Teeny-tiny
by Joseph Jacobs
The Tiny Woman and the Tiny Bone
Once, a tiny woman lived in a tiny village. She lived in a tiny house. The house had a tiny door. It had a tiny window too. One day, she put on her tiny bonnet. She went for a tiny walk. She walked a tiny way. The way was quiet and tiny. She passed tiny trees and tiny flowers. She came to a tiny gate. She opened the tiny gate. She went into a tiny special garden. The garden had tiny flowers. It was a peaceful tiny place. She saw a little bone. It was on a tiny grave. The grave was very tiny. It had a tiny stone. The tiny woman had an idea. "This bone will make tiny soup," she thought. She put the tiny bone in her pocket. She felt happy with her find. She went home to her tiny house. The tiny woman felt tired. She went up her tiny stairs. The stairs were steep and tiny. She counted each tiny step. She got into her tiny bed. She put the bone in a tiny cupboard. The cupboard was wooden and tiny. It had a tiny lock. She slept for a tiny time. A tiny voice came from the tiny cupboard. "Give me my bone!" it said. The tiny woman was a little scared. She hid her head under the tiny blankets. The blankets were soft and tiny. She went to sleep again. She slept for a tiny time. The tiny voice cried again. "Give me my bone!" it said. It was a bit louder. The tiny woman was more scared. She hid her tiny head deeper. She pulled the blankets tighter. She held her tiny breath. She slept for a tiny time. The tiny voice said again. "Give me my bone!" it said. It was very loud. The sound filled the tiny room. The tiny woman was brave. She put her tiny head out. "TAKE IT!" she shouted in her tiny voice. The tiny voice was quiet. The tiny woman was not scared. She felt happy and safe. She never took things that were not hers again.
Original Story
TEENY-TINY Once upon a time there was a teeny-tiny woman lived in a teeny-tiny house in a teeny-tiny village. Now, one day this teeny-tiny woman put on her teeny-tiny bonnet, and went out of her teeny-tiny house to take a teeny-tiny walk. And when this teeny-tiny woman had gone a teeny-tiny way she came to a teeny-tiny gate; so the teeny-tiny woman opened the teeny-tiny gate, and went into a teeny-tiny churchyard. And when this teeny-tiny woman had got into the teeny-tiny churchyard, she saw a teeny-tiny bone on a teeny-tiny grave, and the teeny-tiny woman said to her teeny-tiny self, “This teeny-tiny bone will make me some teeny-tiny soup for my teeny-tiny supper.” So the teeny-tiny woman put the teeny-tiny bone into her teeny-tiny pocket, and went home to her teeny-tiny house. Now when the teeny-tiny woman got home to her teeny-tiny house she was a teeny-tiny bit tired; so she went up her teeny-tiny stairs to her teeny-tiny bed, and put the teeny-tiny bone into a teeny-tiny cupboard. And when this teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep a teeny-tiny time, she was awakened by a teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard, which said: “Give me my bone!” And this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny frightened, so she hid her teeny-tiny head under the teeny-tiny clothes and went to sleep again. And when she had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny time, the teeny-tiny voice again cried out from the teeny-tiny cupboard a teeny-tiny louder, “Give me my bone!” This made the teeny-tiny woman a teeny-tiny more frightened, so she hid her teeny-tiny head a teeny-tiny further under the teeny-tiny clothes. And when the teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny time, the teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard said again a teeny-tiny louder, “Give me my bone!” And this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny bit more frightened, but she put her teeny-tiny head out of the teeny-tiny clothes, and said in her loudest teeny-tiny voice, “TAKE IT!”
Moral of the Story
Do not take things that do not belong to you, especially from graves.
Characters
The Teeny-Tiny Woman ★ protagonist
Extremely small in stature, as implied by 'teeny-tiny'
Attire: A teeny-tiny bonnet, and presumably a simple, period-appropriate dress for walking and sleeping.
Curious, easily frightened, ultimately brave
The Teeny-Tiny Voice ⚔ antagonist
Invisible, only heard as a voice emanating from a cupboard.
Persistent, demanding, eerie
Locations
Teeny-tiny House
A very small house where the teeny-tiny woman lives. It contains teeny-tiny stairs, a teeny-tiny bed, and a teeny-tiny cupboard.
Mood: Initially cozy and safe, becoming eerie and frightening.
The teeny-tiny woman sleeps and is terrorized by a voice demanding its bone.
Teeny-tiny Churchyard
A very small churchyard accessed through a teeny-tiny gate, containing a teeny-tiny grave.
Mood: Quiet, slightly somber, but also a place of discovery.
The teeny-tiny woman finds the teeny-tiny bone.
Story DNA
Moral
Do not take things that do not belong to you, especially from graves.
Plot Summary
A teeny-tiny woman takes a teeny-tiny bone from a teeny-tiny grave to make soup. She places it in a cupboard and goes to sleep. A disembodied voice repeatedly demands its bone back, growing louder each time and terrifying the woman. Finally, she shouts for the voice to take its bone, resolving the conflict.
Themes
Emotional Arc
calm to fear to relief
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
Joseph Jacobs was a prominent collector of English fairy tales, and this story reflects a common oral tradition of cumulative tales and simple fright narratives.
Plot Beats (11)
- A teeny-tiny woman lives in a teeny-tiny house in a teeny-tiny village.
- She goes for a teeny-tiny walk and enters a teeny-tiny churchyard.
- She finds a teeny-tiny bone on a teeny-tiny grave and decides to take it for soup.
- She puts the bone in her pocket and returns home.
- Feeling tired, she goes to her teeny-tiny bed, placing the bone in a teeny-tiny cupboard.
- A teeny-tiny voice from the cupboard awakens her, demanding, "Give me my bone!"
- Frightened, she hides her head under the covers.
- The voice repeats its demand, a teeny-tiny louder.
- She hides further under the covers, more frightened.
- The voice repeats its demand a third time, even louder.
- The woman, despite her fear, puts her head out and shouts, "TAKE IT!"
