Once there was a little girl called Macy. Macy was an orphan, and she was raised by an old couple. Whether they were old relatives of hers, or just some neighbours who had taken her in, I do not know. All I know is that Macy lived with the old couple, and her faithful dog, Little Dog Turpie, in a house made of hemp stalks at the edge of a dark, dark forest.
Now deep in the forest lived the Hobyahs. The Hobyahs were strange, lizard-like creatures with dark fur and a skull for a head. They had claws and sharp teeth and tails half as long as themselves. They slept during the day, but at night they crept through the woods and caused trouble wherever they pleased.
One night, the Hobyahs came to the hemp-stalk house and whispered:
“Hobyah! Hobyah! Hobyah! Tear down the hemp stalks, Eat up the old man and old woman, And carry off the little girl!”
But Little Dog Turpie heard the Hobyahs coming. He barked and barked and barked, till the Hobyahs were scared and ran off.
The old man heard Little Dog Turpie barking. He said: “Little Dog Turpie barks so that I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off his tail.”
Though Macy begged him, “Please don’t hurt dear Turpie,” the old man cut off Little Dog Turpie’s tail in the morning. Then Macy wrapped his tail in a blanket, hid the blanket under a tree, and went back to comfort poor old Turpie.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and whispered:
“Hobyah! Hobyah! Hobyah! Tear down the hemp stalks, Eat up the old man and old woman, And carry off the little girl!”
But Little Dog Turpie heard the Hobyahs coming. He barked and barked and barked, till the Hobyahs were scared and ran off.
The old woman heard Little Dog Turpie barking. She said: “Little Dog Turpie barks so that I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off one of his legs.”
So in the morning, ignoring Macy’s tears, the old woman cut off one of Little Dog Turpie’s legs. Then Macy wrapped his leg in the blanket alongside his tail, hid the blanket under a tree, and went back to comfort poor old Turpie.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and whispered:
“Hobyah! Hobyah! Hobyah! Tear down the hemp stalks, Eat up the old man and old woman, And carry off the little girl!”
But Little Dog Turpie heard the Hobyahs coming. He barked and barked and barked, till the Hobyahs were scared and ran off.
The old man heard Little Dog Turpie barking. He said: “That wretched Turpie barks so that I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off another of his legs.”
Macy begged the old man to show mercy, but he would have none of it. So in the morning, the old man cut off another of Little Dog Turpie’s legs. Then Macy wrapped his leg in the blanket alongside his tail and other leg, hid the blanket under the tree, and went back to comfort poor old Turpie.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and whispered:
“Hobyah! Hobyah! Hobyah! Tear down the hemp stalks, Eat up the old man and old woman, And carry off the little girl!”
But Little Dog Turpie heard the Hobyahs coming. He barked and barked and barked, till the Hobyahs were scared and ran off.
The old woman heard Little Dog Turpie barking. She said: “Little Dog Turpie barks so much that I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off another of his legs.”
“Please don’t hurt dear Turpie,” Macy pleaded, but the old couple told her to stand aside. In the morning, the old woman cut off another of Little Dog Turpie’s legs. Then Macy wrapped his leg in the blanket alongside his tail and two other legs, hid the blanket under the tree, and went back to comfort poor old Turpie.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and whispered:
“Hobyah! Hobyah! Hobyah! Tear down the hemp stalks, Eat up the old man and old woman, And carry off the little girl!”
But Little Dog Turpie heard the Hobyahs coming. He barked and barked and barked, till the Hobyahs were scared and ran off.
The old woman heard Little Dog Turpie barking. She said: “That wretched dog barks so much that I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off another of his legs.”
Macy begged and pleaded for the old couple to change their mind, but to no avail. So in the morning, the old woman cut off the last of Little Dog Turpie’s legs. Then Macy wrapped his leg in the blanket alongside his tail and three other legs, hid the blanket under the tree, and went back to comfort poor old Turpie.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and whispered:
“Hobyah! Hobyah! Hobyah! Tear down the hemp stalks, Eat up the old man and old woman, And carry off the little girl!”
But Little Dog Turpie heard the Hobyahs coming. He barked and barked and barked, till the Hobyahs were scared and ran off.
The old man heard Little Dog Turpie barking. He said: “Little Dog Turpie barks so much that I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off his head.”
No amount of tears and pleas from Macy would change the old couple’s mind. So in the morning, the old man cut off Little Dog Turpie’s head. Then Macy wrapped his head and body in the blanket alongside his tail and legs, hid the blanket under the tree, and wept bitterly for poor old Turpie.
Now the old couple and Macy were all alone in the hemp-stalk house at the edge of the dark, dark forest.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and whispered:
“Hobyah! Hobyah! Hobyah! Tear down the hemp stalks, Eat up the old man and old woman, And carry off the little girl!”
When the Hobyahs found that Little Dog Turpie was no more, they tore down the hemp-stalk house, ate up the old man and old woman, and carried Macy off in a bag.
Now, when the Hobyahs came to their home — which was a vary nasty cave in the heart of the forest — they hung up the bag with poor Macy inside it. The Hobyahs gathered around the bag and they each pulled at the top of it crying, “Look at me! Look at me!” Then, because dawn was coming and they slept in the daytime, the Hobyahs went to sleep.
Oh, how much did poor Macy cry! But try as she might, she could not free herself from the bag.
Then a miracle happened. I do not know how, but, at the sound of Macy’s crying, all of Turpy’s severed limbs — tail, legs and head — reattached themselves to his body, and Little Dog Turpie came back to life. He sprang from the blanket under the tree and ran to the cave. He chewed a hole in the side of the bag, and Macy crawled out. Then the faithful dog hid in the bag, while Macy waited outside the Hobyahs’ cave to see what will happen.
That night, the Hobyahs woke and gathered around the bag. They each pulled at the top of the bag and cried, “Look at me! Look at me!”
But when they opened the bag… Little Dog Turpie jumped out and gobbled them all up. And that was the end of the Hobyahs.
Macy ran to Turpie’s side and hugged him tightly. Turpie licked May’s cheek in delight. Then, all of a sudden, Little Dog Turpie vanished! Macy ran to the tree, spread out the blanket and saw that Little Dog Turpie’s severed limbs and body lay exactly where she had last put them.
Well, what was Macy supposed to say to that? She was just grateful that Little Dog Trupie had saved her and that she got to see him one last time. So she buried him and went on her way — where exactly, I do not know. But wherever she had gone, she is now safe and contended.
Author’s Note:
I discovered this story in the appropriately titled 50 Scary Fairy Tales, published by Miles Kelly. It included Joseph Jacobs’ rendition from More English Fairy Tales, which was based on a Scottish folk tale recorded by S.V. Proudfit from the American Folk-Lore Journal. It is unknown where the story first originated, though some have speculated that it may have come from Scotland, and from there it travelled to America, England and Australia.
Robert D. San Souci speculates that the story may have been derived from “the traditional European folktale of the faithful watchdog who saves his master's child from a wolf, but is mistakenly accused of harming the child. The dog is put to death before the child he has saved is found safe in hiding.”
“The Hobyahs” is one example of “chain” stories, which rely on repetition and rhythmic text for the plot to progress. They are generally aimed at children, and are often designated as “nursery tales”. And while some “chain” stories — like “Henny Penny” and “The Old Woman and her Pig” — might raise the eyebrows of some adults due to their occasional violence, this one might just be the most brutal of the lot.
Nevertheless, the story has been retold in some picture books for children, and it has even been referenced in the Australian film Celia (1989). Because of its status as a “chain” story, the aforementioned picture books have toned down or removed the violence from the original. Robert D. San Souci’s version replaces one dog with five, and they are each chased out rather than have their limbs severed. As Souci explained: “This change also allowed me to have the dogs rescue the little girl, rather than rely on the unexpected appearance of a hunter and his dog to set things right,” as it happens in Jacobs’s version.
And in the version by Brenda Parks and Judith Smith, Turpie is not maimed but first shut in a barrel and then tied up in a sack. Later he manages to wriggle himself free from the sack and rescue the old couple, who are not eaten by the Hobyahs. The Hobyahs are also described as slimy alien creatures, who “put the little girl in their Hobyah machine.”
For my retelling, I consulted the versions by Joseph Jacobs and Robert D. San Souci. I kept the violence intact, because similarly to “The Robber Bridegroom”, its “appeal”, so to speak, lies in how appallingly violent it can get. To try to tone down these elements would be to dilute the story’s impact and intended purpose. So I chose instead to emphasise certain aspects in the narrative while maintaining the tone and style of the original.
Bibliography
Ashliman, D. L. “Glossary: Chain Tales.” Folk and Fairy Tales: A Guidebook. Greenwood Press, 2004.
Jacobs, Joseph. “The Hobyahs.” More English Fairy Tales. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1894.
Parker, Vic, comp. 50 Scary Fairy Tales. Miles Kelly Publishing Ltd., 2011.
Parkes, Brenda and Justin Smith. The Hobyahs. Rigby Education, 1987.
Souci, Robert D. San. The Hobyahs. Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1994.