Why Do Pigs Have Curly Tails?

Long ago, when pigs had their own kingdom and didn’t just roll in mud and dirt, their tails were as straight as an arrow. They even had their own king and queen, whom they just adored and respected. It so happens, in the pig world, the she-pig births many piglets at the same time, so the next king has to be chosen by a challenging competition. The Queen gave birth to four piglets. The four pigs were given royal training and they all grew up to be strong, robust and charming.

Now, the time to choose the next pig-king had come. A challenge was set up, where they had to carry heavy loads, tied to an iron rod, across a muddy ditch. The first one to reach would be the next Pig-king. The Pig-princes arrived and flexed their muscles as the crowd cheered on.

The race began. The ditch was slippery and the loads were too heavy to pull. One tried to balance it on his back, but failed. One held the rod in his mouth, but when he tried to pull it, his tooth came off. One tried to hold it with his fore-limbs, and did a human-walk, but he toppled and rolled down the ditch but the loads were left behind. One of the smarty Pig-prince, curled his tail around the iron rod, firmly and ran with mighty speed across the ditch. He looked like a witch flying on her broomstick, but an enormously heavy broomstick.

Thus this Pig-prince won the race, and the crown, but his tail remained curled forever. He tried what not, to straighten his tail! He kept it pressed straight under heavy loads all night, he tried various potions and ointments given by the best Pig-doctors, but nothing helped. The tail always curled up. To avoid embarrassment to their king all the pigs in the kingdom, curled their tails. As soon as a piglet was born, the Pig-parents or grand pig-parents would take the frail piglet’s tender tail and curl it around an iron rod and press it gently but firmly. And thus, the pigs have these cute, little, curly tails!