Asklemmy

My grandpa would tell this one:

There once was a man who lived all by himself way out in the woods. He lived in a small log cabin with just one room, and that room served as his kitchen, dining room, parlor, and his bedroom too. This man owned three great big hunting dogs. One was called You-Know, one was called Eye-Know, and the third was called Cumptico-Calico.

One winter night the man had run out of food and had to go to bed without supper. Just as he was starting to drift off to sleep, he snapped his eyes open at a noise. He looked around and there in the cabin with him was the curiousest creature that you ever did see. It has two little pointed ears, and two great big red eyes, and it had a great big long tail. The man snatched up his hatchet and swung at the creature, chopping off it's tail. The creature shrieked and fled back out into the wilderness.

The man cooked and ete the tail for his supper and then went back to bed.

An hour or so later the man wakes with a start. Way out in the distance he hears something call out, "taily-po! Taily-po! All I want's my taily-po!" The man called out to his dogs, and they came barrelling around the side of the cabin and chased the whatever-it-was far away from the cabin. Only two of the dogs came back.

Later that night, the man awoke again. Something called out, "taily-po! Taily-po! All I want's my taily-po!", only from nearer than before. The man called out to his dogs again, and the two dogs crashed across the meadow chasing the whatever-it-was even farther away than before. But this time only one dog came back.

In the deep, dark hours of morning, the man woke again. And from just outside his front door he heard the whatever-it-was demanding again: "Taily-Po! Taily-Po! All I want's my taily-po!" The man called out to his last dog, who chased the whatever-it-was for miles and miles and never came back.

Just before daylight the man woke once again. He didn't hear anything, but when he looked down at the foot of his bed he could see two little pointed ears. And after a moment two big, red, fiery eyes were looking at him. Slowly the whatever-it-was crept up the foot of his bed until it was right on top of him. And in a low voice it said, "taily-po. Taily-po. All I want's my taily-po."

The man found his voice and screamed, "I ain't got your taily-po!"

But the whatever-it-was replied, "yes, you has!" And it jumped on the man and scratched him all to pieces!

Some say it got its taily-po back; some say it didn't. But when the moon shines bright and the wind blows down the valley, you can sometimes hear a voice cry out, "taily-po!"