Here is a folktale I told Ash Class - An Apple Dumpling for Supper. We will also be looking at the book - An Apple Pie for Dinner- which is retold from this folktale.
There was once a kind woman who wanted an apple dumpling for supper.
She had plenty of flour, butter, sugar, and spice. But she had no
apples. She had a huge plum tree full of round, red plums, but you
can’t make an apple dumpling out of plums. There is no use trying.
The more the old woman thought about eating a warm, sweet, apple
dumpling, the more she wanted one. She could almost taste it!
“Maybe I can trade my plums for some apples,” she said to herself. She decided to try.
As the woman walked up the road, she came to a garden. The sweet
smell of lilacs, lilies, and roses filled the air. A couple stood in
the garden. They looked angry.
“Can I help?” she asked the couple.
“My husband has eaten all of the berries. I have nothing to make jam out of,” replied the wife.
“I have some tasty plums for your jam,” said the woman. I will trade
them for some apples. I want to make a dumpling for my supper.”
“We have no apples,” replied the wife. “But we can give you a beautiful bunch of flowers.”
And so the woman went on her way, sniffing the colorful flowers she
carried. Soon she came upon a handsome young man. A little dog was
following him. The man looked very worried.
“What’s wrong?” asked the woman.
“I’m on my way to see my lady, but I have no gift to give her,” the young man said.
“Here, take her these pretty flowers,” the woman told him.
“You are very kind,” said the young man. “These will make her very
happy. Will you take this little dog in return for the flowers? He’s
been following me. I think he’s lost.”
The woman could hardly say no. So on she went with the little dog in
her basket. As she walked along, she chuckled to herself, “A bunch of
flowers for a basket of plums; a little dog for a bunch of flowers.
This is a funny world of give and take. I might just get my apple
dumpling yet.”
Sure enough, she had not gone far when she saw a tree full of red, ripe apples. A sad little man sat on the porch next to it.
“That’s a fine tree of apples,” the woman called to him.
“Yes, but they are no good to me. I sit here alone every day. I
would give them all for a little dog to keep me company,” the old man
said, frowning.
Just then, the little dog began to bark. He jumped out of the basket
and ran to the old man. “He seems to like you,” the woman told him.
“Perhaps he could keep you company.” The old man laughed. He told the
woman to pick all the apples she wanted. Soon she was on her way home.
Her basket was heavy with apples.
“If you try long enough and hard enough, you can always have an apple
dumpling for supper,” the woman said as she patted her full belly. She
smiled as she wiped the crumbs from her mouth. “Whatever will I do with
the leftovers? Hmm…perhaps I can trade them…”
