Transcript

Beathach iontach seanaimseartha an madadh rua. Ní chorrann uan ná caora fá chupla míle den áit a mbíonn an bhrocach aige. Bhí sé ag tarraingt ar theach a rabh cuid mhór éanlaith ann agus ag tabhairt ar shiúl a gcuid éanlaith, agus ní rabh dul ag duine ar bith a fheiceáil. Lá amháin rinn fear an toighe amach an chuid eile acu chur ar shiúl ón teach uilig, agus é féin coimhéad, féacháilt an dtiocfadh sé ar an mhadadh rua. Dhruid sé na doirse uilig agus chuaigh sé (ar cholbha) na leapa. Chuir sé an éanlaith isteach 'na cisteanaí agus dhruid sé na doirse.

Bhuel, bhí sé ina luí ansin tamall beag. Bhí poll thíos ar bhinn an toighe a dtugadh siad lindéar air. Níorbh fhada gur mhoithigh sé an madadh rua (ag) teacht agus ag cur a ghaosáin isteach ar an lindéar. Tháinig sé isteach. D'imigh an éanlaith 'na tseomra, (ná nach ionadh), ag teitheadh. Chuaigh an madadh rua suas 'na tseomra 'na ndéidh. Nuair a chuala fear an toighe an madadh rua sa tseomra d'éirigh sé a léim 'na sheasamh. Agus tháinig sé anuas agus sheasaigh sé ar an lindéar. Tháinig an madadh rua anuas. Bhí sé ceapthaí. Ní rabh a fhios aige goidé a bhí le déanamh aige. D'amharc sé thart. Bhí culaith úr éadaigh ag fear an toighe a bhí sé i ndéidh a fháil déanta ag an táilliúir nach rabh air ariamh. Tharraing an madadh rua anuas (...) an chulaith agus chuir sé trasna ar an tinidh í.

"Bruith leat más mian leat," (dar) leis an fhear a bhí thíos. "Ní chorróchaidh mise go dtí go rabh tusa agam."

Bruitheadh an chulaith. Chuaigh sé a tharraingt an éadaigh ón leabaidh ansin. Bhruith sé a rabh dh'éadach ar an leabaidh. Bhruith sé a rabh dh'éadach astoigh. Ní rabh maith ann. Ní chorróchadh fear an toighe ón lindéar. Insa deireadh chona-... d'amharc sé thart. Chonaic sé gunna ar dhá bhacán thall ar thaobh an toighe. Thug sé anuas an gunna. Chuir sé sa tinidh í agus an glas insa tinidh agus thug sé a haghaidh ar an fhear a bhí ar an lindéar. Nuair a chonaic an fear thíos an gunna sa tinidh (bhí a fhios aige) go rabh sí lódáilte. Léim sé i leataobh. Nuair a fuair an madadh rua an lindéar foscailte thug sé léim amach a gheall ar imeacht. Nuair a bhí sé ag goil amach sa lindéar d'imigh an gunna. Mharaigh sí é. Sin mar a chuaigh an chríonnacht ina thóin don mhadadh rua.

Translation

The fox is a very shrewd animal. He doesn't disturb a sheep or lamb within a few miles of where he has his lair. He was coming to a house where there were lots of hens and stealing their hens away, and no one could spot him. One day the man of the house decided to send all the rest of them away from the house altogether, and to keep watch himself to see if he could catch the fox. He closed all the doors and he lay down on the edge of the bed. He put the hens into the kitchen and he closed the doors.

Well, he was lying there a little while. There was a hole down in the gable wall they used to call the culvert. It wasn't long until he heard the fox coming and sticking his nose in the culvert. He came in. The hens went into the bedroom, no wonder, to escape. The fox went up to the bedroom after them. When the man of the house heard the fox in the room he jumped up. And he came down and stood at the culvert. The fox came down. He was trapped. He didn't know what to do. He looked around. The man of the house had a new suit he had made for him at the tailor's and that he had never worn. The fox dragged down the (...) suit and put it across the fire.

"Burn away if you want," thought the man who was below. "I won't move until I have you."

The suit was burnt. He went and pulled the bedding then. He burnt all the bedding. He burnt all the clothes in the house. It was no good. The man of the house wouldn't move from the culvert. In the end he saw... he looked around. He saw a gun on two pegs over on the sidewall of the house. He took down the gun. He threw it in the fire with the lock in the fire and he went over towards the man at the culvert. When the man below saw the gun in the fire he knew it was loaded. He jumped aside. When the fox found the culvert open he jumped in order to get away. When he was going out the culvert the gun went off. It killed him. That's how the fox's shrewdness got the better of him.

Commentary

The fox is one of the most prominent figures in folklore, and this is especially true of international folktales. This example is categorised as ATU 67 The fox caught by the butcher. In international examples, the fox is captured by a butcher, farmer or old man after he enters a premises to steal food, and escapes by placing something belonging to the man in the fire. See Hans Jorg Uther, The types of international folktales: a classification and bibliography (3 vols, Helsinki, 2004). This story also contains the motif K634.1 Escape by throwing captor’s clothes on the fire. See Stith Thompson, Motif-index of folk literature (rev. and enlarged ed., 6 vols, Bloomington, Ind., 1955-8). Many Irish examples have been found, distributed all over the country. See Seán Ó Súilleabháin and Rieder Th. Christiansen, The types of the Irish folktale (Helsinki, 1968).

This story is transcribed also in Róise Ní Bhaoill, Ulster Gaelic voices: bailiúchán Doegen 1931 (Belfast, 2010), 162-5.