The Little Bull-Calf facts for kids
The Little Bull-Calf is a classic English fairy tale. It was collected by Joseph Jacobs and shared in his book More English Fairy Tales. This story is special because it features a brave boy as the main hero, instead of a girl, which is common in many fairy tales. It has also appeared in other collections like The Red King and the Witch: Gypsy Folk and Fairy Tales by Ruth Manning-Sanders.
The Story of the Little Bull-Calf
Once, a young boy received a small bull-calf from his father. Sadly, his father passed away. His mother then married again. The boy's new stepfather was not kind to him. He even threatened to harm the little calf.
An old, wise man told the boy to run away with his calf. So, the boy left home. He begged for some bread and shared it with his calf. Later, he found some cheese. He wanted to share it too, but the calf refused.
The calf then told the boy something surprising. It said it would go into the wild. It would fight and defeat all creatures it met. But, it warned, a big dragon would eventually defeat it. The calf told the boy to climb a tree when this happened.
After the calf was gone, the boy was to skin it. He needed to take its bladder. This special bladder would make anything it touched fall down. The calf told the boy to use it to defeat the dragon.
Everything happened just as the calf had said. Monkeys tried to climb the tree after the boy. He squeezed the cheese, pretending it was a hard rock. When they saw the liquid from the cheese, they thought it was flint and left him alone.
The boy then went to find the dragon. He found a princess who was tied up, waiting for the dragon. The boy used the special bladder and defeated the dragon. But the dragon bit off his forefinger during the fight.
The boy knew he had to leave quickly. Before he left, he cut out the dragon's tongue. The princess gave him a special diamond ring. She then told her father, the king, about her hero. The king wanted to meet him. Many men came forward, claiming to be the hero. They cut off their own forefingers and brought different animal tongues. But none had the real dragon's tongue or the princess's ring.
The boy came to the palace, but he looked like a beggar. The king turned him away. However, the princess felt something familiar about him. Later, the boy returned, dressed much better. The princess insisted on speaking with him. He showed them the diamond ring and the dragon's tongue. The king then knew he was the true hero. The boy and the princess were married. They lived happily ever after.
