Little Muck

Wilhelm Hauff

As a child, Muley knew a small outsider called Little Muck, who also lived in his home town Nicea in Turkey. Little Muck lived alone in a house, which he rarely left. Due to his misshapen figure and his unsuitable clothing Muley and his friends always made fun of him. One day, they were extremely mean to him. Thereupon Muley's father gave him 50 blows with a pipe stem. After the first 25 blows he told him the following story: Muck's father Mukrah was a well-respected, but poor man, who lived as lonely as his son. He was ashamed of Muck's misshapen figure and therefore he did not allow him any kind of education. When Mukrah died, his relatives inherited everything, as he owed them a lot of money. Muck only got a suit with wide trousers, a wide belt, a coat, a turban and a knife. His father was tall and thus Little Muck cut off the legs and sleeves of the wide trousers without changing the width. Afterwards he left his home town to seek his fortune. Shortly afterwards Muck found an accommodation and a new job in another town: he had to take care of the cats and dogs of a mysterious woman called Miss Ahavzi. One day Muck entered a forbidden room in Miss Ahavzi's house and accidentally destroyed an expensive bowl. He took two items of this room and decided to flee, as he did not get his wages and was often punished for no reason. These two items had, as it turned out, magical powers: With the pair of slippers, he could not only walk faster than any other person, but also fly to any place he wanted. And the walking stick showed him buried treasures. ©&℗ IE Vorobev V.A.; ©&℗ Publishing House Soyuz