{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_45384/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_45384","id":"gutenberg_45384","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45384","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Fables","Fairy tales","Tales"],"text":"Produced by David Widger from page images generously\nprovided by the Internet Archive\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOOK OF FABLES AND FOLK STORIES\n\nBy Horace E. Scudder\n\nNew Illustrated Edition\n\nBoston And New York Houghton Mifflin Company\n\n1882 To 1919\n\n\n[Illustration: 0001]\n\n[Illustration: 0006]\n\n\n\n\nPUBLISHERS\u2019 NOTE\n\nFor more than a generation Mr. Scudder\u2019s _Book of Fables and Folk\nStories_ has been a prime favorite with young readers. It has seemed to\nthe publishers that a book which has maintained its popularity so long\nmight well be furnished with illustrations more in accordance with the\ntaste of the present day than those which were originally used. All the\nold pictures have therefore been replaced by drawings made by a modern\nartist, and it is hoped that readers of the volume will find its old\ncharm heightened by this new feature.\n\n4 Park St., Boston October, 1919\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOOK OF FABLES AND FOLK STORIES\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE RED-RIDING-HOOD\n\n[Illustration: 9015]\n\n|Once upon a time there lived in a certain village a little girl. Her\nmother was very fond of her, and her grandmother loved her even more.\nThis good old woman made for her a red cloak, which suited the child so\nwell that ever after she was called Little Red-Riding-Hood. One day her\nmother made some cakes, and said to Little Red-Riding-Hood:--\n\n\u201cGo, my dear, and see how grandmother does, for I hear that she has been\nvery ill. Carry her a cake and a little pot of butter.\u201d\n\nLittle Red-Riding-Hood set out at once to go to her grandmother, who\nlived in another village. As she was going through the wood she met a\nlarge Wolf. He had a very great mind to eat her up; but he dared not,\nfor there were some wood-choppers near by. So he asked her:--\n\n\u201cWhere are you going, little girl?\u201d The poor child did not know that it\nwas dangerous to stop and talk with the Wolf, and she said:--\n\n\u201cI am going to see my grandmother, and carry her a cake and a little pot\nof butter from my mother.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoes she live far off?\u201d asked the Wolf.\n\n\u201cOh, yes. It is beyond that mill, at the first house in the village.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the Wolf, \u201cI will go and see her, too. I will go this way;\ndo you go that, and we will see who will be there soonest.\u201d\n\nAt this the Wolf began to run as fast as he could, taking the nearest\nway, and Little Red-Riding-Hood went by the farthest. She stopped often\nto chase a butterfly, or pluck a flower, and so she was a good while on\nthe way. The Wolf was soon at the old woman\u2019s house, and knocked at the\ndoor--tap, tap!\n\n\u201cWho is there?\u201d\n\n\u201cYour grandchild, Little Red-Riding-Hood,\u201d replied the Wolf, changing\nhis voice. \u201cI have brought you a cake and a pot of butter from mother.\u201d\n The good grandmother, who was ill in bed, called out:--\n\n\u201cPull the string, and the latch will go up.\u201d The Wolf pulled the string,\nand the latch went up. The door opened, and he jumped in, and fell\nupon the old woman, and ate her up in less than no time, for he had\nnot tasted food for three days. He then shut the door, and got into the\ngrandmother\u2019s bed. By and by, Little Red-Riding-Hood came and knocked at\nthe door--tap, tap!\n\n\u201cWho is there?\u201d\n\nLittle Red-Riding-Hood heard the big voice of the Wolf, and at first she\nwas afraid. Then she thought her grandmother must have a bad cold, so\nshe answered:--\n\n\u201cLittle Red-Riding-Hood. I have brought you a cake and a pot of butter\nfrom mother.\u201d The Wolf softened his voice as much as he could, and\ncalled out:--\n\n\u201cPull the string, and the latch will go up.\u201d Little Red-Riding-Hood\npulled the string, and the latch went up, and the door opened. The Wolf\nwas hiding under the bedclothes and called out in a muffled voice:--\n\n\u201cPut the cake and the pot of butter on the shelf, and come to bed.\u201d\n\nLittle Red-Riding-Hood made ready for bed. Then she looked with\nwonder at her grandmother, who had changed so much, and she\nsaid:--\u201cGrandmother, what great arms you have!\u201d\n\n\u201cThe better to hug you, my dear.\u201d\n\n\u201cGrandmother, what great ears you have!\u201d\n\n\u201cThe better to hear you, my dear.\u201d\n\n\u201cGrandmother, what great eyes you have!\u201d\n\n\u201cThe better to see you, my dear.\u201d\n\n\u201cGrandmother, what great teeth you have!\u201d\n\n\u201cThe better to eat you.\u201d\n\nAnd at this the wicked Wolf sprang up and fell upon poor Little\nRed-Riding-Hood and ate her all up.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOOSE THAT LAID GOLDEN EGGS\n\n|There was a man who once had a Goose that always laid golden eggs, one\nevery day in the year.\n\nNow, he thought there must be gold inside of her. So he wrung her neck\nand laid her open.\n\nHe found that she was exactly like all other geese. He thought to find\nriches, and lost the little he had.\n\nThis fable teaches that one should be content with what one has, and not\nbe greedy.\n\n[Illustration: 0019]\n\n\n\n\nTHE DOG IN THE MANGER\n\n|A Dog once made his bed in a manger. He could not eat the grain there,\nand he would not let the Ox eat it, who could.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FOX AND THE GRAPES\n\n|A hungry Fox found some bunches of grapes upon a vine high up a tree.\nHe tried to get at them, but could not. So he left them hanging there\nand went off, saying to himself:--\n\n\u201cThey are sour grapes.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: 0020]\n\nThat is what people sometimes do when they cannot get what they\nwant--they make believe that what they want is good for nothing.\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE ONE EYE, LITTLE TWO EYES, AND LITTLE THREE EYES\n\n\nI. THE GOAT\n\n|There was once a woman who had three daughters. The eldest was called\nLittle One Eye, because she had only one eye in the middle of her\nforehead. The second was called Little Two Eyes, because she had two\neyes like other people. The youngest was called Little Three Eyes,\nbecause she had three eyes; the third eye was in the middle of her\nforehead.\n\nBecause Little Two Eyes looked like other people, her sisters and her\nmother could not bear her. They said:--\n\n\u201cYou have two eyes and are no better than anybody else. You do not\nbelong to us.\u201d They knocked her about, and gave her shabby clothes, and\nfed her with food left over from their meals.\n\nOne day Little Two Eyes was sent into the fields to look after the goat.\nShe was hungry, because her sisters had given her so little to eat, and\nshe sat down and began to cry. She cried so hard that a little stream of\ntears ran out of each eye. All at once a wise woman stood near her, and\nasked:--\n\n\u201cLittle Two Eyes, why do you cry?\u201d Little Two Eyes said:--\n\n\u201cHave I not need to cry? Because I have two eyes, like other people, my\nsisters and my mother cannot bear me. They knock me about and they give\nme shabby clothes. They feed me only with the food left over from their\ntable. To-day they have given me so little that I am very hungry.\u201d\n\nThe wise woman said:--\n\n\u201cLittle Two Eyes, dry your eyes, and I will tell you what to do. Only\nsay to your goat: \u2018Little goat, bleat; little table, rise,\u2019 and a table\nwill stand before you, covered with food. Eat as much as you like. When\nyou have had all you want, only say: \u2018Little goat, bleat; little table,\naway,\u2019 and it will be gone.\u201d Then the wise woman disappeared. Little Two\nEyes thought: \u201cI must try at once, for I am too hungry to wait.\u201d So she\nsaid:--\n\n\u201cLittle goat, bleat; little table, rise,\u201d and there stood before her a\nlittle table covered with a white cloth. On it were laid a plate, knife\nand fork, and silver spoon. The nicest food was on the plate, smoking\nhot. Then Little Two Eyes began to eat, and found the food very good.\nWhen she had had enough, she said:--\n\n\u201cLittle goat, bleat; little table, away.\u201d In an instant the table was\ngone.\n\n\u201cThat is a fine way to keep house,\u201d thought Little Two Eyes.\n\nAt the end of the day Little Two Eyes drove her goat home. She found a\ndish with some food in it. Her sisters had put it aside for her, but she\ndid not taste it. She did not need it.\n\nThe next day she went out again with her goat, and did not take the few\ncrusts which her sisters put aside for her. This went on for several\ndays. At last her sisters said to each other:--\n\n\u201cAll is not right with Little Two Eyes. She always leaves her food. She\nused to eat all that was given her. She must have found some other way\nto be fed.\u201d\n\nThey meant to find out what Little Two Eyes did. So the next time that\nLittle Two Eyes set out, Little One Eye came to her and said:--\n\n\u201cI will go with you into the field, and see that the goat is well taken\ncare of, and feeds in the best pasture.\u201d But Little Two Eyes saw what\nLittle One Eye had in her mind. So she drove the goat into the long\ngrass, and said:--\n\n\u201cCome, Little One Eye, we will sit down and I will sing to you.\u201d Little\nOne Eye sat down. She was tired after her long walk in the hot sun, and\nLittle Two Eyes began to sing:--\n\n\u201cAre you awake, Little One Eye? Are you asleep, Little One Eye? Are you\nawake, Little One Eye? Are you asleep, Little One Eye? Are you awake?\nAre you asleep? Awake? Asleep?\u201d By this time Little One Eye had shut her\none eye and was fast asleep. When Little Two Eyes saw this, she said\nsoftly:--\n\n\u201cLittle goat, bleat; little table, rise;\u201d and she sat at the table and\nate and drank till she had had enough. Then she said as before:--\n\n\u201cLittle goat, bleat; little table, away,\u201d and in a twinkling all was\ngone.\n\nLittle Two Eyes now awoke Little One Eye, and said:--\n\n\u201cLittle One Eye, why do you not watch? You have been asleep, and the\ngoat could have run all over the world. Come! let us go home.\u201d So home\nthey went, and Little Two Eyes again did not touch the dish. The others\nasked Little One Eye what Little Two Eyes did in the field. But she\ncould only say:--\n\n\u201cOh, I fell asleep out there.\u201d\n\n\nII. THE TREE\n\nThe next day, the mother said to Little Three Eyes:--\n\n\u201cThis time _you_ must go with Little Two Eyes, and see if any one brings\nher food and drink.\u201d Then Little Three Eyes said to Little Two Eyes:\n\n\u201cI will go with you into the field, and see that the goat is well taken\ncare of, and feeds in the best pasture.\u201d But Little Two Eyes saw what\nLittle Three Eyes had in her mind. So she drove the goat into the long\ngrass, and said:--\u201cCome, Little Three Eyes, we will sit down, and I will\nsing to you.\u201d Little Three Eyes sat down. She was tired after her long\nwalk in the hot sun, and Little Two Eyes began to sing, as before:--\n\n\u201cAre you awake, Little Three Eyes?\u201d but instead of going on,--\n\n\u201cAre you asleep, Little Three Eyes?\u201d she did not think, and sang:--\n\n\u201cAre you asleep, Little Two Eyes?\u201d and went on:--\n\n\u201cAre you awake, Little Three Eyes? Are you asleep, Little Two Eyes? Are\nyou awake? Are you asleep? Awake? Asleep?\u201d By this time the two eyes of\nLittle Three Eyes fell asleep. But the third eye did not go to sleep,\nfor it was not spoken to by the verse. Little Three Eyes, to be sure,\nshut it, and made believe that it went to sleep. Then she opened it a\nlittle way and watched Little Two Eyes.\n\nWhen Little Two Eyes thought Little Three Eyes was fast asleep, she said\nsoftly:--\n\n\u201cLittle goat, bleat; little table, rise;\u201d and she sat at the table and\nate and drank till she had had enough. Then she said as before:--\n\n\u201cLittle goat, bleat; little table, away.\u201d But Little Three Eyes had seen\neverything. Little Two Eyes now woke Little Three Eyes, and said:--\n\n\u201cLittle Three Eyes, why do you not watch? You have been asleep, and the\ngoat could have run all over the world. Come! let us go home.\u201d\n\nSo home they went, and Little Two Eyes again did not touch the dish.\nThen Little Three Eyes said to the mother:--\n\n\u201cI know why the proud thing does not eat. She says to the goat: \u2018Little\ngoat, bleat; little table, rise,\u2019 and there stands a table before her.\nIt is covered with the very best of things to eat, much better than\nanything we have. When she has had enough to eat, she says: \u2018Little\ngoat, bleat; little table, away,\u2019 and all is gone. I have seen it just\nas it is. She put two of my eyes to sleep, but the one in my forehead\nstayed awake.\u201d Then the mother cried out:--\n\n\u201cShall she be better off than we are?\u201d With that she took a knife and\nkilled the goat. Poor Little Two Eyes went to the field, and sat\ndown and began to cry. All at once the wise woman stood near her, and\nasked:--\n\n\u201cLittle Two Eyes, why do you cry?\u201d Little Two Eyes said:--\n\n\u201cHave I not need to cry? My mother has killed the goat. Now I must\nsuffer hunger and thirst again.\u201d The wise woman said:--\n\n\u201cLittle Two Eyes, dry your eyes, and I will tell you what to do. Beg\nyour sisters to give you the heart of the goat. Then bury it in the\nground before the door of the house. All will go well with you.\u201d Then\nthe wise woman was gone, and Little Two Eyes went home and said to her\nsisters:--\n\n\u201cSisters, give me some part of my goat. I do not ask for anything but\nthe heart.\u201d They laughed, and said:--\n\n\u201cYou can have that, if you do not want anything else.\u201d\n\nLittle Two Eyes took the heart and buried it in the ground before the\ndoor of the house.\n\nNext morning the sisters woke and saw a splendid tree in front of the\nhouse. It had leaves of silver and fruit of gold. It was wonderful to\nbehold; and they could not think how the tree had come there in the\nnight. Only Little Two Eyes knew that the tree had grown out of the\nheart of the goat. Then the mother said to Little One Eye:--\n\n\u201cClimb up, my child, and pluck some fruit from the tree.\u201d Little One Eye\nclimbed the tree. She put out her hand to take a golden apple, but\nthe branch sprang back. This took place every time. Try as hard as she\ncould, she could not get a single apple. Then the mother said:--\n\n\u201cLittle Three Eyes, you climb up. You can see better with your three\neyes than Little One Eye can.\u201d Down came Little One Eye, and Little\nThree Eyes climbed the tree. She put out her hand, and the branch sprang\nback as it had from Little One Eye. At last the mother tried, but it\nwas the same with her. She could not get a single apple. Then Little Two\nEyes said:--\n\n\u201cLet me try.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou!\u201d they all cried. \u201cYou, with your two eyes like other people! What\ncan you do?\u201d But Little Two Eyes climbed the tree, and the branch did\nnot spring back. The golden apples dropped into her hands, and she\nbrought down her apron full of them. Her mother took them away from her,\nand her two sisters were angry because they had failed, and they were\nmore cruel than ever to Little Two Eyes.\n\n\nIII. THE PRINCE\n\nWhile they stood by the tree, the Prince came riding near on a fine\nhorse.\n\n\u201cQuick, Little Two Eyes,\u201d said her sisters, \u201ccreep under this cask; we\nare ashamed of you.\u201d And they threw an empty cask over her, and pushed\nthe golden apples under it.\n\nThe Prince rode up and gazed at the splendid tree. \u201cIs this splendid\ntree yours?\u201d he asked of the sisters. \u201cIf you will give me a branch from\nit, I will give you anything you wish.\u201d Then Little One Eye and Little\nThree Eyes said the tree was theirs, and they would break off a branch\nfor him. They put out their hands, but again the branches sprang back.\nThen the Prince said:--\n\n\u201cThis is very strange. The tree is yours, and yet you cannot pluck the\nfruit.\u201d\n\nThey kept on saying that the tree was theirs, but while they were saying\nthis, Little Two Eyes rolled a few of the apples out from under the\ncask. The Prince saw them, and asked:--\n\n\u201cWhy! where did these golden apples come from? Who is under the cask?\u201d\n Little One Eye and Little Three Eyes told the Prince that they had a\nsister.\n\n\u201cBut she does not show herself,\u201d they said. \u201cShe is just like other\npeople. She has two eyes.\u201d Then the Prince called:--\n\n\u201cLittle Two Eyes! come out!\u201d So Little Two Eyes was very glad and crept\nout from under the cask.\n\n\u201cCan you get me a branch from the tree?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Little Two Eyes, \u201cI can, for the tree is mine.\u201d Then she\nclimbed the tree and broke off a branch. It had silver leaves and golden\nfruit, and she gave it to the Prince. Then the Prince said:--\n\n\u201cLittle Two Eyes, what shall I give you for it?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said Little Two Eyes, \u201cI suffer hunger and thirst all day long. If\nyou would take me with you, I should be happy.\u201d\n\nSo the Prince lifted Little Two Eyes upon his horse, and they rode away.\nHe took her to his father\u2019s house and made her Princess, and she had\nplenty to eat and drink and good clothes to wear. Best of all, the\nPrince loved her, and she had no more hard knocks and cross words.\n\nNow, when Little Two Eyes rode away with the Prince, the sisters said:--\n\n\u201cWell, we shall have the tree. We may not pluck the fruit, but every one\nwill stop to see it and come to us and praise it.\u201d But the next morning\nwhen they went to look at the tree, it was gone.\n\nLittle Two Eyes lived long and happily. One day, two poor women came\nto her, and asked for something to eat. Little Two Eyes looked at their\nfaces and knew them. They were Little One Eye and Little Three Eyes.\nThey were so poor that they were begging bread from door to door. Little\nTwo Eyes brought them into the house and was very good to them. Then\nthey both were sorry for the evil they had once done their sister.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WIND AND THE SUN\n\nThe Wind and the Sun had a dispute as to which of the two was the\nstronger. They agreed that the one should be called stronger who should\nfirst make a man in the road take off his cloak.\n\nThe Wind began to blow great guns, but the man only drew his cloak\ncloser about him to keep out the cold. At last the gust was over.\n\nThen the Sun took his turn. He shone and it was warm and bright. The man\nopened his cloak, threw it back, and at last took it off, and lay down\nin the shade where it was cool.\n\nSo the Sun carried his point against the Wind.\n\nThis fable teaches that gentleness often succeeds better than force.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CROW AND THE PITCHER\n\n[Illustration: 0032]\n\n|A Crow who was very thirsty found a Pitcher with a little water in it.\nBut the water lay so low that she could not come at it.\n\nShe tried first to break the Pitcher, and then to overturn it, but it\nwas too strong and too heavy for her. At last she thought of a way.\n\nShe dropped a great many little pebbles into the Pitcher, until she had\nraised the water so that she could reach it.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOYS AND THE FROGS\n\n|A company of Boys were watching some Frogs by the side of a pond, and\nas fast as any of the Frogs lifted their heads the Boys would pelt them\ndown again with stones.\n\n\u201cBoys,\u201d said one of the Frogs, \u201cyou forget that, though this may be fun\nfor you, it is death to us.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nA COUNTRY FELLOW AND THE RIVER\n\n|A stupid Boy was sent to market by his Mother to sell butter and\ncheese. He made a stop by the way at a swift river, and laid himself\ndown on the bank to watch until it should run out.\n\nAbout midnight, home he went to his Mother, with all his market goods\nback again.\n\n\u201cWhy, how now, my Son?\u201d said she. \u201cWhat have we here?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, Mother, yonder is a river that has been running all this day,\nand I stayed till just now, waiting for it to run out; and there it is,\nrunning still.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy Son,\u201d said the good woman, \u201cthy head and mine will be laid in the\ngrave many a day before this river has all run by. You will never sell\nyour butter and cheese if you wait for that.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nPUSS IN BOOTS\n\n\nI. PUSS GOES A-HUNTING\n\n|There was once an old miller, and when he died he left nothing to his\nthree sons except his mill, an ass, and a cat. The eldest son took the\nmill, the second son took the ass, and so the cat fell to the youngest.\nThis poor fellow looked very sober, and said:--\n\n\u201cWhat am I to do? My brothers can take care of themselves with a mill\nand an ass. But I can only eat the cat and sell his skin. Then what will\nbe left? I shall die of hunger.\u201d The cat heard these words and looked up\nat his master.\n\n\u201cDo not be troubled,\u201d he said. \u201cGive me a bag and get me a pair of\nboots, and I will soon show you what I can do.\u201d\n\nThe young man did not see what the cat could do, but he knew he could do\nmany strange things. He had seen him hang stiff by his hind legs as if\nhe were dead. He had seen him hide himself in the meal tub. Oh, the cat\nwas a wise one! Besides, what else was there for the young man to do?\n\nSo he got a bag and a pair of boots for the cat. Puss drew on the boots\nand hung the bag about his neck. Then he took hold of the two strings of\nthe bag with his fore paws and set off for a place where there were some\nrabbits.\n\nHe filled his bag with bran and left the mouth of the bag open. Then\nhe lay down, shut his eyes, and seemed to be sound asleep. Soon a young\nrabbit smelled the bran and saw the open bag. He went headlong into it,\nand at once the cat drew the strings and caught the rabbit.\n\nPuss now went to the palace, and asked to speak to the king. So he was\nbrought before the king. He made a low bow and said:--\n\n\u201cSire, this is a rabbit which my master bade me bring to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd who is your master?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is the Marquis of Carabas,\u201d said the cat. This was a title which\nPuss took it into his head to give to his master.\n\n\u201cTell your master that I accept his gift,\u201d said the king, and Puss\nwent off in his boots. In a few days he hid himself with his bag in a\ncornfield. This time he caught two partridges, and carried them to the\nking. The king sent his thanks to the Marquis of Carabas, and made a\npresent to Puss.\n\nSo things went on for some time. Every week Puss brought some game to\nthe king, and the king began to think the Marquis of Carabas a famous\nhunter. Now it chanced that the king and his daughter were about to take\na drive along the banks of a river. Puss heard of it and went to his\nmaster.\n\n\u201cMaster,\u201d said he, \u201cdo just as I tell you, and your fortune will be\nmade. You need only go and bathe in the river, and leave the rest to\nme.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said his master. He did as the cat told him, but he did\nnot know what it all meant. While he was in the river, the king and the\nprincess drove by. Puss jumped out of the bushes and began to bawl:--\n\n\u201cHelp! help! the Marquis of Carabas is drowning! save him!\u201d The king\nheard and looked out of his carriage. There he saw the cat that had\nbrought him so much game, and he bade his men run to help the Marquis.\nWhen he was out of the river, Puss came forward, and told what had\nhappened.\n\n[Illustration: 0037]\n\n\u201cMy master was bathing, and some robbers came and stole his clothes.\nI ran after them and cried, \u2018Stop, thief!\u2019 but they got away. Then my\nmaster was carried beyond his depth, and would have drowned, if you had\nnot come by with your men.\u201d\n\nAt this the king bade one of his servants ride back and bring a fine\nsuit of clothes for the Marquis, and they all waited. So, at last, the\nMarquis of Carabas came up to the carriage, dressed much more finely\nthan he ever had been in his life. He was a handsome fellow, and he\nlooked so well that the king at once bade him enter the carriage.\n\n\nII. PUSS AND THE LION\n\nPuss now had things quite to his mind. He ran on before, and came to a\nmeadow, where some men were mowing grass. He stopped before them, and\nsaid:--\n\n\u201cThe king is coming this way. You must tell him that this field belongs\nto the Marquis of Carabas, or you shall all be chopped as fine as\nmince-meat.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen the carriage came by, the king put his head out, and said to the\nmen:--\n\n\u201cThis is good grass land. Who owns it?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Marquis of Carabas,\u201d they all said, for Puss had thrown them into a\ngreat fright.\n\n\u201cYou have a fine estate, Marquis,\u201d said the king.\n\n\u201cYes, Sire,\u201d he replied, tossing his head; \u201cit pays me well.\u201d Puss still\nran before the carriage, and came soon to some reapers.\n\n\u201cTell the king,\u201d he cried, \u201cthat all this grain belongs to the Marquis\nof Carabas, or you shall all be chopped as fine as mince-meat.\u201d The\nking now came by, and asked the reapers who owned the grain they were\ncutting.\n\n[Illustration: 0039]\n\n\u201cThe Marquis of Carabas,\u201d they said. So it Went on. Puss bade the men in\nthe fields call the Marquis of Carabas their lord, or it would go hard\nwith them. The king was amazed. The Marquis took it all with a grand\nair. It was easy to see that he was a very rich and great man. The\nprincess sat in the corner of the carriage, and thought the Marquis no\nmean fellow.\n\nAt last they drew near the castle of the one who really owned all the\nfields they had passed through. Puss asked about him, and found he was a\nmonster who made every one about him very much afraid. Puss sent in word\nthat he should like to pay his respects, and the monster bade him come\nin.\n\n\u201cI have been told,\u201d said Puss, \u201cthat you can change yourself into any\nkind of animal. They say you can even make yourself a lion.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo be sure I can,\u201d said the monster. \u201cDo you not believe it? Look, and\nyou shall see me become a lion at once.\u201d When Puss saw a lion before\nhim he was in a great fright, and got as far away as he could. There he\nstayed till the lion became a monster again.\n\n\u201cThat was dreadful!\u201d said Puss. \u201cI was nearly dead with fear. But it\nmust be much harder to make yourself small. They do say that you can\nturn into a mouse, but I do not believe it.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot believe it!\u201d cried the monster. \u201cYou shall see!\u201d So he made himself\nat once into a mouse, and began running over the floor. In a twinkling\nPuss pounced upon him and gave him one shake. That was the end of the\nmonster.\n\nBy this time the king had reached the gates of the castle, and thought\nhe would like to see so fine a place. Puss heard the wheels, and ran\ndown just as the king drove up to the door.\n\n\u201cWelcome!\u201d he said, as he stood on the steps of the castle. \u201cWelcome to\nthe castle of the Marquis of Carabas!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat! my lord Marquis,\u201d said the king, \u201cdoes this castle, too, belong\nto you? I never saw anything so fine. I should really like to enter.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour majesty is welcome!\u201d said the young man, bowing low, taking off\nthe cap which the king had given him. Then he gave his hand to the\nprincess, and they went up the steps. Puss danced before them in his\nboots.\n\nThey came into a great hall, and there they found a feast spread. The\nmonster had asked some friends to dine with him that day, but the news\nwent about that the king was at the castle, and so they dared not go.\n\nThe king was amazed at all he saw, and the princess went behind him,\njust as much pleased. The Marquis of Carabas said little. He held his\nhead high and played with his sword.\n\nWhen dinner was over, the king took the Marquis one side, and said:--\n\n\u201cYou have only to say the word, my lord Marquis, and you shall be the\nson-in-law of your king.\u201d\n\nSo the Marquis married the princess, and Puss in Boots became a great\nlord, and hunted mice for mere sport, just when he pleased.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FARMER\u2019S SONS\n\n|A farmer\u2019s Sons once fell out. The Farmer tried to make peace between\nthem, but he could not. Then he bade them bring him some sticks. These\nhe tied together into a bundle, and gave the bundle to each of his Sons\nin turn, and told him to break it. Each Son tried, but could not.\n\nThen he untied the bundle and gave them each one stick to break. This\nthey did easily, and he said: \u201cSo is it with you, my Sons. If you\nare all of the same mind, your enemies can do you no harm. But if you\nquarrel, they will easily get the better of you.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE LION AND THE BEAR\n\n|A Lion and a Bear chanced to fall upon a Fawn at the same time, and\nthey began to fight for it. They fought so fiercely that at last they\nfell down, entirely worn out and almost dead.\n\nA Fox, passing that way, saw them stretched out, and the Fawn dead\nbetween them. He stole in slyly, seized the Fawn, and ran away with it\nfor his own dinner. When they saw this, they could not stir, but they\ncried out:--\n\n\u201cHow foolish we were to take all this trouble for the Fox!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE LION AND THE MOUSE\n\n[Illustration: 0043]\n\n|As a Lion lay asleep, a Mouse ran into his mouth. The Lion shut his\nteeth together and would have eaten him up, but the Mouse begged hard to\nbe let out, saying:--\n\n\u201cIf you will let me go, I will repay you some day.\u201d\n\nThe Lion smiled, but let the Mouse out. Not long after, the Mouse had a\nchance to repay him. The Lion was caught by some hunters, and bound with\nropes to a tree. The Mouse heard him roar and groan, and ran and gnawed\nthe ropes, so that the Lion got free.\n\nThen the Mouse said:--\n\n\u201cYou laughed at me once, Lion, as if you could get nothing in return for\nyour kindness to me. But now it is you who owe your life to me.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER\n\n|There was once a Shoemaker who worked very hard and was honest. Still,\nhe could not earn enough to live on. At last, all he had in the world\nwas gone except just leather enough to make one pair of shoes. He cut\nthese out at night, and meant to rise early the next morning to make\nthem up.\n\nHis heart was light in spite of his troubles, for his conscience was\nclear. So he went quietly to bed, left all his cares to God, and fell\nasleep. In the morning he said his prayers and sat down to work, when,\nto his great wonder, there stood the shoes, already made, upon the\ntable.\n\nThe good man knew not what to say or think. He looked at the work. There\nwas not one false stitch in the whole job. All was neat and true.\n\nThat same day a customer came in, and the shoes pleased him so well that\nhe readily paid a price higher than usual for them. The Shoemaker took\nthe money and bought leather enough to make two pairs more. He cut out\nthe work in the evening and went to bed early. He wished to be up with\nthe sun and get to work.\n\nHe was saved all trouble, for when he got up in the morning, the work\nwas done. Pretty soon buyers came in, who paid him well for his goods.\nSo he bought leather enough for four pairs more.\n\nHe cut out the work again over night, and found it finished in the\nmorning as before. So it went on for some time. What was got ready at\nnight was always done by daybreak, and the good man soon was well to do.\n\nOne evening, at Christmas time, he and his wife sat over the fire,\nchatting, and he said:--\n\n\u201cI should like to sit up and watch to-night, that we may see who it is\nthat comes and does my work for me.\u201d So they left the light burning, and\nhid themselves behind a curtain to see what would happen.\n\nAs soon as it was midnight, there came two little Elves. They sat upon\nthe Shoemaker\u2019s bench, took up all the work that was cut out, and began\nto ply their little fingers. They stitched and rapped and tapped at such\na rate that the Shoemaker was amazed, and could not take his eyes off\nthem for a moment.\n\nOn they went till the job was done, and the shoes stood, ready for use,\nupon the table. This was long before daybreak. Then they ran away as\nquick as lightning. The next day the wife said to the Shoemaker:--\n\n\u201cThese little Elves have made us rich, and we ought to be thankful to\nthem and do them some good in return. I am vexed to see them run about\nas they do. They have nothing upon their backs to keep off the cold.\nI\u2019ll tell you what we must do; I will make each of them a shirt, and a\ncoat and waistcoat, and a pair of pantaloons into the bargain. Do you\nmake each of them a little pair of shoes.\u201d\n\nThe good Shoemaker liked the thought very well. One evening, he and his\nwife had the clothes ready, and laid them on the table instead of the\nwork they used to cut out. Then they went and hid behind the curtain to\nwatch what the little Elves would do.\n\nAt midnight the Elves came in and were going to sit down at their work\nas usual. But when they saw the clothes lying there for them, they\nlaughed and were in high glee.\n\n[Illustration: 0047]\n\nThey dressed themselves in the twinkling of an eye, and danced and\ncapered and sprang about as merry as could be, till at last they danced\nout of the door, and over the green.\n\nThe Shoemaker saw them no more, but everything went well with him as\nlong as he lived.\n\n[Illustration: 0006]\n\n\n\n\nTHE STAG AND THE LION\n\n|A thirsty Stag came to a spring to drink. As he drank, he looked into\nthe water and saw himself. He was very proud of his horns, when he saw\nhow big they were and what branches they had. But he looked at his feet,\nand took it hard that they should be so thin and weak.\n\nNow, while he was thinking about these things, a Lion sprang out and\nbegan to chase him. The Stag turned and ran. As he was very fleet, he\noutran the Lion so long as they were on the open plain. But when they\ncame to a piece of woods, the Stag\u2019s horns became caught in the branches\nof the trees. He could not run, and the Lion caught up with him.\n\nAs the Lion fell upon him with his claws, the Stag cried oat:--\n\n\u201cWhat a wretch am I! I was made safe by the very parts I scorned, and\nhave come to my end by the parts I gloried in!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE STAR-GAZER\n\n|A certain wise man was wont to go out every evening and gaze at the\nstars. Once his walk took him outside of the town, and as he was looking\nearnestly into the sky, he fell into a ditch.\n\nHe was in a sad plight, and set up a cry. A man who was passing by heard\nhim, and stopped to see what was the matter.\n\n\u201cAh, sir,\u201d said he, \u201cwhen you are trying to make out what is in the sky,\nyou do not see what is on the earth.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE FOX AND THE LION\n\n[Illustration: 0049]\n\nA Fox who had never seen a Lion happened one day to meet one. When he\nsaw him, he was so afraid that he almost died. When he met him a second\ntime, he was afraid, to be sure, but not as at first. The third time he\nsaw him, the Fox was so bold that he went up to the Lion and spoke to\nhim.\n\nThis fable teaches that, when we get used to fearful things, they do not\nfrighten us so much as at first.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FARMER AND THE STORK\n\n[Illustration: 0050]\n\n|A Farmer set a net in his field to catch the Cranes that were eating\nhis grain. He caught the Cranes, and with them a Stork also. The Stork\nwas lame, and begged the Farmer to let him go.\n\n\u201cI am not a Crane,\u201d he said. \u201cI am a Stork. I am a very good bird, and\ntake care of my father and mother. Look at the color of my skin; it is\nnot the same as the Crane\u2019s.\u201d\n\nBut the Farmer said: \u201cI do not know how that is. I caught you with the\nCranes, and with the Cranes you must die.\u201d\n\nIt is well to keep out of the way of wicked people, lest we fall into\nthe trap with them.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DOG AND THE WOLF\n\n|A Dog was lying asleep in front of a stable. A Wolf suddenly came\nupon him, and was about to eat him, but the Dog begged for his life,\nsaying:--\n\n\u201cI am lean and tough now; but wait a little, for my master is going to\ngive a feast, and then I shall have plenty to eat; I shall grow fat, and\nmake a better meal for you.\u201d\n\nSo the Wolf agreed, and went away. By and by he came back, and found the\nDog asleep on the house-top. He called to him to come down now and do as\nhe had agreed. But the Dog answered:--\n\n\u201cGood Wolf, if you ever catch me again asleep in front of the stable,\nyou had better not wait for the feast to come off.\u201d\n\nThis fable teaches that wise men, when they escape danger, take care\nafterwards not to run the same risk.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FOX IN THE WELL\n\n|An unlucky Fox fell into a well, and cried out for help. A Wolf heard\nhim, and looked down to see what the matter was.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said the Fox, \u201cpray lend a hand, friend, and get me out of this.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: 0052]\n\n\u201cPoor creature,\u201d said the Wolf, \u201chow did this come about? How long have\nyou been here? You must be very cold.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome, come,\u201d says the Fox, \u201cthis is no time for pitying and asking\nquestions; get me out of the well first, and I will tell you all about\nit afterwards.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWO PACKS\n\n|Every man carries two Packs, one in front, the other behind, and each\nis full of faults. But the one in front holds other people\u2019s faults,\nthe one behind holds his own. And so it is that men do not see their own\nfaults at all, but see very clearly the faults of others.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DOG AND HIS IMAGE\n\n[Illustration: 0053]\n\n|A Dog, with a bit of meat in his mouth, was crossing a river. Looking\ndown he saw his image in the water, and thought it was another dog, with\na bigger piece. So he dropped what he had, and jumped into the water\nafter the other piece. Thus he lost both pieces: the one he really had,\nwhich he dropped; and the other he wanted, which was no piece at all.\n\nThis is a good fable for greedy people.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FOX AND THE STORK\n\n[Illustration: 0054]\n\n|The Fox invited the Stork to sup with him, and placed a shallow dish on\nthe table. The Stork, with her long bill, could get nothing out of the\ndish, while the Fox could lap up the food with his tongue; and so the\nFox laughed at the Stork.\n\nThe Stork, in her turn, asked the Fox to dine with her. She placed the\nfood in a long-necked jar, from which she could easily feed with her\nbill, while the Fox could get nothing. That was tit for tat.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SPENDTHRIFT AND THE SWALLOW\n\n|A wild young fellow, who had spent all his father\u2019s money, and had only\na cloak left upon his back, when he saw a Swallow flying about before\nit was time said: \u201cAh, summer has come! I shall not need my cloak any\nlonger; so I will sell it.\u201d But afterwards a storm came, and, when it\nwas past, he saw the poor Swallow dead on the ground. \u201cAh, my friend!\u201d\n said he, \u201cyou are lost yourself, and you have ruined me.\u201d\n\nOne Swallow does not make a summer.\n\n\n\n\nJACK AND THE BEAN-STALK\n\n\nI. THE BEANS ARE PLANTED\n\n|In the days of King Alfred a poor woman lived in a country village in\nEngland. She had an only son, Jack, who was a good-natured, idle boy.\nShe was too easy with him. She never set him at work, and soon there was\nnothing left them but their cow. Then the mother began to weep and to\nthink that she had brought up her boy very ill.\n\n\u201cCruel boy!\u201d she said. \u201cYou have at last made me a beggar. I have not\nmoney enough to buy a bit of bread. We cannot starve. We must sell the\ncow, and then what shall we do?\u201d\n\nAt first Jack felt very badly and wished he had done better. But soon\nhe began to think what fun it would be to sell the cow. He begged his\nmother to let him go with the cow to the nearest village. She was not\nvery willing. She did not believe Jack knew enough to sell a cow, but at\nlast she gave him leave.\n\nOff went Jack with the cow. He had not gone far when he met a Butcher.\n\n\u201cWhere are you going with your cow?\u201d asked the Butcher.\n\n\u201cI am going to sell it,\u201d said Jack. The Butcher held his hat in his hand\nand shook it. Jack looked into the hat and saw some odd-looking beans.\nThe Butcher saw him eye them. He knew how silly Jack was, so he said to\nhim:--\n\n\u201cWell, if you wish to sell your cow, sell her to me. I will give you all\nthese beans for her.\u201d\n\nJack thought this a fine bargain. He gave the Butcher the cow and took\nthe beans. He ran all the way home and could hardly wait to reach the\nhouse. He called out to his mother to see what he had got for the cow.\n\nWhen the poor woman saw only a few beans, she burst into tears. She was\nso vexed that she threw the beans out of the window. She did not even\ncook them for supper. They had nothing else to eat, and they went to bed\nhungry.\n\nJack awoke early the next morning and thought it very dark. He went\nto the window and could hardly see out of it, for it was covered with\nsomething green. He ran downstairs and into the garden. There he saw a\nstrange sight.\n\nThe beans had taken root and shot up toward the clouds. The stalks were\nas thick as trees, and were wound about each other. It was like a green\nladder, and Jack at once wished to climb to the top.\n\nHe ran in to tell his mother, but she begged him not to climb the\nbean-stalk. She did not know what would happen. She was afraid to have\nhim go. Who ever saw such bean-stalks before?\n\nBut Jack had set his heart on climbing, and he told his mother not to\nbe afraid. He would soon see what it all meant. So up he climbed. He\nclimbed for hours. He went higher and higher, and at last, quite tired\nout, he reached the top.\n\n\nII. JACK CAPTURES A HEN\n\n|Then he looked about him. It was all new. He had never seen such a\nplace before. There was not a tree or plant; there was no house or shed.\nSome stones lay here and there, and there were little piles of earth. He\ncould not see a living person.\n\nJack sat down on one of the stones. He wished he were at home again. He\nthought of his mother. He was hungry, and he did not know where to get\nanything to eat. He walked and walked, and hoped he might see a house.\n\nHe saw no house, but at last he saw a lady walking alone. He ran toward\nher, and when he came near, he pulled off his cap and made a bow. She\nwas a beautiful lady, and she carried in her hand a stick. A peacock of\nfine gold sat on top of the stick.\n\nThe lady smiled and asked Jack how he came there. He told her all about\nthe bean-stalk. Then she said:--\n\n\u201cDo you remember your father?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Jack. \u201cI do not know what became of him. When I speak of him\nto my mother, she cries, but she tells me nothing.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe dare not,\u201d said the lady, \u201cbut I will tell you. I am a fairy. I was\nset to take care of your father, but one day I was careless. So I lost\nmy power for a few years, and just when your father needed me most I\ncould not help him, and he died.\u201d\n\nJack saw that she was very sorry as she told this story, but he begged\nher to go on.\n\n\u201cI will,\u201d she said, \u201cand you may now help your mother. But you must do\njust as I tell you.\u201d\n\nJack promised.\n\n\u201cYour father was a good, kind man. He had a good wife, he had money,\nand he had friends. But he had one false friend. This was a Giant. Your\nfather had once helped this Giant, but the Giant was cruel. He killed\nyour father and took all his money. And he told your mother she must\nnever tell you about your father. If she did, then the Giant would kill\nher and kill you too.\n\n\u201cYou were a little child then, and your mother carried you away in her\narms. I could not help her at the time, but my power came back to me\nyesterday. So I made you go off with the cow, and I made you take the\nbeans, and I made you climb the bean-stalk.\n\n\u201cThis is the land where the Giant lives. You must find him and rid the\nworld of him. All that he has is yours, for he took it from your father.\nNow go. You must keep on this road till you see a great house. The Giant\nlives there. I cannot tell you what you must do next, but I will help\nyou when the time comes. But you must not tell your mother anything.\u201d\n\nThe fairy disappeared and Jack set out. He walked all day, and when the\nsun set, he came to the Giant\u2019s house. He went up to it and saw a plain\nwoman by the door. This was the Giant\u2019s wife. Jack spoke to her and\nasked her if she would give him something to eat and a place where he\ncould sleep.\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d she said. \u201cDo you not know? My husband is a Giant. He is away\nnow, but he will be back soon. Sometimes he walks fifty miles in a day\nto see if he can find a man or a boy. He eats people. He will eat you if\nhe finds you here.\u201d\n\nJack was in great fear, but he would not give up. He asked the Giant\u2019s\nwife to hide him somewhere in the house. She was a kind woman, so she\nled him in. They went through a great hall, and then through some large\nrooms. They came to a dark passage, and went through it. There was a\nlittle light, and Jack could see bars of iron at the side. Behind the\nbars were wretched people. They were the prisoners of the Giant.\n\nPoor Jack thought of his mother and wished himself at home again. He\nbegan to think the Giant\u2019s wife was as bad as the Giant, and had brought\nhim in to shut him up here. Then he thought of his father and marched\nboldly on.\n\nThey came to a room where a table was set. Jack sat down and began to\neat. He was very hungry and soon forgot his fears. But while he was\neating, there came a loud knock at the outside door. It was so loud that\nthe whole house shook. The Giant\u2019s wife turned pale.\n\n\u201cWhat shall I do?\u201d she cried. \u201cIt is the Giant. He will kill you and\nkill me too! What shall I do?\u201d\n\n\u201cHide me in the oven,\u201d said Jack. There was no fire under it, and Jack\nlay in the oven and looked out. The Giant came in and scolded his wife,\nand then he sat down and ate and drank for a long time. Jack thought\nhe never would finish. At last the Giant leaned back in his chair and\ncalled out in a loud voice:--\n\n\u201cBring me my hen!\u201d\n\nHis wife brought a beautiful hen and placed it on the table.\n\n\u201cLay!\u201d roared the Giant, and the hen laid an egg of solid gold.\n\n\u201cLay another!\u201d And the hen laid another. So it went on. Each time the\nhen laid a larger egg than before. The Giant played with the hen for\nsome time. Then he sent his wife to bed, but he sat in his chair. Soon\nhe fell asleep, and then Jack crept out of the oven and seized the hen.\nHe ran out of the house and down the road. He kept on till he came to\nthe bean-stalk, and climbed down to his old home.\n\n\nIII. THE GIANT\u2019S MONEY-BAGS\n\n|Jack\u2019s mother was very glad to see him. She was afraid that he had come\nto some ill end. \u201cNot a bit of it, mother,\u201d said he. \u201cLook here!\u201d and he\nshowed her the hen. \u201cLay!\u201d he said to the hen, and the hen laid an egg\nof gold.\n\nJack and his mother now had all they needed, for they had only to tell\nthe hen to lay, and she laid her golden egg. They sold the egg and had\nmoney enough. But Jack kept thinking of his father, and he longed to\nmake another trial. He had told his mother about the Giant and his wife,\nbut he had said nothing about the fairy and his father.\n\nHis mother begged Jack not to climb the beanstalk again. She said the\nGiant\u2019s wife would be sure to know him, and he never would come back\nalive. Jack said nothing, but he put on some other clothes and stained\nhis face and hands another color. Then, one morning, he rose early and\nclimbed the bean-stalk a second time.\n\nHe went straight to the Giant\u2019s house. The Giant\u2019s wife was again at the\ndoor, but she did not know him. He begged for food and a place to sleep.\nShe told him about the Giant, and then she said:--\n\n\u201cThere was once a boy who came just as you have come. I let him in, and\nhe stole the Giant\u2019s hen and ran away. Ever since the Giant has been\nvery cruel to me. No, I cannot let you come in.\u201d\n\nBut Jack begged so hard that at last she let him in. She led him\nthrough the house, and he saw just what he had seen before. She gave him\nsomething to eat, and then she hid him in a closet. The Giant came along\nin his heavy boots. He was so big, that the house shook. He sat by the\nfire for a time. Then he looked about and said:--\n\n\u201cWife, I smell fresh meat.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she said. \u201cThe crows have been flying about. They left some raw\nmeat on top of the house.\u201d\n\nThen she made haste and got some supper for the giant.\n\nHe was very cross. So it went on as before. The Giant ate and\ndrank. Then he called to his wife:--\n\n\u201cBring me something. I want to be amused. You let that rascal steal my\nhen. Bring me something.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat shall I bring?\u201d she asked meekly.\n\n\u201cBring me my money-bags; they are as heavy as anything.\u201d So she tugged\ntwo great bags to the table. One was full of silver and one was full\nof gold. The Giant sent his wife to bed. Then he untied the strings,\nemptied his bags, and counted his money. Jack watched him, and said to\nhimself:--\n\n\u201cThat is my father\u2019s money.\u201d\n\nBy and by the Giant was tired. He put the money back into the bags\nand tied the strings. Then he went to sleep. He had a dog to watch his\nmoney, but Jack did not see the dog. So when the Giant was sound asleep,\nJack came out of the closet and laid hold of the bags.\n\nAt this the dog barked, and Jack thought his end had come. But the Giant\ndid not wake, and Jack just then saw a bit of meat. He gave it to the\ndog, and while the dog was eating it, Jack took the two bags and was\noff.\n\n\nIV. THE HARP\n\n|It was two whole days before he could reach the bean-stalk, for the\nbags were very heavy. Then he climbed down with them. But when he came\nto his house the door was locked. No one was inside, and he knew not\nwhat to do.\n\nAfter a while he found an old woman who showed him where his mother was.\nShe was very sick in another house. The poor thing had been made ill by\nJack\u2019s going away. Now that he had come back, she began to get well, and\nsoon she was in her own house again.\n\nJack said no more about the Giant and the bean-stalk. For three years he\nlived with his mother. They had money enough, and all seemed well. But\nJack could not forget his father. He sat all day before the bean-stalk.\nHis mother tried hard to amuse him, and she tried to find out what he\nwas thinking about. He did not tell her, for he knew all would then go\nwrong.\n\nAt last he could bear it no longer. He had changed in looks now, and he\nchanged himself still more. Then, one bright summer morning, very early\nin the day, he climbed the bean-stalk once more. The Giant\u2019s wife did\nnot know him when he came to the door of the house. He had hard work to\nmake her let him in.\n\nThis time he was hidden in the copper boiler.\n\nThe Giant again came home, and was in a great rage.\n\n\u201cI smell fresh meat!\u201d he cried. His wife could do nothing with him, and\nhe began to go about the room. He looked into the oven, and into the\ncloset, and then he came to the great boiler. Jack felt his heart stop.\nHe thought now his end had come, surely. But the Giant did not lift the\nlid. He sat down by the fire and had his supper.\n\nWhen supper was over, the Giant told his wife to bring his harp. Jack\npeeped out of the copper and saw a most beautiful harp. The Giant placed\nit on the table, and said:--\n\n\u201cPlay!\u201d\n\nJack never heard such music as the harp played. No hands touched it. It\nplayed all by itself. He thought he would rather have this harp than the\nhen or all the money. By and by the harp played the Giant to sleep. Then\nJack crept out and seized the harp. He was running off with it, when\nsome one called loudly:--\n\n\u201cMaster! Master!\u201d\n\nIt was the harp, but Jack would not let it go. The Giant started up, and\nsaw Jack with the harp running down the road.\n\n\u201cStop, you rascal!\u201d he shouted. \u201cYou stole my hen and my money-bags.\nDo you steal my harp? I\u2019ll catch you, and I\u2019ll break every bone in your\nbody!\u201d\n\n[Illustration: 0070]\n\n\u201cCatch me if you can!\u201d said Jack. He knew he could run faster than the\nGiant. Off they went, Jack and the harp, and the Giant after them. Jack\ncame to the bean-stalk. The harp was all the while playing music, but\nnow Jack said:--\n\n\u201cStop!\u201d and the harp stopped playing. He hurried down the bean-stalk\nwith the harp. There sat his mother, by the cottage, weeping.\n\n\u201cDo not cry, mother,\u201d he said. \u201cQuick, bring me a hatchet! Make haste!\u201d\n He knew there was not a minute to spare. The Giant was already coming\ndown. He was half-way down when Jack took his hatchet and cut the\nbeanstalk down, close to its roots. Over fell the bean-stalk, and down\ncame the Giant upon the ground. He was killed on the spot.\n\n[Illustration: 0067]\n\nIn a moment the fairy was seen. She told Jack\u2019s mother everything, and\nhow brave he had been. And that was the end. The beanstalk never grew\nagain.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FROG AND THE OX\n\n|An Ox, grazing in a swampy meadow, set his foot among a number of young\nFrogs, and crushed nearly all to death. One that escaped ran off to his\nmother with the dreadful news.\n\n\u201cOh, mother,\u201d said he, \u201cit was a beast--such A big, four-footed beast,\nthat did it!\u201d\n\n[Illustration: 0072]\n\n\u201cBig?\u201d said the old Frog. \u201cHow big? Was it as big as this?\u201d and she\npuffed herself out. \u201cOh, a great deal bigger than that.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, was it so big?\u201d and she swelled herself out more.\n\n\u201cIndeed, mother, it was; and if you were to burst yourself, you would\nnever reach half its size.\u201d The old Frog made one more trial, determined\nto be as big as the Ox, and burst herself indeed.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MILLER, HIS SON, AND THEIR ASS\n\n|A Miller and his Son were driving their Ass to the fair to sell him.\nThey had not gone far, when they met a troop of girls, returning from\nthe town, talking and laughing.\n\n\u201cLook there!\u201d cried one of them. \u201cDid you ever see such fools, to be\ntrudging along on foot, when they might be riding?\u201d The Miller, when he\nheard this, bade his Son get up on the Ass, and walked along merrily by\nhis side. Soon they came to a group of old men talking gravely.\n\n\u201cThere!\u201d said one of them; \u201cthat proves what I was saying. What respect\nis shown to old age in these days? Do you see that idle young rogue\nriding, while his father has to walk? Get down, lazy boy, and let the\nold man get on!\u201d\n\nThe Son got down from the Ass, and the Miller took his place. They had\nnot gone far when they met a company of women and children.\n\n\u201cWhy, you lazy old fellow!\u201d cried several at once. \u201cHow can you ride\nupon the beast, when that poor little lad can hardly keep up with you?\u201d\n\nSo the good-natured Miller took his Son up behind him. They had now\nalmost reached the town.\n\n\u201cPray, my friend,\u201d said a townsman, \u201cis that Ass your own?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the Miller.\n\n\u201cI should not have thought so,\u201d said the other, \u201cby the way you load\nhim. Why, you two are better able to carry the poor beast than he to\ncarry you.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnything to please you,\u201d said the Miller. So he and his Son got down\nfrom the Ass. They tied his legs together, and, taking a stout pole,\ntried to carry him on their shoulders over a bridge that led to the\ntown.\n\nThis was so odd a sight that crowds of people ran out to see it, and to\nlaugh at it. The Ass, not liking to be tied, kicked the cords away, and\ntumbled off the pole into the water. At this the Miller and his Son hung\ndown their heads. They made their way home again, having learned that\nby trying to please everybody, they had pleased nobody, and lost the Ass\ninto the bargain.\n\n\n\n\nCINDERELLA, OR THE GLASS SLIPPER\n\n\nI. CINDERELLA IN THE KITCHEN\n\n|Once upon a time there lived a man and his wife and one beautiful\ndaughter. The wife fell sick and died, and some time after the father\nmarried again, for he needed some one to take care of his child. The new\nwife appeared very well before the wedding, but afterward she showed\na bad temper. She had two children of her own, and they were proud and\nunkind like their mother. They could not bear their gentle sister, and\nthey made her do all the hard work.\n\nShe washed the dishes, and scrubbed the stairs. She swept the floor in\nmy lady\u2019s chamber, and took care of the rooms of the two pert misses.\nThey slept on soft beds in fine rooms, and had tall looking-glasses,\nso that they could admire themselves from top to toe. She lay on an old\nstraw sack in the garret.\n\nShe bore all this without complaint. She did her work, and then sat in\nthe corner among the ashes and cinders. So her two sisters gave her the\nname of Cinderella or the cinder-maid. But Cinderella was really much\nmore beautiful than they; and she surely was more sweet and gentle.\n\nNow the king\u2019s son gave a ball, and he invited all the rich and the\ngrand. Cinderella\u2019s two sisters were fine ladies; they were to go to\nthe ball. Perhaps they would even dance with the prince. So they had new\ngowns made, and they looked over all their finery.\n\nHere was fresh work for poor Cinderella. She must starch their ruffles\nand iron their linen. All day long they talked of nothing but their fine\nclothes.\n\n\u201cI shall wear my red velvet dress,\u201d said the elder, \u201cand trim it with my\npoint lace.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I,\u201d said the younger sister, \u201cshall wear a silk gown, but I shall\nwear over it a gold brocade, and I shall put on my diamonds. You have\nnothing so fine.\u201d\n\nThen they began to quarrel over their clothes, and Cinderella tried\nto make peace between them. She helped them about their dresses, and\noffered to arrange their hair on the night of the ball.\n\nWhile she was thus busy, the sisters said to her:--\n\n\u201cAnd pray, Cinderella, would you like to go to the ball?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said the poor girl; \u201cyou are mocking me. It is not for such as I\nto go to balls.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue enough,\u201d they said. \u201cFolks would laugh to see a cinder-maid at a\ncourt ball.\u201d\n\nAny one else would have dressed their hair ill to spite them for their\nrudeness. But Cinderella was good-natured, and only took more pains to\nmake them look well.\n\nThe two sisters scarcely ate a morsel for two days before the ball. They\nwished to look thin and graceful. They lost their tempers over and over,\nand they spent most of the time before their tall glasses. There they\nturned and turned to see how they looked behind, and how their long\ntrains hung.\n\nAt last the evening came, and off they set in a coach. Cinderella\nwatched them till they were out of sight, and then she sat down by the\nkitchen fire and began to weep.\n\nAll at once her fairy godmother appeared, with her wand.\n\n\u201cWhat are you crying for, my little maid?\u201d\n\n\u201cI wish--I wish,\u201d began the poor girl, but her voice was choked with\ntears.\n\n\u201cYou wish that you could go to the ball?\u201d\n\nCinderella nodded.\n\n\u201cWell, then, if you will be a good girl, you shall go. Run quick and\nfetch me a pumpkin from the garden.\u201d\n\nCinderella flew to the garden and brought back the finest pumpkin she\ncould find. She could not guess what use it would be, but the fairy\nscooped it hollow, and then touched it with her wand. The pumpkin became\nat once a splendid gilt coach.\n\n\u201cNow fetch me the mouse-trap from the pantry.\u201d\n\nIn the mouse-trap were six sleek mice. The fairy opened the door, and as\nthey ran out she touched each with her wand, and it became a gray horse.\nBut what was she to do for a coachman?\n\n\u201cWe might look for a rat in the rat-trap,\u201d said Cinderella.\n\n\u201cThat is a good thought. Run and bring the rat-trap, my dear.\u201d\n\nBack came Cinderella with the trap. In it were three large rats. The\nfairy chose one that had long black whiskers, and she made him the\ncoachman.\n\n\u201cNow go into the garden and bring me six lizards. You will find them\nbehind the water-pot.\u201d\n\nThese were no sooner brought than, lo! with a touch of the wand they\nwere turned into six footmen, who jumped up behind the coach, as if they\nhad done nothing else all their days. Then the fairy said:--\n\n\u201cHere is your coach and six, Cinderella; your coachman and your footmen.\nNow you can go to the ball.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat! in these clothes?\u201d and Cinderella looked down at her ragged\nfrock. The fairy laughed, and just touched her with the wand. In a\ntwinkling, her shabby clothes were changed to a dress of gold and silver\nlace, and on her bare feet were silk stockings and a pair of glass\nslippers, the prettiest ever seen.\n\n[Illustration: 0079]\n\n\u201cNow go to the ball, Cinderella; but remember, if you stay one moment\nafter midnight, your coach will instantly become a pumpkin, your horses\nwill be mice, your coachman a rat, and your footmen lizards. And you?\nYou will be once more only a cinder-maid in a ragged frock and with bare\nfeet.\u201d\n\n\nII. CINDERELLA IN THE PALACE\n\n|Cinderella promised and drove away in high glee. She dashed up to the\npalace, and her coach was so fine that the king\u2019s son came down the\nsteps of the palace to hand out this unknown princess. He led her to the\nhall where all the guests were dancing.\n\nThe moment she appeared all voices were hushed, the music stopped, and\nthe dancers stood still. Such a beautiful princess had never been seen!\nEven the king, old as he was, turned to the queen and said:--\n\n\u201cShe is the most beautiful being I ever saw--since I first saw you!\u201d\n\nAs for the ladies of the court, they were all busy looking at\nCinderella\u2019s clothes. They meant to get some just like them the very\nnext day, if possible.\n\nThe prince led Cinderella to the place of highest rank, and asked her\nhand for the next dance. She danced with so much grace that he admired\nher more and more. Supper was brought in, but the prince could not keep\nhis eyes off the beautiful stranger. Cinderella went and sat by her\nsisters, and shared with them the fruit which the prince gave her. They\nwere very proud to have her by them, for they never dreamed who she\nreally was.\n\nCinderella was talking with them, when she heard the clock strike the\nquarter hour before twelve. She went at once to the king and queen, and\nmade them a low courtesy and bade them good-night. The queen said there\nwas to be another ball the next night, and she must come to that. The\nprince led her down the steps to her coach, and she drove home.\n\nAt the house the fairy sat waiting for Cinderella. The maiden began to\ntell all that had happened, and was in the midst of her story, when a\nknock was heard at the door. It was the sisters coming home from the\nball. The fairy disappeared, and Cinderella went to the door, rubbing\nher eyes, as if she had just waked from a nap. She was once more a poor\nlittle cinder-maid.\n\n\u201cHow late you are!\u201d she said, as she opened the door.\n\n\u201cIf you had been to the ball, you would not have thought it late,\u201d said\nher sisters. \u201cThere came the most beautiful princess that ever was seen.\nShe was very polite to us, and loaded us with oranges and grapes.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho was she?\u201d asked Cinderella.\n\n\u201cNobody knew her name. The prince would give his eyes to know.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! how I should like to see her,\u201d said Cinderella. \u201cOh, do, my Lady\nJavotte,\u201d--that was the name of the elder sister,--\u201clend me the yellow\ndress you wear every day, and let me go to the ball and have a peep at\nthe beautiful princess.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat! lend my yellow gown to a cinder-maid! I am not so silly as that.\u201d\n\nCinderella was not sorry to have Javotte say no; she would have been\npuzzled to know what to do if her sister had really lent her the dress\nshe begged for.\n\nThe next night came, and the sisters again went to the court ball. After\nthey had gone, the fairy came as before and made Cinderella ready.\n\n\u201cNow remember,\u201d she said, as the coach drove away, \u201cremember twelve\no\u2019clock.\u201d\n\nCinderella was even more splendid than on the first night, and the\nking\u2019s son never left her side He said so many pretty things that\nCinderella could think of nothing else. She forgot the fairy\u2019s warning;\nshe forgot her promise. Eleven o\u2019clock came, but she did not notice the\nstriking. The half-hour struck, but the prince grew more charming, and\nCinderella could hear nothing but his voice. The last quarter--but still\nCinderella sat by the prince.\n\nThen the great clock on the tower struck the first stroke of twelve. Up\nsprang Cinderella, and fled from the room. The prince started to follow\nher, but she was too swift for him; in her flight, one of her glass\nslippers fell from her feet, and he stopped to pick it up.\n\nThe last stroke of twelve died away, as Cinderella darted down the\nsteps of the palace. In a twinkling the gay lady was gone; only a shabby\ncinder-maid was running down the steps. The splendid coach and six,\ndriver and footman,--all were gone; only a pumpkin lay on the ground,\nand a rat, six mice, and six lizards scampered off.\n\nCinderella reached home, quite out of breath. She had saved nothing of\nall her finery but one little glass slipper. The prince had its mate,\nbut he had lost the princess. He asked the soldiers at the palace gate\nif they had not seen her drive away. No; at that hour only a ragged girl\nhad passed out.\n\nSoon the two sisters came home from the ball, and Cinderella asked them\nif they had again seen the beautiful lady. Yes; she had been at the\nball, but she had left suddenly, and no one knew what had become of\nher. But the prince would surely find her, for he had one of her glass\nslippers.\n\nThey spoke truly. A few days afterward, the king\u2019s son sent a messenger\nwith a trumpet and the slipper through all the city. The messenger\nsounded his trumpet and shouted that the prince would marry the lady who\ncould wear the glass slipper. So the slipper was first tried on by\nall the princesses; then by all the duchesses; next by all the persons\nbelonging to the court; but in vain: not one could wear it.\n\nThen it was carried to all the fine houses, and it came at last to the\ntwo sisters. They tried with all their might to force a foot into the\nfairy slipper, but they could not. Cinderella stood by, and said:--\n\n\u201cSuppose I were to try.\u201d Her two sisters jeered at her, but the\nmessenger looked at Cinderella. He saw that she was very fair, and,\nbesides, he had orders to try the slipper on the foot of every maiden in\nthe kingdom, if need were.\n\nSo he bade Cinderella sit down on a three-legged stool in the kitchen.\nShe put out her little foot, and the slipper fitted like wax. The\nsisters stood in amaze. Then Cinderella put her hand into her pocket and\ndrew forth the other glass slipper, and put it on her other foot.\n\n[Illustration: 0085]\n\nThe moment that Cinderella did this, the fairy, who stood by unseen,\ntouched her with her wand, and the cinder-maid again became the\nbeautiful, gayly dressed lady. The sisters saw that she was the same one\nwhom they had seen at the ball. They thought how ill they had treated\nher all these years, and they fell at her feet and asked her to forgive\nthem.\n\nCinderella was as good now as she had been when she was a cinder-maid.\nShe freely forgave her sisters, and took them to the palace with her,\nfor she was now to be the prince\u2019s wife. And when the old king and queen\ndied, the prince and Cinderella became King and Queen.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WOLF IN SHEEP\u2019S CLOTHING\n\n[Illustration: 0086]\n\n|A Wolf once dressed himself in the skin of a Sheep, and so got in among\nthe flock, where he killed a good many of them. At last the Shepherd\nfound him out, and hanged him upon a tree as a warning to other wolves.\n\nSome Shepherds going by saw the wolf, and thought it was a Sheep. They\nwondered why the Shepherd should hang a Sheep. So they asked him, and he\nanswered: \u201cI hang a Wolf when I catch him, even though he be dressed in\na Sheep\u2019s clothes.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE ARAB AND HIS CAMEL\n\n|One cold night, as an Arab sat in his tent, a Camel thrust the flap of\nthe tent aside, and looked in.\n\n\u201cI pray thee, master,\u201d he said, \u201clet me put my head within the tent, for\nit is cold without.\u201d\n\n\u201cBy all means, and welcome,\u201d said the Arab; and the Camel stretched his\nhead into the tent.\n\n\u201cIf I might but warm my neck, also,\u201d he said, presently.\n\n\u201cPut your neck inside,\u201d said the Arab. Soon the Camel, who had been\nturning his head from side to side, said again:--\n\n\u201cIt will take but little more room if I put my fore legs within the\ntent. It is difficult standing without.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou may also put your fore legs within,\u201d said the Arab, moving a little\nto make room, for the tent was very small.\n\n\u201cMay I not stand wholly within?\u201d asked the Camel, finally. \u201cI keep the\ntent open by standing as I do.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, yes,\u201d said the Arab. \u201cI will have pity on you as well as on\nmyself. Come wholly inside.\u201d\n\nSo the Camel came forward and crowded into the tent. But the tent was\ntoo small for both.\n\n\u201cI think,\u201d said the Camel, \u201cthat there is not room for both of us here.\nIt will be best for you to stand outside, as you are the smaller; there\nwill then be room enough for me.\u201d\n\nAnd with that he pushed the Arab a little, who made haste to get outside\nof the tent.\n\nIt is a wise rule to resist the beginnings of evil.\n\n\n\n\nTOM THUMB\n\n\nI. TOM IS SOLD FOR A BARGAIN\n\n|A poor woodman once sat by the fire in his cottage, and his wife sat by\nhis side, spinning.\n\n\u201cHow lonely it is,\u201d said he, \u201cfor you and me to sit here by ourselves\nwithout any children to play about and amuse us.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat you say is very true,\u201d said his wife, as she turned her wheel.\n\u201cHow happy should I be, if I had but one child. If it were ever so\nsmall, if it were no bigger than my thumb, I should be very happy and\nlove it dearly.\u201d\n\nNow it came to pass that the good woman had her wish, for some time\nafterward she had a little boy who was healthy and strong, but not much\nbigger than her thumb. So they said:--\n\n\u201cWell, we cannot say we have not got what we wished for, and, little\nas he is, we will love him dearly!\u201d and they called him Tom Thumb. They\ngave him plenty to eat, yet he never grew bigger. Still his eyes were\nsharp and sparkling, and he soon showed himself to be a bright little\nfellow, who always knew what he was about.\n\nOne day the woodman was getting ready to go into the wood to cut fuel,\nand he said:--\n\n\u201cI wish I had some one to bring the cart after me, for I want to make\nhaste.\u201d\n\n\u201cO father,\u201d cried Tom, \u201cI will take care of that. The cart shall be in\nthe wood by the time you want it.\u201d The woodman laughed and said:\n\n\u201cHow can that be? You cannot reach up to the horse\u2019s bridle.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever mind that, father. If my mother will only harness the horse, I\nwill get into his ear, and tell him which way to go.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the father, \u201cwe will try for once.\u201d\n\nWhen the time came, the mother harnessed the horse to the cart, and put\nTom into his ear. There the little man sat and told the beast how to go,\ncrying out, \u201cGo on,\u201d and \u201cStop,\u201d as he wanted. So the horse went on just\nas if the woodman were driving it himself.\n\nIt happened that the horse fell to trotting too fast, and Tom called\nout, \u201cGently, gently.\u201d Just then two strangers came up.\n\n\u201cHow odd it is,\u201d one of them said. \u201cThere is a cart going along, and I\nhear a carter talking to the horse, but I see no one.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is strange,\u201d said the other. \u201cLet us follow the cart and see where\nit goes.\u201d They went on into the wood, and came at last to the place\nwhere the woodman was. The cart drove up and Tom said:--\n\n\u201cSee, father, here I am with the cart, safe and sound. Now, take me\ndown.\u201d\n\nSo his father took hold of the horse with one hand, and lifted his son\ndown with the other. He put him on a little stick, where he was as merry\nas you please. The two strangers looked on and saw it all, and did\nnot know what to say for wonder. At last one took the other aside and\nsaid:--\n\n\u201cThat little chap will make our fortune if we can get him, and carry him\nabout from town to town as a show. We must buy him.\u201d Then they went\nto the woodman and asked him what he would take for the little man. \u201cHe\nwill be better off with us than with you,\u201d they said.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll not sell him at all,\u201d said the father. \u201cMy own flesh and blood is\ndearer to me than all the silver and gold in the world.\u201d\n\nBut Tom heard what was said, and crept up his father\u2019s coat to his\nshoulder, and spoke in his ear:--\n\n\u201cTake the money, father, and let them have me. I\u2019ll soon come back to\nyou.\u201d So the woodman at last agreed to sell Tom Thumb to the strangers\nfor a large piece of gold.\n\n\u201cWhere do you like to sit?\u201d one of them asked Tom.\n\n\u201cOh, put me on the rim of your hat; that will be a nice place for me. I\ncan walk about there and see the country as we go along.\u201d\n\nThey did as he wished. Tom took leave of his father, and went off with\nthe two strangers. They kept on their way till it began to grow dark.\nThen Tom said:--\n\n\u201cLet me get down, I am tired.\u201d So the man took off his hat, and set him\ndown on a lump of earth in a ploughed field, by the side of the road.\nBut Tom ran about among the furrows, and at last slipped into an old\nmouse-hole.\n\n\u201cGood-night, masters. I\u2019m off,\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cLook sharp after me next time.\u201d They ran to the place and poked the\nends of their sticks into the mouse-hole, but all in vain. Tom crawled\nfarther in. They could not get him, and as it was now quite dark they\nwent away very cross.\n\n\nII. HOW TOM FRIGHTENED THE THIEVES\n\n|When Tom found they were gone, he crept out of his hiding-place.\n\n\u201cHow dangerous it is,\u201d said he, \u201cto walk about in this ploughed field.\nIf I were to fall from one of those big lumps I should surely break my\nneck.\u201d At last, he found a large, empty snail-shell.\n\n[Illustration: 0093]\n\n\u201cThis is lucky,\u201d said he. \u201cI can sleep here very well,\u201d and in he crept.\nJust as he was falling asleep he heard two men pass by, and one said to\nthe other:--\n\n\u201cHow shall we manage to steal that rich farmer\u2019s silver and gold?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll tell you!\u201d cried Tom.\n\n\u201cWhat noise was that? I am sure I heard some one speak,\u201d said the thief.\nHe was in a great fright. They both stood listening, and Tom spoke up:--\n\n\u201cTake me with you, and I will show you how to get the farmer\u2019s money.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut where are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cLook about on the ground, and listen where the sound comes from.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat a little chap! What can you do for us?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, I can get between the iron window bars, and throw you out whatever\nyou want.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a good thought. Come along; we will see what you can do.\u201d\n\nWhen they came to the farmer\u2019s house, Tom slipped through the bars into\nthe room, and then called out as loud as he could:--\n\n\u201cWill you have all that is here?\u201d\n\n\u201cSoftly, softly!\u201d said the thieves. \u201cSpeak low, or you will wake\nsomebody.\u201d\n\nTom made as if he did not understand them, and bawled out again:--\n\n\u201cHow much will you have? Shall I throw it all out?\u201d\n\nNow the cook lay in the next room, and hearing a noise, she raised\nherself in her bed and listened. But the thieves had been thrown into a\nfright and had run away. By and by they plucked up courage, and said:--\n\n\u201cThat little fellow is only trying to make fools of us.\u201d So they came\nback and spoke low to him, saying: \u201cNow let us have no more of your\njokes, but throw out some of the money.\u201d Then Tom called out again as\nloud as he could:--\n\n\u201cVery well! Hold your hands; here it comes.\u201d\n\nThe cook heard this plainly; she sprang out of bed, and ran to open the\ndoor. The thieves were off as if a wolf were after them, and the cook\ncould see nothing in the dark. So she went back for a light, and while\nshe was gone, Tom slipped off into the barn.\n\nThe cook looked about and searched every hole and corner, but found\nnobody; she went back to bed, and thought she must have been dreaming\nwith her eyes open. Tom crawled about in the hayloft, and at last found\na good place to rest in. He meant to sleep till daylight, and then find\nhis way home to his father and mother.\n\n\nIII. INSIDE A COW\n\n|Poor Tom Thumb! his troubles were only begun. The cook got up early\nto feed the cows. She went straight to the hayloft, and carried away\na large bundle of hay, with the little man in the middle of it fast\nasleep. He slept on, and did not wake till he found himself in the mouth\nof a cow. She had taken him up with a mouthful of hay.\n\n\u201cDear me,\u201d said he, \u201chow did I manage to tumble into the mill?\u201d But he\nsoon found out where he was, and he had to keep all his wits about him,\nor he would have fallen between the cow\u2019s teeth, and then he would have\nbeen crushed to death. At last he went down into her stomach.\n\n\u201cIt is rather dark here,\u201d said he; \u201cthey forgot to build windows in this\nroom to let the sun in.\u201d He made the best of his bad luck, but he did\nnot like his resting-place at all. The worst of it was, that more and\nmore hay was coming down, and there was less and less room to turn round\nin. At last he cried out as loud as he could:--\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t bring me any more hay! don\u2019t bring me any more hay!\u201d The cook\njust then was milking the cow. She heard some one speak, but she saw\nnobody. Yet she was sure it was the same voice she had heard in the\nnight. It put her into such a fright that she fell off her stool and\nupset her milk-pail. She ran off as fast as she could to the farmer, and\nsaid:--\n\n\u201cSir, sir, the cow is talking.\u201d But the farmer said:--\n\n\u201cWoman, thou art surely mad.\u201d Still, he went with her into the\ncow-house, to see what was the matter. Just as they went in, Tom cried\nout again:--\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t bring me any more hay! don\u2019t bring me any more hay!\u201d Then the\nfarmer was in a fright. He was sure the cow must be mad, so he gave\norders to have her killed at once. The cow was killed, and the stomach\nwith Tom in it was thrown into the barnyard.\n\n\nIV. SAFE AT HOME AGAIN\n\n|Tom soon set himself to work to get out, and that was not a very easy\ntask. A hungry wolf was prowling about. Just as Tom had made room to get\nhis head out the wolf seized the stomach and swallowed it. Off he ran,\nbut Tom was not cast down. He began to chat with the wolf, and called\nout:--\n\n\u201cMy good friend, I can show you a famous treat.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere is that?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn the house near the wood. You can crawl through the drain into the\nkitchen, and there you will find cakes, ham, beef, and everything that\nis nice.\u201d This was the house where Tom Thumb lived. The wolf did not\nneed to be asked twice. That very night he went to the house and crawled\nthrough the drain into the kitchen. There he ate and drank to his\nheart\u2019s content.\n\nAfter a while he had eaten so much that he was ready to go away. But\nnow he could not squeeze through the drain. This was just what Tom had\nthought of, and the little chap set up a great shout.\n\n\u201cWill you be quiet?\u201d said the wolf. \u201cYou will wake everybody in the\nhouse.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is that to me?\u201d said the little man. \u201cYou have had your frolic;\nnow I have a mind to be merry myself.\u201d And he began again to sing and\nshout as loud as he could.\n\nThe woodman and his wife were awakened by the noise, and peeped through\na crack into the kitchen. When they saw a wolf there, they were in a\ngreat fright. The woodman ran for his axe, and gave his wife a scythe.\n\n\u201cYou stay behind,\u201d said the woodman.\n\n\u201cWhen I have knocked the wolf on the head, you run at him with the\nscythe.\u201d Tom heard all this, and said:--\n\n\u201cFather! father! I am here. The wolf has swallowed me.\u201d\n\n\u201cHeaven be praised!\u201d said the woodman. \u201cWe have found our dear child\nagain. Do not use the scythe, wife, for you may hurt him.\u201d Then he aimed\na great blow, and struck the wolf on the head, and killed him at once.\nThey opened him, and set Tom Thumb free.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said his father, \u201cwhat fears we have had for you!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, father,\u201d he answered. \u201cI have traveled all over the world since we\nparted, and now I am very glad to get fresh air again.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere have you been?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have been in a mouse-hole, in a snail-shell, down a cow\u2019s throat, and\ninside the wolf, and yet here I am again, safe and sound.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, well,\u201d said his father. \u201cWe will not sell you again for all the\nriches in the world.\u201d\n\nSo they hugged and kissed their dear little son, and gave him plenty\nto eat and drink. And they bought him new clothes, for his old ones had\nbeen quite spoiled on his journey.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TORTOISE AND THE HARE\n\n[Illustration: 0101]\n\nA Hare once made fun of a Tortoise.\n\n\u201cWhat a slow way you have!\u201d he said. \u201cHow you creep along!\u201d\n\n\u201cDo I?\u201d said the Tortoise. \u201cTry a race with me, and I will beat you.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou only say that for fun,\u201d said the Hare. \u201cBut come! I will race with\nyou. Who will mark off the bounds, and give the prize?\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us ask the Fox,\u201d said the Tortoise.\n\nThe Fox was very wise and fair. He showed them where they were to start,\nand how far they were to run.\n\nThe Tortoise lost no time. She started at once, and jogged straight on.\n\nThe Hare knew he could come to the end in two or three jumps. So he lay\ndown and took a nap first. By and by he awoke, and then ran fast. But\nwhen he came to the end, the Tortoise was already there!\n\n\n\n\nTHE COUNTRY MOUSE AND THE TOWN MOUSE\n\n[Illustration: 0102]\n\n|A Country Mouse had a friend who lived in a house in town. Now the Town\nMouse was invited by the Country Mouse to take dinner with him. Out he\nwent, and sat down to a dinner of barley and wheat.\n\n\u201cDo you know, my friend,\u201d said he, \u201cthat you live a mere ant\u2019s life out\nhere? Now, I have plenty at home. Come and enjoy the good things there\nwith me.\u201d\n\nSo the two set off for town. There the Town Mouse showed the other his\nbeans and meal, his dates, his cheese and fruit and honey.\n\nAs the Country Mouse ate, drank, and was merry, he praised his friend\nand bewailed his own poor lot.\n\nBut while they were urging each other to eat heartily, a man suddenly\nopened the door. Frightened by the noise, they crept into a crack. By\nand by, when he had gone, they came out and tasted of some dried figs.\nIn came another person to get something that was in the room. When they\ncaught sight of him, they ran and hid in a hole.\n\nAt that the Country Mouse forgot his hunger, and with a sigh, said to\nthe other:--\n\n\u201cPlease yourself, my good friend; eat all you want and get rich,--and be\nin a fright the whole time. As for me, I am a poor fellow, I know, who\nhave only barley and wheat. But I am content to live on those, and have\nnothing to frighten me.\u201d\n\nThose who have the plain things of life are often better off than the\nrich.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GNAT AND THE BULL\n\n|A Gnat once lit on a Bull\u2019s horn, and stayed there a long while.\n\nWhen he was about to fly away, he asked the Bull if he would like to\nhave him go now.\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d said the Bull, \u201cI did not know you were there.\u201d\n\nPeople often think themselves important when, in truth, no one is\nnoticing them.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SLEEPING BEAUTY IN THE WOOD\n\n\nI. THE BEAUTY GOES TO SLEEP\n\n|Once upon a time there lived a king and queen who grieved that they had\nno child. But at last a daughter was born, and the king was very happy.\nHe gave a great feast, and asked to it all the fairies in the land,\nseven in all. He hoped that each would give the child a gift.\n\nIn front of each fairy at the table was set a heavy gold plate, and by\neach plate a gold knife and fork. Just as they sat down to the feast, in\ncame an old fairy who had not been invited. No one knew she was living.\nFifty years before she had shut herself up in a tower, and had not been\nseen since.\n\nThe king hurried off to find a gold plate and knife and fork for her\nalso. But nothing could be found so fine as the seven plates which had\nbeen made for the seven fairies. The old fairy thought herself ill-used\nand grumbled in a low voice. At that, one of the young fairies feared\nshe meant mischief to the child, and so, when the feast was over, hid\nherself behind the hangings in the hall. We shall soon see why she did\nthis.\n\nThe fairies now began to give gifts to the child, beginning with the\nyoungest. She gave her beauty; the next gave her wit; the third gave her\ngrace; the fourth said she should dance perfectly; the fifth gave her a\nvoice to sing; the sixth said she should play beautifully on the harp.\n\nThe turn of the old fairy had now come. She shook her head wickedly and\nsaid the child would grow up, but when she was grown, she would pierce\nher hand, when spinning, and die of the wound. At this, all the company\nbegan to weep. But the fairy who had hidden came forward and said:--\n\n\u201cBe of good cheer, king and queen. Your daughter shall not so die. I\ncannot entirely undo what my elder has done. The princess must pierce\nher hand when spinning, but instead of dying she shall fall into a deep\nsleep. The sleep shall last a hundred years. At the end of that time a\nking\u2019s son will come to wake her.\u201d\n\nThe king was very sad, but he hoped he might prevent the evil. So he\nmade a law that no one in the kingdom should spin or have a spinning\nwheel in the house, under pain of instant death.\n\nAll went well for fifteen years. Then it chanced that the princess was\nwith the king and queen in one of their castles, and was spying about\nfor herself. She came to a little chamber at the top of a tower, and\nthere sat an honest old woman spinning. She was very old and deaf, and\nhad never heard of the king\u2019s command.\n\n\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d asked the princess.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m spinning, my pretty child.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow charming it is!\u201d said the princess. \u201cHow do you do it? Let me try\nif I can spin.\u201d She seized the spindle, but she was hasty and careless,\nand pierced her hand with its point. She fainted, and the old woman, in\ngreat alarm, ran for help. People came running from all sides, but they\ncould not rouse her.\n\nThe king heard the noise and came also. Then he saw that the cruel fairy\nhad had her wish. His daughter would not wake for a hundred years. He\nlaid her on the bed in the best room, and stood sadly looking upon\nher. She was asleep. He could hear her breathe. Her cheeks were full of\ncolor, but her eyes were closed.\n\nNow the good fairy, who had said the princess should wake in a hundred\nyears, was thousands of miles away at the time. But she knew of it, and\ncame at once in a chariot of fire drawn by dragons. The king came to\nmeet her, his eyes red with weeping.\n\nThe good fairy was very wise and saw that the princess would not know\nwhat to do if she awoke all alone in the castle, in a hundred years. So\nthis is what she did.\n\nShe touched with her wand every one in the castle except the king and\nthe queen. She touched the maids of honor, the gentlemen, the officers,\nthe stewards, cooks, boys, guards, porters, pages, footmen. She\ntouched the horses in the stable, the grooms, the great mastiff in the\ncourt-yard, and the tiny lapdog of the princess that was on the bed\nbeside her.\n\nThe moment she touched them, they all fell asleep just as they were, not\nto wake again until the time came for their mistress to do so. Then they\nall would be ready to wait on her. Even the fire went to sleep, and the\nroasting-spit before the fire with its fowls ready for roasting.\n\nIt was the work of a moment. The king and queen kissed their daughter\ngood-by and left the castle. The king sent forth a command that no one\nwas to go near the castle. That was needless. In a quarter of an hour,\na wood had grown about it so thick and thorny that nothing could get\nthrough it. The castle-top itself could only be seen from afar.\n\n\nII. THE BEAUTY WAKES\n\n|After a few years the king and the queen died. They had no other child,\nand the kingdom passed into the hands of a distant family. A hundred\nyears went by. The son of the king who was then reigning was out hunting\none day, when he noticed the tower of a castle in the distance. He asked\nwhat castle it was.\n\nAll manner of answers were given to him. One said It was a fairy castle;\nanother said that a great monster lived there. At last an old man\nsaid:--\n\n\u201cPrince, more than fifty years ago I heard my father say that there was\nin that castle the most beautiful princess ever seen. She was to sleep\nfor a hundred years, and was to be waked at last by the king\u2019s son, who\nwas to marry her.\u201d\n\nThe young prince at these words felt himself on fire. He had not a doubt\nthat he was the one to awaken the princess. He set out at once for the\nwood, and when he drew near, the trees and thorns opened to offer him a\npath.\n\nHe was on a long, straight road, and at the end was the castle in full\nview. He turned to look for his comrades. Not one was to be seen. The\nwood had closed again behind him. He was alone, and all was still\nabout him. Forward he went and came to the castle-gate. He entered the\ncourt-yard, and stood still in amazement.\n\nOn every side were the bodies of men and animals. But the faces of the\nmen were rosy; it was plain that they were asleep. His steps sounded\non the marble floor. He entered the guard-room. There the guards stood\ndrawn up in line, with their spears in their hands, but they did not\nmove. They were fast asleep.\n\nHe passed through one room after another; people were asleep in chairs,\non benches, standing, sitting, lying down. He entered a beautiful room,\ncovered with gold, and saw the most wonderful sight of all.\n\nThere lay a maiden so fair that she seemed to belong to another world.\nHe drew near and knelt beside her. She did not stir. Her hand lay on her\nbreast, and he touched his lips to it.\n\nAs he did this, her eyes opened and looked at the young man. She smiled,\nand said:--\n\n\u201cHave you come, my prince? I have waited long for you.\u201d\n\nThe prince hardly knew how to answer. But he soon found his voice, and\nthey talked for hours, and then had not said half that was in their\nheads to say.\n\n[Illustration: 0111]\n\nThe moment that the princess waked, her little lapdog waked also. The\ngreat mastiff in the court-yard awoke; the horses in the stable and the\ngrooms awoke; the footmen, the pages, the porters, the guards, the boys,\nthe cooks, the stewards, the officers, the gentlemen, and the maids of\nhonor, all awoke. The fire began to burn again, the spits turned round,\nand the fowls began to roast.\n\nSo, while the prince and the princess forgot the hours in talk, these\npeople began to be hungry. The maids of honor went to the princess to\ntell her that they all waited for her. Then the prince took the princess\nby the hand and led her into the hall.\n\nShe was dressed in great splendor. But the prince did not hint that she\nlooked as the picture of his great-grandmother looked. He thought\nher all the more charming for that, but he did not tell her so. The\nmusicians played excellent but old music at supper. After supper the\nprince and princess were married in the chapel of the castle.\n\nThe next day they left the castle. All the people followed them down the\nlong path. The wood opened again to let them through. Outside they met\nthe prince\u2019s men, and glad they were to see the prince once more. He\nturned to show them the castle, but there was no castle to be seen, and\nno wood.\n\nThe prince and princess rode gayly away, and when the old king and queen\ndied, they reigned in their stead.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER\n\n|On a warm day in summer, an Ant was busy in the field gathering grains\nof wheat and corn, which he laid up for winter food. A Grasshopper saw\nhim at work, and laughed at him for toiling so hard, when others were at\nease.\n\n[Illustration: 0113]\n\nThe Ant said nothing. But afterwards, when winter came, and the ground\nwas hard, the Grasshopper was nearly dead with hunger. He came to the Ant\nto beg something to eat. Then the Ant said to him:--\n\n\u201cIf you had worked when I did, instead of laughing at me, you would not\nnow be in need.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE LION AND THE FOX\n\n|A Lion that had grown old, and had no more Strength to forage for food,\nsaw that he must get it by cunning. He went into his den and crept into\na corner, and made believe that he was very sick.\n\nAll the animals about came in to take a look at him, and, as they came,\nhe snapped them up. When a good many beasts had been caught in this way,\nthe Fox, who guessed his trick, came along. He took his stand a little\nway from the den, and asked the Lion how he did.\n\n[Illustration: 0114]\n\nThe Lion said he was very sick, and begged him to come into the den to\nsee him.\n\n\u201cSo I would,\u201d said the Fox, \u201cbut I notice that all the footprints point\ninto the den, and none point out.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nDICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT\n\n\nI. DICK GOES TO LONDON\n\n|In the olden times there lived in the country, In England, a boy by the\nname of Dick Whittington.\n\nHe did not know who his parents were, for he had been born and brought\nup in the poor-house. There he was cruelly treated. When he was seven\nyears of age, he ran away and lived by what he could get from kind\npeople.\n\nHe heard that the streets of London were paved with gold. Being now a\nsturdy youth, he set out for the city to make his fortune. He did not\nknow the way, but he fell in with a carter, who was bound for London,\nand he followed the cart. When night came, he helped the carter by\nrubbing down the horses, and for this he was paid with a supper.\n\nHe trudged on day after day, until they came to the famous city. The\ncarter was afraid Dick would hang about him and give him trouble. So he\ngave him a penny and told him to begone and find some work.\n\nDick went from street to street, but he knew no one. He was ragged and\nforlorn, and looked like a beggar. Nobody gave him anything to do.\nOnce in a while some one gave him something to eat, but at last he had\nnothing.\n\nFor two days he went about hungry and almost starved, but he would\nrather starve than steal. At the end of the second day he came to a\nmerchant\u2019s house in Leadenhall Street, and stood before it, weary and\nfaint. The ill-natured cook saw him and came out and said:--\n\n\u201cGo away from here, or I will kick you away!\u201d He crept off a little\ndistance and lay down on the ground, for he was too weak to stand. As he\nlay there, the merchant who lived in the house came home, and stopped\nto speak to him. He spoke sharply, and told him to get up, that it was a\nshame for him to be lying there.\n\nPoor Dick got up, and after falling once, through faintness and want of\nfood, made out to say that he was a poor country boy, nearly starved. He\nwould do any work if he might have food.\n\nMr. Fitzwarren, the merchant, took pity on him. He brought him into the\nhouse, and bade the servants look after him. He gave him a place under\nthe cook, and this was the beginning of Dick\u2019s fortune. But Dick had a\nhard time of it. The servants made sport of him. The ill-natured cook\nsaid:--\n\n\u201cDo you know what you are to do? You are to come under me. So look\nsharp. Clean the spits and the pans, make the fires, wind up the\nroasting-jack, and do nimbly all the dirty work I set you about, or\nelse I will break your head with my ladle, and kick you about like a\nfoot-ball.\u201d This was cold comfort, but it was better than starving.\n\u201cWhat gave him more hope was the kind notice he had from his master\u2019s\ndaughter, Mistress Alice. She heard Dick\u2019s story from her father, and\ncalled for the boy. She asked him questions, and he was so honest in his\nanswers, that she went to her father, and said:--\n\n\u201cThat poor boy whom you brought into the house is a good, honest fellow.\nI am sure he will be very useful. He can clean shoes, and run errands,\nand do many things which our servants do not like to do.\u201d\n\n\nII. DICK\u2019S CAT\n\n|So Dick was kept, and a cot bed was given him in the garret. He was up\nearly and worked late. He left nothing undone that was given him to do.\nFor all that, he could not please the cook, who was very sour to him.\nStill, he bore her blows rather than leave so good a home. Then the cook\ntold tales about him, and tried to get him sent away, but Mistress Alice\nheard of it. She knew how ill-tempered the cook was, and so she made her\nfather keep Dick.\n\nThis was not the whole of Dick Whittington\u2019s trouble. The garret where\nhe lay at night had long been empty, and a great number of mice had made\ntheir home in it. They ran over Dick\u2019s face, and kept up such a racket\nthat he knew not which was worse, the cook by day or the mice by night.\n\nHe could only hope that the cook might marry or get tired of the place,\nand that he might in some way get a cat. It chanced, soon after, that a\nmerchant came to dinner, and as it rained hard, he stayed all night. In\nthe morning Dick cleaned the merchant\u2019s shoes and brought them to his\ndoor. For this service the merchant gave him a penny.\n\nAs he went through the street on an errand that morning, he saw a woman\nwith a cat under her arm. He asked her the price of the cat.\n\n\u201cIt is a good mouser,\u201d said the woman: \u201cyou may have it for a sixpence.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I have only a penny,\u201d said Dick. The woman found that she really\ncould get nothing more, so she sold the cat to Dick for a penny. He\nbrought it home, and kept it out of the way all day for fear the cook\nwould see it. At night he took the cat up to the garret, and made her\nwork for her living. Puss soon rid him of one plague.\n\nWhen Mr. Fitzwarren sent out a ship to trade with far countries, he\nused to call his servants together, and give each a chance to make some\nmoney, by sending out goods in the ship. He thought that thus his ship\nhad better fortune.\n\nNow he was again making a venture, and each of the servants brought\nsomething to send; all but Whittington. Mistress Alice saw that he did\nnot come, and she sent for him, meaning to give him some simple goods,\nthat he too might have a share in the venture.\n\nWhen, after many excuses, he was obliged to appear, he fell on his\nknees, and prayed them not to jeer at a poor boy. He had nothing he\ncould claim for his own but a cat, which he had bought with a penny\ngiven him for cleaning shoes.\n\nUpon this Mistress Alice offered to lay something down for him. But her\nfather told her the custom was for each to send something of his own. So\nhe bade Dick bring his cat, which he did with many tears, and gave her\nover to the master of the ship.\n\nThe cook, and indeed all the servants, after this plagued Dick, and\njeered at him so much for sending his cat, that he could bear it no\nlonger. He said to himself that he would leave the house and try his\nfortune elsewhere.\n\n\nIII. BOW BELLS\n\n|He packed his bundle one night, and the next day, early, set forth to\nseek his fortune. He left the house behind him, but his heart began to\nsink. However, he would not turn back, but kept on. At last he sat down\nin the field to think.\n\nJust then the Bow Bells, that is, the bells of a church in Bow Street,\nbegan to ring merrily. Dick heard them, and as they rang, he fancied he\nheard them sing,--\n\n               \u201cTurn again, Whittington,\n\n               Lord Mayor of London.\u201d\n\nThat was a fine song to hear, and Dick began to pluck up heart again.\n\n[Illustration: 0121]\n\nStill the bells rang. It was very early; no one was yet astir at the\nmerchant\u2019s house, and Dick, with new courage, took up his bundle, obeyed\nthe bells, and walked quickly back to the house. He had left the door\nopen, so he crept in and took up his daily task. About this time, the\nship which carried Dick\u2019s cat was driven by the winds, and came to a\nplace on the Barbary coast, where the English seldom went. The people\nreceived the master of the ship well, and he traded with them. As\nhis wares were new, they were very welcome. At last the king of that\ncountry, being greatly pleased, sent for the captain to come and dine at\nthe palace.\n\nThe dinner was not set on a table, but the cloth was laid on the floor,\nas this was the custom of the country. The guests sat cross-legged\nbefore the feast. But when the dishes were set down, the smell of the\ndinner brought a great company of rats, and these rats helped themselves\nwithout fear.\n\nThe master of the ship was amazed, and asked the nobles if it was not\nvery unpleasant to have this swarm of rats.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said they, \u201cvery much so. The king would give half his wealth to\nbe rid of them. They not only come to the table, but they make free with\nhis chamber and even his bed.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the captain, thinking at once of Dick\u2019s cat, \u201cI have an\nEnglish beast on board my ship which will quickly clear the palace of\nall the rats.\u201d\n\n\u201cSay you so?\u201d said the king, when he heard of this. \u201cFor such a thing I\nwill load your ship with gold, diamonds, and pearls.\u201d At that the shrewd\ncaptain made much of the cat.\n\n\u201cShe is the most famous thing in the world,\u201d said he. \u201cI cannot spare\nher, for she keeps my ship clear of rats, or else they would spoil all\nmy goods.\u201d But the king would not take no for an answer.\n\n\u201cNo price shall part us,\u201d he said. So the cat was sent for, and the\ntable was again spread. The rats came as before, but the captain let the\ncat loose, and she made short work of them. Then she came purring and\ncurling up her tail before the king, as if she would have her reward.\n\nThe king was so pleased with the cat, that he gave ten times more for\nher than for all the goods in the ship. Then the ship sailed away with\na fair wind, and arrived safe at London. She was the richest ship that\never entered port.\n\n\nIV. LORD MAYOR WHITTINGTON\n\nThe master took the box of pearls and jewels with him on shore, and\nwent straight to the merchant\u2019s house. He gave his account to Mr.\nFitz-warren, who was greatly pleased at the fortunate voyage, and called\nhis servants together, to receive their profit. Then the master showed\nthe box of pearls and jewels, and told the story of Whittington\u2019s cat,\nand how Puss had earned this wealth.\n\n\u201cCall Mr. Whittington,\u201d said Mr. Fitzwarren. \u201cI will not take one\nfarthing from him.\u201d\n\nNow Dick was in the kitchen cleaning pots and pans. When he was told\nthat the merchant had sent for \u201cMr. Whittington,\u201d he thought every one\nwas making fun of him, and he would not go.\n\nAt last, he went as far as the door. The merchant bade him come in, and\nplaced a chair for him. At that poor Dick was sure they were making fun\nof him, and the tears came into his eyes.\n\n\u201cI am only a simple fellow,\u201d he said. \u201cI do not mean harm to any one. Do\nnot mock me.\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed, Mr. Whittington, we are serious with you,\u201d said the merchant.\n\u201cYou are a much richer man than I am,\u201d and he gave him the box of pearls\nand jewels worth quite three hundred thousand pounds.\n\nAt first Dick could not believe his good fortune. When at last he was\npersuaded, he fell upon his knees and thanked God who had been so good\nto him. Then he turned to his master and wished to give him of his\nwealth, but Mr. Fitzwarren said:--\n\n\u201cNo, Mr. Whittington. I will not take a penny from you. It is all\nyours.\u201d\n\nAt that Dick turned to Mistress Alice, who also refused. He bowed low,\nand said:--\n\n\u201cMadam, whenever you please to make choice of a husband, I will make you\nthe greatest fortune in the world.\u201d\n\nThen he gave freely to his fellow servants. Even to his enemy, the cook,\nhe gave a hundred pounds.\n\nRichard Whittington was now a rich man. He laid aside his poor clothes,\nand was dressed well and handsomely. He had grown strong and tall in\nservice, and was indeed a fine man to look upon.\n\nHe was well behaved and of a good mind and heart. Mr. Fitzwarren made\nhim known to the other merchants, and let him see how business was\ncarried on. Then, seeing that he was as honest and good as he was rich,\nhe told Whittington that he might have his daughter in marriage.\n\nAt first, Dick felt himself unworthy of Mistress Alice. But he saw that\nshe looked kindly on him, and he remembered how good she had been to\nhim from the beginning. So he made bold to ask Mistress Alice to be his\nwife, and they had a grand wedding.\n\nAfter the wedding was over, Mr. Fitzwarren asked him what he meant to\ndo, and Mr. Whittington said he would like to be a merchant. So the two\nbecame partners, and grew to be very rich.\n\nRich as he was, this merchant never forgot that he was once poor Dick\nWhittington. The promise of Bow Bells came true, and three times he was\nchosen Lord Mayor of London. He fed the hungry, and cared for the poor.\n\nWhen he was Lord Mayor of London the third time, it was his duty to\nreceive King Henry V and his queen at Guildhall, which was the Mayor\u2019s\npalace. It was just after a famous war with France, which England had\nwon.\n\nThe king, at the feast, made the lord mayor a knight, so that now he was\nSir Richard Whittington. There was a very pleasant fire on the hearth at\nthe time. It was made of choice wood. Mace and other spices were mixed\nwith the wood. The king praised the fire, and Sir Richard said,--\u201cI will\nmake it still more pleasant.\u201d At that he threw upon the flames one piece\nof paper after another. They were the written promises of the king, to\npay back money lent to him by London merchants, when he was carrying on\nthe war. Sir Richard had bought them for sixty thousand pounds. That was\nthe way he paid the king\u2019s debt, for now there was nothing to show that\nthe king owed anything.\n\nThis is the story of Dick Whittington and his cat. How much is true,\nand how much was made up, I do not know, for what happened took place\nfive hundred years ago.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CAT, THE MONKEY, AND THE CHESTNUTS\n\n|A Cat and a Monkey were sitting one day by the hearth, watching some\nchestnuts which their master had laid down to roast. The chestnuts had\nbegun to burst with the heat, and the Monkey said to the Cat:--\n\n\u201cIt is plain that your paws were made to pull out those chestnuts. Your\npaws are, indeed, exactly like our master\u2019s hands.\u201d\n\nThe Cat was greatly flattered by this speech, and reached forward for\nthe tempting chestnuts. Scarcely had she touched the hot ashes than she\ndrew back with a cry, for she had burned her paw. She tried again, and\nmade out to get one chestnut. Then she pulled another, and a third,\nthough each time she singed the hair on her paws.\n\nWhen she could pull no more, she turned, and found the Monkey had taken\nthis time to crack the chestnuts and eat them.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LARK AND HER YOUNG ONES\n\n[Illustration: 0128]\n\n|There was a brood of young Larks in a field of corn, which was just\nripe. The mother, looking every day for the reapers, left word, whenever\nshe went out in search of food, that her young ones should tell her all\nthe news they heard.\n\nOne day, when she was absent, the master came to look at his field. \u201cIt\nis time,\u201d said he, \u201cto call in my neighbors and get my corn reaped.\u201d\n When the old Lark came home, the young ones told their mother what they\nhad heard, and begged her to move them at once.\n\n\u201cTime enough,\u201d said she. \u201cIf he trusts to his neighbors, he will have to\nwait awhile yet for his harvest.\u201d\n\nNext day, the owner came again, and found the sun hotter, the corn\nriper, and nothing done.\n\n\u201cThere is not an hour to be lost,\u201d said he. \u201cWe cannot depend upon our\nneighbors. We must call in our relations.\u201d Turning to his son, he said,\n\u201cGo, call your uncles and cousins; and see that they begin to-morrow.\u201d\n\nThe young Larks, in great fear, told their mother what the farmer had\nsaid. \u201cIf that be all,\u201d said she, \u201cdo not be frightened. The relations\nhave harvest work of their own. But take notice of what you hear next\ntime, and be sure to let me know.\u201d\n\nShe went abroad the next day, and the owner coming, and finding the\ngrain falling to the ground because it was over ripe, said to his\neon, \u201cWe must wait no longer for our neighbors and friends. Do you\ngo to-night and hire some reapers, and we will set to work ourselves\ntomorrow.\u201d\n\nWhen the young Larks told their mother this,\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said she, \u201cit is time for us to be off. When a man takes up his\nbusiness himself, instead of leaving it to others, you may be sure that\nhe means to set to work in earnest.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE FLIES AND THE POT OF HONEY\n\n|A Pot of Honey was upset in the pantry, and the Flies crowded about\nto eat of it. It was so sticky that they could not get away. Their feet\nwere held fast, so that they could not fly, and they began to choke to\ndeath.\n\n\u201cWhat wretches we are,\u201d they cried, \u201cto die just for a moment of\npleasure!\u201d\n\nSo it is that greediness is the cause of many evils.\n\n\n\n\nBEAUTY AND THE BEAST\n\n\nI. BEAUTY AND HER SISTERS\n\n|There was once a rich merchant who had six children, three sons and\nthree daughters. He loved them more than he loved all his riches, so\nthat he was always seeking to make them happy and wise.\n\nThe daughters were very pretty; but the youngest was more than\npretty--she was beautiful. As every one called her Little Beauty when\nshe was a child, and she became more lovely every year, the name grew up\nwith her, so that she had no other than just--Beauty.\n\nNow Beauty was as good as she was beautiful. But her elder sisters were\nill-natured and jealous of her, and could not bear to hear her called\nBeauty. They were very proud, too, of their father\u2019s riches, and put on\ngreat airs. They would not visit the daughters of other merchants, but\nwere always following persons who had titles, Lady This and Duchess\nThat. They laughed at Beauty, who lived quietly at home with their\nfather.\n\nThe father was so rich that many great merchants wished to marry his\ndaughters. But the two eldest always said that they could never think of\nmarrying anybody below a duke, or at the least an earl. As for Beauty,\nshe thanked her lovers for thinking so well of her, but as she was still\nvery young, she wished to live a few years longer with her father.\n\nNow it happened that the merchant all at once lost his great wealth.\nNothing was left but one small house in the country, and there the poor\nman told his children they must now go, and earn their daily bread.\n\nThe two eldest daughters said they need not go, for they had plenty of\nlovers who would be glad enough to marry them, even though they had lost\ntheir fortune. But they were wrong, for their lovers would not look at\nthem now, and jeered at them in their trouble, because they had been so\nproud before.\n\nYet every one felt sorry for Beauty. Several gentlemen who loved her\nbegged her still to let them marry her, though she had not a penny.\nBeauty refused, and said she could not leave her father now that trouble\nhad come upon him.\n\nSo the family went to live in the small house in the country. There the\nmerchant and his three sons ploughed and sowed the fields, and worked\nhard all day. Beauty rose at four o\u2019clock every morning, put the house\nin order, and got breakfast for the whole family. It was very hard at\nfirst, for no one helped her. But every day it grew easier to work, and\nBeauty grew stronger and rosier. When her work was done, she could read,\nor play on her harp, or sit at her spinning-wheel, singing as she spun.\n\nAs for her two sisters, they were idle and unhappy, and became quite\nhelpless. They never got up till ten o\u2019clock. They spent the day moping\nand fretting, because they no longer had fine clothes to wear, and could\nnot go to fine parties. They jeered at Beauty, and said that she was\nnothing but a servant-girl after all, to like that kind of living. But\nBeauty did not mind them, and lived on cheerfully.\n\nThey had been in the country a year, when one morning the merchant had a\nletter. It brought the news that a ship laden with rich goods belonging\nto him had not been lost after all, and had just come into port. The\ntwo sisters were half wild with joy, for now they could soon leave the\nfarm-house, and go back to the gay city.\n\nWhen their father was about to go to the port to settle his business\nthere, they begged him to bring back all manner of fine things for them.\n\nThen the merchant asked Beauty:--\n\n\u201cAnd what shall I bring you, Beauty?\u201d for Beauty had yet asked nothing.\n\n\u201cWhy, since you ask me, dear father, I should like you to bring me a\nrose, for none grow in these parts.\u201d Now Beauty did not care so very\nmuch for a rose, but she did not like to seem to blame her sisters,\nor to appear better than they, by saying that she did not wish for\nanything.\n\nThe good man set off; but all was not as he had hoped. The ship had\ncome in, but there was a dispute about the cargo. He went to law, and it\nended in his turning back poorer than when he left his home.\n\n\nII. THE BEAST AT HOME\n\n|He set out to return to the farm-house. When he was within thirty miles\nof home, he came to a large wood through which he must pass. The snow\nbegan to fall, and covered the path. The night closed in, and it grew\nso dark and so cold that the poor man gave himself up for lost. He could\nnot see the way, and he was faint with cold and hunger.\n\nAll at once, he saw a light at the end of a long avenue of trees. He\nturned into the avenue, and rode until he came to the end of it. There\nhe found a great palace; the windows were all lighted, and the door\nstood open, but he saw no one.\n\nThe door of the stable was also open, and his horse walked in. A crib\nfull of hay and oats was there, and the tired beast fell to eating\nheartily. The merchant left his horse in the stall and entered the\npalace. He saw nobody and heard nobody, but a fire was burning on the\nhearth, and a table was spread with choice food, and set for one person.\nHe was wet to the skin, and went to the fire to dry himself, saying:--\n\n\u201cI hope the master of the house or his servants will not blame me for\nthis. No doubt some one will soon come.\u201d\n\nHe waited, but no one came. The clock struck eleven. Then, faint for\nwant of food, he went to the table and ate some meat, yet all the time\nin a great fright. But when he was no longer hungry, he began to pluck\nup courage, and to look about him.\n\nThe clock struck twelve. He left the hall, and passed through one room\nafter another until he came to one where there was a bed. It was made\nready, and, since he was very tired, he lay down and slept soundly.\n\nThe merchant did not wake until ten o\u2019clock the next morning. He had\nplaced his clothes on a chair by the side of the bed. They had been\nnearly ruined by the storm, and were besides old and worn. Now he saw a\nwholly new suit in their place.\n\nHe began to think he must be in the palace of some fairy, and he was\nsure of it when he looked out of the window. The snow had gone, and a\nlovely garden lay before him, full of flowers. He dressed and went back\nto the hall. A table was spread for breakfast, and he at once sat down\nto it. Then he went to get his horse. On the way he passed some roses.\nHe remembered Beauty, and plucked a rose to take home with him.\n\nAs soon as he had done this, he heard a frightful roar, and saw a\ndreadful Beast coming toward him. He was so frightened that he nearly\nfell down. The Beast cried out in a loud voice:--\n\n\u201cUngrateful man! I saved your life by letting you come into my palace.\nI gave you food to eat and a bed to rest in, and now you steal my roses,\nwhich I love beyond everything. You shall pay for this with your life!\u201d\n The poor man threw himself on his knees before the Beast, saying:--\n\n\u201cForgive me, my lord. I did not know I was doing wrong. I only wanted to\npluck a rose for one of my daughters. She asked me to bring one home to\nher. I pray you, do not kill me, my lord.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not a lord. I am a Beast. I hate soft words, and you will not\ncatch me by any of your fine speeches. You say you have daughters.\nWell, I will forgive you, if one of them will come and die in your\nstead. But promise that, if they refuse, you will come back in three\nmonths.\u201d\n\nThe merchant did not mean in the least to let one of his daughters die\nfor him. But he wished to see his children once more before he died, so\nhe promised to return if one of his daughters would not die for him. The\nBeast then told him to go back to the room where he had slept. There\nhe would find a chest. He might fill it with anything he found in the\npalace, and it would be sent after him.\n\n\nIII. BEAUTY GOES TO THE BEAST\n\nThe merchant did as he was bid. The floor of the room was covered with\ngold, and he filled the chest. If he must die, he would at least provide\nfor his children. Then he took his horse and rode out of the wood,\nand came at last to his home. He held the rose in his hand, and as the\ndaughters came out to meet him, he gave it to the youngest, saying:--\n\n\u201cTake it, Beauty. You little know what it has cost your poor father;\u201d\n and then he told all that had happened since he left home.\n\nThe two eldest daughters began to cry aloud, and to blame Beauty. Why\ndid she ask for roses? Why did she not ask for dresses, as they did;\nthen all would have gone well. Now the hard-hearted thing, they said,\ndid not shed a tear. Beauty replied quietly that it was of little use to\nweep. She meant to go and die in her father\u2019s stead.\n\n\u201cNo, no!\u201d cried the three brothers. \u201cWe will go and seek this Beast, and\neither he or we must die!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is all in vain,\u201d said the father. \u201cYou do not know the Beast. He\nis more mighty than you can think. No! you must stay and care for\nyour sisters. At the end of three months I shall go back and die.\u201d The\nmerchant then went to his room, and there he found the chest of gold.\n\nHe was greatly amazed. He had forgotten the promise of the Beast. But\nhe said nothing about the chest to his daughters. He was sure they would\ntease him to go back to town to live.\n\nBeauty said little, but when the three months were over, she made ready\nto go with her father. The brothers and sisters bade them good-by, and\nwept over Beauty. The brothers wept real tears, but the sisters rubbed\ntheir eyes with onions, so as to make tears; they did not really care.\n\nThe horse took the right road, as if he knew the way, and when he came\nto the palace, he went at once to the stable. The merchant and Beauty\nentered the palace. They found the table spread for two persons, and\nthey sat down to it.\n\nAfter supper there was a great roar as before, and the Beast entered.\nBeauty trembled, and the Beast turned to her and said:--\n\n\u201cDid you come of your own self?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Beauty, still trembling.\n\n\u201cThen I thank you. But you, sir,\u201d and he turned to the father, \u201cget\nyou gone to-morrow, and never let me see your face again. Goodnight,\nBeauty.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood-night, Beast,\u201d she replied, and Beast walked off. The merchant\nbegged and begged his daughter to leave him, and to go back to her home.\nBut she was firm, and when the morning came, she made him leave her.\n\n\u201cSurely,\u201d he thought, \u201cBeast will not hurt Beauty.\u201d\n\nBeauty wept, but she was a brave girl, and soon she dried her eyes, and\nbegan to walk through the palace. She came to a door, and over it was\nwritten Beauty\u2019s Room. She opened the door, and found herself in a fine\nchamber, with books, music and a harp, and many beautiful things.\n\n\u201cIt cannot be that I have only a day to live,\u201d she said, \u201cfor why should\nall this be done for me?\u201d She opened a book and saw written in letters\nof gold: _Your wishes and commands shall be obeyed. You are here the\nqueen over everything_.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d she thought, \u201cI wish most of all I could see my father and know\nwhat he is doing.\u201d Just then her eyes fell on a large looking-glass,\nand in it she saw her father just reaching home. Her sisters came out\nto meet him. They tried to look sad, but it was plain that they were not\nsorry to see him come home alone.\n\nThe sight in the glass was only for a moment, then it faded, and Beauty\nturned away and in her mind thanked Beast for what he had done.\n\nAt noon she found dinner ready for her, and sweet music sounded as she\nate. But she saw nobody. At night Beast came and asked leave to sup with\nher. Of course she could not say no, but she sat in a fright all through\nsupper. He did not speak for some time. Then he said:--\n\n\u201cBeauty, do you think me very ugly?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, Beast; I cannot tell a lie. But I think you are very good.\u201d\n Nothing more was said, and Beauty was beginning to be rid of her fear,\nwhen all at once he asked:--\n\n\u201cBeauty, will you marry me?\u201d Beauty was in a fright again, but she\nanswered:--\n\n\u201cNo, Beast.\u201d He gave a great sigh which shook the house. Then he got up\nfrom the table and said:--\n\n\u201cGood-night, Beauty,\u201d and went away. Beauty was glad he had gone, but\nshe could not help pitying him.\n\n\nIV. THE CHARM IS BROKEN\n\n|Beauty lived in this way three months. The Beast came to supper every\nnight. He did not grow less ugly, but Beauty did not mind his ugliness\nso much, for she saw how kind he really was. But there was one trouble.\nEvery night the Beast was sure to ask:--\n\n\u201cWill you marry me, Beauty?\u201d and Beauty always answered:--\n\n\u201cNo, Beast.\u201d\n\nBut one night he begged her at least never to leave him. Now it chanced\non that very day Beauty had looked in her glass. There she saw her\nfather sick with grief, for he thought his child was dead. Her sisters\nwere married. Her brothers were soldiers. So she told all this to the\nBeast, and wept and said she should die if she could not see her father\nonce more.\n\n\u201cDo not refuse to let me go!\u201d she begged.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the Beast. \u201cI will not refuse you. I would much rather your\npoor Beast should die of grief for your absence. So you may go.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, thank you, dear Beast,\u201d said Beauty, \u201cand I will surely come back\nin a week.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen you wish to come back, Beauty, lay your ring on the table\nbefore you go to bed, and you will find yourself here when you wake.\nGood-night, Beauty.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood-night, Beast.\u201d\n\nThe next morning Beauty woke to find herself at the farm-house. Her\nfather was so glad to see her once more, and to know she was alive and\nwell, that his sickness left him at once. He sent for her sisters, who\ncame and brought their husbands.\n\nThese husbands were not much to be praised. One was so vain that he\nlooked at himself, and seldom looked at his wife. The other had a sharp\ntongue, and liked to use it on other people, and most of all on his own\nwife. So the sisters were no happier than they had been.\n\nBut they were still jealous of Beauty, and they laid a plan for her\nhurt. They thought if they could keep her at home after the week was\nover, the Beast would be so angry, he would soon make an end of her. So,\nat the end of the week, they made a great ado, and begged her to stay\njust a little longer. Beauty could not help being glad to have her\nsisters want her. She said she would stay one week more; but she was not\nquite easy in her mind.\n\nOn the night of the tenth day the sisters gave her a feast, in order\nto make her forget the Beast. But at night Beauty dreamed she saw poor\nBeast lying half dead on the grass in the palace garden. She woke in\ntears, and at once laid her ring on the table, and then went to sleep\nagain.\n\nWhen she awoke, she was once more in her room at the palace. All day\nshe wished for supper time to come. Then she would see Beast again. But\nsupper time came, and no Beast was at the table. Nine o\u2019clock struck,\nand still Beast did not come.\n\n[Illustration: 0143]\n\nBeauty flew into the garden. She went to the spot she had dreamed of,\nand there lay poor Beast on the grass. She felt his heart beat. He was\nstill alive. She ran for some water and threw it on his face. The Beast\nopened his eyes and said in a faint voice:--\n\n\u201cYou forgot your promise. I could not live without you, and I meant to\nstarve to death. Now you have come, and I shall die happy.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo! you shall not die, dear Beast,\u201d cried Beauty. \u201cYou shall live to be\nmy husband, for now I feel I really love you.\u201d\n\nAt these words the whole palace was ablaze with light. Music sounded,\nand there was a stir all about. There was no Beast, but in his place a\nvery handsome prince was at Beauty\u2019s feet.\n\n\u201cYou have broken the charm that held me,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cBut where is my poor Beast?\u201d asked Beauty, weeping. \u201cI want my dear\nBeast.\u201d\n\n\u201cI was the Beast,\u201d said the Prince. \u201cA wicked fairy had power to make\nme live in that ugly form, till some good and beautiful maid should be\nfound, so good as to love me in spite of my ugliness.\u201d\n\nBeauty was amazed, but she took the Prince\u2019s hand and they went into the\npalace. The people of the country were full of joy. They had mourned for\ntheir Prince, and now he had suddenly come back again, and with him\nwas a beautiful princess. So Beauty and the Beast, who was no longer a\nBeast, reigned happily in the kingdom.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WOLF AND THE LAMB\n\n[Illustration: 0147]\n\n|A Wolf saw a Lamb drinking at a brook, and set about finding some good\nreason for catching him. So he went to a place a little higher up the\nbrook, and called out:--\n\n\u201cHow dare you muddle the water that I am drinking?\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can I,\u201d said the Lamb, humbly, \u201cwhen I drink with the tips of my\nlips only? And, besides, the water runs from you to me, not from me to\nyou.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, you called my father names a year ago,\u201d said the Wolf, finding\nanother reason.\n\n\u201cI was not born a year ago,\u201d said the poor lamb.\n\n\u201cYou may make ever so good excuses,\u201d said the Wolf, finally; \u201cI shall\neat you all the same.\u201d\n\nThis fable teaches that, when one has made up his mind to do wrong, he\nis not stopped by the best of reasons.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TRAVELERS AND THE BEAR\n\n|Two friends were walking along the road, when a Bear came suddenly upon\nthem.\n\nOne of them got first to a tree, and climbed up into it and hid among\nthe branches.\n\nThe other, who was slower, fell flat upon the ground, and made believe\nthat he was dead.\n\nWhen the Bear came up to him, and poked him with his nose, he held his\nbreath; for it is said that this animal will not touch a dead man. The\nBear went off, and the Man who was in the tree came down, and asked the\nother what the Bear had whispered.\n\n\u201cHe told me,\u201d said the other, \u201cnot to travel with friends who would\ndesert me when danger came.\u201d\n\nThis fable teaches that misfortunes sometimes show which Of our friends\nare true friends.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TORTOISE AND THE EAGLE\n\n[Illustration: 0149]\n\n|A Tortoise, seeing an Eagle in flight, wanted much to fly like him. So\nshe asked him if he would not teach her to fly.\n\nHe told her that it was impossible; that Tortoises could not fly. All\nthe more did she urge him; so at last the Eagle seized her in his claws,\nbore her to a great height, and then, letting her go, bade her fly.\n\nShe fell like a stone to the earth, and the blow knocked the breath out\nof her body.\n\nThis fable teaches that men who are envious, and refuse to take the\nadvice of those who know more than themselves, are apt to get into\ntrouble.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WHITE CAT\n\n\nI. THE PALACE OF THE WHITE CAT\n\n|A King had three sons, handsome, brave, and generous. Some persons\nabout the court, however, made him believe that these sons were eager to\nhave him die, because each wanted to be king. This was not at all true,\nbut the King believed it, and made a plan to get them out of the way. He\nsent for them and said:--\n\n\u201cMy dear sons, you must see that I am growing old, and cannot attend to\nstate affairs as I once used to. It is right that I should make one of\nyou king in my stead. But first I should like something to amuse me when\nI am no longer king. I think I should like best a little dog. Now, the\none of you who brings me the most perfect little dog shall be king in my\nstead.\u201d\n\nThe princes were much surprised at the fancy of their father to have\na little dog, but they all agreed to do as he had asked. They bade him\ngood-by, and promised to come back in a year. They went off together\nto an old palace three miles away. There they had something to eat, and\nthen set off on separate roads. But they agreed to meet again at the\npalace at the end of the year.\n\nNow, we will see what happened to the youngest of the three brothers.\nHe went from town to town looking for handsome dogs. He bought one, and\nthen, when he found a handsomer dog, he bought that and gave the other\naway.\n\nAt last he found himself in a wood. Night came on, and it began to rain.\nThere were thunder and lightning, and he lost his way. He groped about\nand saw a light in the distance. He went toward it, and soon was in\nfront of a fine palace.\n\nThe door to the palace was of gold, studded with sapphires, and these\nshone with a bright light. This was the light the Prince had seen.\nThe walls of the palace were of fine china, and there were wonderful\npaintings upon them. These paintings showed the adventures of all the\nfairies from the beginning of the world.\n\nThe Prince saw a deer\u2019s foot hanging by the side of the door. It was\nhung at the end of a chain of diamonds, and was plainly a bell-pull. He\nwas greatly astonished, for he saw no one, and he wondered that thieves\nhad not long ago stolen the diamonds and the sapphires.\n\nHe pulled the deer\u2019s foot and heard a bell ring. Soon the golden door\nopened. He saw nobody, but he saw twelve Hands in the air, each holding\na torch. He looked and did not know what to do. Then he felt himself\ngently pushed from behind, so he walked on into the palace. There he\nheard a voice singing:--\n\n               \u201cWelcome, Prince, no danger fear,\n\n               Mirth and love attend you here.\u201d\n\nThe Hands with the torches led him through one door after another,\ninto one room after another. Each room was more splendid than the last.\nFinally the Hands drew a chair near a fire, and beckoned him to sit\ndown.\n\nThe Hands he saw were white and fair. They took away his wet clothes,\nand brought him new fine linen, and a warm wrapper in which he sat\nbefore the fire. Then they placed before him a glass upon a stand,\nand began to comb and brush his hair gently. They brought a bowl with\nperfumed water in it, and washed his face and hands.\n\nNow the Prince was fresh and warm, and the Hands gave him a princely\nsuit of clothes. When he was dressed, they led him out of the chamber to\na grand hall. Here a table was set with rich and dainty food. Two plates\nwere on the table, and the Prince wondered who was to eat with him.\n\n\nII. A YEAR OF SPORT\n\n|Just then he looked up and saw a small figure coming toward him. It was\ncovered with a long black veil, and was not more than a foot high. On\neach side walked a cat dressed in black, and behind came a great number\nof cats, some carrying cages full of rats, and others mouse-traps filled\nwith mice.\n\nThe Prince did not know what to think. The little figure drew near, and\ndrew aside her veil. It was a cat, a beautiful White Cat, but looking\nsad and gentle. She said to the Prince:--\n\n\u201cYou are welcome, Prince. It makes me glad to have you come.\u201d\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d said the Prince, \u201cI thank you for all your goodness to me.\nI cannot help thinking you must be a wonderful being, to have this\nbeautiful palace, to be able to speak, and yet to be a cat!\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is true,\u201d said the Cat, \u201cbut I do not like to talk, and I do not\nlike to hear fine things said to me. Let us sit down to supper.\u201d\n\nThe Hands then placed some dishes on the table, in front of the Prince\nand the White Cat.\n\nThe Prince had a pie made of young pigeons, but the White Cat had one\nmade of fat mice. The Prince at first did not like to touch his food.\nHe was not quite sure what it was, but the White Cat told him not to be\nafraid. The dishes before him had no bit of rat or mouse in them.\n\nWhen supper was over, the Prince noticed that the White Cat carried a\nlittle picture hung by a cord upon one of her feet. He asked to look at\nit. It was a portrait of a young man. To his great surprise, it was his\nown likeness.\n\nHe did not ask the White Cat to explain this, for she had a look which\nforbade him. They talked together about many things, and then the White\nCat bade the Prince good-night. The Hands, with torches, led him to his\nchamber, and there he slept.\n\nHe was waked in the morning by a noise outside. He got up, and the Hands\nbrought him a handsome hunting-jacket. The noise kept on, and he looked\nout of the window. There he saw more than five hundred cats in the open\nspace before the palace. They were making ready for a hunt.\n\nThe White Cat soon came and asked him to join their sport, and he was\ngiven a wooden horse to ride on. The White Cat mounted a monkey. She\nwore a dragoon\u2019s cap, which made her look very bold and fierce.\n\nThe horns sounded, and away they went. The cats ran faster than the\nhares and rabbits, and when they caught any, they brought them to the\nPrince and the White Cat. They chased birds as well as rabbits. Up the\ntrees they went, and the White Cat on the monkey climbed more quickly\nthan any, and mounted the highest trees, to the eagle\u2019s nest.\n\nWhen the chase was over, they all went back to the palace. The White Cat\nsat down at the table with the Prince, and they had a fine supper. Again\nthe Hands led the Prince to his chamber, and he slept soundly.\n\nSo it went on day after day. Every day there was some new pleasure,\nand the White Cat was so gentle, so sweet, and so thoughtful, that the\nPrince could not bear to think of leaving the palace.\n\n\u201cHow can I go away from you?\u201d he cried one day. \u201cCan you not make me a\ncat to live here always? or, can you not make yourself a lady?\u201d But the\nWhite Cat only smiled, and made no answer.\n\nAt last a year had almost gone. The White Cat knew what day the Prince\nmust return to his father, and told him that he had but three days left.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d said the Prince. \u201cWhat shall I do? I have not yet found a dog\nsmall enough.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever fear,\u201d said the White Cat. \u201cI will see that you have a dog, and\nI will also give you a wooden horse, so that you can ride home in a few\nhours.\u201d\n\nWhen the day came, the White Cat gave the Prince an acorn, and told\nhim to put it close to his ear. He did so, and could hear a little dog\nbarking inside the acorn. He was delighted, and thanked the White Cat a\nthousand times.\n\n\nIII. THE LITTLE DOG AND THE CAMBRIC\n\n|The Prince mounted his wooden horse, and soon was at the place where\nhe was to meet his brothers. The two eldest told their stories. The\nyoungest kept silence, and showed only a cheap cur. The brothers trod on\neach other\u2019s toes under the table, as much as to say, \u201cWe have nothing\nto fear from this dog.\u201d\n\nThe next day they all went to the palace. The dogs of the two elder\nbrothers were brought in on soft rugs; they were wrapped about in silk\nquilts, and it was hard to see anything of them. However, the King\nlooked at each, and could not make up his mind which was the smaller and\nprettier. So the two princes began to quarrel.\n\nAt this the youngest son came forward. Nobody had looked at his cur,\nbut now he showed them his acorn. He broke the shell, and out jumped\na little dog. He held his finger ring, and the dog leaped through it.\nThere was no doubt now who had the smallest and prettiest dog.\n\nThe King could not possibly find any fault with the dog, but he could\nnot bear to give up his crown yet. So he thanked his sons for their\ntrouble, and asked them to try once more. He wished them to be gone a\nyear, and at the end of that time to bring him a fine piece of cambric.\nIt must be fine enough to be drawn through the eye of a small needle.\n\nThe three princes thought this very hard, but they set off as before.\nThe two eldest took different roads. The youngest mounted his wooden\nhorse, and quickly came to the palace of the White Cat. There he was\nreceived with great joy. The Hands helped him to dismount, and the table\nwas spread before him. The best food was given him, and the White Cat\nsat opposite. He told her what a hard task his father had set.\n\n\u201cDo not be troubled,\u201d she said. \u201cI have cats in my palace who can make\njust such cambric. So be at ease and enjoy yourself.\u201d\n\nThe Prince knew how to enjoy himself. He talked with the White Cat about\nall sorts of things, and they hunted together. And when he was alone,\nhe could think about the White Cat, and what she said last. Oh, yes, he\nknew how to enjoy himself.\n\nThus another year went by. At the end of the year the White Cat said to\nthe Prince:--\n\n\u201cThis time you must go in state.\u201d\n\nThen he saw in the yard a splendid carriage, covered with gold and\ndiamonds. Twelve horses as white as snow were harnessed to it, and\na troop of horsemen was ready to ride behind and by the side of the\ncarriage. The White Cat bade the Prince good-by, and gave him a walnut.\n\n\u201cIn this nut,\u201d she said, \u201cis the cambric. But you must not open the nut\ntill you come before the King.\u201d\n\nAway went the horses, and carried the Prince in a twinkling to the\nKing\u2019s palace. His two brothers were already there. They all went into\nthe King\u2019s presence, and the eldest brought out his piece of cambric.\nNo one had ever seen anything so fine. The King took the needle. The\ntip end of the cambric went through the eye, but the piece could not be\npulled further.\n\nThe second son tried, but his piece failed also. Then the youngest\nPrince came forward with an elegant box, covered with jewels. He opened\nthe box and took out the walnut. He smiled, and looked about, and\ncracked the shell. Then he looked sober. There was no cambric there,\nonly a filbert.\n\nHowever, he cracked the shell of the filbert. Out came a cherry-stone.\nHe looked more serious still. The brothers and the lords of the court\nbegan to laugh. What could be more silly than this Prince with his\ncherry-stone!\n\nThe Prince now cracked the cherry-stone, and took out the kernel. He\nsplit it, and found a grain of wheat; he opened the grain of wheat, and\nthere was a grain of millet-seed. All the court was now laughing. The\nPrince grew red in the face and muttered:--\n\n\u201cO White Cat, White Cat, you have deceived me.\u201d\n\nWhen he said this, he felt a scratch on his arm. He saw nothing, but it\nwas just as if a cat scratched him. That brought him to his senses.\nHe opened the millet-seed very carefully, and drew forth a piece of\ncambric. It was four hundred yards long, and was so fine that it was\neasily drawn through the eye of the needle.\n\nThe King could ask nothing more. But he was not ready to give up his\ncrown, so he said to his sons:--\n\n\u201cYou have done nobly. Now one of you must be king. But it will not\ndo for one to be king without a queen. So go away and find the most\nbeautiful woman in the world. At the end of the year come back. The\none who brings the most beautiful woman shall marry her and have my\nkingdom.\u201d\n\n\nIV. THE WHITE CAT HAS HER HEAD CUT OFF\n\n|The three brothers set off again on their travels, and the youngest\nrode straight to the palace of the White Cat. He could not bear to speak\nor think of his errand. He was so happy, however, with the White Cat\nthat he quite forgot everything for another year. At the end of that\ntime, the \u201cWhite Cat herself reminded him what he had to do.\n\n\u201cYou must now go back to your father, but you shall take with you a\nbeautiful princess. Cut off my head and my tail, and throw them into the\nfire.\u201d\n\n\u201cI!\u201d said the Prince. \u201cI cut off your head and tail! How can I, when I\nlove you so?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must. That is the way to prove your love. If you love me, do as I\nbid you.\u201d\n\nThe Prince looked at the White Cat. Her eyes said the same thing to him.\nHe took his sword, and did as she bade him. No sooner had he done this\nthan the White Cat was gone, and a beautiful princess stood before him.\nAt the same moment the room was full of maids and gentlemen. All the\ncats were gone. The Prince was astonished. The beautiful princess sent\naway all the people, and then told the story of her life to the Prince.\n\n\nV. THE WHITE CAT\u2019S STORY\n\n\u201cDo not think I have always been a cat. My father was a king, and had\nsix kingdoms. He loved my mother dearly, and let her do just as she\nwished. She liked best to travel and to see new sights. One day she\nheard of a distant country where the fairies had a garden, and in this\ngarden was the most delicious fruit ever eaten.\n\n\u201cShe wished at once to taste this fruit, and so she set off for the\ncountry. She came to a noble palace and knocked at the gate. No one came\nout. She waited. No one appeared anywhere in sight. But over the garden\nwall she saw the fruit.\n\n\u201cMy mother bade her servants pitch her tent close by the gate. There she\nstayed six weeks. Yet she saw no one go in or out. She was so vexed and\nso disappointed that at the end of six weeks she fell sick.\n\n\u201cOne night, when she was almost dead, she opened her eyes and saw an old\nwoman, small and ugly. It was one of the fairies who owned the garden.\nThis old woman was sitting in a chair by the bed, and spoke to my\nmother.\n\n\u201c\u2018Why do you come here for our fruit?\u2019 she asked. \u2018My sisters and I do\nnot like it at all. We did not mean you should have any. But now you are\nvery ill, and we do not want you to die here; you may have all you want,\nif you will give us what we ask and then go away.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Oh,\u2019 said my mother,\u2019 I will give you everything I have, to the half\nof my kingdom, if you will only give me the fruit.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Very well. You will have a child. When the child is born, give her to\nus. We will take care of her, and she shall be a beautiful princess.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018That is pretty hard,\u2019 said my mother, \u2018but I must have the fruit, or I\nshall die. So the child shall be yours.\u2019\n\n\u201cThen my mother rose and dressed, and went into the garden. Here she ate\nher fill. Besides, she ordered four thousand mules to be loaded with the\nfruit, for it was of a kind that would never spoil. Thus she traveled\nback to my father. He was overjoyed to see her, and she said nothing of\nthe promise she had given.\n\n\u201cBy and by, however, she grew sad, and my father asked her what\ntroubled her. Then she told him the whole story. At first he was greatly\ntroubled, but he began to think how he should prevent the fairies from\ngetting his child.\n\n\u201cAs soon as I was born he had me taken to the top of a high tower. There\nwere twenty flights of stairs leading up to the room in which I was\nplaced. A door was at the foot of each flight, and was locked, and my\nfather kept the key. He did not mean that any one should get at me.\n\n\u201cWhen the fairies heard of this, they were very angry. They sent forth a\ngreat dragon, and the dragon breathed forth fire, and burnt up the grass\nand trees. It was very fierce, too, and killed men, women, and children.\nSo my father was filled with dismay, and sent word that the fairies\nshould have me.\u201d\n\n\nVI. THE WHITE CAT\u2019S STORY ENDED\n\n|I was placed in a cradle of mother-of-pearl, and carried to the palace\nby the garden where my mother had eaten the fruit. The dragon at once\ndisappeared, and all went well in my father\u2019s kingdom.\n\n\u201cThe fairies gave me a room in a tower, and I had everything I could\nask. Here I grew up. I knew nothing of my father or mother. The fairies\ncame to see me, but they rode the dragon, and flew in at the window. You\nmust know there was no door to the tower. There were windows, high up\nfrom the ground, and there was a garden upon the top of the tower.\n\n\u201cThe fairies were very kind to me, and all went well. I played in the\ngarden on the tower, and I had my birds and flowers. But one day I\nwas sitting at one of the windows talking with my parrot, when I saw a\nfine-looking man below. He stood listening to the parrot and me.\n\n\u201cI never had seen a man except in pictures, and I was very glad to see\nthis one. We spoke to each other through the window, and so it went on\nday after day. At last I thought I could not bear to live alone in the\ntower, and I planned to escape.\n\n\u201cI begged the fairies to bring me some cord and needles, to make a net\nwith. There were birds flying about, and if I had a net I could catch\none. They gave me these things, and I made a ladder which reached from\nmy window to the ground.\n\n\u201cI meant to climb down the ladder, but before I could do so my lover had\nclimbed up. He leaped in at my window. At first I was frightened, but\nthen I was glad to have him with me. He gave me a picture of himself,\nbut while we were talking the fairy Violent flew in at the window on the\nback of the dragon. She was in a great rage, and bade the dragon at once\ndevour my lover.\n\n\u201cI tried to cast myself into the mouth of the dragon, for I no longer\ncared to live. But the fairy held me back, and said she had another\npunishment for me. She touched me with her wand, and I became at once a\nWhite Cat.\n\n\u201cShe brought me to this palace, and gave me a troop of cats to wait on\nme. They were lords and ladies who had been turned into cats. The Hands\nwere the hands of servants who could not be seen. Here I was to stay a\ncat until a prince should come who looked exactly like my lover, and who\nshould cut off my head and my tail.\n\n\u201cMy Prince, look at this picture. It is your exact image. You have saved\nme from the fairies, and I love you with all my heart.\u201d\n\nThe Prince was overjoyed. He made haste to set out for his father\u2019s\npalace with the beautiful princess. Again the brothers stood before the\nKing, each with a beautiful princess. The King was now at his wit\u2019s\nend, but the princess, who had lately been a White Cat, came forward and\nsaid:--\n\n\u201cO King, it is a thousand pities that you should give up your kingdom.\nYou are not old. You are very wise, and ought to reign many years. I\nhave six kingdoms. Let me give one to each of your two eldest sons. Then\nthe youngest son and I will still have four kingdoms. More than all, you\nwill not have to decide which of us three princesses is the most\nbeautiful.\u201d Everybody set up a shout. The three weddings took place at\nonce, and the kingdoms were divided among the princes.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LION, THE ASS, AND THE FOX\n\n[Illustration: 0167]\n\n|The Lion, the Ass, and the Fox made a bargain to hunt together. When\nthey had caught a good supply of game, they came to eat it, and the Lion\nbade the Ass divide the spoils. So the Ass divided it into three equal\nparts, and called on each to choose his portion. At that the Lion fell\ninto a rage, and made his supper off the Ass.\n\nThen the Lion told the Fox to divide it, and he put almost all the\ngame into one great heap for the Lion, and saved only a small bit for\nhimself. Then the Lion said: \u201cMy good fellow, who taught you to divide\nso well?\u201d And the Fox said: \u201cThat dead Ass there.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE JACKDAW AND THE DOVES\n\n|A Jackdaw once looked into a dove-cote, and saw the Doves well fed and\ncared for; so he went away and daubed himself white, and then came back\nto make himself one of them. As long as he kept quiet they let him stay,\nthinking he was a Dove. But as soon as he opened his mouth to sing, they\nfound out who he was, and drove him out of the dove-cote.\n\nHe, poor fellow, now went back to the Jackdaws. But they did not know\nhim on account of his white coat, and would not let him join them.\n\nAnd so, for wanting to get into two companies, he missed both.\n\nThis fable teaches that it is best for us to be content with our own\nkind. The greedy not only miss what they seek, but often lose what they\nhave.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FOUR BULLS AND THE LION\n\n|Four Bulls once agreed to live together, and they fed in the same\npasture. Now the Lion saw them afar off, and wanted to hunt them, but he\nknew that he could not so long as they held together.\n\nSo he managed to set them quarreling with one another; and when that\nhappened, they separated, and he easily mastered them one at a time.\n\n\n\n\nTHE COUNTRY MAID AND HER MILK-PAIL\n\n|A Country Maid was walking slowly along with a pail of milk upon her\nhead. She was saying to herself:--\n\n\u201cThe money for which I shall sell this milk will buy me three hundred\neggs. These eggs will produce at least two hundred and fifty chickens.\nThe chickens will be fit to carry to market about Christmas, when\npoultry always brings a good price. By May-day I shall have money enough\nto buy a new gown. Let me see--green suits me; yes, it shall be green.\nIn this dress I will go to the fair, where all the young fellows will\nwant me for a partner. But I shall refuse every one of them.\u201d By this\ntime she was so full of her fancy that she tossed her head proudly. Over\nwent the pail, and all the milk was spilled on the ground.\n\nMoral. Don\u2019t count your chickens before they are hatched.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CAT, THE WEASEL, AND THE YOUNG RABBIT\n\n|There was once a young Rabbit, a quiet, peace-loving Rabbit. He lived\nin a neat house, and made no trouble for any one. But one day he went\nto market to buy some parsley. A Weasel came slyly by and saw the little\nhouse. He slipped in and made himself at home. It was a good place to\nstay in, and there he meant to stay. By and by the Rabbit came home, and\nsaw the Weasel at the window.\n\n\u201cDo you know that this is my house?\u201d the Rabbit asked.\n\n\u201cPooh, pooh!\u201d said the Weasel, \u201cwhat makes it yours? You only dug in the\nground a little, and came in here where the earth was gone. Do you think\nyou own the earth?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe law gives it to me,\u201d said the Rabbit, \u201cbecause I made it fit to\nlive in. If you do not leave, I will call the police.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: 0171]\n\n\u201cThe law, indeed!\u201d said the Weasel; \u201cand what right has the law to give\naway land? But we will have no more words. We will lay the matter before\nthe Cat, and leave it to him.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the young Rabbit, and they went to find the Cat,--an\nold, wise, and strong Cat.\n\n\u201cCome nearer, my children,\u201d said the Cat, as they both began to talk at\nthe same time. \u201cI am very deaf; nearer, for I wish to hear every word.\u201d\n\nThey came close to the Cat, each talking loudly. But as soon as the Cat\nhad them within reach, he darted his claws out on each side, and held\nthem both fast. First he made way with the young Rabbit, next with the\nWeasel; and then the house belonged to him.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TRAVELING MUSICIANS\n\n\nI. HOW THEY SET OUT\n\n|A Farmer had an Ass that had been a faithful servant to him a great\nmany years. But the Ass was growing old, and every day was more and more\nunfit for work.\n\nHis master was tired of keeping him, and began to think of putting an\nend to him. But the Ass saw there was mischief in the wind and took\nhimself off slyly. He set out toward the great city. \u201cThere,\u201d thought\nhe, \u201cpeople will like to hear me bray, and I shall earn my living as a\nmusician.\u201d\n\nHe had traveled a little way when he spied a Dog by the wayside. The Dog\nwas lying down, and panting as if he were very tired.\n\n\u201cWhat makes you pant so, my friend?\u201d asked the Ass.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d said the Dog, \u201cmy master was about to knock me on the head. I am\nold and weak, and can no longer hunt as I used. So I ran away. But how\ncan I earn a living?\u201d\n\n\u201cHark ye,\u201d said the Ass; \u201cI am going to the great city to be a musician;\nsuppose you go with me, and try what you can do in the same way.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the Dog, and they jogged on together.\n\nThey had not gone far before they saw a Cat sitting in the middle of the\nroad. The Cat wore a very sad face.\n\n\u201cPray, my good lady,\u201d said the Ass, \u201cwhat is the matter with you? You\nlook quite out of sorts.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh me!\u201d said the Cat, \u201cwell I may. How can I be in good spirits, when I\nfear for my life? I am beginning to grow old, and I like to lie at my\nease by the fire, and not to run about the house after mice. So my\nmistress laid hold of me, and was about to drown me. I was lucky enough\nto get away from her. But what am I to live on?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the Ass, \u201ccome with us to the great city. You are a good\nnight-singer, and may make your fortune as a musician.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell said,\u201d said the Cat, and she joined the party.\n\nOn they went, until they came to a farm-yard. There they saw a Cock\nperched upon the gate, and the Cock was crowing with all his might and\nmain.\n\n\u201cBravo!\u201d said the Ass; \u201cupon my word you make a famous noise; pray, what\nis all this about?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d said the Cock, \u201cI was just now saying that it was going to be\nfine weather, when lo! the cook claps her hands to her ears, and says\nshe means to cut my head off, and make broth of me for the guests that\nare coming to-morrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat a shame!\u201d said the Ass. \u201cBut come with us, Master Cock. It will be\nbetter than to stay here and have your head cut off. Besides, who knows?\nIf we take care to sing in tune, we may get up some kind of concert; so,\ncome along with us.\u201d\n\n\u201cWith all my heart,\u201d said the Cock; and they all four went on their way.\n\n\nII. HOW THEY GAVE A CONCERT\n\nThey could not reach the great city the first day. So, when night came\non, they went into the wood to sleep. The Ass and the Dog lay down under\na great tree; the Cat climbed up and sat on a branch; the Cock flew up\nto the top of the tree, for that was a very safe place.\n\nBefore he went to sleep, he looked out on all sides to see if the world\nwere quiet. Afar off he saw something bright, and he called out to the\nothers:--\n\n\u201cThere must be a house no great way off, for I see a light.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf that be the case,\u201d said the Ass, \u201clet us change our quarters, for\nour lodging here is not the best in the world.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo say I,\u201d said the Dog. \u201cI should not be the worse for a bone or two,\nor a bit of meat.\u201d So off they all went to the spot where the Cock had\nseen the light. As they drew near, it became larger and brighter, till\nat last they came close to a house in which a gang of robbers lived.\n\nThe Ass was the tallest of the company, so he marched up to the window\nand peeped in.\n\n\u201cWell, Ass,\u201d said the Cock, \u201cwhat do you see?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do I see? Why, I see a table spread with all sorts of good things,\nand men sitting round it, making merry.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat would be a fine place for us to live in,\u201d said the Cock.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the Ass, \u201cif we only could get in.\u201d So they all talked\nthe matter over, and at last hit upon a plan. The Ass stood on his\nhind-legs, with his fore-feet resting on the window-sill; the Dog got\nupon his back; the Cat scrambled up to the Dog\u2019s shoulders; and the Cock\nflew up and sat upon the Cat\u2019s head.\n\n[Illustration: 0176]\n\nWhen all was ready, they began their music. The Ass brayed, the Dog\nbarked, the Cat mewed, and the Cock crowed; and then they all broke\nthrough the window at once, and came tumbling into the room. The glass\nfell with a smash upon the floor, and there was a great clatter.\n\nThe robbers started when they heard the music. They were scared out of\ntheir wits when the Traveling Musicians came tumbling into the room. So\nthey took to their heels at once.\n\n\nIII. HOW THEY MADE THEMSELVES AT HOME\n\nAs soon as they were gone, the Traveling Musicians sat down at the\ntable. They ate all that the robbers had left, and as they were very\nhungry, they ate very fast.\n\nThen, when they had cleared the table, they put out the lights, and each\nfound a place in which to sleep. The Ass lay upon a heap of straw in\nthe yard; the Dog stretched himself upon a mat behind the door; the\nCat rolled herself up on the hearth before the warm ashes; and the Cock\nperched upon a beam at the top of the house. They were all tired and\nsoon fell asleep.\n\nAfter some time the robbers, who had not fled far, got over their\nfright. They saw that the lights were out, and that all was quiet. They\nbegan to think they had been frightened at nothing. One, bolder than the\nrest, crept back to the house. All was still; all was dark.\n\nHe made his way into the kitchen, and groped about to find a candle. He\nfound the candle, and then went to the fire, as he thought, to light his\ncandle. But the live coals which he thought he saw were the two fiery\neyes of the Cat.\n\nHe held the candle close, to light it, but the Cat, not liking the joke,\nsprang at his face, and spit, and scratched him. Away he ran to the\ndoor. But there the Dog jumped up and bit him in the leg. As he was\ncrossing the yard, the Ass kicked him, and the Cock, now awake, crowed\nwith all his might.\n\nAt this the robber ran back to his comrades, as fast as his legs could\ncarry him. He told them that a horrid witch had got into the house, and\nhad spit at him, and scratched his face with long bony fingers. A man\nwith a knife in his hand hid behind the door, and stabbed him in the\nleg. A black monster stood in the yard, and struck him with a club. And\nthe judge sat upon the top of the house, and cried out:--\n\n\u201cThrow the rascal up here!\u201d\n\nAfter this, the robbers never dared to go back to the house. The\nTraveling Musicians were so pleased with their quarters, that they took\nup their abode there, and there they are, I dare say, at this very day.\n\n\n\n\nBELLING THE CAT\n\n|There was a sly Cat in a house, and the Mice were so plagued with her\nat every turn, that they called a council to plan a way by which they\nmight guard against being caught by her.\n\n\u201cIf you will be ruled by me,\u201d says one of the Mice, \u201cthere\u2019s nothing\nlike hanging a bell about the Cat\u2019s neck, to give warning when Puss is\ncoming.\u201d They all thought that a capital plan.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d says another, \u201cand now we are agreed upon the bell, say, who\nshall hang it upon the Cat\u2019s neck?\u201d But there was no one ready to bell\nthe Cat.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WOLF AND THE CRANE\n\n[Illustration: 0180]\n\n|A Wolf once had a bone stuck in his throat, and offered to pay the\nCrane well if she would thrust her long bill down and draw the bone out.\n\nWhen she had done this, she asked for her pay. Then the Wolf laughed,\nand showed his teeth, and said:--\n\n\u201cIs it not enough for you that you have had your head in a Wolf\u2019s mouth,\nand have drawn it out again safely? What more do you want?\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE WOLF AND THE SHEPHERD\n\n|A Wolf once walked behind a flock of Sheep, and did them no harm. At\nfirst, the Shepherd treated him as an enemy, and kept watch against him.\nBut when the Wolf made no sign of hurting the Sheep, the Shepherd began\nto think he was quite as good as a watch-dog.\n\nSo one day, when the Shepherd wished to go to the city, he left the\nSheep in the care of this quiet Wolf. That was the chance the Wolf\nwanted, and he made sad havoc with the flock. When the Shepherd came\nback and saw the Sheep scattered, he said:--\n\n\u201cIt serves me right; for why did I trust Sheep to a Wolf?\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE FROGS ASK FOR A KING\n\n|In old times, the Frogs lived in a free and easy way, each one as he\npleased. But the elders among them did not like this, and begged Jove to\nsend them a king.\n\nJove thought them very foolish, and tossed a log into the middle of the\npond. The Frogs were scared out of their wits, and plunged at once into\nthe deepest hole. By and by, they peeped out and saw that King Log was\nstock-still.\n\nThey began to grow bolder; soon they laughed at King Log. Then they\njumped up and sat on the log. That was not a king, they said, and off\nthey went to Jove, and asked him to give them a new king.\n\nThis time Jove gave them an Eel. But the Eel was stupid, and the Frogs\nliked him no better. They sent a third time to Jove.\n\n[Illustration: 0182]\n\nAt this Jove was angry, and sent them a king of another sort. He sent\nthem King Stork, and King Stork caught the Frogs, one by one, and ate\nthem, till there was not one left.","title":"The Book of Fables and Folk Stories","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":30386}