- Genre
- Cumulative tale
- Source status
- variant tradition
- Motifs
- turnip, ten helpers, growing chain
The tale: an editorial retelling
An old man found a turnip seed on the road. He took it home and planted it. By autumn the turnip was enormous. He gripped its leaves and pulled, but could not shift it.
He called his wife. She held him and he held the turnip. They pulled together, but it stayed in the earth. She called Viemkus. Viemkus held the old woman, she held the old man, and he held the turnip. Still it would not move.
Viemkus called Dvitkus. Dvitkus held Viemkus, Viemkus the old woman, the old woman the old man, and the old man the turnip. They pulled in vain. Dvitkus called Tritkus, Tritkus called Keturnikas, Keturnikas called Penktikas, and Penktikas called Šeštikas. Each helper held the last person in the line. The turnip stayed fast.
Šeštikas fetched Septintikas; Septintikas fetched Aštuntikas; Aštuntikas fetched Devintikas. The line grew longer and longer. Everyone pulled, but they still could not get the turnip out.
At last Dešimtikas arrived with a walking stick and spectacles. He held Devintikas, and all the others held one another. They gave a pull together, and the turnip came out!
The old man divided it. Dešimtikas received ten cartloads, Devintikas nine, Aštuntikas eight, Septintikas seven, Šeštikas six, Penktikas five, Keturnikas four, Tritkus three, Dvitkus two, and Viemkus one. The old woman received the roots. The old man kept the leaves.
About this version
A. Mažiulis recorded this version from Marija Truklicienė in Sniegiškiai in 1930. Its helpers are figures whose Lithuanian names suggest counting, rather than a dog, cat and mouse. Their names and the unusual division of the turnip are retained.
This is anthology tale 88, archive reference LTR 70a(1112). Some identical pulling formulas are condensed, but all ten helpers and the complete resolution remain.
Telling and discussing the tale
Give each participant a helper’s name and add them to the line as it grows. At the end, ask why the man who planted the turnip receives only its leaves. The comic exaggeration does not offer a simple lesson in fair payment.