Old Sultan

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Old Sultan (German: Der alte Sultan) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 48. It combined three different Aarne-Thompson types: 101, the old dog rescues the child; 103, wild animals hide from an unfamiliar animal; and 104, the war between the village animals and the forest animals.

[edit] Synopsis

A farmer's dog, Sultan, had grown old, and one day the farmer told his wife he would shoot Sultan. The dog heard. A wolf told it that they would take their child haying the next day, and the wolf would carry it off. Sultan could chase it, and it would free the child. They would be grateful and not shoot Sultan.

The wolf did, Sultan did, and the farmer was so pleased that he had his wife make bread soup for the dog so, being toothless, it would not have to chew.

The wolf asked Sultan to overlook its stealing sheep, and Sultan refused. When the wolf tried it, Sultan barked. The wolf challenged him, and came with a boar for a second. Sultan could find only a three-legged cat. But the wolf and boar mistook it, and hid. They were ashamed to be found so frightened, and made friends.

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