Not all is as it seems -- Storytelling, Week 1

TAFFY was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief;

Taffy came to my house and stole a piece of beef:

I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was not at home;

Taffy came to my house and stole a marrow-bone.

I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was not in;

Taffy came to my house and stole a silver pin:

I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was in bed,

I took up a poker and flung it at his head.

It was very well known in town that Taffy was a Welshman, he flaunted the information to anyone who would listen, however what everyone did not know was that Taffy was also a thief.  I found this out the first time I invited him over for tea.  For when he had gone I was missing a piece of beef!  Therefore I went to his home to accuse him but he wasn’t there! The wretched man!

(tea party)

 So in an effort to catch him in the act, I invited him again for tea.  I thought perhaps he hadn’t stolen anything this time because I didn’t catch him, but later I found that he had stolen a marrowbone! The odacity!

So again I went to his home and again the man was not home! I began to wonder if it was even his home!

So in an attempt to catch him a third time I invited him over for dinner, and again the buffoon stole from me, this time a silver pin!

So I went to his home again and this time I finally found him, however he was already in bed! So I took up a hot poker from the hearth and flung it at him.

(photo found on Napoleoxnfireplaces.com)

….

Three days later they found me, babbling on and on about some Welshman named Taffy, everyone assumed it was this man that had found me in my bed and flung a poker at my head!

AUTHORS NOTE:

TAFFY was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief;

Taffy came to my house and stole a piece of beef:

I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was not at home;

Taffy came to my house and stole a marrow-bone.

I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was not in;

Taffy came to my house and stole a silver pin:

I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was in bed,

I took up a poker and flung it at his head.

This story used the nursery rime "Taffy the Welshman" as it's focus, using the twist that Taffy was actually part of the main characters dual personality in the end.  As can be seen by the end of the story, all the antics of Taffy were actually the antics of the main character himself, he stole the piece of beef, he stole his own marrowbone, and he stole his own silver pin.  Turning a simple nursery rhyme into a twisted story and of course I wanted to give a hint with the title "Not all is as it seems".

Book: The Nursery Rhime Book

Author: Unknown

Edited: Andrew Lang

Year Published: 2008

Web Source: Project Gutenberg