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Author
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Comment
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gwrite
Unregistered User
(8/14/05 1:20 pm)
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Jewish Goldilocks?
Is there a Jewish folktale that has the concept of too little, too much, and just right?
Thanks,
Gina
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AliceCEB
Registered User
(8/16/05 2:47 pm)
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Too little, too much and just right
It isn't Goldilocks at all, but there's a Yiddish folktale about a man who lives in a small house with his wife, his mother-in-law and his numerous children and goes to the rabbi, complaining about the noise. The rabbi suggests he bring in his chickens into the house. A week later the man complains to the rabbi that the noise and trouble has gotten worse. The rabbi tells him to add a goat. A cow. A horse. A goose. So on, each time the man complains. When the man is almost beyond despair, the rabbi tells the man to remove all the animals from the house. The next day the man comes to the rabbi overjoyed at the peace he's finally found in his house.
A version of this tale was written and illustrated by Margot Zemach under the title It Could Always Be Worse.
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Rosemary Lake
Registered User
(8/16/05 4:40 pm)
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old woman
If it's any help, the original person who makes herself at home isn't a little girl (Goldilocks) but a poor old woman. I'm sure Joseph Jacobs talked about this. I don't remember when the motif of 'too much, just right' came in.
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