THE STORY OF POOR LUKAS There was once a wealthy farmer named Lukas who was so careless in the management of his affairs that there came a time when all his property was gone and h...
To the tune of "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush." This is the way my fingers stand, Fingers stand, fingers stand, This is the way my fingers stand, So early in the morning. This...
"TROTTY" seems a strange name for an old man, but it was given to Toby Veck because of his always going at a trot to do his errands; for he was a ticket porter or messenger and his...
In some parts of the Isle of Wight, these insects are found of a peculiarly large size, and their colours are extremely beautiful. There is an old legend respecting them which is s...
Once on a time there was an old beggar-woman, who had gone out to beg. She had a little lad with her, and when she had got her bag full she struck across the hills towards her own...
It was dusk. The owls began to fly through the forest to find some prey. A large hare leaped out on a clearing and began to smooth out his fur. An old owl looked at the hare, and s...
THERE is nobody in the whole world who knows so many stories as Ole-Luk-Oie, or who can relate them so nicely. In the evening while the children are seated at the tea table or in t...
Two orphan children, a boy and a girl, lived alone near the mountains. Their parents had long been dead and the children were left to look after themselves without any kindred upon...
My grandfather, Andrew Coffey, was known to the whole barony as a quiet, decent man. And if the whole barony knew him, he knew the whole barony, every inch, hill and dale, bog and...
This is another slate game, in which, by means of a tale and appropriate indications on the slate, a rude figure of a cat is delineated. It requires, however, some little ingenuity...
It was the Feast of the New Year, the oldest and most splendid of all the feasts in the Kingdom of Persia, and the day had been spent by the king in the city of Schiraz, taking par...
FROM THE GERMAN BY MISS F. E. HYNAM. A STORK swept high over the Bohemian forest. It was a most important duty that had brought him from his own marshes into this mountainous regio...
ONCE upon a time there lived a King and Queen who loved each other so much that they were never happy unless they were together. Day after day they went out hunting or fishing; nig...
THE STORY OF A CHARCOAL-BURNER'S SON WHO MARRIED A PRINCESS There was once a king who took great delight in hunting. One day he followed a stag a great distance into the forest. He...
[Illustration: Young girl sitting on tree trunk; a small bird is perched on her left hand; a small bottle is fastened to her belt.] Once upon a time a wicked nobleman rose in rebel...
Once upon a time an old man and his wife lived together in a little village. They might have been happy if only the old woman had had the sense to hold her tongue at proper times....
Once there was a little village maiden, the prettiest ever seen. Her mother was foolishly fond of her, and her grandmother likewise. The old woman made for her a little hood, which...
Far away, in the wide ocean there was once a green island where lived the most beautiful princess in the world, named Miranda. She had lived there ever since her birth, and was que...
Aya, sweet maid, was the only child of a daimyo of the Province of Omi. Mother had she none, and her father was a noble lord and a warrior. He was at the Court of the Shogun, or he...
There lived once long ago, in days of jesters and court fools and harlequins, a certain clown called Punchinello. This Punchinello, like all others of his trade, whitened his face...
Pigeons never do know woe, Till they do a benting go. This means that pigeons are never short of food except when they are obliged to live on the seeds of the grass, which ripen be...
Buckee, Buckee, biddy Bene, Is the way now fair and clean? Is the goose ygone to nest, And the fox ygone to rest? Shall I come away? These curious lines are said by Devonshire chil...
The Shee an Gannon was born in the morning, named at noon, and went in the evening to ask his daughter of the king of Erin. "I will give you my daughter in marriage," said the king...
Once long ago, before the white man came to Canada, an orphan boy was living alone with his uncle. He was not very happy, for he had to work very hard, and tasks more fitted for a...
A girl must pluck a leaf from the even-ash, and, holding it in her hand, say-- This even-ash I hold in my hand, The first I meet is my true man. She carries it in her hand a short...
Once upon a time there was a great lord who had three sons. He fell very ill, sent for doctors of every kind, even bonesetters, but they, none of them, could find out what was the...
The inhabitants of Shropshire, and, it is said, especially Shrewsbury, have an unfortunate habit of misplacing the letter h. It is scarcely necessary to say that the failing is by...
Long ago there dwelt on the shores of the Great Water in the west a young man and his younger wife. They had no children and they lived all by themselves far from other people on a...
In our village there was an old, old man, Pimen Timofeich. He was ninety years old. He was living at the house of his grandson, doing no work. His back was bent: he walked with a c...
The nymph who walks the public streets, And sets her cap at all she meets, May catch the fool who turns to stare; But men of sense avoid the snare. As on the margin of the flood, W...