Teeny-Tiny and the Witch-Woman

Teeny-Tiny and the Witch-Woman is a story written by Barbara K. Walker based on an old Turkish folk tale. The story was first published in 1975 by Pantheon Books and an animated short based on the story was produced by Weston Woods in 1980.

Plot

"Teeny-Tiny and the Witch-Woman" is a story about three brothers who live in a Turkish village with their mother and grandmother. Their names are Big-One (The eldest brother), In-The-Middle (The middle brother), and Teeny-Tiny (The youngest brother). The two older brothers often mock Teeny-Tiny because of his size and that he is the youngest.

Everyday, the brothers play together in and around the village. But one day, Big-One decides that it might be fun to go play in the woods. In-The-Middle agrees with Big-One and they ask Teeny-Tiny if he'd like to join them. Teeny-Tiny declines his brothers' offer and reminds them of a story their 'Granny' told them about a 'Witch-Woman' who lives in the forest. According to the story, she eats little children and uses their bones to build a fence around her house. Their grandmother probably told them this story to keep them out of the woods at night.

Big-One and In-The-Middle both ignore Teeny-Tiny's warning story and decide to go anyway. Big-One claims that he isn't afraid of "any old Witch-Woman". Teeny-Tiny decides to follow his brothers to make sure nothing bad happens to them. He also decides if has no choice but to go, that he will "keep his eyes open and his legs ready to run".

The boys spend all afternoon playing in the woods and soon it starts to get fairly dark. Soon after, the boys also realize they're lost and begin to get hungry. They begin to search high and low for the exit but to no avail. Teeny-Tiny climbs a tree to see if he can spot anything. He sees a light in the distance, so he and his brothers decide to follow it. It turns out that the light is coming from a creepy old cottage in the middle of the woods.

As they draw close to the house, they hear the loud creak of the cottage front door opening. Out steps a tall and benevolent old woman who offers the boys her hospitality because they are weary and lost. Teeny-Tiny is instantly scared of this woman even though Big-One says "she is so kind to ask them in". In-The-Middle again agrees with Big-One and states that he too is tired and hungry and says to Teeny-Tiny that he is only afraid because he is little.

The old woman overhears that Teeny-Tiny is afraid of her and says that he has nothing to be afraid of because she loves little children. She has prepared a stew for dinner and has plenty to share. She also offers them a place to sleep if they want to wait to find their way home until the next day. She even offers to help them find their way. To further comfort Teeny-Tiny and convince him that everything is fine, the old woman even tells Teeny-Tiny that he can call her 'Auntie'.

Teeny-Tiny decides that he too is tired and hungry, so he follows Big-One and In-The-Middle into the cottage. They all sit down at a table in the kitchen and begin to eat their meal. Teeny-Tiny is looking around the kitchen as he eats and he notices a good sized cage in one corner. He promptly asks 'Auntie' what she keeps in the cage to which she replies that sometimes she keeps stray dogs and cats in the cage. Upon hearing this, Teeny-Tiny wonders if she has ever kept 'stray children' (like he and his brothers) in the cage.

After the boys finish their supper, 'Auntie' shows them upstairs to her spare bedroom. Big-One and In-The-Middle both fall asleep right away but Teeny-Tiny knows something isn't right. He looks out the bedroom window at the moonlight shown down on the knobby white fence surrounding the house. He instantly remembers his grandmother's story thinking about the fence made of bones. He looks at the fence a little closer and realizes it is made of human leg and arm bones. This fence is confirmation enough that Teeny-Tiny and his brothers are indeed in the house of the fabled Witch-Woman.

Suddenly, Teeny-Tiny hears what sounds like somebody sharpening a knife. The witch-woman comes up the stairs calling out to the boys to see "who is awake and who is asleep".

To the witch-woman's query, Teeny-Tiny replies that "the littlest one is awake." The witch-woman then proceeds to ask Teeny-Tiny what she can do to get him to sleep. First, she cooks him a hard-boiled egg and he eats it, but he still can't sleep. After a while, the woman come around again beckoning to those "who are awake, and [those] who are asleep." Teeny-Tiny replies again that he is the only one awake. The Witch-Woman is surprised to see that he is still awake and she again asks what she can get for him to help him fall asleep. Teeny-Tiny asks "Auntie" if she could get him a bowl of popcorn and raisins like his mother did before he went to bed. The witch-woman brings Teeny-Tiny a bowl of popcorn and raisins, but he still can't sleep.

Finally, the witch-woman beckons once more to see "who is awake and who is asleep." Teeny-Tiny replies once again and this time "Auntie" is really annoyed as she still can't figure out what she can do to help him sleep. This time, Teeny-Tiny has cooked up an "fool's errand" for the witch-woman so that he and his brothers can try to escape. He tells the witch-woman that all the popcorn and raisins have made him thirsty and when he is thirsty, his mother goes and fetches him some water from the well in a sieve. Desperate at this point to get Teeny-Tiny to fall asleep, the Witch-Woman falls for his scheme and decides to go and get him some water in her sieve.

As the witch-woman prepares to go outside to fetch some water for Teeny-Tiny, she reaches for her sieve and a seemingly ordinary bar of soap falls out of her pocket. She notices this and quickly picks up the soap and places it on a high shelf for safe keeping. In addition to the bar of soap, she also places a small sewing needle and a short, sharp knife on the shelf too. She claims that they are her "magic" objects as they glisten in the moonlight. After the witch-woman secures the objects on the shelf, she continues towards the door to get Teeny-Tiny's drink of water.

Realizing the witch-woman fell for his diversion, Teeny-Tiny wakes his brothers, Big-One and In-The-Middle and tells them the startling truth about the nice old woman that invited them to stay in her home for the night. Teeny-Tiny also tells them about a series of magical objects he heard the witch-woman describing as she put them on a high shelf. The three brothers sneak into the kitchen and climb up on each other's shoulders to steal the objects from the high shelf. Teeny-Tiny says "If she says they're magic, they just might be magic." Teeny-Tiny puts the objects in his pocket and they run from the witch-woman's forest cottage as fast as their legs can carry them. As they dash away, Teeny-Tiny looks back and can see the witch-woman struggling to catch well water in the sieve, but of course she cannot because of the holes in the sieve.

The witch-woman looks up for a split second and realizes the brothers are trying to escape and that Teeny-Tiny tricked her by sending her on a fool's errand to ensure their hasty retreat. She drops the sieve and begins to run after them. Fearing that the witch-woman might by some chance catch up with them, Teeny-Tiny decides to try and use the magic objects to stop her dead in her tracks. First, Teeny-Tiny reaches for the bar of soap. He decides that even if the soap isn't magic, she might still slip on the bar and fall. But, much to Teeny-Tiny's surprise, when he drops the bar of soap, it begins to bubble until it creates a huge mound of suds. The soap only stops the witch-woman momentarily and she decides to run around it.

Disappointed that the soap doesn't stop the witch-woman, Teeny-Tiny reaches for the next magic object, the needle. He decides that even if the needle isn't magical, he might still prick her with it. Teeny-Tiny throws the needle and it quicky becomes a whole mountain of needles. The witch-woman runs into the mountain of needles and is pricked by them. After she gets back up and picks the needles out of her body, she runs around the mountain of needles and angerily continues to chase Teeny-Tiny and his brothers. Annoyed that the needle didn't hinder the witch-woman too much, Teeny-Tiny reaches for the third and final magic object, The knife. Teeny-Tiny decides that even if the knife isn't magic, the witch-woman might still cut her foot on it. It was his only chance.

Teeny-Tiny throws the knife and it stabs into the ground cutting a huge crack into it so long and so wide that the witch-woman cannot run around it or jump over it. The witch-woman is finally defeated. She angrily proclaims that she will get them next time as she begins her long walk back to her cottage. Teeny-Tiny and his brothers continue to run until they safely make it back to their village. They are then greeted by their mother, who is happy to see them safe and sound again.

"As for witch-woman, it would be a long time before she would her a knock at her door again..."

Animated Short

An animated short based on Barbara K. Walker's book was created by Weston Woods Films in 1980. The short is a retelling of the thrilling story featuring frightening and sometimes amusing imagery. The short was first released on 16mm film for use in schools and libraries. This short has also been featured on a number of collections of other scary stories such as the Children's Circle video series and some holiday collections by Scholastic Books. The short was directed by veteran Weston Woods Films director, Gene Deitch.

External Links

[http://www.nhptv.org/kn/itv/vod.asp Watch the animated short on the NHPTV Knowledge Network (check under the "Language Arts" section and then look in the "Holiday Stories" drop down menu). The video is in Realplayer format.]