Who Has Lost His Tail?

I’m sure you guys who have played Mother 1 know about the riddle:

“Who has lost his tail? The forgotten one on the ship that sails the cosmos.”

So, what do you think it means? Some people speculate that it is a reference to George, who was on Giegue’s races’ ship as it sailed through the cosmos. But I think this might actually be symbolic of Giegue, in a way. It’s a little far fetched, but think about this:

In upright mammals, like monkeys, the tail not only acts as a “pseudo-limb,” but is also a body part that provides balance. As we know from Giegue’s sprite, he is also an upright being who has a tail. Perhaps Giegue is the one who lost his tail, in other words, his balance— his sanity. This could be a result of the emotional distress that Maria’s song caused him; maybe it caused him to act irrationally. These irrational actions also may have been how Maria ended up locked in Magicant.

And now, “the forgotten one on the ship that sails the cosmos.” If you think about it, Giegue is just as much a “forgotten one” as George is, from Maria’s perspective. Maria’s scattered memories not only led to her forgetting about George, but Giegue as well. Hence, Giegue is also “the forgotten one on the ship that sails the cosmos.” Plus, it would make a lot a sense that a symbol for Giegue would be the key into Maria’s Magicant, since Giegue is such a loved one of Maria’s.

So, I would translate the riddle as this:

“Who has lost his sanity? Giegue has!”