Old Sultan

A shepherd had a faithful dog named Sultan, grown very old and without a tooth in his head. One day he stood before the house with his wife and said he would shoot the dog next morning—useless now, for thieves did not fear him. She begged for mercy: Sultan had served them well many years and deserved a livelihood for the rest of his days. “But what can we do with him?” the shepherd answered. “He earned his keep once; tomorrow shall be his last day.”

Poor Sultan, lying close by, heard every word and was badly frightened. That evening he went to his friend the wolf in the wood and poured out his sorrow. “Make yourself easy,” said the wolf. “Your master and wife go early to the field and lay their little child behind the hedge while they work. Lie down by the child as if watching; I will snatch the baby and run; you chase me; I will drop it; you carry it home—and they will be so thankful they will keep you as long as you live.”

So it was managed. The wolf ran a little way with the child; the parents screamed; Sultan overtook him and brought the baby back. The shepherd patted the dog’s head: Old Sultan had saved their child, so he should live well cared for, with plenty to eat. “Wife, go home and give him a good dinner, and let him have my old cushion as long as he lives.” From that day Sultan had all he could wish.

Soon the wolf came to wish him joy and claim his pay: look the other way while he tasted one of the shepherd’s fine fat sheep. “No,” said Sultan; “I will be true to my master.” The wolf thought he joked and crept one night toward the flock. But Sultan had warned the shepherd, who waited behind the barn door with a stout cudgel and beat the wolf when the thief began to choose a sheep.

Angry, the wolf called Sultan an old rogue and swore revenge. Next morning he sent a wild boar to challenge the dog to a wood-fight. Sultan’s only second was the shepherd’s old three-legged cat; she limped along with her tail stuck straight up. The wolf and boar arrived first. Seeing that upright tail, they thought she carried a sword for Sultan; every limp looked like her picking up a stone to throw. They lost their nerve: the boar hid behind a bush, the wolf climbed a tree. When Sultan and the cat arrived and wondered that no one was there, the boar’s ear twitched out of the leaves. The cat took the movement for a mouse, sprang, bit, and scratched until the boar bolted, roaring that the one to blame sat in the tree. They looked up, called the wolf a cowardly rascal, and would not let him down until he was heartily ashamed and had promised to be good friends again with old Sultan.

About this story

“Old Sultan” (“Der alte Sultan”) is number 48 in Margaret Hunt’s translation of the Grimms. This retelling adapts the English text in Project Gutenberg’s Grimms’ Fairy Tales (#2591), based on the translations of Edgar Taylor and Marian Edwardes.

The shepherd’s plan to shoot his old dog sets the plot going, and the wolf’s “rescue” trick saves him. The threatened duel turns into a comedy of mistaken appearances, with a three-legged cat mistaken for an armed opponent. The cat does bite and scratch the boar; the violence should not be erased by calling the scene comic.

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

Best for ages 9–12 with an adult — includes a threat to shoot an old pet, a staged baby abduction, beating and an animal fight.

Reading the story closely

The shepherd’s wife offers the strongest reason for caring for Sultan before any rescue: his years of service and present need. The staged rescue changes the shepherd’s view without proving that the threat to shoot Sultan was fair. The wolf’s later demand also reveals that help can come with an unexpected price.

Compare three claims: the wife says Sultan deserves care; the wolf says a favor earns permission to steal; Sultan says loyalty prevents helping the theft. Which obligation does each speaker recognize or ignore? In the final encounter, fear turns an ordinary tail and limp into imaginary weapons, allowing the apparently weaker pair to prevail.

Questions to ask

• Why did the shepherd change his mind about old Sultan?
• Was Sultan right to refuse to help the wolf steal the sheep? Why?
• What do you think the shepherd should have done for Sultan if the wolf had never come?

Related stories

• The Fox and the Horse — an old horse who is sent away until a fox helps him prove his worth
• The Travelling Musicians — old animals no longer wanted by their masters who find a new home
• The Dog and the Sparrow — another Grimm tale about a dog and a friend who stands by him