"The Louse and the Flea" or "Little Louse and Little Flea" () is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, number 30.Jacob and Wilheim Grimm, Household Tales, "The Louse and the Flea"
It is Aarne-Thompson type 2022, An Animal Mourns the Death of a Spouse,D.L. Ashliman, "The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales (Grimms' Fairy Tales)" and takes the form of a chain tale, sometimes known as a cumulative tale. Wilhelm Grimm probably heard the story from Dorothea Catharina Wild in 1808.
Synopsis A louse and a flea are married until the louse drowns while brewing. The flea mourns, inspiring a door to ask why and start creaking, which inspires a broom to ask why and start sweeping—through a sequence of objects until a spring overflows at the news and drowns them all.
Variants In some versions, the louse and the flea are replaced by a ladybird and a fly.Lily Owens, ed. (1981). The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. pp. 129–131. Avenel Books.
References
External links "Mourning the Death of a Spouse:chain tales of Aarne-Thompson type 2022" by D. L. Ashliman