And so the brother jumped on the wolf ’s back and the wolf rode through the forest till they came to a riverbank. On the other side of the river was a herd of horses in a pasture. One of the horses had a white mane.

The brother walked over to a youth who was sitting on a stone.

‘May I have that horse with the white mane?’ he asked the youth. ‘I have three coins.’

‘You may,’ replied the youth, ‘but keep your coins. In exchange I want a silver bird.’

‘Where do I find a silver bird?’ the brother asked sadly upon returning to the wolf.

The wolf said, ‘Jump on my back.’

And so the brother jumped on the wolf ’s back, and the wolf ran along the riverbank till they came to the seashore. A large sailing ship was floating in the harbour.

‘The captain of that ship has a silver bird,’ the wolf said.

The brother walked to the ship. ‘May I have a silver bird?’ the brother asked. ‘I’ve only got three coins.’

The captain laughed at the boy’s money. ‘You can buy a silver bird all right, but by way of payment, I want a rope that will never break.’

And again the brother went back to the wolf.

‘Where do I find such a rope?’

‘Jump on my back,’ the wolf said.

And so the brother jumped on the wolf ’s back again, and the wolf ran along the coast to the next town, and then the next one, and there it stopped in front of a red-brick factory.

‘They make eternal ropes in this factory,’ the wolf said.

The brother went inside the factory and saw that it was just one enormous, long hall with ropes of differing thickness running from one end to the other. Huge winches twisted the ropes, under the surveillance of a fox dressed in trousers and a waistcoat.

The brother went up to the fox.

‘I’d like to buy an eternal rope. But I’ve only got three coins.’

‘That could work. But in return I want a stone that has been brought down from the moon,’ the fox replied.

And so on. I’m not sure at what point I realized Mum’s story was going round in a circle, but I went on listening for a bit even after the rope factory – the stone that came from the moon belonged to a professor who wanted the world’s wisest book in payment; the book was found in the attic of a librarian, who in payment wanted a blue jewel, which was found at a baker’s. The baker wanted llama’s milk in payment – but then both Mum and I got fed up, and I said, ‘Let’s stop now.’

And Mum replied, ‘Next instalment tomorrow.’

‘I don’t want to hear you telling all that backwards,’ I sighed.