Storiesss 1

The Little Purse with two Half-pennies
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There was once an old man and an old woman. The old woman had a hen and the
old man had a rooster; the old woman's hen laid two eggs a day, but she would not
give the old man a single one. One day the old man lost patience and said: "Listen,
old crony, you live as if you were in clover, give me a couple of eggs so that I can at
least have a taste of them."
"No indeed!" replied the old woman, who was very avaricious. "If you want eggs, beat
your rooster that he may lay eggs for you, and then eat them; I flogged my hen, and
just see how she lays now."
The old man listened to the old woman's talk, angrily seized his rooster, gave him a
sound thrashing and said:
"There, now, lay some eggs for me or else go out of the house, I won't feed you for
nothing any longer."
As soon as the rooster escaped from the old man's hands it ran off down
the high-road. While thus pursuing its way, lo and behold! it found a little
purse with two half-pennies. Taking it in its beak, the bird turned and went
back toward the old man's house. On the road it met a carriage
containing a gentleman. The gentleman looked at the rooster, saw a
purse in its bill, and said to the driver:
"Get down and see what this rooster has in its beak."

The driver hastily jumped from his box, took the little purse
from the rooster's bill, and gave it to his master. The
gentleman put it in his pocket and drove on. The rooster was
very angry and ran after the carriage, repeating continually:
"Kikeriki, sir, Kikerikak,
To me the little purse give back."
The enraged gentleman said to the coachman as they passed
a well:
"Take that impudent rooster and throw it into the well."
The driver got down from his box again, seized the rooster,
and flung it down the well. When the rooster saw that its life
was in such great danger, what was it to do?
It began to swallow the water, and drank and drank till it had
swallowed all the water in the well. Then it flew out and again
ran after the carriage, calling:
When the gentleman saw this, he was perfectly amazed and said:
"Hoho! This rooster is a perfect imp of Satan! Never mind! I'll wring
your neck, you saucy cockerel!" When he reached home he told the
cook to take the rooster and throw it on the coals burning upon the
hearth. The woman did what her master bade her.

When the rooster saw this new injustice, it began to spit out the water it had
swallowed till it had poured all the water from the well upon the burning coals.
This put out the fire and cooled the hearth. Then the rooster came out safe and
sound, ran to the gentleman's window, and began to knock on the panes with
its bill, screaming:
"Heaven knows that I've got a torment in this monster of a rooster," said the
gentleman. "Driver, rid me of it, toss it into the middle of the herds of cows and
oxen; perhaps some bull will stick its horns through it and relieve us." The
coachman seized the rooster and flung it among the herds.
You ought to have seen the rooster's delight. It swallowed bulls, oxen, cows,
and calves, till it had devoured the whole herd and its stomach had grown as
big as a mountain. Then it went to the window again, spread out its wings
before the sun so that it darkened the gentleman's room, and once more
began:
When the gentleman saw this he was ready to burst with rage and did not
know what to do to get rid of the rooster. He stood thinking till at last an idea
entered his head:
"I'll lock it up in the treasure-chamber. Perhaps if it tries to swallow the ducats
one will stick in its throat, and I shall get rid of the bird." No sooner said than
done. He grasped the rooster and flung it into the treasure-chamber.
The rooster swallowed all the money and left the chests empty. Then it escaped from the room, went to the gentleman's
window, and again began:

As the gentleman saw that there was nothing else to be done he tossed
the purse out. The rooster picked it up, went about its own business, and
left the gentleman in peace. All the poultry ran after the rooster so that it
really looked like a wedding; but the gentleman turned green with rage as
he watched, and said sighing:
"Let them all run off to the last chick, I'm glad to be rid of the torment; there
was witchcraft in that rooster!"
But the puffed-up rooster stalked proudly along, followed by all the fowls,
and went merrily on and on till he reached the old man's house and began
to crow: "Kikeriki!"
When the old man heard the rooster's voice he ran out joyfully to meet the
bird, but looking through the door what did he see? His rooster had
become a terrible object. An elephant beside it would have seemed like a
flea; and following behind came countless flocks of birds, each one more
beautiful and brilliant than the other. When the old man saw the rooster so huge and fat, he opened the gate for it.
"Master," said the bird, "spread a sheet here in the middle of the yard."
The old man, as nimble as a top, laid down the sheet. The rooster took its
stand upon it, spread its wings, and instantly the whole yard was filled with
birds and herds of cattle, but it shook out on the sheet a pile of ducats that
flashed in the sun till they dazzled the eyes. When the old man beheld this
vast treasure he did not know what to do in his delight, and hugged and
kissed the rooster.
The old man was very rich; he built great houses, laid out beautiful
gardens, and lived luxuriously. He made the old woman his poultry-maid,
the rooster he took about with him everywhere, dressed in a gold collar,
yellow boots, and spurs on its heels, so that one might have thought it was
one of the Three Kings from the Christmas play instead of a mere ordinary
rooster.

The SleepingBeauty
Once upon a time there lived a King and Queen who had a little baby-daughter.
They asked all the fairies in the kingdom to the christening, but unfortunately forgot
to invite one of them, because it happened that unfortunately there were thirteen
fairies, and the King had only twelve gold plates for the feast. So he was obliged to
pretend he had forgotten the thirteenth fairy.The twelve fairies came to the
christening and they each brought a magic gift to the infant Princess.One gave her
beauty, another health and happiness, another cleverness, another sweet temper
and a kind heart, and so on until it came to the twelfth fairy.
But before she could speak the door flew open and in there swept the thirteenth
fairy, who had not been invited. She had an ugly frown on her face, and looked so
angry that every one drew back to let her pass. Straight up to the baby she went,
and she looked crossly at the little beautiful face.
‘You shall have my gift, though I was not invited to the christening,’ she said with a
spiteful smile. ‘When you are fifteen years old, you shall prick your finger with a
spindle and fall down dead.’
Then she cast an evil look all round, and flew out of the window.

Every one stood quite silent with grief and horror, until the twelfth fairy stepped
forward and waved her wand.
‘I have still a gift to bestow,’ she said, ‘and though I may not change the wicked
fairy’s prophecy, I can at least make it less evil. The Princess shall not die
when she pricks her finger with the spindle, but she shall fall into a deep sleep,
which will last a hundred years.'
Then all the fairies left the palace, and the King
and Queen began to think that perhaps the
wicked fairy had been only a bad dream. But in
case any harm should really come to the little
Princess Briar-Rose, it was ordered that every
spinning-wheel in the kingdom should be
destroyed. And very soon not a spindle was to
be found throughout all the length and breadth
of the land.

Now the fairy gifts which had been given to the Princess were seen more and
more clearly by mortal eyes as she grew older. She was as beautiful as a
flower, and as clever as she was good, and as happy as the day was long.
The King and Queen thought no more of the evil prophecy, and so the years
slipped by until Briar-Rose was fifteen.
It happened that on her fifteenth birthday the King and Queen went out together,
and the Princess was left all alone in the palace and began to feel very dull, so she
thought she would go through all the rooms in the palace and look for adventures.
After a while she came to a little turret-stair which she never remembered having
seen before, and when she climbed to the top she came to a curious little door.
The Princess knocked and an old cracked voice cried out ‘Come in.’
And when Briar-Rose opened the door she saw a little old woman sitting there with
a spinning-wheel.
‘Oh, what a funny thing that is!’ said Briar-Rose, looking at the spinning-wheel, for
she had never seen such a thing before. ‘How I should love to make it go whirling
round and round!’
And she put out her hand to touch it, but the spindle pricked her finger and a tiny drop of blood sprang out. Before she had
even time to cry out, part of the fairy’s evil prophecy came true, for she sank down on the stone bench and fell fast asleep.

At that very moment everybody and everything in the palace stopped what they were
doing, and fell fast asleep too.
The King and Queen sank down in two royal chairs; the cook in the kitchen, who was
just going to box the scullion’s ears, went fast asleep with her hand still in the air. The
scullion, with his mouth wide open, ready to roar with the pain, left it open and went
fast asleep too. The horses in the stable went to sleep in the middle of eating their
corn; the pigeons on the stable roof hadn’t even time to tuck their heads under their
wings, but fell asleep as they were strutting around with their tails still spread out. The
flies slept on the ceiling; the canary did not want to have the green cover put over its
cage, but slept in broad daylight. The fire stopped crackling and burning, the pots
stopped boiling, nothing stirred, nothing moved, not a sound was heard. Only round
the palace there sprung up a hedge of briar-roses which grew taller and taller, as time
went on, until the palace was quite hidden, and not even the top of the flagstaff could be seen.
And as the years went by people began to forget about the
palace. Only the old people would tell the children sometimes
about the beautiful Princess who once lived in a palace where the
briar-roses grew. But the children thought it was a make-believe
story, for the hedge was so thick and so high that no one could
see what was inside.
Sometimes a Prince would come riding by and listen to the tale,
and then try and cut his way through the thick hedge, to see if
there was really a beautiful Princess on the other side. But the
thorns tore every one who tried to force his way through, and
sometimes put out his eyes, so the Princes grew tired of trying,
and each year the hedge grew taller and thicker.
Now it happened that on the very day when the Princess had been asleep for a hundred years, there chanced to
come to that country a Prince who was braver and handsomer than any of the Princes who had come before. He had

never known what it meant to be beaten or to give in, and
when he heard the story of the Princess Briar-Rose he made
up his mind to find her.
But when he got to the great hedge, he found it covered with
pale pink roses, and the branches parted in front of him to
make a passage, and all the thorns looked the other way. On
he walked through the cool, green path, while the roses
nodded and smiled on him all the way. And when he came to
the other side he saw a stately palace, just as the old people
had described it. Not a sound broke the solemn stillness, not
a leaf whispered in the breeze.
Then, when he entered the great hall, he saw the King and
Queen fast asleep on their royal chairs, and everything and
everybody were exactly the same as when they had fallen
asleep a hundred years ago.
Presently the Prince noticed the turret steps that led to the tower, and
he climbed them, just as the Princess had done. And when he opened the door and stepped in, he stood still in wonder and
delight.

The Princess lay there fast asleep, her fair face turned towards him, just as she had sunk down to rest a hundred years ago.
Everything was unchanged except that now around the bed was a canopy of briar-roses protecting her as she slept. The
flowers breathed their beauty around her, and the sharp thorns guarded her from all harm.
So beautiful did the Princess look lying there, like a pale rose herself, that the Prince was drawn to her side, and bending over
her he kissed her cheek.
The Princess’s eyelids quivered, and the next moment her eyes opened. She looked up and saw the Prince bending over her,
and when their eyes met she gave a little cry of joy.
‘Oh,’ she cried, ‘you have come at last. I have been dreaming and dreaming of you, and I thought you were never coming to
wake me.’
Now the moment the Princess opened her eyes every one and everything in the palace began to awake too. The King and Queen walked with stately tread
through the hail, the cook gave the scullion a sounding box on his ear. The scullion roared with his mouth wide open, the horses went on eating their corn, the
pigeons strutted about on the roof, the flies walked busily up and down the ceiling.
And the great hedge of briar-roses sank down and down till it vanished in the earth, and not even a bud was left.
‘But what does it matter if the roses are gone ?’ said the Prince, ‘since I have got my own Briar-Rose, who is fairest of them all.’
And so they were married and lived happily ever after.

The Frog Prince
One beautiful day, a young princess went out to take a walk by herself in a wood; and when
she came to a cool spring of water, she sat herself down to rest a while. Now she had a
golden ball in her hand, which was her favourite plaything; and she was always tossing it up
into the air, and catching it again as it fell.
After a time she threw it up so high that she missed catching it as it fell; and the ball
bounded away, and rolled along on the ground, until at last it fell down into the spring. The
princess looked into the spring after her ball, but it was very deep, so deep that she could
not see the bottom of it. She began to cry, and said, 'Alas! if I could only get my ball again, I
would give all my fine clothes and jewels, and everything that I have in the world.'
Whilst she was speaking, a frog put its head out of the water, and said, 'Princess,
why do you weep so bitterly?'
'Alas!' said she, 'what can you do for me, you nasty frog? My golden ball has
fallen into the spring.'
The frog said, 'I do not want your pearls, and jewels, and fine clothes; but if you
will love me, and let me live with you and eat from off your golden plate, and
sleep on your bed, I will bring you your ball again.'
'What nonsense,' thought the princess, 'this silly frog is talking! He can never
even get out of the spring to visit me, though he may be able to get my ball for
me, and therefore I will tell him he shall have what he asks.'
So she said to the frog, 'Well, if you will bring me my ball, I will do all you ask.'
Then the frog put his head down, and dived deep under the water; and after a
little while he came up again, with the ball in his mouth, and threw it on the edge of the spring.

As soon as the young princess saw her ball, she ran to pick it up; and she was
so overjoyed to have it in her hand again, that she never thought of the frog,
but ran home with it as fast as she could.
The frog called after her, 'Stay, princess, and take me with you as you said,'
But she did not stop to hear a word.
The next day, just as the princess had sat down to dinner, she heard a strange
noise - tap, tap - plash, plash - as if something was coming up the marble
staircase, and soon afterwards there was a gentle knock at the door, and a
little voice cried out and said:
'Open the door, my princess dear,
Open the door to thy true love here!
And mind the words that thou and I said
By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.'
Then the princess ran to the door and opened it, and there she saw the frog, whom she had quite forgotten. At this
sight she was sadly frightened, and shutting the door as fast as she could came back to
The king, her father, seeing that something had frightened her, asked
her what was the matter.
'There is a nasty frog,' said she, 'at the door, that lifted my ball for me
out of the spring this morning. I told him that he should live with me
here, thinking that he could never get out of the spring; but there he is
at the door, and he wants to come in.'
While she was speaking the frog knocked again at the door, and said:

Then the king said to the young princess, 'As you have given your word you must keep it; so go and let him in.'
She did so, and the frog hopped into the room, and then straight on - tap, tap -
plash, plash - from the bottom of the room to the top, till he came up close to the
table where the princess sat.
'Pray lift me upon chair,' said he to the princess, 'and let me sit next to you.'
As soon as she had done this, the frog said, 'Put your plate nearer to me, that I may
eat out of it.'
This she did, and when he had eaten as much as he could, he said, 'Now I am tired;
carry me upstairs, and put me into your bed.' And the princess, though very
unwilling, took him up in her hand, and put him upon the pillow of her own bed,
where he slept all night long.
As soon as it was light the frog jumped up, hopped downstairs, and went out of the
house.
'Now, then,' thought the princess, 'at last he is gone, and I shall be troubled with him no more.'
But she was mistaken; for when night came again she
heard the same tapping at the door; and the frog came
once more, and said:
And when the princess opened the door the frog came in,
and slept upon her pillow as before, till the morning broke.

And the third night he did the same. But when the princess awoke on
the following morning she was astonished to see, instead of the frog, a
handsome prince, gazing on her with the most beautiful eyes she had
ever seen and standing at the head of her bed.
He told her that he had been enchanted by a spiteful fairy, who had
changed him into a frog; and that he had been fated so to abide till
some princess should take him out of the spring, and let him eat from
her plate, and sleep upon her bed for three nights.
'You,' said the prince, 'have broken this cruel charm, and now I have
nothing to wish for but that you should go with me into my father's
kingdom, where I will marry you, and love you as long as you live.'
The young princess, you may be sure, was not long in saying 'Yes' to all this; and as they spoke a brightly coloured coach
drove up and behind the coach rode the prince's servant, faithful Heinrich, who had bewailed the misfortunes of his dear
master during his enchantment so long and so bitterly, that his heart had well-nigh burst.
They then took leave of the king, and got into the coach, and all set out, full of joy and merriment, for the prince's kingdom,
which they reached safely; and there they lived happily a great many years.

Hansel and Gretel
Next to a great forest there lived a poor woodcutter with his wife and his two children. The boy's name was Hansel and the girl's name
was Gretel. He had but little to eat, and once, when a great famine came to the land, he could no longer provide even their daily bread.
One evening, he sighed and said to his wife, "What is to become of us? How can we feed our
children when we have nothing for ourselves?"
"Man, do you know what?" answered the woman. "Early tomorrow morning you will take the
two children out into the thickest part of the woods, make a fire for them, and give each of
them a little piece of bread, then leave them by themselves and go off to your work. They will
not find their way back home, and we will be rid of them."
"No, woman," said the man. "I will not do that. How could I bring myself to abandon my own
children alone in the woods?
"Oh, you fool," she said, "then all four of us will starve. All you can do is to plane the boards
for our coffins." And she gave him no peace until he agreed.
The two children had not been able to fall asleep because of their hunger, and they heard
what the stepmother had said to the father.
At daybreak, even before sunrise, the woman came and woke the two children. "Get
up, you lazybones. You are going into the woods to fetch wood." Then she gave each
one a little piece of bread, saying, "Here is something for midday. Don't eat it any
sooner, for you'll not get any more."
On the way to the woods, Hansel crumbled his piece in his pocket, then often stood
still, and threw crumbs onto the ground.
When they were deep into the woods, a large fire was made, and the father said, "Sit
here, children. If you get tired you can sleep a little. I am going into the woods to cut
wood. I will come and get you in the evening when I am finished."
When it was midday Gretel shared her bread with Hansel, who had scattered his
piece along the path.

Then they fell asleep, and evening passed, but no one came to get the
poor children.
When the moon appeared they got up, but they could not find any crumbs,
for the many thousands of birds that fly about in the woods and in the
fields had pecked them up. They walked through the entire night and the
next day from morning until evening, but they did not find their way out of
the woods.
They went on, until they came to a little house. When they came closer,
they saw that the little house was built entirely from bread with a roof
made of cake, and the windows were made of clear sugar.
"Let's help ourselves to a good meal," said Hansel very happy.

Suddenly the door opened, and a woman, as old as the hills and leaning on a
crutch, came creeping out. Hansel and Gretel were so frightened that they dropped
what they were holding in their hands.
But the old woman shook her head and said, "Oh, you dear children, who brought
you here? Just come in and stay with me. No harm will come to you."
She took them by the hand and led them into her house.
Then she served them a good meal: milk and pancakes with sugar, apples, and
nuts. Afterward she made two nice beds for them, decked in white. Hansel and
Gretel went to bed, thinking they were in heaven.
But the old woman had only pretended to be friendly. She was a wicked witch who
was lying in wait there for children. She had built her house of bread only in order to
lure them to her, and if she captured one, she would kill him, cook him, and eat him;
and for her that was a day to celebrate.
Early the next morning, before they awoke, she got up, went to their beds, and
looked at the two of them lying there so peacefully, with their full red cheeks.
Then she grabbed Hansel with her withered hand and carried him to a little
stall, where she locked him behind a cage door. Cry as he might, there was
no help for him.
Then she shook Gretel and cried, "Get up, lazybones! Fetch water and cook
something good for your brother. He is locked outside in the stall and is to be
fattened up. When he is fat I am going to eat him."
Gretel began to cry, but it was all for nothing. She had to do what the witch
demanded.
Now Hansel was given the best things to eat every day, but Gretel received
nothing but crayfish shells.
After 4 weeks, she shouted to the girl:"Hey, Gretel! Hurry up and fetch some
water. Whether Hansel is fat or thin, tomorrow I am going to slaughter him and
boil him."

The next morning Gretel had to get up early, hang up the kettle with water, and
make a fire.
Then the old woman called, "Gretel, come here right now to the oven."
And when Gretel came, she said, "Look inside and see if the bread is nicely
brown and done, for my eyes are weak, and I can't see that far. If you can't see
that far either, then sit on the board, and I'll push you inside, then you can walk
around inside and take a look."
But Gretel said, "I don't know how to do that. How can I get inside?"
"The opening is big enough. See, I myself could get in." And she crawled up
stuck her head into the oven. Then Gretel gave her a shove, causing her to fall
in. Then she closed the iron door and secured it with a bar.
The old woman began to howl frightfully. But Gretel ran away, and the godless
witch burned up miserably.
Gretel ran straight to Hansel, unlocked his stall, and cried, "Hansel, we are saved. The old witch is dead."
Then Hansel jumped out, like a bird from its cage when someone opens its door. How happy they were! They threw
their arms around each other's necks, jumped with joy, and kissed one another.
Because they now had nothing to fear, they went into the witch's house. In every corner were chests of pearls and
precious stones.
They filled their pockets, then ran away and found their way back home.
When they saw the father's house in the distance, they began to run, rushed inside, and threw their arms around the
father's neck.
The man had not had even one happy hour since he had left the children in the
woods. However, the woman had died. Gretel shook out her basket, scattering
pearls and precious stones around the room, and Hansel added to them by
throwing one handful after the other from his pockets.
"Look, Father! We're rich now . . . You'll never have to chop wood again."
And they all lived happily together ever after.

The Golden Goose
There was once a man who had three sons, the youngest of whom was called the
Simpleton, and was despised, laughed at, and neglected, on every occasion, by his
brothers.
It happened one day that the eldest son wished to go into the forest to cut wood,
and before he went his mother gave him a delicious cake and a flask of wine.
When he came into the forest a little old grey man met him, who wished him good
day, and said,
"Give me a bit of your cake, and let me have a drink of your wine; I am so hungry
and thirsty."
But the youth answered,
"Give you my cake and my wine? I haven't got any; be off with you."
And leaving the little man standing there, he went off. Then he began to fell a tree,
but he had not been at it long before he made a wrong stroke, and the hatchet hit
him in the arm, so that he was obliged to go home and get it bound up. That was
what came of the little grey man.

Afterwards the second son went into the wood, and the mother gave to him, as
to the eldest, a cake and a flask of wine. The little old grey man met him also,
and begged for a little bit of cake and a drink of wine. But the second son
spoke out plainly, saying,
"What I give you I lose myself, so be off with you."
And leaving the little man standing there, he went off. The punishment
followed; as he was chopping away at the tree, he hit himself in the leg so
severely that he had to be carried home.
Then said the Simpleton,
"Father, let me go for once into the forest to cut wood;" and the father
answered, "Your brothers have hurt themselves by so doing; give it up, you
understand nothing about it."
But the Simpleton went on begging so long, that the father said at last,
"Well, be off with you; you will only learn by experience."
The mother gave him a cake and with it a flask of sour beer. When he came
into the forest the little old grey man met him, and greeted him, saying,
"Give me a bit of your cake, and a drink from your flask; I am so hungry and
thirsty."
And the Simpleton answered, "I have only a flour and water cake and sour
beer; but if that is good enough for you, let us sit down together and eat."
Then they sat down, and as the Simpleton took out his flour and water cake it
became a rich cake, and his sour beer became good wine; then they ate and drank, and afterwards the little man said,
"As you have such a kind heart, and share what you have so willingly, I will bestow good luck upon you. Yonder stands an
old tree; cut it down, and at its roots you will find something," and thereupon the little man took his departure.

The Simpleton went there, and hewed away at the tree, and when it fell he
saw, sitting among the roots, a goose with feathers of pure gold. He was very
happy to see that and he lifted it out and took it with him to an inn where he
intended to stay the night.
The landlord had three daughters who, when they saw the
goose, were curious to know what wonderful kind of bird it was,
and ended by longing for one of its golden feathers. The eldest
thought, "I will wait for a good opportunity, and then I will pull
out one of its feathers for myself;" and so, when the Simpleton
was gone out, she seized the goose by its wing—but there her
finger and hand had to stay, held fast. Soon after came the
second sister with the same idea of plucking out one of the
golden feathers for herself; but scarcely had she touched her
sister, than she also was obliged to stay, held fast. Lastly came
the third with the same intentions; but the others screamed out,
"Stay away! for heaven's sake stay away!"
But she did not see why she should stay away, and thought, "If
they do so, why should not I?" and went towards them. But
when she reached her sisters there she stopped, hanging on
with them. And so they had to stay, all night.

The next morning the Simpleton took the goose under his arm and
went away, unmindful of the three girls that hung on to it. The three
had always to run after him, left and right, wherever his legs carried
him. In the midst of the fields they met the parson, who, when he saw
the procession, said,
"Shame on you, girls, running after a young fellow through the fields
like this," and forthwith he seized hold of the youngest by the hand to
drag her away, but hardly had he touched her when he too was
obliged to run after them himself.
Not long after the Bishop came that way, and seeing the respected parson
following at the heels of the three girls, he called out,
"Ho, your reverence, whither away so quickly? You forget that we have another
christening to-day;" and he seized hold of him by his hand; but no sooner had he
touched him than he was obliged to follow on too. As the five tramped on, one
after another, two peasants came up from the fields, and the parson cried out to
them, and begged them to come and set him and the Bishop free, but no sooner
had they touched the Bishop than they had to follow on too; and now there were
seven following the Simpleton and the goose.
By and by they came to a town where a king reigned, who had an only daughter
who was so serious that no one could make her laugh; therefore the king had
given out that whoever should make her laugh should have her in marriage.

The Simpleton, when he heard this, went with his goose and his hangers-on
into the presence of the king's daughter, and as soon as she saw the seven
people following always one after the other, she found that so funny that she
burst out laughing, and seemed as if she could never stop.
And so the Simpleton earned a right to her as his bride. The marriage
took place immediately, and at the death of the king the Simpleton
possessed the kingdom, and lived long and happily with his wife.

The Selfish Giant
Every afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used to go and play in the
Giant's garden.
It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and there over the grass stood
beautiful flowers like stars, and there were twelve peach-trees that in the spring-time broke
out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. The birds sat
on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games in order to
listen to them. "How happy we are here!" they cried to each other.
One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years.
After the seven years were over he had said all that he had to say, for his conversation was limited, and he determined to
return to his own castle. When he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden.
"What are you doing here?" he cried in a very gruff voice, and the children ran away.
"My own garden is my own garden," said the Giant; "any one can understand that, and I
will allow nobody to play in it but myself."

So he built a high wall all round it, and put up a notice-board.
TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED
He was a very selfish Giant.
The poor children had now nowhere to play. They tried to play on the road, but the
road was very dusty and full of hard stones, and they did not like it. They used to
wander round the high wall when their lessons were over, and talk about the
beautiful garden inside. "How happy we were there," they said to each other.
Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little blossoms and little
birds. Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it was still winter. The birds did not
care to sing in it as there were no children, and the trees forgot to blossom. Once a
beautiful flower put its head out from the grass, but when it saw the notice-board it
was so sorry for the children that it slipped back into the ground again, and went off
to sleep.
"I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming," said the Selfish Giant, as
he sat at the window and looked out at his cold white garden; "I hope there will be a change in the weather."
But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant's garden she
gave none. "He is too selfish," she said. So it was always Winter there, and the North Wind, and the Hail, and the Frost, and
the Snow danced about through the trees.
One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music. It
sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought it must be the King's musicians passing
by. It was really only a little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since
he had heard a bird sing in his garden that it seemed to him to be the most beautiful
music in the world. Then the Hail stopped dancing over his head, and the North Wind
ceased roaring, and a delicious perfume came to him through the open casement. "I
believe the Spring has come at last," said the Giant; and he jumped out of bed and
looked out.
What did he see?
He saw a most wonderful sight. Through a little hole in the wall the children had crept
in, and they were sitting in the branches of the trees. In every tree that he could see
there was a little child. And the trees were so glad to have the children back again
that they had covered themselves with blossoms, and were waving their arms gently above the children's heads. The birds
were flying about and twittering with delight, and the flowers were looking up through the green grass and laughing.

It was a lovely scene, only in one corner it was still winter. It was the farthest corner of
the garden, and in it was standing a little boy. He was so small that he could not reach
up to the branches of the tree, and he was wandering all round it, crying bitterly. The
poor tree was still quite covered with frost and snow, and the North Wind was blowing
and roaring above it. "Climb up! little boy," said the Tree, and it bent its branches down
as low as it could; but the boy was too tiny.
And the Giant's heart melted as he looked out. "How selfish I have been!" he said;
"now I know why the Spring would not come here. I will put that poor little boy on the
top of the tree, and then I will knock down the wall, and my garden shall be the
children's playground for ever and ever." He was really very sorry for what he had
done.
So he crept downstairs and opened the front door quite softly, and went out into the
garden. But when the children saw him they were so frightened that they all ran away,
and the garden became winter again. Only the little boy did not run, for his eyes were so full of tears that he did not see the
Giant coming. And the Giant stole up behind him and took him gently in his hand, and put him up into the tree. And the tree
broke at once into blossom, and the birds came and sang on it, and the little boy stretched out his two arms and flung them
round the Giant's neck, and kissed him.
And the other children, when they saw that the Giant was not wicked any longer,
came running back, and with them came the Spring. "It is your garden now, little
children," said the Giant, and he took a great axe and knocked down the wall. And
when the people were going to market at twelve o'clock they found the Giant
playing with the children in the most beautiful garden they had ever seen.

The Three Little Pigs
Once upon a time there was and old pig with three little pigs, and one day she
said to them: “My children, it is time for you to go out in the world and seek your
fortunes”.
So, bidding their mother good-bye, the three little pigs set out to earn their
living.
The first little pig, whose name was Whitey, met a man with a bundle of
straw and said to him: “Please, mister, will you give me that straw to
build a house with?”
The man gave Whitey the straw, and he built himself a house with it.

Presently a wolf came along and knocked at the door of
Whitey’s house.
“Little pig, little pig,” he said. “Let me come in.”
But of course Whitey didn’t want the wolf to come in, so he said:
“No, no, by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin!”
This made the wolf angry, and he said:
Then I’ll puff and I’ll huff, and I’ll blow your house in”.
So he puffed and he huffed and he blew the house in. And he
carried poor little Whitey away to his home in the forest.
The second little pig, whose name was
Blackey, met a man carrying some wood,
and he said to him: “Please, mister, will
you give me that wood to build a house
with?”
The man gave Blackey the wood and he
built himself a house with it.
But along came the wolf and knocked at
the door of Blackey’s house.
“Little pig, little pig,” he said. “Let me
come in.”
“No, no,” replied Blackey in great fright.
“Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin!”
“Then I’ll puff and I’ll huff and I’ll blow
your house in.”
So the wolf puffed and he huffed and at
last he blew the house in. And away he
went with Blackey to his home in the
forest.

Now the third little pig, whose name was Brownie, met a man with a
load of bricks and he said to him: “Please, mister, will you give me
those bricks to build a house with?”
The man gave him the bricks, and Brownie built himself a very snug
little house with them.
He had just finished his house when the wolf came along.
“Little pig, little pig,” he said. “Let me come in!”
“No, no, by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin!”
“Then I’ll puff and I’ll huff and I’ll blow your house in.”
But though the wolf puffed and he huffed, and he huffed and he
puffed, he could not blow down Brownie’s house made of bricks.
So he said: “Little pig, I know where there is a nice field of turnips.”
“Where?” asked Brownie.
“Over in Mr. Smith’s field. If you will be ready tomorrow morning, I will call for you and we will go together and get
some for dinner.”
“Very well,” answered Brownie. “I will be ready. What time do you want to go?”
“Around six o’clock,” answered the wolf.
Well, do you know, that smart little pig got up at five o’clock and
went out and got the turnips and was back home before the wolf
came at six o’clock.
When the wolf found that Brownie had been to Mr. Smith’s field
before him, he was very angry, and wondered how he could
catch him. So he said: “Little pig, I know where there is a nice
apple orchard.”
“Where?” asked Brownie.
“Down at Merry Garden,” replied the wolf. “I will go with you
tomorrow morning at five o’clock and we will get some apples.”

But Brownie hustled and bustled around, and went the next morning at four
o’clock to the apple orchard.
This time he had farther to go and had to climb the tree, so that just as he
was getting down with the apples in a basket, he saw the wolf coming. Of
course he was frightened.
When the wolf came up to the tree, he said to Brownie: “Ah, I see you are
here before me. Are they very nice apples?”
“Yes, indeed,” replied Brownie. “Here, I will throw one down to you.” And he
threw the apple so far that while the wolf was running to pick it up, the little
pig jumped down from the tree and ran home.
Now the wolf was very, very angry, and he thought and thought and finally
thought of a plan to catch the little pig.
Coming to his house the next morning, he said, “Little pig, there is a fair in
town this afternoon. Will you go?”
“Oh, yes,” replied Brownie. “I will be very glad to go. What time will you want
me to be ready?”
“At three o’clock,” said the wolf.
But Brownie went off to the fair at one o’clock and bought a great big copper
kettle. Alas! On the way home with the kettle, he saw the wolf coming up the
hill.
Poor little Brownie. He didn’t know what to do. And then suddenly he jumped
into the copper kettle and gave himself a push. And the kettle went rolling
over and over, with the little pig in it.
When the wolf saw the kettle coming rolling toward him, he was so frightened that he turned and ran back home
without going to the fair.

The next day he stopped at the little pig’s house and told him how
frightened he had been by a great, shining thing that had rolled
down the hill toward him.
Then Brownie laughed and laughed, and said to the wolf: “Ha! I
frightened you, Mister Wolf. I had been to the fair and bought a
copper kettle, and when I saw you coming I got into it and rolled
down the hill.”
This made the wolf so very angry that he jumped up on to the roof
of the little pig’s house and started to climb down the chimney.
When Brownie saw this he made a blazing fire in the fireplace
and hung the copper kettle over it full of scalding water. And just
as the wolf came down the chimney, the little pig pulled off the
cover of the kettle and plop! Into the scalding water fell the wolf.
So Brownie boiled the wolf, and then went out and rescued his two
brothers, Whitey and Blackey, from the forest where the wolf had been
keeping them.
And they all lived happily together in the little brick house forever
afterwards.

Little Red Riding Hood
Once upon a time there was a dear little girl who was loved by every one who looked at
her, but most of all by her grandmother, and there was nothing that she would not have
given to the child. Once she gave her a little hood of red velvet, which suited her so well
that she would never wear anything else. So she was always called Little Red Riding
Hood.
One day her mother said to her:
“Come, Little Red Riding Hood, here is a piece of cake and a bottle of wine. Take
them to your grandmother, she is ill and weak, and they will do her good. Set out
before it gets hot, and when you are going, walk nicely and quietly and do not run
off the path, or you may fall and break the bottle, and then your grandmother will
get nothing. And when you go into her room, don't forget to say good-morning, and
don't peep into every corner before you do it”.
“I will take great care, said Little Red Riding Hood to her mother”, and gave her
hand on it.

The grandmother lived out in the wood, half a league from the village, and
just as Little Red Riding Hood entered the wood, a wolf met her. She did
not know what a wicked creature he was, and was not at all afraid of him.
"Good-day, Little Red Riding Hood," said he.
"Thank you kindly, wolf."
"Whither away so early, Little Red Riding Hood?"
"To my grandmother's."
"What have you got in your apron?"
"Cake and wine. Yesterday was baking-day, so poor sick grandmother is to have something good, to make her
stronger."
"Where does your grandmother live, Little Red Riding Hood?"
"A good quarter of a league farther on in the wood. Her house stands under the three large oak-trees, the nut-trees are
just below. You surely must know it," replied Little Red Riding Hood.
The wolf thought to himself, what a tender young creature. What a nice plump
mouthful, she will be better to eat than the old woman. I must act craftily, so as to
catch both. So he walked for a short time by the side of Little Red Riding Hood,
and then he said, "see Little Red Riding Hood, how pretty the flowers are about
here. Why do you not look round. I believe, too, that you do not hear how sweetly
the little birds are singing. You walk gravely along as if you were going to school,
while everything else out here in the wood is merry."
Little Red Riding Hood raised her eyes, and when she saw the sunbeams dancing
here and there through the trees, and pretty flowers growing everywhere, she
thought: “Suppose I take grandmother a fresh nosegay. That would please her
too. It is so early in the day that I shall still get there in good time.” And so she ran from the path into the wood to look for
flowers. And whenever she had picked one, she fancied that she saw a still prettier one farther on, and ran after it, and so
got deeper and deeper into the wood.

Meanwhile the wolf ran straight to the grandmother's house and knocked at
the door.
"Who is there?"
"Little Red Riding Hood," replied the wolf. "She is bringing cake and wine.
Open the door."
"Lift the latch," called out the grandmother, "I am too weak, and cannot get
up."
The wolf lifted the latch, the door sprang open, and without saying a word he
went straight to the grandmother's bed, and ate her. Then he put on her
clothes, dressed himself in her cap, laid himself in bed and drew the curtains.
Little Red Riding Hood, however, had been running about picking flowers, and when she had gathered so many that she
could carry no more, she remembered her grandmother, and set out on the way to her.
She was surprised to find the cottage-door standing open, and when she
went into the room, she had such a strange feeling that she said to herself:
“oh dear, how uneasy I feel today, and at other times I like being with
grandmother so much”. She called out, "good morning," but received no
answer. So she went to the bed and drew back the curtains. There lay her
grandmother with her cap pulled far over her face, and looking very
strange.

"Oh, grandmother," she said, "what
big ears you have."
"The better to hear you with, my
child," was the reply.
"But, grandmother, what big eyes you
have," she said.
"The better to see you with," my dear.
"But, grandmother, what large hands
you have."
"The better to hug you with."
"Oh, but, grandmother, what a
terrible big mouth you have."
"The better to eat you with."
And scarcely had the wolf said this, than with one bound he was out of bed and swallowed up Red Riding
Hood.
When the wolf had appeased his appetite, he lay down again in the bed, fell asleep and began to snore very loud. The
huntsman was just passing the house, and thought to himself, how the old woman is snoring. I must just see if she wants
anything.
So he went into the room, and when he came to the bed, he saw that the wolf was lying in it. “Do I find you here, you old
sinner,” said he. “I have long sought you.” Then just as he was going to fire at him, it occurred to him that the wolf might
have devoured the grandmother, and that she might still be saved, so he did not fire, but took a pair of scissors, and
began to cut open the stomach of the sleeping wolf. When he had made two snips, he saw Little Red Riding Hood shining,
and then he made two snips more, and the little girl sprang out, crying: "Ah, how frightened I have been. How dark it was

inside the wolf." And after that the grandmother came out alive also, but
scarcely able to breathe. Red Riding Hood, however, quickly fetched great
stones with which they filled the wolf's belly, and when he awoke, he
wanted to run away, but the stones were so heavy that he collapsed at
once, and fell dead.
Then all three were delighted. The huntsman drew off the wolf's skin
and went home with it. The grandmother ate the cake and drank the
wine which Red Riding Hood had brought, and revived, but Red
Riding Hood thought to herself: "as long as I live, I will never by
myself leave the path, to run into the wood, when my mother has
forbidden me to do so."

The Woodpecker, The Turtle, and The Deer
Once upon a time a Deer lived in a forest near
a lake. Not far from the same lake, a
Woodpecker had a nest in the top of a tree;
and in the lake lived a Turtle. The three were
friends, and lived together happily.

A hunter, wandering about in the wood, saw the footprints of the
Deer near the edge of the lake. "I must trap the Deer, going down
into the water," he said, and setting a strong trap of leather, he
went his way.
Early that night when the Deer went down to drink, he was
caught in the trap, and he cried the cry of capture.
At once the Woodpecker flew down from her tree-top, and the
Turtle came out of the water to see what could be done.
Said the Woodpecker to the Turtle: "Friend, you have teeth; you
gnaw through the leather trap. I will go and see to it that the
hunter keeps away. If we both do our best our friend will not
lose his life."
So the Turtle began to gnaw the leather, and the Woodpecker
flew to the hunter's house.

At dawn the hunter came, knife in hand, to the front door of his house.
The Woodpecker, flapping her wings, flew at the hunter and struck him in
the face.
The hunter turned back into the house and lay down for a little while.
Then he rose up again, and took his knife. He said to himself: "When I
went out by the front door, a Bird flew in my face; now I will go out by the
back door." So he did.
The Woodpecker thought: "The hunter went out by the front door before,
so now he will leave by the back door." So the Woodpecker sat in a tree
near the back door.
When the hunter came out the bird flew at him again, flapping her wings
in the hunter's face.
Then the hunter turned back and lay down again. When the sun arose, he took his knife, and started out once more.
This time the Woodpecker flew back as fast as she could fly to her friends,
crying, "Here comes the hunter!"
By this time the Turtle had gnawed through all the pieces of the trap but
one. The leather was so hard that it made his teeth feel as if they would fall
out. His mouth was all covered with blood. The Deer heard the
Woodpecker, and saw the hunter, knife in hand, coming on.
With a strong pull the Deer broke this last piece of the trap, and ran into
the woods.
The Woodpecker flew up to her nest in the tree-top.
But the Turtle was so weak he could not get away. He lay where he was.
The hunter picked him up and threw him into a bag, tying it to a tree.

The Deer saw that the Turtle was taken, and made up his mind to save his
friend's life. So the Deer let the hunter see him.
The hunter seized his knife and started after the Deer. The Deer, keeping
just out of his reach, led the hunter into the forest.
When the Deer saw that they had gone far into the forest he slipped away
from the hunter, and swift as the wind, he went by another way to where he
had left the Turtle.
But the Turtle was not there. The Deer called, "Turtle, Turtle!"; and the
Turtle called out, "Here I am in a bag hanging on this tree."
Then the Deer lifted the bag and throwing it upon the
ground, he tore the bag open, and let the Turtle out.
The Woodpecker flew down from her nest, and the Deer said to them:
"You two friends saved my life, but if we stay here talking, the hunter
will find us, and we may not get away. So do you, Friend Woodpecker,
fly away. And you, Friend Turtle, dive into the water. I will hide in the
forest."
The hunter did come back, but neither the Deer, nor the Turtle, nor the
Woodpecker was to be seen. He found his torn bag, and picking that
up he went back to his home.
The three friends lived together all the rest of their lives.

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