It Could Always be Worse!
It was
when one of my sons moved back home that I recalled a story I used to read to
his older brother. It was about an old woman who thought her house
was too small and she was told, probably by a wise old man, to move lots of
things or animals into the house until it was practically overflowing. Then,
after living like this for a while, she was told to move everything out one at
a time, and when everything had gone her home didn't feel small anymore!
Unfortunately
I can’t remember the title of the book but I was listening to the radio
recently and heard someone relating a similar tale, called ‘A Squash and a
Squeeze’ by Julia Donaldson, far too recent to be the book I had. I
couldn’t look this tale up fast enough and found it was from an old Jewish folk
tale, retold by Margot Zemach, and called ‘It Could Always be Worse’, but this
title doesn’t sound familiar either.
Too Much
Noise by Ann McGovern is a similar story but this title doesn't ring any bells
for me.
I can
only assume the book I had was another re-write in a similar vein, it was one
of a series of small books that were given to children travelling on Saudia
airlines in the 1970s. Also in the series were Goldilocks, Red Riding Hood and
Little Red Hen and they were probably published in the USA.
Now, back
to my boomerang son moving in, with all of his belongings, cluttering up my home, I can take
comfort from this folk tale because one day he will leave again, along with his
boxes and amps!
Update:
I have found another version of this tale:
A Big Quiet House
A Yiddish Folktale from Eastern Europe
There was once a man who wished his small, noisy house was
larger and quieter. He went to the wise old woman of the town and explained his
need. She said, "I can solve your problem. Just do as I say."
The man agreed.
"If you have a chicken, some sheep, a horse, and a
cow," she said, "bring them into the house with you."
"That's a silly thing to do," thought the old man.
But he did it anyway. Now his house was already small, and with all those animals
in it, there was no room at all. He returned to the old woman and cried,
"I need more room! The animals are so noisy I can't think!"
"Take all those animals out of your dwelling," she
replied.
When he had put all the animals comfortably back in the
barn, the man went into his house. To his amazement, it suddenly looked
remarkably bigger! Without the animals inside, his house was now quiet too!
