Come on in and grab onto my tail, “I don’t want to eat you!”
Posted By RichC on August 27, 2011
Sort of reminds me of the of the 1875 St. Nicholas tale with the Gingerbread Man which ends like this:
… He ran till he came to a river. And next to the river was a fox. The fox said, "Hello little gingerbread man."
The gingerbread man said, "HELLO! I ran away from the little old woman, I ran away from the little old man, and a pig, and some cows, and I can run away from you too!
Run, run, fast as you can!
Can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man!""But," said the fox, "I never run. And I don’t want to eat you!"
The gingerbread man saidRun, run, fast as you can!
Can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man!"The fox said, "Run all you want, I’m not going to chase you. But– I would like to ask you a question."
The gingerbread man said, "What?"
The fox said, "How do figure you’re going to get across that stream without getting wet? I mean, if you get wet, you’ll get soggy, right?"
The gingerbread man didn’t say anything, but he looked very thoughtful.
The fox said, "I’ve got an idea."
The gingerbread man said, "What?"
The fox said, "I’m going to swim across, right now. If you want, you can hitch a ride on my tail."
The gingerbread man said, "OK," and grabbed the fox’s tail. The fox started to wade into the water.
After a few steps, the fox said, "Oh, little gingerbread man. The water is getting kind of deep. I’m afraid you might get wet. Why don’t you climb up onto my back?" The gingerbread man looked, and said, "Gee, the water is getting kind of deep, ok," and he climbed up onto the fox’s back.
After a few more steps, the fox said, "Oh, little gingerbread man, the water is getting even deeper, I’m afraid you might get wet. Why don’t you climb up onto my– neck?" The gingerbread man looked, and said, "Gee the water is getting kind of deep, ok," and he climbed up onto the fox’s neck.
After a few more steps, the fox said, "Oh, little gingerbread man, the water is getting even deeper, I’m afraid you might get wet. Why don’t you climb up onto my– head?" The gingerbread man looked, and said, "Gee the water is getting kind of deep, ok," and he climbed up onto the fox’s head.
After a few more steps, the fox said, "Oh, little gingerbread man, the water is getting even deeper, I’m afraid you might get wet. Why don’t you climb up onto my– nose?" The gingerbread man looked, and said, "Gee the water is getting kind of deep, ok," and he climbed up onto the fox’s nose.
And the fox went– SHLLLURP!– and that was the end of the gingerbread man.
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