- Genre
- Tale of wit
- Source status
- variant tradition
- Motifs
- cook, king, tongue, power of speech
The tale: an editorial retelling
A king had a clever cook and enjoyed hearing him talk. One day he ordered the next day’s dinner to be made from the most valuable meat of all.
The cook went to the slaughterhouse and ordered enough tongues for the meal, from cattle or pigs. He cooked them and served dinner. The king objected, “I asked for the finest meat, and you have brought the poorest!”
“Nothing is more valuable than the tongue,” said the cook. “With their tongues people agree to build cities and houses and undertake all kinds of work. They say what must be done, and it is done.” The king listened and accepted his explanation.
The following day the king deliberately ordered a meal of the very worst meat. The cook ordered tongues again, cooked them and brought them to the table.
“Yesterday you called this the finest meat. How can it now be the worst?” asked the king. The cook replied, “The tongue can do good and harm. It orders houses to be built, but also orders people to strike, smash and burn. People hear those words and destroy things. The tongue has both sides.”
About this version
B. Kerbelytė and L. Sauka recorded this tale in Kartena in 1961 from seventy-two-year-old Antanas Jadenkus. The source gives text reference LTR 3471(195) and recording reference LTRF 254(3). This is a prose retelling, not a transcript or republication of the recording.
The tale uses “tongue” as both an edible organ and human speech. The cook does not change the dish; he reveals two uses of the same ability. A question about price becomes a question about value.
Telling and discussing the tale
Before the second dinner, ask what the cook might serve. Discuss whether the power of speech is good or bad in itself, or depends on its use. If you invent modern examples, distinguish them from the source narrative.