"Well...I'm not much of a story-teller, but I suppose I could tell ye the one about how the Wolf lost his tail." There's a distant look in Jamie's eyes as he thinks back to how the story begins.
"One day," he says, "The wolf and the fox were out together, and they stole a dish of crowdie. Now the wolf was the biggest beast of the two, and he had a long tail like a greyhound, and great teeth." Here he crooks his fingers to try and make them look like fearsome fangs.
"The fox was afraid of him, and did not dare to say a word when the wolf ate the most of the crowdie, and left only a little at the bottom of the dish for him, but he determined to punish him for it; so the next night when they were out together the fox said—" He clears his throat and adjusts his tone slightly so the fox sounds different than the narrator.
"'I smell a very nice cheese, and' (pointing to the moonshine on the ice) 'there it is too.'" Jamie gestures during the line about pointing, trying to indicate that the fox is referring to moonlight reflecting on the ice.
He changes his voice again, making it slightly gruffer and deeper. "'And how will you get it?' said the wolf. 'Well, stop you here till I see if the farmer is asleep, and if you keep your tail on it, nobody will see you or know that it is there. Keep it steady. I may be some time coming back.'"
Jamie seems to be getting into the story more as he continues to speak. "So the wolf lay down and laid his tail on the moonshine in the ice, and kept it for an hour till it was fast. Then the fox, who had been watching him, ran in to the farmer and said: 'The wolf is there; he will eat up the children, — the wolf! the wolf!'"
Finally, the story comes to its end. "Then the farmer and his wife came out with sticks to kill the wolf, but the wolf ran off leaving his tail behind him, and that’s why the wolf is stumpy-tailed to this day, though the fox has a long brush."
Jamie looks at Nanoha and adds, "I know the wolf isn't really stumpy-tailed, but ye can't really change that and still have it work in the story."
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"One day," he says, "The wolf and the fox were out together, and they stole a dish of crowdie. Now the wolf was the biggest beast of the two, and he had a long tail like a greyhound, and great teeth." Here he crooks his fingers to try and make them look like fearsome fangs.
"The fox was afraid of him, and did not dare to say a word when the wolf ate the most of the crowdie, and left only a little at the bottom of the dish for him, but he determined to punish him for it; so the next night when they were out together the fox said—" He clears his throat and adjusts his tone slightly so the fox sounds different than the narrator.
"'I smell a very nice cheese, and' (pointing to the moonshine on the ice) 'there it is too.'" Jamie gestures during the line about pointing, trying to indicate that the fox is referring to moonlight reflecting on the ice.
He changes his voice again, making it slightly gruffer and deeper. "'And how will you get it?' said the wolf. 'Well, stop you here till I see if the farmer is asleep, and if you keep your tail on it, nobody will see you or know that it is there. Keep it steady. I may be some time coming back.'"
Jamie seems to be getting into the story more as he continues to speak. "So the wolf lay down and laid his tail on the moonshine in the ice, and kept it for an hour till it was fast. Then the fox, who had been watching him, ran in to the farmer and said: 'The wolf is there; he will eat up the children, — the wolf! the wolf!'"
Finally, the story comes to its end. "Then the farmer and his wife came out with sticks to kill the wolf, but the wolf ran off leaving his tail behind him, and that’s why the wolf is stumpy-tailed to this day, though the fox has a long brush."
Jamie looks at Nanoha and adds, "I know the wolf isn't really stumpy-tailed, but ye can't really change that and still have it work in the story."
[OOC Footnote: Original located here.]