How the Whale Got His Throat

E339543

children's story origin story short story

"How the Whale Got His Throat" is one of Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories, a whimsical origin tale explaining how the whale came to have a narrow throat.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
How the Whale Got His Throat canonical	2
How the Whale Got His Throat (Just So Stories)	1
The Whale and the 'Stute Fish (earlier magazine version)	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T3235096 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: How the Whale Got His Throat
Context triple: [The Elephant’s Child, relatedWorkByAuthor, How the Whale Got His Throat]

A. The Whale
The Whale is the distinctive, swooping-roof ice hockey arena at Yale University designed by architect Eero Saarinen.
B. Old Man of the Sea
Old Man of the Sea is a parasitic, mythical figure from the Sinbad tales in One Thousand and One Nights who clings to a victim’s shoulders and forces them to carry him endlessly.
C. The Pearl of Orr's Island
The Pearl of Orr's Island is a 19th-century novel set in coastal Maine that explores themes of morality, community, and Christian faith through the lives of its seafaring characters.
D. The Sea Beast
The Sea Beast is a 1926 silent adventure film loosely based on Herman Melville’s "Moby-Dick," notable for starring John Barrymore in one of his most famous early screen roles.
E. The Sea Beast
The Sea Beast is a 2022 animated adventure film from Netflix about a young girl who stows away on a legendary sea monster hunter’s ship, featuring Karl Urban as the voice of the famed hunter Jacob Holland.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: How the Whale Got His Throat
Target entity description: "How the Whale Got His Throat" is one of Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories, a whimsical origin tale explaining how the whale came to have a narrow throat.

A. The Whale
The Whale is the distinctive, swooping-roof ice hockey arena at Yale University designed by architect Eero Saarinen.
B. Old Man of the Sea
Old Man of the Sea is a parasitic, mythical figure from the Sinbad tales in One Thousand and One Nights who clings to a victim’s shoulders and forces them to carry him endlessly.
C. The Pearl of Orr's Island
The Pearl of Orr's Island is a 19th-century novel set in coastal Maine that explores themes of morality, community, and Christian faith through the lives of its seafaring characters.
D. The Sea Beast
The Sea Beast is a 1926 silent adventure film loosely based on Herman Melville’s "Moby-Dick," notable for starring John Barrymore in one of his most famous early screen roles.
E. The Sea Beast
The Sea Beast is a 2022 animated adventure film from Netflix about a young girl who stows away on a legendary sea monster hunter’s ship, featuring Karl Urban as the voice of the famed hunter Jacob Holland.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	children's story ⓘ origin story ⓘ short story ⓘ
author	Rudyard Kipling ⓘ
belongsToLiteraryTradition	British children's classics ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United Kingdom ⓘ
explains	why whales have narrow throats ⓘ
firstPublishedIn	Just So Stories ⓘ
genre	children's literature ⓘ fantasy ⓘ mythic fiction ⓘ
hasAdaptation	animated adaptations of Just So Stories ⓘ radio adaptations of Just So Stories ⓘ stage adaptations of Just So Stories ⓘ
hasAlternativeTitle	How the Whale Got His Throat (Just So Stories) ⓘ linked to: How the Whale Got His Throat
hasCharacterType	talking animals ⓘ
hasCollectionType	Just So Stories collection ⓘ
hasCulturalImpact	frequently anthologized in children's story collections ⓘ
hasForm	prose ⓘ
hasIllustrationsBy	Rudyard Kipling ⓘ
hasKeyPlotPoint	mariner tricks the Whale with a raft and suspenders ⓘ
hasMoralElement	do not be greedy ⓘ
hasNarrativeFrame	told as a bedtime story to a child listener ⓘ
hasNarrativeStructure	cause-and-effect explanation ⓘ
hasTargetAgeGroup	middle-grade children ⓘ
hasTheme	consequences of greed ⓘ cunning and cleverness ⓘ origins of animal characteristics ⓘ
includedIn	editions of Just So Stories for children ⓘ
intendedAudience	children ⓘ
isFollowedBy	How the Camel Got His Hump ⓘ
isPrecededBy	The Whale and the 'Stute Fish (earlier magazine version) ⓘ linked to: How the Whale Got His Throat
language	English ⓘ
literaryDevice	anthropomorphism ⓘ etiological myth ⓘ
literaryPeriod	Edwardian era ⓘ
mainCharacter	the 'Stute Fish ⓘ the Whale ⓘ the shipwrecked mariner ⓘ
narrativeStyle	third-person narration ⓘ
narrativeTone	humorous ⓘ whimsical ⓘ
partOf	Just So Stories ⓘ
publicationYear	1902 ⓘ
publisher	Macmillan & Co. ⓘ linked to: Macmillan and Co.
resultIn	Whale can only eat small creatures like fish ⓘ
setting	the sea ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

The Elephant’s Child → relatedWorkByAuthor → How the Whale Got His Throat ⓘ

subject linked to: The Elephant’s Child by Rudyard Kipling

Just So Stories → hasPart → How the Whale Got His Throat ⓘ

How the Whale Got His Throat → hasAlternativeTitle → How the Whale Got His Throat (Just So Stories) ⓘ

linked to: How the Whale Got His Throat

How the Whale Got His Throat → isPrecededBy → The Whale and the 'Stute Fish (earlier magazine version) ⓘ