| Folk Tale Name: | The Louse and the Flea |
| Aarne-Thompson Grouping: | ATU 2022 (An Animal Mourns the Death of a Spouse) |
| Aka: | Little Louse and Little Flea |
| Country: | Germany |
| Published In: | Grimms' Fairy Tales |
"The Louse and the Flea" or "Little Louse and Little Flea" (de|Läuschen und Flöhchen) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, number 30.[1]
It is Aarne-Thompson type 2022, An Animal Mourns the Death of a Spouse,[2] and takes the form of a chain tale, sometimes known as a cumulative tale. Wilhelm Grimm probably heard the story from Dorothea Catharina Wild in 1808.
A louse and a flea are married until the louse drowns while brewing. The flea mourns, inspiring a door to ask why and start creaking, which inspires a broom to ask why and start sweeping—through a sequence of objects until a spring overflows at the news and drowns them all.
In some versions the louse and the flea are replaced by a ladybird and a fly.[3]