Old Sultan: E195
Discover the origin of the word echo with this classic Greek Myth which relates the story of Echo and Narcisuss. (duratioin 10 minutes) An episode from Journey with Story, a storytelling podcast for kids. Ages 5-10
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Find Out What it Means to be a Loyal Friend in this Fun Fairytale
September 1, 2022
Old Sultan: E195
What Does it Mean to be a Loyal Friend?
Find out in this Classic Fairytale from The Brothers Grimm
Do you know what the word loyal means? Yes, it means to be faithful and to stand up for a friend if he or she is in trouble no matter how hard or inconvenient it may be for you. So, can you think of a time when you were loyal to someone even though it was hard for you to do? Or can you think of a time when a friend was loyal to you and stood up for you even though it was hard?
Hello everyone. I’m Kathleen Pelley. Welcome to Journey with Story. Todays story is about an old faithful dog whose master is NOT loyal to him and tries to get rid of him when he becomes old and useless.
Mums and Dads this is one of those old vintage tales from Brothers Grimm and you might want to take a liste n first to make sure it is suitable for your own little listener.
Thanks to all of you who have been rating and reviewing our podcast – you are definitely very LOYAL listeners and we really appreciate your loyalty.
Listen to what this loyal mum wrote for us recently….
When they hear the intro music, both my boys (5 and 7) say ” yayyy!” We have listened to all of the episodes. Today we listened to the story of the tortoise who remembers the name of the tree. My son Ellis (5) said ” mommy I want to leave a review! I want to tell her that I loved the part when the animals fell into the ant hill and how the tortoise saved the day. I love these stories.” The background music that is added has been super magical! (Yay – thank you Colette Jonas our fabulous audio editor) He has said how he wants a story about a volcano! Thank you for this wonderful podcast. We appreciate you.
How lovely – huge thanks to Ellis, his brother and their mum for taking the time to write such a glowing review.
Now let’s take a journey with Old Sultan by the Brothers Grimm (oh in case you haven’t heard that word before – Sultan – it is just another name for a kind of a king or royal ruler.
A farmer had a faithful dog named Sultan, who had grown old and lost all his teeth, and could no longer hold onto anything. One day the farmer was standing with his wife before the house door, and said, “Tomorrow I intend to shoot Old Sultan. He is no longer of any use.”
His wife, who felt pity for the faithful animal, answered, “He has served us so long, and been so faithful, that we might well give him his keep.”
“What?” said the man. “You are not very bright. He doesn’t have a tooth left in his mouth, and no thief is afraid of him. He can go now. If he has served us, he has eaten well for it.”
The poor dog, who was lying stretched out in the sun not far off, heard everything, and was sorry that tomorrow was to be his last day. He had a good friend, the wolf, and he crept out in the evening into the forest to him, and complained of the fate that awaited him.
“Listen, kinsman,” said the wolf, “be of good cheer. I will help you out of your trouble. I have thought of something. Tomorrow, early in the morning, your master is going with his wife to make hay, and they will take their little child with them, for no one will be left behind in the house. While they are at work they lay the child behind the hedge in the shade. You lie down there too, just as if you wanted to guard it. Then I will come out of the woods, and carry off the child. You must run swiftly after me, as if you would take it away from me. I will let it fall, and you will take it back to its parents, who will think that you have rescued it, and will be far too grateful to do you any harm. On the contrary, you will be treated royally, and they will never let you want for anything again.”
This idea pleased the dog, and it was carried out just as planned. The father screamed when he saw the wolf running across the field with his child, but when Old Sultan brought it back, he was full of joy, and stroked him and said, “Not a hair of yours shall be hurt. You shall eat free bread as long as you live.”
And to his wife he said, “Go home at once and make Old Sultan some bread soup that he will not have to bite. And bring the pillow from my bed. I will give it to him to lie on. From then on Old Sultan was as well off as he could possibly wish.
Soon afterwards the wolf visited him, and was pleased that everything had succeeded so well. “But, kinsman,” he said, “you will just close one eye if, when I have a chance, I carry off one of your master’s fat sheep.”
“Don’t count on that,” answered the dog. “I will remain true to my master. I cannot agree to that.”
The wolf thought that this was not spoken in earnest, and he crept up in the night to take away the sheep. But the farmer, to whom the faithful Sultan had told the wolf’s plan, was waiting for him and combed his hair cruelly with a flail. The wolf had to flee, but he cried out to the dog, “Just wait, you scoundrel. You’ll regret this.”
The next morning the wolf sent the boar to challenge the dog to come out into the forest and settle the affair. Old Sultan could find no one to be his second but a cat with only three legs, and as they went out together the poor cat limped along, stretching its tail upward with pain.
The wolf and his friend were already at the appointed place, but when they saw their enemy coming, they thought that he was bringing a saber with him, for they mistook the cat’s outstretched tail for one. And when the poor animal hopped on three legs, they thought that each time it was picking up a stone to throw at them. Then they took fright. The wild boar crept into the underbrush and the wolf jumped up a tree.
As the dog and the cat approached, they wondered why no one was to be seen. The wild boar, however, had not been able to hide himself completely in the leaves. His ears were still sticking out. While the cat was looking cautiously about, the boar wiggled his ears, and the cat, who thought it was a mouse, jumped on it and bit down hard. The boar jumped up screaming loudly, “The guilty one is up in the tree.”
The dog and cat looked up and saw the wolf, who was ashamed for having shown such fear, and who then made peace with the dog.
What do you think this story’s souvenir is – what’s the nugget of truth about being human that will linger in your heart? Maybe it might have something to do with being a good and loyal friend might mean you are still loyal to your friend even if he is disloyal to you , the way Sultan’s owner was disloyal to him an d yet still Sultan stood up for him and refused to let the wolf kill his sheep. But I wonder, do you think that Sultan should have been loyal to the wolf who was the one that saved him in the first place?
Hmmm, sometimes it is hard to know what the right thing to do is – but that’s why it is good to have some loyal friends whom we can rely upon and ask for advice.
Maybe today we can all be grateful for all of our dear, loyal and faithful friends and tell them how much we appreciate them.
Talking of that – don’t forget if you want to support us even more, do consider becoming a patreon subscriber and you can enjoy our weekly coloring sheets too.
Cheerio then, join me next time for Journey with Story.
