How They Went to the Mountains to Eat Nuts

Chanticleer told Partlet the nuts on the mountain were ripe, and they ought to eat their fill before the squirrels took everything. Partlet agreed, and they made a holiday of the trip. The day was fine, so they stayed until evening. Whether too many nuts made walking hard, or whether they simply refused to walk, they decided going home on foot would not do.

Chanticleer built a tiny carriage from nutshells. Partlet climbed in and told him to harness himself and pull. He refused—he would rather walk, or sit on the box as coachman, but he would not draw. While they argued, a duck came quacking, called them thieves on her ground, and flew at Chanticleer. He fought back with his spurs until she begged for mercy. Mercy came only if she would pull the carriage home. She agreed. Chanticleer took the box and drove, urging the duck to hurry, and they rolled along at a fair pace.

Soon they met a needle and a pin walking the dark, dirty road. The needle called them to stop: they had stayed drinking at a public-house until late and could hardly find their way. Chanticleer saw they were thin and would not take much room, so he let them ride if they promised not to dirty the wheels or tread on Partlet’s toes.

Late at night they reached an inn. Travel in the dark was bad, and the duck waddled with tiredness, so they asked to stay. The landlord first refused, saying the house was full and doubting such company. They spoke politely, offered the egg Partlet had laid on the way, and promised the duck, who laid an egg each day. He let them in. They ordered a handsome supper and spent a jolly evening.

Before dawn, while the house still slept, Chanticleer woke Partlet. They pecked open the egg, ate it, and tossed the shells into the fireplace. Then they seized the sleeping pin and needle by the heads, stuck one into the landlord’s easy chair and the other into his handkerchief, and crept away. The duck in the yard heard them, jumped into the brook, and swam out of reach.

Later the landlord wiped his face and the pin pricked him. In the kitchen he stirred the fire and eggshells flew into his eyes. “Bless me,” he said, “the whole world has designs on my head this morning.” He threw himself into the easy chair—and the needle stuck him where the pain was not in his head. Furious, he went looking for last night’s guests, but they were gone. He swore never again to take in such a troop of vagabonds who ate much, paid nothing, and left only tricks.

About this story

This is the first of three short “Adventures of Chanticleer and Partlet” in Project Gutenberg’s Grimms’ Fairy Tales (#2591), whose English text is based on the translations of Edgar Taylor and Marian Edwardes. The English names for the rooster and hen are borrowed from old English beast fables; Chaucer’s rooster is Chauntecleer and his hen is Pertelote.

In German the story is “Das Lumpengesindel,” which Margaret Hunt translates as “The Pack of Ragamuffins” and numbers 10. This adaptation retains the source’s escalating mischief and the innkeeper’s angry ending; it leaves readers to judge the travellers’ treatment of others.

Read the original: Grimms’ Fairy Tales (Project Gutenberg #2591)

Best for ages 9–12 — includes fighting, a duck forced to work, drinking, and sharp-object traps that injure an innkeeper.

Reading the story closely

The travellers avoid their own burdens by passing them to others. Chanticleer refuses to pull but forces the duck to do so; the pair offer the duck as payment without her consent; they then eat the egg that was also promised. Their friendly talk does not match the terms they actually keep.

Make a bill for the inn: supper, lodging, promised egg and promised duck. Mark which items the host receives. Then add the duck’s account of the trip. Her escape has a different meaning from the rooster and hen’s escape because she was coerced into joining them.

Talk about it

• Why do you think Chanticleer and Partlet slipped away from the inn without paying?
• Was the innkeeper treated fairly, or did he deserve a better guest? Why?
• How could you show the innkeeper’s surprise with drawings or voices without recreating the dangerous traps?

Related stories

• How Chanticleer and Partlet Went to Visit Mr Korbes — the second Chanticleer and Partlet adventure, with another set of booby traps
• How Partlet Died and Was Buried, and How Chanticleer Died of Grief — the third and saddest adventure of the same rooster and hen
• The Travelling Musicians — another Grimm tale where a band of animals takes over a house at night