The Snow Fairy
By Rina Ishii
O
nce upon a time, a young man and an old man went to
hunt wild animals in the mountains. But a snowstorm came
up and they got lost. They found a deserted mountain hut
and decided to take a rest there.
In the middle of the night, the door opened and a woman
entered the hut. She blew a cold breath and killed the old
man. The young man saw the woman and became very
scared. The snow fairy said, "You are so young, I don't want
to kill you. But you must promise that you will never tell
anyone about this." And she vanished.
Many years later, the young man came across a woman who
had fallen in the street. The young man helped her and took
her to his house. They ended up getting married and they
had a happy life with many children.
One day, the young man told her about the snow fairy he had
met in the hut that night. His wife looked at him and said,
"You promised not to ever tell anyone!"
She disappeared, leaving her husband and children behind.
"Please, don't go," they pleaded. But she vanished all the
same.
http://indo.to/english/netnihon/fairy/snow.htm
The Rice Ball Tale
Contributed by Momoko Ono
Once upon a time, there was an old man and an old woman.
Though they were poor, they lived happily. One day, when
the old man was working on the mountain, he sat on a stump
to rest. He took out a rice ball that was wrapped in a bamboo
leaf. But the rice ball fell out of his hands and on to the
ground. As a matter of fact, it rolled down the mountain and
fell into a hole!
The old man looked down into the hole. Then he heard
someone singing: "Omusubi-korolin-sutton-ton." The old man
was greatly amused, so he dropped another rice ball into the
hole. He dropped another and another until he was
completely out of rice balls. He laid his ears down near the
hole: "Omusubi-korolin-sutton-ton." He tried to listen closer,
but fell down the hole!
To his surprise, in the hole were many mice holding a festival.
His rice balls had been changed into rice cakes by the mice.
The mice cordially welcomed the old man. He sang and
danced with them and had a pleasant time. In thanks for the
rice balls, the mice gave him a lucky mallet.
The old man returned home and told his wife of the
happenings. He showed her the lucky mallet. When he shook
it, money came out.
The old man and woman lived happily forever.
http://indo.to/english/netnihon/fairy/omusubi.htm
Hans Christian Andersen
The Princess and the Pea
Once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she
would have to be a real princess. He traveled all over the world to find one, but
nowhere could he get what he wanted. There were princesses enough, but it was
difficult to find out whether they were real ones. There was always something about
them that was not as it should be. So he came home again and was sad, for he
would have liked very much to have a real princess.
One evening a terrible storm came on; there was thunder and lightning, and the
rain poured down in torrents. Suddenly a knocking was heard at the city gate, and
the old king went to open it.
It was a princess standing out there in front of the gate. But, good gracious!
what a sight the rain and the wind had made her look. The water ran down from
her hair and clothes; it ran down into the toes of her shoes and out again at the
heels. And yet she said that she was a real princess.
Well, we'll soon find that out, thought the old queen. But she said nothing, went
into the bed-room, took all the bedding off the bedstead, and laid a pea on the
bottom; then she took twenty mattresses and laid them on the pea, and then
twenty eider-down beds on top of the mattresses.
On this the princess had to lie all night. In the morning she was asked how she
had slept.
"Oh, very badly!" said she. "I have scarcely closed my eyes all night. Heaven
only knows what was in the bed, but I was lying on something hard, so that I am
black and blue all over my body. It's horrible!"
Now they knew that she was a real princess because she had felt the pea right
through the twenty mattresses and the twenty eider-down beds.
Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that.
So the prince took her for his wife, for now he knew that he had a real princess;
and the pea was put in the museum, where it may still be seen, if no one has stolen
it.
There, that is a true story.
http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/PriPea.shtml
Hans Christian Andersen
The Little Match-Seller
It was terribly cold and nearly dark on the last evening of the old year, and the
snow was falling fast. In the cold and the darkness, a poor little girl, with bare head
and naked feet, roamed through the streets. It is true she had on a pair of slippers
when she left home, but they were not of much use. They were very large, so large,
indeed, that they had belonged to her mother, and the poor little creature had lost
them in running across the street to avoid two carriages that were rolling along at a
terrible rate. One of the slippers she could not find, and a boy seized upon the other
and ran away with it, saying that he could use it as a cradle, when he had children
of his own. So the little girl went on with her little naked feet, which were quite red
and blue with the cold.
In an old apron she carried a number of matches, and had a bundle of them in
her hands. No one had bought anything of her the whole day, nor had any one
given here even a penny. Shivering with cold and hunger, she crept along; poor
little child, she looked the picture of misery. The snowflakes fell on her long, fair
hair, which hung in curls on her shoulders, but she regarded them not.
Lights were shining from every window, and there was a savory smell of roast
goose, for it was New-year's eve - yes, she remembered that. In a corner, between
two houses, one of which projected beyond the other, she sank down and huddled
herself together. She had drawn her little feet under her, but she could not keep off
the cold; and she dared not go home, for she had sold no matches, and could not
take home even a penny of money. Her father would certainly beat her; besides, it
was almost as cold at home as here, for they had only the roof to cover them,
through which the wind howled, although the largest holes had been stopped up
with straw and rags.
Her little hands were almost frozen with the cold. Ah! perhaps a burning match
might be some good, if she could draw it from the bundle and strike it against the
wall, just to warm her fingers.
She drew one out - "scratch!" how it sputtered as it burnt! It gave a warm,
bright light, like a little candle, as she held her hand over it. It was really a
wonderful light. It seemed to the little girl that she was sitting by a large iron stove,
with polished brass feet and a brass ornament. How the fire burned! and seemed so
beautifully warm that the child stretched out her feet as if to warm them, when, lo!
the flame of the match went out, the stove vanished, and she had only the remains
of the half-burnt match in her hand.
She rubbed another match on the wall. It burst into a flame, and where its light
fell upon the wall it became as transparent as a veil, and she could see into the
room. The table was covered with a snowy white table-cloth, on which stood a
splendid dinner service, and a steaming roast goose, stuffed with apples and dried
plums. And what was still more wonderful, the goose jumped down from the dish
and waddled across the floor, with a knife and fork in its breast, to the little girl.
Then the match went out, and there remained nothing but the thick, damp, cold
wall before her.
She lighted another match, and then she found herself sitting under a beautiful
Christmas-tree. It was larger and more beautifully decorated than the one which
she had seen through the glass door at the rich merchant's. Thousands of tapers
were burning upon the green branches, and colored pictures, like those she had
seen in the show-windows, looked down upon it all. The little one stretched out her
hand towards them, and the match went out.
The Christmas lights rose higher and higher, till they looked to her like the stars
in the sky. Then she saw a star fall, leaving behind it a bright streak of fire. "Some
one is dying," thought the little girl, for her old grandmother, the only one who had
ever loved her, and who was now dead, had told her that when a star falls, a soul
was going up to God.
She again rubbed a match on the wall, and the light shone round her; in the
brightness stood her old grandmother, clear and shining, yet mild and loving in her
appearance.
"Grandmother," cried the little one, "O take me with you; I know you will go
away when the match burns out; you will vanish like the warm stove, the roast
goose, and the large, glorious Christmas-tree."
And she made haste to light the whole bundle of matches, for she wished to
keep her grandmother there. And the matches glowed with a light that was brighter
than the noon-day, and her grandmother had never appeared so large or so
beautiful. She took the little girl in her arms, and they both flew upwards in
brightness and joy far above the earth, where there was neither cold nor hunger
nor pain, for they were with God.
In the dawn of morning there lay the poor little one, with pale cheeks and
smiling mouth, leaning against the wall; she had been frozen to death on the last
evening of the year; and the New-year's sun rose and shone upon a little corpse!
The child still sat, in the stiffness of death, holding the matches in her hand, one
bundle of which was burnt.
"She tried to warm herself," said some.
No one imagined what beautiful things she had seen, nor into what glory she
had entered with her grandmother, on New-year's day.
http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/LitMat.shtml
Hans Christian Andersen
The Emperor's New Suit
Many, many years ago lived an emperor, who thought so much of new clothes that
he spent all his money in order to obtain them; his only ambition was to be always
well dressed. He did not care for his soldiers, and the theatre did not amuse him;
the only thing, in fact, he thought anything of was to drive out and show a new suit
of clothes. He had a coat for every hour of the day; and as one would say of a king
"He is in his cabinet," so one could say of him, "The emperor is in his dressingroom."
The great city where he resided was very gay; every day many strangers from
all parts of the globe arrived. One day two swindlers came to this city; they made
people believe that they were weavers, and declared they could manufacture the
finest cloth to be imagined. Their colours and patterns, they said, were not only
exceptionally beautiful, but the clothes made of their material possessed the
wonderful quality of being invisible to any man who was unfit for his office or
unpardonably stupid.
"That must be wonderful cloth," thought the emperor. "If I were to be dressed
in a suit made of this cloth I should be able to find out which men in my empire
were unfit for their places, and I could distinguish the clever from the stupid. I must
have this cloth woven for me without delay." And he gave a large sum of money to
the swindlers, in advance, that they should set to work without any loss of time.
They set up two looms, and pretended to be very hard at work, but they did
nothing whatever on the looms. They asked for the finest silk and the most precious
gold-cloth; all they got they did away with, and worked at the empty looms till late
at night.
"I should very much like to know how they are getting on with the cloth,"
thought the emperor. But he felt rather uneasy when he remembered that he who
was not fit for his office could not see it. Personally, he was of opinion that he had
nothing to fear, yet he thought it advisable to send somebody else first to see how
matters stood. Everybody in the town knew what a remarkable quality the stuff
possessed, and all were anxious to see how bad or stupid their neighbors were.
"I shall send my honest old minister to the weavers," thought the emperor. "He
can judge best how the stuff looks, for he is intelligent, and nobody understands his
office better than he."
The good old minister went into the room where the swindlers sat before the
empty looms. "Heaven preserve us!" he thought, and opened his eyes wide, "I
cannot see anything at all," but he did not say so. Both swindlers requested him to
come near, and asked him if he did not admire the exquisite pattern and the
beautiful colours, pointing to the empty looms. The poor old minister tried his very
best, but he could see nothing, for there was nothing to be seen. "Oh dear," he
thought, "can I be so stupid? I should never have thought so, and nobody must
know it! Is it possible that I am not fit for my office? No, no, I cannot say that I was
unable to see the cloth."
"Now, have you got nothing to say?" said one of the swindlers, while he
pretended to be busily weaving.
"Oh, it is very pretty, exceedingly beautiful," replied the old minister looking
through his glasses. "What a beautiful pattern, what brilliant colours! I shall tell the
emperor that I like the cloth very much."
"We are pleased to hear that," said the two weavers, and described to him the
colours and explained the curious pattern. The old minister listened attentively, that
he might relate to the emperor what they said; and so he did.
Now the swindlers asked for more money, silk and gold-cloth, which they
required for weaving. They kept everything for themselves, and not a thread came
near the loom, but they continued, as hitherto, to work at the empty looms.
Soon afterwards the emperor sent another honest courtier to the weavers to see
how they were getting on, and if the cloth was nearly finished. Like the old minister,
he looked and looked but could see nothing, as there was nothing to be seen.
"Is it not a beautiful piece of cloth?" asked the two swindlers, showing and
explaining the magnificent pattern, which, however, did not exist.
"I am not stupid," said the man. "It is therefore my good appointment for which
I am not fit. It is very strange, but I must not let any one know it;" and he praised
the cloth, which he did not see, and expressed his joy at the beautiful colours and
the fine pattern. "It is very excellent," he said to the emperor.
Everybody in the whole town talked about the precious cloth. At last the
emperor wished to see it himself, while it was still on the loom. With a number of
courtiers, including the two who had already been there, he went to the two clever
swindlers, who now worked as hard as they could, but without using any thread.
"Is it not magnificent?" said the two old statesmen who had been there before.
"Your Majesty must admire the colours and the pattern." And then they pointed to
the empty looms, for they imagined the others could see the cloth.
"What is this?" thought the emperor, "I do not see anything at all. That is
terrible! Am I stupid? Am I unfit to be emperor? That would indeed be the most
dreadful thing that could happen to me."
"Really," he said, turning to the weavers, "your cloth has our most gracious
approval;" and nodding contentedly he looked at the empty loom, for he did not like
to say that he saw nothing. All his attendants, who were with him, looked and
looked, and although they could not see anything more than the others, they said,
like the emperor, "It is very beautiful." And all advised him to wear the new
magnificent clothes at a great procession which was soon to take place. "It is
magnificent, beautiful, excellent," one heard them say; everybody seemed to be
delighted, and the emperor appointed the two swindlers "Imperial Court weavers."
The whole night previous to the day on which the procession was to take place,
the swindlers pretended to work, and burned more than sixteen candles. People
should see that they were busy to finish the emperor's new suit. They pretended to
take the cloth from the loom, and worked about in the air with big scissors, and
sewed with needles without thread, and said at last: "The emperor's new suit is
ready now."
The emperor and all his barons then came to the hall; the swindlers held their
arms up as if they held something in their hands and said: "These are the
trousers!" "This is the coat!" and "Here is the cloak!" and so on. "They are all as
light as a cobweb, and one must feel as if one had nothing at all upon the body; but
that is just the beauty of them."
"Indeed!" said all the courtiers; but they could not see anything, for there was
nothing to be seen.
"Does it please your Majesty now to graciously undress," said the swindlers,
"that we may assist your Majesty in putting on the new suit before the large
looking-glass?"
The emperor undressed, and the swindlers pretended to put the new suit upon
him, one piece after another; and the emperor looked at himself in the glass from
every side.
"How well they look! How well they fit!" said all. "What a beautiful pattern! What
fine colours! That is a magnificent suit of clothes!"
The master of the ceremonies announced that the bearers of the canopy, which
was to be carried in the procession, were ready.
"I am ready," said the emperor. "Does not my suit fit me marvellously?" Then
he turned once more to the looking-glass, that people should think he admired his
garments.
The chamberlains, who were to carry the train, stretched their hands to the
ground as if they lifted up a train, and pretended to hold something in their hands;
they did not like people to know that they could not see anything.
The emperor marched in the procession under the beautiful canopy, and all who
saw him in the street and out of the windows exclaimed: "Indeed, the emperor's
new suit is incomparable! What a long train he has! How well it fits him!" Nobody
wished to let others know he saw nothing, for then he would have been unfit for his
office or too stupid. Never emperor's clothes were more admired.
"But he has nothing on at all," said a little child at last. "Good heavens! listen to
the voice of an innocent child," said the father, and one whispered to the other
what the child had said. "But he has nothing on at all," cried at last the whole
people. That made a deep impression upon the emperor, for it seemed to him that
they were right; but he thought to himself, "Now I must bear up to the end." And
the chamberlains walked with still greater dignity, as if they carried the train which
did not exist.
http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/EmpNew.shtml
Brothers Grimm
Rapunzel
There were once a man and a woman who had long, in vain, wished for a child. At
length it appeared that God was about to grant their desire.
These people had a little window at the back of their house from which a
splendid garden could be seen, which was full of the most beautiful flowers and
herbs. It was, however, surrounded by a high wall, and no one dared to go into it
because it belonged to an enchantress, who had great power and was dreaded by
all the world.
One day the woman was standing by this window and looking down into the
garden, when she saw a bed which was planted with the most beautiful rampion,
and it looked so fresh and green that she longed for it. She quite pined away, and
began to look pale and miserable.
Her husband was alarmed, and asked: 'What ails you, dear wife?'
'Ah,' she replied, 'if I can't eat some of the rampion, which is in the garden
behind our house, I shall die.'
The man, who loved her, thought: 'Sooner than let your wife die, bring her
some of the rampion yourself, let it cost what it will.'
At twilight, he clambered down over the wall into the garden of the enchantress,
hastily clutched a handful of rampion, and took it to his wife. She at once made
herself a salad of it, and ate it greedily. It tasted so good to her - so very good, that
the next day she longed for it three times as much as before.
If he was to have any rest, her husband knew he must once more descend into
the garden. Therefore, in the gloom of evening, he let himself down again; but
when he had clambered down the wall he was terribly afraid, for he saw the
enchantress standing before him.
'How can you dare,' said she with angry look, 'descend into my garden and steal
my rampion like a thief? You shall suffer for it!'
'Ah,' answered he, 'let mercy take the place of justice, I only made up my mind
to do it out of necessity. My wife saw your rampion from the window, and felt such
a longing for it that she would have died if she had not got some to eat.'
The enchantress allowed her anger to be softened, and said to him: 'If the case
be as you say, I will allow you to take away with you as much rampion as you will,
only I make one condition, you must give me the child which your wife will bring
into the world; it shall be well treated, and I will care for it like a mother.'
The man in his terror consented to everything.
When the woman was brought to bed, the enchantress appeared at once, gave
the child the name of Rapunzel, and took it away with her.
Rapunzel grew into the most beautiful child under the sun. When she was twelve
years old, the enchantress shut her into a tower in the middle of a forest. The tower
had neither stairs nor door, but near the top was a little window. When the
enchantress wanted to go in, she placed herself beneath it and cried:
'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair to me.'
Rapunzel had magnificent long hair, fine as spun gold, and when she heard the
voice of the enchantress, she unfastened her braided tresses, wound them round
one of the hooks of the window above, and then the hair fell twenty ells down, and
the enchantress climbed up by it.
After a year or two, it came to pass that the king's son rode through the forest
and passed by the tower. Then he heard a song, which was so charming that he
stood still and listened. It was Rapunzel, who in her solitude passed her time in
letting her sweet voice resound. The king's son wanted to climb up to her, and
looked for the door of the tower, but none was to be found. He rode home, but the
singing had so deeply touched his heart, that every day he went out into the forest
and listened to it.
Once when he was thus standing behind a tree, he saw that an enchantress
came there, and he heard how she cried:
'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair to me.'
Then Rapunzel let down the braids of her hair, and the enchantress climbed up to
her.
'If that is the ladder by which one mounts, I too will try my fortune,' said he,
and the next day when it began to grow dark, he went to the tower and cried:
'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair to me.'
Immediately the hair fell down and the king's son climbed up.
At first Rapunzel was terribly frightened when a man, such as her eyes had
never yet beheld, came to her; but the king's son began to talk to her quite like a
friend, and told her that his heart had been so stirred that it had let him have no
rest, and he had been forced to see her. Then Rapunzel lost her fear, and when he
asked her if she would take him for her husband, and she saw that he was young
and handsome, she thought: 'He will love me more than old Dame Gothel does';
and she said yes, and laid her hand in his.
She said: 'I will willingly go away with you, but I do not know how to get down.
Bring with you a skein of silk every time that you come, and I will weave a ladder
with it, and when that is ready I will descend, and you will take me on your horse.'
They agreed that until that time he should come to her every evening, for the
old woman came by day. The enchantress remarked nothing of this, until once
Rapunzel said to her: 'Tell me, Dame Gothel, how it happens that you are so much
heavier for me to draw up than the young king's son - he is with me in a moment.'
'Ah! you wicked child,' cried the enchantress. 'What do I hear you say! I thought
I had separated you from all the world, and yet you have deceived me!'
In her anger she clutched Rapunzel's beautiful tresses, wrapped them twice
round her left hand, seized a pair of scissors with the right, and snip, snap, they
were cut off, and the lovely braids lay on the ground. And she was so pitiless that
she took poor Rapunzel into a desert where she had to live in great grief and
misery.
On the same day that she cast out Rapunzel, however, the enchantress fastened
the braids of hair, which she had cut off, to the hook of the window, and when the
king's son came and cried:
'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair to me.'
she let the hair down. The king's son ascended, but instead of finding his dearest
Rapunzel, he found the enchantress, who gazed at him with wicked and venomous
looks.
'Aha!' she cried mockingly, 'you would fetch your dearest, but the beautiful bird
sits no longer singing in the nest; the cat has got it, and will scratch out your eyes
as well. Rapunzel is lost to you; you will never see her again.'
The king's son was beside himself with pain, and in his despair he leapt down
from the tower. He escaped with his life, but the thorns into which he fell pierced
his eyes.
He wandered quite blind about the forest, ate nothing but roots and berries, and
did naught but lament and weep over the loss of his dearest wife. Thus he roamed
about in misery for some years, and at length came to the desert where Rapunzel,
with the twins to which she had given birth, a boy and a girl, lived in wretchedness.
He heard a voice, and it seemed so familiar to him that he went towards it, and
when he approached, Rapunzel knew him and fell on his neck and wept. Two of her
tears wetted his eyes and they grew clear again, and he could see with them as
before. He led her to his kingdom where he was joyfully received, and they lived for
a long time afterwards, happy and contented.
http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/Rapu.shtml
Brothers Grimm
The Frog Prince
One fine evening a young princess put on her bonnet and clogs, and went out to
take a walk by herself in a wood; and when she came to a cool spring of water with
a rose in the middle of it, 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 her seat.
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:
'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 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:
'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.'
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 his 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, with eight beautiful horses,
decked with plumes of feathers and a golden harness; 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 with eight horses, 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.
http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/FrogPrin.shtml
Brothers Grimm
Little Red Riding Hood
Once upon a time there was a dear little girl who was loved by everyone 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 riding 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. Red Riding Hood 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.'
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 devoured 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!'
'All the better to hear you with, my child,' was the reply.
'But, grandmother, what big eyes you have!' she said.
'All the better to see you with, my dear.'
'But, grandmother, what large hands you have!'
'All the better to hug you with.'
'Oh! but, grandmother, what a terrible big mouth you have!'
'All 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!' But 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 the 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.'
After that the aged 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 leave the path by myself to run into the wood, when my mother
has forbidden me to do so.'
It is also related that once, when Red Riding Hood was again taking cakes to the old
grandmother, another wolf spoke to her, and tried to entice her from the path. Red
Riding Hood, however, was on her guard, and went straight forward on her way,
and told her grandmother that she had met the wolf, and that he had said 'good
morning' to her, but with such a wicked look in his eyes, that if they had not been
on the public road she was certain he would have eaten her up.
'Well,' said the grandmother, 'we will shut the door, so that he can not come in.'
Soon afterwards the wolf knocked, and cried: 'Open the door, grandmother, I
am Little Red Riding Hood, and am bringing you some cakes.'
But they did not speak, or open the door, so the grey-beard stole twice or thrice
round the house, and at last jumped on the roof, intending to wait until Red Riding
Hood went home in the evening, and then to steal after her and devour her in the
darkness. But the grandmother saw what was in his thoughts.
In front of the house was a great stone trough, so she said to the child: 'Take
the pail, Red Riding Hood; I made some sausages yesterday, so carry the water in
which I boiled them to the trough.'
Red Riding Hood carried until the great trough was quite full. Then the smell of
the sausages reached the wolf, and he sniffed and peeped down, and at last
stretched out his neck so far that he could no longer keep his footing and began to
slip, and slipped down from the roof straight into the great trough, and was
drowned. But Red Riding Hood went joyously home, and no one ever did anything
to harm her again.
http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/LittRed.shtml
Irish Fairy Tales
The Sea-Maiden
There was once a poor old fisherman, and one year he was not getting much fish. On a
day of days, while he was fishing, there rose a sea- maiden at the side of his boat, and
she asked him, "Are you getting much fish?" The old man answered and said, "Not I."
"What reward would you give me for sending plenty of fish to you?" "Ach!" said the old
man, "I have not much to spare." "Will you give me the first son you have?" said she. "I
would give ye that, were I to have a son," said he. "Then go home, and remember me
when your son is twenty years of age, and you yourself will get plenty of fish after this."
Everything happened as the sea-maiden said, and he himself got plenty of fish; but when
the end of the twenty years was nearing, the old man was growing more and more
sorrowful and heavy hearted, while he counted each day as it came.
He had rest neither day nor night. The son asked his father one day, "Is any one
troubling you?" The old man said, "Some one is, but that's nought to do with you nor any
one else." The lad said, "I must know what it is." His father told him at last how the
matter was with him and the sea-maiden. "Let not that put you in any trouble," said the
son; "I will not oppose you." "You shall not; you shall not go, my son, though I never get
fish any more." "If you will not let me go with you, go to the smithy, and let the smith
make me a great strong sword, and I will go seek my fortune."
His father went to the smithy, and the smith made a doughty sword for him. His father
came home with the sword. The lad grasped it and gave it a shake or two, and it flew into
a hundred splinters. He asked his father to go to the smithy and get him another sword in
which there should be twice as much weight; and so his father did, and so likewise it
happened to the next sword--it broke in two halves. Back went the old man to the
smithy; and the smith made a great sword, its like he never made before. "There's thy
sword for thee," said the smith, "and the fist must be good that plays this blade." The old
man gave the sword to his son; he gave it a shake or two. "This will do," said he; "it's
high time now to travel on my way."
On the next morning he put a saddle on a black horse that his father had, and he took
the world for his pillow. When he went on a bit, he fell in with the carcass of a sheep
beside the road. And there were a great black dog, a falcon, and an otter, and they were
quarrelling over the spoil. So they asked him to divide it for them. He came down off the
horse, and he divided the carcass amongst the three. Three shares to the dog, two
shares to the otter, and a share to the falcon. "For this," said the dog, "if swiftness of foot
or sharpness of tooth will give thee aid, mind me, and I will be at thy side." Said the
otter, "If the swimming of foot on the ground of a pool will loose thee, mind me, and I
will be at thy side." Said the falcon, "If hardship comes on thee, where swiftness of wing
or crook of a claw will do good, mind me, and I will be at thy side."
On this he went onward till he reached a king's house, and he took service to be a herd,
and his wages were to be according to the milk of the cattle. He went away with the
cattle, and the grazing was but bare. In the evening when he took them home they had
not much milk, the place was so bare, and his meat and drink was but spare that night.
On the next day he went on further with them; and at last he came to a place
exceedingly grassy, in a green glen, of which he never saw the like.
But about the time when he should drive the cattle homewards, who should he see
coming but a great giant with his sword in his hand? "HI! HO!! HOGARACH!!!" says the
giant. "Those cattle are mine; they are on my land, and a dead man art thou." "I say not
that," says the herd; "there is no knowing, but that may be easier to say than to do."
He drew the great clean-sweeping sword, and he neared the giant. The herd drew back
his sword, and the head was off the giant in a twinkling. He leaped on the black horse,
and he went to look for the giant's house. In went the herd, and that's the place where
there was money in plenty, and dresses of each kind in the wardrobe with gold and silver,
and each thing finer than the other. At the mouth of night he took himself to the king's
house, but he took not a thing from the giant's house. And when the cattle were milked
this night there was milk. He got good feeding this night, meat and drink without stint,
and the king was hugely pleased that he had caught such a herd. He went on for a time
in this way, but at last the glen grew bare of grass, and the grazing was not so good.
So he thought he would go a little further forward in on the giant's land; and he sees a
great park of grass. He returned for the cattle, and he put them into the park.
They were but a short time grazing in the park when a great wild giant came full of rage
and madness. "HI! HAW!! HOGARAICH!!!" said the giant. "It is a drink of thy blood that
will quench my thirst this night." "There is no knowing," said the herd, "but that's easier
to say than to do." And at each other went the men. There was shaking of blades! At
length and at last it seemed as if the giant would get the victory over the herd. Then he
called on the dog, and with one spring the black dog caught the giant by the neck, and
swiftly the herd struck off his head.
He went home very tired this night, but it's a wonder if the king's cattle had not milk. The
whole family was delighted that they had got such a herd.
Next day he betakes himself to the castle. When he reached the door, a little flattering
carlin met him standing in the door. "All hail and good luck to thee, fisher's son; 'tis I
myself am pleased to see thee; great is the honour for this kingdom, for thy like to be
come into it--thy coming in is fame for this little bothy; go in first; honour to the gentles;
go on, and take breath."
"In before me, thou crone; I like not flattery out of doors; go in and let's hear thy
speech." In went the crone, and when her back was to him he drew his sword and whips
her head off; but the sword flew out of his hand. And swift the crone gripped her head
with both hands, and puts it on her neck as it was before. The dog sprung on the crone,
and she struck the generous dog with the club of magic; and there he lay. But the herd
struggled for a hold of the club of magic, and with one blow on the top of the head she
was on earth in the twinkling of an eye. He went forward, up a little, and there was spoil!
Gold and silver, and each thing more precious than another, in the crone's castle. He
went back to the king's house, and then there was rejoicing.
He followed herding in this way for a time; but one night after he came home, instead of
getting "All hail" and "Good luck" from the dairymaid, all were at crying and woe.
He asked what cause of woe there was that night. The dairymaid said "There is a great
beast with three heads in the loch, and it must get some one every year, and the lot had
come this year on the king's daughter, and at midday to-morrow she is to meet the
Laidly Beast at the upper end of the loch, but there is a great suitor yonder who is going
to rescue her."
"What suitor is that?" said the herd. "Oh, he is a great General of arms," said the
dairymaid, "and when he kills the beast, he will marry the king's daughter, for the king
has said that he who could save his daughter should get her to marry."
But on the morrow, when the time grew near, the king's daughter and this hero of arms
went to give a meeting to the beast, and they reached the black rock, at the upper end of
the loch. They were but a short time there when the beast stirred in the midst of the
loch; but when the General saw this terror of a beast with three heads, he took fright,
and he slunk away, and he hid himself. And the king's daughter was under fear and
under trembling, with no one at all to save her. Suddenly she sees a doughty handsome
youth, riding a black horse, and coming where she was. He was marvellously arrayed and
full armed, and his black dog moved after him. "There is gloom on your face, girl," said
the youth; "what do you here?"
"Oh! that's no matter," said the king's daughter. "It's not long I'll be here, at all events."
"I say not that," said he.
"A champion fled as likely as you, and not long since," said she.
"He is a champion who stands the war," said the youth. And to meet the beast he went
with his sword and his dog. But there was a spluttering and a splashing between himself
and the beast! The dog kept doing all he might, and the king's daughter was palsied by
fear of the noise of the beast! One of them would now be under, and now above. But at
last he cut one of the heads off it. It gave one roar, and the son of earth, echo of the
rocks, called to its screech, and it drove the loch in spindrift from end to end, and in a
twinkling it went out of sight.
"Good luck and victory follow you, lad!" said the king's daughter. "I am safe for one
night, but the beast will come again and again, until the other two heads come off it." He
caught the beast's head, and he drew a knot through it, and he told her to bring it with
her there to-morrow. She gave him a gold ring, and went home with the head on her
shoulder, and the herd betook himself to the cows. But she had not gone far when this
great General saw her, and he said to her, "I will kill you if you do not say that 'twas I
took the head off the beast." "Oh!" says she, "'tis I will say it; who else took the head off
the beast but you!" They reached the king's house, and the head was on the General's
shoulder. But here was rejoicing, that she should come home alive and whole, and this
great captain with the beast's head full of blood in his hand. On the morrow they went
away, and there was no question at all but that this hero would save the king's daughter.
They reached the same place, and they were not long there when the fearful Laidly Beast
stirred in the midst of the loch, and the hero slunk away as he did on yesterday, but it
was not long after this when the man of the black horse came, with another dress on. No
matter; she knew that it was the very same lad. "It is I am pleased to see you," said she.
"I am in hopes you will handle your great sword to-day as you did yesterday. Come up
and take breath." But they were not long there when they saw the beast steaming in the
midst of the loch.
At once he went to meet the beast, but there was Cloopersteich and Claperstich,
spluttering, splashing, raving, and roaring on the beast! They kept at it thus for a long
time, and about the mouth of night he cut another head off the beast. He put it on the
knot and gave it to her. She gave him one of her earrings, and he leaped on the black
horse, and he betook himself to the herding. The king's daughter went home with the
heads. The General met her, and took the heads from her, and he said to her, that she
must tell that it was he who took the head off the beast this time also. "Who else took
the head off the beast but you?" said she. They reached the king's house with the heads.
Then there was joy and gladness.
About the same time on the morrow, the two went away. The officer hid himself as he
usually did. The king's daughter betook herself to the bank of the loch. The hero of the
black horse came, and if roaring and raving were on the beast on the days that were
passed, this day it was horrible. But no matter, he took the third head off the beast, and
drew it through the knot, and gave it to her. She gave him her other earring, and then
she went home with the heads. When they reached the king's house, all were full of
smiles, and the General was to marry the king's daughter the next day. The wedding was
going on, and every one about the castle longing till the priest should come. But when
the priest came, she would marry only the one who could take the heads off the knot
without cutting it. "Who should take the heads off the knot but the man that put the
heads on?" said the king.
The General tried them; but he could not loose them; and at last there was no one about
the house but had tried to take the heads off the knot, but they could not. The king asked
if there were any one else about the house that would try to take the heads off the knot.
They said that the herd had not tried them yet. Word went for the herd; and he was not
long throwing them hither and thither. "But stop a bit, my lad," said the king's daughter;
"the man that took the heads off the beast, he has my ring and my two earrings." The
herd put his hand in his pocket, and he threw them on the board. "Thou art my man,"
said the king's daughter. The king was not so pleased when he saw that it was a herd
who was to marry his daughter, but he ordered that he should be put in a better dress;
but his daughter spoke, and she said that he had a dress as fine as any that ever was in
his castle; and thus it happened. The herd put on the giant's golden dress, and they
married that same day.
They were now married, and everything went on well. But one day, and it was the
namesake of the day when his father had promised him to the sea-maiden, they were
sauntering by the side of the loch, and lo and behold! she came and took him away to the
loch without leave or asking. The king's daughter was now mournful, tearful, blindsorrowful for her married man; she was always with her eye on the loch. An old
soothsayer met her, and she told how it had befallen her married mate. Then he told her
the thing to do to save her mate, and that she did.
She took her harp to the sea-shore, and sat and played; and the sea- maiden came up to
listen, for sea-maidens are fonder of music than all other creatures. But when the wife
saw the sea-maiden she stopped. The sea-maiden said, "Play on!" but the princess said,
"No, not till I see my man again." So the sea-maiden put up his head out of the loch.
Then the princess played again, and stopped till the sea-maiden put him up to the waist.
Then the princess played and stopped again, and this time the sea-maiden put him all out
of the loch, and he called on the falcon and became one and flew on shore. But the seamaiden took the princess, his wife.
Sorrowful was each one that was in the town on this night. Her man was mournful,
tearful, wandering down and up about the banks of the loch, by day and night. The old
soothsayer met him. The soothsayer told him that there was no way of killing the seamaiden but the one way, and this is it--"In the island that is in the midst of the loch is the
white-footed hind of the slenderest legs and the swiftest step, and though she be caught,
there will spring a hoodie out of her, and though the hoodie should be caught, there will
spring a trout out of her, but there is an egg in the mouth of the trout, and the soul of
the sea-maiden is in the egg, and if the egg breaks, she is dead."
Now, there was no way of getting to this island, for the sea-maiden would sink each boat
and raft that would go on the loch. He thought he would try to leap the strait with the
black horse, and even so he did. The black horse leaped the strait. He saw the hind, and
he let the black dog after her, but when he was on one side of the island, the hind would
be on the other side. "Oh! would the black dog of the carcass of flesh were here!" No
sooner spoke he the word than the grateful dog was at his side; and after the hind he
went, and they were not long in bringing her to earth. But he no sooner caught her than
a hoodie sprang out of her. "Would that the falcon grey, of sharpest eye and swiftest
wing, were here!" No sooner said he this than the falcon was after the hoodie, and she
was not long putting her to earth; and as the hoodie fell on the bank of the loch, out of
her jumps the trout. "Oh! that thou wert by me now, oh otter!" No sooner said than the
otter was at his side, and out on the loch she leaped, and brings the trout from the midst
of the loch; but no sooner was the otter on shore with the trout than the egg came from
his mouth. He sprang and he put his foot on it. 'Twas then the sea- maiden appeared,
and she said, "Break not the egg, and you shall get all you ask." "Deliver to me my wife!"
In the wink of an eye she was by his side. When he got hold of her hand in both his
hands, he let his foot down on the egg, and the sea-maiden died.
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/st-patricks-day/short-stories/thesea-maiden.html
The Drought Maker (Aboriginal)
Retold by Ron Bacon
In the long ago of the dreamtime; when the world was very new, there lived the big
brown frog Tiddalik.
He was so big that when people saw him from far off, they thought he must surely
be a hill.
One morning when the great frog Tiddalik awoke, he was very thirsty. “I am
thirsty,” said Tiddalik, “so thirsty, I could drink all the water in this river!”
Tiddalik began to drink. As he sipped, the water in the river went lower. He gulped,
and the rocks on the riverbed began to show. He drank until the river was drained
so dry that all the fishes and the turtles flipped and flapped in the mud where all
the water had been.
But Tiddalik said, “I am still thirsty! I must find more water!”
He hopped over the plain until he came to a lake. He sipped and he sucked, he
gurgled and he gulped until the lake was drained dry.
“Still thirsty!” said Tiddalik. “Still thirsty! I must have more water!”
He hopped farther over the plain until he came to a swamp. He sipped and he
swallowed, he gulped and he guzzled until the swamp was dry.
“I want more water!” said Tiddalik. “I am still thirsty! Where can I find more
water?”
He hopped farther across the plain. Now he was so full of water, he was even
bigger than before. The people felt the ground shake as he went by. They were so
frightened that the hid until he was gone.
Tiddalik hopped on across the land. Whenever he came to water, he stopped to
drink it, until soon there was no water in all the land.
Now everyone was thirty, the people were so thirsty, they began to die. The birds
the animals began to die. The trees died, the grass died, and the land was brown
and bare.
The people and the animals were very worried. They came together to talk.
But no one knew what to do until a wise old man said, ‘”All the water is inside
Tiddalik. If we can make Tiddalik open his mouth, the water will flow out. Then
there will be water in the rivers. There will be water in the lakes and in the
swamps.”
“Yes,” said the Kangaroo. “That is what we must do. We must make Tiddalik laugh
loud. We must make him open wide. The water will rush out over the land and the
grass, flowers, and the trees will grow, and the land will be green again.”
The people and the animals went to where Tiddalik was. He sat on the ground like
a great brown rock, with his eyes wide open and his mouth tight shut. He looked at
the people and he said, “Crrr-oak!” from his tight-shut mouth.
“I will go first,” said Kangaroo. “I will make Tiddalik laugh.”
Kangaroo jumped up and down in the front of Tiddalik. He bounced on his tail. He
did cartwheels. He turned head over heels. The people and the animals laughed so
much, they all fell over.
But Tiddalik did not laugh. He sat with his eyes wide open and his mouth tight
shut. All he did was say, “Crrr-oak!” through his tight-shut mouth.
“My turn! My Turn!” said Kookaburra. He sat on a tree and told funny stories. He
sand funny songs. The people and the animals laughed so much, the fell over
again. And Kookaburra, he laughed so much that he fell out of the tree.
But Tiddalik sat with his eyes wide open and his mouth tight shut. He said. “Crrroak!” but he did not laugh. He did not open his mouth.
“Watch me!” said Emu. “I will make the Tiddalik laugh!” He put his long neck
between his legs. Then he began to run backwards, looking between his legs to see
where he was going. He hopped around on one leg for so long that he fell over.
And again, the people and all the animals laughed until they fell over, too.
But Tiddalik just said, “Crrr-oak!” through his tight-shut mouth, and watched
through his wide-open eyes.
All the Animals tried to make Tiddalik laugh. Blue lizard ran around on his two legs.
Platypus danced. Wombat sang a song. But Tiddalik just said, Crrr-oak!”
Then out from the dry mud of the river came Nabunum the ell. “I’m the one!” said
Nabunum. “I’ll make Tiddalik laugh!”
“You?” said all the people and all the animals. “You? You make Tiddalik laugh?
What can you do? You can’t sing. You can’t dance. You can’t tell funny stories.
You can’t do funny tricks. All you can do is wriggle!”
“Watch me!” said Nabunum. Quietly, he wiggled across the ground. Quietly, he
came close to Tiddalik.
Tiddalik was not watching. He was starring across the plain with his wide-open
eyes, say, “Crrr-oak!” to himself through his tight-shut mouth.
Nabunum wriggled even closer to Tiddalik. “Crrr-oak!” said Tiddalik. Nabunum
wriggle himself under Tiddalik’s stomach. Gently Nabunum touched Tiddalik. Softly
Nabunum tickled Tiddalik.
Tickle, tickle, tickle went Nabunum. Tiddalik’s eyed opened wider. His mouth
began to smile. Tickle, tickle, tickle went Nabunum. Tiddalik’s eyed opened wider
still. His mouth opened a little! Tickle, tickle, tickle!
Then Tiddalik’s mouth opened wide, in an enormous, gigantic, tremendous laugh!
It frightened the cockatoos out of the trees. The wombats scurried back into their
holes. The opossums hid in the tall treetops. And Tiddalik laughed and laughed
and laughed through his great wide-open mouth!
The water gushed out from Tiddalik’s mouth and rushed over the plains. It filled
the rivers, it flooded the lakes, it flower into the swamps and the waterholes.
Now when there is a drought people say Tiddalik is thirsty and is drinking the water
again. And when there is a flood they say Nabunum is making Tiddalik laugh.
The Cabbage Princess
By Joy Cowley
The little princess lived in a palace with her two older sisters and her father,
the king. She wore a high, gold crown on top of her long, black hair. Her dresses
were stitched with gold and jewels and peacock feathers. But the princess wasn’t
happy. Everyone who met her said she was the unhappiest, grumpiest princess
they’d ever seen.
One day, the king called his three daughters. “I’m giving you each a job to
do. The one who does her job best will turn this kingdom into a queendom. She
will have my crown and my throne.”
Then the king said, “You, my first daughter, you will go out and fight dragons.
You, my second daughter, you will go out and hunt for treasure. And you, my third
daughter, you will look after the palace vegetable garden.”
The little princess was so upset that she lay on the floor and kicked and
screamed. “I want to fight dragons! I want to find treasure!”
“There are plenty of dragons and treasures in the vegetable garden,” said her
father.
The first princess got on her horse and rode away to fight dragons. The
second princess got on her horse and rode away to find treasure. The third
princess went stamp, stamp, stamp, into the garden.
A thrush in an apple tree called to the little princess. “There are plenty of
dragons to fight in this garden. There is plenty of treasure, too. Do your work well,
and you will discover great riches.”
The princess yelled at the bird, “What do you know, big beak?” But at the
same time, the princess wondered what treasure was hidden in the garden. She
stopped screaming and began to pull out weeds.
Every day, the little princess worked among the rows of vegetables. She dug
potatoes and tied up tomatoes. She thinned carrots and picked beans. She yelled
at the thrush. “Hey, big beak bread, you told me lies!”
“Keep on working,” said the thrush. “Just keep on working.”
Before long, the palace vegetable garden looked very neat. The vegetables
were at their best when along came a cloud of white butterflies. They laid their
eggs on the cabbages. The eggs became caterpillars which ate the cabbage leaves.
“What will I do?” cried the princess. “My beautiful cabbages look like old
rags!”
“I think I can help you,” said the thrush. “But first, you must give me your
high, gold crown and your long, black hair. I need them to make a nest for my
babies.”
“Take them!” said the princess.
The little princess put her crown in the apple tree. Snip, snip, snip. The
thrush cut off her long, black hair and made a nest inside the crown.
Before long, the thrush was back in the garden, hopping from cabbage to
cabbage and eating all the caterpillars. The little princess shook her head and
laughed her first laugh. “My head feels so light without that heavy crown and hair!”
The caterpillars had gone, but now the crows came to eat the corn. “Please
tell me what I should do,” the princess begged the thrush.
“You must make a scarecrow to scare the crows away,” said the wise thrush.
“You’ll need to use your dress for the scarecrow.”
The scarecrow kept the crows away from the ripening corn. All the
vegetables grew strong and tall in the sun. And so did the princess. Free from her
heavy crown, hair, and dress, she skipped about the garden, whistling the songs
the thrush family taught her.
One afternoon, some visitors came to the garden. It was the king and the
two other princesses. The king couldn’t see his daughter, but there among the
lettuce plants was a happy little boy, singing like a bird.
“Tell me, my cheerful lad,” said the king, “where can we find the princess?”
“Father! I am the princess!” laughed his daughter. “I haven’t seen any
dragons and not a scrap of treasure, but I love working here.”
“Dragons come in all shapes and sized,” said the king. “They can be
caterpillars or crows. They can be dragons of unhappiness or dragons of
selfishness. I think you’ve been fighting a lot of dragons, and you’ve won all your
battles.”
“What about treasure?” asked the princess.
“Treasure comes in all shapes and sizes, too,” the king replied. “You’ve found
the treasure of hard work; the treasure of sun, wind, and rain; the treasure of a
good friend. Best of all, you’ve found the treasure of happiness. I’m going to make
you queen of this land.”
The princess laughed. “No thanks, Father,” she said. “I’ve found another
treasure, too. It’s called freedom. I never want to wear a heavy crown or live in a
stuffy, old palace again.”
Then the other two princesses cried to their father, “We want to live in the
garden, too!”
The king nodded. “So do I,” he admitted.
The king decided that his country was big enough to look after itself. He
turned the palace into a museum, and all the family moved into the garden shed,
where they sold vegetable for a living.
Every morning, the family of thrushes in the apple tree sang about the
treasures of sun and wind and rain, the treasure of good friends, and the treasure
of green, growing things. The royal family called it their freedom song and lived
happily ever after.
The Princess, the Mud Pies, and the Dragon
Adapted by Lily Ernesto
In a land far away, a sweet princess lived in a castle with her mother the
queen and her father the king.
The princess had toys of gold and toys of silver. But she never played with
them. All day long, the princess made mud pies.
The king and queen said, “You have toys of gold and toys of silver. Why do
you play with mud pies?”
“I just like mud pies,” said the princess, and she made some more. At the
end of the day, she left her pies in a wagon to dry.
Now in this land, there lived a dragon. That dragon loved toys of gold and
toys of silver, and he wanted more.
Late one night, the dragon came to the castle, but he did not get very far. He
banged his foot on the princess’s wagon.
Oooooo! This made the dragon very mad! Fire shot from his mouth.
The next morning, the princess went out to play. “Oh look!” she cried. “The
dragon has been here. He has melted all my toys of gold and all my toys of silver.
Then the princess began to smile. “Look,” she cried again. “The dragon has
cooked my mud pies. See! They are all hard.”
The princess took the pies to her room and put them by the window to cool.
Late at night, the dragon came back to the castle. This time he got as far as
the princess’s window. Crash! Clatter! Tinkle! He knocked the mud pies to the
floor!
What a noise! It scared the dragon so much he started to run. He ran until
he was so far away, no one ever saw him again.
said.
The king and queen hugged the princess. “Your mud pies saved us all!” they
Now the princess still makes mud pies. And so do the king, the queen, and
all the king’s soldiers. Then cooked them in the oven. Then they put the pies by all
the windows to cool— and just in case another dragon comes to the castle late at
night.
The Gingerbread Man
Retold by Annette Smith
Once upon a time, there was a little old man and a little old woman. One
day, the little woman made a gingerbread man.
She gave him a head, two arms, and two legs. She gave him two eyes, a
nose, and a mouth.
The little old woman put the gingerbread man into the oven to bake. Soon
the little old man said, “I can smell gingerbread baking. I will see if the
gingerbread man is ready to eat.”
The little old man opened the oven door. Out jumped the gingerbread man.
He ran across the room and out the door as fast as he could go.
“Stop! Stop!” called the little old man.
“Stop! Stop!” called the little old woman. “Come back!”
But the gingerbread man laughed at them. “Run, run, as fast as you can.
You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man.”
The little old man and little old woman ran fast. But the gingerbread man ran
faster.
The gingerbread man ran on and on. He met a cow. “Stop! Stop!” called the
cow. “I want to eat you!”
The gingerbread man laughed at the cow. “Run, run, as fast as you can. You
can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man.”
The gingerbread man ran on and on. He met a horse. “Stop! Stop!” called
the horse. “I want to eat you.”
The gingerbread man laughed at the horse. “Run, run, as fast as you can.
You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man.”
The gingerbread man came to a river. He stopped. He could not get across.
A sly old fox came up to him. “I will take you across,” the fox said. “Climb
onto my tail.” So the gingerbread man climbed onto the fox’s tail.
“Gingerbread man!” called the fox. “You are too heavy for my tail. Sit on my
back.” So the gingerbread man climbed onto the fox’s back.
“Gingerbread man!” called the fox. “You are too heavy for my back. Sit on
my nose.”
But when the gingerbread man sat on the fox’s nose, the fox tossed him up
into the air. Snip! Snap!
The fox gobbled him up.
And that was the end of the gingerbread man.