Tales in Tranquillity

There was once an old Queen whose husband had been dead for many years, and she had a very beautiful daughter. When she grew up she was betrothed to a Prince in a distant country. When the time came for the maiden to be sent into this distant country to be married, the old Queen packed up quantities of clothes and jewels, gold and silver, cups and ornaments, and, in fact, everything suitable to a royal outfit, for she loved her daughter very dearly. She also sent a Waiting- woman to travel with her, and to put her hand into that of the bridegroom. They each had a horse. The Princess's horse was called Falada, and it could speak. When the hour of departure came, the old Queen went to her bedroom, and with a sharp little knife cut her finger and made it bleed. Then she held a piece of white cambric under it, and let three drops of blood fall on to it. This cambric she gave to her daughter, and said, ' Dear child, take good care of this ; it will stand you in good stead on the journey.' They then bade each other a sorrowful farewell. The Princess hid the piece of cambric in her bosom, mounted her horse, and set out to her bridegroom's country. When they had ridden for a time the Princess became very thirsty, and said to the Waiting-woman, ' Get down and fetch me some water in my cup from the stream. I must have something to drink.' ' If you are thirsty,' said the Waiting- woman, ' dismount yourself, lie down by the water and drink. I don't choose to be your servant.' So, in her great thirst, the Princess dismounted and stooped down to the stream and drank, as she might not have her golden cup. The poor Princess said, ' Alas ! ' and the drops of blood answered, ' If your mother knew this, it would break her heart.' The royal bride was humble, so she said nothing, but mounted her horse again. Then they rode several miles further ; but the day was warm, the sun was scorching, and the Princess was soon thirsty again. When they reached a river she called out again to her Waiting- woman, ' Get down, and give me some water in my golden cup ! ' She had forgotten all about the rude words which had been said to her. But the Waiting- woman answered more haughtily than ever, ' If you want to drink, get the water for yourself. I won't be your servant.' Being very thirsty, the Princess dismounted, and knelt by the flowing water. She cried, and said, ' Ah me ! ' and the drops of blood answered, ' If your mother knew this it would break her heart.' While she stooped over the water to drink, the piece of cambric with the drops of blood on it fell out of her bosom, and floated away on the stream ; but she never noticed this in her great fear. The Waiting-woman, however, had seen it, and rejoiced at getting more power over the bride, who, by losing the drops of blood, had become weak and powerless. Now, when she was about to mount her horse Falada again, the Waiting-woman said, ' By rights, Falada belongs to me ; this jade will do for you ! ' The poor little Princess was obliged to give way. Then the Waiting- woman, in a harsh voice, ordered her to take off her royal robes, and to put on her own mean garments. Finally, she forced her to swear before heaven that she would not tell a creature at the Court what had taken place. Had she not taken the oath she would have been killed on the spot. But Falada saw all this and marked it. The Waiting - woman then mounted Falada and put the real bride on her poor jade, and they continued their journey. There was great rejoicing when they arrived at the castle. The Prince hurried towards them, and lifted the Waitingwoman from her horse, thinking she was his bride. She was led upstairs, but the real Princess had to stay below. The old King looked out of the window and saw the delicate, pretty little creature standing in the courtyard ; so he went to the bridal apartments and asked the bride about her companion, who was left standing in the courtyard, and wished to know who she was. ' I picked her up on the way, and brought her with me for company. Give the girl something to do to keep her from idling.' But the old King had no work for her, and could not think of anything. At last he said, ' I have a little lad who looks after the geese ; she may help him.' The boy was called little Conrad, and the real bride was sent with him to look after the geese. Soon after, the false bride said to the Prince, ' Dear husband, I pray you do me a favour.'

There was once a sweet little maiden, who was loved by all who knew her ; but she was especially dear to her Grandmother, who did not know how to make enough of the child. Once she gave her a little red velvet cloak. It was so becoming, and she liked it so much, that she would never wear anything else ; and so she got the name of Red Riding Hood. One day her Mother said to her : ' Come here, Red Riding Hood, take this cake and a bottle of wine to Grandmother, she is weak and ill, and they will do her good. Go quickly, before it gets hot, and don't loiter by the way, or run, or you will fall down and break the bottle, and there would be no wine for Grandmother. When you get there, don't forget to say " Good morning " prettily, without staring about you.' ' I will do just as you tell me,' Red Riding Hood promised her Mother. Her Grandmother lived away in the woods, a good half-hour from the village. When she got to the wood, she met a Wolf ; but Red Riding Hood did not know what a wicked animal he was, so she was not a bit afraid of him. ' Good-morning, Red Riding Hood,' he said. ' Good-morning, Wolf,' she answered. ' Whither away so early, Red Riding Hood ? ' ' To Grandmother's.' ' What have you got in your basket ? ' ' Cake and wine ; we baked yesterday, so I'm taking a cake to Grannie ; she wants something to make her well.' ' Where does your Grandmother live. Red Riding Hood ? ' ' A good quarter of an hour further into the wood. Her house stands under three big oak trees, near a hedge of nut trees which you must know,' said Red Riding Hood. The Wolf thought : ' This tender little creature will be a plump morsel ; she will be nicer than the old woman. I must be cunning, and snap them both up.' He walked along with Red Riding Hood for a while, then he said : ' Look at the pretty flowers. Red Riding Hood. Why don't you look about you ? I don't believe you even hear the birds sing, you are just as solemn as if you were going to school : everything else is so gay out here in the woods.' Red Riding Hood raised her eyes, and when she saw the sunlight dancing through the trees, and all the bright flowers, she thought : ' I'm sure Grannie would be pleased if I took her a bunch of fresh flowers. It is still quite early, I shall have plenty of time to pick them.' So she left the path, and wandered off among the trees to pick the flowers. Each time she picked one, she always saw another prettier one further on. So she went deeper and deeper into the forest. In the meantime the Wolf went straight off to the Grandmother's cottage, and knocked at the door. ' Who is there ? ' ' Red Riding Hood, bringing you a cake and some wine. Open the door ! ' ' Press the latch ! ' cried the old woman. ' I am too weak to get up.' The Wolf pressed the latch, and the door sprang open. He went straight in and up to the bed without saying a word, and ate up the poor old woman. Then he put on her nightdress and nightcap, got into bed and drew the curtains. Red Riding Hood ran about picking flowers till she could carry no more, and then she remembered her Grandmother again. She was astonished when she got to the house to find the door open, and when she entered the room everything seemed so strange. She felt quite frightened, but she did not know why. ' Generally I like coming to see Grandmother so much,' she thought. She cried : ' Good-morning, Grandmother,' but she received no answer. Then she went up to the bed and drew the curtain back. There lay her Grandmother, but she had drawn her cap down over her face, and she looked very odd. ' O Grandmother, what big ears you have got,' she said. ' The better to hear with, my dear.' ' Grandmother, what big eyes you have got.' ' The better to see with, my dear.' ' What big hands you have got. Grandmother.' ' The better to catch hold of you with, my dear.' ' But, Grandmother, what big teeth you have got.' ' The better to eat you up with, my dear.' Hardly had the Wolf said this, than he made a spring out of bed, and devoured poor little Red Riding Hood. When the Wolf had satisfied himself, he went back to bed and he was soon snoring loudly. A Huntsman went past the house, and thought, ' How loudly the old lady is snoring ; I must see if there is anything the matter with her.' So he went into the house, and up to the bed, where he found the Wolf fast asleep. ' Do I find you here, you old sinner ? ' he said. ' Long enough have I sought you.' He raised his gun to shoot, when it just occurred to him that perhaps the Wolf had eaten up the old lady, and that she might still be saved. So he took a knife and began cutting open the sleeping Wolf. At the first cut he saw the little red cloak, and after a few more slashes, the little girl sprang out, and cried : 'Oh, how frightened I was, it was so dark inside the Wolf ! ' Next the old Grandmother came out, alive, but hardly able to breathe.

There was once a Miller who was very poor, but he had a beautiful daughter. Now, it fell out that he had occasion to speak with the King, and, in order to give himself an air of importance, he said : ' I have a daughter who can spin gold out of straw.' The King said to the Miller : ' That is an art in which I am much interested. If your daughter is as skilful as you say she is, bring her to my castle to-morrow, and I will put her to the test.' Accordingly, when the girl was brought to the castle, the King conducted her to a chamber which was quite full of straw, gave her a spinning-wheel and winder, and said, ' Now, set to work, and if between to-night and to-morrow at dawn you have not spun this straw into gold you must die.' Thereupon he carefully locked the door of the chamber, and she remained alone. There sat the unfortunate Miller's daughter, and for the life of her did not know what to do. She had not the least idea how to spin straw into gold, and she became more and more distressed, until at last she began to weep. Then all at once the door sprang open, and in stepped a little Mannikin, who said : ' Good evening. Mistress Miller, what are you weeping so for ? ' ' Alas ! ' answered the Maiden, ' I 've got to spin gold out of straw, and don't know how to do it.' Then the Mannikin said, ' What will you give me if I spin it for you ? ' ' My necklace,' said the Maid. The little man took the necklace, sat down before the spinning-wheel, and whir — whir — whir, in a trice the reel was full. Then he fixed another reel, and whir — whir — whir, thrice round, and that too was full ; and so it went on until morning, when all the straw was spun and all the reels were full of gold. Immediately at sunrise the King came, and when he saw the gold he was astonished and much pleased, but his mind became only the more avaricious. So he had the Miller's daughter taken to another chamber, larger than the former one, and full of straw, and he ordered her to spin it also in one night, as she valued her life. The Maiden was at her wit's end, and began to weep. Then again the door sprang open, and the little Mannikin appeared, and said, ' What will you give me if I spin the straw into gold for you ? ' ' The ring off my finger,' answered the Maiden. The little man took the ring, began to whir again at the wheel, and had by morning spun all the straw into gold. The King was delighted at sight of the masses of gold, but was not even yet satisfied. So he had the Miller's daughter taken to a still larger chamber, full of straw, and said, ' This must you to-night spin into gold, but if you succeed you shall become my Queen.' ' Even if she is only a Miller's daughter,' thought he, ' I shan't find a richer woman in the whole world.' When the girl was alone the little Man came again, and said for the third time, ' What will you give me if I spin the straw for you this time ? ' ' I have nothing more that I can give,' answered the girl, ' Well, promise me your first child if you become Queen.' ' Who knows what may happen,' thought the Miller's daughter ; but she did not see any other way of getting out of the difficulty, so she promised the little Man what he demanded, and in return he spun the straw into gold once more. When the King came in the morning, and found everything as he had wished, he celebrated his marriage with her, and the Miller's daughter became Queen. About a year afterwards a beautiful child was born, but the Queen had forgotten all about the little Man. However, he suddenly entered her chamber, and said, ' Now, give me what you promised.' The Queen was terrified, and offered the little Man all the wealth of the kingdom if he would let her keep the child. But the Mannikin said, ' No ; I would rather have some living thing than all the treasures of the world.' Then the Queen began to moan and weep to such an extent that the little Man felt sorry for her. ' I will give you three days,' said he, ' and if within that time you discover my name you shall keep the child.' Then during the night the Queen called to mind all the names that she had ever heard, and sent a messenger all over the country to inquire far and wide what other names there were. When the little Man came on the next day, she began with Caspar, Melchoir, Balzer, and mentioned all the names which she knew, one after the other ; but at every one the little Man said : ' No ; that's not my name.' The second day she had inquiries made all round the neighbourhood for the names of people living there, and suggested to the little Man all the most unusual and strange names. ' Perhaps your name is Cowribs, Spindleshanks, or Spiderlegs ? '

There was once a man and his wife who had long wished in vain for a child, when at last they had reason to hope that Heaven would grant their wish. There was a little window at the back of their house, which overlooked a beautiful garden, full of lovely flowers and shrubs. It was, however, surrounded by a high wall, and nobody dared to enter it, because it belonged to a powerful Witch, who was feared by everybody. One day the woman, standing at this window and looking into the garden, saw a bed planted with beautiful rampion. It looked so fresh and green that it made her long to eat some of it. This longing increased every day, and as she knew it could never be satisfied, she began to look pale and miserable, and to pine away. Then her husband was alarmed, and said : ' What ails you, my dear wife ? ' ' Alas ! ' she answered, ' if I cannot get any of the rampion from the garden behind our house to eat, I shall die.' Her husband, who loved her, thought, ' Before you let your wife die, you must fetch her some of that rampion, cost what it may.' So in the twilight he climbed over the wall into the Witch's garden, hastily picked a handful of rampion, and took it back to his wife. She immediately dressed it, and ate it up very eagerly. It was so very, very nice, that the next day her longing for it increased threefold. She could have no peace unless her husband fetched her some more. So in the twilight he set out again ; but when he got over the wall he was terrified to see the Witch before him. ' How dare you come into my garden like a thief, and steal my rampion ? ' she said, with angry looks. ' It shall be the worse for you ! ' ' Alas ! ' he answered, ' be merciful to me ; I am only here from necessity. My wife sees your rampion from the window, and she has such a longing for it, that she would die if she could not get some of it.' The anger of the Witch abated, and she said to him, ' If it is as you say, I will allow you to take away with you as much rampion as you like, but on one condition. You must give me the child which your wife is about to bring into the world. I will care for it like a mother, and all will be well with it.' In his fear the man consented to everything, and when the baby was born, the Witch appeared, gave it the name of Rapunzel (rampion), and took it away with her. Rapunzel was the most beautiful child under the sun. When she was twelve years old, the Witch shut her up in a tower which stood in a wood. It had neither staircase nor doors, and only a little window quite high up in the wall. When the Witch wanted to enter the tower, she stood at the foot of it, and cried — ' Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.' Rapunzel had splendid long hair, as fine as spun gold. As soon as she heard the voice of the Witch, she unfastened her plaits and twisted them round a hook by the window. They fell twenty ells downwards, and the Witch climbed up by them. It happened a couple of years later that the King's son rode through the forest, and came close to the tower. From thence he heard a song so lovely, that he stopped to listen. It was Rapunzel, who in her loneliness made her sweet voice resound to pass away the time. The King's son wanted to join her, and he sought for the door of the tower, but there was none to find. He rode home, but the song had touched his heart so deeply that he went into the forest every day to listen to it. Once, when he was hidden behind a tree, he saw a Witch come to the tower and call out — ' Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.' Then Rapunzel lowered her plaits of haii' and the Witch climbed up to her. ' If that is the ladder by which one ascends,' he thought, ' I will try my luck myself.' And the next day, when it began to grow dark, he went to the tower and cried — ' Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.' The hair fell down at once, and the King's son climbed up by it. At first Rapunzel was terrified, for she had never set eyes on a man before, but the King's son talked to her kindly, and told her that his heart had been so deeply touched by her song that he had no peace, and he was obliged to see her. Then Rapunzel lost her fear, and when he asked if she would have him for her husband, and she saw that he was young and handsome, she thought, ' He will love me better than old Mother Gothel.' So she said, ' Yes,' and laid her hand in his. She said, ' I will gladly go with you, but I do not know how I am to get down from this tower. When you come, will you bring a skein of silk with you every time. I will twist it into a ladder, and when it is long enough I will descend by it, and you can take me away with you on your horse.' She arranged with him that he should come and see her every evening, for the old Witch came in the daytime.

There was once a widow who had two daughters ; one of them was beautiful and industrious, the other was ugly and lazy. She liked the ugly, lazy one best, because she was her own daughter. The other one had all the rough work, and was made the Cinderella at home. The poor girl had to sit in the street by a well, spinning till her fingers bled. Now one day her bobbin got some blood upon it, and she stooped down to the well to rinse it, but it fell out of her hand into the water. She cried, and ran to tell her stepmother of her misfortune. Her stepmother scolded her violently and without mercy, and at last said, ' If you have let the bobbin fall into the water, you must go in after it and fetch it out.' The maiden went back to the well and did not know what to do, and in her terror she sprang into the water to try and find the bobbin. She lost consciousness, and when she came to herself she was in a beautiful meadow dotted with flowers, and the sun was shining brightly. She walked on till she came to a baker's oven full of bread ; the Loaves called out to her, ' Oh, draw us out, draw us out, or we shall burn ! We are over-baked already ! ' So she went up and drew them out one by one with a baker's shovel. Then she went a little further, and came to an Apple-tree covered with apples, which called out to her. ' Oh, shake us down, shake us down, we are over-ripe ! ' So she shook the tree, and the apples fell like rain. She shook till there were no more left, and when she had gathered them all into a heap, went on her way. At last she came to a little house, out of which an old woman was looking. She had very large teeth, and the maiden was so frightened that she wanted to run away. But the old woman called her, and said, ' What are you afraid of, dear child ? Stay with me, and if you can do all kinds of housework well, I shall be very pleased. But you must be very particular how you make my bed ; it must be thoroughly shaken, so that the feathers fly, then it snows in the world. I am Mother Hulda.' ' As the old woman spoke so kindly to her, she took heart and agreed to stay, and she began her duties at once. She did everything to the old woman's satisfaction, and shook up the bed with such a will, that the feathers flew about like snow. So she led a very happy life ; she had no hard words, but good food, both roast and boiled, every day. Now after she had been some time with Mother Hulda, she grew sad. At first she did not know what was the matter, but at last she discovered that she was homesick. Although everything here was a thousand times nicer than at home, still she had a yearning to go back. At last she said to the old woman, ' Although I had nothing but misery at home, and happy as I have been here, still I must go back to my own people.' Mother Hulda said, ' I am pleased that you ask to go home, and as you have been so faithful to me, I will take you back myself.' She took her by the hand and led her to a great gate. The gate was opened, and as the maiden was passing through, a heavy shower of gold fell upon her, and remained sticking, so that she was covered from head to foot with it. ' This is your reward, because you have been so industrious,' said Mother Hulda. She also gave her back her bobbin which had fallen into the well. Then the gate was shut, and the maiden found herself in the upper world not far from her mother's house. When she reached the courtyard the Cock was sitting on the well, and he cried — ' Cock-a-doodle-doo, Our golden maid, I see, Has now come home to me.' Then she went into her mother, and, as she was bedecked with gold, she was well received both by her mother and sister. The maiden told them all that had happened to her, and when her mother heard how she had got all her wealth, she wanted her ugly, lazy daughter to have the same. So she made her sit by the well and spin ; and so that there should be blood upon her bobbin, she scratched her finger, and thrust her hand into a blackthorn bush. Then she threw the bobbin into the water and jumped in after it. She found herself in the same beautiful meadow, and walked along the same path. When she reached the baker's oven, the Loaves called out again, ' Draw us out, draw us out, or we shall be burnt ! Then the lazy girl answered, ' I should soil my fingers,' and went on. Soon she came to the Apple-tree, and the apples cried, ' Shake us down, shake us down ! We are all ripe ! ' ' A fine business indeed,' she answered. ' One of you might fall upon my head.' And she passed on. When she came to Mother Hulda's house, she was not afraid of her big teeth, as she had heard all about them, and she immediately hired herself to the old woman. The first day she made a great effort ; she was industrious, and obeyed the orders Mother Hulda gave her, for she thought of all the gold. But on the second day even, she began to be lazy, and on the third she was still more so.

A Poor Peasant sat one evening by his hearth and poked the fire, while his Wife sat opposite spinning. He said : ' What a sad thing it is that we have no children ; our home is so quiet, while other folk's houses are noisy and cheerful.' ' Yes,' answered his Wife, and she sighed ; ' even if it were an only one, and if it were no bigger than my thumb, I should be quite content ; we would love it with all our hearts.' Now, some time after this, she had a little boy who was strong and healthy, but was no bigger than a thumb. Then they said : ' Well, our wish is fulfilled, and, small as he is, we will love him dearly ' ; and because of his tiny stature they called him Tom Thumb. They let him want for nothing, yet still the child grew no bigger, but remained the same size as when he was born. Still, he looked out on the world with intelligent eyes, and soon showed himself a clever and agile creature, who was lucky in all he attempted. One day, when the Peasant was preparing to go into the forest to cut wood, he said to himself : ' I wish I had some one to bring the cart after me.' ' O Father ! ' said Tom Thumb, ' I will soon bring it. You leave it to me ; it shall be there at the appointed time.' Then the Peasant laughed, and said : ' How can that be ? You are much too small even to hold the reins.' ' That doesn't matter, if only Mother will harness the horse,' answered Tom. ' I will sit in his ear and tell him where to go.' ' Very well,' said the Father ; ' we will try it for once.' When the time came, the Mother harnessed the horse, set Tom in his ear, and then the little creature called out ' Gee-up ' and ' Whoa ' in turn, and directed it where to go. It went quite well, just as though it were being driven by its master ; and they went the right way to the wood. Now it happened that while the cart was turning a corner, and Tom was calling to the horse, two strange men appeared on the scene. ' My goodness,' said one, ' what is this ? There goes a cart, and a driver is calling to the horse, but there is nothing to be seen.' ' There is something queer about this,' said the other ; ' we will follow the cart and see where it stops.' The cart went on deep into the forest, and arrived quite safely at the place where the wood was cut. When Tom spied his Father, he said : ' You see, Father, here I am with the cart ; now lift me down.' The Father held the horse with his left hand, and took his little son out of its ear with the right. Then Tom sat down quite happily on a straw. When the two strangers noticed him, they did not know what to say for astonishment. Then one drew the other aside, and said : ' Listen, that little creature might make our fortune if we were to show him in the town for money. We will buy him.' So they went up to the Peasant, and said : ' Sell us the little man ; he shall be well looked after with us.' ' No,' said the Peasant ; ' he is the delight of my eyes, and I will not sell him for all the gold in the world.' But Tom Thumb, when he heard the bargain, crept up by the folds of his Father's coat, placed himself on his shoulder, and whispered in his ear : ' Father, let me go ; I will soon come back again.' Then his Father gave him to the two men for a fine piece of gold. ' Where will you sit ? ' they asked him. ' Oh, put me on the brim of your hat, then I can walk up and down and observe the neighbourhood without falling down.' They did as he wished, and when Tom had said good-bye to his Father, they went away with him. They walked on till it was twilight, when the little man said : ' You must lift me down.' ' Stay where you are,' answered the Man on whose head he sat. ' No,' said Tom ; ' I will come down. Lift me down immediately.' The Man took off his hat and set the little creature in a field by the wayside. He jumped and crept about for a time, here and there among the sods, then slipped suddenly into a mouse-hole which he had discovered. ' Good evening, gentlemen, just you go home without me,' he called out to them in mockery. They ran about and poked with sticks into the mouse-hole, but all in vain. Tom crept further and further back, and, as it soon got quite dark, they were forced to go home, full of anger, and with empty purses. When Tom noticed that they were gone, he crept out of his underground hiding-place again, ' It is dangerous walking in this field in the dark,' he said ; ' one might easily break one's leg or one's neck.' Luckily, he came to an empty snail shell. ' Thank goodness,' he said ; ' I can pass the night in safety here,' and he sat down. Not long after, just when he was about to go to sleep, he heard two men pass by. One said : ' How shall we set about stealing the rich parson's gold and silver ? '

Once upon a time, in the summer, a Bear and a Wolf were taking a walk in a wood when the Bear heard a bird singing most beautifully, and he said, ' Brother Wolf, what kind of bird is that singing so beautifully ? ' ' That is the King of the birds, and we must bow down to it.' But really it was a Wren. ' If that is so,' said the Bear, ' I should like to see his royal palace. Come, you must take me to it.' ' That 's not so easy,' said the Wolf. ' You must wait till the Queen comes.' Soon after, the Queen made her appearance, bringing food in her beak, and the King came with her to feed their little ones. The Bear would have liked to go in at once, but the Wolf held him by the sleeve, and said, ' No ; now you must wait till the King and Queen fly away again.' So they marked the opening of the nest, and trudged on. But the Bear had no rest till he could see the royal palace, and before long he went back. The King and the Queen had gone out again. He peeped in, and saw five or six young ones lying in the nest. ' Is that the royal palace ? ' cried the Bear. ' What a miserable place ! And do you mean to say that you are royal children ? You must be changelings ! ' When the young Wrens heard this, they were furious, and shrieked, ' No, indeed we're not. Our parents are honest people ; we must have this out with you.' The Bear and the Wolf were very much frightened. They turned round and ran home to their dens. But the young Wrens continued to shriek and scream aloud ; and when their parents came back with more food, they said, ' We won't touch so much as the leg of a fly, even if we starve, till you tell us whether we are really your lawful children or not. The Bear has been here calling us names.' Then said the old King, ' Only be quiet, and this shall be seen to.' Thereupon he and his wife the Queen flew off to the Bear in his den, and called in to him, ' Old Bruin, why have you been calling our children names ? It will turn out badly for you, and it will lead to a bloody war between us.' So war was declared, and all the four-footed animals were called together — the ox, the ass, the cow, the stag, the roedeer, and every other creature on the earth. But the Wren called together every creature which flew in the air, not only birds both large and small, but also the gnats, the hornets, the bees, and the flies. When the time came for the war to begin, the Wren sent out scouts to discover where the commanding generals of the enemy were to be found. The gnats were the most cunning of all. They swarmed in the wood where the enemy were assembled, and at last they hid themselves under a leaf of the tree where the orders were being given. The Bear called the Fox up to him and said, ' You are the slyest of all the animals, Reynard. You shall be our general, and lead us.' ' Very good,' said the Fox ; ' but what shall we have for a signal ? ' But nobody could think of anything. Then said the Fox, ' I have a fine, long, bushy tail, which almost looks like a red feather brush. When I hold my tail erect, things are going well, and you must march forward at once ; but if it droops, you must all run away as hard as ever you can.' When the gnats heard this they flew straight home and told the Wrens every detail. When the day broke, all the four-footed animals came rushing to the spot where the battle was to take place. They came with such a tramping that the earth shook. The Wren and his army also came swarming through the air ; they fluttered and buzzed enough to terrify one. And then they made for one another. The Wren sent the Hornet down with orders to seat herself under the tail of the Fox and to sting him with all her might. When the Fox felt the first sting he quivered, and raised one leg in the air ; but he bore it bravely, and kept his tail erect. At the second sting he was forced to let it droop for a moment, but the third time he could bear it no longer ; he screamed, and down went his tail between his legs. When the animals saw this they thought all was lost, and off they ran helter-skelter, as fast as they could go, each to his own den. So the birds won the battle. When it was over the King and the Queen flew home to their children, and cried, ' Children, be happy ! Eat and drink to your hearts' content ; we have won the battle.' But the young Wrens said, ' We won't eat till the Bear comes here to make an apology, and says that we are really and truly your lawful children.' The Wren flew to the Bear's den, and cried, ' Old Bruin, you will have to come and apologise to my children for calling them names, or else you will have all your ribs broken.'

The Soldiers, however, bore him a grudge, and wished him a thousand miles away. ' What will be the end of it ? ' they said to each other. ' When we quarrel with him, and he strikes out, seven of us will fall at once. One of us can't cope with him.' So they took a resolve, and went all together to the King, and asked for their discharge. ' We are not made,' said they, ' to hold our own with a man who strikes seven at one blow.' It grieved the King to lose all his faithful servants for the sake of one man ; he wished he had never set eyes on the Tailor, and was quite ready to let him go. He did not dare, however, to give him his dismissal, for he was afraid that he would kill him and all his people, and place himself on the throne. He pondered over it for a long time, and at last he thought of a plan. He sent for the Tailor, and said that as he was so great a warrior, he would make him an offer. In a forest in his kingdom lived two giants, who, by robbery, murder, burning, and laying waste, did much harm. No one dared approach them without being in danger of his life. If he could subdue and kill these two Giants, he would give him his only daughter to be his wife, and half his kingdom as a dowry ; also he would give him a hundred Horsemen to accompany and help him. ' That would be something for a man like me,' thought the Tailor. ' A beautiful Princess and half a kingdom are not offered to one every day.' ' Oh yes,' was his answer, ' I will soon subdue the Giants, and that without the hundred Horsemen. He who slays seven at a blow need not fear two.' The Tailor set out at once, accompanied by the hundred Horsemen ; but when he came to the edge of the forest, he said to his followers, ' Wait here, I will soon make an end of the Giants by myself.' Then he disappeared into the wood ; he looked about to the right and to the left. Before long he espied both the Giants lying under a tree fast asleep, and snoring. Their snores were so tremendous that they made the branches of the tree dance up and down. The Tailor, who was no fool, filled his pockets with stones, and climbed up the tree. When he got half-way up, he slipped on to a branch just above the sleepers, and then hurled the stones, one after another, on to one of them. It was some time before the Giant noticed anything ; then he woke up, pushed his companion, and said, ' What are you hitting me for ? ' ' You're dreaming,' said the other. ' I didn't hit you.' They went to sleep again, and the Tailor threw a stone at the other one. ' What's that ? ' he cried. ' What are you throwing at me ? ' ' I'm not throwing anything,' answered the first one, with a growl. They quarrelled over it for a time, but as they were sleepy, they made it up, and their eyes closed again. The Tailor began his game again, picked out his biggest stone, and threw it at the first Giant as hard as he could. ' This is too bad,' said the Giant, flying up like a madman. He pushed his companion against the tree with such violence that it shook. The other paid him back in the same coin, and they worked themselves up into such a rage that they tore up trees by the roots, and hacked at each other till they both fell dead upon the ground. Then the Tailor jumped down from his perch. ' It was very lucky,' he said, ' that they did not tear up the tree I was sitting on, or I should have had to spring on to another like a squirrel, but we are nimble fellows.' He drew his sword, and gave each of the Giants two or three cuts in the chest. Then he went out to the Horsemen, and said, ' The work is done. I have given both of them the finishing stroke, but it was a difficult job. In their distress they tore trees up by the root to defend themselves ; but all that's no good when a man like me comes, who slays seven at a blow.' ' Are you not wounded ? ' then asked the Horsemen. ' There was no danger,' answered the Tailor. ' Not a hair of my head was touched.' The Horsemen would not believe him, and rode into the forest to see. There, right enough, lay the Giants in pools of blood, and, round about them, the uprooted trees. The Tailor now demanded his promised reward from the King ; but he, in the meantime, had repented of this promise, and was again trying to think of a plan to shake him off. ' Before I give you my daughter and the half of my kingdom, you must perform one more doughty deed. There is a Unicorn which runs about in the forests doing vast damage ; you must capture it.'

There was once a King who had twelve daughters, each more beautiful than the other. They slept together in a hall where their beds stood close to one another ; and at night, when they had gone to bed, the King locked the door and bolted it. But when he unlocked it in the morning, he noticed that their shoes had been danced to pieces, and nobody could explain how it happened. So the King sent out a proclamation saying that any one who could discover where the Princesses did their night's dancing should choose one of them to be his wife and should reign after his death ; but whoever presented himself, and failed to make the discovery after three days and nights, was to forfeit his life. A Prince soon presented himself and offered to take the risk. He was well received, and at night was taken into a room adjoining the hall where the Princesses slept. His bed was made up there, and he was to watch and see where they went to dance ; so that they could not do anything, or go anywhere else, the door of his room was left open too. But the eyes of the King's son grew heavy, and he fell asleep. When he woke up in the morning all the twelve had been dancing, for the soles of their shoes were full of holes. The second and third evenings passed with the same results, and then the Prince found no mercy, and his head was cut off. Many others came after him and offered to take the risk, but they all had to lose their lives. Now it happened that a poor Soldier, who had been wounded and could no longer serve, found himself on the road to the town where the King lived. There he fell in with an old woman who asked him where he intended to go. ' I really don't know, myself,' he said ; and added, in fun, ' I should like to discover where the King's daughters dance their shoes into holes, and after that to become King.' ' That is not so difficult,' said the old woman. ' You must not drink the wine which will be brought to you in the evening, but must pretend to be fast asleep.' Whereupon she gave him a short cloak, saying : ' When you wear this you will be invisible, and then you can slip out after the Twelve Princesses.' As soon as the Soldier heard this good advice he took it up seriously, plucked up courage, appeared before the King, and offered himself as suitor. He was as well received as the others, and was dressed in royal garments. In the evening, when bed-time came, he was conducted to the ante-room. As he was about to go to bed the eldest Princess appeared, bringing him a cup of wine ; but he had fastened a sponge under his chin and let the wine run down into it, so that he did not drink one drop. Then he lay down, and when he had been quiet a little while he began to snore as though in the deepest sleep. The Twelve Princesses heard him, and laughed. The eldest said : ' He, too, must forfeit his life.' Then they got up, opened cupboards, chests, and cases, and brought out their beautiful dresses. They decked themselves before the glass, skipping about and revelling in the prospect of the dance. Only the youngest sister said : ' I don't know what it is. You may rejoice, but I feel so strange ; a misfortune is certainly hanging over us.' ' You are a little goose,' answered the eldest ; ' you are always frightened. Have you forgotten how many Princes have come here in vain ? Why, I need not have given the Soldier a sleeping draught at all ; the blockhead would never have awakened.' When they were all ready they looked at the Soldier ; but his eyes were shut and he did not stir. So they thought they would soon be quite safe. Then the eldest went up to one of the beds and knocked on it ; it sank into the earth, and they descended through the opening, one after another, the eldest first. The Soldier, who had noticed everything, did not hesitate long, but threw on his cloak and went down behind the youngest. Half-way down he trod on her dress. She was frightened, and said : ' What was that ? who is holding on to my dress ? ' ' Don't be so foolish. You must have caught on a nail,' said the eldest. Then they went right down, and when they got quite underground, they stood in a marvellously beautiful avenue of trees ; all the leaves were silver, and glittered and shone. The Soldier thought, ' I must take away some token with me.' And as he broke off a twig, a sharp crack came from the tree. The youngest cried out, ' All is not well ; did you hear that sound ? ' ' Those are triumphal salutes, because we shall soon have released our Princes,' said the eldest.

A Tailor was sitting on his table at the window one summer morning. He was a good fellow, and stitched with all his might. A peasant woman came down the street, crying, ' Good jam for sale ! good jam for sale ! ' This had a pleasant sound in the Tailor's ears ; he put his pale face out of the window, and cried, ' You'll find a sale for your wares up here, good Woman.' The Woman went up the three steps to the Tailor, with the heavy basket on her head, and he made her unpack all her pots. He examined them all, lifted them up, smelt them, and at last said, ' The jam seems good ; weigh me out four ounces, good Woman, and should it come over the quarter pound, it will be all the same to me.' The Woman, who had hoped for a better sale, gave him what he asked for, but went away cross, and grumbling to herself. ' That jam will be a blessing to me,' cried the Tailor ; 'it will give me strength and power.' He brought his bread out of the cupboard, cut a whole slice, and spread the jam on it. ' It won't be a bitter morsel,' said he, ' but I will finish this waistcoat before I stick my teeth into it.' He put the bread down by his side, and went on with his sewing, but in his joy the stitches got bigger and bigger. The smell of the jam rose to the wall, where the flies were clustered in swarms, and tempted them to come down, and they settled on the jam in masses. ' Ah ! who invited you ? ' cried the Tailor, chasing away his unbidden guests. But the flies, who did not understand his language, were not to be got rid of so easily, and came back in greater numbers than ever. At last the Tailor came to the end of his patience, and seizing a bit of cloth, he cried, ' Wait a bit, and I'll give it you ! ' So saying, he struck out at them mercilessly. When he looked, he found no fewer than seven dead and motionless. ' So that's the kind of fellow you are,' he said, admiring his own valour. 'The whole town shall know of this.' In great haste he cut out a belt for himself, and stitched on it, in big letters, ' Seven at one blow ! ' ' The town ! ' he then said, ' the whole world shall know of it ! ' And his heart wagged for very joy like the tail of a lamb. The Tailor fastened the belt round his waist, and wanted to start out into the world at once ; he found his workshop too small for his valour. Before starting, he searched the house to see if there was anything to take with him. He only found an old cheese, but this he put into his pocket. By the gate he saw a bird entangled in a thicket, and he put that into his pocket with the cheese. Then he boldly took to the road, and as he was light and active, he felt no fatigue. The road led up a mountain, and when he reached the highest point, he found a huge Giant sitting there comfortably looking round him. The Tailor went pluckily up to him, and addressed him. ' Good-day, Comrade, you are sitting there surveying the wide world, I suppose. I am just on my way to try my luck. Do you feel inclined to go with me ? ' The Giant looked scornfully at the Tailor, and said, ' You jackanapes ! you miserable ragamuffin ! ' ' That may be,' said the Tailor, unbuttoning his coat and showing the Giant his belt. ' You may just read what kind of fellow I am.' The Giant read, ' Seven at one blow,' and thought that it was people the Tailor had slain ; so it gave him a certain amount of respect for the little fellow. Still, he thought he would try him ; so he picked up a stone and squeezed it till the water dropped out of it. ' Do that,' he said, ' if you have the strength.' ' No more than that ! ' said the Tailor ; ' why, it 's a mere joke to me.' He put his hand into his pocket, and pulling out the bit of soft cheese, he squeezed it till the moisture ran out. ' I guess that will equal you,' said he. The Giant did not know what to say, and could not have believed it of the little man. Then the Giant picked up a stone, and threw it up so high that one could scarcely follow it with the eye. ' Now, then, you sample of a mannikin, do that after me.' ' Well thrown ! ' said the Tailor, ' but the stone fell to the ground again. Now I will throw one for you which will never come back again.' So saying, he put his hand into his pocket, took out the bird, and threw it into the air. The bird, rejoiced at its freedom, soared into the air, and was never seen again. ' What do you think of that. Comrade ? ' asked the Tailor. ' You can certainly throw ; but now we will see if you are in a condition to carry anything,' said the Giant. He led the Tailor to a mighty oak which had been felled, and which lay upon the ground. ' If you are strong enough, help me out of the wood with this tree,' he said. ' Willingly,' answered the little man. ' You take the trunk on your shoulder, and I will take the branches ; they must certainly be the heaviest.'

Once there was a poor old woman who lived in a village ; she had collected a bundle of beans, and was going to cook them. So she prepared a fire on her hearth, and to make it burn up quickly she lighted it with a handful of straw. When she threw the beans into the pot, one escaped her unnoticed and slipped on to the floor, where it lay by a straw. Soon after a glowing coal jumped out of the fire and joined the others. Then the Straw began, and said : ' Little friends, how came ye hither ? ' The Coal answered : ' I have happily escaped the fire ; and if I had not done so by force of will, my death would certainly have been a most cruel one ; I should have been burnt to a cinder.' The Bean said : ' I also have escaped so far with a whole skin ; but if the old woman had put me into the pot, I should have been pitilessly boiled down to broth like my comrades.' ' Would a better fate have befallen me, then ? ' asked the Straw ; ' the old woman packed all my brothers into the fire and smoke, sixty of them all done for at once. Fortunately, I sUpped through her fingers.' ' What are we to do now, though ? ' asked the Coal. ' My opinion is,' said the Bean, ' that, as we have escaped death, we must all keep together like good comrades ; and so that we may run no further risks, we had better quit the country.' This proposal pleased both the others, and they set out together. Before long they came to a little stream, and, as there was neither path nor bridge, they did not know how to get over. The Straw at last had an idea, and said, ' I will throw myself over and then you can walk across upon me like a bridge.' So the Straw stretched himself across from one side to the other, and the Coal, which was of a fiery nature, tripped gaily over the newly-built bridge. But when it got to the middle and heard the water rushing below, it was frightened, and remained speechless, not daring to go any further. The Straw beginning to burn, broke in two and fell into the stream ; the Coal, falling with it, fizzled out in the water. The Bean, who had cautiously remained on the bank, could not help laughing over the whole business, and, having begun, could not stop, but laughed till she split her sides. Now, all would have been up with her had not, fortunately, a wandering tailor been taking a rest by the stream. As he had a sympathetic heart, he brought out a needle and thread and stitched her up again ; but, as he used black thread, all beans have a black seam to this day.

There was once a Miller, who had a beautiful daughter. When she grew up, he wanted to have her married and settled. He thought, ' If a suitable bridegroom come and ask for my daughter, I will give her to him.' Soon after a suitor came who appeared to be rich, and as the Miller knew nothing against him he promised his daughter to him. The Maiden, however, did not like him as a bride ought to like her bridegroom ; nor had she any faith in him. Whenever she looked at him, or thought about him, a shudder came over her. One day he said to her, ' You are my betrothed, and yet you have never been to see me.' The Maiden answered : ' I don't even know where your house is.' Then the Bridegroom said, ' My house is in the depths of the forest.' She made excuses, and said she could not find the way. The Bridegroom answered : ' Next Sunday you must come and see me without fail. I have invited some other guests, and, so that you may be able to find the way, I will strew some ashes to guide you.' When Sunday came, and the Maiden was about to start, she was frightened, though she did not know why. So that she should be sure of finding her way back she filled her pockets with peas and lentils. At the entrance to the forest she found the track of ashes, and followed it ; but every step or two she scattered a few peas right and left. She walked nearly the whole day, right into the midst of the forest, where it was almost dark. Here she saw a solitary house, which she did not like ; it was so dark and dismal. She went in, but found nobody, and there was dead silence. Suddenly a voice cried — ' Turn back, turn back, thou bonnie Bride, Nor in this house of death abide.' The Maiden looked up, and saw that the voice came from a bird in a cage hanging on the wall. Once more it made the same cry — ' Turn back, turn back, thou bonnie Bride, Nor in this house of death abide.' The beautiful Bride went from room to room, all over the house, but they were all empty ; not a soul was to be seen. At last she reached the cellar, and there she found an old, old woman with a shaking head. ' Can you tell me if my Bridegroom lives here ? ' ' Alas ! poor child,' answered the old woman, ' little dost thou know where thou art ; thou art in a murderer's den. Thou thoughtest thou wast about to be married, but death will be thy marriage. See here, I have had to fill this kettle with water, and when they have thee in their power they will kill thee without mercy, cook, and eat thee, for they are eaters of human flesh. Unless I take pity on thee and save thee, thou art lost.' Then the old woman led her behind a great cask, where she could not be seen. ' Be as quiet as a mouse,' she said. ' Don't stir, or all will be lost. To-night, when the murderers are asleep, we will fly. I have long waited for an opportunity.' Hardly had she said this when the riotous crew came home. They dragged another maiden with them, but as they were quite drunk they paid no attention to her shrieks and lamentations. They gave her wine to drink, three glasses full — red, white, and yellow. After she had drunk them she fell down dead. The poor Bride hidden behind the cask was terrified ; she trembled and shivered, for she saw plainly to what fate she was destined. One of the men noticed a gold ring on the little finger of the murdered girl, and as he could not pull it off he took an axe and chopped the finger off ; but it sprang up into the air, and fell right into the lap of the Bride behind the cask. The man took a light to look for it, but he could not find it. One of the others said, ' Have you looked behind the big cask ? ' But the old woman called out : ' Come and eat, and leave the search till to-morrow ; the finger won't run away.'

He stood before her, and said : ' Alas, Wife, art thou now King ? ' ' Yes,' she said ; ' now I am King.' He stood looking at her for some time, and then he said : ' Ah, Wife, it is a fine thing for thee to be King ; now we will not wish to be anything more.' ' Nay, husband,' she answered, quite uneasily ; ' I find the time hang very heavy on my hands. I can't bear it any longer. Go back to the Flounder. King I am, but I must also be Emperor.' ' Alas, Wife,' said the Man, ' why dost thou now want to be Emperor ? ' ' Husband,' she answered, ' go to the Flounder. Emperor I will be.' ' Alas, Wife,' said the Man, ' Emperor he can't make thee, and I won't ask him. There is only one Emperor in the country ; and Emperor the Flounder cannot make thee, that he can't.' ' What ? ' said the Woman. ' I am King, and thou art but my husband. To him thou must go, and that right quickly. If he can make a King, he can also make an Emperor. Emperor I will be, so go quickly.' He had to go, but he was quite frightened. And as he went, he thought, ' This won't end well ; Emperor is too shameless. The Flounder will make an end of the whole thing.' With that he came to the sea, but now he found it quite black, and heaving up from below in great waves. It tossed to and fro, and a sharp wind blew over it, and the man trembled. So he stood there, and said — ' Flounder, Flounder in the sea, Prythee, hearken unto me : My Wife, Ilsebil, must have her own will, And sends me to beg a boon of thee.' ' What does she want now ? ' said the Flounder. ' Alas, Flounder,' he said, ' my Wife wants to be Emperor.' ' Go back,' said the Flounder. ' She is Emperor.' So the man went back, and when he got to the door, he found that the whole palace was made of polished marble, with alabaster figures and golden decorations. Soldiers marched up and down before the doors, blowing their trumpets and beating their drums. Inside the palace, counts, barons, and dukes walked about as attendants, and they opened to him the doors, which were of pure gold. He went in, and saw his Wife sitting on a huge throne made of solid gold. It was at least two miles high. She had on her head a great golden crown set with diamonds three yards high. In one hand she held the sceptre, and in the other the orb of empire. On each side of her stood the gentlemen-at-arms in two rows, each one a little smaller than the other, from giants two miles high down to the tiniest dwarf no bigger than my little finger. She was surrounded by princes and dukes. Her husband stood still, and said : ' Wife, art thou now Emperor ? ' ' Yes,' said she ; ' now I am Emperor.' Then he looked at her for some time, and said : ' Alas, Wife, how much better off art thou for being Emperor ? ' ' Husband,' she said, ' what art thou standing there for ? Now I am Emperor, I mean to be Pope ! Go back to the Flounder.' ' Alas, Wife,' said the Man, ' what wilt thou not want ? Pope thou canst not be. There is only one Pope in Christendom. That 's more than the Flounder can do.' ' Husband,' she said, ' Pope I will be ; so go at once. I must be Pope this very day.' ' No, Wife,' he said, ' I dare not tell him. It 's no good ; it 's too monstrous altogether. The Flounder cannot make thee Pope.' ' Husband,' said the Woman, ' don't talk nonsense. If he can make an Emperor, he can make a Pope. Go immediately. I am Emperor, and thou art but my husband, and thou must obey.' So he was frightened, and went ; but he was quite dazed. He shivered and shook, and his knees trembled. A great wind arose over the land, the clouds flew across the sky, and it grew as dark as night; the leaves fell from the trees, and the water foamed and dashed upon the shore. In the distance the ships were being tossed to and fro on the waves, and he heard them firing signals of distress. There was still a little patch of blue in the sky among the dark clouds, but towards the south they were red and heavy, as in a bad storm. In despair, he stood and said — ' Flounder, Flounder in the sea, Prythee, hearken unto me : My Wife, Ilsebil, must have her own will. And sends me to beg a boon of thee.'

There was once a sheep-dog who had not got a kind master, but one who left him to suffer from hunger. When he could bear it no longer, he went sadly away. On the road he met a Sparrow, who said, ' Brother Dog, why are you so sad ? ' The Dog answered, ' Because I am hungry and I have nothing to eat.' ' Then,' said the Sparrow, ' Brother Dog, come with me to the town, and I will satisfy your hunger.' So they went to the town together, and when they came to a butcher's shop, the Sparrow said to the Dog, ' Stay where you are out there and I will peck down a piece of meat.' He perched upon the stall, and looked about to see that he was not noticed ; then he pecked, pulled, and pushed a piece of meat lying near the edge, till at last it fell to the ground. The Dog seized it and ran off with it to a corner, where he devoured it. Then the Sparrow said to him, ' Now come with me to another shop, and I will pull down another piece so that you may have enough.' When the Dog had gobbled up the second piece of meat, the Sparrow said, ' Brother Dog, have you had enough ? ' ' Yes, I have had enough meat,' replied the Dog ; ' but I haven't had any bread.' ' Oh, you shall have some bread too,' said the Sparrow. ' Come with me.' And then he led him to a baker's shop, where he pecked at a couple of rolls till they fell down. Then, as the Dog still wanted more, he took him to another shop where he pulled down some more bread. When that was consumed, the Sparrow said, ' Brother Dog, is your hunger satisfied ? ' ' Yes,' he answered ; ' now let us go and walk about outside the town for a bit.' So they both went out on to the high-road. Now it was very warm weather, and when they had walked a little way the Dog said, ' I am tired, and I want to go to sleep.' ' Oh, by all means,' answered the Sparrow ; ' I will sit upon this branch in the meantime.' So the Dog lay down upon the road and fell fast asleep. While he lay there sleeping, a Carter came along driving a wagon with three horses. The wagon was laden with two casks of wine. The Sparrow saw that he was not going to turn aside, but was going on in the track in which the Dog lay, and he called out, ' Carter, don't do it, or I will ruin you ! ' But the Carter grumbled to himself, ' You won't ruin me,' cracked his whip, and drove the wheels of his wagon right over the Dog and killed him. The Sparrow cried out after him, ' Carter, you have killed my brother Dog ; it will cost you your wagon and your team.' ' My wagon and my team indeed, what harm can you do me ? ' asked the Carter, as he drove on. The Sparrow crept under the tarpaulin and pecked at the bunghole of one of the casks till the bung came out, and all the wine trickled away without the Carter's being aware of it. When he looked round and saw the wine dripping from the wagon, he examined the casks and found that one was empty. ' Alas, poor man that I am ! ' he cried. ' Not poor enough yet,' said the Sparrow, as he flew on to the head of one of the horses and pecked out its eyes. When the Carter saw what he was doing, he seized his chopper to throw it at the Sparrow ; but the bird flew away, and the chopper hit the horse on the head, and he dropped down dead. ' Alas, poor man that I am ! ' he cried. ' Not poor enough yet,' said the Sparrow. As the Carter drove on with his two horses, the Sparrow again crept under the tarpaulin and pecked the bung out of the second cask, so that all the wine ran out. When the Carter perceived it, he cried again, ' Alas, poor man that I am ! ' But the Sparrow answered, ' Not poor enough yet ' ; and he seated himself on the head of the second horse and pecked its eyes out. The Carter ran up with his big chopper and struck at him ; but the Sparrow flew away, and the blow hit the horse and killed it. ' Alas, poor man that I am ! ' cried the Carter. ' Not poor enough yet,' said the Sparrow, as he perched on the head of the third horse and pecked out its eyes. In his rage, the Carter struck out at the Sparrow with his chopper without taking aim, missed the Sparrow, but hit his last horse on the head, and it fell down dead. ' Alas, poor man that I am ! '

There was once a Fisherman, who lived with his Wife in a miserable little hovel close to the sea. He went to fish every day, and he fished and fished, and at last one day, as he was sitting looking deep down into the shining water, he felt something on his line. When he hauled it up there was a great Flounder on the end of the line. The Flounder said to him, ' Listen, Fisherman, I beg you not to kill me : I am no common Flounder, I am an enchanted prince ! What good will it do you to kill me ? I shan't be good to eat ; put me back into the water, and leave me to swim about.' ' Ho ! ho ! ' said the Fisherman, ' you need not make so many words about it. I am quite ready to put back a Flounder that can talk.' And so saying, he put back the Flounder into the shining water, and it sank down to the bottom, leaving a streak of blood behind it. Then the Fisherman got up and went back to his Wife in the hovel. ' Husband,' she said, ' hast thou caught nothing to-day ? ' ' No,' said the Man ; ' all I caught was one Flounder, and he said he was an enchanted prince, so I let him go swim again.' ' Didst thou not wish for anything then ? ' asked the Goodwife. ' No,' said the Man ; ' what was there to wish for ? ' ' Alas ! ' said his Wife, ' isn't it bad enough always to live in this wretched hovel ! Thou mightst at least have wished for a nice clean cottage. Go back and call him, tell him I want a pretty cottage : he will surely give us that.' ' Alas ! ' said the Man, ' what am I to go back there for ? ' ' Well,' said the Woman, ' it was thou who didst catch him and let him go again ; for certain he will do that for thee. Be off now ! ' The Man was still not very willing to go, but he did not want to vex his Wife, and at last he went back to the sea. He found the sea no longer bright and shining, but dull and green. He stood by it and said — ' Flounder, Flounder in the sea, Prythee, hearken unto me : My Wife, Ilsebil, must have her own will, And sends me to beg a boon of thee.' The Flounder came swimming up, and said, ' Well, what do you want ? ' ' Alas,' said the Man, ' I had to call you, for my Wife said I ought to have wished for something as I caught you. She doesn't want to live in our miserable hovel any longer, she wants a pretty cottage.' ' Go home again then,' said the Flounder, ' she has her wish fully.' The Man went home and found his Wife no longer in the old hut, but a pretty little cottage stood in its place, and his Wife was sitting on a bench by the door. She took him by the hand, and said, ' Come and look in here — isn't this much better ? ' They went inside and found a pretty sitting-room, and a bedroom with a bed in it, a kitchen and a larder furnished with everything of the best in tin and brass and every possible requisite. Outside there was a little yard with chickens and ducks, and a little garden full of vegetables and fruit. ' Look ! ' said the Woman, ' is not this nice ? ' ' Yes,' said the Man, ' and so let it remain. We can live here very happily.' ' We will see about that,' said the Woman. With that they ate something and went to bed. Everything went well for a week or more, and then said the Wife, ' Listen, husband, this cottage is too cramped, and the garden is too small. The Flounder could have given us a bigger house. I want to live in a big stone castle. Go to the Flounder, and tell him to give us a castle.' ' Alas, Wife,' said the Man, ' the cottage is good enough for us : what should we do with a castle ? ' ' Never mind,' said his Wife, ' do thou but go to the Flounder, and he will manage it.' ' Nay, Wife,' said the Man, ' the Flounder gave us the cottage. I don't want to go back ; as likely as not he'll be angry.' ' Go, all the same,' said the Woman. ' He can do it easily enough, and willingly into the bargain. Just go ! ' The Man's heart was heavy, and he was very unwilling to go. He said to himself, ' It 's not right.' But at last he went. He found the sea was no longer green ; it was still calm, but dark violet and grey. He stood by it and said — ' Flounder, Flounder in the sea, Prythee, hearken unto me : My Wife, Ilsebil, must have her own will, And sends me to beg a boon of thee.' ' Now, what do you want ? ' said the Flounder. 'Alas,' said the Man, half scared, 'my wife wants a big stone castle.' ' Go home again,' said the Flounder, ' she is standing at the door of it.' Then the man went away thinking he would find no house, but when he got back he found a great stone palace, and his Wife standing at the top of the steps, waiting to go in. She took him by the hand and said, ' Come in with me.'

There was once a village in which there was only one poor Peasant ; all the others were very well-to-do, so they called him the Little Peasant. He had not even got a single cow, far less money with which to buy one, though he and his Wife would have been so glad to possess one. One day he said to his Wife, ' Look here, I have a good idea : there is my Godfather, the joiner, he shall make us a wooden calf and paint it brown, so that it looks like a real one, and perhaps some day it will grow into a cow.' This plan pleased his Wife, so his Godfather, the joiner, cut out and carved the calf and painted it properly, and made its head bent down to look as if it were eating. Next morning, when the cows were driven out, the Little Peasant called the Cowherd in, and said : ' Look here, I have a little calf, but it is very small and has to be carried.' The Cowherd said : ' All right,' took it in his arms, carried it to the meadow and put it down in the grass. The calf stood there all day and appeared to be eating, and the Cowherd said, ' It will soon be able to walk by itself ; see how it eats.' In the evening, when he was going home, he said to the calf, ' If you can stand there all day and eat your fill, you may just walk home on your own legs, I don't mean to carry you ! ' But the Little Peasant was standing by his door waiting for the calf, and when the Cowherd came through the village without it, he at once asked where it was. The Cowherd said, ' It is still standing there ; it would not stop eating to come with us.' The Little Peasant said, ' But I must have my little calf back.' So they went back together to the field, but some one had stolen the calf in the meantime, and it was gone. The Cowherd said, ' It must have run away.' But the Little Peasant said, ' Nothing of the kind,' and he took the Cowherd up before the Bailiff, who condemned him, for his carelessness, to give the Little Peasant a cow, in place of the lost calf. So at last the Little Peasant and his Wife had the longwished-for cow ; they were delighted, but they had no fodder and could not give it anything to eat, so very soon they had to kill it. They salted the meat, and the man went to the town to sell the hide, intending to buy another calf with the money he got for it. On the way he came to a mill, on which a raven sat with a broken wing ; he took it up out of pity and wrapped it in the hide. Such a storm of wind and rain came on that he could go no further, so he went into the mill to ask for shelter. Only the Miller's Wife was at home, and she said to the Little Peasant, ' You may lie down in the straw there.' And she gave him some bread and cheese to eat. The Little Peasant ate it, and then lay down with the hide by his side. The Miller's Wife thought, ' He is tired, and won't wake up.' Soon after a Priest came in, and he was made very welcome by the woman, who said, ' My husband is out, so we can have a feast.' The Little Peasant was listening, and when he heard about the feast he was much annoyed, because bread and cheese had been considered good enough for him. The Woman then laid the table, and brought out a roast joint, salad, cake and wine. They sat down, but just as they were beginning to eat, somebody knocked at the door. The Woman said, ' Good heavens, that is my Husband ! '

In the olden time, when wishing was some good, there hved a King whose daughters were all beautiful, but the youngest was so lovely that even the sun, that looked on many things, could not but marvel when he shone upon her face. Near the King's palace there was a large dark forest, and in the forest, under an old lime-tree, was a well. When the day was very hot the Princess used to go into the forest and sit upon the edge of this cool well ; and when she was tired of doing nothing she would play with a golden ball, throwing it up in the air and, catching it again, and this was her favourite game. Now on one occasion it so happened that the ball did not fall back into her hand stretched up to catch it, but dropped to the ground and rolled straight into the well. The Princess followed it with her eyes, but it disappeared, for the well was so very deep that it was quite impossible to see the bottom. Then she began to cry bitterly, and nothing would comfort her. As she was lamenting in this manner, some one called out to her, ' What is the matter, Princess ? Your lamentations would move the heart of a stone.' She looked round towards the spot whence the voice came, and saw a Frog stretching its broad, ugly face out of the water. ' Oh, it 's you, is it, old splasher ? I am crying for my golden ball which has fallen into the water.' ' Be quiet then, and stop crying,' answered the Frog. ' I know what to do ; but what will you give me if I get you back your plaything ? ' ' Whatever you like, you dear old Frog,' she said. ' My clothes, my pearls and diamonds, or even the golden crown upon my head.' The Frog answered, ' I care neither for your clothes, your pearls and diamonds, nor even your golden crown ; but if you will be fond of me, and let me be your playmate, sit by you at table, eat out of your plate, drink out of your cup, and sleep in your little bed — if you will promise to do all this, I will go down and fetch your ball.' ' I will promise anything you like to ask, if only you will get me back my ball.' She thought, ' What is the silly old Frog chattering about ? He lives in the well, croaking with his mates, and he can't be the companion of a human being.' As soon as the Frog received her promise, he ducked his head under the water and disappeared. After a little while, back he came with the ball in his mouth, and threw it on to the grass beside her. The Princess was full of joy when she saw her pretty toy again, picked it up, and ran off with it. ' Wait, wait,' cried the Frog. ' Take me with you ; I can't run as fast as you can.' But what was the good of his crying ' Croak, croak,' as loud as he could ? She did not listen to him, but hurried home, and forgot all about the poor Frog ; and he had to go back to his well. The next day, as she was sitting at dinner with the King and all the courtiers, eating out of her golden plate, something came flopping up the stairs, flip, flap, flip, flap. When it reached the top it knocked at the door, and cried : ' Youngest daughter of the King, you must let me in.' She ran to see who it was. When she opened the door and saw the Frog she shut it again very quickly, and went back to the table, for she was very much frightened. The King saw that her heart was beating very fast, and he said : ' My child, what is the matter ? Is there a giant at the door wanting to take you away ? ' ' Oh no ! ' she said : ' it 's not a giant, but a hideous Frog.' ' What does the Frog want with you ? ' ' Oh, father dear, last night, when I was playing by the well in the forest, my golden ball fell into the water. And I cried, and the Frog got it out for me ; and then, because he insisted on it, I promised that he should be my playmate. But I never thought that he would come out of the water, but there he is, and he wants to come in to me.' He knocked at the door for the second time, and sang — - ' Youngest daughter of the King, Take me up, I sing; Know'st thou not what yesterday Thou to me didst say By the well in forest dell. Youngest daughter of the King, Take me up, I sing.' Then said the King, ' What you have promised you must perform. Go and open the door for him.' So she opened the door, and the Frog shuffled in, keeping close to her feet, till he reached her chair. Then he cried, ' Lift me up beside you.' She hesitated, till the King ordered her to do it. Wlien the Frog was put on the chair, he demanded to be placed upon the table, and then he said, ' Push your golden plate nearer that we may eat together.' She did as he asked her, but very unwillingly, as could easily be seen. The Frog made a good dinner, but the Princess could not swallow a morsel. At last he said, ' I have eaten enough, and I am tired, carry me into your bedroom and arrange your silken bed, that we may go to sleep.'

Once upon a time, a Mouse, a Bird, and a Sausage went into partnership ; they kept house together long and amicably, and thus had increased their possessions. It was the Bird's work to fly to the forest every day and bring back wood. The Mouse had to carry water, make up the fire, and set the table, while the Sausage did the cooking. Whoever is too well off is always eager for something new. One day the Bird met a friend, to whom it sang the praises of its comfortable circumstances. But the other bird scolded it, and called it a poor creature who did all the hard work, while the other two had an easy time at home. For when the Mouse had made up the fire, and carried the water, she betook herself to her little room to rest till she was called to lay the table. The Sausage only had to stay by the hearth and take care that the food was nicely cooked ; when it was nearly dinner-time, she passed herself once or twice through the broth and the vegetables, and they were then buttered, salted, and flavoured, ready to eat. Then the Bird came home, laid his burden aside, and they all sat down to table ; and after their meal they slept their fill till morning. It was indeed a delightful life. Another day the Bird, owing to the instigations of his friend, declined to go and fetch any more wood, saying that he had been drudge long enough, and had only been their dupe ; they must now make a change and try some other arrangement. In spite of the fervent entreaties of the Mouse and the Sausage, the Bird got his way. They decided to draw lots, and the lot fell on the Sausage, who was to carry the wood ; the Mouse became cook, and the Bird was to fetch water. What was the result ? The Sausage went out into the forest, the Bird made up the fire, while the Mouse put on the pot and waited alone for the Sausage to come home, bringing wood for the next day. But the Sausage stayed away so long that the other two suspected something wrong, and the Bird flew out to take the air in the hope of meeting her. Not far off he fell in with a Dog which had met the poor Sausage and fallen upon her as lawful prey, seized her, and quickly swallowed her. The Bird complained bitterly to the Dog of his barefaced robbery, but it was no good ; for the Dog said he had found forged letters on the Sausage, whereby her life was forfeit to him. The Bird took the wood and flew sadly home with it, and related what he had seen and heard. They were much upset, but they determined to do the best they could and stay together. So the Bird laid the table, and the Mouse prepared their meal. She tried to cook it, and, like the Sausage, to dip herself in the vegetables so as to flavour them. But before she got well into the midst of them she came to a standstill, and in the attempt lost her hair, skin, and life itself. When the Bird came back and wanted to serve up the meal, there was no cook to be seen. The Bird in his agitation threw the wood about, called and searched everywhere, but could not find his cook. Then, owing to his carelessness, the wood caught fire and there was a blaze. The Bird hastened to fetch water, but the bucket fell into the well and the Bird with it ; he could not recover himself, and so he was drowned.

There was once a very old Man, so old that his eyes had become dim, and his limbs trembled. When he sat at table his hands shook so that he could hardly hold his spoon, and sometimes he spilt soup on the tablecloth. This vexed his son and daughter-in-law, and they would no longer let him have a place at the table, but made him sit in a corner by the stove. They gave him his food in an earthenware bowl, and a very scanty portion too. He sat in his place looking at the others at table, and the tears came into his eyes. One day his trembling hands could no longer hold the bowl ; it fell to the ground and broke to atoms. The young wife scolded him, but he said nothing; then she bought him a wooden bowl for a few coppers, and he had nothing else to eat from. As they were sitting together one day, the little Grandson, who was four years old, collected a lot of bits of wood. ' What are you doing there ? ' asked his Father. ' I am making a little trough,' answered the Child, ' for you and Mother to eat out of when I am big.' Husband and wife looked at each other for a while till their tears began to fall. Then they led the old Grandfather up to the table to take his meal with them. And they never again said anything to him when he spilt his food.

A cat once made the acquaintance of a Mouse, and she said so much to it about her love and friendship that at last the Mouse agreed to go into partnership and live with her. ' We must take precautions for the winter,' said the Cat, ' or we shall suffer from hunger. You, little Mouse, dare not venture everywhere, and in the end you will get me into a fix.' So the good advice was followed, and a pot of fat was purchased. They did not know where to keep it, but, after much deliberation, the Cat said, ' I know no place where it would be safer than in the church ; nobody dare venture to take anything there. We will put it under the altar, and will not touch it till we are obliged to.' So the pot was deposited in safety ; but, before long, the Cat began to hanker after it, and said to the Mouse : ' Oh, little Mouse, my cousin has asked me to be godmother. She has brought a son into the world. He is white, with brown spots ; and I am to hold him at the font. Let me go out to-day, and you stay alone to look after the house.' ' Oh yes,' said the Mouse, ' by all means go ; and if you have anything nice to eat, think of me. I would gladly have a drop of sweet raspberry wine myself.' Now there wasn't a word of truth in all this. The Cat had no cousin, and she had not been invited to be godmother at all. She went straight to the church, crept to the pot of fat, and began to lick it, and she licked and licked the whole of the top off it. Then she took a stroll on the house-tops and reflected on her proceedings, after which she stretched herself in the sun, and wiped her whiskers every time she thought of the pot of fat. She did not go home till evening. ' Oh, there you are again,' said the Mouse ; ' you must have had a merry time.' ' Oh, well enough,' answered the Cat. ' What kind of name was given to the child ? ' asked the Mouse. ' Top-off,' answered the Cat, drily. ' Top-off ! ' cried the Mouse. ' What an extraordinary name ; is it a common one in your family ? ' ' What does it matter ! ' said the Cat. ' It's not worse than crumbstealers, as your godchildren are called.' Not long after the Cat was again overcome by her desires. She said to the Mouse, ' You must oblige me again by looking after the house alone. For the second time I have been asked to be sponsor, and, as the child has a white ring round its neck, I can't refuse.' The good little Mouse was quite ready to oblige, and the Cat stole away behind the city walls to the church, and ate half of the pot of fat. ' Nothing tastes better,' she said, ' than what one eats by oneself ' ; and she was quite satisfied with her day's work. When she got home, the Mouse asked what this child had been named. ' Half-gone.' ' What do you say ? I have never heard such a name in my life. I don't believe you would find it in the calendar.' Soon the Cat's mouth watered again for the dainty morsel. ' Good things always come in threes,' she said to the Mouse ; ' again I am to stand sponsor. This child is quite black, with big white paws, but not another white hair on its body. Such a thing only occurs once in a few years. You will let me go out again, won't you ? ' ' Top-off ! Half-gone ! They are such curious names ; they set me thinking.' ' You sit at home in your dark grey velvet coat,' said the Cat, ' getting your head full of fancies. It all comes of not going out in the daytime.' During the Cat's absence, the Mouse cleared up and made the house tidy ; but the greedy Cat ate up all the fat. ' When it 's all gone, one can be at peace,' said she to herself, as she went home, late at night, fat and satiated. The Mouse immediately asked what name had been given to the third child. ' I don't suppose it will please you any better,' said the Cat. ' He is called All-gone ! ' ' All-gone ! ' exclaimed the Mouse. ' I have never seen it in print. All-gone ! What is the meaning of it ? ' She shook her head, rolled herself up, and went to sleep. From this time nobody asked the Cat to be sponsor. But when the winter came, and it grew very difficult to get food, the Mouse remembered their store, and said, ' Come, Cat, we will go to our pot of fat which we have saved up ; won't it be good now ? ' ' Yes, indeed ! ' answered the Cat ; ' it will do you just as much good as putting your tongue out of the window.'

The Adventures of Chanticleer and Partlet I. HOW THEY WENT TO THE HillS TO EAT NUTS CHANTICLEER said to Partlet one day, 'The nuts must be ripe ; now we will go up the hill together and have a good feast before the squirrel carries them all off.' ' All right,' said Partlet, ' come along ; we'11 have a fine time.' So they went away up the hill, and, as it was a bright day, they stayed till evening. Now whether they really had grown fat, or whether it was merely pride, I do not know, but, whatever the reason, they would not walk home, and Chanticleer had to make a little carriage of nut-shells. When it was ready, Partlet took her seat in it, and said to Chanticleer, ' Now you get between the shafts.' ' That's all very fine,' said Chanticleer, ' but I would sooner go home on foot than put myself in harness. I will sit on the box and drive, but draw it myself I never will.' As they were squabbling over this, a Duck quacked out, ' You thievish folk! Who told you to come to my nut-hill ? Just you wait, you will suffer for it.' Then she rushed at Chanticleer with open bill, but he was not to be taken by surprise, and fell upon her with his spurs till she cried out for mercy. At last she allowed herself to be harnessed to the carriage. Chanticleer seated himself on the box as coachman, and cried out unceasingly, ' Now, Duck, run as fast as you can.' When they had driven a little way they met two foot passengers, a Pin and a Needle. They called out, ' Stop ! stop ! ' They said it would soon be pitch dark, and they couldn't walk a step further, the road was so dirty ; might they not have a lift ? They had been to the Tailor's Inn by the gate, and had lingered over their beer. As they were both very thin, and did not take up much room, Chanticleer allowed them to get in, but he made them promise not to tread either on his toes, or on Partlet's. Late in the evening they came to an inn, and as they did not want to drive any further in the dark, and the Duck was getting rather uncertain on her feet, tumbling from side to side, they drove in. The Landlord at first made many objections to having them, and said the house was already full ; perhaps he thought they were not very grand folk. But at last, by dint of persuasive words, and promising him the egg which Mrs. Partlet had laid on the way, and also that he should keep the Duck, who laid an egg every day, he consented to let them stay the night. Then they had a meal served to them, and feasted, and passed the time in rioting. In the early dawn, before it grew light, and every one was asleep, Partlet woke up Chanticleer, fetched the egg, pecked a hole in it, and between them they ate it all up, and threw the shells on to the hearth. Then they went to the Needle, which was still asleep, seized it by the head and stuck it in the cushion of the Landlord's arm-chair ; the Pin they stuck in his towel, and then, without more ado, away they flew over the heath. The Duck, which preferred to sleep in the open air, and had stayed in the yard, heard them whizzing by, and bestirred herself. She found a stream, and swam away down it; it was a much quicker way to get on than being harnessed to a carriage. A couple of hours later, the Landlord, who was the first to leave his pillow, got up and washed. When he took up the towel to dry himself, he scratched his face and made a long red line from ear to ear. Then he went to the kitchen to light his pipe, but when he stooped over the hearth the egg-shells flew into his eye. ' Everything goes to my head this morning,' he said angrily, as he dropped on to the cushion of his Grandfather's arm-chair. But he quickly bounded up again, and shouted, ' Gracious me ! ' for the Needle had run into him, and this time not in the head. He grew furious, and his suspicions immediately fell on the guests who had come in so late the night before. When he went to look for them, they were nowhere to be seen. Then he swore never to take such ragamuffins into his house again ; for they ate a great deal, paid nothing, and played tricks, by way of thanks, into the bargain. II. THE VISIT TO MR. KORBES Another day, when Partlet and Chanticleer were about to take a journey. Chanticleer built a fine carriage with four red wheels, and harnessed four little mice to it. Mrs. Partlet seated herself in it with Chanticleer, and they drove off together. Before long they met a Cat. ' Whither away ? ' said she. Chanticleer answered — ' All on our way A visit to pay To Mr. Korbes at his house to-day.'' ' Take me with you,' said the Cat. Chanticleer answered, ' With pleasure ; sit down behind, so that you don't fall out forwards.' ' My wheels so red, pray have a care From any splash of mud to spare. Little wheels hurry ! Little mice scurry ! All on our way A visit to pay To Mr. Korbes at his house to-day.'

Once upon a time a man had an Ass which for many years carried sacks to the mill without tiring. At last, however, its strength was worn out ; it was no longer of any use for work. Accordingly its master began to ponder as to how best to cut down its keep ; but the Ass, seeing there was mischief in the air, ran away and started on the road to Bremen ; there he thought he could become a town-musician. When he had been travelling a short time, he fell in with a hound, who was lying panting on the road as though he had run himself off his legs. ' Well, what are you panting so for, Growler ? ' said the Ass. ' Ah,' said the Hound, ' just because I am old, and every day I get weaker, and also because I can no longer keep up with the pack, my master wanted to kill me, so I took my departure. But now, how am I to earn my bread ? ' ' Do you know what,' said the Ass. ' I am going to Bremen, and shall there become a town-musician ; come with me and take your part in the music. I shall play the lute, and you shall beat the kettle-drum.' The Hound agreed, and they went on. A short time after they came upon a Cat, sitting in the road, with a face as long as a wet week. ' Well, what has been crossing you, Whiskers ? ' asked the Ass. ' Who can be cheerful when he is out at elbows ? ' said the Cat. ' I am getting on in years, and my teeth are blunted and I prefer to sit by the stove and purr instead of hunting round after mice. Just because of this my mistress wanted to drown me. I made myself scarce, but now I don't know where to turn.' ' Come with us to Bremen,' said the Ass. ' You are a great hand at serenading, so you can become a town-musician.' The Cat consented, and joined them. Next the fugitives passed by a yard where a barn-door fowl was sitting on the door, crowing with all its might. ' You crow so loud you pierce one through and through,' said the Ass. ' What is the matter ? ' ' Why! didn't I prophesy fine weather for Lady Day, when Our Lady washes the Christ Child's little garment and wants to dry it ? But, not withstanding this, because Sunday visitors are coming to-morrow, the mistress has no pity, and she has ordered the cook to make me into soup, so I shall have my neck wrung to-night. Now I am crowing with all my might while I have the chance.' ' Come along. Red-comb,' said the Ass ; ' you had much better come with us. We are going to Bremen, and you will find a much better fate there. You have a good voice, and when we make music together, there will be quality in it.' The Cock allowed himself to be persuaded, and they all four went off together. They could not, however, reach the town in one day, and by evening they arrived at a wood, where they determined to spend the night. The Ass and the Hound lay down under a big tree ; the Cat and the Cock settled themselves in the branches, the Cock flying right up to the top, which was the safest place for him. Before going to sleep he looked round once more in every direction ; suddenly it seemed to him that he saw a light burning in the distance. He called out to his comrades that there must be a house not far off, for he saw a light. ' Very well,' said the Ass, ' let us set out and make our way to it, for the entertainment here is very bad.' The Hound thought some bones or meat would suit him too, so they set out in the direction of the light, and soon saw it shining more clearly, and getting bigger and bigger, till they reached a brightly-Ughted robbers' den. The Ass, being the tallest, approached the window and looked in. ' What do you see, old Jackass ? ' asked the Cock. ' What do I see ? ' answered the Ass ; ' why, a table spread with delicious food and drink, and robbers seated at it enjoying themselves.' ' That would just suit us,' said the Cock. ' Yes ; if we were only there,' answered the Ass. Then the animals took counsel as to how to set about driving the robbers out. At last they hit upon a plan. The Ass was to take up his position with his fore-feet on the window-sill, the Hound was to jump on his back, the Cat to climb up on to the Hound, and last of all the Cock flew up and perched on the Cat's head. When they were thus arranged, at a given signal they all began to perform their music ; the Ass brayed, the Hound barked, the Cat mewed, and the Cock crowed ; then they dashed through the window, shivering the panes. The robbers jumped up at the terrible noise ; they thought nothing less than that a demon was coming in upon them, and fled into the wood in the greatest alarm. Then the four animals sat down to table, and helped themselves according to taste, and ate as though they had been starving for weeks. When they had finished they extinguished the light, and looked for sleeping places, each one to suit his nature and taste.

A peasant once had a faithful dog called Sultan, who had grown old and lost all his teeth, and could no longer keep fast hold of his quarry. One day when the peasant was standing in front of his house with his wife, he said : ' To-morrow I intend to shoot old Sultan ; he is no longer any use.' His wife, who pitied the faithful animal, answered : ' Since he has served us so long and honestly, we might at least keep him and feed him to the end of his days.' ' What nonsense,' said her husband ; ' you are a fool. He has not a tooth left in his head ; thieves are not a bit afraid of him now that they can get away from him. Even if he has served us well, he has been well fed in return.' The poor dog, who lay near, stretched out in the sun, heard all they said, and was sad at the thought that the next day was to be his last. Now, he had a good friend who was a wolf, and in the evening he slunk off into the wood, and complained to him of the fate which awaited him. ' Listen, comrade,' said the Wolf, ' be of good cheer ; I will help you in your need, for I have thought of a plan. Tomorrow your master and mistress are going hay-making, and they will take their little child with them because there will be nobody left at home. During their work they usually lay it under the hedge in the shade ; you lie down as though to guard it. I will then come out of the wood and steal the child. You must rush quickly after me, as though you wanted to rescue the child. I will let it fall, and you will take it back to its parents again ; they will think that you have saved it, and will be far too thankful to do you any harm. On the contrary, you will come into high favour, and they will never let you want again.' The plot pleased the dog, and it was carried out just as it was planned. The father cried out when he saw the Wolf run across the field with his child in its mouth ; but when old Sultan brought it back he was overjoyed, stroked him, and said : ' Not a hair of your coat shall be hurt ; you shall have plenty to eat as long as you live.' Then he said to his wife : ' Go home immediately and prepare some broth for old Sultan which he won't need to bite, and bring the pillow out of my bed. I will give it to him to lie upon.' Henceforward old Sultan was as well off as he could wish. Soon afterwards the Wolf paid him a visit, and rejoiced that all had turned out so well. ' But, comrade,' he said, ' you must shut your eyes. Suppose some fine day I carry off one of your master's fat sheep ? Nowadays it is hard to get one's living.' ' Don't count on that,' answered the dog. ' I must remain true to my master— I shall never permit it ? ' The Wolf, thinking that he had not spoken in earnest, came and crept in at night, and tried to carry off a sheep. But the peasant, to whom the faithful Sultan had betrayed the Wolf's intention, spied him and belaboured him soundly with a threshing-flail. The Wolf was forced to retreat, but he called out to the dog, ' Wait a bit, you wicked creature — you shall suffer for this.' The next morning he sent the Boar to invite the Dog into the wood, there to settle matters by a duel. Old Sultan could find no second except the Cat, who had only three legs. When they came out the poor Cat hobbled along, lifting up its tail with pain. The Wolf and his second were already in position ; but when they saw their opponent coming they thought that he was bringing a sword, for they took the outstretched tail of the Cat for one. And because the poor animal hobbled on three legs, they thought nothing less than that it was picking up stones to throw at them every time it stooped. Then both became frightened ; the Boar crept away into a thicket, and the Wolf jumped up into a tree. The Dog and the Cat were astonished, when they arrived, at seeing no one about. The Boar, however, had not been able to conceal himself completely; his ears still stuck out. While the Cat was looking round cautiously, the Boar twitched its ears ; the Cat, who thought that it was a mouse moving, sprang upon it, and began biting with a will. The Boar jumped up and ran away, calling out : ' The guilty party is up in that tree.' The Cat and the Dog looked up and perceived the Wolf, who, ashamed of having shown himself such a coward, made peace with the Dog.

Close to a large forest there lived a Woodcutter with his Wife and his two children. The boy was called Hansel, and the girl Grethel. They were always very poor, and had very little to live on ; and at one time, when there was famine in the land, he could no longer procure daily bread. One night he lay in bed worrying over his troubles, and he sighed and said to his Wife : ' What is to become of us ? How are we to feed our poor children when we have nothing for ourselves ? ' ' I'll tell you what. Husband,' answered the Woman, ' to-morrow morning we will take the children out quite early into the thickest part of the forest. We will light a fire, and give each of them a piece of bread ; then we will go to our work and leave them alone. They won't be able to find their way back, and so we shall be rid of them.' ' Nay, Wife,' said the Man ; ' we won't do that. I could never find it in my heart to leave my children alone in the forest ; the wild animals would soon tear them to pieces.' ' What a fool you are ! ' she said. ' Then we must all four die of hunger. You may as well plane the boards for our coffins at once.' She gave him no peace till he consented. ' But I grieve over the poor children all the same,' said the Man. The two children could not go to sleep for hunger either, and they heard what their Stepmother said to their Father. Grethel wept bitterly, and said : ' All is over with us now ! ' ' Be quiet, Grethel ! ' said Hansel. ' Don't cry ; I will find some way out of it.' When the old people had gone to sleep, he got up, put on his little coat, opened the door, and slipped out. The moon was shining brightly, and the white pebbles round the house shone like newly-minted coins. Hansel stooped down and put as many into his pockets as they would hold. Then he went back to Grethel, and said : ' Take comfort, little sister, and go to sleep. God won't forsake us.' And then he went to bed again. When the day broke, before the sun had risen, the Woman came and said : ' Get up, you lazybones ; we are going into the forest to fetch wood.' Then she gave them each a piece of bread, and said : ' Here is something for your dinner, but mind you don't eat it before, for you'll get no more.' Grethel put the bread under her apron, for Hansel had the stones in his pockets. Then they all started for the forest. When they had gone a little way. Hansel stopped and looked back at the cottage, and he did the same thing again and again. His Father said : ' Hansel, what are you stopping to look back at ? Take care, and put your best foot foremost.' ' O Father ! ' said Hansel, ' I am looking at my white cat, it is sitting on the roof, wanting to say good-bye to me.' ' Little fool ! that's no cat, it's the morning sun shining on the chimney.' But Hansel had not been looking at the cat, he had been dropping a pebble on to the ground each time he stopped. When they reached the middle of the forest, their Father said: ' Now, children, pick up some wood, I want to make a fire to warm you.' Hansel and Grethel gathered the twigs together and soon made a huge pile. Then the pile was lighted, and when it blazed up, the Woman said : ' Now lie down by the fire and rest yourselves while we go and cut wood ; when we have finished we will come back to fetch you.' Hansel and Grethel sat by the fire, and when dinner-time came they each ate their little bit of bread, and they thought their Father was quite near because they could hear the sound of an axe. It was no axe, however, but a branch which the Man had tied to a dead tree, and which blew backwards and forwards against it. They sat there such a long time that they got tired, their eyes began to close, and they were soon fast asleep. When they woke it was dark night. Grethel began to cry : ' How shall we ever get out of the wood ! ' But Hansel comforted her, and said : ' Wait a little till the moon rises, then we will soon find our way.' When the full moon rose, Hansel took his little sister's hand, and they walked on, guided by the pebbles, which glittered like newly-coined money. They walked the whole night, and at daybreak they found themselves back at their Father's cottage. They knocked at the door, and when the Woman opened it and saw Hansel and Grethel, she said : ' You bad children, why did you sleep so long in the wood ? We thought you did not mean to come back any more.' But their Father was delighted, for it had gone to his heart to leave them behind alone.

There was once an old castle in the middle of a vast thick wood ; in it there lived an old woman quite alone, and she was a witch. By day she made herself into a cat or a screech-owl, but regularly at night she became a human being again. In this way she was able to decoy wild beasts and birds, which she would kill, and boil or roast. If any man came within a hundred paces of the castle, he was forced to stand still and could not move from the place till she gave the word of release ; but if an innocent maiden came within the circle she changed her into a bird, and shut her up in a cage which she carried into a room in the castle. She must have had seven thousand cages of this kind, containing pretty birds. Now, there was once a maiden called Jorinda who was more beautiful than all other maidens. She had promised to marry a very handsome youth named Joringel, and it was in the days of their courtship, when they took the greatest joy in being alone together, that one day they wandered out into the forest. ' Take care,' said Joringel ; ' do not let us go too near the castle.' It was a lovely evening. The sunshine glanced between the tree-trunks of the dark green-wood, while the turtle-doves sang plaintively in the old beech-trees. Yet Jorinda sat down in the sunshine, and could not help weeping and bewailing, while Joringel, too, soon became just as mournful. They both felt as miserable as if they had been going to die. Gazing round them, they found they had lost their way, and did not know how they should find the path home. Half the sun still appeared above the mountain ; half had sunk below. Joringel peered into the bushes and saw the old walls of the castle quite close to them ; he was terror-struck, and became pale as death. Jorinda was singing : ' My birdie with its ring so red Sings sorrow, sorrow, sorrow ; My love will mourn when I am dead, To-morrow, morrow, mor --- jug, jug. ' Joringel looked at her, but she was changed into a nightingale who sang ' Jug, jug.' A screech-owl with glowing eyes flew three times round her, and cried three times ' Shu hu-hu.' Joringel could not stir ; he stood like a stone without being able to speak, or cry, or move hand or foot. The sun had now set ; the owl flew into a bush, out of which appeared almost at the same moment a crooked old woman, skinny and yellow ; she had big, red eyes and a crooked nose whose tip reached her chin. She mumbled something, caught the nightingale, and carried it away in her hand. Joringel could not say a word nor move from the spot, and the nightingale was gone. At last the old woman came back, and said in a droning voice : ' Greeting to thee, Zachiel ! When the moon shines upon the cage, unloose the captive, Zachiel ! ' Then Joringel was free. He fell on his knees before the witch, and implored her to give back his Jorinda ; but she said he should never have her again, and went away. He pleaded, he wept, he lamented, but all in vain. ' Alas ! what is to become of me ? ' said Joringel. At last he went away, and arrived at a strange village, where he spent a long time as a shepherd. He often wandered round about the castle, but did not go too near it. At last he dreamt one night that he found a blood-red flower, in the midst of which was a beautiful large pearl. He plucked the flower, and took it to the castle. Whatever he touched with it was made free of enchantment. He dreamt, too, that by this means he had found his Jorinda again. In the morning when he awoke he began to search over hill and dale, in the hope of finding a flower like this ; he searched till the ninth day, when he found the flower early in the morning. In the middle was a big dewdrop, as big as the finest pearl. This flower he carried day and night, till he reached the castle. He was not held fast as before when he came within the hundred paces of the castle, but walked straight up to the door. Joringel was filled with joy ; he touched the door with the flower, and it flew open. He went in through the court, and listened for the sound of birds. He went on, and found the hall, where the witch was feeding the birds in the seven thousand cages. When she saw Joringel she was angry, very angry — scolded, and spat poison and gall at him. He paid no attention to her, but turned away and searched among the bird-cages. Yes, but there were many hundred nightingales ; how was he to find his Jorinda ? While he was looking about in this way he noticed that the old woman was secretly removing a cage with a bird inside, and was making for the door. He sprang swiftly towards her, touched the cage and the witch with the flower, and then she no longer had power to exercise her spells. Jorinda stood there, as beautiful as before, and threw her arms round Joringel's neck. After that he changed all the other birds back into maidens again, and went home with Jorinda, and they lived long and happily together.