat was grinning from ear to ear, and Oo, that s tai was twir ing round so fast. $hats my name* that says, as that gave her the skeins. %s that So omon* she says, pretending to be afeard. )oo, taint, that says, and that came further into the room. $e , is that 5ebedee* says she again. )oo, t aint, says the impet. And then that aughed and twir ed thats tai ti you cou dnt hard y see it. (ake time, woman, that says. ne0t guess, and you re mine. And that stretched out thats b ack hands at her. $e , she backed a step or two, and she ooked at it, and then she aughed out, and says she, pointing her finger at it: )%++1 )%++1 )O(, 1O67 )A+8S (O+ (%( (O(, $e , when that heard her, that gave an awfu shriek and away that f ew into the dark, and she never saw it any more.