{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_27467/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_27467","id":"gutenberg_27467","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/27467","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Children's stories","Fairy tales","Folklore","Storytelling"],"text":"Produced by Paul Dring and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive/American Libraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  STORIES TO READ OR TELL\n\n  [Illustration: \"A wonderful horse appeared, having a golden mane.\"\n    (P. 13)]\n\n\n\n\n  STORIES TO READ OR TELL\n  FROM\n  FAIRY TALES AND FOLKLORE\n\n\n  Selected and Edited\n  by\n  LAURE CLAIRE FOUCHER\n  Assistant in the New York Public Library\n\n\n  Illustrated by Ada Budell\n\n\n  NEW YORK\n  MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY\n  1917\n\n\n  COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY\n  MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY\n  NEW YORK\n\n\n  _Published October, 1911_\n  _New Edition March, 1917_\n\n\n\n\n  CONTENTS\n\n\n  The Stone-Cutter                                Japanese   1\n\n  Prince Kindhearted                                Polish   8\n\n  The Timid Hare and the Flight of the Beasts        Hindu  17\n\n  The Bee, the Harp, the Mouse, and the Bum-Clock    Irish  24\n\n  The Tale of the Pointer Tray                      German  40\n\n  The Enchanted Princess                           Russian  44\n\n  \"It Is Quite True!\"                               Danish  57\n\n  The Old Hag's Long Leather Bag                     Irish  63\n\n  The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats               German  82\n\n  The Tale of the Snow and the Steeple              German  89\n\n  King Longbeard                                   Russian  93\n\n  The Toy Goose                                     Danish 118\n\n  Yellow Lily                                        Irish 123\n\n  The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage              German 159\n\n  The Tale of the Wolf in Harness                   German 164\n\n\n\n\n  ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n  A wonderful horse appeared                    _Frontispiece_\n\n                                                        FACING\n                                                          PAGE\n\n  At the sound of the voice, the Stone-cutter looked\n        around                                               2\n\n  The Bodhisatta saw this headlong flight of the\n        animals                                             18\n\n  The Mouse and the Bum-clock stood up                      38\n\n  When, behold, they found no less than six brace of\n        live partridges                                     42\n\n  Hardly had she spoken these words, when raging\n        winds came blowing and whistling                    48\n\n  \"Pass it on,\" piped the bats                              60\n\n  \"Going up to a little house, she found an old hag\"        74\n\n  \"The mother sewed him up so quickly\"                      86\n\n  \"I took one of my pistols\"                                90\n\n  All the princesses were there                            104\n\n  He jumped so high that nobody could see where he\n        went to                                            120\n\n  Up went the lid of the tank                              144\n\n  The bird tells the others                                160\n\n  \"We both arrived in full career\"                         165\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCING THE STORIES\n\n\n\"Stories to Read or Tell\" has been compiled for the boys and girls who like\nto listen to stories as well as to read them, and for the mothers and\nteachers who are looking for stories \"not quite so well known\" as those\ncontained in many excellent compilations now in use.\n\n\"'Tell me a story' comes before the ability to read,\" and unfortunate is\nthe child who has not gone to the \"Land of Nod\" with good Mother Goose and\nthose of her kin.\n\n\"The story period of a child's life merges imperceptibly into the reading\nperiod.... Listening to stories from books is the natural approach to\nreading from books and is the first step toward the acquisition of\nculture,\" says one believer in story-telling. Another adds \"What is more\npleasing than an increasing acquaintance with stories of the imagination,\nfor of fact we shall learn more, anon.\"\n\nThe child who is brought up entirely on fact, loses the joys and fine\nfeeling offered to him through the imagery of great minds. To deprive him\nof fairy tales, myths and legends as given through the medium of\nstory-telling, is to keep from him a knowledge of the fairies, gods and\nheroes so frequently alluded to by authors and poets of the world's\nliterature.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STONE-CUTTER\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a stone-cutter, who went every day to a great\nrock in the side of a big mountain and cut out slabs for gravestones or for\nhouses. He understood very well the kinds of stones wanted for the\ndifferent purposes, and as he was a careful workman he had plenty of\ncustomers. For a long time he was quite happy and contented, and asked for\nnothing better than what he had.\n\nNow in the mountain dwelt a spirit which now and then appeared to men, and\nhelped them in many ways to become rich and prosperous. The stone-cutter,\nhowever, had never seen this spirit, and only shook his head, with an\nunbelieving air, when anyone spoke of it. But a time was coming when he\nlearned to change his opinion.\n\nOne day the stone-cutter carried a gravestone to the house of a rich man,\nand saw there all sorts of beautiful things, of which he had never even\ndreamed. Suddenly his daily work seemed to grow harder and heavier, and he\nsaid to himself: \"Oh, if only I were a rich man, and could sleep in a bed\nwith silken curtains and golden tassels, how happy I should be!\"\n\n[Illustration: At the sound of the voice, the Stone-Cutter looked around.]\n\nAnd a voice answered him: \"Your wish is heard; a rich man you shall be!\"\n\nAt the sound of the voice the stone-cutter looked round, but could see\nnobody. He thought it was all his fancy, and picked up his tools and went\nhome, for he did not feel inclined to do any more work that day. But when\nhe reached the little house where he lived, he stood still with amazement,\nfor instead of his wooden hut was a stately palace filled with splendid\nfurniture, and most splendid of all was the bed, in every respect like the\none he had envied. He was nearly beside himself with joy, and in his new\nlife the old one was soon forgotten.\n\nIt was now the beginning of summer, and each day the sun blazed more\nfiercely. One morning the heat was so great that the stone-cutter could\nscarcely breathe, and he determined he would stop at home till the\nevening. He was rather dull, for he had never learned how to amuse himself,\nand was peeping through the closed blinds to see what was going on in the\nstreet, when a little carriage passed by, drawn by servants dressed in blue\nand silver. In the carriage sat a prince, and over his head a golden\numbrella was held, to protect him from the sun's rays.\n\n\"Oh, if I were only a prince!\" said the stone-cutter to himself, as the\ncarriage vanished round the corner. \"Oh, if I were only a prince, and could\ngo in such a carriage and have a golden umbrella held over me, how happy I\nshould be!\"\n\nAnd the voice of the mountain spirit answered: \"Your wish is heard; a\nprince you shall be.\"\n\nAnd a prince he was. Before his carriage rode one company of men and\nanother behind it; servants dressed in scarlet and gold bore him along, the\ncoveted umbrella was held over his head, everything heart could desire was\nhis. But yet it was not enough. He looked round still for something to\nwish for, and when he saw that in spite of the water he poured on his\ngrass the rays of the sun scorched it, and that in spite of the umbrella\nheld over his head each day his face grew browner and browner, he cried in\nhis anger: \"The sun is mightier than I; oh, if I were only the sun!\"\n\nAnd the mountain spirit answered: \"Your wish is heard; the sun you shall\nbe.\"\n\nAnd the sun he was, and felt himself proud in his power. He shot his beams\nabove and below, on earth and in heaven; he burnt up the grass in the\nfields and scorched the faces of princes as well as of poorer folk. But in\na short time he began to grow tired of his might, for there seemed nothing\nleft for him to do. Discontent once more filled his soul, and when a cloud\ncovered his face, and hid the earth from him he cried in his anger: \"Does\nthe cloud hold captive my rays, and is it mightier than I? Oh, that I were\na cloud, and mightier than any!\"\n\nAnd the mountain spirit answered: \"Your wish is heard; a cloud you shall\nbe!\"\n\nAnd a cloud he was, and lay between the sun and the earth. He caught the\nsun's beams and held them, and to his joy the earth grew green again and\nflowers blossomed. But that was not enough for him, and for days and weeks\nhe poured forth rain till the rivers overflowed their banks and the crops\nof rice stood in water. Towns and villages were destroyed by the power of\nthe rain, only the great rock on the mountain side remained unmoved. The\ncloud was amazed at the sight, and cried in wonder: \"Is the rock, then,\nmightier than I? Oh, if I were only the rock!\"\n\nAnd the mountain spirit answered: \"Your wish is heard; the rock you shall\nbe!\"\n\nAnd the rock he was, and glorified in his power. Proudly he stood, and\nneither the heat of the sun nor the force of the rain could move him. \"This\nis better than all!\" he said to himself. But one day he heard a strange\nnoise at his feet, and when he looked down to see what it could be, he saw\na stone-cutter driving tools into his surface. Even while he looked a\ntrembling feeling ran all through him, and a great block broke off and fell\nupon the ground. Then he cried in his wrath: \"Is a mere child of earth\nmightier than a rock? Oh, if I were only a man!\"\n\nAnd the mountain spirit answered: \"Your wish is heard. A man once more you\nshall be!\"\n\nAnd a man he was, and in the sweat of his brow he toiled again at his trade\nof stone-cutting. His bed was hard and his food scanty, but he had learned\nto be satisfied with it, and did not long to be something or somebody else.\nAnd as he never asked for things he had not got, or desired to be greater\nand mightier than other people, he was happy at last, and heard the voice\nof the mountain spirit no longer.\n\n\n\n\nPRINCE KINDHEARTED\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a king who had but one son, and he was called\nthe Kindhearted. When the prince was twenty years old, he asked the king,\nhis father, to let him go traveling. His father fitted him out for the\njourney, gave him a true servant to guard him, and his fatherly blessing.\nThe prince took leave of his father, mounted a brave steed and went to\ndifferent countries, to see God's world, to learn many things, and to\nreturn home a wiser and a better man.\n\nOnce when the prince was slowly riding through a silent field, he suddenly\nperceived an eagle in pursuit of a swan. The white swan was almost caught\nby the eagle's sharp claws, when the prince, carefully aiming, fired his\npistol. The eagle fell dead, and the happy swan came down and said: \"Prince\nKindhearted, I thank you for your help. It is not a swan that is thanking\nyou, but the enchanted daughter of the Knight Invisible. You have not\nsaved me from an eagle's claws, but from the terrible magician King\nKoshchey. My father will pay you well for your services. Remember whenever\nyou are in need, to say three times: 'Knight Invisible, come to my help!'\"\nThe swan flew away as soon as it had finished speaking, and the prince\nlooked after it, then continued his journey.\n\nHe crossed many high mountains, traversed deep rivers, passed foreign\ncountries, and at last he came to a great desert, where there was nothing\nto see but sky and sand. No man lived there, no animal's voice was ever\nheard, no vegetable ever grew there; the sun was shining so brightly and\nburning so terribly that all the rivers were dried up, their beds were lost\nin the sand, and there was not a drop of water anywhere. The young prince\nanxious to go everywhere and see everything and not noticing how dry things\nwere, kept going farther and farther, and deeper and deeper, into the\ndesert. But after a while he became terribly thirsty. In order to find some\nwater he sent his servant in one direction and he himself went in another.\nAfter a long time he succeeded in finding a well. He called to his\nservant, \"I have found a means of getting some water,\" and they both were\nhappy. But their happiness did not last, for the well was very deep and\nthey had nothing with which to reach the water.\n\nThe prince said to the servant: \"Dismount, I will let you down into the\nwell by some long ropes and you shall draw up some water.\"\n\n\"No, my prince,\" answered the servant, \"I am much heavier than you are, and\nYour Majesty's hands will not be able to hold me. You take hold of the\nropes, and I will let you down into the well.\"\n\nThe prince, the ropes tied around him, went down into the well, drank the\ncold water, and taking some of it for the servant, pulled the ropes, as a\nsign for the servant to draw him up again.\n\nBut instead of pulling him up, the servant said: \"Listen, you, kingly son!\nFrom your cradle-days until now you have lived a happy life, surrounded by\nluxury and love, and I have always led the life of a miserable wretch. Now\nyou must agree to become my servant, and I will be the prince instead of\nyou. If you will not exchange, say your last prayer, for I am going to\ndrown you.\"\n\n\"Do not drown me, my true servant, you will not gain anything by it. You\nwill never find such a good master as I am, and you know what a murderer\nmay expect in the next world.\"\n\n\"Let me suffer in the next world, but I will make you suffer in this one,\"\nanswered the servant and he began to loosen the ropes.\n\n\"Stop!\" cried the prince, \"I will be thy servant and you shall be the\nprince. I will give you my word for it.\"\n\n\"I do not believe your word. Swear that you will write down what you\npromise me, now, for words are lost in the air, and writing always remains\nas a testimony against us.\"\n\n\"I swear!\"\n\nThe servant let down into the well a sheet of paper and a pencil, and told\nthe prince to write the following: \"The bearer of this is Prince\nKindhearted, traveling with his servant, a subject of his father's\nkingdom.\"\n\nThe servant glanced over the note, pulled the prince out of the well, gave\nhim his shabby clothes, and put on the prince's rich dress. Then having\nchanged armor and horses, they went on.\n\nIn a week or so they came to the capital of a certain kingdom. When they\napproached the palace, the false prince gave his horse to the false servant\nand told him to go to the stable, and he himself went straight into the\nthrone chamber and said to the king: \"I come to you to ask for the hand of\nyour daughter, whose beauty and wisdom are known all over the world. If you\nconsent, you will have our favor; if not, we will decide it by war.\"\n\n\"You do not speak to me in a nice way at all, not as a prince ought to\nspeak, but it may be that in your country you are not used to better\nmanners. Now listen to me, my future son-in-law. My kingdom is now in the\nhands of an enemy of mine. His troops have captured my best soldiers and\nnow they are approaching my capital. If you will clear my kingdom from\nthese troops, my daughter's hand will be yours as a reward.\"\n\n\"All right,\" answered the false prince, \"I will drive your enemies away.\nDo not worry if they come to the capital. To-morrow morning not one enemy\nwill be left in your land.\" In the evening he went out of the palace,\ncalled his servant and said to him: \"Listen, my dear! Go out to the city\nwalls, drive away the foreign troops, and for this service I will return to\nyou your note, by which you denied your kingdom and swore to be my\nservant.\"\n\nThe honest Prince Kindhearted put on his knightly armor, mounted his steed,\nwent out to the city walls and called in a loud voice: \"Knight Invisible!\nCome to my help!\"\n\n\"Here I am,\" said Knight Invisible, \"what do you wish me to do for you? I\nam ready to do everything for you, because you saved my child from the\nterrible Koshchey.\"\n\nPrince Kindhearted showed him the troops, and the Knight Invisible whistled\nloudly and called: \"Oh you, my wise horse, come to me quickly!\"\n\nThere was a rustling in the air, it thundered, the earth trembled, and a\nwonderful horse appeared, having a golden mane, from his nostrils a fire\nwas burning, from his eyes bright sparks were flying, and from his ears\nthick clouds of smoke were coming.\n\nKnight Invisible jumped upon the horse and said to the prince: \"Take this\nmagic sword and attack the troops from the left, and I upon my golden-maned\nhorse will attack them from the right.\"\n\nThey both attacked the army. From the left the soldiers were falling like\nwood, from the right like whole forests. In less than an hour the entire\narmy vanished. Some of them remained upon the spot, dead; some of them\nfled. Prince Kindhearted and the Knight Invisible met upon the\nbattle-field, shook hands in a friendly way, and in a minute the Knight\nInvisible and his horse turned into a bright red flame, then into thick\nsmoke, which disappeared in the darkness. The prince returned quietly to\nthe palace.\n\nThe young princess felt very sad that evening. She could not sleep and so\nleaned out of her window, whence she overheard the conversation between the\nprince and the servant. Then she saw what was going on behind the city\nwalls. She also saw the Knight Invisible disappear in the darkness, and\nPrince Kindhearted return to the palace. She saw the false prince coming\nout of the palace, taking the knightly armor from the servant, and Prince\nKindhearted entering the stable to rest.\n\nThe next morning, the old king, seeing his land freed from the enemies,\nfelt very happy, and gave the prince many rich presents. But when he\nannounced the engagement of his daughter to him, she stood up, took the\nhand of the real prince, who helped to serve at the table, led him before\nthe old king and said: \"My dearest father and king, and all you that are\npresent here! This man is my bridegroom, sent to me by God, for he is your\nsavior, and the real prince. And that one who calls himself a prince, is a\ntraitor; a false and dishonest man.\" Then the princess told everything she\nknew and said: \"Let him show some proof that he really is a prince.\"\n\nThe false prince gave to the king the note, which was given to him in the\nwell. The king opened it and read aloud: \"The bearer of this note, the\nfalse and untrue servant of Prince Kindhearted, asks for pardon and\nexpects a just punishment. The note was given to him in the well by Prince\nKindhearted.\"\n\n\"Is it really so?\" cried the wretch and he became pale as death.\n\n\"Yes, read it yourself, if you do not believe it,\" answered the king.\n\n\"I cannot read,\" said the poor fellow. He knelt before his master and\nbegged for mercy, but he received what he deserved.\n\nPrince Kindhearted and the princess were happily married, and I was present\nat the wedding feast and also felt happy.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TIMID HARE AND THE FLIGHT OF THE BEASTS\n\n\nOnce upon a time when Brahmadatta reigned in Benares, the Bodhisatta came\nto life as a young lion. And when fully grown he lived in a wood. At this\nsame time there was near the Western Ocean a grove of palms mixed with\nvilva trees. A certain hare lived here beneath a palm sapling, at the foot\nof a vilva tree.\n\nOne day this hare after feeding came and lay down beneath a young palm\ntree. And the thought struck him: \"If this earth should be destroyed, what\nwould become of me?\" And at this very moment a ripe vilva fruit fell on a\npalm leaf. At the sound of it, the hare thought, \"This solid earth is\ncollapsing,\" and starting up he fled without so much as looking behind him.\n\nAnother saw him scampering off as if frightened to death, and asked the\ncause of his panic flight. \"Pray, don't ask me,\" he said. The other hare\ncried, \"Pray, sir, what is it?\" and kept running after him. Then the hare\nstopped a moment and without looking back he said, \"The earth here is\nbreaking up.\" And at this the second hare ran after the other. And so first\none and then another hare caught sight of him running, and joined in the\nchase till one hundred thousand hares all took flight together. They were\nseen by a deer, a boar, an elk, a buffalo, a wild ox, a rhinoceros, a\ntiger, a lion, and an elephant. And when they asked what it meant and were\ntold that the earth was breaking up, they too took flight. So by degrees\nthis host of animals extended to the length of a full league.\n\n[Illustration: The Bodhisatta saw this headlong flight of the animals.]\n\nWhen the Bodhisatta saw this headlong flight of the animals, and heard that\nthe cause of it was that the earth was coming to an end, he thought: \"The\nearth is nowhere coming to an end. Surely it must be some sound which was\nmisunderstood by them. And if I don't make a great effort, they will surely\nperish. I will save their lives.\"\n\nSo with the speed of a lion he got before them to the foot of a mountain,\nand lion-like roared three times. They were terribly frightened at the\nlion, and stopped in their flight, stood huddled together. The lion went in\namongst them and asked why they were running away.\n\n\"The earth is collapsing,\" they answered.\n\n\"Who saw it collapsing?\" he said.\n\n\"The elephants know all about it,\" they replied.\n\nHe asked the elephants. \"We don't know,\" they said; \"the lions know.\" But\nthe lions said, \"We don't know; the tigers know.\" The tigers said, \"The\nrhinoceroses know.\" The rhinoceroses said, \"The wild oxen know.\" The wild\noxen, \"The buffaloes.\" The buffaloes, \"The elks.\" The elks, \"The boars.\"\nThe boars, \"The deer.\" The deer said, \"We don't know; the hares know.\" When\nthe hares were questioned, they pointed to one particular hare and said,\n\"This one told us.\"\n\nSo the Bodhisatta asked, \"Is it true, sir, that the earth is breaking up?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir, I saw it,\" said the hare.\n\n\"Where,\" he asked, \"were you living when you saw it?\"\n\n\"Near the ocean, sir, in a grove of palms mixed with vilva trees. For as I\nwas lying beneath the shade of a palm sapling at the foot of a vilva tree,\nmethought, 'If this earth should break up, where shall I go?' And at that\nvery moment I heard the sound of breaking up of the earth, and I fled.\"\n\nThought the lion: \"A ripe vilva fruit evidently must have fallen on a palm\nleaf and made a 'thud,' and this hare jumped to the conclusion that the\nearth was coming to an end, and ran away. I will find out the exact truth\nabout it.\" So he reassured the herd of animals, and said: \"I will take the\nhare and go find out exactly whether the earth is coming to an end or not,\nin the place pointed out by him. Until I return do you stay here.\" Then,\nplacing the hare on his back, he sprang forward with the speed of a lion,\nand putting the hare down in a palm grove, he said, \"Come, show us the\nplace you meant.\"\n\n\"I dare not, my lord,\" said the hare.\n\n\"Come, don't be afraid,\" said the lion.\n\nThe hare, not venturing to go near the vilva tree, stood afar off and\ncried, \"Yonder, sir, is the place of dreadful sounds,\" and so saying, he\nrepeated the first stanza:\n\n    \"From the spot where I did dwell\n      Issued forth a fearful 'thud';\n    What it was I could not tell,\n      Nor what caused it understood.\"\n\nAfter hearing what the hare said, the lion went to the foot of the vilva\ntree, and saw the spot where the hare had been lying beneath the shade of\nthe palm tree, and the ripe vilva fruit that fell on the palm leaf, and\nhaving carefully ascertained that the earth had not broken up, he placed\nthe hare on his back and with the speed of a lion soon came again to the\nherd of beasts.\n\nThen he told them the whole story, and said, \"Don't be afraid.\" And having\nthus reassured the herd of beasts, he let them go.\n\nVerily if it had not been for the Bodhisatta at that time, all the beasts\nwould have rushed into the sea and perished. It was all owing to the\nBodhisatta that they escaped death.\n\n    Alarmed at sound of fallen fruit,\n      A hare once ran away;\n    The other beasts all followed suit,\n      Moved by that hare's dismay.\n\n    They hastened not to view the scene,\n      But lent a willing ear\n    To idle gossip, and were clean\n      Distraught with foolish fear.\n\n    They who to Wisdom's calm delight\n      And Virtue's heights attain,\n    Though ill example should invite,\n      Such panic fear disdain.\n\nThese three stanzas were inspired by Perfect Wisdom.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BEE, THE HARP, THE MOUSE, AND THE BUM-CLOCK\n\n\nOnce there was a widow, and she had one son, called Jack. Jack and his\nmother owned just three cows. They lived well and happy for a long time;\nbut at last hard times came down on them, and the crops failed, and poverty\nlooked in at the door, and things got so sore against the poor widow that\nfor want of money and for want of necessities she had to make up her mind\nto sell one of the cows. \"Jack,\" she said one night, \"go over in the\nmorning to the fair to sell the branny cow.\"\n\nWell and good: in the morning my brave Jack was up early, and took a stick\nin his fist and turned out the cow, and off to the fair he went with her;\nand when Jack came into the fair, he saw a great crowd gathered in a ring\nin the street. He went into the crowd to see what they were looking at, and\nthere in the middle of them he saw a man with a wee, wee Harp, a Mouse, and\na Bum-clock (Cockroach), and a Bee to play the harp. And when the man put\nthem down on the ground and whistled, the Bee began to play the Harp, and\nthe Mouse and the Bum-clock stood up on their hind legs and got hold of\neach other and began to waltz. And as soon as the Harp began to play and\nthe Mouse and the Bum-clock to dance, there wasn't a man or woman, or a\nthing in the fair, that didn't begin to dance also; and the pots and pans,\nand the wheels and reels jumped and jigged, all over the town, and Jack\nhimself and the branny cow were as bad as the next.\n\nThere was never a town in such a state before or since, and after a while\nthe man picked up the Bee, the Harp, and the Mouse, and the Bum-clock and\nput them into his pocket, and the men and women, Jack and the cow, the pots\nand pans, wheels and reels, that had hopped and jigged, now stopped, and\neveryone began to laugh as if to break its heart. Then the man turned to\nJack. \"Jack,\" says he, \"how would you like to be master of all these\nanimals?\"\n\n\"Why,\" says Jack, \"I should like it fine.\"\n\n\"Well, then,\" says the man, \"how will you and me make a bargain about\nthem?\"\n\n\"I have no money,\" says Jack.\n\n\"But you have a fine cow,\" says the man. \"I will give you the Bee and the\nHarp for it.\"\n\n\"O, but,\" Jack says, says he, \"my poor mother at home is very sad and\nsorrowful entirely, and I have this cow to sell and lift her heart again.\"\n\n\"And better than this she cannot get,\" says the man. \"For when she sees the\nBee play the Harp, she will laugh if she never laughed in her life before.\"\n\n\"Well,\" says Jack, says he, \"that will be grand.\"\n\nHe made the bargain. The man took the cow; and Jack started home with the\nBee and the Harp in his pocket, and when he came home, his mother welcomed\nhim back.\n\n\"And, Jack,\" says she, \"I see you have sold the cow.\"\n\n\"I have done that,\" says Jack.\n\n\"Did you do well?\" says the mother.\n\n\"I did well, and very well,\" says Jack.\n\n\"How much did you get for her?\" says the mother.\n\n\"O,\" says he, \"it was not for money at all I sold her, but for something\nfar better.\"\n\n\"O, Jack! Jack!\" says she, \"what have you done?\"\n\n\"Just wait until you see, mother,\" says he, \"and you will soon say I have\ndone well.\"\n\nOut of his pocket he takes the Bee and the Harp and sets them in the middle\nof the floor, and whistles to them, and as soon as he did this the Bee\nbegan to play the Harp, and the mother she looked at them and let a big,\ngreat laugh out of her, and she and Jack began to dance, the pots and pans,\nthe wheels and reels began to jig and dance over the floor, and the house\nitself hopped about also.\n\nWhen Jack picked up the Bee and the Harp again the dancing all stopped, and\nthe mother laughed for a long time. But when she came to herself, she got\nvery angry entirely with Jack, and she told him he was a silly, foolish\nfellow, that there was neither food nor money in the house, and now he had\nlost one of her good cows also. \"We must do something to live,\" says she.\n\"Over to the fair you must go to-morrow morning, and take the black cow\nwith you and sell her.\"\n\nAnd off in the morning at an early hour brave Jack started, and never\nhalted until he was in the fair. When he came into the fair, he saw a big\ncrowd gathered in a ring in the street. Said Jack to himself, \"I wonder\nwhat are they looking at.\"\n\nInto the crowd he pushed, and saw the wee man this day again with a Mouse\nand a Bum-clock, and he put them down in the street and whistled. The Mouse\nand the Bum-clock stood up on their hind legs and got hold of each other\nand began to dance there and jig, and as they did there was not a man or\nwoman in the street who didn't begin to jig also, and Jack and the black\ncow, and the wheels and the reels, and the pots and pans, all of them were\njigging and dancing all over the town, and the houses themselves were\njumping and hopping about, and such a place Jack or any one else never saw\nbefore.\n\nWhen the man lifted the Mouse and the Bum-clock into his pocket, they all\nstopped dancing and settled down, and everybody laughed right hearty. The\nman turned to Jack. \"Jack,\" said he, \"I am glad to see you; how would you\nlike to have these animals?\"\n\n\"I should like well to have them,\" says Jack, says he, \"only I cannot.\"\n\n\"Why cannot you?\" says the man.\n\n\"O,\" says Jack, says he, \"I have no money, and my poor mother is very\ndown-hearted. She sent me to the fair to sell this cow and bring some money\nto lift her heart.\"\n\n\"O,\" says the man, says he, \"if you want to lift your mother's heart I will\nsell you the Mouse, and when you set the Bee to play the Harp and the Mouse\nto dance to it, your mother will laugh if she never laughed in her life\nbefore.\"\n\n\"But I have no money,\" says Jack, says he, \"to buy your Mouse.\"\n\n\"I don't mind,\" says the man, says he, \"I will take your cow for it.\"\n\nPoor Jack was so taken with the Mouse and had his mind so set on it, that\nhe thought it was a grand bargain entirely, and he gave the man his cow,\nand took the Mouse and started off for home, and when he got home his\nmother welcomed him.\n\n\"Jack,\" says she, \"I see you have sold the cow.\"\n\n\"I did that,\" says Jack.\n\n\"Did you sell her well?\" says she.\n\n\"Very well indeed,\" says Jack, says he.\n\n\"How much did you get for her?\"\n\n\"I didn't get money,\" says he, \"but I got value.\"\n\n\"O, Jack! Jack!\" says she, \"what do you mean?\"\n\n\"I will soon show you that, mother,\" says he, taking the Mouse out of his\npocket and the Harp and the Bee and setting all on the floor; and when he\nbegan to whistle the Bee began to play, and the Mouse go up on its hind\nlegs and began to dance and jig, and the mother gave such a hearty laugh as\nshe never laughed in her life before. To dancing and jigging herself and\nJack fell, and the pots and pans and the wheels and reels began to dance\nand jig over the floor, and the house jigged also. And when they were tired\nof this, Jack lifted the Harp and the Mouse and the Bee and put them in\nhis pocket, and his mother she laughed for a long time.\n\nBut when she got over that she got very down-hearted and very angry\nentirely with Jack. \"And O, Jack,\" she says, \"you are a stupid\ngood-for-nothing fellow. We have neither money nor meat in the house, and\nhere you have lost two of my good cows, and I have only one left now.\nTo-morrow morning,\" she says, \"you must be up early and take this cow to\nthe fair and sell her. See to get something to lift my heart up.\"\n\n\"I will do that,\" says Jack, says he. So he went to his bed, and early in\nthe morning he was up and turned out the spotty cow and went to the fair.\n\nWhen Jack got to the fair, he saw a crowd gathered in a ring in the street.\n\"I wonder what they are looking at, anyhow,\" says he. He pushed through the\ncrowd, and there he saw the same wee man he had seen before, with a\nBum-clock; and when he put the Bum-clock on the ground, he whistled, and\nthe Bum-clock began to dance, and the men, women, and children in the\nstreet, and Jack and the spotty cow began to dance and jig also, and\neverything on the street and about it, the wheels and reels, the pots and\npans, began to jig, and the houses themselves began to dance likewise. And\nwhen the man lifted the Bum-clock and put it in his pocket, everybody\nstopped jigging and dancing and everyone laughed loud. The wee man turned,\nand saw Jack.\n\n\"Jack, my brave boy,\" says he, \"you will never be right fixed until you\nhave this Bum-clock, for it is a very fancy thing to have.\"\n\n\"O, but,\" says Jack, says he, \"I have no money.\"\n\n\"No matter for that,\" says the man; \"you have a cow, and that is as good as\nmoney to me.\"\n\n\"Well,\" says Jack, \"I have a poor mother who is very down-hearted at home,\nand she sent me to the fair to sell this cow and raise some money and lift\nher heart.\"\n\n\"O, but Jack,\" says the wee man, \"this Bum-clock is the very thing to lift\nher heart, for when you put down your Harp and Bee and Mouse on the floor,\nand put the Bum-clock along with them, she will laugh if she never laughed\nin her life before.\"\n\n\"Well, that is surely true,\" says Jack, says he, \"and I think I will make a\nswap with you.\"\n\nSo Jack gave the cow to the man and took the Bum-clock himself, and started\nfor home. His mother was glad to see Jack back, and says she, \"Jack, I see\nthat you have sold the cow.\"\n\n\"I did that, mother,\" says Jack.\n\n\"Did you sell her well, Jack?\" says the mother.\n\n\"Very well indeed, mother,\" says Jack.\n\n\"How much did you get for her?\" says the mother.\n\n\"I didn't take any money for her, mother, but value,\" says Jack, and he\ntakes out of his pocket the Bum-clock and the Mouse, and set them on the\nfloor and began to whistle, and the Bee began to play the Harp and the\nMouse and the Bum-clock stood up on their hind legs and began to dance, and\nJack's mother laughed very hearty, and everything in the house, the wheels\nand the reels, and the pots and pans, went jigging and hopping over the\nfloor, and the house itself went jigging and hopping about likewise.\n\nWhen Jack lifted up the animals and put them in his pocket, everything\nstopped, and the mother laughed for a good while. But after a while, when\nshe came to herself, and saw what Jack had done and how they were now\nwithout either money, or food, or a cow, she got very, very angry at Jack,\nand scolded him hard, and then sat down and began to cry.\n\nPoor Jack, when he looked at himself, confessed that he was a stupid fool\nentirely. \"And what,\" says he, \"shall I now do for my poor mother?\" He went\nout along the road, thinking and thinking, and he met a wee woman who said,\n\"Good-morrow to you, Jack,\" says she, \"how is it you are not trying for the\nking's daughter of Ireland?\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\" says Jack.\n\nSays she: \"Didn't you hear what the whole world has heard, that the King of\nIreland has a daughter who hasn't laughed for seven years, and he has\npromised to give her in marriage, and to give the kingdom along with her\nto any man who will take three laughs out of her.\"\n\n\"If that is so,\" says Jack, says he, \"it is not here I should be.\"\n\nBack to the house he went, and gathers together the Bee, the Harp, the\nMouse, and the Bum-clock, and putting them into his pocket, he bade his\nmother good-bye, and told her it wouldn't be long till she got news from\nhim, and off he hurries.\n\nWhen he reached the castle, there was a ring of spikes all round the castle\nand men's heads on nearly every spike there.\n\n\"What heads are these?\" Jack asked one of the king's soldiers.\n\n\"Any man that comes here trying to win the king's daughter and fails to\nmake her laugh three times, loses his head and has it stuck on a spike.\nThese are the heads of the men that failed,\" says he.\n\n\"A mighty big crowd,\" says Jack, says he. Then Jack sent word to tell the\nking's daughter and the king that there was a new man who had come to win\nher.\n\nIn a very little time the king and the king's daughter and the king's\ncourt all came out and sat themselves down on gold and silver chairs in\nfront of the castle, and ordered Jack to be brought in until he should have\nhis trial. Jack, before he went, took out of his pocket the Bee, the Harp,\nthe Mouse, the Bum-clock, and he gave the Harp to the Bee, and he tied a\nstring to one and the other, and took the end of the string himself, and\nmarched into the castle yard before all the court, with his animals coming\non a string behind him.\n\nWhen the queen and the king and the court and the princes saw poor ragged\nJack with his Bee, and Mouse, and Bum-clock hopping behind him on a string,\nthey set up one roar of laughter that was long and loud enough, and when\nthe king's daughter herself lifted her head and looked to see what they\nwere laughing at, and saw Jack and his paraphernalia, she opened her mouth\nand she let out of her such a laugh as was never heard before.\n\nThen Jack dropped a low courtesy, and said, \"Thank you, my lady; I have one\nof the three parts of you won.\"\n\nThen he drew up his animals in a circle, and began to whistle, and the\nminute he did, the Bee began to play the Harp, and the Mouse and the\nBum-clock stood up on their hind legs, got hold of each other, and began to\ndance, and the king and the king's court and Jack himself began to dance\nand jig, and everything about the king's castle, pots and pans, wheels and\nreels, and the castle itself began to dance also. And the king's daughter,\nwhen she saw this, opened her mouth again, and let out of her a laugh twice\nlouder than she let before, and Jack, in the middle of his jigging, drops\nanother courtesy, and says, \"Thank you, my lady; that is two of the three\nparts of you won.\"\n\n[Illustration: The Mouse and the Bum-clock stood up.]\n\nJack and his menagerie went on playing and dancing, but Jack could not get\nthe third laugh out of the king's daughter, and the poor fellow saw his big\nhead in danger of going on the spike. Then the brave Mouse came to Jack's\nhelp and wheeled round upon its heel, and at it did so its tail swiped into\nthe Bum-clock's mouth, and the Bum-clock began to cough and cough and\ncough. And when the king's daughter saw this she opened her mouth again,\nand she let the loudest and hardest and merriest laugh that was ever heard\nbefore or since; and, \"Thank you, my lady,\" says Jack, dropping another\ncourtesy; \"I have all of you won.\"\n\nThen when Jack stopped his menagerie, the king took himself and the\nmenagerie within the castle. He was washed and combed, and dressed in a\nsuit of silk and satin, with all kinds of gold and silver ornaments, and\nthen was led before the king's daughter. And true enough she confessed that\na handsomer and finer fellow than Jack she had never seen, and she was very\nwilling to be his wife.\n\nJack sent for his poor old mother and brought her to the wedding, which\nlasted nine days and nine nights, every night better than the other. All\nthe lords and ladies and gentry of Ireland were at the wedding. I was at\nit, too, and got brogues, broth and slippers of bread and came jigging home\non my head.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TALE OF THE POINTER TRAY\n\n\nIn a voyage which I made to the East Indies with Captain Hamilton, I took a\nfavorite pointer with me; he was, to use a common phrase, worth his weight\nin gold, for he never deceived me. One day, when we were, by the best\nobservations we could make, at least three hundred leagues from land, my\ndog pointed. I observed him for nearly an hour with astonishment, and\nmentioned the circumstance to the captain and every officer on board,\nasserting that we must be near land, for my dog smelt game. This occasioned\na general laugh; but that did not alter in the least the good opinion I had\nof my dog. After much conversation _pro_ and _con_, I boldly told the\ncaptain that I placed more confidence in Tray's nose than I did in the eyes\nof every seaman on board; and therefore boldly proposed laying the sum I\nhad agreed to pay for my passage (viz., one hundred guineas) that we should\nfind game within half an hour. The captain (a good hearty fellow) laughed\nagain, desired Mr. Crawford, the surgeon, who was prepared, to feel my\npulse. He did so, and reported me in perfect health. The following dialogue\nbetween them took place; I overheard it, though spoken low and at some\ndistance:--\n\nCaptain. His brain is turned; I cannot with honor accept his wager.\n\nSurgeon. I am of a different opinion. He is quite sane, and depends more\nupon the scent of his dog than he will upon the judgment of all the\nofficers on board; he will certainly lose, and he richly merits it.\n\nCaptain. Such a wager cannot be fair on my side; however, I'll take him up,\nif I return his money afterwards.\n\nDuring the above conversation, Tray continued in the same situation, and\nconfirmed me still more in my opinion. I proposed the wager a second time;\nit was then accepted.\n\n  [Illustration: When behold, they found no less than six brace of live\n    partridges!]\n\nDone! and done! were scarcely said on both sides, when some sailors who\nwere fishing in the long boat, which was made fast to the stern of the\nship, harpooned an exceedingly large shark, which they brought on board\nand began to cut up for the purpose of barrelling the oil, when, behold,\nthey found no less than SIX BRACE OF LIVE PARTRIDGES in this animal's\nstomach!\n\nThey had been so long in that situation, that one of the hens was sitting\nupon four eggs, and a fifth was hatching, when the shark was opened!\n\nThis young bird we brought up by placing it with a litter of kittens that\ncame into the world a few minutes before. The old cat was as fond of it as\nany of her own four-legged progeny, and made herself very unhappy when it\nflew out of her reach till it returned again. As to the other partridges,\nthere were four hens amongst them; one or more were, during the voyage,\nconstantly sitting, and consequently we had plenty of game at the captain's\ntable; and in gratitude to poor Tray (for being a means of winning one\nhundred guineas) I ordered him the bones daily, and sometimes a whole\nbird.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ENCHANTED PRINCESS\n\n\nIn a certain kingdom there once served in the king's army a soldier. He\nserved him honestly and faithfully for twenty-five years. For his good\nservice the king gave him a leave of absence, and presented him with his\nwar-horse and armor. The soldier bade farewell to his comrades and went\nhome. He traveled one day, another day, a third day, and a whole week. The\nsoldier had no money to buy food for himself or for his horse, and his home\nwas still very far off. He was very hungry and tired. He looked all around\nand saw a large and beautiful castle.\n\n\"Well,\" thought he, \"I will try to enter it; perhaps they will take me into\nservice and I can earn something.\"\n\nHe entered the castle, put his horse in the stable, gave it food, and went\nto the palace. In one of the rooms a table was set with the best foods and\ndrinks a person could wish for. He ate and drank and thought of taking a\nrest.\n\nSuddenly a bear entered. \"Do not be afraid, young man. You can do me some\ngood. I am not a frightful bear; I am a fair maiden, an enchanted princess.\nIf you will pass three nights here, my enchantment will be broken, and I\nwill marry you.\"\n\nThe soldier consented. The bear left, and he was all alone. He felt so sad.\nA great anxiety took hold of him, and he felt such a longing to depart that\nhe almost lost his mind. The third night he decided to leave the castle,\nand to flee. But no matter how he looked and searched, he could find no way\nof escape. He had to remain in the castle against his will. In the morning\nthe princess came in. She was as beautiful as a dream. She thanked him for\nthe service and told him to get ready for the wedding. The wedding was\ncelebrated and they lived happily together.\n\nAfter some time the soldier thought of his old home and wanted to visit it.\n\n\"Stay here, my friend! Do not go. Aren't you happy here?\" asked the\nprincess.\n\nBut the soldier insisted upon going to see his old parents. Before\ndeparting, his wife gave him a small bag full of seeds. \"Wherever you go\nthrow these seeds on both sides of the road; wherever they fall trees will\ngrow up; upon the trees rare fruits will grow, beautiful birds will sing.\"\n\nThe soldier mounted his good old horse and departed. Wherever he went, he\nthrew the magic seeds; and after him forests rose as if creeping out of the\nearth. On the third evening of his journey, in the middle of an open field,\nhe saw a group of men sitting upon the grass, playing cards. Near them a\nkettle was hanging, and though there was no fire under it, the soup inside\nwas boiling.\n\n\"What a wonder!\" thought the soldier. \"No fire is to be seen yet the kettle\nis boiling hot. Let me look at it.\" He turned his horse, approached the men\nand said, \"Good evening, honest people. You have a wonderful thing: a\nkettle boiling without fire, but I have something more wonderful.\"\n\nHe took out one seed and threw it upon the ground. In a minute a tree grew\nup, rare fruit upon its branches, wonderful birds singing beautiful songs.\nNow the soldier did not know that these men were the magicians that had\nenchanted the princess, his wife. They recognized him.\n\n\"Oh,\" said they, \"that is the same fellow, who saved the princess. Let us\nmake him sleep for half a year.\"\n\nThey treated him with an enchanted drink. The soldier immediately fell fast\nasleep, and the men with the kettle disappeared.\n\nSoon after this the princess took a walk in her garden. There she saw that\nall the tree-tops were dry and dead. \"That foretells me nothing good\";\nthought she. \"Something wrong must have happened to my husband. He has been\naway for three months already. It is time for him to come back, and as yet\nI have heard nothing of him.\" She decided then to go to look for him.\n\nShe went by the same road over which the soldier had gone. On both sides\nforests were growing, and birds were singing. But after a while she reached\nthe place where there were no more trees. The road was clearly marked in\nthe open field. She thought, \"Where could my husband have gone? I hope he\nhas not been swallowed up by the earth.\" She looked around and saw aside\nfrom the road a wonderful tree, and under it her husband. She ran to him,\nshook him, called him, but could not wake him up. She pinched him, stuck\npins into his body but he felt no pain. He was lying as one dead and did\nnot move.\n\n  [Illustration: Hardly had she spoken these words, when raging winds came\n    blowing and whistling.]\n\nThe princess became angry, and in her anger she cursed him. \"O, you\nwretched sleepyhead! I wish a storm would raise you, and carry you off, far\naway to unknown countries!\"\n\nHardly had she spoken these words, when raging winds came blowing and\nwhistling, and raised the soldier and carried him off before the princess'\neyes. The princess felt sorry for her bad words, but it was too late. She\ncried bitterly, but could not get her husband back. She returned to her\npalace, and lived there a sad and lonely life.\n\nThe poor soldier was carried by the wind through many lands and seas, and\nwas thrown upon a very lonely sand-bank between two seas. If in his sleep\nhe should turn to his right or to his left, he would fall into the sea and\nperish. For half a year he slept and did not move a finger. When he awoke,\nhe jumped straight upon his feet and looked around. From both sides the\nwaves were rising, and there was no end to the waters. He asked himself in\nsurprise, \"How did I come here? Who brought me hither?\"\n\nHe went along the bank and came to an island. There he saw a very high and\nsteep mountain. Its top reached the clouds. Upon it there was a large\nstone. He approached the mountain and saw at its foot three men fighting.\nThey were the sons of a malicious magician.\n\n\"What is the matter?\" asked the soldier. \"What are you fighting for?\"\n\n\"You see,\" answered they, \"our father died and left us three wonderful\nthings: a flying carpet, seven-league boots, and an invisible cap. But we\ncannot divide them peaceably.\"\n\n\"O you silly magicians! Stop your fighting! If you wish, I will divide the\nthings between you so that everyone shall be satisfied.\"\n\nThe magicians consented.\n\n\"Now,\" said the soldier, \"do you see that large stone upon the mountain\ntop? Climb up to it, push it down the mountain, and run after it; whoever\nshall reach the stone first, shall choose among the three wonders; the\nsecond one, between the two wonders; and the third shall take that which\nshall be left.\"\n\nThe magicians climbed up, pushed the stone, and ran after it. It was\nrolling down very quickly. One reached it, seized upon it--the stone turned\nover, fell upon him and killed him. The same happened to the other two\nmagicians.\n\nThe soldier took the seven-league boots, the invisible cap, sat down upon\nthe flying carpet and went to look for his kingdom. After some time he came\nto a hut; and entered. An old fairy lived there.\n\n\"Good morning, grandmother! Tell me how to find my dear little princess.\"\n\n\"I do not know, my dear! I have never seen her, nor heard of her. Go to the\nother side of the ocean. There lives my older sister. She knows more than I\ndo; perhaps she will tell you.\"\n\nThe soldier flew upon his carpet to the older fairy. The journey was very\nlong. When he felt hungry or thirsty, he had only to put on his invisible\ncap, go to the shops, and there he had everything he wished. At last he\ncame to the older fairy.\n\n\"Good morning, grandmother. Can't you tell me how to find my beautiful\nprincess?\"\n\n\"No, dear! I can't tell you. But you cross many oceans and many lands until\nyou reach the end of the world. There lives my oldest sister; perhaps she\nknows about the princess.\"\n\nThe soldier felt very much discouraged, but he was anxious to find his\nwife. He went then to look for the oldest fairy. He traveled for a very,\nvery long time over many seas and many lands until he came to the end of\nthe world. A single hut was standing, and beyond it nothing could be seen\nbut thick darkness.\n\n\"Well,\" thought the soldier sadly, \"if I don't find out anything here, I\ncan fly no further.\"\n\nHe went into the hut. There he saw an old, old fairy. Her teeth had fallen\nout, her hair was white like snow. She was half blind and lame.\n\n\"Good morning, grandmother! Tell me, please, where to find my princess?\"\n\n\"Wait awhile,\" said the fairy. \"I will call all the winds and ask them.\nThey blow all over the world, so they must know where she lives.\"\n\nShe went out upon the porch and called in a loud voice. Suddenly from all\nsides raging winds arose and blew, so that the hut trembled. \"Be calmer!\"\ncried she, and said, \"O you, my raging winds, you blow all over the world;\nhave you seen anywhere the beautiful princess?\"\n\n\"No, we have not seen her, answered all the winds.\"\n\n\"Are you all here?\"\n\n\"All but the South Wind.\"\n\nAfter a short time the South Wind came. The old fairy asked him angrily,\n\"Where were you until now? I have been waiting impatiently for you.\"\n\n\"Pardon me, grandmother! I went into a new kingdom where a beautiful\nprincess lives. Her husband disappeared no one knows where. Now different\nkings and princes come to woo her.\"\n\n\"And how far is it to that kingdom?\"\n\n\"It will take thirty years to walk thither, ten years to fly upon wings,\nand if I blow I can carry one over in three hours.\"\n\nThen the soldier with tears in his eyes, begged the South Wind to carry him\nto his princess.\n\n\"Well,\" said the South Wind, \"I will do it if you will allow me to blow in\nyour kingdom for three days and three nights.\"\n\n\"You may blow for three weeks if you like.\"\n\n\"All right. Let me take a rest of three days. I will gather my strength,\nand then we will go.\"\n\nThe South Wind rested and then said to the soldier, \"Now, my friend, get\nready for the journey; but do not be afraid; I will not hurt you!\"\n\nSuddenly the strong wind whistled and blew, the soldier was raised in the\nair, and carried over mountains and seas, right under the clouds, and in\njust three hours he was in the new kingdom where the beautiful princess\nlived.\n\nThe South Wind said, \"Good-bye, young man! I pity you, and do not want to\nblow in your kingdom.\"\n\nThe young prince asked, \"Why so?\"\n\n\"Because, if I begin to blow, not one house will be left in the cities, not\none tree in the gardens. I will overthrow everything.\"\n\n\"Good-bye, South Wind! Thank you for your service to me,\" said the soldier,\nput on his invisible cap, and went into the palace.\n\nAll the time while he had been away, the trees had been standing with dried\nand faded tops; now when he appeared again, they revived and began to\nblossom. He entered the large room. Around the table there were sitting all\nthe many kings and princes that had come to woo the princess, feasting.\nWhen one of them put the wine-glass to his lips, the soldier hit upon the\nglass and broke it. All the guests were surprised, but the beautiful\nprincess guessed the meaning of it immediately.\n\n\"My husband must have come back,\" thought she. She looked through the\nwindow into the garden. There all the trees were alive again, and covered\nwith blossoms. So she gave to her guests a riddle to solve: \"I had a\nwonderful hand-made casket with a golden key to it. I had lost my key and\nhad never expected to find it; and suddenly the key has found itself.\nWhoever shall guess the riddle shall be my husband.\"\n\nAll the kings and princes tried in vain to solve it. Then the princess\nsaid, \"Come out and show yourself, my beloved!\"\n\nThe soldier took off his invisible cap, took the white hands of the\nprincess, and kissed her sweet lips.\n\n\"Here is the key to my riddle,\" said the fair princess. \"The casket is\nmyself, and the golden key is my faithful husband.\"\n\nAll the wooers had to go home with nothing, and the princess and the\nsoldier lived happily ever after.\n\n\n\n\n\"IT IS QUITE TRUE!\"\n\n\n\"That is a terrible story!\" said a Hen in a quarter of the town where the\naffair had not happened. \"That is a terrible story from a poultry-yard. I\ndare not sleep alone to-night! It is quite fortunate that there are so many\nof us on the roost together!\" And she told a tale, which made the feathers\nof the other hens stand on end, and the cock's comb fall down flat. It is\nquite true!\n\nBut we will begin at the beginning; and that took place in a poultry-yard\nin another part of the town. The sun went down, and the fowls jumped up on\ntheir perch to roost. There was a Hen, with white feathers and short legs,\nwho laid eggs regularly and was a respectable hen in every way; as she flew\nup on to the roost she pecked herself with her beak, and a little feather\nfell from her.\n\n\"There it goes!\" said she; \"the more I peck myself the handsomer I grow!\"\nAnd she said it quite merrily, for she was a joker among the hens, though,\nas I have said, she was very respectable; and then she went to sleep.\n\nIt was dark all around; the hens sat side by side on the roost, but the one\nthat sat next to the merry Hen did not sleep: she heard and she didn't\nhear, as one should do in this world if one wishes to live in peace; but\nshe could not help telling it to her neighbor.\n\n\"Did you hear what was said here just now? I name no names; but here is a\nhen who wants to peck her feathers out to look well. If I were a cock I\nshould despise her.\"\n\nAnd just above the hens sat the Owl, with her husband and her children; the\nfamily had sharp ears, and they all heard every word that the neighboring\nHen had spoken. They rolled their eyes, and the Mother-Owl clapped her\nwings and said, \"Don't listen to it! But I suppose you heard what was said\nthere? I heard it with my own ears, and one must hear much before one's\nears fall off. There is one among the fowls who has so completely forgotten\nwhat is becoming conduct in a hen that she pulls out all her feathers,\nwhile the cock sits looking at her.\"\n\n\"_Prenez garde aux enfants_,\" said the Father-Owl. \"That's not a story for\nthe children to hear.\"\n\n\"I'll tell it to the neighbor owl; she's a very proper owl to associate\nwith.\" And she flew away.\n\n\"Hoo! hoo! to-whoo!\" they both screeched in front of the neighbor's\ndove-cote to the doves within. \"Have you heard it? Have you heard it? Hoo!\nhoo! there's a hen who has pulled out all her feathers for the sake of the\ncock. She'll die with cold, if she's not dead already.\"\n\n\"Coo! coo! Where, where?\" cried the Pigeons.\n\n\"In the neighbor's poultry-yard. I've as good as seen it myself. It's\nhardly proper to repeat the story, but it's quite true!\"\n\n\"Believe it! believe every single word of it!\" cooed the Pigeons, and they\ncooed down into their own poultry-yard. \"There's a hen, and some say that\nthere are two of them that have plucked out all their feathers, that they\nmay not look like the rest, and that they may attract the cock's\nattention. That's a dangerous thing to do, for one may catch cold and die\nof a fever, and they are both dead.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"Pass it on,\" piped the bats.]\n\n\"Wake up! wake up!\" crowed the Cock, and he flew up on to the plank; his\neyes were still heavy with sleep, but yet he crowed. \"Three hens have died\nof a broken heart. They have plucked out all their feathers. That's a\nterrible story. I won't keep it to myself; pass it on.\"\n\n\"Pass it on!\" piped the Bats; and the fowls clucked and the cocks crowed,\n\"Pass it on! Pass it on!\" And so the story traveled from poultry-yard to\npoultry-yard, and at last came back to the place from which it had gone\nforth.\n\n\"Five fowls,\" it was told, \"have plucked out all their feathers to show\nwhich of them had become thinnest out of love to the cock; and then they\nhave pecked each other, and fallen down dead, to the shame and disgrace of\ntheir families, and to the great loss of their master.\"\n\nAnd the Hen who had lost the little loose feather, of course did not know\nher own story again; and as she was a very respectable Hen, she said,--\n\n\"I despise those hens; but there are many of that sort. One ought not to\nhush up such a thing, and I shall do what I can that the story may get into\nthe papers, and then it will be spread over all the country, and that will\nserve those hens right, and their families too.\"\n\nIt was put into the newspaper; it was printed; and it's quite true--_that\none little feather may easily become five hens_.\n\n\n\n\nTHE OLD HAG'S LONG LEATHER BAG\n\n\nOnce on a time, long, long ago, there was a widow woman who had three\ndaughters. When their father died, their mother thought they never would\nwant, for he had left her a long leather bag filled with gold and silver.\nBut he was not long dead, when an old hag came begging to the house one day\nand stole the long leather bag filled with gold and silver, and went away\nout of the country with it, no one knew where.\n\nSo from that day, the widow woman and her three daughters were poor, and\nshe had a hard struggle to live and to bring up her three daughters.\n\nBut when they were grown up, the eldest said one day: \"Mother, I'm a young\nwoman now, and it's a shame for me to be here doing nothing to help you or\nmyself. Bake me a bannock and cut me a callop, till I go away to push my\nfortune.\"\n\nThe mother baked her a whole bannock, and asked her if she would have half\nof it with her blessing or the whole of it without. She said to give her\nthe whole bannock without.\n\nSo she took it and went away. She told them if she was not back in a year\nand a day from that, then they would know she was doing well, and making\nher fortune.\n\nShe traveled away and away before her, far further than I could tell you,\nand twice as far as you could tell me, until she came into a strange\ncountry, and going up to a little house, she found an old hag living in it.\nThe hag asked her where she was going. She said she was going to push her\nfortune.\n\nSaid the hag: \"How would you like to stay here with me, for I want a maid?\"\n\n\"What will I have to do?\" said she.\n\n\"You will have to wash me and dress me, and sweep the hearth clean; but on\nthe peril of your life, never look up the chimney,\" said the hag.\n\n\"All right,\" she agreed to this.\n\nThe next day, when the hag arose, she washed her and dressed her, and when\nthe hag went out, she swept the hearth clean, and she thought it would be\nno harm to have one wee look up the chimney. And there what did she see but\nher own mother's long leather bag of gold and silver? So she took it down\nat once, and getting it on her back, started for home as fast as she could\nrun.\n\nBut she had not gone far when she met a horse grazing in a field, and when\nhe saw her, he said: \"Rub me! Rub me! for I haven't been rubbed these seven\nyears.\"\n\nBut she only struck him with a stick she had in her hand, and drove him out\nof her way.\n\nShe had not gone much further when she met a sheep, who said \"O, shear me!\nShear me! for I haven't been shorn these seven years.\"\n\nBut she struck the sheep, and sent it scurrying out of her way.\n\nShe had not gone much further when she met a goat tethered, and he said:\n\"O, change my tether! Change my tether! for it hasn't been changed these\nseven years.\"\n\nBut she flung a stone at him, and went on.\n\nNext she came to a lime-kiln, and it said: \"O, clean me! Clean me! for I\nhaven't been cleaned these seven years.\"\n\nBut she only scowled at it, and hurried on.\n\nAfter another bit she met a cow, and it said:\n\n\"O, milk me! Milk me! for I haven't been milked these seven years.\"\n\nShe struck the cow out of her way, and went on.\n\nThen she came to a mill. The mill said: \"O, turn me! Turn me! for I haven't\nbeen turned these seven years.\"\n\nBut she did not heed what it said, only went in and lay down behind the\nmill door, with the bag under her head, for it was then night.\n\nWhen the hag came into her hut again and found the girl gone, she ran to\nthe chimney and looked up to see if she had carried off the bag. She got\ninto a great rage, and she started to run as fast as she could after her.\n\nShe had not gone far when she met the horse, and she said: \"O, horse, horse\nof mine, did you see this maid of mine, with my tig, with my tag, with my\nlong leather bag, and all the gold and silver I have earned since I was a\nmaid?\"\n\n\"Ay,\" said the horse, \"it is not long since she passed here.\"\n\nSo on she ran, and it was not long till she met the sheep, and said she:\n\"Sheep, sheep of mine, did you see this maid of mine, with my tig, with my\ntag, with my long leather bag, and all the gold and silver I have earned\nsince I was a maid?\"\n\n\"Ay,\" said the sheep, \"it is not long since she passed here.\"\n\nSo she goes on, and it was not long before she met the goat, and said she:\n\"Goat, goat of mine, did you see this maid of mine, with my tig, with my\ntag, with my long leather bag, and all the gold and silver I have earned\nsince I was a maid?\"\n\n\"Ay,\" said the goat, \"it is not long since she passed here.\"\n\nSo she goes on, and it was not long before she met the lime-kiln, and said\nshe: \"Lime-kiln, lime-kiln of mine, did you see this maid of mine, with my\ntig, with my tag, with my long leather bag, and with all the gold and\nsilver I have earned since I was a maid?\"\n\n\"Ay,\" said the lime-kiln, \"it is not long since she passed here.\"\n\nSo she goes on, and it was not long before she met the cow, and said she,\n\"Cow, cow of mine, did you see this maid of mine, with my tig, with my tag,\nwith my long leather bag, and all the gold and silver I have earned since I\nwas a maid?\"\n\n\"Ay,\" said the cow, \"it is not long since she passed here.\"\n\nSo she goes on, and it was not long before she met the mill, and said she:\n\"Mill, mill of mine, did you see this maid of mine, with my tig, with my\ntag, with my long leather bag, and all the gold and silver I have earned\nsince I was a maid?\"\n\nAnd the mill said: \"Yes, she is sleeping behind the door.\"\n\nShe went in and struck her with a white rod, and turned her into a stone.\nShe then took the bag of gold and silver on her back, and went away back\nhome.\n\nA year and a day had gone by after the eldest daughter left home, and when\nthey found she had not returned, the second daughter got up, and said: \"My\nsister must be doing well and making her fortune, and isn't it a shame for\nme to be sitting here doing nothing, either to help you, mother, or myself.\nBake me a bannock,\" said she, \"and cut me a callop, till I go away to push\nmy fortune.\"\n\nThe mother did this, and asked her would she have half the bannock with her\nblessing or the whole bannock without.\n\nShe said the whole bannock without, and she set off. Then she said: \"If I\nam not back here in a year and a day, you may be sure that I am doing well\nand making my fortune,\" and then she went away.\n\nShe traveled away and away on before her, far further than I could tell\nyou, and twice as far as you could tell me, until she came into a strange\ncountry, and going up to a little house, she found an old Hag living in it.\nThe old Hag asked her where she was going. She said she was going to push\nher fortune.\n\nSaid the hag: \"How would you like to stay here with me, for I want a maid?\"\n\n\"What will I have to do?\" says she.\n\n\"You'll have to wash me and dress me, and sweep the hearth clean; and on\nthe peril of your life never look up the chimney,\" said the hag.\n\n\"All right,\" she agreed to this.\n\nThe next day, when the hag arose, she washed her and dressed her, and when\nthe hag went out she swept the hearth, and she thought it would be no harm\nto have one wee look up the chimney. And there what did she see but her own\nmother's long leather bag of gold and silver? So she took it down at once,\nand getting it on her back, started away for home as fast as she could run.\n\nBut she had not gone far when she met a horse grazing in a field, and when\nhe saw her, he said: \"Rub me! Rub me! for I haven't been rubbed these seven\nyears.\"\n\nBut she only struck him with a stick she had in her hand, and drove him out\nof her way.\n\nShe had not gone much further when she met the sheep, who said: \"O, shear\nme! Shear me! for I haven't been shorn in seven years.\"\n\nBut she struck the sheep, and sent it scurrying out of her way.\n\nShe had not gone much further when she met the goat tethered, and he said:\n\"O, change my tether! Change my tether! for it hasn't been changed in seven\nyears.\"\n\nBut she flung a stone at him, and went on.\n\nNext she came to the lime-kiln, and that said: \"O, clean me! Clean me! for\nI haven't been cleaned these seven years.\"\n\nBut she only scowled at it, and hurried on.\n\nThen she came to the cow, and it said: \"O, milk me! Milk me! for I haven't\nbeen milked these seven years.\"\n\nShe struck the cow out of her way, and went on.\n\nThen she came to the mill. The mill said: \"O, turn me! Turn me! for I\nhaven't been turned these seven years.\"\n\nBut she did not heed what it said, only went in and lay down behind the\nmill door, with the bag under her head, for it was then night.\n\nWhen the hag came into her hut again and found the girl gone, she ran to\nthe chimney and looked up to see if she had carried off the bag. She got\ninto a great rage, and she started to run as fast as she could after her.\n\nShe had not gone far when she met the horse, and she said: \"O, horse, horse\nof mine, did you see this maid of mine, with my tig, with my tag, with my\nlong leather bag, and all the gold and silver I have earned since I was a\nmaid?\"\n\n\"Ay,\" said the horse, \"it is not long since she passed here.\"\n\nSo on she ran, and it was not long until she met the sheep, and said she:\n\"Oh, sheep, sheep of mine, did you see this maid of mine, with my tig, with\nmy tag, with my long leather bag, and all the gold and silver I have earned\nsince I was a maid?\"\n\n\"Ay,\" said the sheep, \"it is not long since she passed here.\"\n\nSo she goes on, and it was not long before she met the goat, and said:\n\"Goat, goat of mine, did you see this maid of mine, with my tig, with my\ntag, with my long leather bag, and all the gold and silver I have earned\nsince I was a maid?\"\n\n\"Ay,\" said the goat, \"it is not long since she passed here.\"\n\nSo she goes on, and it was not long before she met the lime-kiln, and said\nshe: \"Lime-kiln, lime-kiln of mine, did you see this maid of mine, with my\ntig, with my tag, with my long leather bag, and all the gold and silver I\nhave earned since I was a maid?\"\n\n\"Ay,\" said the lime-kiln, \"it is not long since she passed here.\"\n\nSo she goes on, and it was not long before she met the cow, and says she:\n\"Cow, cow of mine, did you see this maid of mine, with my tig, with my tag,\nwith my long leather bag, and all the gold and silver I have earned since I\nwas a maid?\"\n\n\"Ay,\" said the cow, \"it is not long since she passed here.\"\n\nSo she goes on, and it was not long before she met the mill, and said she:\n\"Mill, mill of mine, did you see this maid of mine, with my tig, with my\ntag, with my long leather bag, and all the gold and silver I have earned\nsince I was a maid?\"\n\nAnd the mill said: \"Yes, she is sleeping behind the door.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"Going up to a little house, she found an old hag.\"]\n\nShe went in and struck her with a white rod, and turned her into a stone.\nShe then took the bag of gold and silver on her back and went home.\n\nWhen the second daughter had been gone a year and a day and she hadn't come\nback, the youngest daughter said: \"My two sisters must be doing very well\nindeed, and making great fortunes when they are not coming back, and it's a\nshame for me to be sitting here doing nothing, either to help you, mother,\nor myself. Make me a bannock and cut me a callop, till I go away and push\nmy fortune.\"\n\nThe mother did this and asked her would she have half of the bannock with\nher blessing or the whole bannock without.\n\nShe said: \"I will have half of the bannock with your blessing, mother.\"\n\nThe mother gave her a blessing and half a bannock, and she set out.\n\nShe traveled away and away on before her, far further than I could tell\nyou, and twice as far as you could tell me, until she came into a strange\ncountry, and going up to a little house, she found an old hag living in\nit. The hag asked her where she was going. She said she was going to push\nher fortune.\n\nSaid the hag: \"How would you like to stay here with me, for I want a maid?\"\n\n\"What will I have to do?\" said she.\n\n\"You'll have to wash me and dress me, and sweep the hearth clean; and on\nthe peril of your life never look up the chimney,\" said the hag.\n\n\"All right,\" she agreed to this.\n\nThe next day when the hag arose, she washed her and dressed her, and when\nthe hag went out she swept the hearth, and she thought it would be no harm\nto have one wee look up the chimney, and there what did she see but her own\nmother's long leather bag of gold and silver? So she took it down at once,\nand getting it on her back, started away for home as fast as she could run.\n\nWhen she got to the horse, the horse said: \"Rub me! Rub me! for I haven't\nbeen rubbed these seven years.\"\n\n\"Oh, poor horse, poor horse,\" she said, \"I'll surely do that.\" And she laid\ndown her bag, and rubbed the horse.\n\nThen she went on, and it wasn't long before she met the sheep, who said:\n\"Oh, shear me, shear me! for I haven't been shorn these seven years.\"\n\n\"O, poor sheep, poor sheep,\" she said, \"I'll surely do that,\" and she laid\ndown the bag, and sheared the sheep.\n\nOn she went till she met the goat, who said: \"O, change my tether! Change\nmy tether! for it hasn't been changed these seven years.\"\n\n\"O, poor goat, poor goat,\" she said, \"I'll surely do that,\" and she laid\ndown the bag, and changed the goat's tether.\n\nThen she went on till she met the lime-kiln. The lime-kiln said: \"O, clean\nme! clean me! for I haven't been cleaned these seven years.\"\n\n\"O, poor lime-kiln, poor lime-kiln,\" she said, \"I'll surely do that,\" and\nshe laid down the bag and cleaned the lime-kiln.\n\nThen she went on and met the cow. The cow said: \"O, milk me! Milk me! for I\nhaven't been milked these seven years.\"\n\n\"O, poor cow, poor cow,\" she said, \"I'll surely do that,\" and she laid\ndown the bag and milked the cow.\n\nAt last she reached the mill. The mill said: \"O, turn me! turn me! for I\nhaven't been turned these seven years.\"\n\n\"O, poor mill, poor mill,\" she said, \"I'll surely do that,\" and she turned\nthe mill too.\n\nAs night was on her, she went in and lay down behind the mill door to\nsleep.\n\nWhen the hag came into her hut again and found the girl gone, she ran to\nthe chimney to see if she had carried off the bag. She got into a great\nrage, and started to run as fast as she could after her.\n\nShe had not gone far until she came up to the horse and said: \"O, horse,\nhorse of mine, did you see this maid of mine, with my tig, with my tag,\nwith my long leather bag, and all the gold and silver I have earned since I\nwas a maid?\"\n\nThe horse said: \"Do you think I have nothing to do only watch your maids\nfor you? You may go somewhere else and look for information.\"\n\nThen she came upon the sheep. \"O, sheep, sheep of mine, have you seen this\nmaid of mine, with my tig, with my tag, with my long leather bag, and all\nthe gold and silver I have earned since I was a maid?\"\n\nThe sheep said: \"Do you think I have nothing to do only watch your maids\nfor you? You may go somewhere else and look for information.\"\n\nThen she went on till she met the goat. \"O, goat, goat of mine, have you\nseen this maid of mine, with my tig, with my tag, with my long leather bag,\nand all the gold and silver I have earned since I was a maid?\"\n\nThe goat said: \"Do you think I have nothing to do only watch your maids for\nyou? You can go somewhere else and look for information.\"\n\nThen she went on till she came to the lime-kiln. \"O, lime-kiln, lime-kiln\nof mine, did you see this maid of mine, with my tig, with my tag, with my\nlong leather bag, and all the gold and silver I have earned since I was a\nmaid?\"\n\nSaid the lime-kiln: \"Do you think I have nothing to do only watch your\nmaids for you? You may go somewhere else and look for information.\"\n\nNext she met the cow. \"O, cow, cow of mine, have you seen this maid of\nmine, with my tig, with my tag, with my long leather bag, and all the gold\nand silver I have earned since I was a maid?\"\n\nThe cow said: \"Do you think I have nothing to do only watch your maids for\nyou? You may go somewhere else and look for information.\"\n\nThen she got to the mill. \"O, mill, mill of mine, have you seen this maid\nof mine, with my tig, with my tag, with my long leather bag, and all the\ngold and silver I have earned since I was a maid?\"\n\nThe mill said: \"Come nearer and whisper to me.\"\n\nShe went nearer to whisper to the mill, and the mill dragged her under the\nwheels and ground her up.\n\nThe old hag had dropped the white rod out of her hand, and the mill told\nthe young girl to take this white rod and strike two stones behind the mill\ndoor. She did that, and her two sisters stood up. She hoisted the leather\nbag on her back, and the three of them set out and traveled away and away\ntill they reached home.\n\nThe mother had been crying all the time while they were away, and was now\never so glad to see them, and rich and happy they all lived ever after.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WOLF AND THE SEVEN LITTLE GOATS\n\n\nThere was once an old goat who had seven little ones, and was as fond of\nthem as ever mother was of her children. One day she had to go into the\nwood to fetch food for them, so she called them all round her.\n\n\"Dear children,\" said she, \"I am going out into the wood; and while I am\ngone, be on your guard against the wolf, for if he were once to get inside\nhe would eat you up, skin, bones, and all. The wretch often disguises\nhimself, but he may always be known by his hoarse voice and black paws.\"\n\n\"Dear mother,\" answered the kids, \"you need not be afraid, we will take\ngood care of ourselves.\" And the mother bleated good-bye, and went on her\nway with an easy mind.\n\nIt was not long before some one came knocking at the house-door, and crying\nout, \"Open the door, my dear children, your mother is come back, and has\nbrought each of you something.\"\n\nBut the little kids knew it was the wolf by the hoarse voice.\n\n\"We will not open the door,\" cried they; \"you are not our mother, she has a\ndelicate and sweet voice, and your voice is hoarse; you must be the wolf.\"\n\nThen off went the wolf to a shop and bought a big lump of chalk, and ate it\nup to make his voice soft. And then he came back, knocked at the\nhouse-door, and cried, \"Open the door, my dear children, your mother is\nhere, and has brought each of you something.\"\n\nBut the wolf had put up his black paws against the window, and the kids\nseeing this, cried out, \"We will not open the door; our mother has no black\npaws like you; you must be the wolf.\"\n\nThe wolf then ran to a baker.\n\n\"Baker,\" said he, \"I am hurt in the foot; pray spread some dough over the\nplace.\"\n\nAnd when the baker had plastered his feet, he ran to the miller.\n\n\"Miller,\" said he, \"strew me some white meal over my paws.\" But the miller\nrefused, thinking the wolf must be meaning harm to some one.\n\n\"If you don't do it,\" cried the wolf, \"I'll eat you up!\"\n\nAnd the miller was afraid and did as he was told. And that just shows what\nmen are.\n\nAnd now came the rogue the third time to the door and knocked. \"Open,\nchildren!\" cried he. \"Your dear mother has come home, and brought you each\nsomething from the wood.\"\n\n\"First show us your paws,\" said the kids, \"so that we may know if you are\nreally our mother or not.\"\n\nAnd he put up his paws against the window, and when they saw that they were\nwhite, all seemed right, and they opened the door; and when he was inside\nthey saw it was the wolf, and they were terrified and tried to hide\nthemselves. One ran under the table, the second got into the bed, the third\ninto the oven, the fourth in the kitchen, the fifth in the cupboard, the\nsixth under the sink, and the seventh in the clock-case. But the wolf found\nthem all, and gave them short shrift; one after the other he swallowed\ndown, all but the youngest, who was hid in the clock-case. And so the wolf,\nhaving got what he wanted, strolled forth into the green meadows, and\nlaying himself down under a tree, he fell asleep.\n\nNot long after, the mother goat came back from the wood; and oh! what a\nsight met her eyes! the door was standing wide open, table, chairs, and\nstools, all thrown about, dishes broken, quilt and pillows torn off the\nbed. She sought her children, they were nowhere to be found. She called to\neach of them by name, but nobody answered, until she came to the name of\nthe youngest.\n\n\"Here I am, mother,\" a little voice cried, \"here, in the clock-case.\"\n\nAnd so she helped him out, and heard how the wolf had come, and eaten all\nthe rest. And you may think how she cried for the loss of her dear\nchildren. At last in her grief she wandered out of doors, and the\nyoungest kid with her; and when they came into the meadow, there they saw\nthe wolf lying under a tree, snoring so that the branches shook. The mother\ngoat looked at him carefully on all sides and she noticed how something\ninside his body was moving and struggling.\n\n  [Illustration: \"The mother sewed him up so quickly again, that he was\n    none the wiser.\"]\n\n\"Dear me!\" thought she, \"can it be that my poor children that he devoured\nfor his evening meal are still alive?\" And she sent the little kid back to\nthe house for a pair of shears, and needle, and thread. Then she cut the\nwolf's body open, and no sooner had she made one snip than out came the\nhead of one of the kids, and then another snip, and then one after the\nother of the six little kids all jumped out alive and well, for in his\ngreediness the rogue had swallowed them down whole. How delightful this\nwas! so they comforted their dear mother and hopped about like tailors at a\nwedding.\n\n\"Now fetch some good hard stones,\" said the mother, \"and we will fill his\nbody with them, as he lies asleep.\"\n\nAnd so they fetched some in all haste, and put them inside him, and the\nmother sewed him up so quickly again that he was none the wiser.\n\nWhen the wolf at last awoke, and got up, the stones inside him made him\nfeel very thirsty, and as he was going to the brook to drink, they struck\nand rattled one against another. And so he cried out:\n\n    \"What is this I feel inside me\n    Knocking hard against my bones?\n    How should such a thing betide me!\n    They were kids, and now they're stones.\"\n\nSo he came to the brook, and stooped to drink, but the heavy stones weighed\nhim down, so he fell over into the water and was drowned. And when the\nseven little kids saw it they came up running.\n\n\"The wolf is dead, the wolf is dead!\" they cried, and taking hands, they\ndanced with their mother all about the place.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TALE OF THE SNOW AND THE STEEPLE\n\n\nI set off from Rome on a journey to Russia, in the midst of winter, from a\njust notion that frost and snow must of course mend the roads, which every\ntraveler had described as uncommonly bad through the northern parts of\nGermany, Poland, Courland, and Livonia. I went on horseback as the most\nconvenient manner of traveling. I was but lightly clothed, and of this I\nfelt the inconvenience the more I advanced northeast. What must not a poor\nold man have suffered in that severe weather and climate, whom I saw on a\nbleak common in Poland lying on the road helpless, shivering, and hardly\nhaving the wherewithal to cover his nakedness? I pitied the poor soul:\nthough I felt the severity of the air myself, I threw my mantle over him,\nand immediately I heard a voice from the heavens blessing me for that\npiece of charity, saying, \"You will be rewarded, my son, for this in\ntime.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"I took one of my pistols, shot the bridle in two.\"]\n\nI went on: night and darkness overtook me. No village was to be seen. The\ncountry was covered with snow, and I was unacquainted with the road.\n\nTired, I alighted, and fastened my horse to something, like a pointed stump\nof a tree, which appeared above the snow; for the sake of safety, I placed\nmy pistols under my arm, and laid down on the snow, where I slept so\nsoundly that I did not open my eyes till full daylight. It is not easy to\nconceive my astonishment to find myself in the midst of a village, lying in\na churchyard; nor was my horse to be seen, but I heard him soon after neigh\nsomewhere above me. On looking upwards, I beheld him hanging by his bridle\nto the weather-cock of the steeple. Matters were now very plain to me; the\nvillage had been covered with snow overnight: a sudden change of weather\nhad taken place: I had sunk down to the churchyard whilst asleep, gently,\nand in the same proportion as the snow had melted away; and what in the\ndark I had taken to be a stump of a little tree appearing above the snow,\nto which I had tied my horse, proved to be the cross or weather-cock of the\nsteeple!\n\nWith long consideration, I took one of my pistols, shot the bridle in two,\nbrought down the horse, and proceeded on my journey. [Here the baron seems\nto have forgotten his feelings: he should certainly have ordered his horse\na feed of corn after fasting so long.]\n\n\n\n\nKING LONGBEARD\n\n\nA story about King Berendey; his son Prince Ivan; about the cunning of the\nimmortal King Koshchey, and about the wisdom of his daughter, Princess\nMary.\n\nOnce upon a time there lived King Berendey, called Longbeard, for his beard\nreached far below his knees. He lived very happily with his wife the queen,\nbut God gave no children to them, and this grieved the king very much.\n\nThe king had to visit his kingdom. He bade farewell to his queen, and\nstayed away for a long time. At the end of the visit on a very warm\nafternoon, when he was approaching his capital, he decided to stop for a\nrest in the meadow. He felt very thirsty and wanted some cold water to\ndrink, but there was no water around. What should he do? He was all dried\nup with thirst. So the king decided to ride all over the meadow, perhaps\nhe would strike a spring. And sure enough, he soon found a well.\n\nHurriedly he jumped down from his horse, and looked into the well. It was\nfull of water to the brim, and upon its surface there was floating a golden\ncup. The king reached his hand after the cup, but he could not grasp it.\nThe cup swam away from his reach. He grasped impatiently at the amber\nhandle now with his right hand, now with his left; but the handle, quickly\nturning to the left or to the right, as if but mocking the king, could not\nbe caught. What was the matter? The king waited until the cup stood up\nagain straight in the water, grasped it at once from the right and the\nleft, but in vain! Slipping out from his hands like a fish, the cup dived\nstraight to the bottom, and again it was swimming on the surface as if\nnothing had happened.\n\n\"Now wait,\" thought King Longbeard, \"I will drink without you,\" and\nstretching himself upon the grass, he began to drink with eagerness the\ncold spring water, forgetting about his beard, which was drowned in the\nwater.\n\nWhen he had drunk enough, he wanted to raise his head, but he could not do\nit: somebody was holding the king's beard and did not want to let it go.\nLeaning upon the fence of the well, he tried to get himself loose, shook\nhimself, turned his head, but all was in vain; he could not free his beard.\n\"Let me go,\" cried he. No answer. Only a terrible monster looked up to him\nfrom the bottom, two big eyes shining like emeralds; the widely open mouth\nqueerly smiling, two rows of shining pearly teeth, and a red tongue\nsticking out between them. The monster was laughing at the king. With its\npaws it was firmly holding the king's beard.\n\nAt last a hoarse voice said from under the water, \"It is no use trying,\nKing. I shall not let you go. But if you want to be free, give me that\nwhich you possess, but which you do not know about.\"\n\nThe king thought, \"What could that be that I have and do not know about? It\nseems to me that I know everything,\" so he answered the monster, \"All\nright, I agree.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" the hoarse voice was heard to answer once more, \"but look out,\nkeep your word, that no harm may happen to you.\" With the last word the\nclaws disappeared, with the monster.\n\nHaving freed his beard, the king mounted his horse, and continued his\njourney. As he entered his capital, all the people came out to meet him,\ncannons were playing, and all the bells were ringing from the city towers.\nThe king approached his gilded palace. The queen was standing upon the\nbalcony, near her the prime minister; in his arms he held a brocaded pillow\nupon which there was lying a baby, fair and beautiful like the moon.\n\nThen the king guessed and groaned, \"There is what I did not know about! O,\nyou monster, you will be the death of mine!\" So thought the king and cried\nbitterly.\n\nAll wondered, but no one said a word. Taking the baby into his arms, King\nLongbeard admired it long, carried it into the palace, put it into the\ncradle, and hiding his sorrow, he began to rule over his country as\nformerly. Nobody knew the king's secret. But everybody saw the king was\nsad--he was always expecting somebody to come for his son. During the day\nhe found no rest, at night he could not sleep. The time was passing\nmeanwhile, and nobody came. The young prince grew very rapidly and\ndeveloped into a beautiful youth. The king himself forgot all that happened\nat the well--but not everybody was so forgetful.\n\nOnce the prince, while hunting, came into a very thick forest. He looked\naround: a wild glade was before him. Upon it stood a hollow lime tree. A\nrustling came from the hollow, and a very queer looking old man came out\nwith a green beard and green eyes.\n\n\"Hello! Prince Ivan,\" said he, \"we were looking for you. It is time to\nthink of us.\"\n\n\"Who are you?\" asked Ivan.\n\n\"I will tell you later about it. Now do this for me: give my regards to\nyour father, King Longbeard, and ask him whether it is not time for him to\npay his debt? The term has passed long ago. He will understand the rest.\nNow good-bye,\" and the bearded old man disappeared.\n\nPrince Ivan, very sad and thoughtful, left the dark forest. He went\nstraight to his father, King Longbeard.\n\n\"Dear father king,\" said he, \"a miracle occurred to me,\"--and he told him\nwhat he had seen and heard.\n\nThe king became pale like a ghost. \"Woe to me, my dear son Ivan,\" cried he\nweeping bitterly, \"I see that we must part!\" and he told to his son the\nterrible story about his given oath.\n\n\"Do not cry, do not worry, father,\" answered the prince. \"The calamity is\nnot so great. Give me a steed. I will go and you wait for me; keep the\nsecret, that nobody may know about it, not even my mother the queen. But if\nI do not come back to you in a year, know that I am no longer alive.\" The\nprince was fitted out for the journey. King Longbeard gave him gold armor,\na sword, and a steed. The queen gave him her blessing and a golden cross\nupon his neck--and the young prince departed. What is going to happen to\nhim?\n\nHe rode for one day, for another, for a third, and on the fourth day right\nafter sunset, he came to a lake. The lake was smooth like glass; the water\nwas on a level with the shores; everything around was desert. The water was\ncovered with the rosy evening glow and the green shores with the thick\nreeds were reflected in it. Everything seemed as if in a dream. The air did\nnot move; the reeds did not stir, there was no rustle upon the light\nstreams. The prince looked around and what did he see? Thirty crested white\nducks were swimming near the shore, upon the shore were lying thirty white\ngowns. The prince dismounted very cautiously at some distance. Hidden by\nthe grass he crept towards the gowns and quickly took one of them. Then he\nrested himself behind a bush to see what was going to happen. The ducks\nswam and splattered in the stream, played, dived, and at last got to the\nshore. Twenty-nine of them ran to the white gowns, knocked themselves upon\nthe ground, and all turned themselves into fair maidens, dressed and went\naway. But the thirtieth duck ran up and down with a pitiful cry. Shyly\nstretching her neck forward, she looked here and there, now flying up, now\ncoming down again. The prince felt pity for her. He came out from behind\nhis bush, and behold, she spoke to him in a human voice.\n\n\"Prince Ivan, give me back my gown and I will be useful to you.\"\n\nThe prince did not let her wait, but put the gown upon the grass and\nsuddenly what did he see? A maiden in white robes, young and beautiful. She\ngave him her hand and with downcast, bashful eyes said to him:\n\n\"Thank you, good prince, for your kindness to me. You did me a favor, but\nit will be of good service to you also. I am the daughter of the immortal\nKing Koshchey, Princess Mary. He has thirty daughters altogether. He is the\nruler of the underground kingdom. He has expected you as his guest for a\nlong time, and is very angry at your delay. But do not worry. Only follow\nmy advice. Now listen. As soon as you shall see King Koshchey, kneel and\ncreep before him upon your knees. He will stamp with his feet, but do not\nbe frightened. When he scolds you, do not listen, but keep on creeping\nbefore him. What will happen, you will see later. Now we must go.\"\n\nPrincess Mary struck the ground with her small foot, the earth opened, and\nthey went down into King Koshchey's underground kingdom. They came to the\npalace. It was built of precious stones and shone under the ground brighter\nthan the earthly sun. Boldly the prince entered. King Koshchey sat upon his\nthrone wearing a glittering crown, his eyes shone like emeralds. His hands\nwere like claws. Ivan immediately fell upon his knees. King Koshchey\nstamped with his feet, his green eyes glittered frightfully, and he howled\nso loudly that the vaults of his underground kingdom trembled. Remembering\nthe words of the Princess Mary, Ivan crept upon his knees toward King\nKoshchey's throne.\n\nThe king howled and the prince kept on creeping. Finally it seemed funny to\nthe king. \"Good for you, rogue,\" said he, \"if you could succeed in making\nme laugh, I will quarrel with you no longer. You are welcomed to our\nunderground kingdom, but know that for your disobedience you will have to\ndo three services for us. We will settle our accounts to-morrow. It is too\nlate to-night. Go!\"\n\nThe courtiers quickly and politely took Ivan under his arms, and carried\nhim to a chamber, opened the door, bowed, and left him all to himself. He\nlay down upon the bed and soon fell asleep. The next morning very early\nKing Koshchey called for Prince Ivan. \"Well, Prince Ivan, now let us see\nwhat you can do. For instance, build for us a palace for to-morrow. The\nroof must be of gold, the walls of marble, the windows of crystal; around\nit a regular garden, and in the garden a fish-pond. If you do it, you will\nget into our favor; if not, do not blame us, but you shall be executed.\"\n\n\"O, you cruel King Koshchey!\" thought Ivan. \"This is an impossible thing\nfor me to do.\"\n\nGreatly grieved he went to his room and thought his sad thoughts. In the\nevening a bright bee came flying to his window, flapped against the pane,\nand he heard a voice saying \"Let me in!\" He opened the window, the bee flew\ninside and turned into Princess Mary.\n\n\"Hello, Prince Ivan! Why are you so sad?\"\n\n\"I have good reasons to be so. Your father wants to have me executed.\"\n\n\"What have you decided to do?\"\n\n\"Nothing. Let him do it. Go where you can and die where you must.\"\n\n\"No, my dear Prince Ivan. We must not lose our courage. There are still\ngreater calamities in the world than yours. Go to sleep, and get up very\nearly. The palace will be built for you. You will only have to go around\nit, and knock with your hammer at the walls as if finishing your work.\"\n\nAnd so it was. Very early in the morning Ivan came out of his chamber, and\nbehold! The palace was all built for him.\n\nKing Koshchey was surprised. He did not believe his own eyes. \"O, you are a\nvery skillful fellow indeed. Now let us see whether you are just as\nclever. I have thirty daughters, beautiful princesses. To-morrow I will\nplace all of them in a row; you will pass three times before them and tell\nme which is the youngest of them. If you don't guess, you shall die. Now\ngo.\"\n\n[Illustration: All the Princesses were there.]\n\n\"Is that hard to guess?\" thought the prince, \"I certainly will recognize\nPrincess Mary.\"\n\n\"It is very hard,\" said the princess, who flew as a bee into his room, \"and\nif I do not help you, you will get into trouble. We thirty sisters look all\nalike. So great is the resemblance between us, that our father can\nrecognize us only by our dress.\"\n\n\"What am I to do then?\"\n\n\"I will tell you what: I will be the one who has a small black fly on the\nright cheek. But beware! Look very carefully; it is easy to make a\nmistake.\" And the bee disappeared.\n\nThe next day the prince was again called to King Koshchey. All the\nprincesses were there, and all dressed alike stood in a row with downcast\neyes.\n\n\"Well,\" said the king, \"pass three times before these beauties and tell us\nwhich of them is Princess Mary.\"\n\nIvan looked at them and thought, \"What a resemblance.\" He passed the first\ntime and saw no fly; passed for the second time--still no fly; passed the\nthird time and saw a tiny fly stealing its way across the fresh burning\ncheek of one of the princesses. The prince blushed and his heart was\nbeating with joy. \"Here she is, Princess Mary,\" said he, giving his hand to\nthe beauty with the fly upon her cheek.\n\n\"Ah, ah! I see there must be something wrong about it,\" grumbled King\nKoshchey, looking angrily at the prince with his big green eyes. \"It is\ntrue you did recognize Princess Mary, but how did you guess it? Wait now, I\nwill soon find out the truth. In three hours come back to us. You will be\nwelcomed as our guest, but you will have to prove to us your wisdom by\ndeeds. I will light a straw, and you will have to make here upon the spot\nwhile the straw is burning, a pair of shoes. It is not hard for you. But\nremember if you fail to do it, you shall pay for it with your life.\"\n\nVery much irritated, Ivan returned to his room. The bee-princess was\nwaiting for him.\n\n\"Why are you so sad again, my dear Prince Ivan?\"\n\n\"How can I be joyful?\" answered he. \"Your father is plotting a new trick\nagainst me. He wants me to make a pair of boots while a straw is burning.\nAm I a shoemaker? I am a king's son, not worse by birth than he is. He is\nimmortal, but does this give him a right to treat me so badly?\"\n\n\"So, Prince Ivan, what are you going to do now?\"\n\n\"What can I do? I cannot make the boots. Let him take my head off. I do not\ncare any longer!\"\n\n\"Oh, no, my dear prince! Are we not now bride and bridegroom? I will try to\nsave you. We will both be saved or both perish. We must run away.\" Saying\nthis the princess breathed upon the window. Her breath immediately froze to\nthe panes. Then she and the prince left the room, locked the door, and\nthrew the key far away.\n\nArm in arm they went up, and in a minute they were in the place of entrance\nto the underground kingdom. The same lake, low grassy shore, fresh meadow,\nand upon it the good steed of Prince Ivan. As soon as the sturdy steed felt\nits rider, it neighed, jumped, ran straight towards him, and stood as if\nrooted to the spot. Ivan did not think long, but mounted the horse, lifted\nthe princess, and off they went as quick as lightning.\n\nMeanwhile King Koshchey sent his courtiers at the appointed hour for Prince\nIvan. They came to the door and found it locked. They knocked, and from\nbehind the Princess' breath answered in the voice of Prince Ivan, \"I am\ncoming.\" The servants took the answer to the king. He waited and waited and\nno prince came. The angry King Koshchey sent his servants again and they\nbrought the same answer. Nobody came, King Koshchey was almost mad with\nanger.\n\n\"Does he want to mock me? Run, break the door, and take by force that\nill-bred fellow.\"\n\nThe servants ran, the door was broken up. What a surprise! Nobody was\ninside, but the breath was loudly laughing at them.\n\nKing Koshchey almost burst with anger. \"O, you miserable thief! Come here,\nmy people! All to me, my servants! Run, all of you, in pursuit of them.\nThey have departed.\"\n\n\"I hear the tramping of horses feet,\" whispered the princess, clasping the\nprince.\n\nHe dismounted, and putting his ear against the ground said, \"Yes, I hear\nthe chase, and it is quite near.\"\n\n\"Then we must not lose our time,\" said Princess Mary, and in a minute she\nturned into a river, the prince into an iron bridge the steed into a black\nraven, and the large road was divided into three smaller roads.\n\nSwiftly the chase was coming by the fresh tracks, but when they came to the\nriver, they stopped perplexed. Up to the bridge they could follow the\ntrack, but beyond it the track was lost. Nothing could be done. They had\nto go back.\n\nKing Koshchey was terribly angry when he heard about their failure. \"You\nfools!\" cried he. \"The river and the bridge must have been they. Couldn't\nyou guess it, you idiots! Go again, and do not fail to bring them with\nyou.\"\n\nThe pursuit started anew.\n\n\"I hear the tramping of horses,\" said Princess Mary to Prince Ivan.\n\nHe dismounted again, put his ear against the ground and said, \"Yes, they\nare tramping, and pretty near us.\"\n\nIn a second Princess Mary, together with Prince Ivan and the steed, turned\ninto a wild dark forest. In that forest there were numberless paths, and a\nhorse with two riders seemed to gallop through it. Now the chase came by\nthe fresh track to the forest. They saw the riders and ran after them. The\nforest reached as far as King Koshchey's underground kingdom. The chase was\nflying and the horse with the two riders was always before them. Now they\nalmost reached them, now they only had to grasp them,--but no, the steed\nwas again far behind them. And see! There they were again before the\nentrance to King Koshchey's kingdom at the same place where they started\ntheir chase; and everything disappeared,--no more horse, no more forest.\n\nWith empty hands the pursuers appeared before King Koshchey. Like one mad\nthe king tossed about. \"Wait until I catch that wretch! I will go myself\nnow. Let us see how they are going to escape me!\"\n\nAgain Princess Mary whispered to Prince Ivan, \"I hear tramping.\"\n\nAgain he answered her, \"Yes, they are approaching us.\"\n\n\"Woe to us! This is my father himself; but his power reaches only to the\nfirst church. Give me the cross you wear upon your neck.\"\n\nThe prince took from his neck the golden cross, the gift of his mother,\ngave it to the princess, and in a minute she turned into a church, he into\na monk, and the steed into a bell-tower.\n\nRight after King Koshchey came with his suite. \"Did you not see any\ntravelers pass by, my venerable man?\" he asked the monk.\n\n\"Just now Prince Ivan and Princess Mary passed by; they went into the\nchurch to pray, and asked me to pray for your help, and to remember them to\nyou if you should come to me.\"\n\n\"Oh, I wish they would break their necks, the wretches!\" cried King\nKoshchey. Turning his horse like one possessed, he returned home with his\nsuite. After his arrival he cruelly whipped all his servants.\n\nIvan with the princess went further, no longer fearing the pursuit. They\nwere riding very slowly. The sun was setting, and suddenly in the evening\nrays they beheld a beautiful city. Ivan was very anxious to go inside.\n\n\"Prince Ivan,\" said the princess, \"do not go; not in vain does my heart\nache. A misfortune will happen to us.\"\n\n\"What are you afraid of, dear princess? Let us go in just for a very short\ntime. Let us see the city and then continue the journey.\"\n\n\"It is not hard to get in, but it will be hard to get out. Do as you\nplease. Go, and I will remain here, lying as a white stone upon the road.\nLook out, my dear, be careful. The king, queen, and their daughter will\ncome out to meet you with a beautiful child; do not kiss that child. If you\ndo, you will immediately forget me; then I will live no longer; I will die\nfrom grief, and you will be the cause of my death. Here at the road I will\nwait for you for three days. If you do not come--but good-bye now. Go.\"\n\nBidding her farewell, the prince went into the city. At the road as a white\nstone remained Princess Mary. One day passed, another passed, at last the\nthird day passed. The prince did not come. Poor Princess Mary! He did not\nfollow her instructions. In the city he met the king, queen, and their\ndaughter. With them came a beautiful child, a curly-headed boy, very\nlively, his eyes shining like bright stars. He ran straight into Ivan's\narms. The prince was so charmed with his beauty that, losing his mind, he\nbegan to kiss his warm cheeks, and at the same time his memory was\ndarkened and he forgot about Princess Mary.\n\nShe was seized with grief, \"You left me, and I do not want to live any\nlonger.\" In a moment she turned into a sky-blue flower. \"Here by the road I\nwill remain, perhaps somebody passing by will tread me down into the\nearth,\" said she, and tears like dew-drops glittered upon the blue petals.\n\nAn old man passed that place. He saw the blue flower. Delighted with its\ndelicate beauty, he dug it carefully out with the roots, carried it into\nhis hut, planted it in a flowerpot, watered it and cared for it tenderly.\nWhat happened? From that time everything was changed in the poor man's hut.\nSomething wonderful was going on there. When the old man awoke, he found\nthe hut all cleaned and in perfect order. There was nowhere a grain of dust\nto be found. At noon when he came home, the dinner was cooked and the table\nneatly set; he had only to sit down and eat. He wondered but could not\nexplain matters. At last he was frightened and went to an old fairy to ask\nfor advice.\n\n\"I will tell you what to do,\" answered the fairy, \"get up very early at\ndawn, before the cocks' sing, and look about the hut. Whatever begins to\nmove first, cover it with this kerchief. What happens, you will see.\"\n\nThe whole night the old man lay sleepless in his bed. The sun began to\nrise, and there was light in the hut. Suddenly he saw that the blue flower\nmoved, flew off its thin stalk and began to fly about the room. Everything\nwent right away to its place, everything was dusted and cleaned, and a\nbright fire began to burn in the stove. Quickly jumped the old man off his\nbed and covered the flower with the fairy's kerchief and before him there\nappeared the beautiful Princess Mary.\n\n\"What have you done?\" said she. \"Why did you bring me to life again? My\nbridegroom, Prince Ivan, left me and I am forgotten by him.\"\n\n\"Your Prince Ivan is getting married to-day. The wedding-feast is all ready\nand all the guests have arrived.\"\n\nPrincess Mary cried bitterly. Then she wiped her tears. Putting on a\n\"sarafan\" (Russian national dress for women) she went into the city as a\ncountry girl. She came into the king's kitchen. The cooks were running here\nand there in their white caps and aprons. There was plenty of noise,\nbustle, and clatter. She went up to the chief cook, and with an imploring\nface and a voice as sweet as a flute said, \"Cook dear, allow me to bake the\nwedding cake for the prince.\"\n\nThe cook, disturbed in his work, wanted to refuse her, but no angry word\ncould escape his lips when he looked at her, and he answered very kindly,\n\"Very well, fair maiden, do what you please; I myself will serve your cake\nto Prince Ivan.\"\n\nAt the feast when all the guests were sitting around the table, the chief\ncook put before Ivan a large cake upon a beautiful silver plate. All the\nguests were surprised at the skill of the baker. But as soon as Ivan cut\noff the top of it, a new wonder! A pair of pigeons flew out of it. The gray\nmale pigeon was walking upon the table, and the white female after him\ncooing. \"Pigeon, my pigeon, stop, do not run away; you will forget me just\nas Prince Ivan has forgotten Princess Mary.\"\n\nIvan groaned when he heard this. He jumped up like mad, and ran to the door\nbehind which Mary was waiting. Before the palace the black steed all\nsaddled and bridled, was impatiently stamping the ground. They did not\ntarry. Ivan and his princess rode away. After a long journey they arrived\nin King Longbeard's kingdom, where the old king and queen gave them a\njoyful reception. They prepared for the wedding; guests were invited and a\ngreat feast feasted. And I was there and feasted with them, and that is the\nend of the whole story.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TOY-GOOSE\n\n\nA Flea, a Grasshopper, and a Toy-goose once wanted to see which of them\ncould jump highest, and so they invited the whole world and everybody else\nwho would like to come, to see the frolic. When the three met together in\nthe room, everyone thought they were remarkable jumpers.\n\n\"Well, I'll give my daughter to the one who jumps highest!\" said the king;\n\"for it would not be fair to let these people jump for nothing!\"\n\nThe first one to step forward was the Flea; he had such perfect manners and\nbowed on every side, for he had noble blood in his veins, and more than\nthat, he associated only with human beings, which makes a great difference.\n\nThen came the Grasshopper; he was certainly very much larger, however, he\ncarried himself well, and wore the green uniform he was born with.\nMoreover, as he said, he belonged to a very old family in the land of\nEgypt, and was well thought of here at home.\n\nThe fact was, when he was brought out of the fields he was put in a house,\nthree storeys high, all made of court-cards with the colored side turned\nin; both doors and windows were cut out in the waist of the Queen of\nHearts. \"I sing so well,\" he said \"that sixteen native crickets who had\nchirped since they were born, and still had no house of cards to live in,\ngrew thinner than they were before out of vexation when they heard of me.\"\n\nSo it was that the Flea and the Grasshopper were able to give a good\naccount of themselves, and saw no reason why they should not marry the\nprincess.\n\nThe Toy-goose said nothing; and people thought it was because he knew all\nthe more; the house-dog sniffed at him with his nose, and assured them the\nToy-goose was of good family. The old councilor, who had three orders given\nhim for holding his tongue, said that the Toy-goose was a prophet; for one\ncould see on his back if there would be a severe or mild winter, and that\nwas more than one could see on the back of the man who writes the\nalmanacs.\n\n[Illustration: He jumped so high that nobody could see where he went to.]\n\n\"Well, I shall say nothing,\" said the king, \"however I have my own\nopinion.\"\n\nThe trial was to take place at once, so the Flea jumped first. He jumped so\nhigh that nobody could see where he went to; so they said he had not jumped\nat all; which was shameful.\n\nThe Grasshopper jumped only half as high; but he jumped right into the\nking's face, which, the king said was most unpleasant.\n\nThe Toy-goose stood still for a long time, thinking to himself; at last the\npeople believed he would not jump at all.\n\n\"I only hope he is not ill,\" said the house-dog; when, pop! he made a side\njump right into the lap of the princess, who was sitting on a little golden\nstool close by.\n\nThen the king said, \"There is nothing above my daughter; therefore he has\nmade the highest jump that can be made: to do this, one must have a good\nmind and the Toy-goose has shown that he has a good mind. He has a mind of\nhis own!\"\n\nAnd so he won the princess.\n\n\"It's all the same to me, she may have the old Toy-goose, for all I care,\"\nsaid the Flea. \"I jumped the highest; but, in this world a fine appearance\nis what people look at nowadays.\"\n\nThe Flea then went into a foreign land and enlisted, where it is said, he\nwas killed.\n\nThe Grasshopper sat on a green bank, and thought on worldly things; and he\nsaid, \"Yes, a fine appearance is everything--a fine appearance is what\npeople care about.\" And then he began chirping his melancholy song from\nwhich we have taken this story; and which may or may not be true, although\nit is printed.\n\n\n\n\nYELLOW LILY\n\n\nOnce upon a time, when fairies were as plentiful as dandelions in the\nmeadow, there dwelt in Ireland a mighty king and his good queen. The names\nof these great rulers have long since been forgotten by writers of history,\nfor they lived hundreds and hundreds of years ago.\n\nThey ruled over Erin, and lived in a great stone castle built high upon a\ncliff overlooking the sea. Erin was the most beautiful part of Ireland, for\nits forests and great stretches of land were as green as the emerald, and\nits skies and waters were as blue as the turquoise.\n\nThis king and queen had but one child, who was known as the Prince of Erin.\nHe was a bright, handsome boy, but he cared only to have a good time. His\nfather had often told him how wrong it was for him to make bets, but the\nlad gave no heed to his advice.\n\nOne day the prince went out in the wood to hunt for deer. He tramped about\nall day long, carrying his bow and arrows, but no deer could he find. At\nlast he sat down to rest.\n\nHe was almost asleep when he heard a shrill whistle behind him and the\ntramping of heavy feet upon the fallen timbers.\n\n\"Who are you?\" cried a loud, gruff voice.\n\nThe prince turned quickly and saw a giant striding towards him down the\nhill. He was almost as tall as the tallest tree, and his face was frightful\nto see. His eyes were like balls of fire and his nostrils belched forth\nblack smoke.\n\n\"Woe is me; it is the Giant of Loch Lein!\" cried the prince. He wanted to\nrun away as fast as he could, but his feet would not move. He stood\ntrembling in every limb, for he knew that the Giant of Loch Lein hunted in\nthe wood for boys just as the boys hunted for game. Many a lad had been\nseized by the terrible creature, taken to his castle in the heart of the\nforest, and had never returned to his parents.\n\n\"Who are you?\" again roared the giant.\n\n\"I am the son of the King of Erin,\" replied the boy, trying to be brave.\n\n\"I have been waiting for you a long time,\" said the giant with a laugh that\nsounded like a thunder clap. \"I have never eaten a real prince, although I\nhave heard that their meat is very tender.\"\n\nThe prince turned away, weak with fright; but the giant seized him and\nsaid:\n\n\"Do not be frightened. As you are a son of the Ruler of Erin, I will give\nyou a chance to escape. I understand that you can play fine games, and that\nyou are fond of betting. Let us play a game on this hillside. If I win, I\nwill take you to my castle, never to return to your home again.\"\n\nThe prince was so fond of playing games that, even in his fright, he agreed\nto do as the giant wished.\n\n\"I have two fine estates, each containing a castle,\" said the giant. \"They\nare yours if you beat me at the game.\"\n\n\"And I also have two estates which shall be yours, if you beat me,\" replied\nthe prince. \"No man in Erin has ever beaten me at any game.\"\n\nSo they played until dusk, the prince quite forgetting his fear of the\ngiant. Although the Giant of Loch Lein was a skillful player, the Prince of\nErin beat him badly.\n\n\"You may go,\" grumbled the giant when the game was at an end. \"You are\nsurely a wonderful player--the best in all the land.\"\n\nMost of the old historians agree that the Prince of Erin did not tell his\nparents anything about his narrow escape from the giant. As soon as he\nreached home, he climbed to the top of the tallest tower where he could\ngaze at the forest in the distance, in which stood the castle of the giant.\n\n\"I will go again to-morrow and beat the giant, for it will be huge sport,\"\nhe said to himself. \"Even if I be beaten, the giant dare not destroy the\nson of the King of Erin, for my father's army will search for me and tear\ndown the castle of the giant when I am found. Besides, I understand that he\nhas three beautiful daughters, the fairest girls in all the land. I should\nlike to see them.\"\n\nOn the next morning, while the prince was preparing to go hunting, the\nwisest old man in the court, whose name was Glic, went to the king and\nsaid:\n\n\"The prince is about to go hunting. I beg you not to let him go, for I fear\nthat some great danger will befall him.\"\n\nThe king commanded his son to stay inside the palace all day; but when no\none was looking, the prince stole away to the hillside near the forest.\nAgain he heard a shrill whistle that shook the boughs of the trees like a\ngale, and in a few moments he saw the giant striding towards him.\n\n\"Ho, ho, my young prince!\" cried the giant. \"I knew that you would come\nback to-day. Let us have another game. What will you wager that you can\nbeat me playing?\"\n\n\"I will wager my herd of cattle,\" said the prince, not so much frightened\nas before.\n\n\"And I will wager five hundred bullocks with gold horns and silver hoofs,\"\nsaid the giant. \"I am quite sure you cannot beat me again.\"\n\n\"Agreed,\" said the prince, and at once they began to play.\n\nIn a short time the prince won the game, and the giant set up a howl of\nrage. Turning towards the forest he whistled loudly three times, and five\nhundred bullocks with gold horns and silver hoofs came forth.\n\n\"They are yours,\" said the giant. \"Follow them to your palace gate and come\nagain to-morrow.\"\n\nThe prince, filled with the delight of triumph, followed the cattle to the\npalace gate where the king's herder took charge of them. Then he hastened\nto his father and mother and bade them go to see the costly wager he had\nwon from the Giant of Loch Lein.\n\nThe king and queen and all the court were delighted with the cattle, whose\ngold horns and silver hoofs shone in the sunlight.\n\nOn the third morning the Prince of Erin again put on his hunting clothes\nand started to the forest; but Glic, the fortune teller, again stopped him.\n\n\"No good can come from this gaming, for the giant will beat you at last,\nand you will never return to us again,\" said Glic.\n\n\"I am not afraid,\" laughed the prince, \"for if he take me prisoner, I will\nhave his head.\"\n\nSo he set forth again, singing a merry tune. Hardly had he seated himself\nupon the hillside when he heard the giant's whistle. The prince was not at\nall frightened, although the giant scowled with anger because he had been\nobliged to give up his herd of cattle.\n\n\"What will you wager to-day?\" roared the giant.\n\n\"I will wager my head against yours,\" said the prince boldly.\n\n\"Ha, ha! you have grown quite brave,\" laughed the giant mockingly. \"I will\nwager my head that I can beat you to-day. If you lose the game, I will have\nyour head before the sun rises to-morrow.\"\n\nThey played on the hillside till dusk. The game was a close one, full of\nbreathless interest and excitement; but the prince was beaten. With a shout\nof triumph the giant danced about, trampling down small trees and bushes.\n\nThe prince was indeed sorry that he had wagered such a useful piece of\nproperty as his head, but he did not complain.\n\n\"You are an honest lad, even though you are rash,\" he said presently. \"I\nwill let you live one year and one day longer. Go home to the palace, but\ndo not tell anyone that I am to have your head. When the time has passed\nby, come back again to the hillside to pay your wager.\"\n\nThen the giant vanished, leaving the poor prince alone, very sick at heart.\nHe did not go home but wandered about, not caring whither he went.\n\nFinally he found that he was in a strange land far beyond the border line\nof Erin. On each side were green pasture lands, and in the distance were\nhigh green hills; but not a house could be seen.\n\nHe wandered on and on, weak from hunger till he came to an old hut that\nstood at the foot of a hill. It was lighted by a candle. He entered and\ncame face to face with an old woman who had been bending over a fire. Her\nteeth were as long as the staff he carried and her scant hair hung loosely\nabout her face.\n\nBefore the prince could speak, the old woman said:\n\n\"You are welcome in my house, son of the King of Erin.\"\n\nThen she took him by the hand, led him into a corner of the room, and told\nhim to wash his face and hands. In the meantime she made him some hot\nporridge and bade him eat a hearty meal.\n\nThe prince was much surprised because she knew his name, and he wondered\nwhy she remained so quiet. He thought she must be a witch; but hungry boys,\nno matter how high their station, are apt to forget danger when a good\nsupper is set before them. After he had eaten and drunk all he wanted, he\nsat by the fire until she took him to a bedroom and told him to go to bed.\n\nOn the next morning he was awakened by the witch, who bade him rise and eat\nhis breakfast of bread and milk.\n\nHe did as he was told, without so much as bidding her good morning.\n\n\"I know what is bothering you, son of the King of Erin,\" she said. \"If you\ndo as I bid you, you will have no cause for regret. Here is a ball of\nthread. Hold to one end of the thread and throw the ball before you. When\nyou start on your journey the ball will roll; but you must keep following\nit and winding the thread all the time or you will be lost again. You were\nwith me last night; you will be with my sister to-night.\"\n\nThe prince took the ball of thread; threw it before him, and began walking\nslowly and winding the thread into another ball. With each step that he\ntook, the ball moved further and further away from him. All day long he\ntrudged up hill and down dell, faster and faster, until his feet and hands\nwere so tired he could scarcely move them. At last the ball of thread\nstopped at the door of a hut that stood at the foot of a high hill. A\ncandle flickered in the window. He picked up the ball and ran to the door\nwhere he met another old witch whose teeth were as long as crutches.\n\n\"Welcome, son of the King of Erin!\" she cried. \"You were with my youngest\nsister last night; you will be with me to-night; and to-morrow you will be\nwith my eldest sister.\"\n\nShe took him into the hut, bade him wash his hands and face, gave him a\nhearty supper of porridge and cakes, and sent him to bed.\n\nThe next morning she called him to breakfast. When he had finished eating,\nshe gave him a ball of thread and told him to follow it as before.\n\nThe prince followed it through field and over common, hurrying faster and\nfaster every minute, until late on the following evening, when it stopped\nat the door of a hut that stood at the foot of a hill. A candle sputtered\nin the window as if to welcome him. A witch, more homely than the others,\nstood by the fire making porridge.\n\nShe greeted the prince as her sisters had done, bade him wash his face and\nhands, gave him his supper, and sent him to bed. On the following morning\nafter breakfast she gave him a ball of thread and said:\n\n\"Son of the Prince of Erin, you have lost your head to the Giant of Loch\nLein, who lives near by in a great castle surrounded by spikes. Some day\nyou will lose your head to his daughter. Follow this ball of thread to the\nlake behind the castle. When you reach the lake at midday, the ball will be\nunwound. In a few minutes more the daughters of the cruel Giant of Loch\nLein will come to the lake to bathe. Their names are Blue Lily, White Lily,\nand Yellow Lily. The latter is the wisest and most beautiful of the three.\nSteal her clothing and do not give it up until she promises to help you,\nfor she is the only person in the world that can outwit the Giant of Loch\nLein.\"\n\nThe prince thanked the witch for her advice, and followed the ball of\nthread to the Castle of Spikes, which was a dark, gloomy building hidden\nfrom view by great trees. When he reached the lake behind the castle, the\nball of thread vanished.\n\nHe stood for a time looking at the lake, which looked like a brilliant\nturquoise in the sunshine. Presently he heard girlish shouts of laughter.\nHe concealed himself behind a clump of bushes where he could see without\nbeing seen. Three beautiful girls came tripping down to the edge of the\nwater, where they stopped to look all about them.\n\nIt was very easy for the prince to make out their names. The tallest one,\nwho wore a gown of pale blue, had eyes as blue as the skies above; he knew\nthat she must be Blue Lily.\n\nOne of them was so fair that she looked as though she were carved from\nmarble; he was sure that she was White Lily. But Yellow Lily was small and\nslender, with hair that shone like gold in the sunlight. She was\nwonderfully graceful and beautiful.\n\nYellow Lily threw off her robe of spun gold and stood dressed in a bathing\nsuit of the same material. With a joyous shout she leapt into the water,\nfollowed by her sisters.\n\nThe Prince of Erin darted forth from his hiding-place, and seized the robe\nof spun gold. Yellow Lily saw him and cried at the top of her voice:\n\n\"Give me back my golden robe. My father will kill me if I lose it. Please\ndo not run away.\"\n\n\"What will you give me for it?\" asked the prince, moving slowly backward\nfrom the pool.\n\n\"Anything that you wish, for I am guarded by a fairy godmother who makes\nall things possible,\" replied Yellow Lily.\n\n\"I have come to give myself up to your father, the Giant of Loch Lein,\naccording to my promise,\" said the prince. \"I would ask you to have him set\nme free. Here is your gown.\"\n\nHe laid the robe upon the grass and walked away up the hill towards the\ncastle. In a few moments he was joined by Yellow Lily dressed in her golden\nrobe.\n\n\"You are the son of the King of Erin,\" she said smiling sweetly, and\ncatching step with him. \"If you do as I say, you will not lose your head;\nbut in the future I hope that you will never become so foolish as to wager\nyour head or any other trifle you may have.\"\n\n\"I promise you that I will not,\" said the prince, looking at her\nadmiringly. \"If your father had wagered your pretty golden head, I believe\nI could have beaten him at the game.\"\n\nYellow Lily tossed her curls and laughed merrily, saying: \"Father has a\nsoft bed for you in a deep tank; but do not worry, for I will help you.\"\n\nThey passed in silence through the stone gates of the Castle of Spikes. The\ngreat stone courts, balconies, and battlements were quite deserted. Yellow\nLily took the prince into the kitchen, which was the largest one he had\never seen. The floor was made of white cobblestones, and a brass caldron\nboiled over the flames in the great fireplace. Yellow Lily hid the prince\nbehind a curtain in one corner of the room.\n\nPresently the Giant of Loch Lein appeared and sank down into a chair before\nthe fireplace. He began to sniff the air and finally roared:\n\n\"The son of the King of Erin is here! Fetch him hither, Yellow Lily.\"\n\nThe girl did as she was bidden. The prince could not keep from trembling as\nhe stood before the fierce giant, although he felt that Yellow Lily would\nkeep her promise.\n\n\"You must be very tired,\" roared the giant, so loudly that the dishes on\nthe shelves rattled. \"I have a nice soft bed for you.\"\n\nHe seized the prince, carried him across the kitchen, opened a tank, and\nthrew him in. Splash! The prince fell head-first into three feet of water.\n\nWhat was still more terrible, the giant fastened down the lid of the tank.\nThe prince feared the dark far more than he did the water, but he did not\ncry out. He stood shivering for more than an hour, wondering if Yellow Lily\nhad forgotten him, and wishing that he was safe at home in his bed of silk\nand gold.\n\nAt last the lid was raised, and Yellow Lily peeped down at him, smiling\nroguishly.\n\n\"Shall I steal your clothes and run away, as you tried to do to-day?\" she\nsaid softly.\n\n\"No, do not let me stay in this place. I will do anything you may want me\nto do,\" pleaded the prince, with chattering teeth.\n\n\"Then climb out; put on these dry, warm clothes I have for you; and have\nsome supper,\" she said.\n\nIt did not take the prince long to get out of his soft bed. He found the\ngiant sound asleep before the fireplace, snoring loud enough to drown the\nmost terrible crash of thunder.\n\nYellow Lily spoke not a word, but gave the prince some dry clothing and\ntold him to stay in the corner until she returned. Before long she came\nback with a tempting supper smoking upon a tray, and told him to eat. He\nwas very hungry and ate very heartily. Then she took him to another corner\nof the room and raised a curtain that hung there.\n\nHe saw a soft, white bed and a table that held fresh water and towels.\nYellow Lily wished him happy dreams and hastened away.\n\nAt break of day she returned and said excitedly:\n\n\"Awaken, Prince of Erin! Do not lose a moment or we are lost. Put on the\nclothes you wore yesterday and follow me.\"\n\nThe prince rose and dressed himself as quickly as possible. Then he drew\nback the curtain that hid his bed, and followed the girl.\n\n\"When the chickens begin to cackle, father will awaken,\" she whispered.\n\"Leap back into the tank and I will shut down the lid.\"\n\nThe prince hesitated.\n\n\"Do as I say, or we are both lost,\" said the girl.\n\nThe prince jumped into the tank, and Yellow Lily closed the lid. The splash\naroused the giant, who stretched his heavy limbs, rubbed his nose, and\nyawned. Then he opened his eyes, gazed all about him, strode across the\nroom, opened the tank, and shouted:\n\n\"Good morning, Prince of Erin; how did you like your nice soft bed last\nnight?\"\n\n\"I never slept better, thank you,\" truthfully answered the prince.\n\n\"Then climb out,\" commanded the giant.\n\nThe prince obeyed.\n\n\"Since you have slept so soundly, you shall do some hard work to-day,\" said\nthe giant. \"I will spare you your head if you will clean out my stables.\nThey contain five hundred horses and they have not been cleaned for seven\nhundred years. I am anxious to find my great-grandmother's slumber-pin\nwhich was lost somewhere in these stables. The poor old soul never slept a\nwink after losing it, so she died for want of sleep. I want the slumber-pin\nfor my own use, as I am a very light sleeper.\"\n\n\"I will do my best to get the pin,\" said the prince, almost discouraged,\nfor he had never so much as cleaned the tips of his boots.\n\n\"Here are two shovels, an old one and a new one,\" said the giant gruffly.\n\"You may take your choice. Dig away until you find the slumber-pin. I shall\nexpect it when I come home to-night.\"\n\nThe prince took the new shovel and followed the giant to the stables where\nhundreds of horses began to neigh, making a most deafening noise.\n\n\"Remember, Prince of Erin, I will either have the slumber-pin or your\nhead,\" said the giant, as he walked away.\n\nThe prince set to work, but every time he threw a shovelful out of the\nwindow, two shovelfuls came flying in to take its place. At last, tired and\ndiscouraged, he sat down to rest.\n\nAt that moment Yellow Lily appeared, more beautiful than ever in another\ngown of gold and silver, with yellow flowers in her golden hair.\n\n\"What are you trying to do, Prince of Erin?\" she asked, dimpling with\nlaughter.\n\n\"I am trying to find your great-great-grandmother's slumber-pin,\" was the\npitiful reply.\n\n\"You are a mighty prince and my father is a mighty giant, yet you are both\nfoolish as all men are,\" she said. \"How do you suppose my\ngreat-great-grandmother could lose her slumber-pin in the stables? I have\nthe slumber-pin myself; here it is. I put it in father's pocket last night\nso he could not wake up and catch us.\"\n\n\"What a useful girl you are!\" cried the Prince, beside himself with joy and\nadmiration.\n\nAll day long they visited until Yellow Lily said that she must go, for she\nheard her father's footsteps a league away, and he would be there in two\nminutes.\n\nWhen the giant saw that the prince had found the slumber-pin, he was\ngreatly surprised.\n\n\"Either my daughter, Yellow Lily, has aided you, or else it was the Evil\nSpirit,\" he muttered.\n\nBefore the prince could reply, the giant picked him up, carried him back to\nthe kitchen, and again threw him into the tank. Then he sat down by the\nfire, holding the slumber-pin. Soon he began to snore like a thousand\nlocomotives.\n\nUp went the lid of the tank, and Yellow Lily, sweet and smiling, shouted\ndown at the top of her voice:\n\n\"Get up from your soft bed, Prince of Erin; eat the supper I have prepared,\nand talk as loudly as you wish, for father has gone to sleep holding\ngreat-great-grandmother's slumber-pin.\"\n\nThe evening they spent together was a merry one, and after Yellow Lily had\njoined her sisters in the watch-tower, the prince again slept in the soft\nbed in the corner of the kitchen. At dawn Yellow Lily again awakened him\nand told him to hurry back to the tank.\n\n  [Illustration: Up went the lid of the tank, and Yellow Lily sweet and\n    smiling.]\n\nAs soon as the lid was closed, Yellow Lily rushed to her father's side,\nseized the slumber-pin, and threw it upon the floor. The giant gave a\nroar and fell sprawling upon the cobblestones.\n\n\"Who woke me up?\" he growled, trying to gain his feet.\n\n\"I did, dear father,\" said the girl meekly. \"You would have slept forever\nhad I not pulled the slumber-pin from your grasp. It is very late.\"\n\n\"You are a good, trustworthy daughter,\" said the giant. \"I will get you\nsomething pretty.\"\n\nHe went to the tank and commanded the prince to get out of his nice, soft\nbed.\n\n\"You have lain in bed so long, you must work still harder to-day,\" he\nadded. \"My stables have not been thatched for many years, and I want you to\ndo it to-day. They cover many acres, but if you finish them before dark I\nwill spare you your head. They must be thatched with feathers, to be put on\none at a time, and no two of them must be alike.\"\n\nThe prince was again cast down, but he said that he would do his best.\n\n\"But where shall I find the birds?\" he asked after a period of helpless\nsilence.\n\n\"Where do you suppose? I hope you would not try to find them in the frog\npond,\" was the impatient answer. \"Here are two whistles, an old one and a\nnew one. You may take your choice.\"\n\n\"I'll take the new one,\" said the prince, and the giant gave him a whistle\nthat looked as though it had never been used.\n\n\"Some day you will learn that old things are best,\" said the giant\nscornfully.\n\nWhen the giant had gone, the prince blew the whistle until his lips were\npuckered out of shape, but not a fowl came to his rescue. At last he sat\ndown upon a rock, almost ready to cry.\n\nBut Yellow Lily came again, lovelier than ever in another yellow gown\ntrimmed with the wings of dragon flies, and with pearls in her glorious\nhair.\n\n\"Why do you sit whistling instead of working?\" she asked. \"Poor prince, you\nmust be hungry. Here is a little table set for two under this big tree.\nWhen things worry you, don't give up. The man who keeps his appetite has\nno cause to despair.\"\n\nSo they sat down and ate peacock tongues and frosted cakes and almonds and\nmany other delicacies, and were happier than ever.\n\n\"But it is growing late, and the stable is still unthatched!\" cried the\nprince, suddenly remembering his task as soon as his appetite was\nsatisfied.\n\n\"Look behind you,\" said the girl.\n\nThe prince, to his utter surprise, saw that the stables were thatched with\ndowny bird feathers, no two of them alike.\n\n\"You are a wonder,\" he said, grasping her hands in gratitude.\n\n\"Not at all,\" she replied. \"How could the birds work for you while you\nstood there blowing that terrible whistle? Birds would be as good friends\nto people as dogs are, if people did not frighten them so. But say no more.\nI hear father drinking at the spring two miles away, and he will be here in\nfour minutes.\"\n\nShe drew her skirts closely about her and with a sweet smile hastened into\nthe castle.\n\n\"Who thatched that roof?\" shouted the giant as soon as he arrived.\n\n\"My own strength did it,\" said the prince humbly, feeling that he had not\ntold a falsehood, for Yellow Lily was even more than strength to him.\n\nThe giant, instead of thanking him for his services, seized him again, and\nthrew him headlong into the kitchen tank. Then he sat down by the fire. No\nsooner had his head begun to nod than Yellow Lily placed the slumber-pin\nover his nose to be sure that he could not wake up. Then she set the prince\nfree, and they spent the evening as before, except that there was much more\nmerriment.\n\nOn the following morning the giant opened the tank and ordered the prince\nto climb out.\n\n\"I have a task for you to do that even a prince cannot do,\" he said. \"I am\nsure that I shall have your head before night. Near the castle is a tree\nnine hundred feet high. It has but one branch and that is near the top.\nThis branch contains a crow's nest. In the nest is one egg. I want that egg\nfor supper to-night. If you do not get it, you will be sorry.\"\n\nThe giant took the prince to the tree, which rose like a great pillar of\nsmooth glass, so slippery that not even an ant could crawl upon it without\nsliding off.\n\nWhen the giant had gone, the prince tried a dozen times to climb to the\ntop, but each time he slipped back to the earth quicker and harder than\nbefore. He was glad indeed when Yellow Lily came.\n\nAnd now comes the bloodcurdling part of the tale that I would rather omit;\nbut I must tell it all to you just as the dear little Irish children heard\nit centuries ago, or I should feel that I had marred this ancient bit of\nfairy folklore.\n\nYellow Lily, as usual, brought something to eat, and after they had eaten,\nshe, for the first time, turned upon the prince a sorrowful face.\n\n\"I am sorry father gave you this task to do; but we must submit to what\ncannot be helped,\" she said. \"Alas! dear prince, you must kill me.\"\n\n\"Kill you!\" he cried in horror. \"Never! I would rather lose my head a\nthousand times.\"\n\n\"But, if you are careful, I shall come to life again,\" persisted the girl.\n\"My fairy godmother will care for me. You will find it easy to strip off my\nflesh, for you have only to say, 'Yellow Lily of Loch Lein.' Say it again\nand my bones will all separate. You will find that my bones will stick to\nthis tree like little steps. On the ladder of bones you can climb to the\ntop of the tree. Get the egg and climb down carefully, each time pulling\none of my bones from the tree until you have reached the earth. Then pile\nthe bones in a heap upon my flesh and say, 'Come back, Yellow Lily of Loch\nLein,' and lo! I will be myself again. But be careful--be careful not to\nleave one of my bones on the tree.\"\n\nFor a long time the prince refused to obey her request until Yellow Lily\ngrew vexed and said:\n\n\"Then I will tell father that I have been helping you, and he will kill us\nboth. Make haste, for the time is short.\"\n\n\"Yellow Lily of Loch Lein!\" shouted the prince, without looking at her.\n\"Yellow Lily of Loch Lein!\" he shouted again.\n\nThen he looked down and saw at his feet a stack of little white bones. He\ngathered them up and, climbing slowly, made a little ladder by sticking\nthem against the tree. He soon reached the crow's nest, found the egg,\nplaced it in his pocket, and climbed down again, plucking the bones from\nthe tree as he went. Then he piled them upon the flesh and garments of the\ngirl and, with tears in his eyes, shouted:\n\n\"Come back, Yellow Lily of Loch Lein.\"\n\nAnd immediately Yellow Lily stood before him, but no longer smiling.\n\n\"Wretch!\" she cried. \"You have made me a cripple for life! You are nothing\nbut a careless boy after all.\"\n\n\"Oh, what have I neglected to do?\" cried the prince, sick with fear.\n\n\"There is one of my little toes still hanging to the tree. Oh, what an\nawkward creature a prince is!\"\n\nThe prince on his knees begged her pardon, and finally Yellow Lily broke\ninto her old, sweet smile and said:\n\n\"I am thankful it is no worse. What a sight I would be if you had forgotten\nmy backbone!\"\n\nSo they became merry and talkative again until it was time for the giant to\narrive. Then Yellow Lily went to her tower and the prince took his stand at\nthe castle gate holding the crow's egg.\n\n\"You are certainly a magician!\" gasped the giant when he saw the prince. \"I\ncannot take your head, lest a worse fate befall me. Go home at once. Do not\nlinger here a minute.\"\n\nThe prince wanted to bid farewell to Yellow Lily, but of course, that was\nimpossible, so he hastened home as fast as he could.\n\nWhen he reached the Palace of Erin, the king, the queen, old Glic, and all\nthe court ran out to greet him. Never before had there been such rejoicing\nthere. For days they feasted and danced to melodious music, and a\ntournament was held in which the best archers in the kingdom tested their\nskill.\n\nA year later, old Glic, who was always making trouble, told the king that\nit was time for the prince to marry some noble lady of great wealth. The\nprince would have liked to marry Yellow Lily, but the king said that he\nmust choose a princess whose rank was equal to his own. In despair the\nprince told Glic to select him a wife soon or he would go roaming again and\nnever return.\n\n\"I have found a suitable lady,\" said Glic. \"Her father is the King of Loch\nLein, the kingdom that is next to ours. Her father is powerful, her family\nis famous, her wealth cannot be counted, and she is as beautiful as the\nQueen of the Fairies.\"\n\n\"If she will have me, I will marry her,\" said the prince, \"but I will not\nseek her myself.\"\n\nThe king sent Glic to the court of Loch Lein, bearing rich gifts and\nguarded by soldiers and attendants. In a few weeks he returned and told the\nKing of Erin that the King of Loch Lein had consented to give the prince\nhis daughter in marriage.\n\nPreparations were at once made for a great wedding. All kinds of sports,\nseveral dances, and other amusements were to be enjoyed at court, and the\nroyal families of many different kingdoms, even from the isles of the sea,\nwere to be present.\n\nThe prince himself finally grew much interested in getting ready for the\ngreat event. In fact he almost forgot about Yellow Lily and the help she\nhad given him to save his head. Yet he bade his father invite the Giant of\nLoch Lein to be present at the feast to be given before the day of the\nwedding. It was also agreed to invite Blue Lily, White Lily, and Yellow\nLily, and to treat them as princesses of the royal blood.\n\nIn time the King of Loch Lein, who was an aged man, arrived with his\ndaughter and a shipful of attendants. The gatekeeper blew his bugle and the\nwhole court of Erin ran out to greet them. The King and Princess of Loch\nLein were taken into the reception hall where the Queen and Prince of Erin\nwelcomed them.\n\nThe prince was much disappointed when he beheld the princess, and was very\nangry with Glic, for she was haughty and not at all pretty. She seemed to\nbe more pleased with the costly furniture and tapestries than with the\nprince.\n\nThe day of the feast came at last. The table in the banquet hall was loaded\nwith fruits and costly meats of all kinds to be served upon plates of solid\ngold. Every one appeared to be happy, especially old Glic, who was to\nreceive a large sum of money for finding the prince a wife.\n\nAt the close of the feast, the King of Erin sang a ballad and the King of\nLoch Lein told a story. In those days the people were fond of deeds of\nmagic, so the prince requested Glic to call the mighty Giant of Loch Lein,\nthat he might perform some tricks.\n\nIn a few moments the giant entered the room, bowing sternly as the people\nclapped their hands and cheered. He did not look at the prince but bowed\nlow to the two kings.\n\n\"Your Majesties,\" he said, \"it is my daughter who is the real magician. I\nknow that she will be glad to entertain you for a short time. In fact she\nhas consented to take my place.\"\n\nJust then Yellow Lily entered the room in a gown of gold that swept the\nfloor. Her golden hair shone like the sun. No one present had ever seen\nsuch glorious hair nor such a beautiful face and form. All were too much\namazed at her beauty and elegance to utter a word of welcome.\n\nYellow Lily sat down at the table and threw two grains of wheat into the\nair. They lit upon the table and turned into a male and a female pigeon.\nImmediately the former began to peck at his mate, almost driving her from\nthe table. To the surprise of all, the female pigeon shrieked:\n\n\"You didn't treat me thus on the day I cleaned the stable for you and found\nthe slumber-pin.\"\n\nYellow Lily laid two grains of wheat before them, but the male pigeon\ngreedily devoured them and continued to abuse his mate.\n\n\"You would not have done that to me the day I thatched the stables for you\nwith the feathers of birds, and no two of them alike,\" shrieked the female\npigeon.\n\nWhen some more wheat was laid before them, the male pigeon ate more\ngreedily than before, and after he had eaten every grain he pushed his mate\noff the table. She fluttered to the floor screaming:\n\n\"You wouldn't have done that the day you killed me and took my bones to\nmake steps on the glass tree nine hundred feet high, to get the crow's egg\nfor the supper of the Giant of Loch Lein--and forgot my little toe, and\nmade me lame for life!\"\n\nThe Prince of Erin rose to his feet, red with shame, and turning to the\nKing of Loch Lein, said:\n\n\"When I was younger I roamed about hunting and playing games. Once while\naway from home, I lost the key to a valuable chest. After a new key was\nmade I found the old one. Which of the two keys should be kept, the old one\nor the new one?\"\n\nThe King of Loch Lein looked puzzled, but he answered promptly:\n\n\"Keep the old one by all means, for it will fit better and you are more\naccustomed to it.\"\n\n\"I thank you for your sound advice,\" continued the prince with a smile.\n\"Yellow Lily, the daughter of the Giant of Loch Lein, is the old key to my\nheart, and I will wed no other girl. Your daughter, the princess, is the\nnew key that has never been tried. She is only my father's guest, and no\nmore; but she will be better for having attended my happy wedding in Erin.\"\n\nGreat astonishment of both royal families and their guests when the prince\ntook Yellow Lily by the hand and led her to a seat beside him. But when the\nmusicians began to play a brilliant air, the palace re-echoed from tower to\ndungeon with joyous shouts of \"Long live the Prince of Erin and his future\nbride, Yellow Lily of Loch Lein!\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE MOUSE, THE BIRD, AND THE SAUSAGE\n\n\nOnce upon a time, a Mouse, a Bird, and a Sausage, entered into partnership\nand set up house together. For a long time all went well; they lived in\ngreat comfort, and prospered so far as to be able to add considerably to\ntheir stores. The Bird's duty was to fly daily into the wood and bring in\nfuel; the Mouse fetched the water, and the Sausage saw to the cooking.\n\nWhen people are too well off they always begin to long for something new.\nAnd so it came to pass, that the Bird while out one day, met a fellow-bird,\nto whom he told of the excellence of his household arrangements. But the\nother Bird sneered at him for being a poor simpleton, who did all the hard\nwork while the other two stayed at home and had a good time of it. For,\nwhen the Mouse had made the fire and fetched in the water, she could retire\ninto her little room and rest until it was time to set the table. The\nSausage had only to watch the pot to see that the food was properly cooked,\nand when it was near dinnertime, he just threw himself into the broth, or\nrolled in and out among the vegetables three or four times, and there they\nwere, buttered and salted, and ready to be served. Then, when the Bird came\nhome and had laid aside his burden, they sat down to table, and when they\nhad finished their meal, they could sleep their fill till the following\nmorning: and that was really a very delightful life.\n\n[Illustration: The bird tells the others it is time to make a change.]\n\nInfluenced by these remarks, the Bird next morning refused to bring in the\nwood, telling the others that he had been their servant long enough, and\nhad been a fool into the bargain, and that it was now time to make a\nchange, and to try some other way of arranging the work. Beg and pray as\nthe Mouse and the Sausage might, it was of no use; the Bird remained the\nmaster of the situation, and the venture had to be made. They therefore\ndrew lots, and it fell to the Sausage to bring in the wood, to the Mouse to\ncook, and to the Bird to fetch the water.\n\nAnd now what happened? The Sausage started in search of wood, the Bird made\nthe fire, and the Mouse put on the pot, and then these two waited till the\nSausage returned with the fuel for the following day. But the Sausage\nremained so long away, that they became uneasy, and the Bird flew out to\nmeet him. He had not flown far, however, when he came across a Dog who,\nhaving met the Sausage, had regarded him as his legitimate booty, and so\nseized and swallowed him. The Bird complained to the Dog of this bare-faced\nrobbery, but nothing he said was of any avail, for the Dog answered that he\nhad found false credentials on the Sausage, and that was the reason his\nlife had been forfeited.\n\nThe Bird picked up the wood and flew sadly home, and told the Mouse all he\nhad seen and heard. They were both very unhappy but agreed to make the best\nof things and to remain with one another.\n\nSo now the Bird set the table, and the Mouse looked after the food, and\nwishing to prepare it in the same way as the Sausage, by rolling in and out\namong the vegetables to salt and butter them, she jumped into the pot; but\nshe stopped short long before she reached the bottom, having already parted\nnot only with her skin and hair, but also with life.\n\nPresently the Bird came in and wanted to serve up the dinner, but he could\nnowhere see the cook. In his alarm and flurry, he threw the wood here and\nthere about the floor, called and searched, but no cook was to be found.\nThen some of the wood that had been carelessly thrown down, caught fire and\nbegan to blaze. The Bird hastened to fetch some water, but his pail fell\ninto the well, and he after it, and as he was unable to recover himself, he\nwas drowned.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TALE OF THE WOLF IN HARNESS\n\n\nThe horse carried me well. Advancing into the interior parts of Russia, I\nfound traveling on horseback rather unfashionable in winter; therefore I\nsubmitted, as I always do, to the custom of the country, took a\nsingle-horse sledge, and drove briskly towards St. Petersburg. I do not\nexactly recollect whether it was in Eastland or Jugemanland, but I remember\nthat in the midst of a dreary forest, I spied a terrible wolf making after\nme, with all the speed of ravenous winter hunger. He soon overtook me.\nThere was no possibility of escape. Mechanically I laid myself down flat in\nthe sledge, and let my horse run for our safety. What I wished, but hardly\nhoped or expected, happened immediately after. The wolf did not mind me in\nthe least, but took a leap over me, and falling furiously on the horse,\nbegan instantly to tear and devour the hind part of the poor animal,\nwhich ran the faster for his pain and terror. Thus unnoticed and safe\nmyself, I lifted my head slyly up, and with horror I beheld that the wolf\nhad ate his way into the horse's body; it was not long before he had fairly\nforced himself into it, when I took my advantage, and fell upon him with\nthe butt-end of my whip. This unexpected attack in his rear frightened him\nso much, that he leaped forward with all his might; the horse's carcass\ndropped on the ground; but in his place the wolf was in harness, and I on\nmy part whipping him continually, we both arrived in full career safe at\nSt. Petersburg, contrary to our respective expectations, and very much to\nthe astonishment of the spectators.\n\n[Illustration: \"We both arrived in full career--\"]\n\nTHE END","title":"Stories to Read or Tell from Fairy Tales and Folklore","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":28255}