The Louse and the Flea or Little Louse and Little Flea is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, number 30.[1]
It is Aarne-Thompson type 2022, An Animal Mourns the Death of a Spouse,[2] and takes the form of a chain tale, sometimes known as a cumulative tale.
A louse and a flea are married until the louse drowns while brewing. The flea mourns, inspiring a door to ask why and start creaking, which inspires a broom to ask why and start sweeping -- through a sequence of objects until a spring overflows at the news and drowns them all.