Whatever happened to Chicken Little?


Chicken Little ranks up there among the best known prophets of doom. Numerous versions of her story appear on the web. In some of these an acorn falling on her head causes her to fear that the sky is falling, in others it's a pebble that drops from a roof. In one version I've found "something" falls on her head. That is, I suppose, as good as anything else for getting the story rolling, though it is rather non-descript.

But I'm not that concerned with the catalyst of the story. It's the ending that attracts me. Did Foxy Loxy eat Chicken Little, or did she succeed, either by luck or in some other way, in avoiding that fate? Some versions tell us that a voice called out, telling her to run just as Foxy Loxy was about to eat her. Other versions attach that voice to one of the other animals, altruistically saving Chicken Little with his or her last breath, even though his or her own fate is already sealed. Although this is apparently originally a children's story, still other versions end in tragedy, with Chicken Little inside Foxy Loxy's stomach. One version, listed as "A Bulrovian fairy tale", Chicken Little is saved via a rather novel ending:
And just as he [Foxy Loxy] was about to lead them into his den to eat them...
...the sky fell on him.
And since, in this version, the sky has fully fallen, Chicken Little doesn't have to continue on to the king. She can simple go back home.



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