The Tom-Tit and the Bear

"Willow Wren and Bear"
Irmeli Holmberg

The Tale

A wolf and a bear walking in the forest hear a bird singing a sweet tune. The wolf tells the bear that the singer is none other than the king of birds. The tale points out that the bird is a tom-tit, a small bird, not your usual stereotypical kingly creature. The bear then wishes to see the “royal palace” (aka, the nest), but the wolf warns him to wait first until the “queen” comes home and then until “their majesties” leave. The two animals mark the place and leave, but the bear doesn't wait for the wolf and returns early on his own. When he sees that the nest, filled with five or six young birds, is very very far from being a magnificent royal palace, calls the nestlings “base born brats”. The young tomtits get very insulted from this and tell the bear that he will pay for his insolence. Then they refuse to eat until their parents punish the bear. The king tom-tit goes and declares war on the bear.

"The Willow Wren and the Bear"
Liz Synalovski

Two armies start to form. Each side gathers it's allies. The bear collects the “beasts of the earth” while the tom-tit calls every flying creature, be it bird or insect, to its side. A gnat goes to spy on the beasts, and discovers that the fox has been placed in command of the army because of his intelligence. The beasts decide on a signal- when the fox raises his tail, they will fight, and when he lowers it, they will flee because they stand no chance (Could this be a bible reference? When Moses held his arms up, the Israelites were stronger, and when he lowered them, the Amalekites were stronger (Exodus 17)).

When the day of the battle comes, the flying creatures use their knowledge of the enemy's plan and defeat the beasts without spilling a single drop of blood. Hornets merely sting the fox's tail until he can no longer hold it up and the beasts flee, thinking they have lost. The nestlings however still refuse to eat until the bear apologizes, so the king goes to the bear and threatens to break every bone in his wretched body. The bear goes to apologize and the tom-tit nestlings eat once again.

Discussion Points

This is quite a pacifist tale in my opinion. I would even call it the political satire of fairy tales. This story has so much to say about war; how pointlessly stupid it is, how it has everything to do with pride and nothing to do with values and how smart beats brute strength any day.

It is also a “David vs Goliath” style tale about defeating the odds, where the weaker creatures use their strengths in order to beat the big bad and powerful beasts.

"North Island Tomtit"
Buller, Walter Lawry

The tom-tit: It is unclear if the tom-tit is really a king or not. The language of the tale seems to imply he is not; “now I should tell you that this bird was after all no other than the tom-tit”, but later on, the tom-tit is referred to as “king” and the nestlings definitely act liked spoiled royal brats. The king also uses very high language when threatening the bear (thou, hast, thee, thine, deservest, etc.). So is the tom-tit a king or not? The nestlings refer to their parents as “good, honest people” and all they do, they do in the name of their bratty children. Does this give them the standing of royalty in a fairy tale? After all, common boys and girls become royalty in many other tales due to their virtue and pureness of heart. Maybe this is something of the same sort.

The war: The war begins due to a link of events:

1. The bear is curious about the “royal” tom-tits.
2. The bear discovers they are not magnificent royals and says so to the nestlings.
3. The nestlings get insulted and swear vengeance, forcing their parents to comply by threatening not to eat.
4. The king tom-tit declares war on the bear.
5. The bear gathers an army.
6. The tom-tit gathers an army.

Both sides are clearly to blame. Let's forget the bear's curiosity fault for a moment. He had every right to be curious. I am a “curiosity killed the cat, but the satisfaction brought it back” sort of person, so I do find it hard to fault curiosity, even though this tale does so to some extent. But I think the problem arose when he didn't wait like the wolf advised, but instead acted on impulse. It truly began when the bear forgot to be diplomatic. Then the nestlings, instead of ignoring what the bear says, take the insult to heart and act upon it in the only way they could. Their parents, instead of parenting their children correctly, act on their whim and declare the war. The bear then prepares himself in self defense, but does so in an offensive way, by building an army. Suddenly we have a full scale war that started from nothing more than a mistake and over-proud nestlings that slowly snowballed into a battle. In a way, everything also started from the wolf, who got the bear interested in the nest in the first place. The wolf then vanishes and doesn't reappear to help during the war. He, in a behind the scenes sort of way, starts the whole battle but isn't there to suffer the consequences of his actions.

"The Willow-Wren and the Bear"
Florence Snowball

 The war perhaps wasn't bloody, but there was so much effort put into nothing, and that's what makes it in my mind a tale against war. It may be less about the death toll in a war, but it is definitely about the pointless gatherings of allies, futile planning and plotting, stupid reasons that start it all and the overall idiocy of those who go into so much effort to prove a point. That being said, the tom-tits do win in the end, but one can't help feeling sorry for the bear, who really did only make a foolish mistake. This is why I don't like seeing this tale as a “small beats the big” sort of tale, because I find myself more on the bear's side than on the nestlings'.

What do you think the tale is more about?

The moral: There are quite a few of them here. Even the lowliest of beings can take insult and make you suffer for it. There's no need to say everything that comes to mind, because tact can sometimes be very very important. Small issues can turn into big battles. Small can defeat big and powerful (who would have thought that a bunch of birds and insects could beat the great big beasts of the forest?). Don't turn private matters into public ones. Don't underestimate anyone. Use your strengths and you can defeat even the most powerful beasts. Don't put all your trust in one person (such as the fox and his tail).