From the Japanische Marchen und Sagen. A long long time ago, an old couple dwelt in the very heart of a high mountain. They lived together in peace and harmony, although they were...
Contes populaires des Bassoutos. Recueillis et traduits par E. Jacottet. Paris: Leroux, Editeur. There was once a dove who built a nice soft nest as a home for her three little one...
From the German. IN olden days there lived a Count, who had many castles and estates, and a most beautiful daughter, but no one would associate with him, for it was rumoured he was...
To know the MISTRESS'S humour right, See if her maids are clean and tight, If BETTY waits without her stays, She copies but her LADY'S ways; When MISS comes in with boist'rous shou...
Once upon a time, there were a poor couple who lived in a little cottage overgrown with vines. From roof-tree to cellar, their home was as clean as hands could make it, and the tab...
Translated from the Danish. There were once a king and a queen who lived in a beautiful castle, and had a large, and fair, and rich, and happy land to rule over. From the very firs...
To her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. The moral lay, to beauty due, I write, FAIR EXCELLENCE, to you; Well pleas'd to hope my vacant hours Have been employ'd to sweeten your...
There was once a time when young women of the Tlingit tribe were not allowed to eat between their meals, but in spite of this rule which they knew very well, two girls belonging to...
"The winter wren is really with us during the summer too," said daddy. "But he is too shy to be near us. We can only hear him sing sometimes. When winter comes, though, he goes to...
"In the house where Kenneth lived there was a chair which had always fascinated him. It was a very, very old chair, and Kenneth's mother and daddy were very proud of it," said dadd...
Once upon a time there lived a princess who was so beautiful and so good that everybody loved her. Her father could hardly bear her out of his sight, and he almost died of grief wh...
From the Japanische Murchen und Sagen. Near a big river, and between two high mountains, a man and his wife lived in a cottage a long, long time ago. A dense forest lay all round t...
Attention--noble auditory! While the rebeck I tune; And be prepared with plaudits soon, When ye have heard my story. Certain of the subject beasts Of the mighty Lion's court An ent...
Hey diddle diddle, The cat scraped the fiddle, The cow jump'd over the moon; The little dog bayed To see such sports played, And the dish ran away with the spoon. The unmeaning "He...
THE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS. Once upon a time there was an old Sow with three little Pigs, and as she had not enough to keep them, she sent them out to seek their fortune. T...
A certain Shepherd's Boy kept his sheep upon a common, and in sport and wantonness would often cry out, "The wolf! the wolf!" By this means he several times drew the husbandmen in...
A fox, almost with hunger dying, Some grapes upon a trellis spying, To all appearance ripe, clad in Their tempting russet skin, Most gladly would have eat them; But since he could...
A Dog, crossing a little rivulet with a piece of meat in his mouth, saw his own shadow represented in the clear mirror of the limpid stream; and, believing it to be another dog, wh...
A Fox, very hungry, chanced to come into a vineyard, where there hung branches of charming ripe grapes; but nailed up to a trellis so high that he leaped till he quite tired himsel...
A Hare laughed at a Tortoise upon account of his slowness, and vainly boasted her own great speed in running. "Let us make a match," replied the Tortoise; "I will run with you five...
I saw you toss the kites on high And blow the birds about the sky; And all around I heard you pass, Like ladies' skirts across the grass-- O wind, a-blowing all day long, O wind, t...
A Trumpeter during a battle ventured too near the enemy and was captured by them. They were about to proceed to put him to death when he begged them to hear his plea for mercy. "I...
Two Pots had been left on the bank of a river, one of brass, and one of earthenware. When the tide rose they both floated off down the stream. Now the earthenware pot tried its bes...
Once upon a time there was a gentleman who married, for his second wife, the proudest and most haughty woman that ever was seen. She had two daughters of her own, who were, indeed,...
A Lion had come to the end of his days and lay sick unto death at the mouth of his cave, gasping for breath. The animals, his subjects, came round him and drew nearer as he grew mo...
A Wolf found great difficulty in getting at the sheep owing to the vigilance of the shepherd and his dogs. But one day it found the skin of a sheep that had been flayed and thrown...
A Fox had by some means got into the store-room of a theatre. Suddenly he observed a face glaring down on him and began to be very frightened; but looking more closely he found it...
A Doe had had the misfortune to lose one of her eyes, and could not see any one approaching her on that side. So to avoid any danger she always used to feed on a high cliff near th...
An Eagle was soaring through the air when suddenly it heard the whizz of an Arrow, and felt itself wounded to death. Slowly it fluttered down to the earth, with its life-blood pour...
The Hares were so persecuted by the other beasts, they did not know where to go. As soon as they saw a single animal approach them, off they used to run. One day they saw a troop o...