"The Unicorn in the Garden" is a short story written by James Thurber. One of the most famous of Thurber's humorous modern fables, it first appeared in The New Yorker on October 21, 1939; and was first collected in his book Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated (Harper and Brothers, 1940). The fable has since been reprinted in The Thurber Carnival (Harper and Brothers, 1945), James Thurber: Writings and Drawings (The Library of America, 1996, ), The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales, and other publications. It is taught in literature and rhetoric courses. Plot summary A husband sees a unicorn in the family garden and tells his wife about it. She ridicules him, telling him "the unicorn is a mythical beast" and calls him a "booby". When he persists, she threatens to send him to the "booby hatch" (the mental institution). He persists, and she summons the authorities. However, after she tells them what her husband saw and they note her own somewhat loony-looking facial features, they force her into a straitjacket. They then ask the husband if he told his wife he had seen a unicorn. Not wanting to be locked up himself, he prudently tells them that he has not, because "the unicorn is a mythical beast." Thus they take the wife away instead, and "the husband lived happily ever after". The story ends with, "Moral: Don't count your boobies before they're hatched", a play on the popular adage, "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched". Thus, the moral advises not to expect one's hopes to be a certainty. In popular culture Adaptations An animated version of the story was released by United Productions of America in 1953. The cartoon was directed by William Hurtz, and was originally intended to be part of a feature based on Thurber's work, to be called Men, Women and Dogs. In 1994, it was voted #48 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field. The fable was also adapted to the stage as part of the 1960 revue A Thurber Carnival. The original cast for this portion of the stage production was as follows: Paul Ford - Man Alice Ghostley - She John McGiver - Psychiatrist Peter Turgeon - Narrator Charles Braswell - Policeman The fable was animated again as part of the My World and Welcome to It episode "The Night the