{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_7439/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_7439","id":"gutenberg_7439","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7439","summary":null,"tags":["Category: British Literature","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Children's Myths, Fairy Tales, etc.","Fairy tales -- England","Folklore -- England"],"text":"Produced by Charles Franks, Delphine Lettau and the people at DP\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nENGLISH FAIRY TALES\n\nBy Anonymous\n\n\n_COLLECTED BY_ JOSEPH JACOBS\n\n\n\n\n_HOW TO GET INTO THIS BOOK._\n\n    _Knock at the Knocker on the Door,\n    Pull the Bell at the side,_\n\n_Then, if you are very quiet, you will hear a teeny tiny voice say\nthrough the grating \u201cTake down the Key.\u201d This you will find at the back:\nyou cannot mistake it, for it has J. J. in the wards. Put the Key in the\nKeyhole, which it fits exactly, unlock the door and WALK IN._\n\n\n\n_TO MY DEAR LITTLE MAY_\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\nWho says that English folk have no fairy-tales of their own? The present\nvolume contains only a selection out of some 140, of which I have found\ntraces in this country. It is probable that many more exist.\n\nA quarter of the tales in this volume, have been collected during the\nlast ten years or so, and some of them have not been hitherto published.\nUp to 1870 it was equally said of France and of Italy, that they\npossessed no folk-tales. Yet, within fifteen years from that date, over\n1000 tales had been collected in each country. I am hoping that the\npresent volume may lead to equal activity in this country, and would\nearnestly beg any reader of this book who knows of similar tales, to\ncommunicate them, written down as they are told, to me, care of Mr.\nNutt. The only reason, I imagine, why such tales have not hitherto\nbeen brought to light, is the lamentable gap between the governing and\nrecording classes and the dumb working classes of this country--dumb to\nothers but eloquent among themselves. It would be no unpatriotic task\nto help to bridge over this gulf, by giving a common fund of nursery\nliterature to all classes of the English people, and, in any case, it\ncan do no harm to add to the innocent gaiety of the nation.\n\nA word or two as to our title seems necessary. We have called our\nstories Fairy Tales though few of them speak of fairies. [Footnote: For\nsome recent views on fairies and tales _about_ fairies, see Notes.] The\nsame remark applies to the collection of the Brothers Grimm and to all\nthe other European collections, which contain exactly the same classes\nof tales as ours. Yet our stories are what the little ones mean when\nthey clamour for \u201cFairy Tales,\u201d and this is the only name which they\ngive to them. One cannot imagine a child saying, \u201cTell us a folk-tale,\nnurse,\u201d or \u201cAnother nursery tale, please, grandma.\u201d As our book is\nintended for the little ones, we have indicated its contents by the name\nthey use. The words \u201cFairy Tales\u201d must accordingly be taken to\ninclude tales in which occurs something \u201cfairy,\u201d something\nextraordinary--fairies, giants, dwarfs, speaking animals. It must\nbe taken also to cover tales in which what is extraordinary is the\nstupidity of some of the actors. Many of the tales in this volume, as\nin similar collections for other European countries, are what the\nfolklorists call Drolls. They serve to justify the title of Merrie\nEngland, which used to be given to this country of ours, and indicate\nunsuspected capacity for fun and humour among the unlettered classes.\nThe story of Tom Tit Tot, which opens our collection, is unequalled\namong all other folk-tales I am acquainted with, for its combined sense\nof humour and dramatic power.\n\nThe first adjective of our title also needs a similar extension of its\nmeaning. I have acted on Moli\u00e8re's principle, and have taken what was\ngood wherever I could find it. Thus, a couple of these stories have been\nfound among descendants of English immigrants in America; a couple of\nothers I tell as I heard them myself in my youth in Australia. One of\nthe best was taken down from the mouth of an English Gipsy. I have also\nincluded some stories that have only been found in Lowland Scotch.\nI have felt justified in doing this, as of the twenty-one folk-tales\ncontained in Chambers' \u201cPopular Rhymes of Scotland,\u201d no less than\nsixteen are also to be found in an English form. With the Folk-tale as\nwith the Ballad, Lowland Scotch may be regarded as simply a dialect\nof English, and it is a mere chance whether a tale is extant in one or\nother, or both.\n\nI have also rescued and re-told a few Fairy Tales that only exist\nnow-a-days in the form of ballads. There are certain indications that\nthe \u201ccommon form\u201d of the English Fairy Tale was the _cante-fable_, a\nmixture of narrative and verse of which the most illustrious example in\nliterature is \u201cAucassin et Nicolette.\u201d In one case I have endeavoured to\nretain this form, as the tale in which it occurs, \u201cChilde Rowland,\u201d\n is mentioned by Shakespeare in _King Lear_, and is probably, as I have\nshown, the source of Milton's _Comus_. Late as they have been collected,\nsome dozen of the tales can be traced back to the sixteenth century, two\nof them being quoted by Shakespeare himself.\n\nIn the majority of instances I have had largely to rewrite these Fairy\nTales, especially those in dialect, including the Lowland Scotch.\n[Footnote: It is perhaps worth remarking that the Brothers Grimm did the\nsame with their stories. \u201cDass der Ausdruck,\u201d say they in their Preface,\n\u201cund die Ausf\u00fchrung des Einzelnen grossentheils von uns herr\u00fchrt,\nversteht sich von selbst.\u201d I may add that many of their stories\nwere taken from printed sources. In the first volume of Mrs. Hunt's\ntranslation, Nos. 12, 18, 19, 23, 32, 35, 42, 43, 44, 69, 77, 78, 83,\n89, are thus derived.] Children, and sometimes those of larger\ngrowth, will not read dialect. I have also had to reduce the flatulent\nphraseology of the eighteenth-century chap-books, and to re-write in\nsimpler style the stories only extant in \u201cLiterary\u201d English. I have,\nhowever, left a few vulgarisms in the mouths of vulgar people. Children\nappreciate the dramatic propriety of this as much as their elders.\nGenerally speaking, it has been my ambition to write as a good old nurse\nwill speak when she tells Fairy Tales. I am doubtful as to my success in\ncatching the colloquial-romantic tone appropriate for such narratives,\nbut the thing had to be done or else my main object, to give a book of\nEnglish Fairy Tales which English children will listen to, would have\nbeen unachieved. This book is meant to be read aloud, and not merely\ntaken in by the eye.\n\nIn a few instances I have introduced or changed an incident. I have\nnever done so, however, without mentioning the fact in the Notes. These\nhave been relegated to the obscurity of small print and a back place,\nwhile the little ones have been, perhaps unnecessarily, warned off them.\nThey indicate my sources and give a few references to parallels and\nvariants which may be of interest to fellow-students of Folk-lore. It\nis, perhaps, not necessary to inform readers who are not fellow-students\nthat the study of Folk-tales has pretensions to be a science. It has its\nspecial terminology, and its own methods of investigation, by which it\nis hoped, one of these days, to gain fuller knowledge of the workings\nof the popular mind as well as traces of archaic modes of thought and\ncustom. I hope on some future occasion to treat the subject of\nthe English Folk-tale on a larger scale and with all the necessary\nparaphernalia of prolegomena and excursus. I shall then, of course,\nreproduce my originals with literal accuracy, and have therefore felt\nthe more at liberty on the present occasion to make the necessary\ndeviations from this in order to make the tales readable for children.\n\nFinally, I have to thank those by whose kindness in waiving their rights\nto some of these stories, I have been enabled to compile this book. My\nfriends Mr. E. Clodd, Mr. F. Hindes Groome, and Mr. Andrew Lang,\nhave thus yielded up to me some of the most attractive stories in\nthe following pages. The Councils of the English and of the American\nFolk-lore Societies, and Messrs. Longmans, have also been equally\ngenerous. Nor can I close these remarks without a word of thanks and\npraise to the artistic skill with which my friend, Mr. J. D. Batten, has\nmade the romance and humour of these stories live again in the brilliant\ndesigns with which he has adorned these pages. It should be added that\nthe dainty headpieces to \u201cHenny Penny\u201d and \u201cMr. Fox\u201d are due to my old\nfriend, Mr. Henry Ryland.\n\nJOSEPH JACOBS.\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\nI. TOM TIT TOT II. THE THREE SILLIES III. THE ROSE-TREE IV. THE OLD\nWOMAN AND HER PIG V. HOW JACK WENT TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE VI. MR. VINEGAR\nVII. NIX NOUGHT NOTHING VIII. JACK HANNAFORD IX. BINNORIE X. MOUSE AND\nMOUSER XI. CAP O' RUSHES XII. TEENY-TINY XIII. JACK AND THE BEANSTALK\nXIV. THE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS XV. THE MASTER AND HIS PUPIL\nXVI. TITTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE XVII. JACK AND HIS GOLDEN SNUFF-BOX\nXVIII. THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS XIX. JACK THE GIANT-KILLER XX.\nHENNY-PENNY XXI. CHILDE ROWLAND XXII. MOLLY WHUPPIE XXIII. THE RED ETTIN\nXXIV. THE GOLDEN ARM XXV. THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB XXVI. MR. FOX XXVII.\nLAZY JACK XXVIII. JOHNNY-CAKE XXIX. EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER XXX. MR. MIACCA\nXXXI. WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT XXXII. THE STRANGE VISITOR XXXIII. THE\nLAIDLY WORM OF SPINDLESTON HEUGH XXXIV. THE CAT AND THE MOUSE. XXXV.\nTHE FISH AND THE RING. XXXVI. THE MAGPIE'S NEST XXXVII. KATE CRACKERNUTS\nXXXVIII. THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON XXXIX. THE ASS, THE TABLE, AND THE\nSTICK XL. FAIRY OINTMENT XLI. THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END. XLII. MASTER\nOF ALL MASTERS. XLIII. THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL\n\nNOTES AND REFERENCES\n\n\n\n\nTOM TIT TOT\n\nOnce upon a time there was a woman, and she baked five pies. And when\nthey came out of the oven, they were that overbaked the crusts were too\nhard to eat. So she says to her daughter:\n\n\u201cDarter,\u201d says she, \u201cput you them there pies on the shelf, and leave 'em\nthere a little, and they'll come again.\u201d--She meant, you know, the crust\nwould get soft.\n\nBut the girl, she says to herself: \u201cWell, if they'll come again, I'll\neat 'em now.\u201d And she set to work and ate 'em all, first and last.\n\nWell, come supper-time the woman said: \u201cGo you, and get one o' them\nthere pies. I dare say they've come again now.\u201d\n\nThe girl went and she looked, and there was nothing but the dishes. So\nback she came and says she: \u201cNoo, they ain't come again.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot one of 'em?\u201d says the mother.\n\n\u201cNot one of 'em,\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cWell, come again, or not come again,\u201d said the woman \u201cI'll have one for\nsupper.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut you can't, if they ain't come,\u201d said the girl.\n\n\u201cBut I can,\u201d says she. \u201cGo you, and bring the best of 'em.\u201d\n\n\u201cBest or worst,\u201d says the girl, \u201cI've ate 'em all, and you can't have\none till that's come again.\u201d\n\nWell, the woman she was done, and she took her spinning to the door to\nspin, and as she span she sang:\n\n  \u201cMy darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day.\n  My darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day.\u201d\n\nThe king was coming down the street, and he heard her sing, but what she\nsang he couldn't hear, so he stopped and said:\n\n\u201cWhat was that you were singing, my good woman?\u201d\n\nThe woman was ashamed to let him hear what her daughter had been doing,\nso she sang, instead of that:\n\n  \u201cMy darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day.\n  My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day.\u201d\n\n\u201cStars o' mine!\u201d said the king, \u201cI never heard tell of any one that\ncould do that.\u201d\n\nThen he said: \u201cLook you here, I want a wife, and I'll marry your\ndaughter. But look you here,\u201d says he, \u201celeven months out of the year\nshe shall have all she likes to eat, and all the gowns she likes to get,\nand all the company she likes to keep; but the last month of the year\nshe'll have to spin five skeins every day, and if she don't I shall kill\nher.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d says the woman; for she thought what a grand marriage that\nwas. And as for the five skeins, when the time came, there'd be plenty\nof ways of getting out of it, and likeliest, he'd have forgotten all\nabout it.\n\nWell, so they were married. And for eleven months the girl had all she\nliked to eat, and all the gowns she liked to get, and all the company\nshe liked to keep.\n\nBut when the time was getting over, she began to think about the skeins\nand to wonder if he had 'em in mind. But not one word did he say about\n'em, and she thought he'd wholly forgotten 'em.\n\nHowever, the last day of the last month he takes her to a room she'd\nnever set eyes on before. There was nothing in it but a spinning-wheel\nand a stool. And says he: \u201cNow, my dear, here you'll be shut in\nto-morrow with some victuals and some flax, and if you haven't spun five\nskeins by the night, your head'll go off.\u201d\n\nAnd away he went about his business.\n\nWell, she was that frightened, she'd always been such a gatless girl,\nthat she didn't so much as know how to spin, and what was she to do\nto-morrow with no one to come nigh her to help her? She sat down on a\nstool in the kitchen, and law! how she did cry!\n\nHowever, all of a sudden she heard a sort of a knocking low down on the\ndoor. She upped and oped it, and what should she see but a small little\nblack thing with a long tail. That looked up at her right curious, and\nthat said:\n\n\u201cWhat are you a-crying for?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat's that to you?\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cNever you mind,\u201d that said, \u201cbut tell me what you're a-crying for.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat won't do me no good if I do,\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cYou don't know that,\u201d that said, and twirled that's tail round.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d says she, \u201cthat won't do no harm, if that don't do no good,\u201d and\nshe upped and told about the pies, and the skeins, and everything.\n\n\u201cThis is what I'll do,\u201d says the little black thing, \u201cI'll come to your\nwindow every morning and take the flax and bring it spun at night.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat's your pay?\u201d says she.\n\nThat looked out of the corner of that's eyes, and that said: \u201cI'll\ngive you three guesses every night to guess my name, and if you haven't\nguessed it before the month's up you shall be mine.\u201d\n\nWell, she thought she'd be sure to guess that's name before the month\nwas up. \u201cAll right,\u201d says she, \u201cI agree.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d that says, and law! how that twirled that's tail.\n\nWell, the next day, her husband took her into the room, and there was\nthe flax and the day's food.\n\n\u201cNow there's the flax,\u201d says he, \u201cand if that ain't spun up this night,\noff goes your head.\u201d And then he went out and locked the door.\n\nHe'd hardly gone, when there was a knocking against the window.\n\nShe upped and she oped it, and there sure enough was the little old\nthing sitting on the ledge.\n\n\u201cWhere's the flax?\u201d says he.\n\n\u201cHere it be,\u201d says she. And she gave it to him.\n\nWell, come the evening a knocking came again to the window. She upped\nand she oped it, and there was the little old thing with five skeins of\nflax on his arm.\n\n\u201cHere it be,\u201d says he, and he gave it to her.\n\n\u201cNow, what's my name?\u201d says he.\n\n\u201cWhat, is that Bill?\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cNoo, that ain't,\u201d says he, and he twirled his tail.\n\n\u201cIs that Ned?\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cNoo, that ain't,\u201d says he, and he twirled his tail.\n\n\u201cWell, is that Mark?\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cNoo, that ain't,\u201d says he, and he twirled his tail harder, and away he\nflew.\n\nWell, when her husband came in, there were the five skeins ready for\nhim. \u201cI see I shan't have to kill you to-night, my dear,\u201d says he;\n\u201cyou'll have your food and your flax in the morning,\u201d says he, and away\nhe goes.\n\nWell, every day the flax and the food were brought, and every day that\nthere little black impet used to come mornings and evenings. And all the\nday the girl sat trying to think of names to say to it when it came at\nnight. But she never hit on the right one. And as it got towards the\nend of the month, the impet began to look so maliceful, and that twirled\nthat's tail faster and faster each time she gave a guess.\n\nAt last it came to the last day but one. The impet came at night along\nwith the five skeins, and that said,\n\n\u201cWhat, ain't you got my name yet?\u201d\n\n\u201cIs that Nicodemus?\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cNoo, t'ain't,\u201d that says.\n\n\u201cIs that Sammle?\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cNoo, t'ain't,\u201d that says.\n\n\u201cA-well, is that Methusalem?\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cNoo, t'ain't that neither,\u201d that says.\n\nThen that looks at her with that's eyes like a coal o' fire, and that\nsays: \u201cWoman, there's only to-morrow night, and then you'll be mine!\u201d\n And away it flew.\n\nWell, she felt that horrid. However, she heard the king coming along the\npassage. In he came, and when he sees the five skeins, he says, says he,\n\n\u201cWell, my dear,\u201d says he, \u201cI don't see but what you'll have your skeins\nready to-morrow night as well, and as I reckon I shan't have to kill\nyou, I'll have supper in here to-night.\u201d So they brought supper, and\nanother stool for him, and down the two sat.\n\nWell, he hadn't eaten but a mouthful or so, when he stops and begins to\nlaugh.\n\n\u201cWhat is it?\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cA-why,\u201d says he, \u201cI was out a-hunting to-day, and I got away to a place\nin the wood I'd never seen before And there was an old chalk-pit. And I\nheard a kind of a sort of a humming. So I got off my hobby, and I went\nright quiet to the pit, and I looked down. Well, what should there be\nbut the funniest little black thing you ever set eyes on. And what was\nthat doing, but that had a little spinning-wheel, and that was spinning\nwonderful fast, and twirling that's tail. And as that span that sang:\n\n  \u201cNimmy nimmy not\n  My name's Tom Tit Tot.\u201d\n\nWell, when the girl heard this, she felt as if she could have jumped out\nof her skin for joy, but she didn't say a word.\n\nNext day that there little thing looked so maliceful when he came for\nthe flax. And when night came, she heard that knocking against the\nwindow panes. She oped the window, and that come right in on the ledge.\nThat was grinning from ear to ear, and Oo! that's tail was twirling\nround so fast.\n\n\u201cWhat's my name?\u201d that says, as that gave her the skeins.\n\n\u201cIs that Solomon?\u201d she says, pretending to be afeard.\n\n\u201cNoo, t'ain't,\u201d that says, and that came further into the room.\n\n\u201cWell, is that Zebedee?\u201d says she again.\n\n\u201cNoo, t'ain't,\u201d says the impet. And then that laughed and twirled that's\ntail till you couldn't hardly see it.\n\n\u201cTake time, woman,\u201d that says; \u201cnext guess, and you're mine.\u201d And that\nstretched out that's black hands at her.\n\nWell, she backed a step or two, and she looked at it, and then she\nlaughed out, and says she, pointing her finger at it:\n\n\u201cNIMMY NIMMY NOT, YOUR NAME'S TOM TIT TOT!\u201d\n\nWell, when that heard her, that gave an awful shriek and away that flew\ninto the dark, and she never saw it any more.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE SILLIES\n\nOnce upon a time there was a farmer and his wife who had one daughter,\nand she was courted by a gentleman. Every evening he used to come and\nsee her, and stop to supper at the farmhouse, and the daughter used to\nbe sent down into the cellar to draw the beer for supper. So one evening\nshe had gone down to draw the beer, and she happened to look up at the\nceiling while she was drawing, and she saw a mallet stuck in one of the\nbeams. It must have been there a long, long time, but somehow or other\nshe had never noticed it before, and she began a-thinking. And she\nthought it was very dangerous to have that mallet there, for she said\nto herself: \u201cSuppose him and me was to be married, and we was to have a\nson, and he was to grow up to be a man, and come down into the cellar to\ndraw the beer, like as I'm doing now, and the mallet was to fall on his\nhead and kill him, what a dreadful thing it would be!\u201d And she put down\nthe candle and the jug, and sat herself down and began a-crying.\n\nWell, they began to wonder upstairs how it was that she was so long\ndrawing the beer, and her mother went down to see after her, and she\nfound her sitting on the settle crying, and the beer running over the\nfloor. \u201cWhy, whatever is the matter?\u201d said her mother. \u201cOh, mother!\u201d\n says she, \u201clook at that horrid mallet! Suppose we was to be married, and\nwas to have a son, and he was to grow up, and was to come down to the\ncellar to draw the beer, and the mallet was to fall on his head and kill\nhim, what a dreadful thing it would be!\u201d \u201cDear, dear! what a dreadful\nthing it would be!\u201d said the mother, and she sat her down aside of the\ndaughter and started a-crying too. Then after a bit the father began to\nwonder that they didn't come back, and he went down into the cellar to\nlook after them himself, and there they two sat a-crying, and the beer\nrunning all over the floor. \u201cWhatever is the matter?\u201d says he. \u201cWhy,\u201d\n says the mother, \u201clook at that horrid mallet. Just suppose, if our\ndaughter and her sweetheart was to be married, and was to have a son,\nand he was to grow up, and was to come down into the cellar to draw\nthe beer, and the mallet was to fall on his head and kill him, what a\ndreadful thing it would be!\u201d \u201cDear, dear, dear! so it would!\u201d said the\nfather, and he sat himself down aside of the other two, and started\na-crying.\n\nNow the gentleman got tired of stopping up in the kitchen by himself,\nand at last he went down into the cellar too, to see what they were\nafter; and there they three sat a-crying side by side, and the beer\nrunning all over the floor. And he ran straight and turned the tap.\nThen he said: \u201cWhatever are you three doing, sitting there crying, and\nletting the beer run all over the floor?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d says the father, \u201clook at that horrid mallet! Suppose you and our\ndaughter was to be married, and was to have a son, and he was to grow\nup, and was to come down into the cellar to draw the beer, and the\nmallet was to fall on his head and kill him!\u201d And then they all started\na-crying worse than before. But the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and\nreached up and pulled out the mallet, and then he said: \u201cI've travelled\nmany miles, and I never met three such big sillies as you three before;\nand now I shall start out on my travels again, and when I can find\nthree bigger sillies than you three, then I'll come back and marry your\ndaughter.\u201d So he wished them good-bye, and started off on his travels,\nand left them all crying because the girl had lost her sweetheart.\n\nWell, he set out, and he travelled a long way, and at last he came to a\nwoman's cottage that had some grass growing on the roof. And the woman\nwas trying to get her cow to go up a ladder to the grass, and the poor\nthing durst not go. So the gentleman asked the woman what she was doing.\n\u201cWhy, lookye,\u201d she said, \u201clook at all that beautiful grass. I'm going to\nget the cow on to the roof to eat it. She'll be quite safe, for I shall\ntie a string round her neck, and pass it down the chimney, and tie it\nto my wrist as I go about the house, so she can't fall off without my\nknowing it.\u201d \u201cOh, you poor silly!\u201d said the gentleman, \u201cyou should cut\nthe grass and throw it down to the cow!\u201d But the woman thought it was\neasier to get the cow up the ladder than to get the grass down, so she\npushed her and coaxed her and got her up, and tied a string round her\nneck, and passed it down the chimney, and fastened it to her own wrist.\nAnd the gentleman went on his way, but he hadn't gone far when the cow\ntumbled off the roof, and hung by the string tied round her neck, and\nit strangled her. And the weight of the cow tied to her wrist pulled the\nwoman up the chimney, and she stuck fast half-way and was smothered in\nthe soot.\n\nWell, that was one big silly.\n\nAnd the gentleman went on and on, and he went to an inn to stop the\nnight, and they were so full at the inn that they had to put him in a\ndouble-bedded room, and another traveller was to sleep in the other bed.\nThe other man was a very pleasant fellow, and they got very friendly\ntogether; but in the morning, when they were both getting up, the\ngentleman was surprised to see the other hang his trousers on the knobs\nof the chest of drawers and run across the room and try to jump into\nthem, and he tried over and over again, and couldn't manage it; and the\ngentleman wondered whatever he was doing it for. At last he stopped and\nwiped his face with his handkerchief. \u201cOh dear,\u201d he says, \u201cI do think\ntrousers are the most awkwardest kind of clothes that ever were. I can't\nthink who could have invented such things. It takes me the best part\nof an hour to get into mine every morning, and I get so hot! How do you\nmanage yours?\u201d So the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and showed him how\nto put them on; and he was very much obliged to him, and said he never\nshould have thought of doing it that way.\n\nSo that was another big silly.\n\nThen the gentleman went on his travels again; and he came to a village,\nand outside the village there was a pond, and round the pond was a crowd\nof people. And they had got rakes, and brooms, and pitchforks, reaching\ninto the pond; and the gentleman asked what was the matter. \u201cWhy,\u201d they\nsay, \u201cmatter enough! Moon's tumbled into the pond, and we can't rake\nher out anyhow!\u201d So the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and told them to\nlook up into the sky, and that it was only the shadow in the water. But\nthey wouldn't listen to him, and abused him shamefully, and he got away\nas quick as he could.\n\nSo there was a whole lot of sillies bigger than them three sillies at\nhome. So the gentleman turned back home again and married the farmer's\ndaughter, and if they didn't live happy for ever after, that's nothing\nto do with you or me.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ROSE-TREE\n\nThere was once upon a time a good man who had two children: a girl by a\nfirst wife, and a boy by the second. The girl was as white as milk, and\nher lips were like cherries. Her hair was like golden silk, and it hung\nto the ground. Her brother loved her dearly, but her wicked stepmother\nhated her. \u201cChild,\u201d said the stepmother one day, \u201cgo to the grocer's\nshop and buy me a pound of candles.\u201d She gave her the money; and the\nlittle girl went, bought the candles, and started on her return. There\nwas a stile to cross. She put down the candles whilst she got over the\nstile. Up came a dog and ran off with the candles.\n\nShe went back to the grocer's, and she got a second bunch. She came to\nthe stile, set down the candles, and proceeded to climb over. Up came\nthe dog and ran off with the candles.\n\nShe went again to the grocer's, and she got a third bunch; and just the\nsame happened. Then she came to her stepmother crying, for she had spent\nall the money and had lost three bunches of candles.\n\nThe stepmother was angry, but she pretended not to mind the loss. She\nsaid to the child: \u201cCome, lay your head on my lap that I may comb your\nhair.\u201d So the little one laid her head in the woman's lap, who proceeded\nto comb the yellow silken hair. And when she combed the hair fell over\nher knees, and rolled right down to the ground.\n\nThen the stepmother hated her more for the beauty of her hair; so she\nsaid to her, \u201cI cannot part your hair on my knee, fetch a billet of\nwood.\u201d So she fetched it. Then said the stepmother, \u201cI cannot part your\nhair with a comb, fetch me an axe.\u201d So she fetched it.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the wicked woman, \u201clay your head down on the billet whilst I\npart your hair.\u201d\n\nWell! she laid down her little golden head without fear; and whist! down\ncame the axe, and it was off. So the mother wiped the axe and laughed.\n\nThen she took the heart and liver of the little girl, and she stewed\nthem and brought them into the house for supper. The husband tasted them\nand shook his head. He said they tasted very strangely. She gave some\nto the little boy, but he would not eat. She tried to force him, but he\nrefused, and ran out into the garden, and took up his little sister, and\nput her in a box, and buried the box under a rose-tree; and every day he\nwent to the tree and wept, till his tears ran down on the box.\n\nOne day the rose-tree flowered. It was spring, and there among the\nflowers was a white bird; and it sang, and sang, and sang like an\nangel out of heaven. Away it flew, and it went to a cobbler's shop, and\nperched itself on a tree hard by; and thus it sang,\n\n  \u201cMy wicked mother slew me,\n  My dear father ate me,\n  My little brother whom I love\n  Sits below, and I sing above\n    Stick, stock, stone dead.\u201d\n\n\u201cSing again that beautiful song,\u201d asked the shoemaker. \u201cIf you will\nfirst give me those little red shoes you are making.\u201d The cobbler gave\nthe shoes, and the bird sang the song; then flew to a tree in front of a\nwatchmaker's, and sang:\n\n  \u201cMy wicked mother slew me,\n  My dear father ate me,\n  My little brother whom I love\n  Sits below, and I sing above\n    Stick, stock, stone dead.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, the beautiful song! sing it again, sweet bird,\u201d asked the\nwatchmaker. \u201cIf you will give me first that gold watch and chain in your\nhand.\u201d The jeweller gave the watch and chain. The bird took it in one\nfoot, the shoes in the other, and, after having repeated the song, flew\naway to where three millers were picking a millstone. The bird perched\non a tree and sang:\n\n  \u201cMy wicked mother slew me,\n  My dear father ate me,\n  My little brother whom I love\n  Sits below, and I sing above\n    Stick!\u201d\n\nThen one of the men put down his tool and looked up from his work,\n\n  \u201cStock!\u201d\n\nThen the second miller's man laid aside his tool and looked up,\n\n  \u201cStone!\u201d\n\nThen the third miller's man laid down his tool and looked up,\n\n  \u201cDead!\u201d\n\nThen all three cried out with one voice: \u201cOh, what a beautiful song!\nSing it, sweet bird, again.\u201d \u201cIf you will put the millstone round my\nneck,\u201d said the bird. The men did what the bird wanted and away to the\ntree it flew with the millstone round its neck, the red shoes in one\nfoot, and the gold watch and chain in the other. It sang the song and\nthen flew home. It rattled the millstone against the eaves of the house,\nand the stepmother said: \u201cIt thunders.\u201d Then the little boy ran out to\nsee the thunder, and down dropped the red shoes at his feet. It\nrattled the millstone against the eaves of the house once more, and the\nstepmother said again: \u201cIt thunders.\u201d Then the father ran out and down\nfell the chain about his neck.\n\nIn ran father and son, laughing and saying, \u201cSee, what fine things the\nthunder has brought us!\u201d Then the bird rattled the millstone against the\neaves of the house a third time; and the stepmother said: \u201cIt thunders\nagain, perhaps the thunder has brought something for me,\u201d and she\nran out; but the moment she stepped outside the door, down fell the\nmillstone on her head; and so she died.\n\n\n\n\nTHE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG\n\nAn old woman was sweeping her house, and she found a little crooked\nsixpence. \u201cWhat,\u201d said she, \u201cshall I do with this little sixpence? I\nwill go to market, and buy a little pig.\u201d\n\nAs she was coming home, she came to a stile: but the piggy wouldn't go\nover the stile.\n\nShe went a little further, and she met a dog. So she said to the dog:\n\u201cDog! bite pig; piggy won't go over the stile; and I shan't get home\nto-night.\u201d But the dog wouldn't.\n\nShe went a little further, and she met a stick. So she said: \u201cStick!\nstick! beat dog! dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and\nI shan't get home to-night.\u201d But the stick wouldn't.\n\nShe went a little further, and she met a fire. So she said: \u201cFire! fire!\nburn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get\nover the stile; and I shan't get home to-night.\u201d But the fire wouldn't.\n\nShe went a little further, and she met some water. So she said: \u201cWater,\nwater! quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog\nwon't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home\nto-night.\u201d But the water wouldn't.\n\nShe went a little further, and she met an ox. So she said: \u201cOx! ox!\ndrink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't\nbeat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I\nshan't get home to-night.\u201d But the ox wouldn't.\n\nShe went a little further, and she met a butcher. So she said: \u201cButcher!\nbutcher! kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire\nwon't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't\nget over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night.\u201d But the butcher\nwouldn't.\n\nShe went a little further, and she met a rope. So she said: \u201cRope! rope!\nhang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't\nquench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite\npig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night.\u201d\n But the rope wouldn't.\n\nShe went a little further, and she met a rat. So she said: \u201cRat! rat!\ngnaw rope; rope won't hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; ox won't\ndrink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't\nbeat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I\nshan't get home to-night.\u201d But the rat wouldn't.\n\nShe went a little further, and she met a cat. So she said: \u201cCat! cat!\nkill rat; rat won't gnaw rope; rope won't hang butcher; butcher won't\nkill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn\nstick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over\nthe stile; and I shan't get home to-night.\u201d But the cat said to her, \u201cIf\nyou will go to yonder cow, and fetch me a saucer of milk, I will kill\nthe rat.\u201d So away went the old woman to the cow.\n\nBut the cow said to her: \u201cIf you will go to yonder hay-stack, and fetch\nme a handful of hay, I'll give you the milk.\u201d So away went the old woman\nto the haystack and she brought the hay to the cow.\n\nAs soon as the cow had eaten the hay, she gave the old woman the milk;\nand away she went with it in a saucer to the cat.\n\nAs soon as the cat had lapped up the milk, the cat began to kill the\nrat; the rat began to gnaw the rope; the rope began to hang the butcher;\nthe butcher began to kill the ox; the ox began to drink the water; the\nwater began to quench the fire; the fire began to burn the stick; the\nstick began to beat the dog; the dog began to bite the pig; the little\npig in a fright jumped over the stile, and so the old woman got home\nthat night.\n\n\n\n\nHOW JACK WENT TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE\n\nOnce on a time there was a boy named Jack, and one morning he started to\ngo and seek his fortune.\n\nHe hadn't gone very far before he met a cat.\n\n\u201cWhere are you going, Jack?\u201d said the cat.\n\n\u201cI am going to seek my fortune.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay I go with you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Jack, \u201cthe more the merrier.\u201d\n\nSo on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt.\n\nThey went a little further and they met a dog.\n\n\u201cWhere are you going, Jack?\u201d said the dog.\n\n\u201cI am going to seek my fortune.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay I go with you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Jack, \u201cthe more the merrier.\u201d\n\nSo on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. They went a little\nfurther and they met a goat.\n\n\u201cWhere are you going, Jack?\u201d said the goat.\n\n\u201cI am going to seek my fortune.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay I go with you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Jack, \u201cthe more the merrier.\u201d\n\nSo on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt.\n\nThey went a little further and they met a bull.\n\n\u201cWhere are you going, Jack?\u201d said the bull.\n\n\u201cI am going to seek my fortune.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay I go with you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Jack, \u201cthe more the merrier.\u201d\n\nSo on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt.\n\nThey went a little further and they met a rooster.\n\n\u201cWhere are you going, Jack?\u201d said the rooster.\n\n\u201cI am going to seek my fortune.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay I go with you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Jack, \u201cthe more the merrier.\u201d\n\nSo on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt.\n\nWell, they went on till it was about dark, and they began to think of\nsome place where they could spend the night. About this time they came\nin sight of a house, and Jack told them to keep still while he went up\nand looked in through the window. And there were some robbers counting\nover their money. Then Jack went back and told them to wait till he gave\nthe word, and then to make all the noise they could. So when they were\nall ready Jack gave the word, and the cat mewed, and the dog barked, and\nthe goat bleated, and the bull bellowed, and the rooster crowed, and all\ntogether they made such a dreadful noise that it frightened the robbers\nall away.\n\nAnd then they went in and took possession of the house. Jack was afraid\nthe robbers would come back in the night, and so when it came time to go\nto bed he put the cat in the rocking-chair, and he put the dog under the\ntable, and he put the goat upstairs, and he put the bull down cellar,\nand the rooster flew up on to the roof, and Jack went to bed.\n\nBy-and-by the robbers saw it was all dark and they sent one man back to\nthe house to look after their money. Before long he came back in a great\nfright and told them his story.\n\n\u201cI went back to the house,\u201d said he, \u201cand went in and tried to sit down\nin the rocking-chair, and there was an old woman knitting, and she stuck\nher knitting-needles into me.\u201d That was the cat, you know.\n\n\u201cI went to the table to look after the money and there was a shoemaker\nunder the table, and he stuck his awl into me.\u201d That was the dog, you\nknow.\n\n\u201cI started to go upstairs, and there was a man up there threshing, and\nhe knocked me down with his flail.\u201d That was the goat, you know.\n\n\u201cI started to go down cellar, and there was a man down there chopping\nwood, and he knocked me up with his axe.\u201d That was the bull, you know.\n\n\u201cBut I shouldn't have minded all that if it hadn't been for that little\nfellow on top of the house, who kept a-hollering, 'Chuck him up to me-e!\nChuck him up to me-e!'\u201d Of course that was the cock-a-doodle-do.\n\n\n\n\nMR. VINEGAR\n\nMr. and Mrs. Vinegar lived in a vinegar bottle. Now, one day, when Mr.\nVinegar was from home, Mrs. Vinegar, who was a very good housewife, was\nbusily sweeping her house, when an unlucky thump of the broom brought\nthe whole house clitter-clatter, clitter-clatter, about her ears. In an\nagony of grief she rushed forth to meet her husband.\n\nOn seeing him she exclaimed, \u201cOh, Mr. Vinegar, Mr. Vinegar, we are\nruined, I have knocked the house down, and it is all to pieces!\u201d Mr.\nVinegar then said: \u201cMy dear, let us see what can be done. Here is\nthe door; I will take it on my back, and we will go forth to seek our\nfortune.\u201d\n\nThey walked all that day, and at nightfall entered a thick forest. They\nwere both very, very tired, and Mr. Vinegar said: \u201cMy love, I will climb\nup into a tree, drag up the door, and you shall follow.\u201d He accordingly\ndid so, and they both stretched their weary limbs on the door, and fell\nfast asleep.\n\nIn the middle of the night Mr. Vinegar was disturbed by the sound of\nvoices underneath, and to his horror and dismay found that it was a band\nof thieves met to divide their booty.\n\n\u201cHere, Jack,\u201d said one, \u201chere's five pounds for you; here, Bill, here's\nten pounds for you; here, Bob, here's three pounds for you.\u201d\n\nMr. Vinegar could listen no longer; his terror was so great that he\ntrembled and trembled, and shook down the door on their heads. Away\nscampered the thieves, but Mr. Vinegar dared not quit his retreat till\nbroad daylight.\n\nHe then scrambled out of the tree, and went to lift up the door. What\ndid he see but a number of golden guineas. \u201cCome down, Mrs. Vinegar,\u201d he\ncried; \u201ccome down, I say; our fortune's made, our fortune's made! Come\ndown, I say.\u201d\n\nMrs. Vinegar got down as fast as she could, and when she saw the money\nshe jumped for joy. \u201cNow, my dear,\u201d said she, \u201cI'll tell you what you\nshall do. There is a fair at the neighbouring town; you shall take these\nforty guineas and buy a cow. I can make butter and cheese, which\nyou shall sell at market, and we shall then be able to live very\ncomfortably.\u201d\n\nMr. Vinegar joyfully agrees, takes the money, and off he goes to the\nfair. When he arrived, he walked up and down, and at length saw a\nbeautiful red cow. It was an excellent milker, and perfect in every\nway. \u201cOh,\u201d thought Mr. Vinegar, \u201cif I had but that cow, I should be the\nhappiest, man alive.\u201d\n\nSo he offers the forty guineas for the cow, and the owner said that, as\nhe was a friend, he'd oblige him. So the bargain was made, and he got\nthe cow and he drove it backwards and forwards to show it.\n\nBy-and-by he saw a man playing the bagpipes--Tweedle-dum tweedle-dee.\nThe children followed him about, and he appeared to be pocketing money\non all sides. \u201cWell,\u201d thought Mr. Vinegar, \u201cif I had but that beautiful\ninstrument I should be the happiest man alive--my fortune would be\nmade.\u201d\n\nSo he went up to the man. \u201cFriend,\u201d says he, \u201cwhat a beautiful\ninstrument that is, and what a deal of money you must make.\u201d \u201cWhy, yes,\u201d\n said the man, \u201cI make a great deal of money, to be sure, and it is a\nwonderful instrument.\u201d \u201cOh!\u201d cried Mr. Vinegar, \u201chow I should like to\npossess it!\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d said the man, \u201cas you are a friend, I don't much\nmind parting with it; you shall have it for that red cow.\u201d \u201cDone!\u201d said\nthe delighted Mr. Vinegar. So the beautiful red cow was given for the\nbagpipes.\n\nHe walked up and down with his purchase; but it was in vain he tried\nto play a tune, and instead of pocketing pence, the boys followed him\nhooting, laughing, and pelting.\n\nPoor Mr. Vinegar, his fingers grew very cold, and, just as he was\nleaving the town, he met a man with a fine thick pair of gloves. \u201cOh,\nmy fingers are so very cold,\u201d said Mr. Vinegar to himself. \u201cNow if I had\nbut those beautiful gloves I should be the happiest man alive.\u201d He went\nup to the man, and said to him, \u201cFriend, you seem to have a capital pair\nof gloves there.\u201d \u201cYes, truly,\u201d cried the man; \u201cand my hands are as warm\nas possible this cold November day.\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d said Mr. Vinegar, \u201cI should\nlike to have them.\u201d. \u201cWhat will you give?\u201d said the man; \u201cas you are\na friend, I don't much mind letting you have them for those bagpipes.\u201d\n \u201cDone!\u201d cried Mr. Vinegar. He put on the gloves, and felt perfectly\nhappy as he trudged homewards.\n\nAt last he grew very tired, when he saw a man coming towards him with a\ngood stout stick in his hand.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said Mr. Vinegar, \u201cthat I had but that stick! I should then be the\nhappiest man alive.\u201d He said to the man: \u201cFriend! what a rare good stick\nyou have got.\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d said the man; \u201cI have used it for many a long\nmile, and a good friend it has been; but if you have a fancy for it,\nas you are a friend, I don't mind giving it to you for that pair of\ngloves.\u201d Mr. Vinegar's hands were so warm, and his legs so tired, that\nhe gladly made the exchange.\n\nAs he drew near to the wood where he had left his wife, he heard a\nparrot on a tree calling out his name: \u201cMr. Vinegar, you foolish man,\nyou blockhead, you simpleton; you went to the fair, and laid out all\nyour money in buying a cow. Not content with that, you changed it\nfor bagpipes, on which you could not play, and which were not worth\none-tenth of the money. You fool, you--you had no sooner got the\nbagpipes than you changed them for the gloves, which were not worth\none-quarter of the money; and when you had got the gloves, you changed\nthem for a poor miserable stick; and now for your forty guineas, cow,\nbagpipes, and gloves, you have nothing to show but that poor miserable\nstick, which you might have cut in any hedge.\u201d On this the bird laughed\nand laughed, and Mr. Vinegar, falling into a violent rage, threw the\nstick at its head. The stick lodged in the tree, and he returned to his\nwife without money, cow, bagpipes, gloves, or stick, and she instantly\ngave him such a sound cudgelling that she almost broke every bone in his\nskin.\n\n\n\n\nNIX NOUGHT NOTHING\n\nThere once lived a king and a queen as many a one has been. They were\nlong married and had no children; but at last a baby-boy came to the\nqueen when the king was away in the far countries. The queen would not\nchristen the boy till the king came back, and she said, \u201cWe will just\ncall him _Nix Nought Nothing_ until his father comes home.\u201d But it was\nlong before he came home, and the boy had grown a nice little laddie.\nAt length the king was on his way back; but he had a big river to cross,\nand there was a whirlpool, and he could not get over the water. But a\ngiant came up to him, and said \u201cI'll carry you over.\u201d But the king said:\n\u201cWhat's your pay?\u201d \u201cO give me Nix, Nought, Nothing, and I will carry you\nover the water on my back.\u201d The king had never heard that his son was\ncalled Nix Nought Nothing, and so he said: \u201cO, I'll give you that and\nmy thanks into the bargain.\u201d When the king got home again, he was very\nhappy to see his wife again, and his young son. She told him that she\nhad not given the child any name, but just Nix Nought Nothing, until he\nshould come home again himself. The poor king was in a terrible case.\nHe said: \u201cWhat have I done? I promised to give the giant who carried me\nover the river on his back, Nix Nought Nothing.\u201d The king and the queen\nwere sad and sorry, but they said: \u201cWhen the giant comes we will give\nhim the hen-wife's boy; he will never know the difference.\u201d The next\nday the giant came to claim the king's promise, and he sent for the\nhen-wife's boy; and the giant went away with the boy on his back. He\ntravelled till he came to a big stone, and there he sat down to rest. He\nsaid,\n\n\u201cHidge, Hodge, on my back, what time of day is that?\u201d\n\nThe poor little boy said: \u201cIt is the time that my mother, the hen-wife,\ntakes up the eggs for the queen's breakfast.\u201d\n\nThe Giant was very angry, and dashed the boy's head on the stone and\nkilled him.\n\nSo he went back in a tower of a temper and this time they gave him the\ngardener's boy. He went off with him on his back till they got to the\nstone again when the giant sat down to rest. And he said:\n\n\u201cHidge, Hodge, on my back, what time of day do you make that?\u201d\n\nThe gardener's boy said: \u201cSure it's the time that my mother takes up the\nvegetables for the queen's dinner.\u201d Then the giant was right wild and\ndashed his brains out on the stone.\n\nThen the giant went back to the king's house in a terrible temper and\nsaid he would destroy them all if they did not give him Nix Nought\nNothing this time. They had to do it; and when he came to the big stone,\nthe giant said: \u201cWhat time of day is that?\u201d Nix Nought Nothing said: \u201cIt\nis the time that my father the king will be sitting down to supper.\u201d The\ngiant said: \u201cI've got the right one now;\u201d and took Nix Nought Nothing to\nhis own house and brought him up till he was a man.\n\nThe giant had a bonny daughter, and she and the lad grew very fond of\neach other. The giant said one day to Nix Nought Nothing: \u201cI've work for\nyou to-morrow. There is a stable seven miles long and seven miles broad,\nand it has not been cleaned for seven years, and you must clean it\nto-morrow, or I will have you for my supper.\u201d\n\nThe giant's daughter went out next morning with the lad's breakfast, and\nfound him in a terrible state, for always as he cleaned out a bit, it\njust fell in again. The giant's daughter said she would help him, and\nshe cried all the beasts in the field, and all the fowls of the air, and\nin a minute they all came, and carried away everything that was in the\nstable and made it all clean before the giant came home. He said: \u201cShame\non the wit that helped you; but I have a worse job for you to-morrow.\u201d\n Then he said to Nix Nought Nothing: \u201cThere's a lake seven miles long,\nand seven miles deep, and seven miles broad, and you must drain it\nto-morrow by nightfall, or else I'll have you for my supper.\u201d Nix Nought\nNothing began early next morning and tried to lave the water with his\npail, but the lake was never getting any less, and he didn't know what\nto do; but the giant's daughter called on all the fish in the sea to\ncome and drink the water, and very soon they drank it dry. When the\ngiant saw the work done he was in a rage, and said: \u201cI've a worse job\nfor you to-morrow; there is a tree, seven miles high, and no branch on\nit, till you get to the top, and there is a nest with seven eggs in it,\nand you must bring down all the eggs without breaking one, or else I'll\nhave you for my supper.\u201d At first the giant's daughter did not know how\nto help Nix Nought Nothing; but she cut off first her fingers and then\nher toes, and made steps of them, and he clomb the tree and got all the\neggs safe till he came just to the bottom, and then one was broken. So\nthey determined to run away together and after the giant's daughter had\ntidied up her hair a bit and got her magic flask they set out together\nas fast as they could run. And they hadn't got but three fields away\nwhen they looked back and saw the giant walking along at top speed after\nthem. \u201cQuick, quick,\u201d called out the giant's daughter, \u201ctake my comb\nfrom my hair and throw it down.\u201d Nix Nought Nothing took her comb from\nher hair and threw it down, and out of every one of its prongs there\nsprung up a fine thick briar in the way of the giant. You may be sure it\ntook him a long time to work his way through the briar bush and by the\ntime he was well through Nix Nought Nothing and his sweetheart had run\non a tidy step away from him. But he soon came along after them and was\njust like to catch 'em up when the giant's daughter called out to Nix\nNought Nothing, \u201cTake my hair dagger and throw it down, quick, quick.\u201d\n So Nix Nought Nothing threw down the hair dagger and out of it grew as\nquick as lightning a thick hedge of sharp razors placed criss-cross. The\ngiant had to tread very cautiously to get through all this and meanwhile\nthe young lovers ran on, and on, and on, till they were nearly out of\nsight. But at last the giant was through, and it wasn't long before he\nwas like to catch them up. But just as he was stretching out his hand\nto catch Nix Nought Nothing his daughter took out her magic flask and\ndashed it on the ground. And as it broke out of it welled a big, big\nwave that grew, and that grew, till it reached the giant's waist and\nthen his neck, and when it got to his head, he was drowned dead, and\ndead, and dead indeed. So he goes out of the story.\n\nBut Nix Nought Nothing fled on till where do you think they came to?\nWhy, to near the castle of Nix Nought Nothing's father and mother. But\nthe giant's daughter was so weary that she couldn't move a step further.\nSo Nix Nought Nothing told her to wait there while he went and found\nout a lodging for the night. And he went on towards the lights of the\ncastle, and on the way he came to the cottage of the hen-wife whose\nboy had had his brains dashed out by the giant. Now she knew Nix Nought\nNothing in a moment, and hated him because he was the cause of her son's\ndeath. So when he asked his way to the castle she put a spell upon him,\nand when he got to the castle, no sooner was he let in than he fell down\ndead asleep upon a bench in the hall. The king and queen tried all they\ncould do to wake him up, but all in vain. So the king promised that if\nany lady could wake him up she should marry him. Meanwhile the giant's\ndaughter was waiting and waiting for him to come back. And she went up\ninto a tree to watch for him. The gardener's daughter, going to draw\nwater in the well, saw the shadow of the lady in the water and thought\nit was herself, and said; \u201cIf I'm so bonny, if I'm so brave, why do you\nsend me to draw water?\u201d So she threw down her pail and went to see if\nshe could wed the sleeping stranger. And she went to the hen-wife, who\ntaught her an unspelling catch which would keep Nix Nought Nothing awake\nas long as the gardener's daughter liked. So she went up to the castle\nand sang her catch and Nix Nought Nothing was wakened for a bit and they\npromised to wed him to the gardener's daughter. Meanwhile the gardener\nwent down to draw water from the well and saw the shadow of the lady in\nthe water. So he looks up and finds her, and he brought the lady from\nthe tree, and led her into his house. And he told her that a stranger\nwas to marry his daughter, and took her up to the castle and showed her\nthe man: and it was Nix Nought Nothing asleep in a chair. And she saw\nhim, and cried to him: \u201cWaken, waken, and speak to me!\u201d But he would not\nwaken, and soon she cried:\n\n  \u201cI cleaned the stable, I laved the lake, and I clomb the tree,\n  And all for the love of thee,\n  And thou wilt not waken and speak to me.\u201d\n\nThe king and the queen heard this, and came to the bonny young lady, and\nshe said:\n\n\u201cI cannot get Nix Nought Nothing to speak to me for all that I can do.\u201d\n\nThen were they greatly astonished when she spoke of Nix Nought Nothing,\nand asked where he was, and she said: \u201cHe that sits there in the chair.\u201d\n Then they ran to him and kissed him and called him their own dear son;\nso they called for the gardener's daughter and made her sing her charm,\nand he wakened, and told them all that the giant's daughter had done\nfor him, and of all her kindness. Then they took her in their arms and\nkissed her, and said she should now be their daughter, for their son\nshould marry her. But they sent for the hen-wife and put her to death.\nAnd they lived happy all their days.\n\n\n\n\nJACK HANNAFORD\n\nThere was an old soldier who had been long in the wars--so long, that\nhe was quite out-at-elbows, and he did not know where to go to find a\nliving. So he walked up moors, down glens, till at last he came to a\nfarm, from which the good man had gone away to market. The wife of the\nfarmer was a very foolish woman, who had been a widow when he married\nher; the farmer was foolish enough, too, and it is hard to say which of\nthe two was the more foolish. When you've heard my tale you may decide.\n\nNow before the farmer goes to market says he to his wife: \u201cHere is ten\npounds all in gold, take care of it till I come home.\u201d If the man had\nnot been a fool he would never have given the money to his wife to keep.\nWell, off he went in his cart to market, and the wife said to herself:\n\u201cI will keep the ten pounds quite safe from thieves;\u201d so she tied it up\nin a rag, and she put the rag up the parlour chimney.\n\n\u201cThere,\u201d said she, \u201cno thieves will ever find it now, that is quite\nsure.\u201d\n\nJack Hannaford, the old soldier, came and rapped at the door.\n\n\u201cWho is there?\u201d asked the wife.\n\n\u201cJack Hannaford.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere do you come from?\u201d\n\n\u201cParadise.\u201d\n\n\u201cLord a' mercy! and maybe you've seen my old man there,\u201d alluding to her\nformer husband.\n\n\u201cYes, I have.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd how was he a-doing?\u201d asked the goody.\n\n\u201cBut middling; he cobbles old shoes, and he has nothing but cabbage for\nvictuals.\u201d\n\n\u201cDeary me!\u201d exclaimed the woman. \u201cDidn't he send a message to me?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, he did,\u201d replied Jack Hannaford. \u201cHe said that he was out of\nleather, and his pockets were empty, so you were to send him a few\nshillings to buy a fresh stock of leather.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe shall have them, bless his poor soul!\u201d And away went the wife to the\nparlour chimney, and she pulled the rag with the ten pounds in it from\nthe chimney, and she gave the whole sum to the soldier, telling him that\nher old man was to use as much as he wanted, and to send back the rest.\n\nIt was not long that Jack waited after receiving the money; he went off\nas fast as he could walk.\n\nPresently the farmer came home and asked for his money. The wife told\nhim that she had sent it by a soldier to her former husband in Paradise,\nto buy him leather for cobbling the shoes of the saints and angels of\nHeaven. The farmer was very angry, and he swore that he had never met\nwith such a fool as his wife. But the wife said that her husband was a\ngreater fool for letting her have the money.\n\nThere was no time to waste words; so the farmer mounted his horse and\nrode off after Jack Hannaford. The old soldier heard the horse's hoofs\nclattering on the road behind him, so he knew it must be the farmer\npursuing him. He lay down on the ground, and shading his eyes with one\nhand, looked up into the sky, and pointed heavenwards with the other\nhand.\n\n\u201cWhat are you about there?\u201d asked the farmer, pulling up.\n\n\u201cLord save you!\u201d exclaimed Jack: \u201cI've seen a rare sight.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat was that?\u201d\n\n\u201cA man going straight up into the sky, as if he were walking on a road.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan you see him still?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I can.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere?\u201d\n\n\u201cGet off your horse and lie down.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you will hold the horse.\u201d\n\nJack did so readily.\n\n\u201cI cannot see him,\u201d said the farmer.\n\n\u201cShade your eyes with your hand, and you'll soon see a man flying away\nfrom you.\u201d\n\nSure enough he did so, for Jack leaped on the horse, and rode away with\nit. The farmer walked home without his horse.\n\n\u201cYou are a bigger fool than I am,\u201d said the wife; \u201cfor I did only one\nfoolish thing, and you have done two.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nBINNORIE\n\nOnce upon a time there were two king's daughters lived in a bower near\nthe bonny mill-dams of Binnorie. And Sir William came wooing the eldest\nand won her love and plighted troth with glove and with ring. But after\na time he looked upon the youngest, with her cherry cheeks and golden\nhair, and his love grew towards her till he cared no longer for the\neldest one. So she hated her sister for taking away Sir William's love,\nand day by day her hate grew upon her, and she plotted and she planned\nhow to get rid of her.\n\nSo one fine morning, fair and clear, she said to her sister, \u201cLet us\ngo and see our father's boats come in at the bonny mill-stream of\nBinnorie.\u201d So they went there hand in hand. And when they got to the\nriver's bank the youngest got upon a stone to watch for the coming of\nthe boats. And her sister, coming behind her, caught her round the waist\nand dashed her into the rushing mill-stream of Binnorie.\n\n\u201cO sister, sister, reach me your hand!\u201d she cried, as she floated away,\n\u201cand you shall have half of all I've got or shall get.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, sister, I'll reach you no hand of mine, for I am the heir to all\nyour land. Shame on me if I touch the hand that has come 'twixt me and\nmy own heart's love.\u201d\n\n\u201cO sister, O sister, then reach me your glove!\u201d she cried, as she\nfloated further away, \u201cand you shall have your William again.\u201d\n\n\u201cSink on,\u201d cried the cruel princess, \u201cno hand or glove of mine you'll\ntouch. Sweet William will be all mine when you are sunk beneath the\nbonny mill-stream of Binnorie.\u201d And she turned and went home to the\nking's castle.\n\nAnd the princess floated down the mill-stream, sometimes swimming\nand sometimes sinking, till she came near the mill. Now the miller's\ndaughter was cooking that day, and needed water for her cooking. And as\nshe went to draw it from the stream, she saw something floating towards\nthe mill-dam, and she called out, \u201cFather! father! draw your dam.\nThere's something white--a merry maid or a milk-white swan--coming down\nthe stream.\u201d So the miller hastened to the dam and stopped the heavy\ncruel mill-wheels. And then they took out the princess and laid her on\nthe bank.\n\nFair and beautiful she looked as she lay there. In her golden hair were\npearls and precious stones; you could not see her waist for her golden\ngirdle; and the golden fringe of her white dress came down over her lily\nfeet. But she was drowned, drowned!\n\nAnd as she lay there in her beauty a famous harper passed by the\nmill-dam of Binnorie, and saw her sweet pale face. And though he\ntravelled on far away he never forgot that face, and after many days he\ncame back to the bonny mill-stream of Binnorie. But then all he could\nfind of her where they had put her to rest were her bones and her\ngolden hair. So he made a harp out of her breast-bone and her hair, and\ntravelled on up the hill from the mill-dam of Binnorie, till he came to\nthe castle of the king her father.\n\nThat night they were all gathered in the castle hall to hear the great\nharper--king and queen, their daughter and son, Sir William and all\ntheir Court. And first the harper sang to his old harp, making them joy\nand be glad or sorrow and weep just as he liked. But while he sang he\nput the harp he had made that day on a stone in the hall. And presently\nit began to sing by itself, low and clear, and the harper stopped and\nall were hushed.\n\nAnd this was what the harp sung:\n\n  \u201cO yonder sits my father, the king,\n    Binnorie, O Binnorie;\n  And yonder sits my mother, the queen;\n    By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie,\n\n  \u201cAnd yonder stands my brother Hugh,\n    Binnorie, O Binnorie;\n  And by him, my William, false and true;\n    By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie.\u201d\n\nThen they all wondered, and the harper told them how he had seen the\nprincess lying drowned on the bank near the bonny mill-dams o'\nBinnorie, and how he had afterwards made this harp out of her hair and\nbreast-bone. Just then the harp began singing again, and this was what\nit sang out loud and clear:\n\n  \u201cAnd there sits my sister who drown\u00e8d me\n  By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie.\u201d\n\nAnd the harp snapped and broke, and never sang more.\n\n\n\n\nMOUSE AND MOUSER\n\nThe Mouse went to visit the Cat, and found her sitting behind the hall\ndoor, spinning.\n\nMOUSE. What are you doing, my lady, my lady, What are you doing, my\nlady?\n\nCAT (_sharply_). I'm spinning old breeches, good body, good body I'm\nspinning old breeches, good body.\n\nMOUSE. Long may you wear them, my lady, my lady, Long may you wear them,\nmy lady.\n\nCAT (_gruffly_). I'll wear' em and tear 'em, good body, good body. I'll\nwear 'em and tear 'em, good body.\n\nMOUSE. I was sweeping my room, my lady, my lady, I was sweeping my room,\nmy lady.\n\nCAT. The cleaner you'd be, good body, good body, The cleaner you'd be,\ngood body.\n\nMOUSE. I found a silver sixpence, my lady, my lady, I found a silver\nsixpence, my lady.\n\nCAT. The richer you were, good body, good body, The richer you were,\ngood body.\n\nMOUSE. I went to the market, my lady, my lady, I went to the market, my\nlady.\n\nCAT. The further you went, good body, good body The further you went,\ngood body.\n\nMOUSE. I bought me a pudding, my lady, my lady, I bought me a pudding,\nmy lady.\n\nCAT (_snarling_). The more meat you had, good body, good body, The more\nmeat you had, good body.\n\nMOUSE. I put it in the window to cool, my lady, I put it in the window\nto cool.\n\nCAT. (_sharply_). The faster you'd eat it, good body, good body, The\nfaster you'd eat it, good body.\n\nMOUSE (_timidly_). The cat came and ate it, my lady, my lady, The cat\ncame and ate it, my lady.\n\nCAT (_pouncingly_). And I'll eat you, good body, good body, And I'll eat\nyou, good body.\n\n(_Springs upon the mouse and kills it._)\n\n\n\n\nCAP O' RUSHES\n\nWell, there was once a very rich gentleman, and he'd three daughters,\nand he thought he'd see how fond they were of him. So he says to the\nfirst, \u201cHow much do you love me, my dear?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d says she, \u201cas I love my life.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat's good,\u201d says he.\n\nSo he says to the second, \u201cHow much do _you_ love me, my dear?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d says she, \u201cbetter nor all the world.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat's good,\u201d says he.\n\nSo he says to the third, \u201cHow much do _you_ love me, my dear?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, I love you as fresh meat loves salt,\u201d says she.\n\nWell, he was that angry. \u201cYou don't love me at all,\u201d says he, \u201cand in\nmy house you stay no more.\u201d So he drove her out there and then, and shut\nthe door in her face.\n\nWell, she went away on and on till she came to a fen, and there she\ngathered a lot of rushes and made them into a kind of a sort of a\ncloak with a hood, to cover her from head to foot, and to hide her fine\nclothes. And then she went on and on till she came to a great house.\n\n\u201cDo you want a maid?\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cNo, we don't,\u201d said they.\n\n\u201cI haven't nowhere to go,\u201d says she; \u201cand I ask no wages, and do any\nsort of work,\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d says they, \u201cif you like to wash the pots and scrape the\nsaucepans you may stay,\u201d said they.\n\nSo she stayed there and washed the pots and scraped the saucepans and\ndid all the dirty work. And because she gave no name they called her\n\u201cCap o' Rushes.\u201d\n\nWell, one day there was to be a great dance a little way off, and the\nservants were allowed to go and look on at the grand people. Cap o'\nRushes said she was too tired to go, so she stayed at home.\n\nBut when they were gone she offed with her cap o' rushes, and cleaned\nherself, and went to the dance. And no one there was so finely dressed\nas her.\n\nWell, who should be there but her master's son, and what should he do\nbut fall in love with her the minute he set eyes on her. He wouldn't\ndance with any one else.\n\nBut before the dance was done Cap o' Rushes slipt off, and away she went\nhome. And when the other maids came back she was pretending to be asleep\nwith her cap o' rushes on.\n\nWell, next morning they said to her, \u201cYou did miss a sight, Cap o'\nRushes!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat was that?\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cWhy, the beautifullest lady you ever see, dressed right gay and ga'.\nThe young master, he never took his eyes off her.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I should have liked to have seen her,\u201d says Cap o' Rushes.\n\n\u201cWell, there's to be another dance this evening, and perhaps she'll be\nthere.\u201d\n\nBut, come the evening, Cap o' Rushes said she was too tired to go with\nthem. Howsoever, when they were gone, she offed with her cap o' rushes\nand cleaned herself, and away she went to the dance.\n\nThe master's son had been reckoning on seeing her, and he danced with\nno one else, and never took his eyes off her. But, before the dance was\nover, she slipt off, and home she went, and when the maids came back\nshe, pretended to be asleep with her cap o' rushes on.\n\nNext day they said to her again, \u201cWell, Cap o' Rushes, you should ha'\nbeen there to see the lady. There she was again, gay and ga', and the\nyoung master he never took his eyes off her.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, there,\u201d says she, \u201cI should ha' liked to ha' seen her.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d says they, \u201cthere's a dance again this evening, and you must go\nwith us, for she's sure to be there.\u201d\n\nWell, come this evening, Cap o' Rushes said she was too tired to go, and\ndo what they would she stayed at home. But when they were gone she offed\nwith her cap o' rushes and cleaned herself, and away she went to the\ndance.\n\nThe master's son was rarely glad when he saw her. He danced with none\nbut her and never took his eyes off her. When she wouldn't tell him her\nname, nor where she came from, he gave her a ring and told her if he\ndidn't see her again he should die.\n\nWell, before the dance was over, off she slipped, and home she went, and\nwhen the maids came home she was pretending to be asleep with her cap o'\nrushes on.\n\nWell, next day they says to her, \u201cThere, Cap o' Rushes, you didn't come\nlast night, and now you won't see the lady, for there's no more dances.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell I should have rarely liked to have seen her,\u201d says she.\n\nThe master's son he tried every way to find out where the lady was gone,\nbut go where he might, and ask whom he might, he never heard anything\nabout her. And he got worse and worse for the love of her till he had to\nkeep his bed.\n\n\u201cMake some gruel for the young master,\u201d they said to the cook. \u201cHe's\ndying for the love of the lady.\u201d The cook she set about making it when\nCap o' Rushes came in.\n\n\u201cWhat are you a-doing of?\u201d, says she.\n\n\u201cI'm going to make some gruel for the young master,\u201d says the cook, \u201cfor\nhe's dying for love of the lady.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet me make it,\u201d says Cap o' Rushes.\n\nWell, the cook wouldn't at first, but at last she said yes, and Cap o'\nRushes made the gruel. And when she had made it she slipped the ring\ninto it on the sly before the cook took it upstairs.\n\nThe young man he drank it and then he saw the ring at the bottom.\n\n\u201cSend for the cook,\u201d says he.\n\nSo up she comes.\n\n\u201cWho made this gruel here?\u201d says he.\n\n\u201cI did,\u201d says the cook, for she was frightened.\n\nAnd he looked at her,\n\n\u201cNo, you didn't,\u201d says he. \u201cSay who did it, and you shan't be harmed.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, then, 'twas Cap o' Rushes,\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cSend Cap o' Rushes here,\u201d says he.\n\nSo Cap o' Rushes came.\n\n\u201cDid you make my gruel?\u201d says he.\n\n\u201cYes, I did,\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cWhere did you get this ring?\u201d says he.\n\n\u201cFrom him that gave it me,\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cWho are you, then?\u201d says the young man.\n\n\u201cI'll show you,\u201d says she. And she offed with her cap o' rushes, and\nthere she was in her beautiful clothes.\n\nWell, the master's son he got well very soon, and they were to be\nmarried in a little time. It was to be a very grand wedding, and every\none was asked far and near. And Cap o' Rushes' father was asked. But she\nnever told anybody who she was.\n\nBut before the wedding she went to the cook, and says she:\n\n\u201cI want you to dress every dish without a mite o' salt.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat'll be rare nasty,\u201d says the cook.\n\n\u201cThat doesn't signify,\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d says the cook.\n\nWell, the wedding-day came, and they were married. And after they were\nmarried all the company sat down to the dinner. When they began to eat\nthe meat, that was so tasteless they couldn't eat it. But Cap o' Rushes'\nfather he tried first one dish and then another, and then he burst out\ncrying.\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d said the master's son to him.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d says he, \u201cI had a daughter. And I asked her how much she loved me.\nAnd she said 'As much as fresh meat loves salt.' And I turned her from\nmy door, for I thought she didn't love me. And now I see she loved me\nbest of all. And she may be dead for aught I know.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, father, here she is!\u201d says Cap o' Rushes. And she goes up to him\nand puts her arms round him.\n\nAnd so they were happy ever after.\n\n\n\n\nTEENY-TINY\n\nOnce upon a time there was a teeny-tiny woman lived in a teeny-tiny\nhouse in a teeny-tiny village. Now, one day this teeny-tiny woman put\non her teeny-tiny bonnet, and went out of her teeny-tiny house to take\na teeny-tiny walk. And when this teeny-tiny woman had gone a teeny-tiny\nway she came to a teeny-tiny gate; so the teeny-tiny woman opened the\nteeny-tiny gate, and went into a teeny-tiny churchyard. And when this\nteeny-tiny woman had got into the teeny-tiny churchyard, she saw a\nteeny-tiny bone on a teeny-tiny grave, and the teeny-tiny woman said to\nher teeny-tiny self, \u201cThis teeny-tiny bone will make me some teeny-tiny\nsoup for my teeny-tiny supper.\u201d So the teeny-tiny woman put the\nteeny-tiny bone into her teeny-tiny pocket, and went home to her\nteeny-tiny house.\n\nNow when the teeny-tiny woman got home to her teeny-tiny house she was\na teeny-tiny bit tired; so she went up her teeny-tiny stairs to her\nteeny-tiny bed, and put the teeny-tiny bone into a teeny-tiny cupboard.\nAnd when this teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep a teeny-tiny time, she\nwas awakened by a teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard, which\nsaid:\n\n\u201cGive me my bone!\u201d\n\nAnd this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny frightened, so she hid her\nteeny-tiny head under the teeny-tiny clothes and went to sleep again.\nAnd when she had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny time, the teeny-tiny\nvoice again cried out from the teeny-tiny cupboard a teeny-tiny louder,\n\u201cGive me my bone!\u201d\n\nThis made the teeny-tiny woman a teeny-tiny more frightened, so she hid\nher teeny-tiny head a teeny-tiny further under the teeny-tiny clothes.\nAnd when the teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny\ntime, the teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard said again a\nteeny-tiny louder,\n\n\u201cGive me my bone!\u201d\n\nAnd this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny bit more frightened, but she\nput her teeny-tiny head out of the teeny-tiny clothes, and said in her\nloudest teeny-tiny voice, \u201cTAKE IT!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nJACK AND THE BEANSTALK\n\nThere was once upon a time a poor widow who had an only son named Jack,\nand a cow named Milky-white. And all they had to live on was the milk\nthe cow gave every morning which they carried to the market and sold.\nBut one morning Milky-white gave no milk and they didn't know what to\ndo.\n\n\u201cWhat shall we do, what shall we do?\u201d said the widow, wringing her\nhands.\n\n\u201cCheer up, mother, I'll go and get work somewhere,\u201d said Jack.\n\n\u201cWe've tried that before, and nobody would take you,\u201d said his mother;\n\u201cwe must sell Milky-white and with the money do something, start shop,\nor something.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right, mother,\u201d says Jack; \u201cit's market-day today, and I'll soon\nsell Milky-white, and then we'll see what we can do.\u201d\n\nSo he took the cow's halter in his hand, and off he starts. He hadn't\ngone far when he met a funny-looking old man who said to him: \u201cGood\nmorning, Jack.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood morning to you,\u201d said Jack, and wondered how he knew his name.\n\n\u201cWell, Jack, and where are you off to?\u201d said the man.\n\n\u201cI'm going to market to sell our cow here.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, you look the proper sort of chap to sell cows,\u201d said the man; \u201cI\nwonder if you know how many beans make five.\u201d\n\n\u201cTwo in each hand and one in your mouth,\u201d says Jack, as sharp as a\nneedle.\n\n\u201cRight you are,\u201d said the man, \u201cand here they are the very beans\nthemselves,\u201d he went on pulling out of his pocket a number of\nstrange-looking beans. \u201cAs you are so sharp,\u201d says he, \u201cI don't mind\ndoing a swop with you--your cow for these beans.\u201d\n\n\u201cWalker!\u201d says Jack; \u201cwouldn't you like it?\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! you don't know what these beans are,\u201d said the man; \u201cif you plant\nthem over-night, by morning they grow right up to the sky.\u201d\n\n\u201cReally?\u201d says Jack; \u201cyou don't say so.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, that is so, and if it doesn't turn out to be true you can have\nyour cow back.\u201d\n\n\u201cRight,\u201d says Jack, and hands him over Milky-white's halter and pockets\nthe beans.\n\nBack goes Jack home, and as he hadn't gone very far it wasn't dusk by\nthe time he got to his door.\n\n\u201cWhat back, Jack?\u201d said his mother; \u201cI see you haven't got Milky-white,\nso you've sold her. How much did you get for her?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou'll never guess, mother,\u201d says Jack.\n\n\u201cNo, you don't say so. Good boy! Five pounds, ten, fifteen, no, it can't\nbe twenty.\u201d\n\n\u201cI told you you couldn't guess, what do you say to these beans; they're\nmagical, plant them over-night and----\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d says Jack's mother, \u201chave you been such a fool, such a dolt,\nsuch an idiot, as to give away my Milky-white, the best milker in the\nparish, and prime beef to boot, for a set of paltry beans. Take that!\nTake that! Take that! And as for your precious beans here they go out of\nthe window. And now off with you to bed. Not a sup shall you drink, and\nnot a bit shall you swallow this very night.\u201d\n\nSo Jack went upstairs to his little room in the attic, and sad and sorry\nhe was, to be sure, as much for his mother's sake, as for the loss of\nhis supper.\n\nAt last he dropped off to sleep.\n\nWhen he woke up, the room looked so funny. The sun was shining into part\nof it, and yet all the rest was quite dark and shady. So Jack jumped\nup and dressed himself and went to the window. And what do you think\nhe saw? why, the beans his mother had thrown out of the window into the\ngarden, had sprung up into a big beanstalk which went up and up and up\ntill it reached the sky. So the man spoke truth after all.\n\nThe beanstalk grew up quite close past Jack's window, so all he had to\ndo was to open it and give a jump on to the beanstalk which was made\nlike a big plaited ladder. So Jack climbed and he climbed and he climbed\nand he climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till at last\nhe reached the sky. And when he got there he found a long broad road\ngoing as straight as a dart. So he walked along and he walked along\nand he walked along till he came to a great big tall house, and on the\ndoorstep there was a great big tall woman.\n\n\u201cGood morning, mum,\u201d says Jack, quite polite-like. \u201cCould you be so kind\nas to give me some breakfast.\u201d For he hadn't had anything to eat, you\nknow, the night before and was as hungry as a hunter.\n\n\u201cIt's breakfast you want, is it?\u201d says the great big tall woman, \u201cit's\nbreakfast you'll be if you don't move off from here. My man is an ogre\nand there's nothing he likes better than boys broiled on toast. You'd\nbetter be moving on or he'll soon be coming.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! please mum, do give me something to eat, mum. I've had nothing to\neat since yesterday morning, really and truly, mum,\u201d says Jack. \u201cI may\nas well be broiled, as die of hunger.\u201d\n\nWell, the ogre's wife wasn't such a bad sort, after all. So she took\nJack into the kitchen, and gave him a junk of bread and cheese and a jug\nof milk. But Jack hadn't half finished these when thump! thump! thump!\nthe whole house began to tremble with the noise of someone coming.\n\n\u201cGoodness gracious me! It's my old man,\u201d said the ogre's wife, \u201cwhat on\nearth shall I do? Here, come quick and jump in here.\u201d And she bundled\nJack into the oven just as the ogre came in.\n\nHe was a big one, to be sure. At his belt he had three calves strung up\nby the heels, and he unhooked them and threw them down on the table and\nsaid: \u201cHere, wife, broil me a couple of these for breakfast. Ah what's\nthis I smell?\n\n  Fee-fi-fo-fum,\n  I smell the blood of an Englishman,\n  Be he alive, or be he dead\n  I'll have his bones to grind my bread.\u201d\n\n\u201cNonsense, dear,\u201d said his wife, \u201cyou're dreaming. Or perhaps you smell\nthe scraps of that little boy you liked so much for yesterday's dinner.\nHere, go you and have a wash and tidy up, and by the time you come back\nyour breakfast'll be ready for you.\u201d\n\nSo the ogre went off, and Jack was just going to jump out of the oven\nand run off when the woman told him not. \u201cWait till he's asleep,\u201d says\nshe; \u201che always has a snooze after breakfast.\u201d\n\nWell, the ogre had his breakfast, and after that he goes to a big chest\nand takes out of it a couple of bags of gold and sits down counting them\ntill at last his head began to nod and he began to snore till the whole\nhouse shook again.\n\nThen Jack crept out on tiptoe from his oven, and as he was passing the\nogre he took one of the bags of gold under his arm, and off he pelters\ntill he came to the beanstalk, and then he threw down the bag of gold\nwhich of course fell in to his mother's garden, and then he climbed down\nand climbed down till at last he got home and told his mother and showed\nher the gold and said: \u201cWell, mother, wasn't I right about the beans.\nThey are really magical, you see.\u201d\n\nSo they lived on the bag of gold for some time, but at last they came to\nthe end of that so Jack made up his mind to try his luck once more up at\nthe top of the beanstalk. So one fine morning he got up early, and got\non to the beanstalk, and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed and\nhe climbed and he climbed and he climbed till at last he got on the road\nagain and came to the great big tall house he had been to before. There,\nsure enough, was the great big tall woman a-standing on the door-step.\n\n\u201cGood morning, mum,\u201d says Jack, as bold as brass, \u201ccould you be so good\nas to give me something to eat?\u201d\n\n\u201cGo away, my boy,\u201d said the big, tall woman, \u201cor else my man will eat\nyou up for breakfast. But aren't you the youngster who came here once\nbefore? Do you know, that very day, my man missed one of his bags of\ngold.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat's strange, mum,\u201d says Jack, \u201cI dare say I could tell you something\nabout that but I'm so hungry I can't speak till I've had something to\neat.\u201d\n\nWell the big tall woman was that curious that she took him in and gave\nhim something to eat. But he had scarcely begun munching it as slowly as\nhe could when thump! thump! thump! they heard the giant's footstep, and\nhis wife hid Jack away in the oven.\n\nAll happened as it did before. In came the ogre as he did before, said:\n\u201cFee-fi-fo-fum,\u201d and had his breakfast off three broiled oxen. Then he\nsaid: \u201cWife, bring me the hen that lays the golden eggs.\u201d So she brought\nit, and the ogre said: \u201cLay,\u201d and it laid an egg all of gold. And then\nthe ogre began to nod his head, and to snore till the house shook.\n\nThen Jack crept out of the oven on tiptoe and caught hold of the golden\nhen, and was off before you could say \u201cJack Robinson.\u201d But this time the\nhen gave a cackle which woke the ogre, and just as Jack got out of the\nhouse he heard him calling: \u201cWife, wife, what have you done with my\ngolden hen?\u201d\n\nAnd the wife said: \u201cWhy, my dear?\u201d\n\nBut that was all Jack heard, for he rushed off to the beanstalk and\nclimbed down like a house on fire. And when he got home he showed his\nmother the wonderful hen and said \u201cLay,\u201d to it; and it laid a golden egg\nevery time he said \u201cLay.\u201d\n\nWell, Jack was not content, and it wasn't very long before he determined\nto have another try at his luck up there at the top of the beanstalk. So\none fine morning, he got up early, and went on to the beanstalk, and he\nclimbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till he got to\nthe top. But this time he knew better than to go straight to the ogre's\nhouse. And when he got near it he waited behind a bush till he saw the\nogre's wife come out with a pail to get some water, and then he crept\ninto the house and got into the copper. He hadn't been there long when\nhe heard thump! thump! thump! as before, and in come the ogre and his\nwife.\n\n\u201cFee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman,\u201d cried out the ogre;\n\u201cI smell him, wife, I smell him.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you, my dearie?\u201d says the ogre's wife. \u201cThen if it's that little\nrogue that stole your gold and the hen that laid the golden eggs he's\nsure to have got into the oven.\u201d And they both rushed to the oven. But\nJack wasn't there, luckily, and the ogre's wife said: \u201cThere you are\nagain with your fee-fi-fo-fum. Why of course it's the laddie you caught\nlast night that I've broiled for your breakfast. How forgetful I am, and\nhow careless you are not to tell the difference between a live un and a\ndead un.\u201d\n\nSo the ogre sat down to the breakfast and ate it, but every now and\nthen he would mutter: \u201cWell, I could have sworn----\u201d and he'd get up\nand search the larder and the cupboards, and everything, only luckily he\ndidn't think of the copper.\n\nAfter breakfast was over, the ogre called out: \u201cWife, wife, bring me my\ngolden harp.\u201d So she brought it and put it on the table before him. Then\nhe said: \u201cSing!\u201d and the golden harp sang most beautifully. And it\nwent on singing till the ogre fell asleep, and commenced to snore like\nthunder.\n\nThen Jack lifted up the copper-lid very quietly and got down like a\nmouse and crept on hands and knees till he got to the table when he got\nup and caught hold of the golden harp and dashed with it towards the\ndoor. But the harp called out quite loud: \u201cMaster! Master!\u201d and the ogre\nwoke up just in time to see Jack running off with his harp.\n\nJack ran as fast as he could, and the ogre came rushing after, and would\nsoon have caught him only Jack had a start and dodged him a bit and knew\nwhere he was going. When he got to the beanstalk the ogre was not more\nthan twenty yards away when suddenly he saw Jack disappear like, and\nwhen he got up to the end of the road he saw Jack underneath climbing\ndown for dear life. Well, the ogre didn't like trusting himself to such\na ladder, and he stood and waited, so Jack got another start. But just\nthen the harp cried out: \u201cMaster! master!\u201d and the ogre swung himself\ndown on to the beanstalk which shook with his weight. Down climbs Jack,\nand after him climbed the ogre. By this time Jack had climbed down and\nclimbed down and climbed down till he was very nearly home. So he called\nout: \u201cMother! mother! bring me an axe, bring me an axe.\u201d And his mother\ncame rushing out with the axe in her hand, but when she came to the\nbeanstalk she stood stock still with fright for there she saw the ogre\njust coming down below the clouds.\n\nBut Jack jumped down and got hold of the axe and gave a chop at the\nbeanstalk which cut it half in two. The ogre felt the beanstalk shake\nand quiver so he stopped to see what was the matter. Then Jack gave\nanother chop with the axe, and the beanstalk was cut in two and began\nto topple over. Then the ogre fell down and broke his crown, and the\nbeanstalk came toppling after.\n\nThen Jack showed his mother his golden harp, and what with showing that\nand selling the golden eggs, Jack and his mother became very rich, and\nhe married a great princess, and they lived happy ever after.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS\n\n  Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhyme\n  And monkeys chewed tobacco,\n  And hens took snuff to make them tough,\n  And ducks went quack, quack, quack, O!\n\nThere was an old sow with three little pigs, and as she had not enough\nto keep them, she sent them out to seek their fortune. The first that\nwent off met a man with a bundle of straw, and said to him:\n\n\u201cPlease, man, give me that straw to build me a house.\u201d\n\nWhich the man did, and the little pig built a house with it. Presently\ncame along a wolf, and knocked at the door, and said:\n\n\u201cLittle pig, little pig, let me come in.\u201d\n\nTo which the pig answered:\n\n\u201cNo, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin.\u201d\n\nThe wolf then answered to that:\n\n\u201cThen I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in.\u201d\n\nSo he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew his house in, and ate up the\nlittle pig.\n\nThe second little pig met a man with a bundle of furze, and said:\n\n\u201cPlease, man, give me that furze to build a house.\u201d\n\nWhich the man did, and the pig built his house. Then along came the\nwolf, and said:\n\n\u201cLittle pig, little pig, let me come in.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I'll puff, and I'll huff, and I'll blow your house in.\u201d\n\nSo he huffed, and he puffed, and he puffed, and he huffed, and at last\nhe blew the house down, and he ate up the little pig.\n\nThe third little pig met a man with a load of bricks, and said:\n\n\u201cPlease, man, give me those bricks to build a house with.\u201d\n\nSo the man gave him the bricks, and he built his house with them. So the\nwolf came, as he did to the other little pigs, and said:\n\n\u201cLittle pig, little pig, let me come in.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in.\u201d\n\nWell, he huffed, and he puffed, and he huffed and he puffed, and he\npuffed and huffed; but he could _not_ get the house down. When he found\nthat he could not, with all his huffing and puffing, blow the house\ndown, he said:\n\n\u201cLittle pig, I know where there is a nice field of turnips.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere?\u201d said the little pig.\n\n\u201cOh, in Mr. Smith's Home-field, and if you will be ready tomorrow\nmorning I will call for you, and we will go together, and get some for\ndinner.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the little pig, \u201cI will be ready. What time do you\nmean to go?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, at six o'clock.\u201d\n\nWell, the little pig got up at five, and got the turnips before the wolf\ncame (which he did about six) and who said:\n\n\u201cLittle Pig, are you ready?\u201d\n\nThe little pig said: \u201cReady! I have been and come back again, and got a\nnice potful for dinner.\u201d\n\nThe wolf felt very angry at this, but thought that he would be up to the\nlittle pig somehow or other, so he said:\n\n\u201cLittle pig, I know where there is a nice apple-tree.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere?\u201d said the pig.\n\n\u201cDown at Merry-garden,\u201d replied the wolf, \u201cand if you will not deceive\nme I will come for you, at five o'clock tomorrow and get some apples.\u201d\n\nWell, the little pig bustled up the next morning at four o'clock, and\nwent off for the apples, hoping to get back before the wolf came; but\nhe had further to go, and had to climb the tree, so that just as he was\ncoming down from it, he saw the wolf coming, which, as you may suppose,\nfrightened him very much. When the wolf came up he said:\n\n\u201cLittle pig, what! are you here before me? Are they nice apples?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, very,\u201d said the little pig. \u201cI will throw you down one.\u201d\n\nAnd he threw it so far, that, while the wolf was gone to pick it up, the\nlittle pig jumped down and ran home. The next day the wolf came again,\nand said to the little pig:\n\n\u201cLittle pig, there is a fair at Shanklin this afternoon, will you go?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh yes,\u201d said the pig, \u201cI will go; what time shall you be ready?\u201d\n\n\u201cAt three,\u201d said the wolf. So the little pig went off before the time\nas usual, and got to the fair, and bought a butter-churn, which he was\ngoing home with, when he saw the wolf coming. Then he could not tell\nwhat to do. So he got into the churn to hide, and by so doing turned it\nround, and it rolled down the hill with the pig in it, which frightened\nthe wolf so much, that he ran home without going to the fair. He went\nto the little pig's house, and told him how frightened he had been by a\ngreat round thing which came down the hill past him. Then the little pig\nsaid:\n\n\u201cHah, I frightened you, then. I had been to the fair and bought a\nbutter-churn, and when I saw you, I got into it, and rolled down the\nhill.\u201d\n\nThen the wolf was very angry indeed, and declared he _would_ eat up the\nlittle pig, and that he would get down the chimney after him. When the\nlittle pig saw what he was about, he hung on the pot full of water, and\nmade up a blazing fire, and, just as the wolf was coming down, took\noff the cover, and in fell the wolf; so the little pig put on the cover\nagain in an instant, boiled him up, and ate him for supper, and lived\nhappy ever afterwards.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MASTER AND HIS PUPIL\n\nThere was once a very learned man in the north-country who knew all the\nlanguages under the sun, and who was acquainted with all the mysteries\nof creation. He had one big book bound in black calf and clasped with\niron, and with iron corners, and chained to a table which was made fast\nto the floor; and when he read out of this book, he unlocked it with an\niron key, and none but he read from it, for it contained all the secrets\nof the spiritual world. It told how many angels there were in heaven,\nand how they marched in their ranks, and sang in their quires, and what\nwere their several functions, and what was the name of each great angel\nof might. And it told of the demons, how many of them there were, and\nwhat were their several powers, and their labours, and their names, and\nhow they might be summoned, and how tasks might be imposed on them, and\nhow they might be chained to be as slaves to man.\n\nNow the master had a pupil who was but a foolish lad, and he acted as\nservant to the great master, but never was he suffered to look into the\nblack book, hardly to enter the private room.\n\nOne day the master was out, and then the lad, as curious as could be,\nhurried to the chamber where his master kept his wondrous apparatus\nfor changing copper into gold, and lead into silver, and where was his\nmirror in which he could see all that was passing in the world, and\nwhere was the shell which when held to the ear whispered all the words\nthat were being spoken by anyone the master desired to know about. The\nlad tried in vain with the crucibles to turn copper and lead into gold\nand silver--he looked long and vainly into the mirror; smoke and clouds\npassed over it, but he saw nothing plain, and the shell to his ear\nproduced only indistinct murmurings, like the breaking of distant seas\non an unknown shore. \u201cI can do nothing,\u201d he said; \u201cas I don't know the\nright words to utter, and they are locked up in yon book.\u201d\n\nHe looked round, and, see! the book was unfastened; the master had\nforgotten to lock it before he went out. The boy rushed to it, and\nunclosed the volume. It was written with red and black ink, and much of\nit he could not understand; but he put his finger on a line and spelled\nit through.\n\nAt once the room was darkened, and the house trembled; a clap of thunder\nrolled through the passage and the old room, and there stood before him\na horrible, horrible form, breathing fire, and with eyes like burning\nlamps. It was the demon Beelzebub, whom he had called up to serve him.\n\n\u201cSet me a task!\u201d said he, with a voice like the roaring of an iron\nfurnace.\n\nThe boy only trembled, and his hair stood up.\n\n\u201cSet me a task, or I shall strangle thee!\u201d\n\nBut the lad could not speak. Then the evil spirit stepped towards him,\nand putting forth his hands touched his throat. The fingers burned his\nflesh. \u201cSet me a task!\u201d\n\n\u201cWater yon flower,\u201d cried the boy in despair, pointing to a geranium\nwhich stood in a pot on the floor. Instantly the spirit left the room,\nbut in another instant he returned with a barrel on his back, and poured\nits contents over the flower; and again and again he went and came, and\npoured more and more water, till the floor of the room was ankle-deep.\n\n\u201cEnough, enough!\u201d gasped the lad; but the demon heeded him not; the lad\ndidn't know the words by which to send him away, and still he fetched\nwater.\n\nIt rose to the boy's knees and still more water was poured. It mounted\nto his waist, and Beelzebub still kept on bringing barrels full. It rose\nto his armpits, and he scrambled to the table-top. And now the water\nin the room stood up to the window and washed against the glass, and\nswirled around his feet on the table. It still rose; it reached his\nbreast. In vain he cried; the evil spirit would not be dismissed, and\nto this day he would have been pouring water, and would have drowned\nall Yorkshire. But the master remembered on his journey that he had\nnot locked his book, and therefore returned, and at the moment when\nthe water was bubbling about the pupil's chin, rushed into the room and\nspoke the words which cast Beelzebub back into his fiery home.\n\n\n\n\nTITTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE\n\nTitty Mouse and Tatty Mouse both lived in a house,\n\nTitty Mouse went a leasing and Tatty Mouse went a leasing,\n\nSo they both went a leasing.\n\nTitty Mouse leased an ear of corn, and Tatty Mouse leased an ear of\ncorn,\n\nSo they both leased an ear of corn.\n\nTitty Mouse made a pudding, and Tatty Mouse made a pudding,\n\nSo they both made a pudding.\n\nAnd Tatty Mouse put her pudding into the pot to boil,\n\nBut when Titty went to put hers in, the pot tumbled over, and scalded\nher to death.\n\nThen Tatty sat down and wept; then a three-legged stool said: \u201cTatty,\nwhy do you weep?\u201d \u201cTitty's dead,\u201d said Tatty, \u201cand so I weep;\u201d \u201cthen,\u201d\n said the stool, \u201cI'll hop,\u201d so the stool hopped.\n\nThen a broom in the corner of the room said, \u201cStool, why do you hop?\u201d\n \u201cOh!\u201d said the stool, \u201cTitty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and so I hop;\u201d\n \u201cthen,\u201d said the broom, \u201cI'll sweep,\u201d so the broom began to sweep.\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said the door, \u201cBroom, why do you sweep?\u201d \u201cOh!\u201d said the broom,\n\u201cTitty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and so I sweep;\u201d\n \u201cThen,\u201d said the door, \u201cI'll jar,\u201d so the door jarred.\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said the window, \u201cDoor, why do you jar?\u201d \u201cOh!\u201d said the door,\n\u201cTitty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the broom\nsweeps, and so I jar.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said the window, \u201cI'll creak,\u201d so the window creaked. Now there\nwas an old form outside the house, and when the window creaked, the form\nsaid: \u201cWindow, why do you creak?\u201d \u201cOh!\u201d said the window, \u201cTitty's dead,\nand Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door\njars, and so I creak.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said the old form, \u201cI'll run round the house;\u201d then the old form\nran round the house. Now there was a fine large walnut-tree growing by\nthe cottage, and the tree said to the form: \u201cForm, why do you run round\nthe house?\u201d \u201cOh!\u201d said the form, \u201cTitty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the\nstool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks,\nand so I run round the house.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said the walnut-tree, \u201cI'll shed my leaves,\u201d so the walnut-tree\nshed all its beautiful green leaves. Now there was a little bird perched\non one of the boughs of the tree, and when all the leaves fell, it\nsaid: \u201cWalnut-tree, why do you shed your leaves?\u201d \u201cOh!\u201d said the tree,\n\u201cTitty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the broom sweeps,\nthe door jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs round the house,\nand so I shed my leaves.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said the little bird, \u201cI'll moult all my feathers,\u201d so he\nmoulted all his pretty feathers. Now there was a little girl walking\nbelow, carrying a jug of milk for her brothers and sisters' supper,\nand when she saw the poor little bird moult all its feathers, she said:\n\u201cLittle bird, why do you moult all your feathers?\u201d \u201cOh!\u201d said the little\nbird, \u201cTitty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the broom\nsweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs round\nthe house, the walnut-tree sheds its leaves, and so I moult all my\nfeathers.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said the little girl, \u201cI'll spill the milk,\u201d so she dropt the\npitcher and spilt the milk. Now there was an old man just by on the top\nof a ladder thatching a rick, and when he saw the little girl spill the\nmilk, he said: \u201cLittle girl, what do you mean by spilling the milk, your\nlittle brothers and sisters must go without their supper.\u201d Then said\nthe little girl: \u201cTitty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the\nbroom sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs\nround the house, the walnut-tree sheds all its leaves, the little bird\nmoults all its feathers, and so I spill the milk.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the old man, \u201cthen I'll tumble off the ladder and break my\nneck,\u201d so he tumbled off the ladder and broke his neck; and when the old\nman broke his neck, the great walnut-tree fell down with a crash, and\nupset the old form and house, and the house falling knocked the window\nout, and the window knocked the door down, and the door upset the broom,\nand the broom upset the stool, and poor little Tatty Mouse was buried\nbeneath the ruins.\n\n\n\n\nJACK AND HIS GOLDEN SNUFF-BOX\n\nOnce upon a time, and a very good time it was, though it was neither in\nmy time nor in your time nor in any one else's time, there was an old\nman and an old woman, and they had one son, and they lived in a great\nforest. And their son never saw any other people in his life, but he\nknew that there was some more in the world besides his own father and\nmother, because he had lots of books, and he used to read every day\nabout them. And when he read about some pretty young women, he used\nto go mad to see some of them; till one day, when his father was out\ncutting wood, he told his mother that he wished to go away to look for\nhis living in some other country, and to see some other people besides\nthem two. And he said, \u201cI see nothing at all here but great trees around\nme; and if I stay here, maybe I shall go mad before I see anything.\u201d The\nyoung man's father was out all this time, when this talk was going on\nbetween him and his poor old mother.\n\nThe old woman begins by saying to her son before leaving, \u201cWell, well,\nmy poor boy, if you want to go, it's better for you to go, and God\nbe with you.\u201d--(The old woman thought for the best when she said\nthat.)--\u201cBut stop a bit before you go. Which would you like best for me\nto make you, a little cake and bless you, or a big cake and curse you?\u201d\n \u201cDear, dear!\u201d said he, \u201cmake me a big cake. Maybe I shall be hungry on\nthe road.\u201d The old woman made the big cake, and she went on top of the\nhouse, and she cursed him as far as she could see him.\n\nHe presently meets with his father, and the old man says to him: \u201cWhere\nare you going, my poor boy?\u201d when the son told the father the same tale\nas he told his mother. \u201cWell,\u201d says his father, \u201cI'm sorry to see you\ngoing away, but if you've made your mind to go, it's better for you to\ngo.\u201d\n\nThe poor lad had not gone far, when his father called him back; then\nthe old man drew out of his pocket a golden snuff-box, and said to him:\n\u201cHere, take this little box, and put it in your pocket, and be sure not\nto open it till you are near your death.\u201d And away went poor Jack upon\nhis road, and walked till he was tired and hungry, for he had eaten all\nhis cake upon the road; and by this time night was upon him, so he could\nhardly see his way before him. He could see some light a long way before\nhim, and he made up to it, and found the back door and knocked at it,\ntill one of the maid-servants came and asked him what he wanted. He said\nthat night was on him, and he wanted to get some place to sleep. The\nmaid-servant called him in to the fire, and gave him plenty to eat,\ngood meat and bread and beer; and as he was eating his food by the fire,\nthere came the young lady to look at him, and she loved him well and he\nloved her. And the young lady ran to tell her father, and said there was\na pretty young man in the back kitchen; and immediately the gentleman\ncame to him, and questioned him, and asked what work he could do. Jack\nsaid, the silly fellow, that he could do anything. (He meant that he\ncould do any foolish bit of work, that would be wanted about the house.)\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d says the gentleman to him, \u201cif you can do anything, at eight\no'clock in the morning I must have a great lake and some of-the largest\nman-of-war vessels sailing before my mansion, and one of the largest\nvessels must fire a royal salute, and the last round must break the\nleg of the bed where my young daughter is sleeping. And if you don't do\nthat, you will have to forfeit your life.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d said Jack; and away he went to his bed, and said his\nprayers quietly, and slept till it was near eight o'clock, and he had\nhardly any time to think what he was to do, till all of a sudden he\nremembered about the little golden box that his father gave him. And he\nsaid to himself: \u201cWell, well, I never was so near my death as I am now;\u201d\n and then he felt in his pocket, and drew the little box out. And when he\nopened it, out there hopped three little red men, and asked Jack: \u201cWhat\nis your will with us?\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d said Jack, \u201cI want a great lake and some\nof the largest man-of-war vessels in the world before this mansion, and\none of the largest vessels to fire a royal salute, and the last round\nto break one of the legs of the bed where this young lady is sleeping.\u201d\n \u201cAll right,\u201d said the little men; \u201cgo to sleep.\u201d\n\nJack had hardly time to bring the words out of his mouth, to tell the\nlittle men what to do, but what it struck eight o'clock, when Bang, bang\nwent one of the largest man-of-war vessels; and it made Jack jump out of\nbed to look through the window; and I can assure you it was a wonderful\nsight for him to see, after being so long with his father and mother\nliving in a wood.\n\nBy this time Jack dressed himself, and said his prayers, and came down\nlaughing; for he was proud, he was, because the thing was done so well.\nThe gentleman comes to him, and says to him: \u201cWell, my young man, I must\nsay that you are very clever indeed. Come and have some breakfast.\u201d And\nthe gentleman tells him, \u201cNow there are two more things you have to\ndo, and then you shall have my daughter in marriage.\u201d Jack gets his\nbreakfast, and has a good squint at the young lady, and also she at him.\n\nThe other thing that the gentleman told him to do was to fell all the\ngreat trees for miles around by eight o'clock in the morning; and, to\nmake my long story short, it was done, and it pleased the gentleman well\nThe gentleman said to him: \u201cThe other thing you have to do\u201d--(and it\nwas the last thing)--\u201cyou must get me a great castle standing on twelve\ngolden pillars; and there must come regiments of soldiers and go through\ntheir drill. At eight o'clock the commanding officer must say, 'Shoulder\nup.'\u201d \u201cAll right,\u201d said Jack; when the third and last morning came\nthe third great feat was finished, and he had the young daughter in\nmarriage. But, oh dear! there is worse to come yet.\n\nThe gentleman now makes a large hunting party, and invites all the\ngentlemen around the country to it, and to see the castle as well. And\nby this time Jack has a beautiful horse and a scarlet dress to go with\nthem. On that morning his valet, when putting Jack's clothes by,\nafter changing them to go a hunting, put his hand in one of Jack's\nwaistcoat-pockets, and pulled out the little golden snuffbox, as poor\nJack left behind in a mistake. And that man opened the little box, and\nthere hopped the three little red men out, and asked him what he wanted\nwith them. \u201cWell,\u201d said the valet to them, \u201cI want this castle to be\nmoved from this place far and far across the sea.\u201d \u201cAll right,\u201d said\nthe little red men to him; \u201cdo you wish to go with it?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d said he.\n\u201cWell, get up,\u201d said they to him; and away they went far and far over\nthe great sea.\n\nNow the grand hunting party comes back, and the castle upon the twelve\ngolden pillars had disappeared, to the great disappointment of those\ngentlemen as did not see it before. That poor silly Jack is threatened\nby taking his beautiful young wife from him, for taking them in in the\nway he did. But the gentleman at last made an agreement with him, and he\nis to have a twelvemonths and a day to look for it; and off he goes with\na good horse and money in his pocket.\n\nNow poor Jack goes in search of his missing castle, over hills, dales,\nvalleys, and mountains, through woolly woods and sheepwalks, further\nthan I can tell you or ever intend to tell you. Until at last he comes\nup to the place where lives the King of all the little mice in the\nworld. There was one of the little mice on sentry at the front gate\ngoing up to the palace, and did try to stop Jack from going in. He asked\nthe little mouse: \u201cWhere does the King live? I should like to see him.\u201d\n This one sent another with him to show him the place; and when the King\nsaw him, he called him in. And the King questioned him, and asked him\nwhere he was going that way. Well, Jack told him all the truth, that he\nhad lost the great castle, and was going to look for it, and he had a\nwhole twelvemonths and a day to find it out. And Jack asked him whether\nhe knew anything about it; and the King said: \u201cNo, but I am the King\nof all the little mice in the world, and I will call them all up in the\nmorning, and maybe they have seen something of it.\u201d\n\nThen Jack got a good meal and bed, and in the morning he and the King\nwent on to the fields; and the King called all the mice together, and\nasked them whether they had seen the great beautiful castle standing on\ngolden pillars. And all the little mice said, No, there was none of them\nhad seen it. The old King said to him that he had two other brothers:\n\u201cOne is the King of all the frogs; and my other brother, who is the\noldest, he is the King of all the birds in the world. And if you go\nthere, may be they know something about the missing castle.\u201d The King\nsaid to him: \u201cLeave your horse here with me till you come back, and take\none of my best horses under you, and give this cake to my brother; he\nwill know then who you got it from. Mind and tell him I am well, and\nshould like dearly to see him.\u201d And then the King and Jack shook hands\ntogether.\n\nAnd when Jack was going through the gates, the little mouse asked him,\nshould he go with him; and Jack said to him: \u201cNo, I shall get myself\ninto trouble with the King.\u201d And the little thing told him: \u201cIt will be\nbetter for you to let me go with you; maybe I shall do some good to you\nsome time without you knowing it.\u201d \u201cJump up, then.\u201d And the little mouse\nran up the horse's leg, and made it dance; and Jack put the mouse in his\npocket.\n\nNow Jack, after wishing good morning to the King and pocketing the\nlittle mouse which was on sentry, trudged on his way; and such a long\nway he had to go and this was his first day. At last he found the place;\nand there was one of the frogs on sentry, and gun upon his shoulder, and\ndid try to hinder Jack from going in; but when Jack said to him that he\nwanted to see the King, he allowed him to pass; and Jack made up to the\ndoor. The King came out, and asked him his business; and Jack told\nhim all from beginning to end. \u201cWell, well, come in.\u201d He gets good\nentertainment that night; and in the morning the King made such a funny\nsound, and collected all the frogs in the world. And he asked them,\ndid they know or see anything of a castle that stood upon twelve golden\npillars; and they all made a curious sound, _Kro-kro, kro-kro_, and\nsaid, No.\n\nJack had to take another horse, and a cake to this King's brother, who\nis the King of all the fowls of the air; and as Jack was going through\nthe gates, the little frog that was on sentry asked John should he go\nwith him. Jack refused him for a bit; but at last he told him to jump\nup, and Jack put him in his other waistcoat pocket. And away he went\nagain on his great long journey; it was three times as long this time as\nit was the first day; however, he found the place, and there was a fine\nbird on sentry. And Jack passed him, and he never said a word to him;\nand he talked with the King, and told him everything, all about the\ncastle. \u201cWell,\u201d said the King to him, \u201cyou shall know in the morning\nfrom my birds, whether they know anything or not.\u201d Jack put up his horse\nin the stable, and then went to bed, after having something to eat. And\nwhen he got up in the morning the King and he went on to some field, and\nthere the King made some funny noise, and there came all the fowls that\nwere in all the world. And the King asked them; \u201cDid they see the fine\ncastle?\u201d and all the birds answered, No. \u201cWell,\u201d said the King, \u201cwhere\nis the great bird?\u201d They had to wait then for a long time for the eagle\nto make his appearance, when at last he came all in a perspiration,\nafter sending two little birds high up in the sky to whistle on him to\nmake all the haste he possibly could. The King asked the great bird,\nDid he see the great castle? and the bird said: \u201cYes, I came from there\nwhere it now is.\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d says the King to him; \u201cthis young gentleman\nhas lost it, and you must go with him back to it; but stop till you get\na bit of something to eat first.\u201d\n\nThey killed a thief, and sent the best part of it to feed the eagle on\nhis journey over the seas, and had to carry Jack on his back. Now when\nthey came in sight of the castle, they did not know what to do to get\nthe little golden box. Well, the little mouse said to them: \u201cLeave me\ndown, and I will get the little box for you.\u201d So the mouse stole into\nthe castle, and got hold of the box; and when he was coming down the\nstairs, it fell down, and he was very near being caught. He came running\nout with it, laughing his best. \u201cHave you got it?\u201d Jack said to him; he\nsaid: \u201cYes;\u201d and off they went back again, and left the castle behind.\n\nAs they were all of them (Jack, mouse, frog, and eagle) passing over\nthe great sea, they fell to quarrelling about which it was that got the\nlittle box, till down it slipped into the water. (It was by them looking\nat it and handing it from one hand to the other that they dropped the\nlittle box to the bottom of the sea.) \u201cWell, well,\u201d said the frog, \u201cI\nknew that I would have to do something, so you had better let me go down\nin the water.\u201d And they let him go, and he was down for three days and\nthree nights; and up he comes, and shows his nose and little mouth out\nof the water; and all of them asked him, Did he get it? and he told\nthem, No. \u201cWell, what are you doing there, then?\u201d \u201cNothing at all,\u201d he\nsaid, \u201conly I want my full breath;\u201d and the poor little frog went down\nthe second time, and he was down for a day and a night, and up he brings\nit.\n\nAnd away they did go, after being there four days and nights; and after\na long tug over seas and mountains, arrive at the palace of the old\nKing, who is the master of all the birds in the world. And the King\nis very proud to see them, and has a hearty welcome and a long\nconversation. Jack opens the little box, and told the little men to go\nback and to bring the castle here to them; \u201cand all of you make as much\nhaste back again as you possibly can.\u201d\n\nThe three little men went off; and when they came near the castle they\nwere afraid to go to it till the gentleman and lady and all the servants\nwere gone out to some dance. And there was no one left behind there only\nthe cook and another maid with her; and the little red men asked them\nwhich would they rather--go, or stop behind? and they both said: \u201cI will\ngo with you;\u201d and the little men told them to run upstairs quick. They\nwere no sooner up and in one of the drawing-rooms than here comes just\nin sight the gentleman and lady and all the servants; but it was too\nlate. Off the castle went at full speed, with the women laughing at them\nthrough the window, while they made motions for them to stop, but all to\nno purpose.\n\nThey were nine days on their journey, in which they did try to keep the\nSunday holy, when one of the little men turned to be the priest, the\nother the clerk, and third presided at the organ, and the women were\nthe singers, for they had a grand chapel in the castle already. Very\nremarkable, there was a discord made in the music, and one of the little\nmen ran up one of the organ-pipes to see where the bad sound came\nfrom, when he found out it only happened to be that the two women were\nlaughing at the little red man stretching his little legs full length\non the bass pipes, also his two arms the same time, with his little red\nnight-cap, which he never forgot to wear, and what they never witnessed\nbefore, could not help calling forth some good merriment while on the\nface of the deep. And poor thing! through them not going on with what\nthey begun with, they very near came to danger, as the castle was once\nvery near sinking in the middle of the sea.\n\nAt length, after a merry journey, they come again to Jack and the King.\nThe King was quite struck with the sight of the castle; and going up the\ngolden stairs, went to see the inside.\n\nThe King was very much pleased with the castle, but poor Jack's time of\na twelvemonths and a day was drawing to a close; and he, wishing to\ngo home to his young wife, gives orders to the three little men to\nget ready by the next morning at eight o'clock to be off to the next\nbrother, and to stop there for one night; also to proceed from there\nto the last or the youngest brother, the master of all the mice in the\nworld, in such place where the castle shall be left under his care until\nit's sent for. Jack takes a farewell of the King, and thanks him very\nmuch for his hospitality.\n\nAway went Jack and his castle again, and stopped one night in that\nplace; and away they went again to the third place, and there left the\ncastle under his care. As Jack had to leave the castle behind, he had to\ntake to his own horse, which he left there when he first started.\n\nNow poor Jack leaves his castle behind and faces towards home; and\nafter having so much merriment with the three brothers every night, Jack\nbecame sleepy on horseback, and would have lost the road if it was not\nfor the little men a-guiding him. At last he arrived weary and tired,\nand they did not seem to receive him with any kindness whatever,\nbecause he had not found the stolen castle; and to make it worse, he was\ndisappointed in not seeing his young and beautiful wife to come and meet\nhim, through being hindered by her parents. But that did not stop long.\nJack put full power on and despatched the little men off to bring the\ncastle from there, and they soon got there.\n\nJack shook hands with the King, and returned many thanks for his kingly\nkindness in minding the castle for him; and then Jack instructed the\nlittle men to spur up and put speed on. And off they went, and were not\nlong before they reached their journey's end, when out comes the young\nwife to meet him with a fine lump of a young SON, and they all lived\nhappy ever afterwards.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS\n\nOnce upon a time there were Three Bears, who lived together in a house\nof their own, in a wood. One of them was a Little, Small Wee Bear; and\none was a Middle-sized Bear, and the other was a Great, Huge Bear. They\nhad each a pot for their porridge, a little pot for the Little, Small,\nWee Bear; and a middle-sized pot for the Middle Bear, and a great pot\nfor the Great, Huge Bear. And they had each a chair to sit in; a little\nchair for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized chair for the\nMiddle Bear; and a great chair for the Great, Huge Bear. And they had\neach a bed to sleep in; a little bed for the Little, Small, Wee Bear;\nand a middle-sized bed for the Middle Bear; and a great bed for the\nGreat, Huge Bear.\n\nOne day, after they had made the porridge for their breakfast, and\npoured it into their porridge-pots, they walked out into the wood while\nthe porridge was cooling, that they might not burn their mouths, by\nbeginning too soon to eat it. And while they were walking, a little\nold Woman came to the house. She could not have been a good, honest old\nWoman; for first she looked in at the window, and then she peeped in at\nthe keyhole; and seeing nobody in the house, she lifted the latch. The\ndoor was not fastened, because the Bears were good Bears, who did nobody\nany harm, and never suspected that anybody would harm them. So the\nlittle old Woman opened the door, and went in; and well pleased she was\nwhen she saw the porridge on the table. If she had been a good little\nold Woman, she would have waited till the Bears came home, and then,\nperhaps, they would have asked her to breakfast; for they were good\nBears--a little rough or so, as the manner of Bears is, but for all\nthat very good-natured and hospitable. But she was an impudent, bad old\nWoman, and set about helping herself.\n\nSo first she tasted the porridge of the Great, Huge Bear, and that was\ntoo hot for her; and she said a bad word about that. And then she tasted\nthe porridge of the Middle Bear, and that was too cold for her; and she\nsaid a bad word about that too. And then she went to the porridge of the\nLittle, Small, Wee Bear, and tasted that; and that was neither too hot,\nnor too cold, but just right; and she liked it so well, that she ate\nit all up: but the naughty old Woman said a bad word about the little\nporridge-pot, because it did not hold enough for her.\n\nThen the little old Woman sate down in the chair of the Great, Huge\nBear, and that was too hard for her. And then she sate down in the chair\nof the Middle Bear, and that was too soft for her. And then she sate\ndown in the chair of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and that was neither\ntoo hard, nor too soft, but just right. So she seated herself in it, and\nthere she sate till the bottom of the chair came out, and down she came,\nplump upon the ground. And the naughty old Woman said a wicked word\nabout that too.\n\nThen the little old Woman went upstairs into the bed-chamber in which\nthe three Bears slept. And first she lay down upon the bed of the Great,\nHuge Bear; but that was too high at the head for her. And next she lay\ndown upon the bed of the Middle Bear; and that was too high at the foot\nfor her. And then she lay down upon the bed of the Little, Small, Wee\nBear; and that was neither too high at the head, nor at the foot, but\njust right. So she covered herself up comfortably, and lay there till\nshe fell fast asleep.\n\nBy this time the Three Bears thought their porridge would be cool\nenough; so they came home to breakfast. Now the little old Woman had\nleft the spoon of the Great, Huge Bear, standing in his porridge.\n\n\u201cSomebody has been at my porridge!\u201d\n\nsaid the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. And when\nthe Middle Bear looked at his, he saw that the spoon was standing in it\ntoo. They were wooden spoons; if they had been silver ones, the naughty\nold Woman would have put them in her pocket.\n\n\u201cSomebody has been at my porridge!\u201d\n\nsaid the Middle Bear in his middle voice.\n\nThen the Little, Small, Wee Bear looked at his, and there was the spoon\nin the porridge-pot, but the porridge was all gone.\n\n\u201cSomebody has been at my porridge, and has eaten it all up!\u201d\n\nsaid the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.\n\nUpon this the Three Bears, seeing that some one had entered their house,\nand eaten up the Little, Small, Wee Bear's breakfast, began to look\nabout them. Now the little old Woman had not put the hard cushion\nstraight when she rose from the chair of the Great, Huge Bear.\n\n\u201cSomebody has been sitting in my chair!\u201d\n\nsaid the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice.\n\nAnd the little old Woman had squatted down the soft cushion of the\nMiddle Bear.\n\n\u201cSomebody has been sitting in my chair!\u201d\n\nsaid the Middle Bear, in his middle voice.\n\nAnd you know what the little old Woman had done to the third chair.\n\n\u201cSomebody has been sitting in my chair and has sate the bottom out of\nit!\u201d\n\nsaid the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.\n\nThen the Three Bears thought it necessary that they should make farther\nsearch; so they went upstairs into their bedchamber. Now the little old\nWoman had pulled the pillow of the Great, Huge Bear, out of its place.\n\n\u201cSomebody has been lying in my bed!\u201d\n\nsaid the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice.\n\nAnd the little old Woman had pulled the bolster of the Middle Bear out\nof its place.\n\n\u201cSomebody has been lying in my bed!\u201d\n\nsaid the Middle Bear, in his middle voice.\n\nAnd when the Little, Small, Wee Bear came to look at his bed, there was\nthe bolster in its place; and the pillow in its place upon the bolster;\nand upon the pillow was the little old Woman's ugly, dirty head,--which\nwas not in its place, for she had no business there.\n\n\u201cSomebody has been lying in my bed,--and here she is!\u201d\n\nsaid the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.\n\nThe little old Woman had heard in her sleep the great, rough, gruff\nvoice of the Great, Huge Bear; but she was so fast asleep that it was\nno more to her than the roaring of wind, or the rumbling of thunder. And\nshe had heard the middle voice, of the Middle Bear, but it was only as\nif she had heard some one speaking in a dream. But when she heard the\nlittle, small, wee voice of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, it was so\nsharp, and so shrill, that it awakened her at once. Up she started; and\nwhen she saw the Three Bears on one side of the bed, she tumbled herself\nout at the other, and ran to the window. Now the window was open,\nbecause the Bears, like good, tidy Bears, as they were, always opened\ntheir bedchamber window when they got up in the morning. Out the little\nold Woman jumped; and whether she broke her neck in the fall; or ran\ninto the wood and was lost there; or found her way out of the wood, and\nwas taken up by the constable and sent to the House of Correction for\na vagrant as she was, I cannot tell. But the Three Bears never saw\nanything more of her.\n\n\n\n\nJACK THE GIANT-KILLER\n\nWhen good King Arthur reigned, there lived near the Land's End of\nEngland, in the county of Cornwall, a farmer who had one only son called\nJack. He was brisk and of a ready lively wit, so that nobody or nothing\ncould worst him.\n\nIn those days the Mount of Cornwall was kept by a huge giant named\nCormoran. He was eighteen feet in height, and about three yards round\nthe waist, of a fierce and grim countenance, the terror of all the\nneighbouring towns and villages. He lived in a cave in the midst of the\nMount, and whenever he wanted food he would wade over to the main-land,\nwhere he would furnish himself with whatever came in his way. Everybody\nat his approach ran out of their houses, while he seized on their\ncattle, making nothing of carrying half-a-dozen oxen on his back at a\ntime; and as for their sheep and hogs, he would tie them round his waist\nlike a bunch of tallow-dips. He had done this for many years, so that\nall Cornwall was in despair.\n\nOne day Jack happened to be at the town-hall when the magistrates were\nsitting in council about the Giant. He asked: \u201cWhat reward will be given\nto the man who kills Cormoran?\u201d \u201cThe giant's treasure,\u201d they said, \u201cwill\nbe the reward.\u201d Quoth Jack: \u201cThen let me undertake it.\u201d\n\nSo he got a horn, shovel, and pickaxe, and went over to the Mount in the\nbeginning of a dark winter's evening, when he fell to work, and before\nmorning had dug a pit twenty-two feet deep, and nearly as broad,\ncovering it over with long sticks and straw. Then he strewed a little\nmould over it, so that it appeared like plain ground. Jack then placed\nhimself on the opposite side of the pit, farthest from the giant's\nlodging, and, just at the break of day, he put the horn to his mouth,\nand blew, Tantivy, Tantivy. This noise roused the giant, who rushed\nfrom his cave, crying: \u201cYou incorrigible villain, are you come here\nto disturb my rest? You shall pay dearly for this. Satisfaction I will\nhave, and this it shall be, I will take you whole and broil you for\nbreakfast.\u201d He had no sooner uttered this, than he tumbled into the pit,\nand made the very foundations of the Mount to shake. \u201cOh, Giant,\u201d quoth\nJack, \u201cwhere are you now? Oh, faith, you are gotten now into Lob's\nPound, where I will surely plague you for your threatening words: what\ndo you think now of broiling me for your breakfast? Will no other diet\nserve you but poor Jack?\u201d Then having tantalised the giant for a while,\nhe gave him a most weighty knock with his pickaxe on the very crown of\nhis head, and killed him on the spot.\n\nJack then filled up the pit with earth, and went to search the cave,\nwhich he found contained much treasure. When the magistrates heard of\nthis they made a declaration he should henceforth be termed\n\nJACK THE GIANT-KILLER\n\nand presented him with a sword and a belt, on which were written these\nwords embroidered in letters of gold:\n\n  \u201cHere's the right valiant Cornish man,\n  Who slew the giant Cormoran.\u201d\n\nThe news of Jack's victory soon spread over all the West of England,\nso that another giant, named Blunderbore, hearing of it, vowed to be\nrevenged on Jack, if ever he should light on him. This giant was the\nlord of an enchanted castle situated in the midst of a lonesome wood.\nNow Jack, about four months afterwards, walking near this wood in his\njourney to Wales, being weary, seated himself near a pleasant fountain\nand fell fast asleep. While he was sleeping, the giant, coming there\nfor water, discovered him, and knew him to be the far-famed Jack the\nGiant-killer by the lines written on the belt. Without ado, he took Jack\non his shoulders and carried him towards his castle. Now, as they passed\nthrough a thicket, the rustling of the boughs awakened Jack, who was\nstrangely surprised to find himself in the clutches of the giant. His\nterror was only begun, for, on entering the castle, he saw the ground\nstrewed with human bones, and the giant told him his own would ere\nlong be among them. After this the giant locked poor Jack in an immense\nchamber, leaving him there while he went to fetch another giant, his\nbrother, living in the same wood, who might share in the meal on Jack.\n\nAfter waiting some time Jack, on going to the window beheld afar off the\ntwo giants coming towards the castle. \u201cNow,\u201d quoth Jack to himself, \u201cmy\ndeath or my deliverance is at hand.\u201d Now, there were strong cords in a\ncorner of the room in which Jack was, and two of these he took, and made\na strong noose at the end; and while the giants were unlocking the iron\ngate of the castle he threw the ropes over each of their heads. Then\nhe drew the other ends across a beam, and pulled with all his might, so\nthat he throttled them. Then, when he saw they were black in the face,\nhe slid down the rope, and drawing his sword, slew them both. Then,\ntaking the giant's keys, and unlocking the rooms, he found three fair\nladies tied by the hair of their heads, almost starved to death. \u201cSweet\nladies,\u201d quoth Jack, \u201cI have destroyed this monster and his brutish\nbrother, and obtained your liberties.\u201d This said he presented them with\nthe keys, and so proceeded on his journey to Wales.\n\nJack made the best of his way by travelling as fast as he could, but\nlost his road, and was benighted, and could find any habitation until,\ncoming into a narrow valley, he found a large house, and in order to\nget shelter took courage to knock at the gate. But what was his surprise\nwhen there came forth a monstrous giant with two heads; yet he did not\nappear so fiery as the others were, for he was a Welsh giant, and\nwhat he did was by private and secret malice under the false show of\nfriendship. Jack, having told his condition to the giant, was shown into\na bedroom, where, in the dead of night, he heard his host in another\napartment muttering these words:\n\n  \u201cThough here you lodge with me this night,\n  You shall not see the morning light\n  My club shall dash your brains outright!\u201d\n\n\u201cSay'st thou so,\u201d quoth Jack; \u201cthat is like one of your Welsh tricks,\nyet I hope to be cunning enough for you.\u201d Then, getting out of bed, he\nlaid a billet in the bed in his stead, and hid himself in a corner of\nthe room. At the dead time of the night in came the Welsh giant, who\nstruck several heavy blows on the bed with his club, thinking he had\nbroken every bone in Jack's skin. The next morning Jack, laughing in his\nsleeve, gave him hearty thanks for his night's lodging. \u201cHow have you\nrested?\u201d quoth the giant; \u201cdid you not feel anything in the night?\u201d\n \u201cNo,\u201d quoth Jack, \u201cnothing but a rat, which gave me two or three slaps\nwith her tail.\u201d With that, greatly wondering, the giant led Jack to\nbreakfast, bringing him a bowl containing four gallons of hasty pudding.\nBeing loth to let the giant think it too much for him, Jack put a large\nleather bag under his loose coat, in such a way that he could convey the\npudding into it without its being perceived. Then, telling the giant he\nwould show him a trick, taking a knife, Jack ripped open the bag, and\nout came all the hasty pudding. Whereupon, saying, \u201cOdds splutters hur\nnails, hur can do that trick hurself,\u201d the monster took the knife, and\nripping open his belly, fell down dead.\n\nNow, it happened in these days that King Arthur's only son asked his\nfather to give him a large sum of money, in order that he might go and\nseek his fortune in the principality of Wales, where lived a beautiful\nlady possessed with seven evil spirits. The king did his best to\npersuade his son from it, but in vain; so at last gave way and the\nprince set out with two horses, one loaded with money, the other for\nhimself to ride upon. Now, after several days' travel, he came to a\nmarket-town in Wales, where he beheld a vast crowd of people gathered\ntogether. The prince asked the reason of it, and was told that they had\narrested a corpse for several large sums of money which the deceased\nowed when he died. The prince replied that it was a pity creditors\nshould be so cruel, and said: \u201cGo bury the dead, and let his creditors\ncome to my lodging, and there their debts shall be paid.\u201d They came,\nin such great numbers that before night he had only twopence left for\nhimself.\n\nNow Jack the Giant-Killer, coming that way, was so taken with the\ngenerosity of the prince, that he desired to be his servant. This\nbeing agreed upon, the next morning they set forward on their journey\ntogether, when, as they were riding out of the town, an old woman called\nafter the prince, saying, \u201cHe has owed me twopence these seven years;\npray pay me as well as the rest.\u201d Putting his hand to his pocket, the\nprince gave the woman all he had left, so that after their day's food,\nwhich cost what small spell Jack had by him, they were without a penny\nbetween them.\n\nWhen the sun got low, the king's son said: \u201cJack, since we have no\nmoney, where can we lodge this night?\u201d\n\nBut Jack replied: \u201cMaster, we'll do well enough, for I have an uncle\nlives within two miles of this place; he is a huge and monstrous giant\nwith three heads; he'll fight five hundred men in armour, and make them\nto fly before him.\u201d \u201cAlas!\u201d quoth the prince, \u201cwhat shall we do there?\nHe'll certainly chop us up at a mouthful. Nay, we are scarce enough to\nfill one of his hollow teeth!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is no matter for that,\u201d quoth Jack; \u201cI myself will go before and\nprepare the way for you; therefore stop here and wait till I return.\u201d\n Jack then rode away at full speed, and coming to the gate of the castle,\nhe knocked so loud that he made the neighbouring hills resound. The\ngiant roared out at this like thunder: \u201cWho's there?\u201d\n\nJack answered: \u201cNone but your poor cousin Jack.\u201d\n\nQuoth he: \u201cWhat news with my poor cousin Jack?\u201d\n\nHe replied: \u201cDear uncle, heavy news, God wot!\u201d\n\n\u201cPrithee,\u201d quoth the giant, \u201cwhat heavy news can come to me? I am\na giant with three heads, and besides thou knowest I can fight five\nhundred men in armour, and make them fly like chaff before the wind.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, but,\u201d quoth Jack, \u201chere's the king's son a-coming with a thousand\nmen in armour to kill you and destroy all that you have!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, cousin Jack,\u201d said the giant, \u201cthis is heavy news indeed! I will\nimmediately run and hide myself, and thou shalt lock, bolt, and bar\nme in, and keep the keys until the prince is gone.\u201d Having secured the\ngiant, Jack fetched his master, when they made themselves heartily merry\nwhilst the poor giant lay trembling in a vault under the ground.\n\nEarly in the morning Jack furnished his master with a fresh supply of\ngold and silver, and then sent him three miles forward on his journey,\nat which time the prince was pretty well out of the smell of the giant.\nJack then returned, and let the giant out of the vault, who asked what\nhe should give him for keeping the castle from destruction. \u201cWhy,\u201d quoth\nJack, \u201cI want nothing but the old coat and cap, together with the old\nrusty sword and slippers which are at your bed's head.\u201d Quoth the giant:\n\u201cYou know not what you ask; they are the most precious things I have.\nThe coat will keep you invisible, the cap will tell you all you want to\nknow, the sword cuts asunder whatever you strike, and the shoes are\nof extraordinary swiftness. But you have been very serviceable to me,\ntherefore take them with all my heart.\u201d Jack thanked his uncle, and then\nwent off with them. He soon overtook his master and they quickly arrived\nat the house of the lady the prince sought, who, finding the prince to\nbe a suitor, prepared a splendid banquet for him. After the repast was\nconcluded, she told him she had a task for him. She wiped his mouth with\na handkerchief, saying: \u201cYou must show me that handkerchief to-morrow\nmorning, or else you will lose your head.\u201d With that she put it in\nher bosom. The prince went to bed in great sorrow, but Jack's cap of\nknowledge informed him how it was to be obtained. In the middle of the\nnight she called upon her familiar spirit to carry her to Lucifer. But\nJack put on his coat of darkness and his shoes of swiftness, and was\nthere as soon as she was. When she entered the place of the Old One, she\ngave the handkerchief to old Lucifer, who laid it upon a shelf, whence\nJack took it and brought it to his master, who showed it to the lady\nnext day, and so saved his life. On that day, she gave the prince a kiss\nand told him he must show her the lips to-morrow morning that she kissed\nlast night, or lose his head.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d he replied, \u201cif you kiss none but mine, I will.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is neither here nor there,\u201d said she; \u201cif you do not, death's your\nportion!\u201d\n\nAt midnight she went as before, and was angry with old Lucifer for\nletting the handkerchief go. \u201cBut now,\u201d quoth she, \u201cI will be too hard\nfor the king's son, for I will kiss thee, and he is to show me thy\nlips.\u201d Which she did, and Jack, when she was not standing by, cut off\nLucifer's head and brought it under his invisible coat to his master,\nwho the next morning pulled it out by the horns before the lady. This\nbroke the enchantment and the evil spirit left her, and she appeared in\nall her beauty. They were married the next morning, and soon after went\nto the court of King Arthur, where Jack for his many great exploits, was\nmade one of the Knights of the Round Table.\n\nJack soon went searching for giants again, but he had not ridden far,\nwhen he saw a cave, near the entrance of which he beheld a giant sitting\nupon a block of timber, with a knotted iron club by his side. His goggle\neyes were like flames of fire, his countenance grim and ugly, and his\ncheeks like a couple of large flitches of bacon, while the bristles of\nhis beard resembled rods of iron wire, and the locks that hung down upon\nhis brawny shoulders were like curled snakes or hissing adders. Jack\nalighted from his horse, and, putting on the coat of darkness, went up\nclose to the giant, and said softly: \u201cOh! are you there? It will not\nbe long before I take you fast by the beard.\u201d The giant all this while\ncould not see him, on account of his invisible coat, so that Jack,\ncoming up close to the monster, struck a blow with his sword at his\nhead, but, missing his aim, he cut off the nose instead. At this, the\ngiant roared like claps of thunder, and began to lay about him with his\niron club like one stark mad. But Jack, running behind, drove his sword\nup to the hilt in the giant's back, so that he fell down dead. This\ndone, Jack cut off the giant's head, and sent it, with his brother's\nalso, to King Arthur, by a waggoner he hired for that purpose.\n\nJack now resolved to enter the giant's cave in search of his treasure,\nand, passing along through a great many windings and turnings, he came\nat length to a large room paved with freestone, at the upper end of\nwhich was a boiling caldron, and on the right hand a large table, at\nwhich the giant used to dine. Then he came to a window, barred with\niron, through which he looked and beheld a vast number of miserable\ncaptives, who, seeing him, cried out: \u201cAlas! young man, art thou come to\nbe one amongst us in this miserable den?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy,\u201d quoth Jack, \u201cbut pray tell me what is the meaning of your\ncaptivity?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are kept here,\u201d said one, \u201ctill such time as the giants have a wish\nto feast, and then the fattest among us is slaughtered! And many are the\ntimes they have dined upon murdered men!\u201d\n\n\u201cSay you so,\u201d quoth Jack, and straightway unlocked the gate and let them\nfree, who all rejoiced like condemned men at sight of a pardon. Then\nsearching the giant's coffers, he shared the gold and silver equally\namongst them and took them to a neighbouring castle, where they all\nfeasted and made merry over their deliverance.\n\nBut in the midst of all this mirth a messenger brought news that one\nThunderdell, a giant with two heads, having heard of the death of his\nkinsmen, had come from the northern dales to be revenged on Jack, and\nwas within a mile of the castle, the country people flying before him\nlike chaff. But Jack was not a bit daunted, and said: \u201cLet him come! I\nhave a tool to pick his teeth; and you, ladies and gentlemen, walk out\ninto the garden, and you shall witness this giant Thunderdell's death\nand destruction.\u201d\n\nThe castle was situated in the midst of a small island surrounded by a\nmoat thirty feet deep and twenty feet wide, over which lay a drawbridge.\nSo Jack employed men to cut through this bridge on both sides, nearly to\nthe middle; and then, dressing himself in his invisible coat, he marched\nagainst the giant with his sword of sharpness. Although the giant could\nnot see Jack, he smelt his approach, and cried out in these words:\n\n  \u201cFee, fi, fo, fum!\n  I smell the blood of an Englishman!\n  Be he alive or be he dead,\n  I'll grind his bones to make me bread!\u201d\n\n\u201cSay'st thou so,\u201d said Jack; \u201cthen thou art a monstrous miller indeed.\u201d\n\nThe giant cried out again: \u201cArt thou that villain who killed my kinsmen?\nThen I will tear thee with my teeth, suck thy blood, and grind thy bones\nto powder.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou'll have to catch me first,\u201d quoth Jack, and throwing off his\ninvisible coat, so that the giant might see him, and putting on his\nshoes of swiftness, he ran from the giant, who followed like a walking\ncastle, so that the very foundations of the earth seemed to shake at\nevery step. Jack led him a long dance, in order that the gentlemen and\nladies might see; and at last to end the matter, ran lightly over the\ndrawbridge, the giant, in full speed, pursuing him with his club. Then,\ncoming to the middle of the bridge, the giant's great weight broke\nit down, and he tumbled headlong into the water, where he rolled and\nwallowed like a whale. Jack, standing by the moat, laughed at him all\nthe while; but though the giant foamed to hear him scoff, and plunged\nfrom place to place in the moat, yet he could not get out to be\nrevenged. Jack at length got a cart-rope and cast it over the two heads\nof the giant, and drew him ashore by a team of horses, and then cut\noff both his heads with his sword of sharpness, and sent them to King\nArthur.\n\nAfter some time spent in mirth and pastime, Jack, taking leave of the\nknights and ladies, set out for new adventures. Through many woods he\npassed, and came at length to the foot of a high mountain. Here, late\nat night, he found a lonesome house, and knocked at the door, which was\nopened by an aged man with a head as white as snow. \u201cFather,\u201d said Jack,\n\u201ccan you lodge a benighted traveller that has lost his way?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d said\nthe old man; \u201cyou are right welcome to my poor cottage.\u201d Whereupon Jack\nentered, and down they sat together, and the old man began to speak as\nfollows: \u201cSon, I see by your belt you are the great conqueror of giants,\nand behold, my son, on the top of this mountain is an enchanted castle,\nthis is kept by a giant named Galligantua, and he by the help of an\nold conjurer, betrays many knights and ladies into his castle, where by\nmagic art they are transformed into sundry shapes and forms. But above\nall, I grieve for a duke's daughter, whom they fetched from her father's\ngarden, carrying her through the air in a burning chariot drawn by fiery\ndragons, when they secured her within the castle, and transformed her\ninto a white hind. And though many knights have tried to break the\nenchantment, and work her deliverance, yet no one could accomplish it,\non account of two dreadful griffins which are placed at the castle gate\nand which destroy every one who comes near. But you, my son, may pass\nby them undiscovered, where on the gates of the castle you will find\nengraven in large letters how the spell may be broken.\u201d Jack gave the\nold man his hand, and promised that in the morning he would venture his\nlife to free the lady.\n\nIn the morning Jack arose and put on his invisible coat and magic cap\nand shoes, and prepared himself for the fray. Now, when he had reached\nthe top of the mountain he soon discovered the two fiery griffins, but\npassed them without fear, because of his invisible coat. When he had got\nbeyond them, he found upon the gates of the castle a golden trumpet hung\nby a silver chain, under which these lines were engraved:\n\n  \u201cWhoever shall this trumpet blow,\n  Shall soon the giant overthrow,\n  And break the black enchantment straight;\n  So all shall be in happy state.\u201d\n\nJack had no sooner read this but he blew the trumpet, at which the\ncastle trembled to its vast foundations, and the giant and conjurer were\nin horrid confusion, biting their thumbs and tearing their hair, knowing\ntheir wicked reign was at an end. Then the giant stooping to take up\nhis club, Jack at one blow cut off his head; whereupon the conjurer,\nmounting up into the air, was carried away in a whirlwind. Then the\nenchantment was broken, and all the lords and ladies who had so long\nbeen transformed into birds and beasts returned to their proper shapes,\nand the castle vanished away in a cloud of smoke. This being done, the\nhead of Galligantua was likewise, in the usual manner, conveyed to the\nCourt of King Arthur, where, the very next day, Jack followed, with the\nknights and ladies who had been delivered. Whereupon, as a reward\nfor his good services, the king prevailed upon the duke to bestow his\ndaughter in marriage on honest Jack. So married they were, and the\nwhole kingdom was filled with joy at the wedding. Furthermore, the king\nbestowed on Jack a noble castle, with a very beautiful estate thereto\nbelonging, where he and his lady lived in great joy and happiness all\nthe rest of their days.\n\n\n\n\nHENNY-PENNY\n\nOne day Henny-penny was picking up corn in the cornyard\nwhen--whack!--something hit her upon the head. \u201cGoodness gracious me!\u201d\n said Henny-penny; \u201cthe sky's a-going to fall; I must go and tell the\nking.\u201d\n\nSo she went along and she went along and she went along till she met\nCocky-locky. \u201cWhere are you going, Henny-penny?\u201d says Cocky-locky. \u201cOh!\nI'm going to tell the king the sky's a-falling,\u201d says Henny-penny. \u201cMay\nI come with you?\u201d says Cocky-locky. \u201cCertainly,\u201d says Henny-penny. So\nHenny-penny and Cocky-locky went to tell-the king the sky was falling.\n\nThey went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they met\nDucky-daddles. \u201cWhere are you going to, Henny-penny and Cocky-locky?\u201d\n says Ducky-daddles. \u201cOh! we're going to tell the king the sky's\na-falling,\u201d said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky. \u201cMay I come with you?\u201d\n says Ducky-daddles. \u201cCertainly,\u201d said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky. So\nHenny-penny, Cocky-locky and Ducky-daddles went to tell the king the sky\nwas a-falling.\n\nSo they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they\nmet Goosey-poosey, \u201cWhere are you going to, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky and\nDucky-daddles?\u201d said Goosey-poosey. \u201cOh! we're going to tell the\nking the sky's a-falling,\u201d said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky and\nDucky-daddles. \u201cMay I come with you,\u201d said Goosey-poosey. \u201cCertainly,\u201d\n said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky and Ducky-daddles. So Henny-penny,\nCocky-locky, Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey went to tell the king the\nsky was a-falling.\n\nSo they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till\nthey met Turkey-lurkey. \u201cWhere are you going, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky,\nDucky-daddles, and Goosey-poosey?\u201d says Turkey-lurkey. \u201cOh! we're going\nto tell the king the sky's a-falling,\u201d said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky,\nDucky-daddles and Goosey-poosey. \u201cMay I come with you? Henny-penny,\nCocky-locky, Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey?\u201d said Turkey-lurkey. \u201cWhy,\ncertainly, Turkey-lurkey,\u201d said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles,\nand Goosey-poosey. So Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles,\nGoosey-poosey and Turkey-lurkey all went to tell the king the sky was\na-falling.\n\nSo they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till\nthey met Foxy-woxy, and Foxy-woxy said to Henny-penny, Cocky-locky,\nDucky-daddles, Goosey-poosey and Turkey-lurkey: \u201cWhere are you\ngoing, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey,\nand Turkey-lurkey?\u201d And Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles,\nGoosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey said to Foxy-woxy: \u201cWe're going to tell\nthe king the sky's a-falling.\u201d \u201cOh! but this is not the way to the\nking, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey and\nTurkey-lurkey,\u201d says Foxy-woxy; \u201cI know the proper way; shall I show\nit you?\u201d \u201cWhy certainly, Foxy-woxy,\u201d said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky,\nDucky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey. So Henny-penny,\nCocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, Turkey-lurkey, and Foxy-woxy\nall went to tell the king the sky was a-falling. So they went along,\nand they went along, and they went along, till they came to a narrow and\ndark hole. Now this was the door of Foxy-woxy's cave. But Foxy-woxy\nsaid to Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and\nTurkey-lurkey: \u201cThis is the short way to the king's palace you'll\nsoon get there if you follow me. I will go first and you come\nafter, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky daddles, Goosey-poosey, and\nTurkey-lurkey.\u201d \u201cWhy of course, certainly, without doubt, why not?\u201d\n said Henny-Penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and\nTurkey-lurkey.\n\nSo Foxy-woxy went into his cave, and he didn't go very far but turned\nround to wait for Henny-Penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey\nand Turkey-lurkey. So at last at first Turkey-lurkey went through the\ndark hole into the cave. He hadn't got far when \u201cHrumph,\u201d Foxy-woxy\nsnapped off Turkey-lurkey's head and threw his body over his left\nshoulder. Then Goosey-poosey went in, and \u201cHrumph,\u201d off went her head\nand Goosey-poosey was thrown beside Turkey-lurkey. Then Ducky-daddles\nwaddled down, and \u201cHrumph,\u201d snapped Foxy-woxy, and Ducky-daddles'\nhead was off and Ducky-daddles was thrown alongside Turkey-lurkey and\nGoosey-poosey. Then Cocky-locky strutted down into the cave and he\nhadn't gone far when \u201cSnap, Hrumph!\u201d went Foxy-woxy and Cocky-locky was\nthrown alongside of Turkey-lurkey, Goosey-poosey and Ducky-daddles.\n\nBut Foxy-woxy had made two bites at Cocky-locky, and when the first\nsnap only hurt Cocky-locky, but didn't kill him, he called out to\nHenny-penny. So she turned tail and ran back home, so she never told the\nking the sky was a-falling.\n\n\n\n\nCHILDE ROWLAND\n\nChilde Rowland and his brothers twain Were playing at the ball, And\nthere was their sister Burd Ellen In the midst, among them all.\n\n  Childe Rowland kicked it with his foot\n  And caught it with his knee;\n  At last as he plunged among them all\n  O'er the church he made it flee.\n\n  Burd Ellen round about the aisle\n  To seek the ball is gone,\n  But long they waited, and longer still,\n  And she came not back again.\n\n  They sought her east, they sought her west,\n  They sought her up and down,\n  And woe were the hearts of those brethren,\n  For she was not to be found.\n\nSo at last her eldest brother went to the Warlock Merlin and told him\nall the case, and asked him if he knew where Burd Ellen was. \u201cThe fair\nBurd Ellen,\u201d said the Warlock Merlin, \u201cmust have been carried off by the\nfairies, because she went round the church 'wider shins'--the opposite\nway to the sun. She is now in the Dark Tower of the King of Elfland; it\nwould take the boldest knight in Christendom to bring her back.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf it is possible to bring her back,\u201d said her brother, \u201cI'll do it, or\nperish in the attempt.\u201d\n\n\u201cPossible it is,\u201d said the Warlock Merlin, \u201cbut woe to the man or\nmother's son that attempts it, if he is not well taught beforehand what\nhe is to do.\u201d\n\nThe eldest brother of Burd Ellen was not to be put off, by any fear of\ndanger, from attempting to get her back, so he begged the Warlock Merlin\nto tell him what he should do, and what he should not do, in going to\nseek his sister. And after he had been taught, and had repeated his\nlesson, he set out for Elfland.\n\n  But long they waited, and longer still,\n    With doubt and muckle pain,\n  But woe were the hearts of his brethren,\n    For he came not back again.\n\nThen the second brother got tired and sick of waiting, and he went to\nthe Warlock Merlin and asked him the same as his brother. So he set out\nto find Burd Ellen.\n\n  But long they waited, and longer still,\n    With muckle doubt and pain,\n  And woe were his mother's and brother's heart,\n    For he came not back again.\n\nAnd when they had waited and waited a good long time, Childe Rowland,\nthe youngest of Burd Ellen's brothers, wished to go, and went to his\nmother, the good queen, to ask her to let him go. But she would not at\nfirst, for he was the last of her children she now had, and if he was\nlost, all would be lost. But he begged, and he begged, till at last the\ngood queen let him go, and gave him his father's good brand that never\nstruck in vain. And as she girt it round his waist, she said the spell\nthat would give it victory.\n\nSo Childe Rowland said good-bye to the good queen, his mother, and went\nto the cave of the Warlock Merlin. \u201cOnce more, and but once more,\u201d he\nsaid to the Warlock, \u201ctell how man or mother's son may rescue Burd Ellen\nand her brothers twain.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, my son,\u201d said the Warlock Merlin, \u201cthere are but two things,\nsimple they may seem, but hard they are to do. One thing to do, and one\nthing not to do. And the thing to do is this: after you have entered the\nland of Fairy, whoever speaks to you, till you meet the Burd Ellen,\nyou must out with your father's brand and off with their head. And what\nyou've not to do is this: bite no bit, and drink no drop, however hungry\nor thirsty you be; drink a drop, or bite a bit, while in Elfland you be\nand never will you see Middle Earth again.\u201d\n\nSo Childe Rowland said the two things over and over again, till he knew\nthem by heart, and he thanked the Warlock Merlin and went on his way.\nAnd he went along, and along, and along, and still further along, till\nhe came to the horse-herd of the King of Elfland feeding his horses.\nThese he knew by their fiery eyes, and knew that he was at last in\nthe land of Fairy. \u201cCanst thou tell me,\u201d said Childe Rowland to the\nhorse-herd, \u201cwhere the King of Elfland's Dark Tower is?\u201d \u201cI cannot tell\nthee,\u201d said the horse-herd, \u201cbut go on a little further and thou wilt\ncome to the cow-herd, and he, maybe, can tell thee.\u201d\n\nThen, without a word more, Childe Rowland drew the good brand that never\nstruck in vain, and off went the horse-herd's head, and Childe Rowland\nwent on further, till he came to the cow-herd, and asked him the same\nquestion. \u201cI can't tell thee,\u201d said he, \u201cbut go on a little farther, and\nthou wilt come to the hen-wife, and she is sure to know.\u201d Then Childe\nRowland out with his good brand, that never struck in vain, and off went\nthe cow-herd's head. And he went on a little further, till he came to an\nold woman in a grey cloak, and he asked her if she knew where the Dark\nTower of the King of Elfland was. \u201cGo on a little further,\u201d said\nthe hen-wife, \u201ctill you come to a round green hill, surrounded with\nterrace-rings, from the bottom to the top; go round it three times,\nwidershins, and each time say:\n\n  Open, door! open, door!\n  And let me come in.\n\nand the third time the door will open, and you may go in.\u201d And Childe\nRowland was just going on, when he remembered what he had to do; so he\nout with the good brand, that never struck in vain, and off went the\nhen-wife's head.\n\nThen he went on, and on, and on, till he came to the round green hill\nwith the terrace-rings from top to bottom, and he went round it three\ntimes, widershins, saying each time:\n\n  Open, door! open, door!\n  And let me come in.\n\nAnd the third time the door did open, and he went in, and it closed with\na click, and Childe Rowland was left in the dark.\n\nIt was not exactly dark, but a kind of twilight or gloaming. There\nwere neither windows nor candles, and he could not make out where the\ntwilight came from, if not through the walls and roof. These were rough\narches made of a transparent rock, incrusted with sheepsilver and rock\nspar, and other bright stones. But though it was rock, the air was quite\nwarm, as it always is in Elfland. So he went through this passage till\nat last he came to two wide and high folding-doors which stood ajar. And\nwhen he opened them, there he saw a most wonderful and glorious sight.\nA large and spacious hall, so large that it seemed to be as long, and as\nbroad, as the green hill itself. The roof was supported by fine pillars,\nso large and lofty, that the pillars of a cathedral were as nothing to\nthem. They were all of gold and silver, with fretted work, and between\nthem and around them, wreaths of flowers, composed of what do you think?\nWhy, of diamonds and emeralds, and all manner of precious stones. And\nthe very key-stones of the arches had for ornaments clusters of diamonds\nand rubies, and pearls, and other precious stones. And all these arches\nmet in the middle of the roof, and just there, hung by a gold chain,\nan immense lamp made out of one big pearl hollowed out and quite\ntransparent. And in the middle of this was a big, huge carbuncle, which\nkept spinning round and round, and this was what gave light by its rays\nto the whole hall, which seemed as if the setting sun was shining on it.\n\nThe hall was furnished in a manner equally grand, and at one end of\nit was a glorious couch of velvet, silk and gold, and there sate Burd\nEllen, combing her golden hair with a silver comb. And when she saw\nChilde Rowland she stood up and said:\n\n  \u201cGod pity ye, poor luckless fool,\n  What have ye here to do?\n\n  \u201cHear ye this, my youngest brother,\n  Why didn't ye bide at home?\n  Had you a hundred thousand lives\n  Ye couldn't spare any a one.\n\n  \u201cBut sit ye down; but woe, O, woe,\n  That ever ye were born,\n  For come the King of Elfland in,\n  Your fortune is forlorn.\u201d\n\nThen they sate down together, and Childe Rowland told her all that he\nhad done, and she told him how their two brothers had reached the Dark\nTower, but had been enchanted by the King of Elfland, and lay there\nentombed as if dead. And then after they had talked a little longer\nChilde Rowland began to feel hungry from his long travels, and told his\nsister Burd Ellen how hungry he was and asked for some food, forgetting\nall about the Warlock Merlin's warning.\n\nBurd Ellen looked at Childe Rowland sadly, and shook her head, but she\nwas under a spell, and could not warn him. So she rose up, and went\nout, and soon brought back a golden basin full of bread and milk. Childe\nRowland was just going to raise it to his lips, when he looked at his\nsister and remembered why he had come all that way. So he dashed the\nbowl to the ground, and said: \u201cNot a sup will I swallow, nor a bit will\nI bite, till Burd Ellen is set free.\u201d\n\nJust at that moment they heard the noise of some one approaching, and a\nloud voice was heard saying:\n\n  \u201cFee, fi, fo, fum,\n  I smell the blood of a Christian man,\n  Be he dead, be he living, with my brand,\n  I'll dash his brains from his brain-pan.\u201d\n\nAnd then the folding-doors of the hall were burst open, and the King of\nElfland rushed in.\n\n\u201cStrike then, Bogle, if thou darest,\u201d shouted out Childe Rowland, and\nrushed to meet him with his good brand that never yet did fail. They\nfought, and they fought, and they fought, till Childe Rowland beat the\nKing of Elfland down on to his knees, and caused him to yield and beg\nfor mercy. \u201cI grant thee mercy,\u201d said Childe Rowland, \u201crelease my sister\nfrom thy spells and raise my brothers to life, and let us all go free,\nand thou shalt be spared.\u201d \u201cI agree,\u201d said the Elfin King, and rising\nup he went to a chest from which he took a phial filled with a blood-red\nliquor. With this he anointed the ears, eyelids, nostrils, lips, and\nfinger-tips, of the two brothers, and they sprang at once into life, and\ndeclared that their souls had been away, but had now returned. The Elfin\nking then said some words to Burd Ellen, and she was disenchanted, and\nthey all four passed out of the hall, through the long passage, and\nturned their back on the Dark Tower, never to return again. And they\nreached home, and the good queen, their mother, and Burd Ellen never\nwent round a church widershins again.\n\n\n\n\nMOLLY WHUPPIE\n\nOnce upon a time there was a man and a wife had too many children, and\nthey could not get meat for them, so they took the three youngest and\nleft them in a wood. They travelled and travelled and could see never\na house. It began to be dark, and they were hungry. At last they saw a\nlight and made for it; it turned out to be a house. They knocked at the\ndoor, and a woman came to it, who said: \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d They said:\n\u201cPlease let us in and give us something to eat.\u201d The woman said: \u201cI\ncan't do that, as my man is a giant, and he would kill you if he comes\nhome.\u201d They begged hard. \u201cLet us stop for a little while,\u201d said they,\n\u201cand we will go away before he comes.\u201d So she took them in, and set them\ndown before the fire, and gave them milk and bread; but just as they had\nbegun to eat a great knock came to the door, and a dreadful voice said:\n\n  \u201cFee, fie, fo, fum,\n  I smell the blood of some earthly one.\n\nWho have you there wife?\u201d \u201cEh,\u201d said the wife, \u201cit's three poor lassies\ncold and hungry, and they will go away. Ye won't touch 'em, man.\u201d He\nsaid nothing, but ate up a big supper, and ordered them to stay all\nnight. Now he had three lassies of his own, and they were to sleep in\nthe same bed with the three strangers.\n\nThe youngest of the three strange lassies was called Molly Whuppie, and\nshe was very clever. She noticed that before they went to bed the giant\nput straw ropes round her neck and her sisters', and round his own\nlassies' necks he put gold chains. So Molly took care and did not fall\nasleep, but waited till she was sure every one was sleeping sound. Then\nshe slipped out of the bed, and took the straw ropes off her own and her\nsisters' necks, and took the gold chains off the giant's lassies. She\nthen put the straw ropes on the giant's lassies and the gold on herself\nand her sisters, and lay down.\n\nAnd in the middle of the night up rose the giant, armed with a great\nclub, and felt for the necks with the straw. It was dark. He took his\nown lassies out of bed on to the floor, and battered them until they\nwere dead, and then lay down again, thinking he had managed fine. Molly\nthought it time she and her sisters were out of that, so she wakened\nthem and told them to be quiet, and they slipped out of the house. They\nall got out safe, and they ran and ran, and never stopped until morning,\nwhen they saw a grand house before them. It turned out to be a king's\nhouse: so Molly went in, and told her story to the king. He said: \u201cWell,\nMolly, you are a clever girl, and you have managed well; but, if you\nwould manage better, and go back, and steal the giant's sword that hangs\non the back of his bed, I would give your eldest sister my eldest son to\nmarry.\u201d Molly said she would try.\n\nSo she went back, and managed to slip into the giant's house, and crept\nin below the bed. The giant came home, and ate up a great supper, and\nwent to bed. Molly waited until he was snoring, and she crept out, and\nreached over the giant and got down the sword; but just as she got it\nout over the bed it gave a rattle, and up jumped the giant, and Molly\nran out at the door and the sword with her; and she ran, and he ran,\ntill they came to the \u201cBridge of one hair\u201d; and she got over, but he\ncouldn't, and he says, \u201cWoe worth ye, Molly Whuppie! never ye come\nagain.\u201d And she says \u201cTwice yet, carle,\u201d quoth she, \u201cI'll come to\nSpain.\u201d So Molly took the sword to the king, and her sister was married\nto his son.\n\nWell, the king he says: \u201cYe've managed well, Molly; but if ye would\nmanage better, and steal the purse that lies below the giant's pillow,\nI would marry your second sister to my second son.\u201d And Molly said she\nwould try. So she set out for the giant's house, and slipped in, and hid\nagain below the bed, and waited till the giant had eaten his supper, and\nwas snoring sound asleep. She slipped out, and slipped her hand below\nthe pillow, and got out the purse; but just as she was going out the\ngiant wakened, and ran after her; and she ran, and he ran, till they\ncame to the \u201cBridge of one hair,\u201d and she got over, but he couldn't, and\nhe said, \u201cWoe worth ye, Molly Whuppie! never you come again.\u201d \u201cOnce yet,\ncarle,\u201d quoth she, \u201cI'll come to Spain.\u201d So Molly took the purse to the\nking, and her second sister was married to the king's second son.\n\nAfter that the king says to Molly: \u201cMolly, you are a clever girl, but if\nyou would do better yet, and steal the giant's ring that he wears on his\nfinger, I will give you my youngest son for yourself.\u201d Molly said she\nwould try. So back she goes to the giant's house, and hides herself\nbelow the bed. The giant wasn't long ere he came home, and, after he had\neaten a great big supper, he went to his bed, and shortly was snoring\nloud. Molly crept out and reached over the bed, and got hold of the\ngiant's hand, and she pulled and she pulled until she got off the ring;\nbut just as she got it off the giant got up, and gripped her by the\nhand, and he says: \u201cNow I have catcht you, Molly Whuppie, and, if I had\ndone as much ill to you as ye have done to me, what would ye do to me?\u201d\n\nMolly says: \u201cI would put you into a sack, and I'd put the cat inside\nwith you, and the dog aside you, and a needle and thread and a shears,\nand I'd hang you up upon the wall, and I'd go to the wood, and choose\nthe thickest stick I could get, and I would come home, and take you\ndown, and bang you till you were dead.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, Molly,\u201d says the giant, \u201cI'll just do that to you.\u201d\n\nSo he gets a sack, and puts Molly into it, and the cat and the dog\nbeside her, and a needle and thread and shears, and hangs her up upon\nthe wall, and goes to the wood to choose a stick.\n\nMolly she sings out: \u201cOh, if ye saw what I see.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d says the giant's wife, \u201cwhat do ye see, Molly?\u201d\n\nBut Molly never said a word but, \u201cOh, if ye saw what I see!\u201d\n\nThe giant's wife begged that Molly would take her up into the sack till\nshe would see what Molly saw. So Molly took the shears and cut a hole in\nthe sack, and took out the needle and thread with her, and jumped down\nand helped, the giant's wife up into the sack, and sewed up the hole.\n\nThe giant's wife saw nothing, and began to ask to get down again; but\nMolly never minded, but hid herself at the back of the door. Home came\nthe giant, and a great big tree in his hand, and he took down the sack,\nand began to batter it. His wife cried, \u201cIt's me, man;\u201d but the dog\nbarked and the cat mewed, and he did not know his wife's voice. But\nMolly came out from the back of the door, and the giant saw her, and he\nafter her; and he ran and she ran, till they came to the \u201cBridge of one\nhair,\u201d and she got over but he couldn't; and he said, \u201cWoe worth you,\nMolly Whuppie! never you come again.\u201d \u201cNever more, carle,\u201d quoth she,\n\u201cwill I come again to Spain.\u201d\n\nSo Molly took the ring to the king, and she was married to his youngest\nson, and she never saw the giant again.\n\n\n\n\nTHE RED ETTIN\n\nThere was once a widow that lived on a small bit of ground, which she\nrented from a farmer. And she had two sons; and by-and-by it was time\nfor the wife to send them away to seek their fortune. So she told her\neldest son one day to take a can and bring her water from the well, that\nshe might bake a cake for him; and however much or however little water\nhe might bring, the cake would be great or small accordingly, and that\ncake was to be all that she could give him when he went on his travels.\n\nThe lad went away with the can to the well, and filled it with water,\nand then came away home again; but the can being broken, the most part\nof the water had run out before he got back. So his cake was very small;\nyet small as it was, his mother asked him if he was willing to take the\nhalf of it with her blessing, telling him that, if he chose rather to\ntake the whole, he would only get it with her curse. The young man,\nthinking he might have to travel a far way, and not knowing when or\nhow he might get other provisions, said he would like to have the whole\ncake, come of his mother's malison what like; so she gave him the whole\ncake, and her malison along with it. Then he took his brother aside, and\ngave him a knife to keep till he should come back, desiring him to look\nat it every morning, and as long as it continued to be clear, then he\nmight be sure that the owner of it was well; but if it grew dim and\nrusty, then for certain some ill had befallen him.\n\nSo the young man went to seek his fortune. And he went all that day, and\nall the next day; and on the third day, in the afternoon, he came up to\nwhere a shepherd was sitting with a flock of sheep. And he went up to\nthe shepherd and asked him who the sheep belonged to; and he answered:\n\n  \u201cThe Red Ettin of Ireland\n    Once lived in Ballygan,\n  And stole King Malcolm's daughter\n    The king of fair Scotland.\n\n  He beats her, he binds her,\n    He lays her on a band;\n  And every day he strikes her\n    With a bright silver wand.\n  Like Julian the Roman,\n  He's one that fears no man.\n\n  It's said there's one predestinate\n    To be his mortal foe;\n  But that man is yet unborn,\n    And long may it be so.\u201d\n\nThis shepherd also told him to beware of the beasts he should next meet,\nfor they were of a very different kind from any he had yet seen.\n\nSo the young man went on, and by-and-by he saw a multitude of very\ndreadful beasts, with two heads, and on every head four horns. And he\nwas sore frightened, and ran away from them as fast as he could; and\nglad was he when he came to a castle that stood on a hillock, with the\ndoor standing wide open to the wall. And he went into the castle for\nshelter, and there he saw an old wife sitting beside the kitchen fire.\nHe asked the wife if he might stay for the night, as he was tired with\na long journey; and the wife said he might, but it was not a good\nplace for him to be in, as it belonged to the Red Ettin, who was a very\nterrible beast, with three heads, that spared no living man it could get\nhold of. The young man would have gone away, but he was afraid of the\nbeasts on the outside of the castle; so he beseeched the old woman to\nhide him as best she could, and not tell the Ettin he was there. He\nthought, if he could put over the night, he might get away in the\nmorning, without meeting with the beasts, and so escape. But he had not\nbeen long in his hiding-hole, before the awful Ettin came in; and no\nsooner was he in, than he was heard crying:\n\n  \u201cSnouk but and snouk ben,\n  I find the smell of an earthly man,\n  Be he living, or be he dead,\n  His heart this night shall kitchen my bread.\u201d\n\nThe monster soon found the poor young man, and pulled him from his hole.\nAnd when he had got him out, he told him that if he could answer him\nthree questions his life should be spared. So the first head asked: \u201cA\nthing without an end, what's that?\u201d But the young man knew not. Then the\nsecond head said: \u201cThe smaller, the more dangerous, what's that?\u201d But\nthe young man knew it not. And then the third head asked: \u201cThe dead\ncarrying the living; riddle me that?\u201d But the young man had to give it\nup. The lad not being able to answer one of these questions, the Red\nEttin took a mallet and knocked him on the head, and turned him into a\npillar of stone.\n\nOn the morning after this happened, the younger brother took out the\nknife to look at it, and he was grieved to find it all brown with rust.\nHe told his mother that the time was now come for him to go away upon\nhis travels also; so she requested him to take the can to the well for\nwater, that she might make a cake for him. And he went, and as he was\nbringing home the water, a raven over his head cried to him to look, and\nhe would see that the water was running out. And he was a young man of\nsense, and seeing the water running out, he took some clay and patched\nup the holes, so that he brought home enough water to bake a large cake.\nWhen his mother put it to him to take the half cake with her blessing,\nhe took it in preference to having the whole with her malison; and yet\nthe half was bigger than what the other lad had got.\n\nSo he went away on his journey; and after he had travelled a far way, he\nmet with an old woman that asked him if he would give her a bit of his\njohnny-cake. And he said: \u201cI will gladly do that,\u201d and so he gave her a\npiece of the johnny-cake; and for that she gave him a magical wand, that\nshe might yet be of service to him, if he took care to use it rightly.\nThen the old woman, who was a fairy, told him a great deal that would\nhappen to him, and what he ought to do in all circumstances; and after\nthat she vanished in an instant out of his sight. He went on a great way\nfarther, and then he came up to the old man herding the sheep; and when\nhe asked whose sheep these were, the answer was:\n\n  \u201cThe Red Ettin of Ireland\n    Once lived in Ballygan,\n  And stole King Malcolm's daughter,\n    The king of Fair Scotland.\n\n  \u201cHe beats her, he binds her,\n    He lays her on a band;\n  And every day he strikes her\n    With a bright silver wand.\n  Like Julian the Roman,\n  He's one that fears no man.\n\n  \u201cBut now I fear his end is near,\n    And destiny at hand;\n  And you're to be, I plainly see,\n    The heir of all his land.\u201d\n\nWhen he came to the place where the monstrous beasts were standing, he\ndid not stop nor run away, but went boldly through amongst them. One\ncame up roaring with open mouth to devour him, when he struck it with\nhis wand, and laid it in an instant dead at his feet. He soon came to\nthe Ettin's castle, where he knocked, and was admitted. The old woman\nwho sat by the fire warned him of the terrible Ettin, and what had been\nthe fate of his brother; but he was not to be daunted. The monster soon\ncame in, saying:\n\n  \u201cSnouk but and snouk ben,\n  I find the smell of an earthly man;\n  Be he living, or be he dead,\n  His heart shall be kitchen to my bread.\u201d\n\nHe quickly espied the young man, and bade him come forth on the floor.\nAnd then he put the three questions to him; but the young man had been\ntold everything by the good fairy, so he was able to answer all the\nquestions. So when the first head asked, \u201cWhat's the thing without an\nend?\u201d he said: \u201cA bowl.\u201d And when the second head said: \u201cThe smaller the\nmore dangerous; what's that?\u201d he said at once, \u201cA bridge.\u201d And last, the\nthird head said: \u201cWhen does the dead carry the living, riddle me that?\u201d\n Then the young man answered up at once and said: \u201cWhen a ship sails on\nthe sea with men inside her.\u201d When the Ettin found this, he knew that\nhis power was gone. The young man then took up an axe and hewed off the\nmonster's three heads. He next asked the old woman to show him where the\nking's daughter lay; and the old woman took him upstairs, and opened a\ngreat many doors, and out of every door came a beautiful lady who had\nbeen imprisoned there by the Ettin; and one of the ladies was the king's\ndaughter. She also took him down into a low room, and there stood a\nstone pillar, that he had only to touch with his wand, when his brother\nstarted into life. And the whole of the prisoners were overjoyed at\ntheir deliverance, for which they thanked the young man. Next day they\nall set out for the king's court, and a gallant company they made. And\nthe king married his daughter to the young man that had delivered\nher, and gave a noble's daughter to his brother; and so they all lived\nhappily all the rest of their days.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOLDEN ARM\n\nHere was once a man who travelled the land all over in search of a wife.\nHe saw young and old, rich and poor, pretty and plain, and could not\nmeet with one to his mind. At last he found a woman, young, fair, and\nrich, who possessed a right arm of solid gold. He married her at once,\nand thought no man so fortunate as he was. They lived happily together,\nbut, though he wished people to think otherwise, he was fonder of the\ngolden arm than of all his wife's gifts besides.\n\nAt last she died. The husband put on the blackest black, and pulled the\nlongest face at the funeral; but for all that he got up in the middle of\nthe night, dug up the body, and cut off the golden arm. He hurried home\nto hide his treasure, and thought no one would know.\n\nThe following night he put the golden arm under his pillow, and was just\nfalling asleep, when the ghost of his dead wife glided into the room.\nStalking up to the bedside it drew the curtain, and looked at him\nreproachfully. Pretending not to be afraid, he spoke to the ghost, and\nsaid: \u201cWhat hast thou done with thy cheeks so red?\u201d\n\n\u201cAll withered and wasted away,\u201d replied the ghost, in a hollow tone.\n\n\u201cWhat hast thou done with thy red rosy lips?\u201d\n\n\u201cAll withered and wasted away.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat hast thou done with thy golden hair?\u201d\n\n\u201cAll withered and wasted away.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat hast thou done with thy _Golden Arm_?\u201d\n\n\u201cTHOU HAST IT!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB\n\nIn the days of the great Prince Arthur, there lived a mighty magician,\ncalled Merlin, the most learned and skilful enchanter the world has ever\nseen.\n\nThis famous magician, who could take any form he pleased, was travelling\nabout as a poor beggar, and being very tired, he stopped at the cottage\nof a ploughman to rest himself, and asked for some food.\n\nThe countryman bade him welcome, and his wife, who was a very\ngood-hearted woman, soon brought him some milk in a wooden bowl, and\nsome coarse brown bread on a platter.\n\nMerlin was much pleased with the kindness of the ploughman and his\nwife; but he could not help noticing that though everything was neat\nand comfortable in the cottage, they seemed both to be very unhappy. He\ntherefore asked them why they were so melancholy, and learned that they\nwere miserable because they had no children.\n\nThe poor woman said, with tears in her eyes: \u201cI should be the happiest\ncreature in the world if I had a son; although he was no bigger than my\nhusband's thumb, I would be satisfied.\u201d\n\nMerlin was so much amused with the idea of a boy no bigger than a man's\nthumb, that he determined to grant the poor woman's wish. Accordingly,\nin a short time after, the ploughman's wife had a son, who, wonderful to\nrelate! was not a bit bigger than his father's thumb.\n\nThe queen of the fairies, wishing to see the little fellow, came in at\nthe window while the mother was sitting up in the bed admiring him. The\nqueen kissed the child, and, giving it the name of Tom Thumb, sent for\nsome of the fairies, who dressed her little godson according to her\norders:\n\n  \u201cAn oak-leaf hat he had for his crown;\n  His shirt of web by spiders spun;\n  With jacket wove of thistle's down;\n  His trowsers were of feathers done.\n  His stockings, of apple-rind, they tie\n  With eyelash from his mother's eye\n  His shoes were made of mouse's skin,\n  Tann'd with the downy hair within.\u201d\n\nTom never grew any larger than his father's thumb, which was only of\nordinary size; but as he got older he became very cunning and full of\ntricks. When he was old enough to play with the boys, and had lost\nall his own cherry-stones, he used to creep into the bags of his\nplayfellows, fill his pockets, and, getting out without their noticing\nhim, would again join in the game.\n\nOne day, however, as he was coming out of a bag of cherry-stones, where\nhe had been stealing as usual, the boy to whom it belonged chanced to\nsee him. \u201cAh, ah! my little Tommy,\u201d said the boy, \u201cso I have caught you\nstealing my cherry-stones at last, and you shall be rewarded for your\nthievish tricks.\u201d On saying this, he drew the string tight round his\nneck, and gave the bag such a hearty shake, that poor little Tom's legs,\nthighs, and body were sadly bruised. He roared out with pain, and begged\nto be let out, promising never to steal again.\n\nA short time afterwards his mother was making a batter-pudding, and Tom,\nbeing very anxious to see how it was made, climbed up to the edge of the\nbowl; but his foot slipped, and he plumped over head and ears into\nthe batter, without his mother noticing him, who stirred him into the\npudding-bag, and put him in the pot to boil.\n\nThe batter filled Tom's mouth, and prevented him from crying; but, on\nfeeling the hot water, he kicked and struggled so much in the pot, that\nhis mother thought that the pudding was bewitched, and, pulling it\nout of the pot, she threw it outside the door. A poor tinker, who was\npassing by, lifted up the pudding, and, putting it into his budget, he\nthen walked off. As Tom had now got his mouth cleared of the batter, he\nthen began to cry aloud, which so frightened the tinker that he flung\ndown the pudding and ran away. The pudding being broke to pieces by the\nfall, Tom crept out covered all over with the batter, and walked home.\nHis mother, who was very sorry to see her darling in such a woeful\nstate, put him into a teacup, and soon washed off the batter; after\nwhich she kissed him, and laid him in bed.\n\nSoon after the adventure of the pudding, Tom's mother went to milk her\ncow in the meadow, and she took him along with her. As the wind was very\nhigh, for fear of being blown away, she tied him to a thistle with a\npiece of fine thread. The cow soon observed Tom's oak-leaf hat, and\nliking the appearance of it, took poor Tom and the thistle at one\nmouthful. While the cow was chewing the thistle Tom was afraid of her\ngreat teeth, which threatened to crush him in pieces, and he roared out\nas loud as he could: \u201cMother, mother!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere are you, Tommy, my dear Tommy?\u201d said his mother.\n\n\u201cHere, mother,\u201d replied he, \u201cin the red cow's mouth.\u201d\n\nHis mother began to cry and wring her hands; but the cow, surprised\nat the odd noise in her throat, opened her mouth and let Tom drop out.\nFortunately his mother caught him in her apron as he was falling to the\nground, or he would have been dreadfully hurt. She then put Tom in her\nbosom and ran home with him.\n\nTom's father made him a whip of a barley straw to drive the cattle with,\nand having one day gone into the fields, he slipped a foot and rolled\ninto the furrow. A raven, which was flying over, picked him up, and flew\nwith him over the sea, and there dropped him.\n\nA large fish swallowed Tom the moment he fell into the sea, which was\nsoon after caught, and bought for the table of King Arthur. When they\nopened the fish in order to cook it, every one was astonished at finding\nsuch a little boy, and Tom was quite delighted at being free again.\nThey carried him to the king, who made Tom his dwarf, and he soon grew\na great favourite at court; for by his tricks and gambols he not only\namused the king and queen, but also all the Knights of the Round Table.\n\nIt is said that when the king rode out on horseback, he often took\nTom along with him, and if a shower came on, he used to creep into his\nmajesty's waistcoat-pocket, where he slept till the rain was over.\n\nKing Arthur one day asked Tom about his parents, wishing to know if they\nwere as small as he was, and whether they were well off. Tom told the\nking that his father and mother were as tall as anybody about the court,\nbut in rather poor circumstances. On hearing this, the king carried Tom\nto his treasury, the place where he kept all his money, and told him to\ntake as much money as he could carry home to his parents, which made\nthe poor little fellow caper with joy. Tom went immediately to procure\na purse, which was made of a water-bubble, and then returned to the\ntreasury, where he received a silver threepenny-piece to put into it.\n\nOur little hero had some difficulty in lifting the burden upon his\nback; but he at last succeeded in getting it placed to his mind, and set\nforward on his journey. However, without meeting with any accident, and\nafter resting himself more than a hundred times by the way, in two days\nand two nights he reached his father's house in safety.\n\nTom had travelled forty-eight hours with a huge silver-piece on his\nback, and was almost tired to death, when his mother ran out to meet\nhim, and carried him into the house. But he soon returned to Court.\n\nAs Tom's clothes had suffered much in the batter-pudding, and the inside\nof the fish, his majesty ordered him a new suit of clothes, and to be\nmounted as a knight on a mouse.\n\n  Of Butterfly's wings his shirt was made,\n    His boots of chicken's hide;\n  And by a nimble fairy blade,\n  Well learned in the tailoring trade,\n    His clothing was supplied.\n  A needle dangled by his side;\n  A dapper mouse he used to ride,\n  Thus strutted Tom in stately pride!\n\nIt was certainly very diverting to see Tom in this dress and mounted on\nthe mouse, as he rode out a-hunting with the king and nobility, who were\nall ready to expire with laughter at Tom and his fine prancing charger.\n\nThe king was so charmed with his address that he ordered a little chair\nto be made, in order that Tom might sit upon his table, and also a\npalace of gold, a span high, with a door an inch wide, to live in. He\nalso gave him a coach, drawn by six small mice.\n\nThe queen was so enraged at the honours conferred on Sir Thomas that she\nresolved to ruin him, and told the king that the little knight had been\nsaucy to her.\n\nThe king sent for Tom in great haste, but being fully aware of the\ndanger of royal anger, he crept into an empty snail-shell, where he lay\nfor a long time until he was almost starved with hunger; but at last he\nventured to peep out, and seeing a fine large butterfly on the ground,\nnear the place of his concealment, he got close to it and jumping\nastride on it, was carried up into the air. The butterfly flew with him\nfrom tree to tree and from field to field, and at last returned to the\ncourt, where the king and nobility all strove to catch him; but at last\npoor Tom fell from his seat into a watering-pot, in which he was almost\ndrowned.\n\nWhen the queen saw him she was in a rage, and said he should be\nbeheaded; and he was again put into a mouse trap until the time of his\nexecution.\n\nHowever a cat, observing something alive in the trap, patted it about\ntill the wires broke, and set Thomas at liberty.\n\nThe king received Tom again into favour, which he did not live to enjoy,\nfor a large spider one day attacked him; and although he drew his sword\nand fought well, yet the spider's poisonous breath at last overcame him.\n\n  He fell dead on the ground where he stood,\n  And the spider suck'd every drop of his blood.\n\nKing Arthur and his whole court were so sorry at the loss of their\nlittle favourite that they went into mourning and raised a fine white\nmarble monument over his grave with the following epitaph:\n\n  Here lies Tom Thumb, King Arthur's knight,\n  Who died by a spider's cruel bite.\n  He was well known in Arthur's court,\n  Where he afforded gallant sport;\n  He rode at tilt and tournament,\n  And on a mouse a-hunting went.\n  Alive he filled the court with mirth;\n  His death to sorrow soon gave birth.\n  Wipe, wipe your eyes, and shake your head\n  And cry,--Alas! Tom Thumb is dead!\n\n\n\n\nMR. FOX\n\nLady Mary was young, and Lady Mary was fair. She had two brothers, and\nmore lovers than she could count. But of them all, the bravest and most\ngallant, was a Mr. Fox, whom she met when she was down at her father's\ncountry-house. No one knew who Mr. Fox was; but he was certainly brave,\nand surely rich, and of all her lovers, Lady Mary cared for him alone.\nAt last it was agreed upon between them that they should be married.\nLady Mary asked Mr. Fox where they should live, and he described to her\nhis castle, and where it was; but, strange to say, did not ask her, or\nher brothers to come and see it.\n\nSo one day, near the wedding-day, when her brothers were out, and Mr.\nFox was away for a day or two on business, as he said, Lady Mary set out\nfor Mr. Fox's castle. And after many searchings, she came at last to\nit, and a fine strong house it was, with high walls and a deep moat. And\nwhen she came up to the gateway she saw written on it:\n\nBE BOLD, BE BOLD.\n\nBut as the gate was open, she went through it, and found no one there.\nSo she went up to the doorway, and over it she found written:\n\nBE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD.\n\nStill she went on, till she came into the hall, and went up the broad\nstairs till she came to a door in the gallery, over which was written:\n\nBE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD, LEST THAT YOUR HEART'S BLOOD SHOULD\nRUN COLD.\n\nBut Lady Mary was a brave one, she was, and she opened the door, and\nwhat do you think she saw? Why, bodies and skeletons of beautiful young\nladies all stained with blood. So Lady Mary thought it was high time to\nget out of that horrid place, and she closed the door, went through the\ngallery, and was just going down the stairs, and out of the hall, when\nwho should she see through the window, but Mr. Fox dragging a beautiful\nyoung lady along from the gateway to the door. Lady Mary rushed\ndownstairs, and hid herself behind a cask, just in time, as Mr. Fox came\nin with the poor young lady who seemed to have fainted. Just as he got\nnear Lady Mary, Mr. Fox saw a diamond ring glittering on the finger of\nthe young lady he was dragging, and he tried to pull it off. But it was\ntightly fixed, and would not come off, so Mr. Fox cursed and swore, and\ndrew his sword, raised it, and brought it down upon the hand of the poor\nlady. The sword cut off the hand, which jumped up into the air, and fell\nof all places in the world into Lady Mary's lap. Mr. Fox looked about a\nbit, but did not think of looking behind the cask, so at last he went on\ndragging the young lady up the stairs into the Bloody Chamber.\n\nAs soon as she heard him pass through the gallery, Lady Mary crept\nout of the door, down through the gateway, and ran home as fast as she\ncould.\n\nNow it happened that the very next day the marriage contract of Lady\nMary and Mr. Fox was to be signed, and there was a splendid breakfast\nbefore that. And when Mr. Fox was seated at table opposite Lady Mary,\nhe looked at her. \u201cHow pale you are this morning, my dear.\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d\n said she, \u201cI had a bad night's rest last night. I had horrible dreams.\u201d\n \u201cDreams go by contraries,\u201d said Mr. Fox; \u201cbut tell us your dream, and\nyour sweet voice will make the time pass till the happy hour comes.\u201d\n\n\u201cI dreamed,\u201d said Lady Mary, \u201cthat I went yestermorn to your castle, and\nI found it in the woods, with high walls, and a deep moat, and over the\ngateway was written:\n\nBE BOLD, BE BOLD.\n\n\u201cBut it is not so, nor it was not so,\u201d said Mr. Fox.\n\n\u201cAnd when I came to the doorway over it was written:\n\nBE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD.\n\n\u201cIt is not so, nor it was not so,\u201d said Mr. Fox.\n\n\u201cAnd then I went upstairs, and came to a gallery, at the end of which\nwas a door, on which was written:\n\nBE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD, LEST THAT YOUR HEART'S BLOOD SHOULD\nRUN COLD.\n\n\u201cIt is not so, nor it was not so,\u201d said Mr. Fox.\n\n\u201cAnd then--and then I opened the door, and the room was filled with\nbodies and skeletons of poor dead women, all stained with their blood.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so,\u201d said\nMr. Fox.\n\n\u201cI then dreamed that I rushed down the gallery, and just as I was\ngoing down the stairs, I saw you, Mr. Fox, coming up to the hall door,\ndragging after you a poor young lady, rich and beautiful.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so,\u201d said\nMr. Fox.\n\n\u201cI rushed downstairs, just in time to hide myself behind a cask, when\nyou, Mr. Fox, came in dragging the young lady by the arm. And, as you\npassed me, Mr. Fox, I thought I saw you try and get off her diamond\nring, and when you could not, Mr. Fox, it seemed to me in my dream, that\nyou out with your sword and hacked off the poor lady's hand to get the\nring.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so,\u201d said\nMr. Fox, and was going to say something else as he rose from his seat,\nwhen Lady Mary cried out:\n\n\u201cBut it is so, and it was so. Here's hand and ring I have to show,\u201d and\npulled out the lady's hand from her dress, and pointed it straight at\nMr. Fox.\n\nAt once her brothers and her friends drew their swords and cut Mr. Fox\ninto a thousand pieces.\n\n\n\n\nLAZY JACK\n\nOnce upon a time there was a boy whose name was Jack, and he lived with\nhis mother on a common. They were very poor, and the old woman got her\nliving by spinning, but Jack was so lazy that he would do nothing but\nbask in the sun in the hot weather, and sit by the corner of the hearth\nin the winter-time. So they called him Lazy Jack. His mother could not\nget him to do anything for her, and at last told him, one Monday, that\nif he did not begin to work for his porridge she would turn him out to\nget his living as he could.\n\nThis roused Jack, and he went out and hired himself for the next day\nto a neighbouring farmer for a penny; but as he was coming home, never\nhaving had any money before, he lost it in passing over a brook. \u201cYou\nstupid boy,\u201d said his mother, \u201cyou should have put it in your pocket.\u201d\n \u201cI'll do so another time,\u201d replied Jack.\n\nOn Wednesday, Jack went out again and hired himself to a cow-keeper, who\ngave him a jar of milk for his day's work. Jack took the jar and put it\ninto the large pocket of his jacket, spilling it all, long before he got\nhome. \u201cDear me!\u201d said the old woman; \u201cyou should have carried it on your\nhead.\u201d \u201cI'll do so another time,\u201d said Jack.\n\nSo on Thursday, Jack hired himself again to a farmer, who agreed to\ngive him a cream cheese for his services. In the evening Jack took the\ncheese, and went home with it on his head. By the time he got home the\ncheese was all spoilt, part of it being lost, and part matted with his\nhair. \u201cYou stupid lout,\u201d said his mother, \u201cyou should have carried it\nvery carefully in your hands.\u201d \u201cI'll do so another time,\u201d replied Jack.\n\nOn Friday, Lazy Jack again went out, and hired himself to a baker, who\nwould give him nothing for his work but a large tom-cat. Jack took the\ncat, and began carrying it very carefully in his hands, but in a short\ntime pussy scratched him so much that he was compelled to let it go.\nWhen he got home, his mother said to him, \u201cYou silly fellow, you should\nhave tied it with a string, and dragged it along after you.\u201d \u201cI'll do so\nanother time,\u201d said Jack.\n\nSo on Saturday, Jack hired himself to a butcher, who rewarded him by the\nhandsome present of a shoulder of mutton. Jack took the mutton, tied it\nto a string, and trailed it along after him in the dirt, so that by the\ntime he had got home the meat was completely spoilt. His mother was this\ntime quite out of patience with him, for the next day was Sunday,\nand she was obliged to make do with cabbage for her dinner. \u201cYou\nninney-hammer,\u201d said she to her son; \u201cyou should have carried it on your\nshoulder.\u201d \u201cI'll do so another time,\u201d replied Jack.\n\nOn the next Monday, Lazy Jack went once more, and hired himself to a\ncattle-keeper, who gave him a donkey for his trouble. Jack found it hard\nto hoist the donkey on his shoulders, but at last he did it, and began\nwalking slowly home with his prize. Now it happened that in the\ncourse of his journey there lived a rich man with his only daughter,\na beautiful girl, but deaf and dumb. Now she had never laughed in her\nlife, and the doctors said she would never speak till somebody made her\nlaugh. This young lady happened to be looking out of the window when\nJack was passing with the donkey on his shoulders, with the legs\nsticking up in the air, and the sight was so comical and strange that\nshe burst out into a great fit of laughter, and immediately recovered\nher speech and hearing. Her father was overjoyed, and fulfilled\nhis promise by marrying her to Lazy Jack, who was thus made a rich\ngentleman. They lived in a large house, and Jack's mother lived with\nthem in great happiness until she died.\n\n\n\n\nJOHNNY-CAKE\n\nOnce upon a time there was an old man, and an old woman, and a little\nboy. One morning the old woman made a Johnny-cake, and put it in the\noven to bake. \u201cYou watch the Johnny-cake while your father and I go out\nto work in the garden.\u201d So the old man and the old woman went out and\nbegan to hoe potatoes, and left the little boy to tend the oven. But he\ndidn't watch it all the time, and all of a sudden he heard a noise, and\nhe looked up and the oven door popped open, and out of the oven jumped\nJohnny-cake, and went rolling along end over end, towards the open door\nof the house. The little boy ran to shut the door, but Johnny-cake was\ntoo quick for him and rolled through the door, down the steps, and out\ninto the road long before the little boy could catch him. The little boy\nran after him as fast as he could clip it, crying out to his father and\nmother, who heard the uproar, and threw down their hoes and gave chase\ntoo. But Johnny-cake outran all three a long way, and was soon out of\nsight, while they had to sit down, all out of breath, on a bank to rest.\n\nOn went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to two well-diggers who\nlooked up from their work and called out: \u201cWhere ye going, Johnny-cake?\u201d\n\nHe said: \u201cI've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy,\nand I can outrun you too-o-o!\u201d\n\n\u201cYe can, can ye? we'll see about that?\u201d said they; and they threw down\ntheir picks and ran after him, but couldn't catch up with him, and soon\nthey had to sit down by the roadside to rest.\n\nOn ran Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to two ditch-diggers who were\ndigging a ditch. \u201cWhere ye going, Johnny-cake?\u201d said they. He said:\n\u201cI've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and two\nwell-diggers, and I can outrun you too-o-o!\u201d\n\n\u201cYe can, can ye? we'll see about that!\u201d said they; and they threw down\ntheir spades, and ran after him too. But Johnny-cake soon outstripped\nthem also, and seeing they could never catch him, they gave up the chase\nand sat down to rest.\n\nOn went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a bear. The bear said:\n\u201cWhere are ye going, Johnny-cake?\u201d\n\nHe said: \u201cI've outrun an old man, and an old woman and a little boy, and\ntwo well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, and I can outrun you too-o-o!\u201d\n\n\u201cYe can, can ye?\u201d growled the bear, \u201cwe'll see about that!\u201d and trotted\nas fast as his legs could carry him after Johnny-cake, who never stopped\nto look behind him. Before long the bear was left so far behind that\nhe saw he might as well give up the hunt first as last, so he stretched\nhimself out by the roadside to rest.\n\nOn went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a wolf. The wolf\nsaid:--\u201cWhere ye going, Johnny-cake?\u201d He said: \u201cI've outrun an old\nman, and an old woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two\nditch-diggers and a bear, and I can outrun you too-o-o!\u201d\n\n\u201cYe can, can ye?\u201d snarled the wolf, \u201cwe'll see about that!\u201d And he set\ninto a gallop after Johnny-cake, who went on and on so fast that the\nwolf too saw there was no hope of overtaking him, and he too lay down to\nrest.\n\nOn went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a fox that lay quietly in\na corner of the fence. The fox called out in a sharp voice, but without\ngetting up: \u201cWhere ye going Johnny-cake?\u201d\n\nHe said: \u201cI've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy,\nand two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, a bear, and a wolf, and I\ncan outrun you too-o-o!\u201d\n\nThe fox said: \u201cI can't quite hear you, Johnny-cake, won't you come a\nlittle closer?\u201d turning his head a little to one side.\n\nJohnny-cake stopped his race for the first time, and went a little\ncloser, and called out in a very loud voice _\u201cI've outrun an old man,\nand an old woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two\nditch-diggers, and a bear, and a wolf, and I can outrun you too-o-o.\u201d_\n\n\u201cCan't quite hear you; won't you come a _little_ closer?\u201d said the fox\nin a feeble voice, as he stretched out his neck towards Johnny-cake, and\nput one paw behind his ear.\n\nJohnny-cake came up close, and leaning towards the fox screamed out:\nI'VE OUTRUN AN OLD MAN, AND AN OLD WOMAN, AND A LITTLE BOY, AND TWO\nWELL-DIGGERS, AND TWO DITCH-DIGGERS, AND A BEAR, AND A WOLF, AND I CAN\nOUTRUN YOU TOO-O-O!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou can, can you?\u201d yelped the fox, and he snapped up the Johnny-cake in\nhis sharp teeth in the twinkling of an eye.\n\n\n\n\nEARL MAR'S DAUGHTER\n\nOne fine summer's day Earl Mar's daughter went into the castle garden,\ndancing and tripping along. And as she played and sported she would stop\nfrom time to time to listen to the music of the birds. After a while as\nshe sat under the shade of a green oak tree she looked up and spied a\nsprightly dove sitting high up on one of its branches. She looked up\nand said: \u201cCoo-my-dove, my dear, come down to me and I will give you a\ngolden cage. I'll take you home and pet you well, as well as any bird\nof them all.\u201d Scarcely had she said these words when the dove flew down\nfrom the branch and settled on her shoulder, nestling up against her\nneck while she smoothed its feathers. Then she took it home to her own\nroom.\n\nThe day was done and the night came on and Earl Mar's daughter was\nthinking of going to sleep when, turning round, she found at her side a\nhandsome young man. She _was_ startled, for the door had been locked\nfor hours. But she was a brave girl and said: \u201cWhat are you doing here,\nyoung man, to come and startle me so? The door was barred these hours\nago; how ever did you come here?\u201d\n\n\u201cHush! hush!\u201d the young man whispered. \u201cI was that cooing dove that you\ncoaxed from off the tree.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut who are you then?\u201d she said quite low; \u201cand how came you to be\nchanged into that dear little bird?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy name is Florentine, and my mother is a queen, and something more\nthan a queen, for she knows magic and spells, and because I would not do\nas she wished she turned me into a dove by day, but at night her spells\nlose their power and I become a man again. To-day I crossed the sea and\nsaw you for the first time and I was glad to be a bird that I could come\nnear you. Unless you love me, I shall never be happy more.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut if I love you,\u201d says she, \u201cwill you not fly away and leave me one\nof these fine days?\u201d\n\n\u201cNever, never,\u201d said the prince; \u201cbe my wife and I'll be yours for ever.\nBy day a bird, by night a prince, I will always be by your side as a\nhusband, dear.\u201d\n\nSo they were married in secret and lived happily in the castle and no\none knew that every night Coo-my-dove became Prince Florentine. And\nevery year a little son came to them as bonny as bonny could be. But as\neach son was born Prince Florentine carried the little thing away on\nhis back over the sea to where the queen his mother lived and left the\nlittle one with her.\n\nSeven years passed thus and then a great trouble came to them. For the\nEarl Mar wished to marry his daughter to a noble of high degree who came\nwooing her. Her father pressed her sore but she said: \u201cFather dear, I do\nnot wish to marry; I can be quite happy with Coo-my-dove here.\u201d\n\nThen her father got into a mighty rage and swore a great big oath, and\nsaid: \u201cTo-morrow, so sure as I live and eat, I'll twist that birdie's\nneck,\u201d and out he stamped from her room.\n\n\u201cOh, oh!\u201d said Coo-my-dove; \u201cit's time that I was away,\u201d and so he\njumped upon the window-sill and in a moment was flying away. And he flew\nand he flew till he was over the deep, deep sea, and yet on he flew till\nhe came to his mother's castle. Now the queen his mother was taking her\nwalk abroad when she saw the pretty dove flying overhead and alighting\non the castle walls.\n\n\u201cHere, dancers come and dance your jigs,\u201d she called, \u201cand pipers, pipe\nyou well, for here's my own Florentine, come back to me to stay for he's\nbrought no bonny boy with him this time.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, mother,\u201d said Florentine, \u201cno dancers for me and no minstrels, for\nmy dear wife, the mother of my seven, boys, is to be wed to-morrow, and\nsad's the day for me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat can I do, my son?\u201d said the queen, \u201ctell me, and it shall be done\nif my magic has power to do it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell then, mother dear, turn the twenty-four dancers and pipers into\ntwenty-four grey herons, and let my seven sons become seven white swans,\nand let me be a goshawk and their leader.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas! alas! my son,\u201d she said, \u201cthat may not be; my magic reaches\nnot so far. But perhaps my teacher, the spaewife of Ostree, may know\nbetter.\u201d And away she hurries to the cave of Ostree, and after a while\ncomes out as white as white can be and muttering over some burning herbs\nshe brought out of the cave. Suddenly Coo-my-dove changed into a goshawk\nand around him flew twenty-four grey herons and above them flew seven\ncygnets.\n\nWithout a word or a good-bye off they flew over the deep blue sea which\nwas tossing and moaning. They flew and they flew till they swooped down\non Earl Mar's castle just as the wedding party were setting out for the\nchurch. First came the men-at-arms and then the bridegroom's friends,\nand then Earl Mar's men, and then the bridegroom, and lastly, pale\nand beautiful, Earl Mar's daughter herself. They moved down slowly to\nstately music till they came past the trees on which the birds were\nsettling. A word from Prince Florentine, the goshawk, and they all rose\ninto the air, herons beneath, cygnets above, and goshawk circling above\nall. The weddineers wondered at the sight when, swoop! the herons were\ndown among them scattering the men-at-arms. The swanlets took charge\nof the bride while the goshawk dashed down and tied the bridegroom to a\ntree. Then the herons gathered themselves together into one feather bed\nand the cygnets placed their mother upon them, and suddenly they all\nrose in the air bearing the bride away with them in safety towards\nPrince Florentine's home. Surely a wedding party was never so disturbed\nin this world. What could the weddineers do? They saw their pretty bride\ncarried away and away till she and the herons and the swans and the\ngoshawk disappeared, and that very day Prince Florentine brought Earl\nMar's daughter to the castle of the queen his mother, who took the spell\noff him and they lived happy ever afterwards.\n\n\n\n\nMR. MIACCA\n\nTommy Grimes was sometimes a good boy, and sometimes a bad boy; and when\nhe was a bad boy, he was a very bad boy. Now his mother used to say to\nhim: \u201cTommy, Tommy, be a good boy, and don't go out of the street, or\nelse Mr. Miacca will take you.\u201d But still when he was a bad boy he would\ngo out of the street; and one day, sure enough, he had scarcely got\nround the corner, when Mr. Miacca did catch him and popped him into a\nbag upside down, and took him off to his house.\n\nWhen Mr. Miacca got Tommy inside, he pulled him out of the bag and set\nhim down, and felt his arms and legs. \u201cYou're rather tough,\u201d says he;\n\u201cbut you're all I've got for supper, and you'll not taste bad boiled.\nBut body o' me, I've forgot the herbs, and it's bitter you'll taste\nwithout herbs. Sally! Here, I say, Sally!\u201d and he called Mrs. Miacca.\n\nSo Mrs. Miacca came out of another room and said: \u201cWhat d'ye want, my\ndear?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, here's a little boy for supper,\u201d said Mr. Miacca, \u201cand I've forgot\nthe herbs. Mind him, will ye, while I go for them.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right, my love,\u201d says Mrs. Miacca, and off he goes.\n\nThen Tommy Grimes said to Mrs. Miacca: \u201cDoes Mr. Miacca always have\nlittle boys for supper?\u201d\n\n\u201cMostly, my dear,\u201d said Mrs. Miacca, \u201cif little boys are bad enough, and\nget in his way.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd don't you have anything else but boy-meat? No pudding?\u201d asked\nTommy.\n\n\u201cAh, I loves pudding,\u201d says Mrs. Miacca. \u201cBut it's not often the likes\nof me gets pudding.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, my mother is making a pudding this very day,\u201d said Tommy Grimes,\n\u201cand I am sure she'd give you some, if I ask her. Shall I run and get\nsome?\u201d\n\n\u201cNow, that's a thoughtful boy,\u201d said Mrs. Miacca, \u201conly don't be long\nand be sure to be back for supper.\u201d\n\nSo off Tommy pelters, and right glad he was to get off so cheap; and for\nmany a long day he was as good as good could be, and never went round\nthe corner of the street. But he couldn't always be good; and one day he\nwent round the corner, and as luck would have it, he hadn't scarcely got\nround it when Mr. Miacca grabbed him up, popped him in his bag, and took\nhim home.\n\nWhen he got him there, Mr. Miacca dropped him out; and when he saw him,\nhe said: \u201cAh, you're the youngster what served me and my missus that\nshabby trick, leaving us without any supper. Well, you shan't do it\nagain. I'll watch over you myself. Here, get under the sofa, and I'll\nset on it and watch the pot boil for you.\u201d\n\nSo poor Tommy Grimes had to creep under the sofa, and Mr. Miacca sat on\nit and waited for the pot to boil. And they waited, and they waited, but\nstill the pot didn't boil, till at last Mr. Miacca got tired of waiting,\nand he said: \u201cHere, you under there, I'm not going to wait any longer;\nput out your leg, and I'll stop your giving us the slip.\u201d\n\nSo Tommy put out a leg, and Mr. Miacca got a chopper, and chopped it\noff, and pops it in the pot.\n\nSuddenly he calls out: \u201cSally, my dear, Sally!\u201d and nobody answered. So\nhe went into the next room to look out for Mrs. Miacca, and while he was\nthere, Tommy crept out from under the sofa and ran out of the door. For\nit was a leg of the sofa that he had put out.\n\nSo Tommy Grimes ran home, and he never went round the corner again till\nhe was old enough to go alone.\n\n\n\n\nWHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT\n\nIn the reign of the famous King Edward III. there was a little boy\ncalled Dick Whittington, whose father and mother died when he was very\nyoung. As poor Dick was not old enough to work, he was very badly off;\nhe got but little for his dinner, and sometimes nothing at all for\nhis breakfast; for the people who lived in the village were very poor\nindeed, and could not spare him much more than the parings of potatoes,\nand now and then a hard crust of bread.\n\nNow Dick had heard a great many very strange things about the great city\ncalled London; for the country people at that time thought that folks\nin London were all fine gentlemen and ladies; and that there was singing\nand music there all day long; and that the streets were all paved with\ngold.\n\nOne day a large waggon and eight horses, all with bells at their heads,\ndrove through the village while Dick was standing by the sign-post. He\nthought that this waggon must be going to the fine town of London; so\nhe took courage, and asked the waggoner to let him walk with him by the\nside of the waggon. As soon as the waggoner heard that poor Dick had\nno father or mother, and saw by his ragged clothes that he could not be\nworse off than he was, he told him he might go if he would, so off they\nset together.\n\nSo Dick got safe to London, and was in such a hurry to see the fine\nstreets paved all over with gold, that he did not even stay to thank the\nkind waggoner; but ran off as fast as his legs would carry him, through\nmany of the streets, thinking every moment to come to those that were\npaved with gold; for Dick had seen a guinea three times in his own\nlittle village, and remembered what a deal of money it brought in\nchange; so he thought he had nothing to do but to take up some little\nbits of the pavement, and should then have as much money as he could\nwish for.\n\nPoor Dick ran till he was tired, and had quite forgot his friend the\nwaggoner; but at last, finding it grow dark, and that every way he\nturned he saw nothing but dirt instead of gold, he, sat down in a dark\ncorner and cried himself to sleep.\n\nLittle Dick was all night in the streets; and next morning, being very\nhungry, he got up and walked about, and asked everybody he met to give\nhim a halfpenny to keep him from starving; but nobody stayed to answer\nhim, and only two or three gave him a halfpenny; so that the poor boy\nwas soon quite weak and faint for the want of victuals.\n\nIn this distress he asked charity of several people, and one of them\nsaid crossly: \u201cGo to work, for an idle rogue.\u201d \u201cThat I will,\u201d says Dick,\n\u201cI will to go work for you, if you will let me.\u201d But the man only cursed\nat him and went on.\n\nAt last a good-natured looking gentleman saw how hungry he looked. \u201cWhy\ndon't you go to work my lad?\u201d said he to Dick. \u201cThat I would, but I do\nnot know how to get any,\u201d answered Dick. \u201cIf you are willing, come along\nwith me,\u201d said the gentleman, and took him to a hay-field, where Dick\nworked briskly, and lived merrily till the hay was made.\n\nAfter this he found himself as badly off as before; and being almost\nstarved again, he laid himself down at the door of Mr. Fitzwarren,\na rich merchant. Here he was soon seen by the cook-maid, who was an\nill-tempered creature, and happened just then to be very busy dressing\ndinner for her master and mistress; so she called out to poor Dick:\n\u201cWhat business have you there, you lazy rogue? there is nothing else but\nbeggars; if you do not take yourself away, we will see how you will like\na sousing of some dish-water; I have some here hot enough to make you\njump.\u201d\n\nJust at that time Mr. Fitzwarren himself came home to dinner; and when\nhe saw a dirty ragged boy lying at the door, he said to him: \u201cWhy do\nyou lie there, my boy? You seem old enough to work; I am afraid you are\ninclined to be lazy.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, indeed, sir,\u201d said Dick to him, \u201cthat is not the case, for I would\nwork with all my heart, but I do not know anybody, and I believe I am\nvery sick for the want of food.\u201d\n\n\u201cPoor fellow, get up; let me see what ails you.\u201d Dick now tried to rise,\nbut was obliged to lie down again, being too weak to stand, for he had\nnot eaten any food for three days, and was no longer able to run about\nand beg a halfpenny of people in the street. So the kind merchant\nordered him to be taken into the house, and have a good dinner given\nhim, and be kept to do what work he was able to do for the cook.\n\nLittle Dick would have lived very happy in this good family if it had\nnot been for the ill-natured cook. She used to say: \u201cYou are under me,\nso look sharp; clean the spit and the dripping-pan, make the fires, wind\nup the jack, and do all the scullery work nimbly, or--\u201d and she would\nshake the ladle at him. Besides, she was so fond of basting, that when\nshe had no meat to baste, she would baste poor Dick's head and shoulders\nwith a broom, or anything else that happened to fall in her way. At last\nher ill-usage of him was told to Alice, Mr. Fitzwarren's daughter, who\ntold the cook she should be turned away if she did not treat him kinder.\n\nThe behaviour of the cook was now a little better; but besides this Dick\nhad another hardship to get over. His bed stood in a garret, where there\nwere so many holes in the floor and the walls that every night he was\ntormented with rats and mice. A gentleman having given Dick a penny for\ncleaning his shoes, he thought he would buy a cat with it. The next day\nhe saw a girl with a cat, and asked her, \u201cWill you let me have that cat\nfor a penny?\u201d The girl said: \u201cYes, that I will, master, though she is an\nexcellent mouser.\u201d\n\nDick hid his cat in the garret, and always took care to carry a part of\nhis dinner to her; and in a short time he had no more trouble with the\nrats and mice, but slept quite sound every night.\n\nSoon after this, his master had a ship ready to sail; and as it was the\ncustom that all his servants should have some chance for good fortune as\nwell as himself, he called them all into the parlour and asked them what\nthey would send out.\n\nThey all had something that they were willing to venture except poor\nDick, who had neither money nor goods, and therefore could send nothing.\nFor this reason he did not come into the parlour with the rest; but Miss\nAlice guessed what was the matter, and ordered him to be called in. She\nthen said: \u201cI will lay down some money for him, from my own purse;\u201d but\nher father told her: \u201cThis will not do, for it must be something of his\nown.\u201d\n\nWhen poor Dick heard this, he said: \u201cI have nothing but a cat which I\nbought for a penny some time since of a little girl.\u201d\n\n\u201cFetch your cat then, my lad,\u201d said Mr. Fitzwarren, \u201cand let her go.\u201d\n\nDick went upstairs and brought down poor puss, with tears in his eyes,\nand gave her to the captain; \u201cFor,\u201d he said, \u201cI shall now be kept awake\nall night by the rats and mice.\u201d All the company laughed at Dick's odd\nventure; and Miss Alice, who felt pity for him, gave him some money to\nbuy another cat.\n\nThis, and many other marks of kindness shown him by Miss Alice, made the\nill-tempered cook jealous of poor Dick, and she began to use him more\ncruelly than ever, and always made game of him for sending his cat to\nsea.\n\nShe asked him: \u201cDo you think your cat will sell for as much money as\nwould buy a stick to beat you?\u201d\n\nAt last poor Dick could not bear this usage any longer, and he thought\nhe would run away from his place; so he packed up his few things, and\nstarted very early in the morning, on All-hallows Day, the first of\nNovember. He walked as far as Holloway; and there sat down on a stone,\nwhich to this day is called \u201cWhittington's Stone,\u201d and began to think to\nhimself which road he should take.\n\nWhile he was thinking what he should do, the Bells of Bow Church, which\nat that time were only six, began to ring, and their sound seemed to say\nto him:\n\n\u201cTurn again, Whittington, Thrice Lord Mayor of London.\u201d\n\n\u201cLord Mayor of London!\u201d said he to himself. \u201cWhy, to be sure, I would\nput up with almost anything now, to be Lord Mayor of London, and ride in\na fine coach, when I grow to be a man! Well, I will go back, and think\nnothing of the cuffing and scolding of the old cook, if I am to be Lord\nMayor of London at last.\u201d\n\nDick went back, and was lucky enough to get into the house, and set\nabout his work, before the old cook came downstairs.\n\nWe must now follow Miss Puss to the coast of Africa. The ship with the\ncat on board, was a long time at sea; and was at last driven by the\nwinds on a part of the coast of Barbary, where the only people were the\nMoors, unknown to the English. The people came in great numbers to see\nthe sailors, because they were of different colour to themselves, and\ntreated them civilly; and, when they became better acquainted, were very\neager to buy the fine things that the ship was loaded with.\n\nWhen the captain saw this, he sent patterns of the best things he had to\nthe king of the country; who was so much pleased with them, that he\nsent for the captain to the palace. Here they were placed, as it is the\ncustom of the country, on rich carpets flowered with gold and silver.\nThe king and queen were seated at the upper end of the room; and a\nnumber of dishes were brought in for dinner. They had not sat long, when\na vast number of rats and mice rushed in, and devoured all the meat in\nan instant. The captain wondered at this, and asked if these vermin were\nnot unpleasant.\n\n\u201cOh yes,\u201d said they, \u201cvery offensive, and the king would give half his\ntreasure to be freed of them, for they not only destroy his dinner, as\nyou see, but they assault him in his chamber, and even in bed, and\nso that he is obliged to be watched while he is sleeping, for fear of\nthem.\u201d\n\nThe captain jumped for joy; he remembered poor Whittington and his\ncat, and told the king he had a creature on board the ship that would\ndespatch all these vermin immediately. The king jumped so high at the\njoy which the news gave him, that his turban dropped off his head.\n\u201cBring this creature to me,\u201d says he; \u201cvermin are dreadful in a court,\nand if she will perform what you say, I will load your ship with gold\nand jewels in exchange for her.\u201d\n\nThe captain, who knew his business, took this opportunity to set forth\nthe merits of Miss Puss. He told his majesty; \u201cIt is not very convenient\nto part with her, as, when she is gone, the rats and mice may destroy\nthe goods in the ship--but to oblige your majesty, I will fetch her.\u201d\n\n\u201cRun, run!\u201d said the queen; \u201cI am impatient to see the dear creature.\u201d\n\nAway went the captain to the ship, while another dinner was got ready.\nHe put Puss under his arm, and arrived at the place just in time to\nsee the table full of rats. When the cat saw them, she did not wait for\nbidding, but jumped out of the captain's arms, and in a few minutes laid\nalmost all the rats and mice dead at her feet. The rest of them in their\nfright scampered away to their holes.\n\nThe king was quite charmed to get rid so easily of such plagues, and the\nqueen desired that the creature who had done them so great a kindness\nmight be brought to her, that she might look at her. Upon which the\ncaptain called: \u201cPussy, pussy, pussy!\u201d and she came to him. He then\npresented her to the queen, who started back, and was afraid to touch\na creature who had made such a havoc among the rats and mice. However,\nwhen the captain stroked the cat and called: \u201cPussy, pussy,\u201d the queen\nalso touched her and cried: \u201cPutty, putty,\u201d for she had not learned\nEnglish. He then put her down on the queen's lap, where she purred and\nplayed with her majesty's hand, and then purred herself to sleep.\n\nThe king, having seen the exploits of Mrs. Puss, and being informed that\nher kittens would stock the whole country, and keep it free from rats,\nbargained with the captain for the whole ship's cargo, and then gave him\nten times as much for the cat as all the rest amounted to.\n\nThe captain then took leave of the royal party, and set sail with a fair\nwind for England, and after a happy voyage arrived safe in London.\n\nOne morning, early, Mr. Fitzwarren had just come to his counting-house\nand seated himself at the desk, to count over the cash, and settle the\nbusiness for the day, when somebody came tap, tap, at the door. \u201cWho's\nthere?\u201d said Mr. Fitzwarren. \u201cA friend,\u201d answered the other; \u201cI come to\nbring you good news of your ship _Unicorn_.\u201d The merchant, bustling up\nin such a hurry that he forgot his gout, opened the door, and who should\nhe see waiting but the captain and factor, with a cabinet of jewels, and\na bill of lading; when he looked at this the merchant lifted up his eyes\nand thanked Heaven for sending him such a prosperous voyage.\n\nThey then told the story of the cat, and showed the rich present\nthat the king and queen had sent for her to poor Dick. As soon as the\nmerchant heard this, he called out to his servants:\n\n  \u201cGo send him in, and tell him of his fame;\n  Pray call him Mr. Whittington by name.\u201d\n\nMr. Fitzwarren now showed himself to be a good man; for when some of\nhis servants said so great a treasure was too much for him, he answered:\n\u201cGod forbid I should deprive him of the value of a single penny, it is\nhis own, and he shall have it to a farthing.\u201d He then sent for Dick,\nwho at that time was scouring pots for the cook, and was quite dirty. He\nwould have excused himself from coming into the counting-house, saying,\n\u201cThe room is swept, and my shoes are dirty and full of hob-nails.\u201d But\nthe merchant ordered him to come in.\n\nMr. Fitzwarren ordered a chair to be set for him, and so he began to\nthink they were making game of him, at the same time said to them: \u201cDo\nnot play tricks with a poor simple boy, but let me go down again, if you\nplease, to my work.\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed, Mr. Whittington,\u201d said the merchant, \u201cwe are all quite in\nearnest with you, and I most heartily rejoice in the news that these\ngentlemen have brought you; for the captain has sold your cat to the\nKing of Barbary, and brought you in return for her more riches than I\npossess in the whole world; and I wish you may long enjoy them!\u201d\n\nMr. Fitzwarren then told the men to open the great treasure they had\nbrought with them; and said: \u201cMr. Whittington has nothing to do but to\nput it in some place of safety.\u201d\n\nPoor Dick hardly knew how to behave himself for joy. He begged his\nmaster to take what part of it he pleased, since he owed it all to his\nkindness. \u201cNo, no,\u201d answered Mr. Fitzwarren, \u201cthis is all your own; and\nI have no doubt but you will use it well.\u201d\n\nDick next asked his mistress, and then Miss Alice, to accept a part of\nhis good fortune; but they would not, and at the same time told him\nthey felt great joy at his good success. But this poor fellow was too\nkind-hearted to keep it all to himself; so he made a present to the\ncaptain, the mate, and the rest of Mr. Fitzwarren's servants; and even\nto the ill-natured old cook.\n\nAfter this Mr. Fitzwarren advised him to send for a proper tailor and\nget himself dressed like a gentleman; and told him he was welcome to\nlive in his house till he could provide himself with a better.\n\nWhen Whittington's face was washed, his hair curled, his hat cocked, and\nhe was dressed in a nice suit of clothes he was as handsome and genteel\nas any young man who visited at Mr. Fitzwarren's; so that Miss Alice,\nwho had once been so kind to him, and thought of him with pity, now\nlooked upon him as fit to be her sweetheart; and the more so, no doubt,\nbecause Whittington was now always thinking what he could do to oblige\nher, and making her the prettiest presents that could be.\n\nMr. Fitzwarren soon saw their love for each other, and proposed to join\nthem in marriage; and to this they both readily agreed. A day for the\nwedding was soon fixed; and they were attended to church by the Lord\nMayor, the court of aldermen, the sheriffs, and a great number of the\nrichest merchants in London, whom they afterwards treated with a very\nrich feast.\n\nHistory tells us that Mr. Whittington and his lady liven in great\nsplendour, and were very happy. They had several children. He was\nSheriff of London, thrice Lord Mayor, and received the honour of\nknighthood by Henry V.\n\nHe entertained this king and his queen at dinner after his conquest of\nFrance so grandly, that the king said \u201cNever had prince such a subject;\u201d\n when Sir Richard heard this, he said: \u201cNever had subject such a prince.\u201d\n\nThe figure of Sir Richard Whittington with his cat in his arms, carved\nin stone, was to be seen till the year 1780 over the archway of the old\nprison of Newgate, which he built for criminals.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STRANGE VISITOR\n\nA woman was sitting at her reel one night; And still she sat, and still\nshe reeled, and still she wished for company.\n\nIn came a pair of broad broad soles, and sat down at the fireside;\n\nAnd still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for\ncompany.\n\nIn came a pair of small small legs, and sat down on the broad broad\nsoles;\n\nAnd still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for\ncompany.\n\nIn came a pair of thick thick knees, and sat down on the small small\nlegs;\n\nAnd still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for\ncompany.\n\nIn came a pair of thin thin thighs, and sat down on the thick thick\nknees;\n\nAnd still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for\ncompany.\n\nIn came a pair of huge huge hips, and sat down on the thin thin thighs;\n\nAnd still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for\ncompany.\n\nIn came a wee wee waist, and sat down on the huge huge hips;\n\nAnd still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for\ncompany.\n\nIn came a pair of broad broad shoulders, and sat down on the wee wee\nwaist;\n\nAnd still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for\ncompany.\n\nIn came a pair of small small arms, and sat down on the broad broad\nshoulders;\n\nAnd still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for\ncompany.\n\nIn came a pair of huge huge hands, and sat down on the small small arms;\n\nAnd still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for\ncompany.\n\nIn came a small small neck, and sat down on the broad broad shoulders;\n\nAnd still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for\ncompany.\n\nIn came a huge huge head, and sat down on the small small neck.\n\n\u201cHow did you get such broad broad feet?\u201d quoth the woman.\n\n\u201cMuch tramping, much tramping\u201d (_gruffly_).\n\n\u201cHow did you get such small small legs?\u201d\n\n\u201cAih-h-h!-late--and wee-e-e--moul\u201d (_whiningly_).\n\n\u201cHow did you get such thick thick knees?\u201d\n\n\u201cMuch praying, much praying\u201d (_piously_).\n\n\u201cHow did you get such thin thin thighs?\u201d\n\n\u201cAih-h-h!--late--and wee-e-e--moul\u201d (_whiningly_).\n\n\u201cHow did you get such big big hips?\u201d\n\n\u201cMuch sitting, much sitting\u201d (_gruffly_).\n\n\u201cHow did you get such a wee wee waist?\u201d\n\n\u201cAih-h-h!--late--and wee-e-e-moul\u201d (_whiningly_).\n\n\u201cHow did you get such broad broad shoulders?\u201d\n\n\u201cWith carrying broom, with carrying broom\u201d (_gruffly_).\n\n\u201cHow did you get such small small arms?\u201d\n\n\u201cAih-h-h!--late--and wee-e-e--moul\u201d (_whiningly_.)\n\n\u201cHow did you get such huge huge hands?\u201d\n\n\u201cThreshing with an iron flail, threshing with an iron flail\u201d\n (_gruffly_).\n\n\u201cHow did you get such a small small neck?\u201d\n\n\u201cAih-h-h!--late--wee-e-e--moul\u201d (_pitifully_).\n\n\u201cHow did you get such a huge huge head?\u201d\n\n\u201cMuch knowledge, much knowledge\u201d (_keenly_).\n\n\u201cWhat do you come for?\u201d\n\n\u201cFOR YOU!\u201d (_At the top of the voice, with a wave of the arm and a stamp\nof the feet._)\n\n\n\n\nTHE LAIDLY WORM OF SPINDLESTON HEUGH\n\nIn Bamborough Castle once lived a king who had a fair wife and two\nchildren, a son named Childe Wynd and a daughter named Margaret. Childe\nWynd went forth to seek his fortune, and soon after he had gone the\nqueen his mother died. The king mourned her long and faithfully, but\none day while he was hunting he came across a lady of great beauty, and\nbecame so much in love with her that he determined to marry her. So\nhe sent word home that he was going to bring a new queen to Bamborough\nCastle.\n\nPrincess Margaret was not very glad to hear of her mother's place being\ntaken, but she did not repine but did her father's bidding. And at the\nappointed day came down to the castle gate with the keys all ready to\nhand over to her stepmother. Soon the procession drew near, and the new\nqueen came towards Princess Margaret who bowed low and handed her the\nkeys of the castle. She stood there with blushing cheeks and eye on\nground, and said: \u201cO welcome, father dear, to your halls and bowers, and\nwelcome to you my new mother, for all that's here is yours,\u201d and again\nshe offered the keys. One of the king's knights who had escorted the new\nqueen, cried out in admiration: \u201cSurely this northern Princess is the\nloveliest of her kind.\u201d At that the new queen flushed up and cried out:\n\u201cAt least your courtesy might have excepted me,\u201d and then she muttered\nbelow her breath: \u201cI'll soon put an end to her beauty.\u201d\n\nThat same night the queen, who was a noted witch, stole down to a lonely\ndungeon wherein she did her magic and with spells three times three, and\nwith passes nine times nine she cast Princess Margaret under her spell.\nAnd this was her spell:\n\n  I weird ye to be a Laidly Worm,\n    And borrowed shall ye never be,\n  Until Childe Wynd, the King's own son\n    Come to the Heugh and thrice kiss thee;\n  Until the world comes to an end,\n    Borrowed shall ye never be.\n\nSo Lady Margaret went to bed a beauteous maiden, and rose up a Laidly\nWorm. And when her maidens came in to dress her in the morning they\nfound coiled up on the bed a dreadful dragon, which uncoiled itself\nand came towards them. But they ran away shrieking, and the Laidly Worm\ncrawled and crept, and crept and crawled till it reached the Heugh or\nrock of the Spindlestone, round which it coiled itself, and lay there\nbasking with its terrible snout in the air.\n\nSoon the country round about had reason to know of the Laidly Worm of\nSpindleston Heugh. For hunger drove the monster out from its cave and it\nused to devour everything it could come across. So at last they went to\na mighty warlock and asked him what they should do. Then he consulted\nhis works and his familiar, and told them: \u201cThe Laidly Worm is really\nthe Princess Margaret and it is hunger that drives her forth to do such\ndeeds. Put aside for her seven kine, and each day as the sun goes down,\ncarry every drop of milk they yield to the stone trough at the foot of\nthe Heugh, and the Laidly Worm will trouble the country no longer. But\nif ye would that she be borrowed to her natural shape, and that she who\nbespelled her be rightly punished, send over the seas for her brother,\nChilde Wynd.\u201d\n\nAll was done as the warlock advised, the Laidly Worm lived on the milk\nof the seven kine, and the country was troubled no longer. But when\nChilde Wynd heard the news, he swore a mighty oath to rescue his sister\nand revenge her on her cruel stepmother. And three-and-thirty of his men\ntook the oath with him. Then they set to work and built a long ship, and\nits keel they made of the rowan tree. And when all was ready, they out\nwith their oars and pulled sheer for Bamborough Keep.\n\nBut as they got near the keep, the stepmother felt by her magic power\nthat something was being wrought against her, so she summoned her\nfamiliar imps and said: \u201cChilde Wynd is coming over the seas; he must\nnever land. Raise storms, or bore the hull, but nohow must he touch\nshore.\u201d Then the imps went forth to meet Childe Wynd's ship, but when\nthey got near, they found they had no power over the ship, for its keel\nwas made of the rowan tree. So back they came to the queen witch, who\nknew not what to do. She ordered her men-at-arms to resist Childe Wynd\nif he should land near them, and by her spells she caused the Laidly\nWorm to wait by the entrance of the harbour.\n\nAs the ship came near, the Worm unfolded its coils, and dipping into\nthe sea, caught hold of the ship of Childe Wynd, and banged it off\nthe shore. Three times Childe Wynd urged his men on to row bravely and\nstrong, but each time the Laidly Worm kept it off the shore. Then Childe\nWynd ordered the ship to be put about, and the witch-queen thought he\nhad given up the attempt. But instead of that, he only rounded the next\npoint and landed safe and sound in Budle Creek, and then, with sword\ndrawn and bow bent, rushed up followed by his men, to fight the terrible\nWorm that had kept him from landing.\n\nBut the moment Childe Wynd had landed, the witch-queen's power over the\nLaidly Worm had gone, and she went back to her bower all alone, not an\nimp, nor a man-at-arms to help her, for she knew her hour was come. So\nwhen Childe Wynd came rushing up to the Laidly Worm it made no attempt\nto stop him or hurt him, but just as he was going to raise his sword to\nslay it, the voice of his own sister Margaret came from its jaws saying:\n\n  \u201cO, quit your sword, unbend your bow,\n    And give me kisses three;\n  For though I am a poisonous worm,\n    No harm I'll do to thee.\u201d\n\nChilde Wynd stayed his hand, but he did not know what to think if some\nwitchery were not in it. Then said the Laidly Worm again:\n\n  \u201cO, quit your sword, unbend your bow,\n    And give me kisses three,\n  If I'm not won ere set of sun,\n    Won never shall I be.\u201d\n\nThen Childe Wynd went up to the Laidly Worm and kissed it once; but no\nchange came over it. Then Childe Wynd kissed it once more; but yet no\nchange came over it. For a third time he kissed the loathsome thing,\nand with a hiss and a roar the Laidly Worm reared back and before Childe\nWynd stood his sister Margaret. He wrapped his cloak about her, and then\nwent up to the castle with her. When he reached the keep, he went off to\nthe witch queen's bower, and when he saw her, he touched her with a twig\nof a rowan tree. No sooner had he touched her than she shrivelled up and\nshrivelled up, till she became a huge ugly toad, with bold staring eyes\nand a horrible hiss. She croaked and she hissed, and then hopped away\ndown the castle steps, and Childe Wynd took his father's place as king,\nand they all lived happy afterwards.\n\nBut to this day, the loathsome toad is seen at times, haunting the\nneighbourhood of Bamborough Keep, and the wicked witch-queen is a Laidly\nToad.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CAT AND THE MOUSE\n\n    The cat and the mouse\n    Play'd in the malt-house:\n\nThe cat bit the mouse's tail off. \u201cPray, puss, give me my tail.\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d\n says the cat, \u201cI'll not give you your tail, till you go to the cow, and\nfetch me some milk.\u201d\n\n    First she leapt and then she ran,\n    Till she came to the cow, and thus began:\n\n\u201cPray, Cow, give me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me\nmy own tail again.\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d said the cow, \u201cI will give you no milk, till\nyou go to the farmer, and get me some hay.\u201d\n\n    First she leapt, and then she ran,\n    Till she came to the farmer and thus began:\n\n\u201cPray, Farmer, give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give\nme milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail\nagain.\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d says the farmer, \u201cI'll give you no hay, till you go to the\nbutcher and fetch me some meat.\u201d\n\n    First she leapt, and then she ran,\n    Till she came to the butcher, and thus began:\n\n\u201cPray, Butcher, give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer\nmay give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk,\nthat I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again.\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d\n says the butcher, \u201cI'll give you no meat, till you go to the baker and\nfetch me some bread.\u201d\n\n    First she leapt and then she ran,\n    Till she came to the baker, and thus began:\n\n\u201cPray, Baker, give me bread, that I may give butcher bread, that butcher\nmay give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer may give me\nhay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, that I may give\ncat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again.\u201d\n\n    \u201cYes,\u201d says the baker, \u201cI'll give you some bread,\n    But if you eat my meal, I'll cut off your head.\u201d\n\nThen the baker gave mouse bread, and mouse gave butcher bread, and\nbutcher gave mouse meat, and mouse gave farmer meat, and farmer gave\nmouse hay, and mouse gave cow hay, and cow gave mouse milk, and mouse\ngave cat milk, and cat gave mouse her own tail again!\n\n\n\n\nTHE FISH AND THE RING\n\nOnce upon a time, there was a mighty baron in the North Countrie who was\na great magician that knew everything that would come to pass. So one\nday, when his little boy was four years old, he looked into the Book of\nFate to see what would happen to him. And to his dismay, he found that\nhis son would wed a lowly maid that had just been born in a house under\nthe shadow of York Minster. Now the Baron knew the father of the little\ngirl was very, very poor, and he had five children already. So he called\nfor his horse, and rode into York; and passed by the father's house, and\nsaw him sitting by the door, sad and doleful. So he dismounted and went\nup to him and said: \u201cWhat is the matter, my good man?\u201d And the man said:\n\u201cWell, your honour, the fact is, I've five children already, and now\na sixth's come, a little lass, and where to get the bread from to fill\ntheir mouths, that's more than I can say.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon't be downhearted, my man,\u201d said the Baron. \u201cIf that's your trouble,\nI can help you. I'll take away the last little one, and you wont have to\nbother about her.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you kindly, sir,\u201d said the man; and he went in and brought out\nthe lass and gave her to the Baron, who mounted his horse and rode away\nwith her. And when he got by the bank of the river Ouse, he threw the\nlittle, thing into the river, and rode off to his castle.\n\nBut the little lass didn't sink; her clothes kept her up for a time, and\nshe floated, and she floated, till she was cast ashore just in front of\na fisherman's hut. There the fisherman found her, and took pity on the\npoor little thing and took her into his house, and she lived there till\nshe was fifteen years old, and a fine handsome girl.\n\nOne day it happened that the Baron went out hunting with some companions\nalong the banks of the River Ouse, and stopped at the fisherman's hut to\nget a drink, and the girl came out to give it to them. They all noticed\nher beauty, and one of them said to the Baron: \u201cYou can read fates,\nBaron, whom will she marry, d'ye think?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! that's easy to guess,\u201d said the Baron; \u201csome yokel or other. But\nI'll cast her horoscope. Come here girl, and tell me on what day you\nwere born?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don't know, sir,\u201d said the girl, \u201cI was picked up just here after\nhaving been brought down by the river about fifteen years ago.\u201d\n\nThen the Baron knew who she was, and when they went away, he rode back\nand said to the girl: \u201cHark ye, girl, I will make your fortune. Take\nthis letter to my brother in Scarborough, and you will be settled for\nlife.\u201d And the girl took the letter and said she would go. Now this was\nwhat he had written in the letter:\n\n\u201cDear Brother,--Take the bearer and put her to death immediately.\n\n\u201cYours affectionately,\n\n\u201cAlbert.\u201d\n\nSo soon after the girl set out for Scarborough, and slept for the night\nat a little inn. Now that very night a band of robbers broke into the\ninn, and searched the girl, who had no money, and only the letter. So\nthey opened this and read it, and thought it a shame. The captain of the\nrobbers took a pen and paper and wrote this letter:\n\n\u201cDear Brother,--Take the bearer and marry her to my son immediately.\n\n\u201cYours affectionately,\n\n\u201cAlbert.\u201d\n\nAnd then he gave it to the girl, bidding her begone. So she went on\nto the Baron's brother at Scarborough, a noble knight, with whom the\nBaron's son was staying. When she gave the letter to his brother,\nhe gave orders for the wedding to be prepared at once, and they were\nmarried that very day.\n\nSoon after, the Baron himself came to his brother's castle, and what was\nhis surprise to find that the very thing he had plotted against had come\nto pass. But he was not to be put off that way; and he took out the girl\nfor a walk, as he said, along the cliffs. And when he got her all alone,\nhe took her by the arms, and was going to throw her over. But she begged\nhard for her life. \u201cI have not done anything,\u201d she said: \u201cif you will\nonly spare me, I will do whatever you wish. I will never see you or your\nson again till you desire it.\u201d Then the Baron took off his gold ring and\nthrew it into the sea, saying: \u201cNever let me see your face till you can\nshow me that ring;\u201d and he let her go.\n\nThe poor girl wandered on and on, till at last she came to a great\nnoble's castle, and she asked to have some work given to her; and they\nmade her the scullion girl of the castle, for she had been used to such\nwork in the fisherman's hut.\n\nNow one day, who should she see coming up to the noble's house but the\nBaron and his brother and his son, her husband. She didn't know what\nto do; but thought they would not see her in the castle kitchen. So she\nwent back to her work with a sigh, and set to cleaning a huge big fish\nthat was to be boiled for their dinner. And, as she was cleaning it,\nshe saw something shine inside it, and what do you think she found? Why,\nthere was the Baron's ring, the very one he had thrown over the cliff\nat Scarborough. She was right glad to see it, you may be sure. Then she\ncooked the fish as nicely as she could, and served it up.\n\nWell, when the fish came on the table, the guests liked it so well that\nthey asked the noble who cooked it. He said he didn't know, but called\nto his servants: \u201cHo, there, send up the cook that cooked that fine\nfish.\u201d So they went down to the kitchen and told the girl she was wanted\nin the hall. Then she washed and tidied herself and put the Baron's gold\nring on her thumb and went up into the hall.\n\nWhen the banqueters saw such a young and beautiful cook they were\nsurprised. But the Baron was in a tower of a temper, and started up as\nif he would do her some violence. So the girl went up to him with her\nhand before her with the ring on it; and she put it down before him on\nthe table. Then at last the Baron saw that no one could fight against\nFate, and he handed her to a seat and announced to all the company that\nthis was his son's true wife; and he took her and his son home to his\ncastle; and they all lived as happy as could be ever afterwards.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGPIE'S NEST\n\n  Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhyme\n  And monkeys chewed tobacco,\n  And hens took snuff to make them tough,\n  And ducks went quack, quack, quack, O!\n\nAll the birds of the air came to the magpie and asked her to teach\nthem how to build nests. For the magpie is the cleverest bird of all\nat building nests. So she put all the birds round her and began to show\nthem how to do it. First of all she took some mud and made a sort of\nround cake with it.\n\n\u201cOh, that's how it's done,\u201d said the thrush; and away it flew, and so\nthat's how thrushes build their nests.\n\nThen the magpie took some twigs and arranged them round in the mud.\n\n\u201cNow I know all about it,\u201d says the blackbird, and off he flew; and\nthat's how the blackbirds make their nests to this very day.\n\nThen the magpie put another layer of mud over the twigs.\n\n\u201cOh that's quite obvious,\u201d said the wise owl, and away it flew; and owls\nhave never made better nests since.\n\nAfter this the magpie took some twigs and twined them round the outside.\n\n\u201cThe very thing!\u201d said the sparrow, and off he went; so sparrows make\nrather slovenly nests to this day.\n\nWell, then Madge Magpie took some feathers and stuff and lined the nest\nvery comfortably with it.\n\n\u201cThat suits me,\u201d cried the starling, and off it flew; and very\ncomfortable nests have starlings.\n\nSo it went on, every bird taking away some knowledge of how to build\nnests, but, none of them waiting to the end. Meanwhile Madge Magpie\nwent on working and working without, looking up till the only bird that\nremained was the turtle-dove, and that hadn't paid any attention all\nalong, but only kept on saying its silly cry \u201cTake two, Taffy, take\ntwo-o-o-o.\u201d\n\nAt last the magpie heard this just as she was putting a twig across. So\nshe said: \u201cOne's enough.\u201d\n\nBut the turtle-dove kept on saying: \u201cTake two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o.\u201d\n\nThen the magpie got angry and said: \u201cOne's enough I tell you.\u201d\n\nStill the turtle-dove cried: \u201cTake two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o.\u201d\n\nAt last, and at last, the magpie looked up and saw nobody near her but\nthe silly turtle-dove, and then she got rare angry and flew away and\nrefused to tell the birds how to build nests again. And that is why\ndifferent birds build their nests differently.\n\n\n\n\nKATE CRACKERNUTS\n\nOnce upon a time there was a king and a queen, as in many lands have\nbeen. The king had a daughter, Anne, and the queen had one named Kate,\nbut Anne was far bonnier than the queen's daughter, though they loved\none another like real sisters. The queen was jealous of the king's\ndaughter being bonnier than her own, and cast about to spoil her beauty.\nSo she took counsel of the henwife, who told her to send the lassie to\nher next morning fasting.\n\nSo next morning early, the queen said to Anne, \u201cGo, my dear, to the\nhenwife in the glen, and ask her for some eggs.\u201d So Anne set out, but as\nshe passed through the kitchen she saw a crust, and she took and munched\nit as she went along.\n\nWhen she came to the henwife's she asked for eggs, as she had been told\nto do; the henwife said to her, \u201cLift the lid off that pot there and\nsee.\u201d The lassie did so, but nothing happened. \u201cGo home to your minnie\nand tell her to keep her larder door better locked,\u201d said the henwife.\nSo she went home to the queen and told her what the henwife had said.\nThe queen knew from this that the lassie had had something to eat, so\nwatched the next morning and sent her away fasting; but the princess saw\nsome country-folk picking peas by the roadside, and being very kind she\nspoke to them and took a handful of the peas, which she ate by the way.\n\nWhen she came to the henwife's, she said, \u201cLift the lid off the pot\nand you'll see.\u201d So Anne lifted the lid but nothing happened. Then the\nhenwife was rare angry and said to Anne, \u201cTell your minnie the pot won't\nboil if the fire's away.\u201d So Anne went home and told the queen.\n\nThe third day the queen goes along with the girl herself to the henwife.\nNow, this time, when Anne lifted the lid off the pot, off falls her own\npretty head, and on jumps a sheep's head.\n\nSo the queen was now quite satisfied, and went back home.\n\nHer own daughter, Kate, however, took a fine linen cloth and wrapped it\nround her sister's head and took her by the hand and they both went out\nto seek their fortune. They went on, and they went on, and they went\non, till they came to a castle. Kate knocked at the door and asked for a\nnight's lodging for herself and a sick sister. They went in and found\nit was a king's castle, who had two sons, and one of them was sickening\naway to death and no one could find out what ailed him. And the curious\nthing was that whoever watched him at night was never seen any more. So\nthe king had offered a peck of silver to anyone who would stop up with\nhim. Now Katie was a very brave girl, so she offered to sit up with him.\n\nTill midnight all goes well. As twelve o clock rings, however, the sick\nprince rises, dresses himself, and slips downstairs. Kate followed, but\nhe didn't seem to notice her. The prince went to the stable, saddled his\nhorse, called his hound, jumped into the saddle, and Kate leapt lightly\nup behind him. Away rode the prince and Kate through the greenwood,\nKate, as they pass, plucking nuts from the trees and filling her apron\nwith them. They rode on and on till they came to a green hill. The\nprince here drew bridle and spoke, \u201cOpen, open, green hill, and let the\nyoung prince in with his horse and his hound,\u201d and Kate added, \u201cand his\nlady him behind.\u201d\n\nImmediately the green hill opened and they passed in. The prince entered\na magnificent hall, brightly lighted up, and many beautiful fairies\nsurrounded the prince and led him off to the dance. Meanwhile, Kate,\nwithout being noticed, hid herself behind the door. There she sees the\nprince dancing, and dancing, and dancing, till he could dance no longer\nand fell upon a couch. Then the fairies would fan him till he could rise\nagain and go on dancing.\n\nAt last the cock crew, and the prince made all haste to get on\nhorseback; Kate jumped up behind, and home they rode. When the morning\nsun rose they came in and found Kate sitting down by the fire and\ncracking her nuts. Kate said the prince had a good night; but she would\nnot sit up another night unless she was to get a peck of gold. The\nsecond night passed as the first had done. The prince got up at midnight\nand rode away to the green hill and the fairy ball, and Kate went with\nhim, gathering nuts as they rode through the forest. This time she did\nnot watch the prince, for she knew he would dance and dance, and dance.\nBut she sees a fairy baby playing with a wand, and overhears one of the\nfairies say: \u201cThree strokes of that wand would make Kate's sick sister\nas bonnie as ever she was.\u201d So Kate rolled nuts to the fairy baby, and\nrolled nuts till the baby toddled after the nuts and let fall the wand,\nand Kate took it up and put it in her apron. And at cockcrow they rode\nhome as before, and the moment Kate got home to her room she rushed and\ntouched Anne three times with the wand, and the nasty sheep's head\nfell off and she was her own pretty self again. The third night Kate\nconsented to watch, only if she should marry the sick prince. All went\non as on the first two nights. This time the fairy baby was playing with\na birdie; Kate heard one of the fairies say: \u201cThree bites of that birdie\nwould make the sick prince as well as ever he was.\u201d Kate rolled all the\nnuts she had to the fairy baby till the birdie was dropped, and Kate put\nit in her apron.\n\nAt cockcrow they set off again, but instead of cracking her nuts as\nshe used to do, this time Kate plucked the feathers off and cooked\nthe birdie. Soon there arose a very savoury smell. \u201cOh!\u201d said the sick\nprince, \u201cI wish I had a bite of that birdie,\u201d so Kate gave him a bite of\nthe birdie, and he rose up on his elbow. By-and-by he cried out again:\n\u201cOh, if I had another bite of that birdie!\u201d so Kate gave him another\nbite, and he sat up on his bed. Then he said again: \u201cOh! if I only had\na third bite of that birdie!\u201d So Kate gave him a third bite, and he rose\nquite well, dressed himself, and sat down by the fire, and when the folk\ncame in next morning they found Kate and the young prince cracking nuts\ntogether. Meanwhile his brother had seen Annie and had fallen in love\nwith her, as everybody did who saw her sweet pretty face. So the sick\nson married the well sister, and the well son married the sick sister,\nand they all lived happy and died happy, and never drank out of a dry\ncappy.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CAULD LAD OF HILTON\n\nAt Hilton Hall, long years ago, there lived a Brownie that was the\ncontrariest Brownie you ever knew. At night, after the servants had\ngone to bed, it would turn everything topsy-turvy, put sugar in the\nsalt-cellars, pepper into the beer, and was up to all kinds of pranks.\nIt would throw the chairs down, put tables on their backs, rake out\nfires, and do as much mischief as could be. But sometimes it would be in\na good temper, and then!--\u201cWhat's a Brownie?\u201d you say. Oh, it's a kind\nof a sort of a Bogle, but it isn't so cruel as a Redcap! What! you don't\nknow what's a Bogle or a Redcap! Ah, me! what's the world a-coming to?\nOf course a Brownie is a funny little thing, half man, half goblin, with\npointed ears and hairy hide. When you bury a treasure, you scatter over\nit blood drops of a newly slain kid or lamb, or, better still, bury the\nanimal with the treasure, and a Brownie will watch over it for you, and\nfrighten everybody else away.\n\nWhere was I? Well, as I was a-saying, the Brownie at Hilton Hall would\nplay at mischief, but if the servants laid out for it a bowl of cream,\nor a knuckle cake spread with honey, it would clear away things for\nthem, and make everything tidy in the kitchen. One night, however, when\nthe servants had stopped up late, they heard a noise in the kitchen,\nand, peeping in, saw the Brownie swinging to and fro on the Jack chain,\nand saying:\n\n  \u201cWoe's me! woe's me!\n  The acorn's not yet\n  Fallen from the tree,\n  That's to grow the wood,\n  That's to make the cradle,\n  That's to rock the bairn,\n  That's to grow to the man,\n  That's to lay me.\n  Woe's me! woe's me!\u201d\n\nSo they took pity on the poor Brownie, and asked the nearest henwife\nwhat they should do to send it away. \u201cThat's easy enough,\u201d said the\nhenwife, and told them that a Brownie that's paid for its service, in\naught that's not perishable, goes away at once. So they made a cloak of\nLincoln green, with a hood to it, and put it by the hearth and watched.\nThey saw the Brownie come up, and seeing the hood and cloak, put them\non, and frisk about, dancing on one leg and saying:\n\n  \u201cI've taken your cloak, I've taken your hood;\n  The Cauld Lad of Hilton will do no more good.\u201d\n\nAnd with that it vanished, and was never seen or heard of afterwards.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ASS, THE TABLE, AND THE STICK\n\nA lad named Jack was once so unhappy at home through his father's\nill-treatment, that he made up his mind to run away and seek his fortune\nin the wide world.\n\nHe ran, and he ran, till he could run no longer, and then he ran right\nup against a little old woman who was gathering sticks. He was too much\nout of breath to beg pardon, but the woman was good-natured, and she\nsaid he seemed to be a likely lad, so she would take him to be her\nservant, and would pay him well. He agreed, for he was very hungry,\nand she brought him to her house in the wood, where he served her for a\ntwelvemonths and a day.\n\nWhen the year had passed, she called him to her, and said she had good\nwages for him. So she presented him with an ass out of the stable, and\nhe had but to pull Neddy's ears to make him begin at once to ee--aw! And\nwhen he brayed there dropped from his mouth silver sixpences, and half\ncrowns, and golden guineas.\n\nThe lad was well pleased with the wage he had received, and away he rode\ntill he reached an inn. There he ordered the best of everything, and\nwhen the innkeeper refused to serve him without being paid beforehand,\nthe boy went off to the stable, pulled the ass's ears and obtained his\npocket full of money. The host had watched all this through a crack\nin the door, and when night came on he put an ass of his own for the\nprecious Neddy of the poor youth. So Jack without knowing that any\nchange had been made, rode away next morning to his father's house.\n\nNow, I must tell you that near his home dwelt a poor widow with an only\ndaughter. The lad and the maiden were fast friends and true loves; but\nwhen Jack asked his father's leave to marry the girl, \u201cNever till you\nhave the money to keep her,\u201d was the reply. \u201cI have that, father,\u201d said\nthe lad, and going to the ass he pulled its long ears; well, he pulled,\nand he pulled, till one of them came off in his hands; but Neddy, though\nhe hee-hawed and he hee-hawed let fall no half crowns or guineas. The\nfather picked up a hay-fork and beat his son out of the house. I promise\nyou he ran. Ah! he ran and ran till he came bang against the door, and\nburst it open, and there he was in a joiner's shop. \u201cYou're a likely\nlad,\u201d said the joiner; \u201cserve me for a twelvemonths and a day and I will\npay you well.'\u201d So he agreed, and served the carpenter for a year and\na day. \u201cNow,\u201d said the master, \u201cI will give you your wage;\u201d and he\npresented him with a table, telling him he had but to say, \u201cTable, be\ncovered,\u201d and at once it would be spread with lots to eat and drink.\n\nJack hitched the table on his back, and away he went with it till he\ncame to the inn. \u201cWell, host,\u201d shouted he, \u201cmy dinner to-day, and that\nof the best.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery sorry, but there is nothing in the house but ham and eggs.\u201d\n\n\u201cHam and eggs for me!\u201d exclaimed Jack. \u201cI can do better than\nthat.--Come, my table, be covered!\u201d\n\nAt once the table was spread with turkey and sausages, roast mutton,\npotatoes, and greens. The publican opened his eyes, but he said nothing,\nnot he.\n\nThat night he fetched down from his attic a table very like that of\nJack, and exchanged the two. Jack, none the wiser, next morning hitched\nthe worthless table on to his back and carried it home. \u201cNow, father,\nmay I marry my lass?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cNot unless you can keep her,\u201d replied the father. \u201cLook here!\u201d\n exclaimed Jack. \u201cFather, I have a table which does all my bidding.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet me see it,\u201d said the old man.\n\nThe lad set it in the middle of the room, and bade it be covered; but\nall in vain, the table remained bare. In a rage, the father caught the\nwarming-pan down from the wall and warmed his son's back with it so that\nthe boy fled howling from the house, and ran and ran till he came to a\nriver and tumbled in. A man picked him out and bade him assist him in\nmaking a bridge over the river; and how do you think he was doing it?\nWhy, by casting a tree across; so Jack climbed up to the top of the tree\nand threw his weight on it, so that when the man had rooted the tree up,\nJack and the tree-head dropped on the farther bank.\n\n\u201cThank you,\u201d said the man; \u201cand now for what you have done I will pay\nyou;\u201d so saying, he tore a branch from the tree, and fettled it up into\na club with his knife. \u201cThere,\u201d exclaimed he; \u201ctake this stick, and when\nyou say to it, 'Up stick and bang him,' it will knock any one down who\nangers you.\u201d\n\nThe lad was overjoyed to get this stick--so away he went with it to the\ninn, and as soon as the publican, appeared, \u201cUp stick and bang him!\u201d was\nhis cry. At the word the cudgel flew from his hand and battered the\nold publican on the back, rapped his head, bruised his arms tickled his\nribs, till he fell groaning on the floor; still the stick belaboured\nthe prostrate man, nor would Jack call it off till he had got back the\nstolen ass and table. Then he galloped home on the ass, with the table\non his shoulders, and the stick in his hand. When he arrived there he\nfound his father was dead, so he brought his ass into the stable, and\npulled its ears till he had filled the manger with money.\n\nIt was soon known through the town that Jack had returned rolling in\nwealth, and accordingly all the girls in the place set their caps at\nhim. \u201cNow,\u201d said Jack, \u201cI shall marry the richest lass in the place; so\ntomorrow do you all come in front of my house with your money in your\naprons.\u201d\n\nNext morning the street was full of girls with aprons held out, and gold\nand silver in them; but Jack's own sweetheart was among them, and she\nhad neither gold nor silver, nought but two copper pennies, that was all\nshe had.\n\n\u201cStand aside, lass;\u201d said Jack to her, speaking roughly. \u201cThou hast no\nsilver nor gold--stand off from the rest.\u201d She obeyed, and the tears ran\ndown her cheeks, and filled her apron with diamonds.\n\n\u201cUp stick and bang them!\u201d exclaimed Jack; whereupon the cudgel leaped\nup, and running along the line of girls, knocked them all on the heads\nand left them senseless on the pavement. Jack took all their money and\npoured it into his truelove's lap. \u201cNow, lass,\u201d he exclaimed, \u201cthou art\nthe richest, and I shall marry thee.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nFAIRY OINTMENT\n\nDame Goody was a nurse that looked after sick people, and minded babies.\nOne night she was woke up at midnight, and when she went downstairs,\nshe saw a strange squinny-eyed, little ugly old fellow, who asked her\nto come to his wife who was too ill to mind her baby. Dame Goody didn't\nlike the look of the old fellow, but business is business; so she popped\non her things, and went down to him. And when she got down to him, he\nwhisked her up on to a large coal-black horse with fiery eyes, that\nstood at the door; and soon they were going at a rare pace, Dame Goody\nholding on to the old fellow like grim death.\n\nThey rode, and they rode, till at last they stopped before a cottage\ndoor. So they got down and went in and found the good woman abed with\nthe children playing about; and the babe, a fine bouncing boy, beside\nher.\n\nDame Goody took the babe, which was as fine a baby boy as you'd wish to\nsee. The mother, when she handed the baby to Dame Goody to mind, gave\nher a box of ointment, and told her to stroke the baby's eyes with it\nas soon as it opened them. After a while it began to open its eyes. Dame\nGoody saw that it had squinny eyes just like its father. So she took the\nbox of ointment and stroked its two eyelids with it. But she couldn't\nhelp wondering what it was for, as she had never seen such a thing done\nbefore. So she looked to see if the others were looking, and, when they\nwere not noticing she stroked her own right eyelid with the ointment.\n\nNo sooner had she done so, than everything seemed changed about her.\nThe cottage became elegantly furnished. The mother in the bed was a\nbeautiful lady, dressed up in white silk. The little baby was still more\nbeautiful than before, and its clothes were made of a sort of silvery\ngauze. Its little brothers and sisters around the bed were flat-nosed\nimps with pointed ears, who made faces at one another, and scratched\ntheir polls. Sometimes they would pull the sick lady's ears with their\nlong and hairy paws. In fact, they were up to all kinds of mischief; and\nDame Goody knew that she had got into a house of pixies. But she said\nnothing to nobody, and as soon as the lady was well enough to mind the\nbaby, she asked the old fellow to take her back home. So he came round\nto the door with the coal-black horse with eyes of fire, and off they\nwent as fast as before, or perhaps a little faster, till they came to\nDame Goody's cottage, where the squinny-eyed old fellow lifted her down\nand left her, thanking her civilly enough, and paying her more than she\nhad ever been paid before for such service.\n\nNow next day happened to be market-day, and as Dame Goody had been away\nfrom home, she wanted many things in the house, and trudged off to get\nthem at the market. As she was buying the things she wanted, who\nshould she see but the squinny-eyed old fellow who had taken her on the\ncoal-black horse. And what do you think he was doing? Why he went about\nfrom stall to stall taking up things from each, here some fruit, and\nthere some eggs, and so on; and no one seemed to take any notice.\n\nNow Dame Goody did not think it her business to interfere, but she\nthought she ought not to let so good a customer pass without speaking.\nSo she ups to him and bobs a curtsey and said: \u201cGooden, sir, I hopes as\nhow your good lady and the little one are as well as----\u201d\n\nBut she couldn't finish what she was a-saying, for the funny old fellow\nstarted back in surprise, and he says to her, says he: \u201cWhat! do you see\nme today?\u201d\n\n\u201cSee you,\u201d says she, \u201cwhy, of course I do, as plain as the sun in the\nskies, and what's more,\u201d says she, \u201cI see you are busy too, into the\nbargain.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, you see too much,\u201d said he; \u201cnow, pray, with which eye do you see\nall this?\u201d\n\n\u201cWith the right eye to be sure,\u201d said she, as proud as can be to find\nhim out.\n\n\u201cThe ointment! The ointment!\u201d cried the old pixy thief. \u201cTake that for\nmeddling with what don't concern you: you shall see me no more.\u201d And\nwith that he struck her on her right eye, and she couldn't see him any\nmore; and, what was worse, she was blind on the right side from that\nhour till the day of her death.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END\n\nOnce upon a time, and a very good time it was, though it wasn't in my\ntime, nor in your time, nor any one else's time, there was a girl whose\nmother had died, and her father had married again. And her stepmother\nhated her because she was more beautiful than herself, and she was very\ncruel to her. She used to make her do all the servant's work, and never\nlet her have any peace. At last, one day, the stepmother thought to get\nrid of her altogether; so she handed her a sieve and said to her: \u201cGo,\nfill it at the Well of the World's End and bring it home to me full,\nor woe betide you.\u201d For she thought she would never be able to find the\nWell of the World's End, and, if she did, how could she bring home a\nsieve full of water?\n\nWell, the girl started off, and asked every one she met to tell her\nwhere was the Well of the World's End. But nobody knew, and she didn't\nknow what to do, when a queer little old woman, all bent double, told\nher where it was, and how she could get to it. So she did what the old\nwoman told her, and at last arrived at the Well of the World's End. But\nwhen she dipped the sieve in the cold, cold water, it all ran out again.\nShe tried and she tried again, but every time it was the same; and at\nlast she sate down and cried as if her heart would break.\n\nSuddenly she heard a croaking voice, and she looked up and saw a great\nfrog with goggle eyes looking at her and speaking to her.\n\n\u201cWhat's the matter, dearie?\u201d it said.\n\n\u201cOh, dear, oh dear,\u201d she said, \u201cmy stepmother has sent me all this long\nway to fill this sieve with water from the Well of the World's End, and\nI can't fill it no how at all.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the frog, \u201cif you promise me to do whatever I bid you for a\nwhole night long, I'll tell you how to fill it.\u201d\n\nSo the girl agreed, and then the frog said:\n\n  \u201cStop it with moss and daub it with clay,\n  And then it will carry the water away;\u201d\n\nand then it gave a hop, skip and jump, and went flop into the Well of\nthe World's End.\n\nSo the girl looked about for some moss, and lined the bottom of the\nsieve with it, and over that she put some clay, and then she dipped it\nonce again into the Well of the World's End; and this time, the water\ndidn't run out, and she turned to go away.\n\nJust then the frog popped up its head out of the Well of the World's\nEnd, and said: \u201cRemember your promise.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d said the girl; for thought she, \u201cwhat harm can a frog do\nme?\u201d\n\nSo she went back to her stepmother, and brought the sieve full of water\nfrom the Well of the World's End. The stepmother was fine and angry, but\nshe said nothing at all.\n\nThat very evening they heard something tap tapping at the door low down,\nand a voice cried out:\n\n  \u201cOpen the door, my hinny, my heart,\n  Open the door, my own darling;\n  Mind you the words that you and I spoke,\n  Down in the meadow, at the World's End Well.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhatever can that be?\u201d cried out the stepmother, and the girl had to\ntell her all about it, and what she had promised the frog.\n\n\u201cGirls must keep their promises,\u201d said the stepmother. \u201cGo and open the\ndoor this instant.\u201d For she was glad the girl would have to obey a nasty\nfrog.\n\nSo the girl went and opened the door, and there was the frog from the\nWell of the World's End. And it hopped, and it skipped, and it jumped,\ntill it reached the girl, and then it said:\n\n  \u201cLift me to your knee, my hinny, my heart;\n  Lift me to your knee, my own darling;\n  Remember the words you and I spoke,\n  Down in the meadow by the World's End Well.\u201d\n\nBut the girl didn't like to, till her stepmother said \u201cLift it up this\ninstant, you hussy! Girls must keep their promises!\u201d\n\nSo at last she lifted the frog up on to her lap, and it lay there for a\ntime, till at last it said:\n\n  \u201cGive me some supper, my hinny, my heart,\n  Give me some supper, my darling;\n  Remember the words you and I spake,\n  In the meadow, by the Well of the World's End.\u201d\n\nWell, she didn't mind doing that, so she got it a bowl of milk and\nbread, and fed it well. And when the frog, had finished, it said:\n\n  \u201cGo with me to bed, my hinny, my heart,\n  Go with me to bed, my own darling;\n  Mind you the words you spake to me,\n  Down by the cold well, so weary.\u201d\n\nBut that the girl wouldn't do, till her stepmother said: \u201cDo what you\npromised, girl; girls must keep their promises. Do what you're bid, or\nout you go, you and your froggie.\u201d\n\nSo the girl took the frog with her to bed, and kept it as far away from\nher as she could. Well, just as the day was beginning to break what\nshould the frog say but:\n\n  \u201cChop off my head, my hinny, my heart,\n  Chop off my head, my own darling;\n  Remember the promise you made to me,\n  Down by the cold well so weary.\u201d\n\nAt first the girl wouldn't, for she thought of what the frog had done\nfor her at the Well of the World's End. But when the frog said the words\nover again, she went and took an axe and chopped off its head, and lo!\nand behold, there stood before her a handsome young prince, who told her\nthat he had been enchanted by a wicked magician, and he could never be\nunspelled till some girl would do his bidding for a whole night, and\nchop off his head at the end of it.\n\nThe stepmother was that surprised when she found the young prince\ninstead of the nasty frog, and she wasn't best pleased, you may be sure,\nwhen the prince told her that he was going to marry her stepdaughter\nbecause she had unspelled him. So they were married and went away to\nlive in the castle of the king, his father, and all the stepmother had\nto console her was, that it was all through her that her stepdaughter\nwas married to a prince.\n\n\n\n\nMASTER OF ALL MASTERS\n\nA girl once went to the fair to hire herself for servant. At last a\nfunny-looking old gentleman engaged her, and took her home to his house.\nWhen she got there, he told her that he had something to teach her, for\nthat in his house he had his own names for things.\n\nHe said to her: \u201cWhat will you call me?\u201d\n\n\u201cMaster or mister, or whatever you please sir,\u201d says she.\n\nHe said: \u201cYou must call me 'master of all masters.' And what would you\ncall this?\u201d pointing to his bed.\n\n\u201cBed or couch, or whatever you please, sir.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, that's my 'barnacle.' And what do you call these?\u201d said he pointing\nto his pantaloons.\n\n\u201cBreeches or trousers, or whatever you please, sir.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must call them 'squibs and crackers.' And what would you call her?\u201d\n pointing to the cat.\n\n\u201cCat or kit, or whatever you please, sir.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must call her 'white-faced simminy.' And this now,\u201d showing the\nfire, \u201cwhat would you call this?\u201d\n\n\u201cFire or flame, or whatever you please, sir.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must call it 'hot cockalorum,' and what this?\u201d he went on, pointing\nto the water.\n\n\u201cWater or wet, or whatever you please, sir.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, 'pondalorum' is its name. And what do you call all this?\u201d asked he,\nas he pointed to the house.\n\n\u201cHouse or cottage, or whatever you please, sir.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must call it 'high topper mountain.'\u201d\n\nThat very night the servant woke her master up in a fright and said:\n\u201cMaster of all masters, get out of your barnacle and put on your squibs\nand crackers. For white-faced simminy has got a spark of hot cockalorum\non its tail, and unless you get some pondalorum high topper mountain\nwill be all on hot cockalorum.\u201d .... That's all.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL\n\nLong before Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, there reigned in\nthe eastern part of England a king who kept his Court at Colchester. In\nthe midst of all his glory, his queen died, leaving behind her an only\ndaughter, about fifteen years of age, who for her beauty and kindness\nwas the wonder of all that knew her. But the king hearing of a lady who\nhad likewise an only daughter, had a mind to marry her for the sake of\nher riches, though she was old, ugly, hook-nosed, and hump-backed. Her\ndaughter was a yellow dowdy, full of envy and ill-nature; and, in short,\nwas much of the same mould as her mother. But in a few weeks the king,\nattended by the nobility and gentry, brought his deformed bride to the\npalace, where the marriage rites were performed. They had not been long\nin the Court before they set the king against his own beautiful daughter\nby false reports. The young princess having lost her father's love, grew\nweary of the Court, and one day, meeting with her father in the garden,\nshe begged him, with tears in her eyes, to let her go and seek her\nfortune; to which the king consented, and ordered her mother-in-law to\ngive her what she pleased. She went to the queen, who gave her a canvas\nbag of brown bread and hard cheese, with a bottle of beer; though this\nwas but a pitiful dowry for a king's daughter. She took it, with\nthanks, and proceeded on her journey, passing through groves, woods,\nand valleys, till at length she saw an old man sitting on a stone at the\nmouth of a cave, who said: \u201cGood morrow, fair maiden, whither away so\nfast?\u201d\n\n\u201cAged father,\u201d says she, \u201cI am going to seek my fortune.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat have you got in your bag and bottle?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn my bag I have got bread and cheese, and in my bottle good small\nbeer. Would you like to have some?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said he, \u201cwith all my heart.\u201d\n\nWith that the lady pulled out her provisions, and bade him eat and\nwelcome. He did so, and gave her many thanks, and said: \u201cThere is a\nthick thorny hedge before you, which you cannot get through, but take\nthis wand in your hand, strike it three times, and say, 'Pray, hedge,\nlet me come through,' and it will open immediately; then, a little\nfurther, you will find a well; sit down on the brink of it, and there\nwill come up three golden heads, which will speak; and whatever they\nrequire, that do.\u201d Promising she would, she took her leave of him.\nComing to the hedge and using the old man's wand, it divided, and let\nher through; then, coming to the well, she had no sooner sat down than a\ngolden head came up singing:\n\n  \u201cWash me, and comb me,\n  And lay me down softly.\n  And lay me on a bank to dry,\n  That I may look pretty,\n  When somebody passes by.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said she, and taking it in her lap combed it with a silver comb,\nand then placed it upon a primrose bank. Then up came a second and a\nthird head, saying the same as the former. So she did the same for them,\nand then, pulling out her provisions, sat down to eat her dinner.\n\nThen said the heads one to another: \u201cWhat shall we weird for this damsel\nwho has used us so kindly?\u201d\n\nThe first said: \u201cI weird her to be so beautiful that she shall charm the\nmost powerful prince in the world.\u201d\n\nThe second said: \u201cI weird her such a sweet voice as shall far exceed the\nnightingale.\u201d\n\nThe third said: \u201cMy gift shall be none of the least, as she is a king's\ndaughter, I'll weird her so fortunate that she shall become queen to the\ngreatest prince that reigns.\u201d\n\nShe then let them down into the well again, and so went on her journey.\nShe had not travelled long before she saw a king hunting in the park\nwith his nobles. She would have avoided him, but the king, having caught\na sight of her, approached, and what with her beauty and sweet voice,\nfell desperately in love with her, and soon induced her to marry him.\n\nThis king finding that she was the King of Colchester's daughter,\nordered some chariots to be got ready, that he might pay the king, his\nfather-in-law, a visit. The chariot in which the king and queen rode\nwas adorned with rich gems of gold. The king, her father, was at first\nastonished that his daughter had been so fortunate, till the young\nking let him know of all that had happened. Great was the joy at\nCourt amongst all, with the exception of the queen and her club-footed\ndaughter, who were ready to burst with envy. The rejoicings, with\nfeasting and dancing, continued many days. Then at length they returned\nhome with the dowry her father gave her.\n\nThe hump-backed princess, perceiving that her sister had been so lucky\nin seeking her fortune, wanted to do the same; so she told her mother,\nand all preparations were made, and she was furnished with rich dresses,\nand with sugar, almonds, and sweetmeats, in great quantities, and a\nlarge bottle of Malaga sack. With these she went the same road as\nher sister; and coming near the cave, the old man said: \u201cYoung woman,\nwhither so fast?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat's that to you?\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said he, \u201cwhat have you in your bag and bottle?\u201d\n\nShe answered: \u201cGood things, which you shall not be troubled with.\u201d\n\n\u201cWon't you give me some?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cNo, not a bit, nor a drop, unless it would choke you.\u201d\n\nThe old man frowned, saying: \u201cEvil fortune attend ye!\u201d\n\nGoing on, she came to the hedge, through which she espied a gap, and\nthought to pass through it; but the hedge closed, and the, thorns\nran into her flesh, so that it was with great difficulty that she\ngot through. Being now all over blood, she searched for water to wash\nherself, and, looking round, she saw the well. She sat down on the brink\nof it, and one of the heads came up, saying: \u201cWash me, comb me, and lay\nme down softly,\u201d as before, but she banged it with her bottle, saying,\n\u201cTake that for your washing.\u201d So the second and third heads came up,\nand met with no better treatment than the first. Whereupon the heads\nconsulted among themselves what evils to plague her with for such usage.\n\nThe first said: \u201cLet her be struck with leprosy in her face.\u201d\n\nThe second: \u201cLet her voice be as harsh as a corn-crake's.\u201d\n\nThe third said: \u201cLet her have for husband but a poor country cobbler.\u201d\n\nWell, she goes on till she came to a town, and it being market-day, the\npeople looked at her, and, seeing such a mangy face, and hearing such\na squeaky voice, all fled but a poor country cobbler. Now he not long\nbefore had mended the shoes of an old hermit, who, having no money\ngave him a box of ointment for the cure of the leprosy, and a bottle of\nspirits for a harsh voice. So the cobbler having a mind to do an act of\ncharity, was induced to go up to her and ask her who she was.\n\n\u201cI am,\u201d said she, \u201cthe King of Colchester's daughter-in-law.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the cobbler, \u201cif I restore you to your natural complexion,\nand make a sound cure both in face and voice, will you in reward take me\nfor a husband?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, friend,\u201d replied she, \u201cwith all my heart!\u201d\n\nWith this the cobbler applied the remedies, and they made her well in\na few weeks; after which they were married, and so set forward for the\nCourt at Colchester. When the queen found that her daughter had married\nnothing but a poor cobbler, she hanged herself in wrath. The death of\nthe queen so pleased the king, who was glad to get rid of her so soon,\nthat he gave the cobbler a hundred pounds to quit the Court with his\nlady, and take to a remote part of the kingdom, where he lived many\nyears mending shoes, his wife spinning the thread for him.\n\n\n\n\nOYEZ-OYEZ-OYEZ\n\nTHE ENGLISH FAIRY TALES\n\nARE NOW CLOSED\n\nLITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS\n\nMUST NOT READ ANY FURTHER\n\n\n\n\nNOTES AND REFERENCES\n\nIn the following notes I give first the _source_ whence I obtained the\nvarious tales. Then come _parallels_ in some fulness for the United\nKingdom, but only a single example for foreign countries, with a\nbibliographical reference where further variants can be found. Finally,\na few _remarks_ are sometimes added where the tale seems to need it. In\ntwo cases (Nos. xvi. and xxi.) I have been more full.\n\n\n\nI. TOM TIT TOT.\n\n_Source_.--Unearthed by Mr. E. Clodd from the \u201cSuffolk Notes and\nQueries\u201d of the _Ipswich Journal_, and reprinted by him in a paper on\n\u201cThe Philosophy of Rumpelstiltskin\u201d in _Folk-Lore Journal_, vii. 138-43.\nI have reduced the Suffolk dialect.\n\n_Parallels_.--In Yorkshire this occurs as \u201cHabetrot and Scantlie Mab,\u201d\n in Henderson's _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, 221-6; in Devonshire\nas \u201cDuffy and the Devil\u201d in Hunt's _Romances and Drolls of the West\nof England_, 239-47; in Scotland two variants are given by Chambers,\n_Popular Rhymes of Scotland_, under the title \u201cWhuppity Stourie.\u201d The\n\u201cname-guessing wager\u201d is also found in \u201cPeerifool\u201d, printed by Mr.\nAndrew Lang in _Longman's Magazine_, July 1889, also _Folk-Lore_,\nSeptember, 1890. It is clearly the same as Grimm's \u201cRumpelstiltskin\u201d\n (No. 14); for other Continental parallels see Mr. Clodd's article, and\nCosquin, _Contes pop. de Lorraine_, i. 269 _seq_.\n\n_Remarks_.--One of the best folk-tales that have ever been collected,\nfar superior to any of the continental variants of this tale with which\nI am acquainted. Mr. Clodd sees in the class of name-guessing stories, a\n\u201csurvival\u201d of the superstition that to know a man's name gives you power\nover him, for which reason savages object to tell their names. It may be\nnecessary, I find, to explain to the little ones that Tom Tit can only\nbe referred to as \u201cthat,\u201d because his name is not known till the end.\n\n\n\nII. THE THREE SILLIES.\n\n_Source_.--From _Folk-Lore Journal_, ii. 40-3; to which it was\ncommunicated by Miss C. Burne.\n\n_Parallels_.--Prof. Stephens gave a variant from his own memory in\n_Folk-Lore Record_, iii. 155, as told in Essex at the beginning of the\ncentury. Mr. Toulmin Smith gave another version in _The Constitutional_,\nJuly 1, 1853, which was translated by his daughter, and contributed\nto _M\u00e9lusine_, t. ii. An Oxfordshire version was given in _Notes and\nQueries_, April 17, 1852. It occurs also in Ireland, Kennedy, _Fireside\nStories_, p. 9. It is Grimm's _Kluge Else_, No. 34, and is spread\nthrough the world. Mr. Clouston devotes the seventh chapter of his _Book\nof Noodles_ to the Quest of the Three Noodles.\n\n\n\nIII. THE ROSE TREE.\n\n_Source_.--From the first edition of Henderson's _Folk-Lore of\nNorthern Counties_, p. 314, to which it was communicated by the Rev. S.\nBaring-Gould.\n\n_Parallels_.--This is better known under the title, \u201cOrange and Lemon,\u201d\n and with the refrain:\n\n  \u201cMy mother killed me,\n  My father picked my bones,\n  My little sister buried me,\n  Under the marble stones.\u201d\n\nI heard this in Australia. Mr. Jones Gives part of it in _Folk Tales\nof the Magyars_, 418-20, and another version occurs in 4 _Notes and\nQueries_, vi. 496. Mr. I. Gollancz informs me he remembers a version\nentitled \u201cPepper, Salt, and Mustard,\u201d with the refrain just given.\nAbroad it is Grimm's \u201cJuniper Tree\u201d (No. 47), where see further\nparallels. The German rhyme is sung by Margaret in the mad scene of\nGoethe's \u201cFaust.\u201d\n\n\n\nIV. OLD WOMAN AND PIG.\n\n_Source_.--Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes and Tales_, 114.\n\n_Parallels_.--_Cf._ Miss Burne, _Shropshire Folk-Lore_, 529; also No.\nxxxiv. _infra_ (\u201cCat and Mouse\u201d). It occurs also in Scotch, with the\ntitle \u201cThe Wife and her Bush of Berries,\u201d Chambers's _Pop. Rhymes_, p.\n57. Newell, _Games and Songs of American Children_, gives a game named\n\u201cClub-fist\u201d (No. 75), founded on this, and in his notes refers to\nGerman, Danish, and Spanish variants. (_Cf._ Cosquin, ii. 36 _seq._)\n\n_Remarks_.--One of the class of Accumulative stories, which are well\nrepresented in England. (_Cf. infra_, Nos. xvi., xx., xxxiv.)\n\n\n\nV. HOW JACK SOUGHT HIS FORTUNE.\n\n_Source_.--_American Folk-Lore Journal_ I, 227-8. I have eliminated a\nmalodorous and un-English skunk.\n\n_Parallels_.--Two other versions are given in the _Journal l.c._ One\nof these, however, was probably derived from Grimm's \u201cTown Musicians of\nBremen\u201d (No. 27). That the others came from across the Atlantic is shown\nby the fact that it occurs in Ireland (Kennedy, _Fictions_, pp. 5-10)\nand Scotland (Campbell, No. 11). For other variants, see R. K\u00f6hler in\nGonzenbach, _Sicil. M\u00e4rchen_, ii. 245.\n\n\n\nVI. MR. VINEGAR.\n\n_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 149.\n\n_Parallels_.--This is the _Hans im Gl\u00fcck_ of Grimm (No. 83). _Cf._ too,\n\u201cLazy Jack,\u201d _infra_, No. xxvii. Other variants are given by M. Cosquin,\n_Contes pop. de Lorraine_, i. 241. On surprising robbers, see preceding\ntale.\n\n_Remarks_.--In some of the variants the door is carried, because Mr.\nVinegar, or his equivalent, has been told to \u201cmind the door,\u201d or he acts\non the principle \u201che that is master of the door is master of the\nhouse.\u201d In other stories he makes the foolish exchanges to the entire\nsatisfaction of his wife. (_Cf._ Cosquin, i. 156-7.)\n\n\n\nVII. NIX NOUGHT NOTHING.\n\n_Source_.--From a Scotch tale, \u201cNicht Nought Nothing,\u201d collected by Mr.\nAndrew Lang in Morayshire, published by him first in _Revue Celtique_,\nt. iii; then in his _Custom and Myth_, p. 89; and again in _Folk-Lore_,\nSept. 1890. I have changed the name so as to retain the _\u00e9quivoque_ of\nthe giant's reply to the King. I have also inserted the incidents of\nthe flight, the usual ones in tales of this type, and expanded the\nconclusion, which is very curtailed and confused in the original. The\nusual ending of tales of this class contains the \u201csale of bed\u201d incident,\nfor which see Child, i. 391.\n\n_Parallels_.--Mr. Lang, in the essay \u201cA Far-travelled Tale\u201d in which\nhe gives the story, mentions several variants of it, including the\nclassical myth of Jason and Medea. A fuller study in Cosquin, _l.c._,\nii. 12-28. For the finger ladder, see K\u00f6hler, in _Orient and Occident_,\nii. III.\n\n\n\nVIII. JACK HANNAFORD.\n\n_Source_.--Henderson's _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_ (first edition),\np. 319. Communicated by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould.\n\n_Parallels_.--\u201cPilgrims from Paradise\u201d are enumerated in Clouston's\n_Book of Noodles_, pp. 205, 214-8. See also Cosquin, _l.c._, i. 239.\n\n\n\nIX. BINNORIE.\n\n_Source_.--From the ballad of the \u201cTwa Sisters o' Binnorie.\u201d I have used\nthe longer version in Roberts's _Legendary Ballads_, with one or two\ntouches from Mr. Allingham's shorter and more powerful variant in\n_The Ballad Book_. A tale is the better for length, a ballad for its\ncurtness.\n\n_Parallels_.--The story is clearly that of Grimm's \u201cSinging Bone\u201d (No.\n28), where one brother slays the other and buries him under a bush.\nYears after a shepherd passing by finds a bone under the bush, and,\nblowing through this, hears the bone denounce the murderer. For numerous\nvariants in Ballads and Folk Tales, see Prof. Child's _English and\nScotch Ballads_ (ed. 1886), i. 125, 493; iii. 499.\n\n\n\nX. MOUSE AND MOUSER.\n\n_Source_.--From memory by Mrs. E. Burne-Jones.\n\n_Parallels_.--A fragment is given in Halliwell, 43; Chambers's _Popular\nRhymes_ has a Scotch version, \u201cThe Cattie sits in the Kilnring spinning\u201d\n (p. 53). The surprise at the end, similar to that in Perrault's \u201cRed\nRiding Hood,\u201d is a frequent device in English folk tales. (_Cf. infra_,\nNos. xii., xxiv., xxix., xxxiii., xli.)\n\n\n\nXI. CAP O' RUSHES.\n\n_Source_.--Discovered by Mr. E. Clodd, in \u201cSuffolk Notes and Queries\u201d of\nthe _Ipswich Journal_, published by Mr. Lang in _Longinan's Magazine_,\nvol. xiii, also in _Folk-Lore_, Sept. 1890.\n\n_Parallels_.--The beginning recalls \u201cKing Lear.\u201d For \u201cloving like salt,\u201d\n see the parallels collected by Cosquin, i. 288. The whole story is a\nversion of the numerous class of Cinderella stories, the particular\nvariety being the Catskin sub-species analogous to Perrault's _Peau\nd'Ane_. \u201cCatskin\u201d was told by Mr. Burchell to the young Primroses in\n\u201cThe Vicar of Wakefield,'\u201d and has been elaborately studied by the late\nH. C. Coote, in _Folk-Lore Record_, iii. 1-25. It is only now extant\nin ballad form, of which \u201cCap o' Rushes\u201d may be regarded as a prose\nversion.\n\n\n\nXII. TEENY-TINY.\n\n_Source_.--Halliwell, 148.\n\n\n\nXIII. JACK AND THE BEANSTALK.\n\n_Source_.--I tell this as it was told me in Australia, somewhere about\nthe year 1860.\n\n_Parallels_.--There is a chap-book version which is very poor; it is\ngiven by Mr. E. S. Hartland, _English Folk and Fairy Tales_ (Camelot\nSeries), p. 35, _seq._ In this, when Jack arrives at the top of the\nBeanstalk, he is met by a fairy, who gravely informs him that the ogre\nhad stolen all his possessions from Jack's father. The object of this\nwas to prevent the tale becoming an encouragement to theft! I have had\ngreater confidence in my young friends, and have deleted the fairy who\ndid not exist in the tale as told to me. For the Beanstalk elsewhere,\nsee Ralston, _Russian Folk Tales_, 293-8. Cosquin has some remarks on\nmagical ascents (i. 14).\n\n\n\nXIV. THREE LITTLE PIGS.\n\n_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 16.\n\n_Parallels_.--The only known parallels are one from Venice, Bernoni,\n_Trad. Pop._, punt. iii. p. 65, given in Crane, _Italian Popular\nTales_, p. 267, \u201cThe Three Goslings;\u201d and a negro tale in _Lippincott's\nMagazine_, December, 1877, p. 753 (\u201cTiny Pig\u201d).\n\n_Remarks_.--As little pigs do not have hair on their chinny chin-chins,\nI suspect that they were originally kids, who have. This would bring\nthe tale close to the Grimms' \u201cWolf and Seven Little Kids,\u201d (No. 5).\nIn Steel and Temple's \u201cLambikin\u201d (_Wide-awake Stories_, p. 71), the\nLambikin gets inside a Drumikin, and so nearly escapes the jackal.\n\n\n\nXV. MASTER AND PUPIL\n\n_Source_.--Henderson, _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, first edition,\np. 343, communicated by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. The rhymes on the open\nbook have been supplied by Mr. Batten, in whose family, if I understand\nhim rightly, they have been long used for raising the----; something\nsimilar occurs in Halliwell, p. 243, as a riddle rhyme. The mystic signs\nin Greek are a familiar \u201ccounting-out rhyme\u201d: these have been studied\nin a monograph by Mr. H. C. Bolton; he thinks they are \u201csurvivals\u201d of\nincantations. Under the circumstances, it would be perhaps as well if\nthe reader did not read the lines out when alone. One never knows what\nmay happen.\n\n_Parallels_.--Sorcerers' pupils seem to be generally selected for their\nstupidity--in folk-tales. Friar Bacon was defrauded of his labour in\nproducing the Brazen Head in a similar way. In one of the legends about\nVirgil he summoned a number of demons, who would have torn him to\npieces if he had not set them at work (J. S. Tunison, _Master Virgil_,\nCincinnati, 1888, p. 30).\n\n\n\nXVI. TATTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE.\n\n_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 115.\n\n_Parallels_.--This curious droll is extremely widespread; references\nare given in Cosquin, i. 204 _seq._, and Crane, _Italian Popular Tales_,\n375-6. As a specimen I may indicate what is implied throughout these\nnotes by such bibliographical references by drawing up a list of the\nvariants of this tale noticed by these two authorities, adding one or\ntwo lately printed. Various versions have been discovered in:\n\nENGLAND: Halliwell, _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 115.\n\nSCOTLAND: K. Blind, in _Arch. Rev_. iii. (\u201cFleakin and Lousikin,\u201d in the\nShetlands).\n\nFRANCE: _M\u00e9lusine_, 1877, col. 424; Sebillot, _Contes pop. de la Haute\nBretagne_, No. 55, _Litterature orale_, p. 232; _Magasin picturesque_,\n1869, p. 82; Cosquin, _Contes pop. de Lorraine_, Nos. 18 and 74.\n\nITALY: Pitr\u00e8, _Novelline popolari siciliane_, No. 134 (translated in\nCrane, _Ital. Pop. Tales_, p. 257); Imbriani, _La novellaja Fiorentina_,\np. 244; Bernoni, _Tradizione popolari veneziane_, punt. iii. p. 81;\nGianandrea, _Biblioteca delle tradizioni popolari marchigiane_, p.,11;\nPapanti, _Novelline popolari livornesi_, p. 19 (\u201cVezzino e Madonna\nSalciccia\u201d); Finamore, _Trad. pop. abruzzesi_, p. 244; Morosi, _Studi\nsui Dialetti Greci della Terra d'Otranto_, p. 75; _Giamb. Basile_, 1884,\np. 37.\n\nGERMANY: Grimm, _Kinder-und Hausm\u00e4rchen_, No. 30; Kuhn and Schwarz,\n_Norddeutsche Sagen_, No. 16.\n\nNORWAY: Asbjornsen, No. 103 (translated in Sir G. Dasent's _Tales from\nthe Field_, p. 30, \u201cDeath of Chanticleer\u201d).\n\nSPAIN: Maspons, _Cuentos populars catalans_, p. 12; Fernan Caballero,\n_Cuentos y sefra\u00f1es populares_, p. 3 (\u201cLa Hormiguita\u201d).\n\nPORTUGAL: Coelho, _Contes popolares portuguezes_, No. 1.\n\nROUMANIA: Kremnitz, _Rum\u00e4nische M\u00e4hrchen_, No. 15.\n\nASIA MINOR: Von Hahn, _Griechische und Albanesische M\u00e4rchen_, No. 56.\n\nINDIA: Steel and Temple, _Wide-awake Stories_, p. 157 (\u201cThe Death and\nBurial of Poor Hen-Sparrow\u201d).\n\n_Remarks_.--These 25 variants of the same jingle scattered over the\nworld from India to Spain, present the problem of the diffusion of\nfolk-tales in its simplest form. No one is likely to contend with Prof.\nM\u00fcller and Sir George Cox, that we have here the detritus of archaic\nAryan mythology, a parody of a sun-myth. There is little that is savage\nand archaic to attract the school of Dr. Tylor, beyond the speaking\npowers of animals and inanimates. Yet even Mr. Lang is not likely to\nhold that these variants arose by coincidence and independently in the\nvarious parts of the world where they have been found. The only solution\nis that the curious succession of incidents was invented once for all at\nsome definite place and time by some definite entertainer for children,\nand spread thence through all the Old World. In a few instances we can\nactually trace the passage-_e.g._, the Shetland version was certainly\nbrought over from Hamburg. Whether the centre of dispersion was India or\nnot, it is impossible to say, as it might have spread east from Smyrna\n(Hahn, No. 56). Benfey (_Einleitung zu Pantschatantra_, i. 190-91)\nsuggests that this class of accumulative story may be a sort of parody\non the Indian stories, illustrating the moral, \u201cwhat great events from\nsmall occasions rise.\u201d Thus, a drop of honey falls on the ground; a fly\ngoes after it, a bird snaps at the fly, a dog goes for the bird, another\ndog goes for the first, the masters of the two dogs--who happen to be\nkings--quarrel and go to war, whole provinces are devastated, and\nall for a drop of honey! \u201cTitty Mouse and Tatty Mouse\u201d also ends in\na universal calamity which seems to arise from a cause of no great\nimportance. Benfey's suggestion is certainly ingenious, but perhaps too\ningenious to be true.\n\n\n\nXVII. JACK AND HIS SNUFF-BOX.\n\n_Source_.-Mr. F. Hindes Groome, _In Gipsy Tents_, p. 201 _seq._ I have\neliminated a superfluous Gipsy who makes her appearance towards the\nend of the tale _\u00e0 propos des boltes_, but otherwise have left the tale\nunaltered as one of the few English folk-tales that have been taken down\nfrom the mouths of the peasantry: this applies also to i., ii., xi.\n\n_Parallels_.-There is a magic snuff-box with a friendly power in it in\nKennedy's _Fictions of the Irish Celts_, p. 49. The choice between a\nsmall cake with a blessing, &c., is frequent (_cf._ No. xxiii.), but the\nclosest parallel to the whole story, including the mice, is afforded\nby a tale in Carnoy and Nicolaides' _Traditions populaires de l'Asie\nMineure_, which is translated as the first tale in Mr. Lang's _Blue\nFairy Book_. There is much in both that is similar to Aladdin, I beg his\npardon, Allah-ed-din.\n\n\n\nXVIII. THE THREE BEARS.\n\n_Source_.--_Verbatim et literatim_ from Southey, _The Doctor, &c._,\nquarto edition, p. 327.\n\n_Parallels_.--None, as the story was invented by Southey. There is an\nItalian translation, _I tre Orsi_, Turin, 1868, and it would be curious\nto see if the tale ever acclimatises itself in Italy.\n\n_Remarks_.--\u201cThe Three Bears\u201d is the only example I know of where a\ntale that can be definitely traced to a specific author has become a\nfolk-tale. Not alone is this so, but the folk has developed the tale in\na curious and instructive way, by substituting a pretty little girl with\ngolden locks for the naughty old woman. In Southey's version there is\nnothing of Little Silverhair as the heroine: she seems to have been\nintroduced in a metrical version by G. N., much be-praised by Southey.\nSilverhair seems to have become a favourite, and in Mrs. Valentine's\nversion of \u201cThe Three Bears,\u201d in \u201cThe Old, Old Fairy Tales,\u201d the visit\nto the bear-house is only the preliminary to a long succession of\nadventures of the pretty little girl, of which there is no trace in the\noriginal (and this in \u201cThe Old, Old Fairy Tales.\u201d Oh! Mrs. Valentine!).\nI have, though somewhat reluctantly, cast back to the original form.\nAfter all, as Prof. Dowden remarks, Southey's memory is kept alive more\nby \u201cThe Three Bears\u201d than anything else, and the text of such a nursery\nclassic should be retained in all its purity.\n\n\n\nXIX. JACK THE GIANT-KILLER.\n\n_Source_.--From two chap-books at the British Museum (London, 1805,\nPaisley, 1814). I have taken some hints from \u201cFelix Summerly's\u201d (Sir\nHenry Cole's) version, 1845. From the latter part, I have removed the\nincident of the Giant dragging the lady along by her hair.\n\n_Parallels_.--The chap-book of \u201cJack the Giant-Killer\u201d is a curious\njumble. The second part, as in most chap-books, is a weak and late\ninvention of the enemy, and is not _volkst\u00fcmlich_ at all. The first part\nis compounded of a comic and a serious theme. The first is that of the\nValiant Tailor (Grimm, No. 20); to this belong the incidents of the\nfleabite blows (for variants of which see K\u00f6hler in _Jahrb. rom. eng.\nPhil._, viii. 252), and that of the slit paunch (_cf._ Cosquin, _l.c._,\nii. 51). The Thankful Dead episode, where the hero is assisted by the\nsoul of a person whom he has caused to be buried, is found as early\nas the _Cento novelle antiche_ and Straparola, xi. 2. It has been best\nstudied by K\u00f6hler in _Germania_, iii. 199-209 (_cf._ Cosquin, i. 214-5;\nii. 14 and note; and Crane, _Ital. Pop. Tales_, 350, note 12). It occurs\nalso in the curious play of Peele's _The Old Wives' Tale_, in which one\nof the characters is the Ghost of Jack. Practically the same story as\nthis part of Jack the Giant-Killer occurs in Kennedy, _Fictions of the\nIrish Celts_, p. 32, \u201cJack the Master and Jack the Servant;\u201d and Kennedy\nadds (p. 38), \u201cIn some versions Jack the Servant is the spirit of the\nburied man.\u201d\n\nThe \u201cFee-fi-fo-fum\u201d formula is common to all English stories of giants\nand ogres; it also occurs in Peele's play and in _King Lear_ (see note\non \u201cChilde Rowland\u201d). Messrs. Jones and Kropf have some remarks on it in\ntheir \u201cMagyar Tales,\u201d pp. 340-1; so has Mr. Lang in his \u201cPerrault,\u201d p.\nlxiii., where he traces it to the Furies in Aeschylus' _Eumenides_.\n\n\n\nXX. HENNY-PENNY.\n\n_Source_.--I give this as it was told me in Australia in 1860. The fun\nconsists in the avoidance of all pronouns, which results in jaw-breaking\nsentences almost equal to the celebrated \u201cShe stood at the door of the\nfish-sauce shop, welcoming him in.\u201d\n\n_Parallels_.--Halliwell, p. 151, has the same with the title\n\u201cChicken-Licken.\u201d It occurs also in Chambers's _Popular Rhymes_, p.\n59, with the same names of the _dramatis personae_, as my version. For\nEuropean parallels, see Crane, _Ital. Pop. Tales_, 377, and authorities\nthere quoted.\n\n\n\nXXI. CHILDE ROWLAND.\n\n_Source_.--Jamieson's _Illustrations of Northern Antiquities_, 1814, p.\n397 _seq._, who gives it as told by a tailor in his youth, _c._ 1770. I\nhave Anglicised the Scotticisms, eliminated an unnecessary ox-herd and\nswine-herd, who lose their heads for directing the Childe, and I have\ncalled the Erlk\u00f6nig's lair the Dark Tower on the strength of the\ndescription and of Shakespeare's reference. I have likewise suggested a\nreason why Burd Ellen fell into his power, chiefly in order to introduce\na definition of \u201cwidershins.\u201d \u201cAll the rest is the original horse,\u201d even\nincluding the erroneous description of the youngest son as the Childe or\nheir (_cf._ \u201cChilde Harold\u201d and Childe Wynd, _infra_, No. xxxiii.),\nunless this is some \u201csurvival\u201d of Junior Right or \u201cBorough English,\u201d the\narchaic custom of letting the heirship pass to the youngest son. I\nshould add that, on the strength of the reference to Merlin, Jamieson\ncalls Childe Rowland's mother, Queen Guinevere, and introduces\nreferences to King Arthur and his Court. But as he confesses that these\nare his own improvements on the tailor's narrative I have eliminated\nthem.\n\n_Parallels_.--The search for the Dark Tower is similar to that of the\nRed Ettin, (_cf_. K\u00f6hler on Gonzenbach, ii. 222). The formula \u201cyoungest\nbest,\u201d in which the youngest of three brothers succeeds after the\nothers have failed, is one of the most familiar in folk-tales amusingly\nparodied by Mr. Lang in his _Prince Prigio_. The taboo against taking\nfood in the underworld occurs in the myth of Proserpine, and is also\nfrequent in folk-tales (Child, i. 322). But the folk-tale parallels\nto our tale fade into insignificance before its brilliant literary\nrelationships. There can be little doubt that Edgar, in his mad scene in\n_King Lear_, is alluding to our tale when he breaks into the lines:\n\n\u201cChilde Rowland to the Dark Tower came....\u201d His word was still: \u201cFie,\nfoh and fum, I smell the blood of a British man.\u201d _King Lear_, act iii.\nsc. 4, _ad fin_.\n\n[Footnote: \u201cBritish\u201d for \u201cEnglish.\u201d This is one of the points that\nsettles the date of the play; James I. was declared King of Great\n_Britain_, October 1604. I may add that Motherwell in his _Minstrelsy_,\np. xiv. note, testifies that the story was still extant in the nursery\nat the time he wrote (1828).]\n\nThe latter reference is to the cry of the King of Elfland. That some\nsuch story was current in England in Shakespeare's time, is proved by\nthat curious _m\u00e9lange_ of nursery tales, Peele's _The Old Wives' Tale_.\nThe main plot of this is the search of two brothers, Calypha and\nThelea, for a lost sister, Delia, who has been bespelled by a sorcerer,\nSacrapant (the names are taken from the \u201cOrlando Furioso\u201d). They are\ninstructed by an old man (like Merlin in \u201cChilde Rowland\u201d) how to rescue\ntheir sister, and ultimately succeed. The play has besides this the\nthemes of the Thankful Dead, the Three Heads of the Well (which see),\nthe Life Index, and a transformation, so that it is not to be wondered\nat if some of the traits of \u201cChilde Rowland\u201d are observed in it.\n\nBut a still closer parallel is afforded by Milton's _Comus_. Here again\nwe have two brothers in search of a sister, who has got into the power\nof an enchanter. But besides this, there is the refusal of the heroine\nto touch the enchanted food, just as Childe Rowland finally refuses.\nAnd ultimately the bespelled heroine is liberated by a liquid, which is\napplied to her _lips and finger-tips_, just as Childe Rowland's brothers\nare unspelled. Such a minute resemblance as this cannot be accidental,\nand it is therefore probable that Milton used the original form of\n\u201cChilde Rowland,\u201d or some variant of it, as heard in his youth, and\nadapted it to the purposes of the masque at Ludlow Castle, and of\nhis allegory. Certainly no other folk-tale in the world can claim so\ndistinguished an offspring.\n\n_Remarks_.--Distinguished as \u201cChilde Rowland\u201d will be henceforth as\nthe origin of _Comus_, if my affiliation be accepted, it has even\nmore remarkable points of interest, both in form and matter, for the\nfolklorist, unless I am much mistaken. I will therefore touch upon these\npoints, reserving a more detailed examination for another occasion.\n\nFirst, as to the form of the narrative. This begins with verse, then\nturns to prose, and throughout drops again at intervals into poetry in a\nfriendly way like Mr. Wegg. Now this is a form of writing not unknown in\nother branches of literature, the _cante-fable_, of which \u201cAucassin et\nNicolette\u201d is the most distinguished example. Nor is the _cante-fable_\nconfined to France. Many of the heroic verses of the Arabs contained\nin the _Ham\u00e2sa_ would be unintelligible without accompanying narrative,\nwhich is nowadays preserved in the commentary. The verses imbedded\nin the _Arabian Nights_ give them something of the character of a\n_cante-fable_, and the same may be said of the Indian and Persian\nstory-books, though the verse is usually of a sententious and moral\nkind, as in the _g\u00e2thas_ of the Buddhist Jatakas. Even as remote as\nZanzibar, Mr. Lang notes, the folk-tales are told as _cante-fables_.\nThere are even traces in the Old Testament of such screeds of verse amid\nthe prose narrative, as in the story of Lamech or that of Balaam. All\nthis suggests that this is a very early and common form of narrative.\n\nAmong folk-tales there are still many traces of the _cante-fable_. Thus,\nin Grimm's collection, verses occur in Nos. 1, 5, 11, 12, 13, 15, 19,\n21, 24, 28, 30, 36, 38_a_, _b_, 39_a_, 40, 45, 46, 47, out of the first\nfifty tales, 36 per cent. Of Chambers' twenty-one folk-tales, in the\n_Popular Rhymes of Scotland_ only five are without interspersed verses.\nOf the forty-three tales contained in this volume, three (ix., xxix.,\nxxxiii.) are derived from ballads and do not therefore count in the\npresent connection. Of the remaining forty, i., iii., vii., xvi., xix.,\nxxi., xxiii., xxv., xxxi., xxxv., xxxviii., xli. (made up from verses),\nxliii., contain rhymed lines, while xiv., xxii., xxvi., and xxxvii.,\ncontain \u201csurvivals\u201d of rhymes (\u201clet me come in--chinny chin-chin\u201d; \u201conce\nagain ... come to Spain;\u201d \u201cit is not so--should be so\u201d; \u201cand his lady,\nhim behind\u201d); and x. and xxxii. are rhythmical if not rhyming. As most\nof the remainder are drolls, which have probably a different origin,\nthere seems to be great probability that originally all folk-tales of a\nserious character were interspersed with rhyme, and took therefore the\nform of the _cante-fable_. It is indeed unlikely that the ballad\nitself began as continuous verse, and the _cante-fable_ is probably\nthe protoplasm out of which both ballad and folk-tale have been\ndifferentiated, the ballad by omitting the narrative prose, the\nfolk-tale by expanding it. In \u201cChilde Rowland\u201d we have the nearest\nexample to such protoplasm, and it is not difficult to see how it could\nhave been shortened into a ballad or reduced to a prose folk-tale pure\nand simple.\n\nThe subject-matter of \u201cChilde Rowland\u201d has also claims on our attention\nespecially with regard to recent views on the true nature and origin of\nelves, trolls, and fairies. I refer to the recently published work of\nMr. D. MacRitchie, \u201cThe Testimony of Tradition\u201d (Kegan Paul, Trench,\nTr\u00fcbner & Co.)--_i.e._, of tradition about the fairies and the rest.\nBriefly put, Mr. MacRitchie's view is that the elves, trolls, and\nfairies represented in popular tradition are really the mound-dwellers,\nwhose remains have been discovered in some abundance in the form of\ngreen hillocks, which have been artificially raised over a long and low\npassage leading to a central chamber open to the sky. Mr. MacRitchie\nshows that in several instances traditions about trolls or \u201cgood\npeople\u201d have attached themselves to mounds, which have afterwards on\ninvestigation turned out to be evidently the former residence of men of\nsmaller build than the mortals of to-day. He goes on further to identify\nthese with the Picts--fairies are called \u201cPechs\u201d in Scotland--and other\nearly races, but with these ethnological equations we need not much\nconcern ourselves. It is otherwise with the mound-traditions and their\nrelation, if not to fairy tales in general, to tales _about_ fairies,\ntrolls, elves, etc. These are very few in number, and generally bear the\ncharacter of anecdotes. The fairies, etc., steal a child, they help\na wanderer to a drink and then disappear into a green hill, they help\ncottagers with their work at night but disappear if their presence is\nnoticed; human midwives are asked to help fairy mothers, fairy maidens\nmarry ordinary men or girls marry and live with fairy husbands. All\nsuch things may have happened and bear no such _\u00e0 priori_ marks of\nimpossibility as speaking animals, flying through the air, and similar\nincidents of the folk-tale pure and simple. If, as archaeologists tell\nus, there was once a race of men in Northern Europe, very short and\nhairy, that dwelt in underground chambers artificially concealed by\ngreen hillocks, it does not seem unlikely that odd survivors of the\nrace should have lived on after they had been conquered and nearly\nexterminated by Aryan invaders and should occasionally have performed\nsomething like the pranks told of fairies and trolls.\n\nCertainly the description of the Dark Tower of the King of Elfland in\n\u201cChilde Rowland,\u201d has a remarkable resemblance to the dwellings of the\n\u201cgood folk,\u201d which recent excavations have revealed. By the kindness of\nMr. MacRitchie, I am enabled to give the reader illustrations of one of\nthe most interesting of these, the Maes-How of Orkney. This is a green\nmound some 100 feet in length and 35 in breadth at its broadest part.\nTradition had long located a goblin in its centre, but it was not till\n1861 that it was discovered to be pierced by a long passage 53 feet in\nlength, and only two feet four inches high, for half of its length. This\nled into a central chamber 15 feet square and open to the sky.\n\nNow it is remarkable how accurately all this corresponds to the Dark\nTower of \u201cChilde Rowland,\u201d allowing for a little idealisation on the\npart of the narrator. We have the long dark passage leading into the\nwell-lit central chamber, and all enclosed in a green hill or mound.\nIt is of course curious to contrast Mr. Batten's frontispiece with the\ncentral chamber of the How, but the essential features are the same.\nEven such a minute touch as the terraces on the hill have their bearing,\nI believe, on Mr. MacRitchie's \u201crealistic\u201d views of Faerie. For in quite\nanother connection Mr. G. L. Gomme, in his recent \u201cVillage Community\u201d\n (W. Scott), pp. 75-98, has given reasons and examples for believing\nthat terrace cultivation along the sides of hills was a practice of the\nnon-Aryan and pre-Aryan inhabitants of these isles. [Footnote: To these\nmay be added Iona (_cf._ Duke of Argyll, _Iona_, p. 109).] Here then\nfrom a quarter quite unexpected by Mr. MacRitchie, we have evidence\nof the association of the King of Elfland with a non-Aryan mode of\ncultivation of the soil. By Mr. Gomme's kindness I am enabled to give an\nillustration of this.\n\nAltogether it seems not improbable that in such a tale as \u201cChilde\nRowland\u201d we have an idealised picture of a \u201cmarriage by capture\u201d of one\nof the diminutive non-Aryan dwellers of the green hills with an Aryan\nmaiden, and her re-capture by her brothers. It is otherwise difficult to\naccount for such a circumstantial description of the interior of these\nmounds, and especially of such a detail as the terrace cultivation on\nthem. At the same time it must not be thought that Mr. MacRitchie's\nviews explain all fairy tales, or that his identifications of Finns\n= Fenians = Fairies = Sidhe = \u201cPechs\u201d = Picts, will necessarily be\naccepted. His interesting book, so far as it goes, seems to throw light\non tales about mermaids (Finnish women in their \u201ckayaks,\u201d) and trolls,\nbut not necessarily, on fairy tales in general. Thus, in the present\nvolume, besides \u201cChilde Rowland,\u201d there is only \u201cTom Tit Tot\u201d in his\nhollow, the green hill in \u201cKate Crackernuts,\u201d the \u201cCauld Lad of Hilton,\u201d\n and perhaps the \u201cFairy Ointment,\u201d that are affected by his views.\n\nFinally, there are a couple of words in the narrative that deserve a\ncouple of words of explanation: \u201cWidershins\u201d is probably, as Mr. Batten\nsuggests, analogous to the German \u201cwider Schein,\u201d against the appearance\nof the sun, \u201ccounter-clockwise\u201d as the mathematicians say--_i.e._, W.,\nS., E., N., instead of with the sun and the hands of a clock; why\nit should have an unspelling influence is hard to say. \u201cBogle\u201d is a\nprovincial word for \u201cspectre,\u201d and is analogous to the Welsh _bwg_,\n\u201cgoblin,\u201d and to the English insect of similar name, and still more\ncuriously to the Russian \u201cBog,\u201d God, after which so many Russian rivers\nare named. I may add that \u201cBurd\u201d is etymologically the same as \u201cbride\u201d\n and is frequently used in the early romances for \u201cLady.\u201d\n\n\n\nXXII. MOLLY WHUPPIE.\n\n_Source_.--_Folk-Lore Journal_, ii. p. 68, forwarded by Rev. Walter\nGregor. I have modified the dialect and changed \u201cMally\u201d into \u201cMolly.\u201d\n\n_Parallels_.--The first part is clearly the theme of \u201cHop o' my Thumb,\u201d\n which Mr. Lang has studied in his \u201cPerrault,\u201d pp. civ.-cxi. (_cf._\nK\u00f6hler, _Occident_, ii. 301.) The change of night-dresses occurs in\nGreek myths. The latter part wanders off into \u201crob giant of three\nthings,\u201d a familiar incident in folk-tales (Cosquin, i. 46-7), and\nfinally winds up with the \u201cout of sack\u201d trick, for which see Cosquin,\ni. 113; ii. 209; and K\u00f6hler on Campbell, in _Occident and Orient_, ii.\n489-506.\n\n\n\nXXIII. RED ETTIN.\n\n_Source_.--\u201cThe Red Etin\u201d in Chambers's _Pop. Rhymes of Scotland_, p.\n89. I have reduced the adventurers from three to two, and cut down\nthe herds and their answers. I have substituted riddles from the first\nEnglish collection of riddles, _The Demandes Joyous_ of Wynkyn de Worde,\nfor the poor ones of the original, which are besides not solved. \u201cEttin\u201d\n is the English spelling of the word, as it is thus spelt in a passage\nof Beaumont and Fletcher (_Knight of Burning Pestle_, i. 1), which may\nrefer to this very story, which, as we shall see, is quite as old as\ntheir time.\n\n_Parallels_.--\u201cThe Red Etin\u201d is referred to in _The Complaynt of\nScotland_, about 1548. It has some resemblance to \u201cChilde Rowland,\u201d\n which see. The \u201cdeath index,\u201d as we may call tokens that tell the state\nof health of a parted partner, is a usual incident in the theme of the\nTwo Brothers, and has been studied by the Grimms, i. 421, 453; ii. 403;\nby K\u00f6hler on Campbell, _Occ. u. Or._, ii. 119-20; on Gonzenbach, ii.\n230; on Blad\u00e9, 248; by Cosquin, _l.c._, i. 70-2, 193; by Crane, _Ital.\nPop. Tales_, 326; and by Jones and Kropf, _Magyar Tales_, 329. Riddles\ngenerally come in the form of the \u201criddle-bride-wager\u201d (_cf._ Child,\n_Ballads_, i. 415-9; ii. 519), when the hero or heroine wins a spouse by\nguessing a riddle or riddles. Here it is the simpler Sphinx form of the\n\u201criddle task,\u201d on which see K\u00f6hler in _Jahrb. rom. Phil._, vii. 273, and\non Gonzenbach, 215.\n\n\n\nXXIV. GOLDEN ARM.\n\n_Source_.--Henderson, _l.c._, p. 338, collected by the Rev. S.\nBaring-Gould, in Devonshire. Mr. Burne-Jones remembers hearing it in his\nyouth in Warwickshire.\n\n_Parallels_.--The first fragment at the end of Grimm (ii. 467, of Mrs.\nHunt's translation), tells of an innkeeper's wife who had used the liver\nof a man hanging on the gallows, whose ghost comes to her and tells her\nwhat has become of his hair, and his eyes, and the dialogue concludes\n\n  \u201cSHE: Where is thy liver?\n  IT: Thou hast devoured it!\u201d\n\nFor similar \u201csurprise packets\u201d see Cosquin, ii. 77.\n\n_Remarks_.--It is doubtful how far such gruesome topics should be\nintroduced into a book for children, but as a matter of fact the\n_katharsis_ of pity and terror among the little ones is as effective as\namong the spectators of a drama, and they take the same kind of pleasant\nthrill from such stories. They know it is all make-believe just as much\nas the spectators of a tragedy. Every one who has enjoyed the blessing\nof a romantic imagination has been trained up on such tales of wonder.\n\n\n\nXXV. TOM THUMB.\n\n_Source_.--From the chap-book contained in Halliwell, p. 199, and Mr.\nHartland's _English Folk and Fairy Tales_. I have omitted much of the\nsecond part.\n\n_Parallels_.--Halliwell has also a version entirely in verse. \u201cTom\nThumb\u201d is \u201cLe petit Poucet\u201d of the French, \u201cDaumling\u201d of the Germans,\nand similar diminutive heroes elsewhere (_cf._ Deulin, _Contes de ma\nM\u00e8re l'Oye_, 326), but of his adventures only that in the cow's stomach\n(_cf._ Cosquin, ii. 190) is common with his French and German cousins.\nM. Gaston Paris has a monograph on \u201cTom Thumb.\u201d\n\n\n\nXXVI. MR. FOX.\n\n_Source_.--Contributed by Blakeway to Malone's Variorum Shakespeare, to\nillustrate Benedick's remark in _Much Ado about Nothing_ (I. i. 146):\n\u201cLike the old tale, my Lord, 'It is not so, nor 'twas not so, but,\nindeed, God forbid it should be so;'\u201d which clearly refers to the tale\nof Mr. Fox. \u201cThe Forbidden Chamber\u201d has been studied by Mr. Hartland,\n_Folk-Lore Journal_, iii. 193, _seq._\n\n_Parallels_.--Halliwell, p. 166, gives a similar tale of \u201cAn Oxford\nStudent,\u201d whose sweetheart saw him digging her grave. \u201cMr. Fox\u201d is\nclearly a variant of the theme of \u201cThe Robber Bridegroom\u201d (Grimm, No.\n40, Mrs. Hunt's translation, i. 389, 395; and Cosquin, i. 180-1).\n\n\n\nXXVII. LAZY JACK.\n\n_Source_.--Halliwell, 157.\n\n_Parallels_.--The same story occurs in Lowland Scotch as \u201cJock and\nhis Mother,\u201d Chambers, _l.c._, 101; in Ireland, as \u201cI'll be wiser next\ntime,\u201d Kennedy, _l.c._, 39-42. Abroad it is Grimm's _Hans im Gl\u00fcck_\n(No. 83). The \u201ccure by laughing\u201d incident is \u201ccommon form\u201d in folk-tales\n(_cf._ K\u00f6hler on Gonzenbach, _Sizil. M\u00e4rchen_, ii. 210, 224; Jones and\nKropf, _Magyar Tales_, 312).\n\n\n\nXXVIII. JOHNNY-CAKE.\n\n_Source_.--_American Journal of Folk-Lore_, ii. 60.\n\n_Parallels_.--Another variant is given in the same _Journal_, p. 277,\nwhere reference is also made to a version \u201cThe Gingerbread Boy,\u201d in\n_St. Nicholas_, May 1875. Chambers gives two versions of the same story,\nunder the title \u201cThe Wee Bunnock,\u201d the first of which is one of the most\ndramatic and humorous of folk-tales. Unfortunately, the Scotticisms are\nso frequent as to render the droll practically untranslatable. \u201cThe Fate\nof Mr. Jack Sparrow\u201d in _Uncle Remus_ is similar to that of Johnny-Cake.\n\n\n\nXXIX. EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER.\n\n_Source_.--From the ballad of the same name as given in Mr. Allingham's\n_Ballad Book_: it is clearly a fairy tale and not a ballad proper.\n\n_Parallels_.--The lover visiting his spouse in guise of a bird, is a\nfrequent _motif_ in folk-tales.\n\n\n\nXXX. MR. MIACCA.\n\n_Source_.--From memory of Mrs. B. Abrahams, who heard it from her mother\nsome _x_ years ago (more than 40). I have transposed the two incidents,\nas in her version Tommy Grimes was a clever carver and carried about\nwith him a carven leg. This seemed to me to exceed the limits of\n_vraisemblance_ even for a folk-tale.\n\n_Parallels_.--Getting out of an ogre's clutches by playing on the\nsimplicity of his wife, occurs in \u201cMolly Whuppie\u201d (No. xxii.), and its\nsimilars. In the Grimms' \u201cHansel and Grethel,\u201d Hansel pokes out a stick\ninstead of his finger that the witch may not think him fat enough for\nthe table.\n\n_Remarks_.--Mr. Miacca seems to have played the double _r\u00f4le_ of a\ndomestic Providence. He not alone punished bad boys, as here, but also\nrewarded the good, by leaving them gifts on appropriate occasions like\nSanta Claus or Father Christmas, who, as is well known, only leave\nthings for good children. Mrs. Abrahams remembers one occasion well\nwhen she nearly caught sight of Mr. Miacca, just after he had left her a\ngift; she saw his shadow in the shape of a bright light passing down the\ngarden.\n\n\n\nXXXI. DICK WHITTINGTON.\n\n_Source_.--I have cobbled this up out of three chap-book versions; (1)\nthat contained in Mr. Hartland's _English Folk-tales_; (2) that edited\nby Mr. H. B. Wheatley for the Villon Society; (3) that appended to\nMessrs. Besant and Rice's monograph.\n\n_Parallels_.--Whittington's cat has made the fortune of his master in\nall parts of the Old World, as Mr. W. A. Clouston, among others,\nhas shown, _Popular Tales and Fictions_, ii. 65-78 (_cf._ K\u00f6hler on\nGonzenbach, ii. 251).\n\n_Remarks_.--If Bow Bells had pealed in the exact and accurate nineteenth\ncentury, they doubtless would have chimed\n\n  Turn again, Whittington,\n  Thrice and a half Lord Mayor of London.\n\nFor besides his three mayoralties of 1397, 1406, and 1419, he served as\nLord Mayor in place of Adam Bamme, deceased, in the latter half of\nthe mayoralty of 1396. It will be noticed that the chap-book puts the\nintroduction of potatoes rather far back.\n\n\n\nXXXII. THE STRANGE VISITOR\n\n_Source_.--From Chambers, _l.c._, 64, much Anglicised. I have retained\n\u201cAih-late-wee-moul,\u201d though I candidly confess I have not the slightest\nidea what it means; judging other children by myself, I do not\nthink that makes the response less effective. The prosaic-minded may\nsubstitute \u201cUp-late-and-little-food.\u201d\n\n_Parallels_.--The man made by instalments, occurs in the Grimms' No. 4,\nand something like it in an English folk-tale, _The Golden Ball_, _ap._\nHenderson, _l.c._, p. 333.\n\n\n\nXXXIII. THE LAIDLY WORM.\n\n_Source_.--From an eighteenth-century ballad of the Rev. Mr. Lamb of\nNorham, as given in Prof. Child's _Ballads_; with a few touches and\nverses from the more ancient version \u201cKempion.\u201d A florid prose version\nappeared in _Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore_ for May 1890. I\nhave made the obvious emendation of\n\nO quit your sword, unbend your bow\n\nfor\n\nO quit your sword, and bend your bow.\n\n_Parallels_.--The ballad of \u201cKempe Owein\u201d is a more general version\nwhich \u201cThe Laidly Worm\u201d has localised near Bamborough. We learn from\nthis that the original hero was Kempe or Champion Owain, the Welsh hero\nwho flourished in the ninth century. Childe Wynd therefore = Childe\nOwein. The \u201cDeliverance Kiss\u201d has been studied by Prof. Child, _l.c._,\ni. 207. A noteworthy example occurs in Boiardo's _Orlando Inamorato_,\ncc. xxv., xxvi.\n\n_Remarks_.--It is perhaps unnecessary to give the equations \u201cLaidly Worm\n= Loathly Worm = Loathsome Dragon,\u201d and \u201cborrowed = changed.\u201d\n\n\n\nXXXIV. CAT AND MOUSE.\n\n_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 154.\n\n_Parallels_.--Scarcely more than a variant of the \u201cOld Woman and her\nPig\u201d (No. iv.), which see. It is curious that a very similar \u201crun\u201d is\nadded by Bengali women at the end of every folk-tale they tell (Lal\nBehari Day, _Folk Tales of Bengal_, Pref. _ad fin._)\n\n\n\nXXXV. THE FISH AND THE RING.\n\n_Source_.--Henderson, _l.c._, p. 326, from a communication by the Rev.\nS. Baring-Gould.\n\n_Parallels_.--\u201cJonah rings\u201d have been put together by Mr. Clouston\nin his _Popular Tales_, i. 398, &c.: the most famous are those of\nPolycrates, of Solomon, and the Sanskrit drama of \u201cSakuntala,\u201d the plot\nof which turns upon such a ring. \u201cLetters to kill bearer\u201d have been\ntraced from Homer downwards by Prof. K\u00f6hler on Gonzenbach, ii. 220, and\n\u201cthe substituted letter\u201d by the same authority in _Occ. u. Or._, ii.\n289. Mr. Baring-Gould, who was one of the pioneers of the study of\nfolk-tales in this country, has given a large number of instances of\n\u201cthe pre-ordained marriage\u201d in folk-tales in Henderson, _l.c._\n\n\n\nXXXVI. THE MAGPIE'S NEST.\n\n_Source_.--I have built up the \u201cMagpie's Nest\u201d from two nidification\nmyths, as a German professor would call them, in the Rev. Mr.\nSwainson's _Folk-Lore of British Birds_, pp. 80 and 166. I have received\ninstruction about the relative values of nests from a little friend of\nmine named Katie, who knows all about it. If there is any mistake in\nthe order of neatness in the various birds' nests, I must have learnt my\nlesson badly.\n\n_Remarks_.--English popular tradition is curiously at variance about the\nmagpie's nidificatory powers, for another legend given by Mr. Swainson\nrepresents her as refusing to be instructed by the birds and that is why\nshe does _not_ make a good nest.\n\n\n\nXXXVII. KATE CRACKERNUTS.\n\n_Source_.--Given by Mr. Lang in _Longman's Magazine_, vol. xiv. and\nreprinted in _Folk-Lore_, Sept. 1890. It is very corrupt, both girls\nbeing called Kate, and I have had largely to rewrite.\n\n_Parallels_.--There is a tale which is clearly a cousin if not a parent\nof this in _Kennedy's Fictions_, 54 _seq._, containing the visit to the\ngreen hill (for which see \u201cChilde Rowland\u201d), a reference to nuts,\nand even the sesame rhyme. The prince is here a corpse who becomes\nrevivified; the same story is in Campbell No. 13. The jealous stepmother\nis \u201cuniversally human.\u201d (_Cf._ K\u00f6hler on Gonzenbach, ii. 206.)\n\n\n\nXXXVIII. THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON.\n\n_Source_.--Henderson's _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, 2nd edition,\npublished by the Folk-Lore Society, pp. 266-7. I have written the\nintroductory paragraph so as to convey some information about Brownies,\nBogles, and Redcaps, for which Henderson, _l.c._, 246-53, is my\nauthority. Mr. Batten's portrait renders this somewhat superfluous.\n\n_Parallels_.--The Grimms' \u201cElves\u201d (No. 39) behave in like manner\non being rewarded for their services. Milton's \u201clubbar-fiend\u201d in\n_L'Allegro_ has all the characteristics of a Brownie.\n\n\n\nXXXIX. ASS, TABLE AND STICK.\n\n_Source_.--Henderson, _l.c._, first edition, pp. 327-9, by the Rev. S.\nBaring-Gould.\n\n_Parallels_.--Mr. Baring-Gould gives another version from the East\nRiding, _l.c._, 329, in which there are three brothers who go through\nthe adventures. He also refers to European Variants, p. 311, which could\nnow be largely supplemented from Cosquin, i. 53-4, ii. 66, 171.\n\n_Remarks_.--As an example of the sun-myth explanation of folk-tales I\nwill quote the same authority (p. 314): \u201cThe Master, who gives the three\nprecious gifts, is the All Father, the Supreme Spirit. The gold and\njewel-dropping ass, is the spring cloud, hanging in the sky and shedding\nthe bright productive vernal showers. The table which covers itself is\nthe earth becoming covered with flowers and fruit at the bidding of\nthe New Year. But there is a check; rain is withheld, the process\nof vegetation is stayed by some evil influence. Then comes the\nthunder-cloud, out of which leaps the bolt; the rains pour down, the\nearth receives them, and is covered with abundance--all that was lost is\nrecovered.\u201d\n\nMr. Baring-Gould, it is well-known, has since become a distinguished\nwriter of fiction.\n\n\n\nXL. FAIRY OINTMENT.\n\n_Source_.--Mrs. Bray, _The Tamar and the Tavy_, i. 174 (letters to\nSouthey), as quoted by Mr. Hartland in _Folk-Lore_, i. 207-8. I have\nchristened the anonymous midwife and euphemised her profession.\n\n_Parallels_.--Mr. Hartland has studied Human Midwives in the _Archaeol.\nReview_, iv., and parallels to our story in _Folk-Lore_, i. 209, _seq._;\nthe most interesting of these is from Gervase of Tilbury (xiii. cent.),\n_Otia Imper._, iii. 85, and three Breton tales given by M. Sebillot\n(_Contes_, ii. 42; _Litt. orale_, 23; _Trad. et Superst._, i. 109).\n_Cf._ Prof. Child, i. 339; ii. 505.\n\n\n\nXLI. THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END.\n\n_Source_.--Leyden's edition of _The Complaynt of Scotland_, p. 234\n_seq._, with additional touches from Halliwell, 162-3, who makes up a\nslightly different version from the rhymes. The opening formula I have\ntaken from Mayhew, _London Labour_, iii. 390, who gives it as the usual\none when tramps tell folk-tales. I also added it to No. xvii.\n\n_Parallels_.--Sir W. Scott remembered a similar story; see Taylor's\n_Gammer Grethel, ad fin_. In Scotland it is Chambers's tale of _The\nPaddo_, p. 87; Leyden supposes it is referred to in the _Complaynt_, (c.\n1548), as \u201cThe Wolf of the Warldis End.\u201d The well of this name occurs\nalso in the Scotch version of the \u201cThree Heads of the Well,\u201d (No.\nxliii.). Abroad it is the Grimms' first tale, while frogs who would\na-wooing go are discussed by Prof. K\u00f6hler, _Occ. u. Orient_ ii. 330; by\nProf. Child, i. 298; and by Messrs. Jones and Kropf, _l.c._, p. 404. The\nsieve-bucket task is widespread from the Danaids of the Greeks to the\nleverets of _Uncle Remus_, who, curiously enough, use the same rhyme:\n\u201cFill it wid moss en dob it wid clay.\u201d _Cf._, too, No. xxiii.\n\n\n\nXLII. MASTER OF ALL MASTERS.\n\n_Source_.--I have taken what suited me from a number of sources, which\nshows how wide-spread this quaint droll is in England: (i) In Mayhew,\n_London Poor_, iii. 391, told by a lad in a workhouse; (ii) several\nversions in 7 _Notes and Queries_, iii. 35, 87, 159, 398.\n\n_Parallels_.--Rev. W. Gregor gives a Scotch version under the title \u201cThe\nClever Apprentice,\u201d in _Folk-Lore Journal_, vii. 166. Mr. Hartland, in\n_Notes and Queries_, _l.c._, 87, refers to Pitr\u00e9's _Fiabi sicil._, iii.\n120, for a variant.\n\n_Remarks_.--According to Mr. Hartland, the story is designed as a satire\non pedantry, and is as old in Italy as Straparola (sixteenth century).\nIn passionate Sicily a wife disgusted with her husband's pedantry\nsets the house on fire, and informs her husband of the fact in this\nunintelligible gibberish; he, not understanding his own lingo, falls\na victim to the flames, and she marries the servant who had taken the\nmessage.\n\n\n\nXLIII. THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL.\n\n_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 158. The second wish has been somewhat\neuphemised.\n\n_Parallels_.--The story forms part of Peele's _Old Wives' Tale_, where\nthe rhyme was\n\n  _A Head rises in the well_,\n  Fair maiden, white and red,\n  Stroke me smooth and comb my head,\n  And thou shalt have some cockell-bread.\n\nIt is also in Chambers, _l.c._, 105, where the well is at the World's\nEnd (_cf._ No. xli.). The contrasted fates of two step-sisters, is the\nFrau Holle (Grimm, No. 24) type of Folk-tale studied by Cosquin, i. 250,\n_seq._ \u201cKate Crackernuts\u201d (No. xxxvii.) is a pleasant contrast to this.","title":"English Fairy Tales","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":60906}