When Chelm community leader, Gronam Ox, is given a live carp in honour
of his great wisdom, he is delighted. He knows, of course, that eating
the brain of a carp increases wisdom and that the size of the tail is
indicative of the size of the brain. But when the carp uses that very
tail to slap him across the face - in what can only have been a
deliberate act - Gronam Ox is shocked. Surely no Chelm carp would have
behaved in such an appalling manner. There is nothing else for it; the
carp must be punished.
While Gronam Ox ponders the most fitting punishment, the carp is fed and
looked after in a large tub of water stationed in the town centre. It is
essential that the carp survives until the day of judgement but Gronam
Ox's deliberations are taking quite some time. The carp grows fatter and
fatter until finally, many months later, Gronam Ox arrives at an apt
sentence - one so clever that all the people of Chelm flock to see it
exacted. The carp must be drowned.
Written for children by the master storyteller, and former Nobel
Laureate, Isaac Bashevis Singer, this classic Yiddish folktale is
infused with his signature humour, warmth and wisdom. This beautifully
illustrated new publication will bring the famously foolish people of
Chelm to life for a new generation of children.
