# Circular tale

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Story whose beginning can follow its end

A **circular tale** or a **circular song** is a tale or song that can be repeated endlessly, because the last element of the narrative introduces the repetition of the first one.[1]

An example, called "Circular Tale", from *The Borzoi Book of French Folk Tales* goes as follows:

Three brigands were seated on a stone. The youngest said to the oldest: "Tell us a story, Edward." And Edward began: "Four brigands were seated on a stone. The youngest said to the oldest: 'Tell us a story, Edward'. And Edward began: 'Five brigands were seated on a stone...'"[2]

## Russian annoying tales

[Ivan Bilibin](/source/Ivan_Bilibin): "Once upon a time there lived a tsar, In the tsar's yard there was a stake, On the stake there was [bast](/source/Bast_fibre); Should we start the tale from the beginning?" (It rhymes in Russian)

In Russian folkloristics, circular tales are known as "annoying *[skazka](/source/Skazka)*" (Докучная сказка), named so because it is supposed to annoy the listeners.[3] The best known ones are the song "У попа была собака" ("A Priest Had a Dog") and "Сказка про белого бычка" ("A Tale about the White Calf"). The first one goes as follows: "A priest had a dog. He liked her. She ate a piece of meat, and he killed her. He buried her and put a note 'A priest had a dog. etc...'" The second one is actually is a verbal game with the intention to annoy the listener and is recorded by Russian folklorist [Alexander Afanasyev](/source/Alexander_Afanasyev) in his *[Russian Fairy Tales](/source/Russian_Fairy_Tales)*:

Do you want me to tell you a story about a white calf?" - "Tell me." - "You tell me, and I'll tell you, should I tell you a story about a white calf?" - "Tell me." - "You tell me, and I'll tell you, what will happen to us, and how long will it be! Should I tell you a story about a white calf?"

This continues until one of the two gets bored.[4] The story gave rise to the Russian [idiomatic expression](/source/Idiomatic_expression) ["a tale about the white calf"](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ru:%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%BA%D0%B0_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE_%D0%B1%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE_%D0%B1%D1%8B%D1%87%D0%BA%D0%B0) in reference to endless excuses or endless pointless repetitive discourse.[5][6]

## Circular plot device

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding missing information. (December 2025)

In a story with circular plot, the ending of the story is closely connected to its beginning, i.e., the story makes a full circle.

## Notable examples

- *[If You Give a Mouse a Cookie](/source/If_You_Give_a_Mouse_a_Cookie)*

- "[There's a Hole in My Bucket](/source/There's_a_Hole_in_My_Bucket)"

- "[The Song That Doesn't End](/source/The_Song_That_Doesn't_End)"

- "[Where Have All the Flowers Gone?](/source/Where_Have_All_the_Flowers_Gone%3F)"

## See also

- [Cumulative song](/source/Cumulative_song)

- [Repetitive song](/source/Repetitive_song), a more general type of songs - "[99 Bottles of Beer](/source/99_Bottles_of_Beer)", a "reverse counting" song

- [Repetition (rhetorical device)](/source/Repetition_(rhetorical_device))

- *[Groundhog Day](/source/Groundhog_Day_(film))*

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [circular tale](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/circular%20tale)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** "Circular Tale", In: *The Borzoi Book of French Folk Tales* [p.354](https://archive.org/details/borzoibookoffren00dela/page/354/mode/2up)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Andrei Sinyavsky](/source/Andrei_Sinyavsky), "Иван-дурак. Очерки русской народной веры" [ [Ivan the Fool](/source/Ivan_the_Fool): An Essay on Russian Folk Faith], Agraf, Moscow, 2001

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [s:ru:Народные русские сказки (Афанасьев)/Докучные сказки](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/ru:%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B5_%D1%80%D1%83%D1%81%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%BA%D0%B8_(%D0%90%D1%84%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%B5%D0%B2)/%D0%94%D0%BE%D0%BA%D1%83%D1%87%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B5_%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%BA%D0%B8)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Сказка про белого бычка](https://phraseology.academic.ru/11619/Сказка_про_белого_бычка) In: Фразеологический словарь русского литературного языка. — М.: Астрель, АСТ. А. И. Фёдоров. 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Сказка про белого бычка](https://newslab.ru/article/172672)

## Further reading

- Juan Luis Toribio Vazquez, *Circular Narratives in Modern European Literature*

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Circular tale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_tale) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_tale?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.