Citation
Favourite stories for the nursery

Material Information

Title:
Favourite stories for the nursery
Uniform Title:
Tom Thumb
Sleeping Beauty
Little Red Riding-Hood
Children in the wood (Ballad)
Alternate title:
Favorite stories for the nursery
Creator:
Thomas Nelson & Sons ( Publisher )
Place of Publication:
London ;
Edinburgh ;
New York
Publisher:
Thomas Nelson and Sons
Publication Date:
Language:
English
Physical Description:
128 p. : ill. ; 19 cm.

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh )
Conduct of life -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh )
Children's stories ( lcsh )
Children's poetry ( lcsh )
Fairy tales -- 1894 ( rbgenr )
Children's stories -- 1894 ( lcsh )
Children's poetry -- 1894 ( lcsh )
Bldn -- 1894
Genre:
Fairy tales ( rbgenr )
Children's stories
Children's poetry
Spatial Coverage:
England -- London
Scotland -- Edinburgh
United States -- New York -- New York
Target Audience:
juvenile ( marctarget )

Notes

General Note:
Added title-page, engraved.
Statement of Responsibility:
with numerous illustrations.

Record Information

Source Institution:
University of Florida
Holding Location:
University of Florida
Rights Management:
This item is presumed to be in the public domain. The University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries respect the intellectual property rights of others and do not claim any copyright interest in this item. Users of this work have responsibility for determining copyright status prior to reusing, publishing or reproducing this item for purposes other than what is allowed by fair use or other copyright exemptions. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions may require permission of the copyright holder. The Smathers Libraries would like to learn more about this item and invite individuals or organizations to contact The Department of Special and Area Studies Collections (special@uflib.ufl.edu) with any additional information they can provide.
Resource Identifier:
026688485 ( ALEPH )
ALG6405 ( NOTIS )
225125878 ( OCLC )

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Full Text






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fSvOURITE STORIES

FOR THE

NURSERY





THOMAS NELSON AND Sons

London, Edinburgh, and New York



mPAVOURITE STORIES

FOR THE

NURSERY

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS.

THOMAS NELSON AND SONS
London, Edinburgh, and New York



1894



See







G@lontents,

——+——
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES, sod God brs eee ose 9
THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB, ... aes oe eae) ose rs 30
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD, ... B60 ee oe sae 45
LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD, eo oad oe ee sr a 56
HOP 0’ MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS, ae eee) eng 63
THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD; -.:: ope pee a eee ae 79
SIMPLE HANS IN LUCK AND OUT OF IT, pnd mi ae ate 89
THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR, ee ae aes ee 97
THE STORY OF BLUE BEARD, se Ss mas oe OHO oe 113

THE YELLOW DWARF, ect eee aa a ae ae ee 120







PavOURITE STORIES:



ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

N the country of Persia there lived two brothers, the sons
of a poor man; the one was named Cassim, and the
other Ali Baba. Cassim, the elder, married a lady with a
large fortune, and lived at his ease in a fine house with
plenty of servants; but the wife of Ali Baba was as poor as
himself. They dwelt in a mean cottage in the suburbs of ©
the city, and he maintained his family by cutting wood in a
neighbouring forest.

One day when Ali Baba was in the forest, and prepared
to load his asses with the wood he had cut, he saw a- troop
of horsemen riding towards him. He had often heard that
robbers roamed through that forest, and in great fright he
hastily climbed a large tree which stood near the foot of a
rock, and hid himself among the branches.

The horsemen soon galloped up to the rock, where they
sprang from their horses. Ali Baba counted forty of them,
and he could not doubt but they were thieves, by their ill-
looking faces. Each of them took a loaded box from his



10 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

horse; and he who seemed °=











to be their captain, turning
to the rock, called out, “Open,

Ses-a-me!” and at once the door
in the rock opened, and all the rob- _
bers passed in, when the door shut
of itself. In a short time the door
opened again, and the forty robbers
came out, followed by their captain,
who said, “Shut, Ses-a-me.” The
door at once closed, and the men,





mounting their horses, were presently
out of sight.
Ali Baba remained in the tree a







ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. bel

long time; and seeing that
the robbers did not return,
he ventured down, and,
going close to the rock,
said, “Open, Ses-a-me.”
Immediately the door flew
open, and Ali Baba beheld
a large cavern, well lighted,
and filled with all sorts
of provisions, merchandise,
rich stuffs, and heaps of
gold and silver coin which
these robbers had taken
from merchants and tra-
vellers. Ali Baba then
went in search of his asses ;



and, having brought them to the rock, took as many bags
of gold coin as they could carry, and put them on their
backs, covering them with some loose faggots of wood, and





‘

12 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

afterwards (not forgetting to say “Shut, Ses-a-me”) he drove
his asses back to the city; and, having unloaded them in the
stable belonging to his cottage, he carried the bags into his
house, and spread the gold coin out upon the floor before his
wife.

His wife, glad to be the owner of so much money, wanted
to count it; but finding that it would take up too much time,
she made up her mind to measure it. Running to the house
of Ali Baba’s brother, she
begged his wife to lend
her a small measure.

Cassim’s wife was
proud as well as greedy.
“T wonder,” she said to
herself, “what kind of
grain such poor people can
have to measure. I shall
not rest till I find out what
they are doing.” So be-
fore she gave the measure
she artfully rubbed the
bottom with some suet.



Away ran Ali Baba’s wife, measured the money, and
having helped her husband to bury it in the yard, she carried
back the measure to her brother-in-law’s house, without seeing
that a piece of gold was left sticking to the bottom of it.

“Fine doings indeed!” cried Cassim’s wife to her husband
after looking into the measure: “your brother there, who
pretends to be so very poor, is richer than you are; for he
does not count his money, but measures it.”



ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 13

Cassim, hearing these words and seeing the piece of gold,
grew as greedy as his wife, and hastening to his brother,
threatened to inform the cadi of his wealth if he did not con-
fess to him how he came by it. Ali Baba, without stopping
to think, told him the history of the robbers and the secret
of the cave, and offered him half of the treasure. But the
greedy Cassim, scorning so poor a sum, resolved to have fifty
times more from the
robbers’ cave.

He rose early
next morning, and
set out with ten
mules loaded with
large chests. From
what Ali Baba had
told him, he found
the rock easily
enough, and having
said, “Open, Ses-a-
me,’ he made his
way into the cave,



where he found
more treasure than he had thought to see from his brother's
account of it. He at once began to gather bags of gold and
pieces of rich silk, all which he piled close to the door.
When he had got together as much as his mules could carry,
he wanted to get out to load them, but the thoughts of
his wonderful riches had made him forget the words which
caused the door to open. He tried many names all to no
purpose ; the door remained as fast as the rock itself. Before



14 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

long he heard the sound of horses’ feet, from which he rightly
thought that the robbers would be coming home, and he
trembled lest he should now fall a victim to his thirst for
riches.

He resolved, however, to make an effort at escape; and
when he heard the word “Ses-a-me,” and saw the door open,
he sprang out, but was at once put to death by the swords
of the robbers.



The thieves now held a council, but not one of them
could guess by what means Cassim had got into the cave.
They saw the heaps of treasure he had piled ready to
take away, but they did not miss what Ali Baba had secured
before. At length they agreed to cut Cassim’s body into
four quarters, and to hang the pieces within the cave, that
it might terrify any one from further attempts. They also
made up their minds not to return to the cave themselves,
for fear of being watched and found out.



ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 15

When Cassim’s wife saw night come on without her hus-
band returning, she became frightened, and watched at her
window till daybreak, and then went to tell Ali Baba of her
fears. Cassim had not informed him of his design of going
to the cave; but Ali Baba now hearing of his journey thither,
did not wait to be asked to go in search of him.

He drove his asses to the forest without delay, but was
filled with fear when he saw blood near the rock, and on
entering the cave he found the body of his brother cut to
pieces and hung up within the door. It was now too late
to save him, but he took down the quarters, and put them
upon one of his asses, Covering them with faggots of wood,
he went back to the city.

The door of his brother’s house was opened by Morgiana,
a faithful female slave, who, Ali Baba knew, was worthy to
be trusted with the secret. He therefore gave up the body
to Morgiana, and went himself to tell the sad news to Cassim’s
wife. The poor woman was greatly vexed, and blamed herself
for her foolish greed and love of prying as the causes of her
husband’s death; but when Ali Baba showed her the need
there was for caution, she checked her tears, and left every-
thing to be managed by Morgiana.

Morgiana, having washed Cassim’s body, hastened to a
doctor's shop, and asked for a certain medicine, saying that
it was for her master, Cassim, who was very ill. She took
care to spread the report of Cassim’s illness ; and as the neigh-
bours saw Ali Baba and his wife go daily to the house of
their brother, they did not wonder when they heard shortly
that Cassim had died.

The next difficulty was to bury him without being found



16 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

out; but Morgiana was ready with a plan for that also. She
went to a distant part of the city early in the morning, where
she found a poor cobbler just opening his stall. She put a
piece of gold into his hand, and told him he would get
another piece if he would let himself be blindfolded and go
with her, carrying his tools with him. Mustapha, the cobbler,
was doubtful at first, but the gold tempted him, and he agreed.
Morgiana, carefully covering his eyes so that he could not see
a step of the way, led him
to Cassim’s house, and tak-
ing him to the room where
the body was lying, re-
moved the bandage from
his eyes, and bade him sew
the mangled limbs together.

Mustapha obeyed her
orders, and having received
other two pieces of gold,
was led blindfolded the
same way back.

Morgiana then covered





the body with a winding-
sheet, sent for the undertaker to make ready for the funeral,
and Cassim was duly buried.

Ali Baba now removed his few goods, and all the gold
coin that he had brought from the cavern, to the house of his
dead brother, in which he took up his abode; and Cassim’s
widow received every kind attention both from Ali Baba and
from his wife.

After some months had passed, the troop of robbers again



ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 17

visited their retreat in the forest, and were very much
surprised to find the body taken away from the cave, while
everything else remained as before. “We are found out,”
said the captain, “and we shall be undone if we do not take
speedy measures to prevent our ruin. Which of you, my
brave comrades, will undertake to search out the villain who
knows our secret ?”

One of the boldest of the troop stepped forward and
offered himself, and was accepted, on the following terms—
namely, that if he succeeded, he was to be made second in
command of the troop; but if he brought false news, he
_ was to be put to death.

The bold robber readily agreed to the bargain, and having
disguised himself, he went on to the city. He reached it
about daybreak, and found the cobbler Mustapha in his
stall, which was always open before any other shop in the
town.

“Good-morrow, friend,” said the robber as he passed the
stall; “you rise betimes, old as you are. I should think you
_ could scarcely see to work by this light.”

“Indeed, sir,” said the cobbler, “old as I am I do not
want for good eyesight, as you must needs believe when I
tell you I sewed a dead body together the other day where
I had not so good a light as I have now.” »

“A dead body!” said the robber, who had thus luckily
met the very man who could tell him what he wanted to
know. “However, you do not wish to make me believe
that the people of your city do impossible things.”

“TI tell you,” said Mustapha in a loud and angry tone,

“TI sewed a dead body together with my own hands.”
2

a



18 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

“Then I suppose you can tell me also where you did
this wonderful thing.”

Upon this Mustapha told all about his being led blind-
folded to the house.

“Well, my friend,” said the robber, “’tis a fine story,
I confess, but not very easy to believe; however, if you
succeed in showing me
the house you talk of, I
will give you four pieces
of gold to make amends
for my unbelief.”

“T think,” said the
cobbler, after thinking
awhile, “ that if you were
to blindfold me, I would
remember every turning
we made; but with my
eyes open I am_ sure



I would never find it
out.”
Accordinely the rob-



ber covered Mustapha’s
eyes with his handker-
chief. The latter led him through some of the principal
streets, and stopping by Cassim’s door, said, “Here it is;
I went no further than this house.”

The robber thereupon marked the door with a piece of
chalk, and giving Mustapha four pieces of gold, sent him
away.

Shortly after the thief and Mustapha had quitted the



ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 19

door, Morgiana, coming from market, saw the little white
mark of chalk on the door, and thinking that something
was wrong, directly marked four doors on the one side and
five on the other side of her master’s in exactly the same
manner, without telling any one of it.

The robber meantime went back to his troop, and
boasted greatly of his success. His captain and comrades
praised his cleverness, and being well armed, they went
to the town in different dresses, and
in separate parties of three and four
together.

It was agreed among them that they
were to meet in the market-place at the
dusk of the evening, and that the cap-
tain and the robber who had found out
the house were to go there first to find
out to whom it belonged. Accordingly,
being arrived in the streets, and having
a lantern with them, they began to ex-
amine the doors, and were puzzled and



put out when they found that ten doors
were marked exactly alike. The robber
who was the captain’s guide could not say one word to
explain the mystery; and when the troop got back to the
forest, his enraged companions ordered him to be put to
death.

Another now offered himself on the same terms as the
former; and having bribed Mustapha, and discovered the
house, he made a mark with dark red chalk upon the door
in a part that was not likely to be noticed, and carefully



20 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

examined the surrounding doors to be certain that no such
mark was upon any one of them.

But nothing could escape the prying eyes of Morgiana.
Scarcely had the robber gone when she discovered the red
mark; and getting some red chalk, she marked seven doors
on each side precisely in the same place and in the same
manner.

The robber, .priding himself highly on the care he had
taken, led his captain to the spot; but great indeed was his
dismay when he found it impossible to say which, among
fifteen houses marked exactly alike, was the right one. The
captain, furious at being cheated a second time, returned. with
the troop to the forest, and the second robber was also put
to death.

The captain, having thus lost two of his troop, judged that
their hands were more active than their heads in such work,
and he made up his mind to employ no other of them, but to
go himself upon the business.

Accordingly he went to the city, and spoke with the
cobbler Mustapha, who for six pieces of gold readily did
the same work for him as he had done for the two other
strangers ; and the captain, much wiser than his men, did not
amuse himself with setting a mark upon the door, but looked
carefully at the house, counted the number of its windows,
and passed by it very often, to be certain that he should
know it again.

He then returned to the forest and ordered his troop to
go into the town, and buy nineteen mules and thirty-eight
large leathern jars, one full of oil and the rest empty.

In two or three days the jars were brought in, and all



ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 21

things were in readiness. The captain put into each jar a
man fully armed. The jars were rubbed on the outside with
oil, and the covers had holes bored in them for the men to
breathe through. He then loaded his mules} and in the habit
of an oil-merchant entered the town in the dusk of the even-
ing. He went to the street where Ali Baba dwelt, and found
him sitting in the porch of his house. “Sir,” said he to Ali

ee



Baba, “I have brought this oil a great way to sell, and I am
too late for this day’s market. As I am a stranger in this
town, will you be kind enough to let me put my mules into
your court-yard, and direct me where I may lodge to-night ?”

Ali Baba, who was a good-natured man, welcomed the
pretended oil-merchant very kindly, and offered him a bed in



22 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

his own house; and having ordered the mules to be unloaded
in the yard and properly fed, he asked his guest to supper.
The captain, having seen the jars placed ready in the yard,
followed Ali Baba into the house, and, after supper, was shown
to the chamber where he was to sleep.

It happened that Morgiana was obliged to sit up later
that night than usual to get ready her master’s bathing-linen
for the following morning ; and while she was busy about the
fire, her lamp went out, and there was no more oil in the
house. /

After thinking what she could possibly do for a light,
she thought of the thirty-eight jars in the yard, and resolved
to take a little oil out of one of them for her lamp. She
took her oil-pot in her hand. When she went up to the first
jar, the robber within said, “Is it time, captain?” Any other
slave, perhaps, on hearing the voice of a man from an oil-jar,
would have screamed out; but Morgiana had her wits about
her, and replied softly, “No, not yet; lie still till I call you.”
She passed on to each of the jars, receiving the same question
and giving the same answer, till she arrived at the last, which
was full of oil. i

Morgiana was now quite sure that this was a plot-of the
robbers to murder her master Ali Baba, so she ran back to
the kitchen, and brought out a large kettle; which she filled
with oil, and set on a great wood-fire; and as soon as it
boiled she poured into each jar enough of the boiling oil to
kill the man within it.

Having done this, she put out her fire and lamp, and crept
softly to her own room.

The captain of the robbers, hearing everything quiet in



ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 23

the house, and seeing no light anywhere, arose and went down
into the yard to gather his men. Coming to the first jar,
he noticed the smell of the boiling oil. He ran hastily to the
rest, and found every one
of his troop put to death
in the same manner. Full
of rage at having failed
in his plan, he forced the
lock of a-door that led to
a garden, and made his
escape over the walls.

On the following
morning Morgiana told
her master, Ali Baba, of
his wonderful escape from
the pretended oil - mer-
chant and his gang of
robbers. Ali Baba at first
could scarcely believe her
tale; but when he saw
the robbers dead in the
jars, he could not praise
her courage and wisdom
enough, and without let-
ting any one else into the



secret, he and Morgiana





the next night buried the
thirty-seven thieves in a deep trench at the bottom of the gar-
den. As he had no use for the jars and the mules, they were
sent from time to time to the different markets and were sold.



24 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

While Ali Baba took these steps to prevent the public
from knowing how he came by his riches in so short a time,
the captain of the forty robbers went back to the forest in
ereat trouble; and in his sorrow at not meeting with the
success he had promised himself, he entered the cave, not
being able, all the way from the town, to decide what to do
to Ali Baba.

When he awoke the next morning, he dressed himself,
as he had proposed, so as to suit the plan he had in his head,
and went to the town and took a lodging in a khan. And
thinking that there would be a great noise in the town
because of what had happened at Ali Baba’s, he asked his
host in the course of their talking what news there was in
the city. Thereupon the innkeeper told him a great many
things which had nothing to do with his affairs. He thought
from this that Ali Baba kept this affair so secret for fear
that people should know where the treasure lay, and the
means of coming at it, and because he knew that his life
would be sought on account of it; and this made him the
more anxious to get rid of so dangerous a person.

The next thing the captain had to do was to get a horse
to carry a great many sorts of rich stuffs and fine linen to his
lodging, which he did by making a great many journeys to
the forest, but with the greatest care, so as to conceal the
place whence he brought them. In order to sell the goods,
he took a shop which happened to be opposite to Cassim’s,
which Ali Baba’s son had not long occupied. He took upon
him the name of Cogia Houssian, and as a new-comer was,
according to custom, very civil and polite to all the other
merchants about him. He tried to be friendly with Al



ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 25

Baba’s son, more particularly when, shortly after he was
settled, he recognized Ali Baba, who came to see his son, and
often stopped to talk with him, as he was accustomed to do;
and when he was gone he learned from his son who he was.
He grew more and more attentive to the young man, made him
small presents, and often asked him to dine and sup with him.

One day after dinner Ali Baba’s son and Cogia Houssian



met as they had arranged, and took their walk. On the way
back, Ali Baba’s son led Cogia Houssian through the street
where his father lived ; and when they came to the house, he
stopped and knocked at the door. “This, sir,” said he, “is
the house of my father, who is so much interested in our
friendship that he wishes to know you; and I wish you to
add this pleasure to those I already owe to you.”



26 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

The artful Cogia Houssian would not too hastily accept
this invitation, but pretended he was not fond of going into
company, and that he had business which needed his pres-
ence at home. These excuses only made Ali Baba’s son the
more eager to take him to his father’s house; and after being
pressed again and again, the merchant agreed to sup at Ali
Baba’s the following evening.









le

A most excellent supper was provided, which Morgiana
cooked in her best manner. As was her usual custom, she
carried in the first dish herself. The moment she drew aside
the curtain to enter, her eyes fell upon Cogia Houssian, whom
she at once knew to be the pretended oil-merchant. The
prudent Morgiana did not tell any one what she had found out,
but sent the other slave into the kitchen, and waited at table



ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 27

herself ; and while Cogia Houssian was drinking, she saw that
he had a dagger under his coat. After supper, when the dessert
and the wines were on the table, Morgiana went away and
dressed herself in the habit of a dancing-girl; she next called
Abdalla, a faithful slave, to play on his tabor while she danced.







As soon as she appeared at the parlour door, her master,

who was very fond of seeing her dance, ordered her to come
in and dance before the guest. Though not really pleased
with the dancing, Cogia Houssian pretended to be so for fear
of discovering himself, while in fact he wished Morgiana any-
where else but there, and was quite alarmed lest he should
lose his chance of murdering Ali Baba and his son..



28 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

Morgiana danced several dances with the utmost grace’
and cleverness, and then drawing a dagger from her girdle’
she did many wonderful things with it, sometimes present-
ing the point to one, then to another, and then seeming to
strike it into her own bosom. Suddenly she paused, and
holding the dagger in the right hand, held-her left to her
master as if begging some money; upon which Ali Baba and
his son each gave her a small piece of money. She then
turned to the pretended Cogia Houssian, and when he was
putting his hand into his purse, she plunged the dagger into
his heart.

Ali Baba and his son were frightened at this action.
“Unhappy wretch!” cried Ali Baba, “what have you done
to ruin me and my family?” ;

“Tt was to save you, not to ruin you,” answered Morgiana ;
“for see here,” she said, opening Cogia Houssian’s robe and
showing the dagger, “what an enemy you had taken into
your house. Look well at him, and you will find him to be
both the pretended oil-merchant and the captain of the gang
of forty thieves; and what would you have more to persuade
you of his wicked design? I suspected him before I saw
him, and as soon as you told me you had such a guest,
I saw him, and you now find that my suspicion was not
groundless.”

Ali Baba, who now saw that Morgiana had saved his life
a second time, took her in his arms. “ Morgiana,” he said, “I
gave you your liberty, and then I promised you that my
gratitude should not stop there, but that I would soon com-
plete it. The time is now come for me to give you a proof

22

of it by making you my daughter-in-law.” Then turning



ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 29

to his son, he said, “My son, I believe you to be so good a
child that you will not refuse Morgiana for your wife. You
see that when Cogia Houssian sought your friendship his real
wish was to take away my life; and if he had succeeded,
there is no doubt that you also would have been put to death.
Consider that by marrying Morgiana you marry the support
of my family and of your own.”

The son, far from showing any dislike, readily agreed to
the marriage, not only because he would not disobey his
father, but because he really loved Morgiana.

After this they buried the captain of the robbers with
his friends, and they did it so quietly that nobody knew any-
thing of it till a great many years after.

A few days afterwards Ali Baba held a great feast in
honour of the marriage of his son and Morgiana; and every
one who knew Morgiana said she was worthy of her- good
fortune, and highly praised her master’s kindness towards her.



TA HISTORY OF TOM THUMB.



N the days when the good old King Arthur was able
To feast knights each day at his famous Round Table,
There lived in a cottage—it matters not where,
Indeed I don’t know, and I’m sure you don’t care—
A thrifty young farmer; and he and his wife
Knew little of trouble, and nothing of strife.
It happened one day that the lady felt sad,
And she cried, “Oh, I wish that a baby I had!”

“Have your wish then!” a voice from her pocket replied.
Up went both her hands and her eyes opened wide,
And out of her pocket a fairy arose, ‘

In what shape or form there is no one who knows,
But just as her handkerchief fell to the ground,
She heard in her pocket another strange sound :

“Mamma! dear mamma! see—see—I have come,

Just the length and the thickness of dear papa’s thumb!”
Mamma said, “How charming! now we are so blest;
But, child, you'll take cold, you have come quite undrest.
From those pea-pods the stuff for a coat you can choose ;
Two pips of this apple will make you nice shoes ;

And if a good boy you will promise to be,
Knickerbockers I'll scrape from that carrot, you see.”



THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB. 31

Just then to the cottage the fairy queen came,

And said to the lady, “ Your boy I will name.”

She waved her white wand and said, “ Boy, hither come ;

Henceforth and for ever your name is Tom THUMB.”
“Oh, what a nice name!” his fond mother said ;

‘I am glad he is named—he can now go to bed.

With a bean-pod a very snug crib we can make,

And for curtains the skins of two cherries [ll take.”

So Tom Thumb went to bed without crying, each night,
And got up by a ladder as soon as ’twas light.

Tom went with his mother to see a dun cow:

The leaf of a thistle he took for a bough ;

He sat down upon it, but shocking to tell,

The cow seized the thistle, and Tom Thumb as well.

To the cow’s upper jaw Tom manfully clung ;

He kicked her front teeth, and he tickled her tongue.
The cow could not ask him what he was about,

So she opened her mouth and she let him jump out.

To his mother he ran, told his tale, and she soon

Gave him a bath in an old silver spoon.

How to play games with cherry-stones Tommy soon knew,
For the longer he lived the more cunning he grew ;
But Tom was dishonest, I’m sorry to say,

For he stole cherry-stones in a curious way :

Into the bags of his playmates he crept,

And there sometimes till morning he quietly slept,
Then helped himself, so that with cherry-stones he
Seemed always provided with plenty to be.

A boy caught him one day in his bag stealing stones,
So he fastened and shook it, not heeding Tom’s groans ;



2

THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB.

Then he let out our hero, who felt very sore,

And said that he never would steal any more.

Tom’s mother was mixing a pudding one day ;—

He fell into the batter, and sprawling he lay ;

He was bound in a cloth and put into the pot,

But he soon began kickine—the water was hot.

The pudding’s bewitched,” said his mother, “so I

Will give it to Tinker, he is now passing by.”

The tinker was pleased; but he soon was afraid,

For Tom -in the pudding a dismal noise made.

Said the tinker, “ Of puddings, this pudding is worst.”
And he threw it right over the hedge, where it burst ;
Then Tommy ran home, so ill, it is said,

He was bathed in a tea-cup and put into bed.

Two days after that, Tom was seized by a crow,

Which bore him away to grim Giant Grumbow.

The giant exclaimed, “ What a queer little fly!

Pll put it in water, and there let it die.”

Then into the river poor Tom Thumb was thrown,

And made a small splash like a round pebble stone.

He was seized by a salmon which swallowed him whole;
But just then a fisherman named Simon Cole

Caught the salmon, and sent it without much delay

To the King, who for salmon would handsomely pay.
The salmon was cut; but it made the cook stare,

For as no doubt you guess our small hero was there.
When King Arthur saw Tom, he was filled with delight,
And he and the Queen kept.awake all the night ;

But before they did that, the King asked Tom his name,
And of course Tom had read of King Arthur’s great fame ;







34 THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB.

So Tom told him his name, and his history also,

And said, “I should like to my mother to go.”
“Then go,” said the King; “but, pray, come again soon.”

Tom said, “I'll be with you to-morrow at noon.”

Tom did as he promised, but shocking to tell,

Into hot porridge made for the King, Tommy fell.

A maid took him out. “Poor fellow!”
“J think in a mouse-trap much safer you'll be.”

said she,



The maid quite forgot about Tom in the trap,

Till the King, having heard of his awkward mishap,



THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB. 35

Sent two or three pages of honour to know

Why Tom Thumb was kept in the kitchen below.

The servants all then were, of course, much afraid,
And went down on their knees, when Jemima the maid
Recollected the trap, and to Tom Thumb she went,

To tell him the message King Arthur had sent,

And begged for her pardon he’d do what he could.
Tom Thumb very kindly replied that he would.

So as soon as before great King Arthur he came,

He said, “ Pardon the servants, they are not to blame.
And as for Jemima, no maid have I seen

So thoughtful, and civil, and steady, and clean ;

Yea, all that she does is so worthy of praise,

That I hope great King Arthur her wages will raise.”
The King was so pleased that he could not say no,

But turned to Earl-Marshal and said, “ My lord, go
Tell Jemima the maid she has nothing to fear,

Her wages are raised thirteen shillings a year.”

Then the Earl-Marshal bowed himself down to the ground *
And said, “ My lord King, there is not to be found

Such a generous Monarch throughout all the land;

Most gladly I’ll do what you're pleased to command.”

Tom Thumb so delighted the King and the Queen,

That wherever they went he was sure to be seen.

In the King’s waistcoat-pocket he sometimes would loll,
Sometimes he would lounge in the Queen’s parasol ;

A ladder he had to get into her lap,

And he sometimes would hide in the bows of her cap.
Once a captain came in who had on a new coat;

Tom Thumb just to tease him jumped right down his throat.



THE, HISTORY OF TOM THUMB.

The captain, alarmed, sent for thirty strong men ;
By the time they arrived, Tom had jumped back again.
The captain was vexed, but what could he do?
The King and Queen laughed, he was forced to laugh too;
But he said to Earl-Marshal, “The next time I come,
Tll keep far enough from that little Tom Thumb.”
King Arthur, for fun, made Tom Thumb a knight ;
He was armed with a sword, and was taught how to fight.
Instead of a steed, he rode a white mouse
‘Which knew all the corners and holes in the house.
One day a great cat came rushing at Tom,
But he told her to go to the place she came from.
She did not move on—Tom thought she would scratch,
Or that perhaps she might fancy his white mouse to catch ;
So he drew his good sword, so sharp and so bright—
Puss ran with dismay and half fainted from fright.
As the King, and the Queen, and the court slept one day,
- The fairy Queen Mab came and fetched Tom away.
In the land of the fairies he dwells for some years,
And then once again in old England appears.
' But the times are now changed, and King Arthur is dead,
And Thunstone, another king, reigns in his stead.
Tom went to the palace without much ado;
He was shown to King Thunstone, who said, “Who are you?”
Tom bowed to the King, and the Queen his fair bride,
And thus in his musical voice he replied,—
s My name is Tom Thumb,
From the fairies I come.
When King Arthur shone,
This court was my own;



=—T

THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB. 3





In me he delighted,

By him I was knighted:
Did you never hear of
Sir Thomas Thumb ?”



38 THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB.

The King said, “Sir Thomas, I hope you'll agree

To live here, to play with the Queen and with me.”

So Tom went to the palace and lived at his ease,

And tried how the King and the Queen he could please.
A carriage he had, out of orange-peel made ;

Six white mice which drew it his orders obeyed,

And day after day Tom Thumb might be seen,

With his carriage and mice, near the King and the Queen.
But the Queen soon got jealous, and said, “I declare
Tom Thumb has a carriage as well as a chair ;

When I asked for a carriage, I met with reproach,

And was told I must use the old family coach.

I don’t know, I’m sure, to what things may come,

If the King spends so much on that little Tom Thumb.”
So she went to the King, and her face was quite red.

“Dear! what is the matter?” the King to her said.

“Oh, I don’t like to tell, but I must tell,” said she,

“That Tom Thumb behaves, oh, so rudely to me.”

The King said, “I thought he was always polite.”
Said the Queen, “ He is civil when you are in sight;
But oh, I so hate him, I wish he were dead.”

“To oblige you,” the King said, “ we'll cut off his head.”
So he sent out his soldiers to find Sir Tom Thumb;
The trumpets they blew, and they beat the big drum,
And if any boys out in the street asked them why,
They answered, “ Because a brave knight is to die.”
Tom heard it and said, “I don’t know as to that,

Ere they cut off my head, I will put on my hat.”
Tom ran to his mother, and told her his life
Was in danger because of the King’s jealous wife.



THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB. 39



So his mother advised him to lie still in bed,

In order to save both his clothes and his head.

*



40 THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB.

So Tom went to bed, and he slept for ten days,
And to sleep longer still he tried all sorts of ways.
At last he was tired of keeping awake,
So he said, “I'll get up, and a walk I will take.”
He walked for two days, and for three or four nights
Saw all sorts of people and all sorts of sights.
Then he thought he must rest, or his strength would soon fail,
And he went to lie down in the shell of a snail.
Tom soon fell asleep, but somebody spoke,
And Tom, in alarm for his safety, awoke.
He listened—'twas only some children at play.
Said he, “I had better keep out of their way ;
They are going to school, and when they are there
To find better lodging will be my first care.”
~ Just then came a little girl seven years old,
Her frock was of silk trimmed with spangles of gold;
She took up the shell in which Tom Thumb was hid,
And little she thought of the mischief she did ;
For she threw up the shell on a very high bank,
And amid the long grass, with Tom in it, it sank.
The bank to Tom Thumb such a mountain appeared,
That he never would get to the bottom, he feared.
“Tt will take me a week to go down it,” said he;
“And when I am down there, what good will it be ?
I'll stop where I am, till a lark comes this way,
Then Tl mount on its back and fly quite away.”
Just then as he spoke, he saw near the bank
A friend of the Queen’s—a Duke of high rank.
“T am caught now at last,” said poor Tom in a fright,
“And I much want to sleep with my head on to-night.



THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB. 41



But how to escape I am sure I can’t teli—
Ah! there’s a fine butterfly close to the shell!



42 THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB.

Til jump on its back, and be off in a trice—

A ride on a butterfly’s back must be nice.”

The Duke saw Sir Thomas just taking his flight,

So he called to him kindly, “Sir Thomas, good-night.”

“O Duke,” said our hero, “I guess what you mean ;
Good-night, sir, and give my respects to the Queen.”
Then up flew the butterfly—Tom with him went,

But the butterfly could not make out what it meant,

That without asking leave any mortal should dare

To jump on his back, and take a ride there.

So he flew over houses and churches and trees,

And Tom soon bégan to feel not quite at ease.

The butterfly tried to make Tom Thumb fall down ;

In a puddle he threw him, that there he might drown.
Tom Thumb thought that drowning would not do him good,
So he called out for help quite as loud as he could.

And whilst he was shouting two soldiers came by :

“Sir Thomas,” said they, “the King says you must die ;
But you know, it is said, whilst there’s life there is hope,
And ’tis better to wait for the axe or the rope
Than to drown in a puddle, so now out you come,

And we shall get something for finding Tom Thumb.”
When they came to the palace, the King had gone out ;
The Queen heard a noise, and asked what ’twas about.
They told her that little Tom Thumb had been found—

“ Before he was lost,’ said the Queen, “I'll be bound ;
The King likes that dwarf, and will not have him killed.
But Pl let him know that I too am self-willed.

- Put Tom in a mouse-trap, and there let him stay,
Give him nothing to eat or to drink all the day.”



THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB. 43

So there in the trap poor Tom Thumb was kept,
And, more from vexation than hunger, he wept.
The Queen’s kitten thought that a mouse or a rat
In the trap had been caught, so she gave it a pat.



She was rather surprised when our hero she saw,
And she opened the trap by a dab of her paw.
Once more Tom was free; but a spider came by,
And taking the knight for a blue-bottle fly,



44 THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB.

Sprang forward to seize him; when our brave little knight
Stood his ground, drew his sword, and made ready to fight.
But the spider drew near, and his poisonous breath
So affected poor Tom that it soon caused his death.
“He fell on the ground where he lately had stood,
And the spider sucked up the last drop of his blood.”
The King and the court into deep mourning went ;
Two days and three nights in lamenting they spent.
Then under a rose-bush they buried Tom Thumb—
His monument cost them a very large sum ;
For on it his name, death, and doings were told—
Jt had this inscription in letters of gold:

“ Here lies Tom Thumb, King Arthur’s knight,
Who died by a spider’s cruel bite.
He was well known in Arthur’s court,
Where he afforded gallant sport ;
He rode at tilt and tournament,
And on a mouse a-hunting went.
Alive, he filled the court with mirth ;
His death to sorrow soon gave birth.
Wipe, wipe your eyes and shake your head,
And ery, ‘Alas! Tom Thumb is dead.’”







THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD.



ONG ago, in fairy times, there lived a king and queen

who were very happy, having nothing to complain

of but the want of children to share their joy. At last it
pleased Heaven to present them with a daughter. At the
birth of this princess there was great joy all over the



46 THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD.

kingdom, and at the christening seven fairies: were asked
to stand as godmothers, in the hope that each would offer
the little princess some gift, as was always done in those
days; by which means she would be adorned with every
good thing that could be thought of or wished for.

The christening being over, a grand feast was prepared
to entertain and thank the fairies. Before each of them was
laid a splendid dish, with a spoon, a knife, and a fork of
pure gold, richly carved. Just as they were going to sit
down, in came a very old fairy whom they had not invited,
because for nearly fifty years she had been shut up in a
tower, and she was supposed to be either dead or in a
trance. ‘The king immediately ordered a plate to be laid for
her, but he could not give her such a case of gold as the
others had, because he had only had seven made—one for
each of the fairies. The aged fairy, thinking that she was

slighted, muttered many threats betwixt her teeth, which
were overheard by one of the young fairies who sat beside
her. Judging that the old fairy might give the little princess
some fatal gifts, the young fairy, as soon as she rose from
the table, hid herself behind the hangings of the room, that
she might speak last and undo as much as possible the evil
which the old fairy might intend.

Meanwhile the fairies began to bestow their gifts on the
princess. The youngest gave her great beauty; another gave
her wit; a third added grace to everything that she did;
a fourth said that she would sing perfectly; a fifth, that
she would excel in dancing; and a sixth, that she would
play on all kinds of musical instruments in the most charm-

ing manner. The old fairy’s turn coming next, she went



THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD. AT





forward, and with a shaking head, more from spite than
from age, she said that the princess would have her hand

pierced with a spindle, and that she would die of the
wound.



48 THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD.

These awful words made the whole company tremble,
and few there were who did not shed tears.

At this instant the young fairy came out from behind the
curtains and spoke these words aloud: “Be comforted, O
king and queen, and be assured that your daughter shall not
die of this evil. It is true that I have not power to undo
what my elder has done. The princess shall indeed pierce
her hand with a spindle; but instead of dying, she shall
only fall into a deep sleep, which shall last one hundred
years, at the end of which a king’s son will come and
- awake her.”

Yet the king, to turn aside the evil words spoken by the
old fairy, sent forth a royal order whereby every person was
forbidden, on pain of death, to spin with a distaff or spindle,
or even to keep them in their houses.

About fifteen or sixteen years after, the king and queen
being gone on a visit to one of their summer palaces, the
young princess, to amuse herself, went over the rooms of the
palace in the froliesome spirit of youth, and at length climbed
up one of the turrets, where in a little garret she found an
old woman spinning with the distaff. This good woman had
never heard of the king’s order against the spindle.

“What are you doing, Goody ?” said the princess.

“T am spinning, my pretty child,” replied the old woman,
not knowing who she was.

“Oh, that is very pretty!” said the princess; “how do
you do it? Give it to me, that I may see if I can do so.”

The old woman, to please the child, granted her request.
She had no sooner taken it into her hand than, being some-
what hasty and careless, or because the spiteful fairy had



THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD. 49

ordered it, the spindle pierced her hand, when she fell down
in a swoon.

The good old woman became alarmed, and not knowing
what to do, called aloud for help, when a number of servants















flocked around the princess, trying every means to restore
her, but all to no purpose.
The good fairy who had saved her life by causing her

to sleep for one hundred years was in the kingdom of
4



50 THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD.

Matakin, twelve hundred miles off, when this accident befell
the princess ; but she was instantly informed of it by a dwarf,
who had boots with which he could tread over seven leagues
of ground at a stride. The fairy left the kingdom at once,
and arrived at the palace in about an hour after in a fiery
chariot drawn by dragons.

The king handed her out of the chariot, and she appr oved
of everything he had done; but as she had great foresight,
she thought that when the princess should awake, she might
be puzzled.what to do on finding herself alone in this large
old palace. She therefore touched with her wand all the
ladies-in-waiting, maids of honour, ladies’-maids, gentlemen,
officers, stewards, cooks, scullions, footmen, guards, porters,
pages, etc.—in short, every one in the palace except the king
and queen; she likewise touched all the horses, with their
grooms, the great dog in the outer court, and the princess’s
little spaniel that lay beside her on the bed. No sooner
had she done so than they all fell into a sound sleep that
was to last till their mistress should awake, that they might
be ready to wait upon her when required. Even the spits
before the fire, on which partridges and pheasants were
roasting, seemed to fall asleep, as well as the fire itself.
All this was done in a moment, fairies being never long in
doing their spiriting.

The king and queen, having kissed their child without
waking her, left the palace, and put forth an order for-
bidding any one to come near the spot. This, however,
was needless, for in less than a quarter of an hour there
sprang up all around the park such a vast number of trees,
great and small bushes, briers, and brambles, twined one



THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD. 51

within the other, that neither man nor beast could pass
through. Nothing could be seen but the tops of the towers
of the palace, and even these only from a good way off.
Indeed the fairy had given a wonderful example of her art,
in order that the princess, while she remained sleeping, might
be quite secure from prying eyes.

At the end of one hundred years the son of the king
who then reigned (but not of the same family as the sleep-
ing princess), being out a-hunting on that side of the country,
asked what these towers were, the tops of which he saw
in the midst of a great thick wood. Every one answered
according as they heard. Some said it was an old ruinous
castle haunted by spirits; others, that it was a place of
meeting for all the witches in the land; while the most
common opinion was that an ogre lived there who was in the
habit of stealing all the little children he could, that he might
eat them up at his leisure, without anybody being able to
follow him, as he himself only had the power to pass through
the wood. The prince did not know what to make of these
different accounts, when an aged countryman said, “May it
please your highness, it is about fifty years since I heard my
father tell what his father had told him—that there was
then in this castle a princess, the most beautiful that was
ever seen; that she must sleep there for a hundred years,
and would be awakened by a king’s son whose bride she
would become.”

The young prince was much excited at these words, and
with the hope of being himself the hero who was to end the
long fairy-sleep, resolved that moment to look into it and
find out how far the story might prove true. Scarce had



52 THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD.

he advanced towards the wood when all the great trees, the
bushes, and brambles gave way of their own accord to allow
him to pass through. He went up to the castle; but what
not a little surprised him was to find that none of his own































people were able to follow him, because the trees and bushes
closed the moment he passed between them. However, he
did not cease from going forward. He came into a large
outer courtyard, where everything he saw might have fright-

a



THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD. 53

ened any one less brave than himself. There reigned all
over a frightful silence; the image of death was everywhere
present, for there was nothing to be seen but the’ bodies
of men and animals, all seeming to be dead. He, however,
very well knew by the jolly, rosy faces of the porters
that they were only asleep with their goblets in their
hands, plainly showing they all had fallen asleep in their
cups. He then crossed a court paved with marble, went
upstairs, and entered the guard-chamber, where the guards
were standing in their ranks with their guns upon their
shoulders, and snoring loudly. After that he went through
several rooms full of ladies and gentlemen-in-waiting, some
standing and others sitting, but all fast asleep. At last he
entered a chamber all gilt with gold. Here he saw upon a
splendid bed, the curtains of which were open, the finest
sight that ever he beheld



a princess who seemed to be
about sixteen years of age, and whose rare beauty had
in it something divine. He went near with fear and
trembling, and could not keep from bending his knee
before her.

Now the trance was at an end. The princess awoke,
and looked on him with eyes more tender than the first
view would seem to admit of “Is it you, my prince?
How long I’ve been waiting for you!” The prince, charmed
with these words and the manner in which they were spoken,
assured her that he loved her far better than himself. Their
meeting was so quiet that indeed they wept more than
they talked; there was very little speaking, but a great
deal of love. He was more at a loss than she was, and little
wonder, as she had time to think on what to say to him; for



54 THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD.

it is very probable, though the history mentions nothing of
it, that the good fairy during so long a sleep had given her
pleasant dreams. In short, they talked for about four hours
together, and yet said not half of what they had to say.









“In the meantime, the people of the palace having awoke
at the same time as the princess, each began to perform the
duties of his or her office; and as they were not all in love,



THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD. 55

like their mistress, but were rather ready to die with hunger,
the lady-in-waiting grew very impatient, and told the prin-
cess that supper was served. The prince helped the prin-
cess to rise; for she was already dressed in splendid robes,
though his royal highness did not tell her that her clothes
were cut on the pattern of those of his great-grandmother,
which were long out of fashion. However, she looked not
less beautiful than if her dress had been more modern.

They went into the great hall of looking-glasses, where
they supped to the sound of delightful music. With fiddles
and spinet tunes were played about a century old. After
supper, and without losing any time, the chaplain joined the
pair in happy wedlock. The next day they left the old
castle, and returned to court, where the king was delighted
to welcome back the prince with his lovely bride, who was
thenceforth known, both by her own people and by those
who handed down the story to us, as the “Sleeping Beauty
of the Wood.”



LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD.



HE Lirrte Rep Ripinc-Hoop—such was the name
Of a nice little girl who lived ages ago ;
But listen, I pray you, and then how she came
Such a title to get you shall speedily know.

She lived in a village not far from a wood,

And her parents were all the relations she had,
Except her old grandmother, gentle and good,

Who to pet her and please her was always most glad.

Her grandmother made her a riding-hood, which
She was always to wear at such times as she could;
"Twas made of red cloth, so the poor and the rich
Used to call the child Little Red Riding-Hood.

Her mother, one day, said, “ Your granny is ill,
Go and see her—be sure not to loiter along ;
Your basket with cheese-cakes and butter I'll fill—
Now, be sure not to gossip, for that’s very wrong.

“Tf met by a stranger, be cautious, my child;
Do not hold conversation—just courtesy and say,



LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD. 57



‘I’m sent on an errand.’ Do not be beguiled

By strange folks and smooth words from your straight
path to stray.”

Not far had she gone through the wood, when she met
With a wolf, who most civilly bade her good-day.



58 LITTLE, RED RIDING-HOOD.



He talked so politely, he made her forget
She was not to converse with strange folks on the way

“To see your dear granny you're going,” said he,—
“T have known her some years, so a visit I'll pay ;
If what you have told me is true, I shall see.”
And the wolf then ran off without further delay.



LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD. 59

The maiden forgot her fond mother’s advice,

As some pretty wild-flowers she gathered with glee
To take to her granny. She said, “Twill be nice

If‘ take them to granny ; how pleased she will be!”

The wolf hastened on to the grandmother’s cot.
“Who is there?” cried the dame. “’Tis your grandchild,”
he said.
“Pull the bobbin!” said she. Soon entrance he got,
And devoured the poor helpless dame in her bed.

He scarcely had finished his horrible feast,

When the Little Red Riding-Hood came to the door.
She tapped very gently ; the ravenous beast

Cried out, “ Oh, I’m so hoarse! oh, my throat is so sore!”

Then Little Red Riding-Hood said, “Granny dear,
It is I who am knocking, so please let me in.”
“Pull the bobbin,” the wolf said; “I’m glad you are here—
You bring me a supper,” he said with a grin.

When Riding-Hood entered, the wolf said, “I’m weak ;
I have pain in my limbs, and much pain in my head:
Be quiet, dear grandchild, don’t ask me to speak,
But undress yourself quickly and come into bed.”

She quickly undressed, and she got into bed,
But she could not refrain from expressing her fears.
“Oh, grandmother dear,” the maid timidly said,
“T have never before seen such very large ears!”



60 LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD.



“The better to hear you,” the wolf then replied ; -

But Red Riding-Hood heard what he said with
surprise,

And trembling with fear, “Oh, my granny !” she cried,

“You have very large teeth! and what great flashing
eyes!”



LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD. 61













“The better to see you !the better to bite!
I am not your old granny, I'll soon let you
see—
I ate her to-day, and I'll eat you to-night ;
By-and-by you shall make a nice supper
for me.”



62 LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD.

But just as he said so, the door open flew,
And in rushed some brave men who had heard all that
passed :
The blood-thirsty wolf then they speedily slew,
And saved Little Red Riding-Hood’s life at the last.









HOP: 07 MY “LHUMB: AND: "THE
SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.



NCE upon a time there lived in a small cottage near
() the edge of a great forest a man with his wife and
six sons. They were very poor. The man had once been a
rich nobleman, but his gambling and his drinking had brought
him to poverty; and now he was obliged to cut faggots in
the forest for fuel, in order to keep up the scanty food supply
for the family. As I have told you, he had six children, all
boys. One of them was very little, too little to be called a
dwarf: for although at this time he might be about eight
years of age, it is said that he could hide himself in his
father’s shoe; and as he always danced about so nimbly, he
was named “Hop,” widened to “Hop o’ My Thumb,” owing
to his small size. Nevertheless, his small body held a large
heart; he was very loving and kind in his nature, good-



64 HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.

tempered, and wise beyond his years. Moreover, he had the
rare power of making-others merry by his droll speech and
queer antics. y

One night, when the children were all in bed and sup-
posed to be fast asleep, little Hop was wide awake, and was
listening to what his father and mother were saying as they
sat by the fireside. The father was grieving bitterly for the
hard times, and was sorry that he was no longer able to get
enough of bread for themselves and the children ; indeed they
were likely to starve. The father, who was hard-hearted,
proposed to his wife that in the morning they should take
the children to the great forest and lose them there.

“There is no other way, and no help for it,” said he. “I
cannot bear the thought of looking upon them dying of hunger
at home.”

The mother, sobbing, said, “No indeed; if the poor dear
children are to die, I will die with them.”

But the father was firm in his purpose.

There was no sleep for little Hop for thinking over what
he had heard. As soon as daylight began to appear he arose,
and, slipping on his clothes, left the house very quietly, and
betook himself to a certain brook, where he filled his pockets
with small white pebbles. He returned to the house and
crept quietly to bed again before his parents were up. Soon,
however, they all awoke and got up. After having eaten
of a scanty breakfast, they: were ordered by the father, in a
eruff voice, to “Come along and let us set to work!” This
was a pretence of binding the faggots into bundles. They then
set out on their journey to the darkest part of the forest,
which was a long way off. On entering it, little Hop took



HOP 0 MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS. 65

care to fall behind the others, and dropped a white pebble
here and there along the path. For awhile they all seemed
busy, the father chopping the faggots, the mother and her
boys making them into bundles, till at length the father told
his sons that they should now have a romp, “for,” said
he, “all work and no play will make you dull boys.” He
therefore told them to form a ring by joining hands, keeping
their little brother in the middle and dancing round him.



The time had now arrived for leaving the children in the
wood, and while they danced the father dragged his wife
by force out of the wood. Getting tired of jingo-ring, the
children sat down to rest, when, to their alarm, neither
father nor mother could be seen. They began to feel in a
bad case ; but little Hop cheered his brothers by telling them
that if they would follow him he would lead them out of
the wood. So he led the way, following the track of the

white pebbles. On their way home they were met by their
b :



66 HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.

mother, into whose arms they joyfully threw themselves,
The father put on a cheerful face, and pretended to be very
glad to see them again, for he thought, really thought to him-
self, “As easy done another day as to-day.” The other day
soon came round, which heard the father, in angry tones,
calling upon his children to get up, as they ought by this time
to have been in the wood and at work. Poor little Hop o’
My Thumb jumped out of bed, and, hurrying on his clothes,
was about to slip out to the brook for another pocketful of



white pebbles, when he was caught by his father, who sternly
ordered him and the others to be quick with their breakfast
a breakfast that was too easily and too quickly eaten—
and to follow him. The father that day took a different
road, and went to the forest by a more, roundabout way. At
breakfast, Hop o’ My Thumb had slipped a piece of his bread
into his pocket, thinking that that would do as well as the
pebbles he could not get. On entering the wood he again
fell behind, and scattered bread-crumbs on the path, and took





HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS. 67

notice of particular trees. On reaching a thick, shady part
of the wood, the father, on some pretence or other, again
slipped away from his children. And again Hop o’ My
Thumb cheered his brothers with the ery of, “Come along; I
know the way out.” But our little hero was vexed to find
that the birds had eaten all the crumbs.

Now little Hop’s heart was brave as well as kind. His
next plan was to climb to the top of the tallest tree, that he
might see how the land lay. By the time he got to the top
of the tree darkness was coming on, which enabled him to
see a light in a window a long way off. They travelled on
and on in the direction of the light, till they came to a very
large house or castle, in a window of which shone. the very
light Hop had seen from the tree-top. Going up to a very
large door, they knocked at it with a large stone taken from
the roadway, as the knocker was far out of their reach. The
door was opened by a woman who looked good-natured, and
who in a kindly way asked what they wanted. Hop o’ my
Thumb told her their sad story, and begged her to give them
some food and a night’s lodging. The woman shook her
head.

“My poor children!” she said, “you know not what you
ask ; and you could not have come to a worse place than this.
My husband is what is called a giant-ogre, and if he were to find
you here, he would make short work in eating you all up.”

But Hop o’ My Thumb pleaded, “As we are all very
hungry,” would she be so kind as give them something to
eat? As has been said, she was a good-natured, kindly lady.
She could not withstand this appeal, but gave them some
food, telling them to eat it up quickly and be gone before her



68 HOP 0 MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.

husband came home. Here Hop again pleaded hard for a
night’s lodging, even in an outhouse or barn, as they were
afraid of wild beasts in the forest. ;

At this moment a loud snorting noise was heard outside.
The ogre’s wife started and turned pale.

“There he is!” she cried; “and in an angry mood too,
I know by his snorting. It is too late now for you to escape ;
what will be done? Quick, all of you! creep behind that
box there !”

No sooner had they got behind the great box than a ter-
ribly loud knock was heard on the door. On its being opened
the ogre stalked in with a heavy tread, stamping and snort-
ing, and sniffing the air.

“ Fee, faw, foe, fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman ;

Be he alive, or be he dead,
I'll grind his bones to make me bread !”

“Wife, what have you for supper, eh ?”

“T have a large roasted sheep,” she said.

“Ah! and what else?” he asked; “for I smell fresh meat.”

“Well,” said the wife, “it is the calf which I have just
killed.”

With this answer he seemed satisfied, and sat down to
supper. He was not long in eating up the sheep, only
giving his wife some of the bones to pick. When he had
finished eating, he poured some kind of liquid from a great
bottle into a cup that would hold, as some say, about two
gallons, He then rested with his elbows on the table, when
the sniff-sniffing began again. Rising up, still sniffing, he
roared with a voice like thunder,—



HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS. 69

“T know there is something else in the house: I smell
fresh meat !”

With that he took his huge knife in his hand, and went
smelling about the room till he came to the box behind which
the six brothers were in hiding.

« Aha!” he roared with a voice that was terrible to hear.







“Come out of there!” The poor boys, half dead with fright,
crept out and stood trembling before him. “Aha!” cried
the ogre; “oho!” laughed the ogre; “is it so? Why, what
have we here?” Stooping down from the box on which he
sat, he lifted up poor little trembling Hop between his great
finger and thumb. “Well, this is a rare and sweet morsel,



70 HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.

to be sure!” grinned the ogre, showing his blue-steel teeth,
which were hideous to behold, as he was going to pop the
boy into his large mouth.

Poor little Hop cried loudly for mercy, while his brothers,
going down on their knees before the giant, begged him to
spare their little Hoppy; at the same time his wife, laying
both hands on his great arm, said,—

“What are you going to do? You had a good supper
but a few minutes ago, so you cannot be hungry already ;
besides, you -see how lean they look. I am going to fatten
them up and make them into a pie for your dinner the day
after to-morrow.”

The idea of seeing the six boys made into a nice pie
seemed to please the ogre very much. The woman then
beckoned the boys to a closet where they were to sleep.
saying,—

“There now! didn’t I tell you what you had to expect
if you stayed here? I’ve done the best I could for you. I
will do more if I can. There, now, go to sleep.”

That was more easily said than done, for sleep, in their
sad case, was quite out of the question. So little Hop, who
did not like the idea of being baked in a pie, began to
think of some means of escape. He _ therefore told his
brothers not to be so down-hearted, but to lend him a hand
in trying to get out of the giant’s house as soon as they
knew the giant to be asleep. At length they heard loud
snoring, and when it had lasted some time they made sure
that the great giant-ogre was fast asleep. Although the
door of the closet was not. fastened, they knew or thought
they might have many difficulties to get over before reaching



HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS. 71

the outside of the house. By the help of the moon the
prisoners wandered through room after room, along passage
- after passage to the entrance-hall, where stood the great door,
which they found to be fastened. The lock had the key in
it, but at such a height that none of them could reach it. At
length Hop, with his clever head, put them on a plan: which
was, for three to stand in a stooping posture, with their
heads leaning on the door; and for the other two to mount
up and stand on the shoulders of the three, so that the two
pair of hands might reach the lock and turn the key. The
plan was successful, with Hop standing by to direct the work.

Having gained the outside, they breathed more freely.
Finding themselves in the open country, they set off at a
rapid pace toward home, the older brothers carrying Hop by
turns, because they knew that when the giant came to know
the state of matters he would be in a fearful passion, and
would run after them. Nor were their fears groundless, as
we shall shortly see. .

Meanwhile the giant had awoke, and smacking his lips
at the thought of the pie, he set about rubbing his steel
teeth with a file, and sharpening his great heavy knife. His
wife then rushed in with uplifted arms to tell him that the
closet was empty and the hall-door standing open. At this
the giant flew into a terrible rage.

“Here, wife!” he roared; “bring me my fairy boots—
my seven-leacue boots, quick! and I will soon catch the
rascals.”

Off then flew the giant-ogre to overtake and catch the
runaways; but as he had drunk too much the night before,
and was not quite sober (so the story goes), the boots, which



72 HOP 0 MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.

had been bewitched by a fairy, could not agree with their

wearer. When the giant wanted to go this way, the boots

went that way; when he wanted to go that way, they went

this way. So there was much making of circles in the air.

The tugging and struggling for the mastery soon began. to
- tell sorely on the giant.



Hop and his brothers were now beginning to think them-
selves safe, but were still hurrying on, when they heard a
sound that sent a thrill through every heart. It was the
giant snorting out his wrath. Turning in the direction of
the sound, they were struck with horror to see the giant.
high in air, making awful strides. What was to be done?



HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS. 73

There was no time to lose. Looking about, Hop by good
luck saw a small cave, in which he told his brothers to hide.
Hop had barely time to follow when the giant, worn out
with his struggle with the boots, laid himself down on the
ledge of rock under which his runaway dinner lay, and soon
fell into a deep sleep.



Nip oie

Meantime the brothers whispered their wonder how the
giant could take such long strides in the air as if he was
flying. Hop being a great reader, told his brothers that
he had once read in a story-book about the seven-league
boots.

“But listen! the giant-ogre snores loud and long. Never
venture, never win,” said Hop. “Now for the attempt; and



74 HOP 0 MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.

now is your time, brothers, to run home as fast as you can,
and I will follow you.”

“Why not come with us?” they asked.

“Because I mean to be home before any of you,” an-

swered Hop.

: Hop, on account of his cleverness, had always been
looked up to by his brothers; so they obeyed by running
home as fast as they could. Then Hop o’ My Thumb crept



softly from the cave, and drew off first one of the seven-
league boots and then the other without awaking the giant.
He then drew them over his own little feet, which they fitted
to a nicety; for he had read in the story-book that the boots
were magical, so that they could fit any foot, large or small.
All this was done in less time than it takes to tell you. And
not a moment too soon; for the giant, on opening his great
eyes, beheld little Hop skimming through the air, and he, the
giant, not knowing of the loss of his wonderful boots, got up



HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS. 75

to overtake him. He ran on, and ran on, as some people say,
always keeping his eyes on Hop, never looking to the ground,
until he fell over a precipice, and broke his neck, so that he
died. Nor was this all: his wife sent Hop a large sum of money
as a present for his ridding her of her horrid ugly husband.
A few strides and jumps soon brought Hop to his father’s

door some time before the arrival of his brothers. His father



and mother were very glad to see him, weeping over him and
caressing him. He said,—

“Now, dear father and mother, you must cheer up, for I
have good news to tell you.”

He then showed them the seven-league boots, and told
them how he had got them; which brought him to tell all
about the giant-ogre and his kind, good wife, and “the nar-
row escape we all had, dear father, from being eaten in a pie.”

At this moment in rushed the other brothers, with cries



76 HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.

of joy on all sides. When they were all at breakfast, little
Hop seemed to fall into a waking dream, or a musing mood.
When his father noticed that, he said,—

“ What is my little Hoppy thinking ?”

“T am thinking, dear father, it will be best for me to
set out for the royal palace, and present the seven-league
boots to our good king, and tell him all about the giant-oore,
and ask him to kill all the giant-ogres in the kingdom.”

Of this plan every one approved; and so, as goon as
breakfast was over, Hop got ready for the journey. When
he was ready to start, they all went with him to the door,
the father pointing out the direction of the great city where
the king’s palace was. But he need not have done so, for
ali that Hop had to say to the boots was, “To the king’s
palace,” and off they went; and as it was only a few leagues
distant, he was there in little more than no time. Arrived
at the palace, he was shown into the court-yard, to the great
wonder and amusement of all the officers and soldiers there.
He politely asked, as loudly as he could, to be led to the
royal presence, as he had something of importance to say to
his majesty. He was soon led to the king’s chamber, and
was introduced to the king and the queen, who were seated
upon a throne; and we may fancy how amused their majesties
would be, as well as the courtiers present, at seeing such a
tiny mite of a gentleman. Hop, after making a polite bow,
told the king all about the giant-ogre, and said that he
hoped his majesty would see fit to cause all the ogres in his
kingdom to be put to death. He then went on to describe
the wonderful boots, of which the king had often heard,
though he had never seen them. The king then told Hop



HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS. RG

how glad he would be to be the owner of them. He added,
“They will be of great use to us in our royal journeys
through our kingdom.” Hop, pulling off the boots, placed
them before the throne, when they immediately grew to a
size that would fit his majesty; at the same time they
bowed with all respect before him.

aS



The king, asking about the little man’s family history,
found him to be the son of Count d’Abby, a former friend
of his own, of whom he had long lost all trace. The king
was glad to find that he was still alive, and sent messengers
to inquire into the truth of Hop’s story, and to order the
count to attend at court, along with his lady and family.



78 HOP 0 MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.

On their arrival, the king showed them great kindness,
welcoming his old friend the count very warmly. As the
king wished them to remain at court, he gave to each of
them an important office in the royal household—those of
page-in-chief to the king and director-general being long and
faithfully filled by Hop o My Thumb, where his father and
mother passed the evening of their days in great joy and
comfort.



TE CELLO REN: IN THE WOOD.



OW ponder well, you parents dear,

N These words which I shall write ;
A doleful story you shall hear, .

In time brought forth to light. ©
A gentleman of good account

In Norfolk dwelt of late,
Who did in honour far surmount

Most men of his estate.

Sore sick he was, and like to die,
No help his life could save ;

His wife by him as sick did lie,
And both possessed one grave.

No love between these two was lost,
Each was to other kind ;

In love they lived, in love they died,
And left two babes behind :

The one, a fine and pretty boy,
Not passing three years old ;
The other, a girl more young than he,

And framed in beauty’s mould.



80

THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD.

The father left his little son,
As plainly doth appear,

When he to perfect age should come,
Three hundred pounds a year.

And to his little daughter Jane,
Five hundred pounds in gold,

To be paid down on her marriage-day,
Which might not be controlled.

But if the children chanced to die
Ere they to age should come,

Their uncle should possess their wealth ;
For so the will did run.

“ Now, brother,” said the dying man,
“Look to my children dear ;

Be good unto my boy and girl,
No friends else have they here.

To God and you I recommend
My children dear this day ;

But little while be sure we have
Within this world to stay. |

“You must be father and mother both,
And uncle, all in one;
God knows what will become of them
When I am dead and gone.”
With that bespake their mother dear:
“O brother kind,” quoth she,



THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 81



“You are the man must bring our babes

To wealth or misery.

“ And if you keep them carefully,

Then God will you reward ;
6



82

THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD.

But if you otherwise should deal,
God will your deeds regard.”
With lips as cold as any stone,
They kissed their children small :
“God bless you both, my children dear ;”
With that their tears did fall.

These speeches then their brother spake,

To this sick couple there:
“The keeping of your little ones,

Sweet sister, do not fear.

God never prosper me nor mine,
Nor aught else that I have,

If I do wrong your children dear,
When you are laid in grave.”

The parents being dead and gone,
The children home he takes,
And brings them straight unto his house,
Where much of them he makes.
He had not kept these pretty babes
A twelvemonth and a day,
But, for their wealth, he did devise
To make them both away.

He bargained with two ruffians strong,
Which were of furious mood,

That they should take these children young,
And slay them in a wood.



THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 83



He told his wife an artful tale:

He would the children send
To be brought up in fair London,
ith one that was his friend.

Away then went those pretty babes,
Rejoicing at that tide,





THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD.

Rejoicing with a merry mind,
They should on cock-horse ride.
They prate and prattle pleasantly,
As they rode on the way,
To those that should their butchers be,
And work their lives’ decay.

So that the pretty speech they had
Made murder’s heart relent ;



THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 85

And they that undertook the deed
Full sore did now repent.

Yet one of them, more hard of heart,
Did vow to do his charge,

Because the wretch that hiréd him
Had paid him very large.

The other won’t agree thereto,
So here they fall to strife ;
With one another they did fight

About the children’s life:
And he that was of mildest mood
Did slay the other there,
Within an unfrequented wood:
The babes did quake for fear !

He took the children by the hand,
Tears standing in their eye,

And bade them straightway follow him,
And look they did not cry;

And two long miles he led them on,
While they for food complain :

“Stay here,” quoth he, “Ill bring you bread,

When I come back again.”

These pretty babes, with hand in hand,
Went wandering up and down,

But never more could see the man
Approaching from the town ;



86

THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD.

Their pretty lips with blackberries
Were all besmeared and dyed,
And when they saw the darksome night,

They sat them down and cried.



Thus wandered these poor innocents
Till death did end their grief,

In one another’s arms they died,
As wanting due relief :



THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 87

No burial this pretty pair
Of any man receives,

Till Robin Redbreast piously
Did cover them with leaves.

And now the heavy wrath of God
Upon their uncle fell ;









Yea, fearful fiends did haunt his house,
His conscience felt an hell,

His barns were fired, his goods consumed,
His lands were barren made,

His cattle died within the field,
And nothing with him stayed.



88

THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD.

And in the voyage to Portugal
Two of his sons did die ;

And to conclude, himself was brought
To want and misery.

He pawned and mortgaged all his land
Ere seven years came about ;

And now at length this wicked act
Did by this means come out :—

The fellow that did take in hand
These children for to kill,
Was for a robbery judged to die,
Such was God’s blessed will.
Who did confess the very truth,
As here hath been displayed:
Their uncle having died in jail,
Where he for debt was laid.

You that executors be made,
And overseers eke

Of children that be fatherless,
And infants mild and meek,—

Take you example by this thing,
And yield to each his right,

Lest God with such like misery
Your wicked minds requite.











SIMPLE HANS
IN VLUCKy AND OUT OF 135



ANS had served his master for seven years, when a
H great longing came over him to see his mother
again.

His master heard of this, and sending for him, said,
‘Hans, you have served me well and faithfully ; and as your
service, so shall your wages be.”

So saying, he gave him a lump of gold as big as his
head.

Hans drew his handkerchief from his pocket, wrapped up



90 SIMPLE HANS IN LUCK AND OUT OF IT.

the lump of gold in it, placed it on his shoulder, and bidding
his master farewell, set out for home.

As he trudged wearily on he was overtaken by a horse-
man, who came trotting along on a fine spirited horse.

“Ah,” said Hans aloud, “ how pleasant a thing it is to ride!
You save your shoes, and get quickly to your journey’s end!”



























”

“Tf you think so,” cried the horseman; “why do you

travel on foot ?”

“Oh,” replied Hans, “I am on my way home with this
great lump of gold. I have to carry it on my shoulder, and
it hurts me very much.”

“Tl tell you what,” said the horseman: “let us exchange.
Give me your lump of gold, and I shall give you my horse.”



SIMPLE HANS IN LUCK AND OUT OF IT. 91

“With all my heart!” cried Hans joyfully ; and he at
cence gave his gold to the horseman, while the latter helped
him to mount the horse.

Hans rode away at a gentle pace; but after awhile,
thinking be should like to go a little quicker, he began to

make a clucking sound with his tongue, and to cry, “ Hopp!

hopp !”
The horse immediately set off at a gallop, and before







Hans had time to think, he was lying in a ditch by the
roadside. After playing this trick the horse galloped on,
and would have got clear away, had it not been caught
by a countryman, who happened to be driving a cow along
the road.

The countryman led the horse back to Hans; but the
latter had had enough of riding.



92 SIMPLE HANS IN LUCK AND OUT OF IT.

“No, no,” he said; “you can keep the horse, if you give
me your cow in exchange. She will supply me with milk
and butter and cheese, and will not throw me.”

The countryman was only too glad to make such a bargain,
and he at once handed over his cow to Hans, who joyfully set
out with his new charge.

At first all went well; but as the heat became greater
and greater, Hans became very thirsty.





“Now is the time,” he thought, “to make use of my
cow. I shall milk her, and get a drink of nice fresh milk.”

Tying the cow to a tree, he tried to milk her; but set
about it so clumsily that the animal became angry, and gave
him a kick with one of her hind feet which tumbled him
head over heels.



SIMPLE HANS IN LUCK AND OUT OF IT. 93

Fortunately at that moment a butcher came along
trundling a wheelbarrow on which lay a young pig, and
Hans at once offered to exchange his cow for the pig.

“JT would rather have a pig than a cow,’ he thought.

“Roast pig is very tasty, and nothing could be better than
the sausages.”

Without much ado the butcher agreed; and taking the

pig from the wheelbarrow, he placed the cord that was tied
round the animal's leg in its new master’s hand.









Our friend had not gone very far on his road, when he
was joined by a lad who carried a beautiful white goose
under his arm. He told him how lucky he had been, and
how everything had turned out according to his wishes.

The lad shook his head.



94 SIMPLE HANS IN LUCK AND OUT OF IT.

“T don’t like what you say about your pig,” he said.
“In the village from which I come a pig has just been stolen
out of the constable’s sty, and I believe that is it which
you are driving before you. It would be terrible if they
were to catch you with it.”

On hearing this poor Hans was greatly alarmed, and
begged the lad to take the pig in exchange for his goose.

At first the lad pretended to be unwilling to take the pig,
owing to the risk he would run if it were found in his
hands. To oblige Hans, however, he at last agreed, and
drove away the pig in one direction, while Hans, glad to
have escaped such a danger, put the goose under his arm, and
went on his way in another.

As he went along he thought how pleased his mother
would be to have the fat and the feathers of the goose; and
he was almost ready to shout aloud for joy at his good
fortune.

At the farther end of the last village through which he
passed he met a knife-grinder, whom he told of all the good
things which had befallen him.

“That is all very well,” said the grinder; “but if you
want to make your fortune, you must learn a trade. There
is nothing like a trade for making money, and especially the
trade of knife-grinding. That beats all. With a grind-
stone you can travel the world through. The only thing
needed is a grindstone. Here is one which I will let you
have for your goose.”

Hans laughed for joy, and gave his goose to the knife-
grinder, who handed him a grindstone in return. The rogue
then picked up a large, heavy stone from the roadside, and



SIMPLE HANS IN LUCK AND OUT OF IT. 95

placing it on the top of the other, told Hans that he might
have it into the bargain.

Hans thanked him for his kindness, and set off home-
ward with a light heart. Before long, however, the weight
of the stones began to tell, and



he became very hungry and



very thirsty. At length he reached a well. Placing the
stones carefully on the edge, he stooped down to drink. In
doing so he happened to give the stones a gentle push, when
down they fell into the water, and were seen no more.

Hans sprang up joyfully.

“IT am the luckiest fellow in the world!” he cried.



96 SIMPLE HANS IN LUCK AND OUT OF IT.

“Without any fault on my part, I have got rid of these
heavy stones, and now I am free to run home as fast as I
can.”

Off he started, his eyes sparkling with joy, and was soon
in his mother’s arms.

This is the story of simple Hans, in luck and out of it,
who exchanged a lump of gold for a horse, the horse for a
cow, the cow for a pig, the pig for a goose, the goose for a
grindstone, and this at last for nothing at all.













THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD

THE SAILOR.



NE day a poor porter of Bagdad named Hindbad,

stopping to rest himself before a grand dwelling,

and finding that it belonged to one Sindbad a sailor, began

to lament the difference between this man and himself.

Sindbad, having heard what the porter said, invited him in,

and, to show him that the gifts of fortune were not gained
without trouble, told his story.

My father, who was a native of the city of Bagdad,
dying when I was yet young, left me a large estate. Wish-
ing to get more money, I went to Balsorah, a port on the
Persian Gulf, and joined with several merchants in fitting

out a ship to trade with distant lands. In our voyage we
7



98 THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR.

touched at several islands, where we sold or exchanged our
goods. One day, while under sail, we were becalmed near a
little island, almost level with the surface of the water, which
looked like a green meadow. The captain ordered his sails
to be furled, and allowed such of us as had a mind to do so
to land on the island; of whom I was one. But while we
were amusing ourselves with eating and drinking, and refresh-
ing ourselves after the fatigue of the sea, the island all of a
sudden trembled and shook.

Those on board the ship noticed the trembling of the
island, and called to us to re-embark speedily, else we should
all be lost; for what we took for an island was only the back
of a whale. The nimblest got into the sloop, others betook
themselves to swimming; but for my part, I was still on the
back of the whale, when he dived into the sea, and had only
time to catch hold of a piece of wood that we had brought out
of the ship to make a fire. Meanwhile, the captain having
received those on board who were in the sloop, and having
taken up some of those that swam, went on his way, so that
it was impossible for me to reach the ship.

Thus I was at the mercy of the waves, and struggled
for my life all the rest of the day and the following night.
Next morning I found my strength gone, and despaired of sav-
ing my life, when a wave threw me happily upon an island.

Here I was received with great kindness by the servants
of King Mihragé, who gave me bread and fruits. The vessel
in which I had sailed happening on her return to touch at
this island, the captain knew me, and gave me back my
goods. I made a handsome present to King Mihragé, and
then returned to Balsorah. ;



THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR. 99

Having laid in a stock of goods, I again embarked with
some merchants. One day they landed on an uninhabited
island, and as my companions were amusing themselves with
gathering fruits and flowers, I sat down under a tree and
fell asleep. When I awoke, I found to my horror that the
ship was gone.

I climbed to the top of a very high tree, and saw at
some distance an object that was very large and white. I
went down to the ground, and ran towards this strange-
looking object; which, when I came near it, I found to
measure about fifty paces round about. It was quite round,
and as smooth as ivory, but had no sort of opening. It was
now almost sunset, and suddenly the sky became dark. I
looked up, and beheld a bird of great size, moving like a vast
cloud towards me.

I remembered that I had heard of a bird called the roc,
so large that it could carry away young elephants; and I
therefore supposed that the large object I had been looking
at was the egg of this bird.

As the bird came near, I crept close to the egg, so that
I had one of the legs of this winged animal before me: this
limb being as large as the trunk of a tree, I tied myself
firmly to it with the cloth of my turban.

The next morning the bird flew away, and carried me
from this desert island. I was borne so high that I could
not see the earth; and then carried downwards so swiftly
that I lost my senses. When I recovered, finding myself on
the ground, I quickly untied the cloth that bound me; and
scarcely was I free, when the bird, having taken up a large
serpent, flew away.



100 THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR.

I found myself in a deep valley, the sides of which were
too steep to be climbed. As I walked up and down in de-
spair, I noticed that the valley was strewed with diamonds
of wonderful size; but I soon saw other objects much less
pleasant to look on. Serpents of the most terrible size were
peeping out of holes on every side. I sat down and fell asleep.







I was awakened by something which fell near me. It was
a large piece of fresh meat; and by-and-by I saw several
other pieces.

I now felt sure that I must be in the famous valley of
diamonds, and that the pieces of meat were thrown in by
merchants, who expected eagles to pounce upon the flesh, to
which diamonds were almost sure to stick. JI made haste
to pick up some of the largest diamonds I could find, and I
put them into a little bag, which fastened to my girdle. I



Full Text








||

Ys

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Raise

waynes

eee
seat
at A Sore,
ss. ~~










































































fSvOURITE STORIES

FOR THE

NURSERY





THOMAS NELSON AND Sons

London, Edinburgh, and New York
mPAVOURITE STORIES

FOR THE

NURSERY

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS.

THOMAS NELSON AND SONS
London, Edinburgh, and New York



1894
See




G@lontents,

——+——
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES, sod God brs eee ose 9
THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB, ... aes oe eae) ose rs 30
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD, ... B60 ee oe sae 45
LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD, eo oad oe ee sr a 56
HOP 0’ MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS, ae eee) eng 63
THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD; -.:: ope pee a eee ae 79
SIMPLE HANS IN LUCK AND OUT OF IT, pnd mi ae ate 89
THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR, ee ae aes ee 97
THE STORY OF BLUE BEARD, se Ss mas oe OHO oe 113

THE YELLOW DWARF, ect eee aa a ae ae ee 120

PavOURITE STORIES:



ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

N the country of Persia there lived two brothers, the sons
of a poor man; the one was named Cassim, and the
other Ali Baba. Cassim, the elder, married a lady with a
large fortune, and lived at his ease in a fine house with
plenty of servants; but the wife of Ali Baba was as poor as
himself. They dwelt in a mean cottage in the suburbs of ©
the city, and he maintained his family by cutting wood in a
neighbouring forest.

One day when Ali Baba was in the forest, and prepared
to load his asses with the wood he had cut, he saw a- troop
of horsemen riding towards him. He had often heard that
robbers roamed through that forest, and in great fright he
hastily climbed a large tree which stood near the foot of a
rock, and hid himself among the branches.

The horsemen soon galloped up to the rock, where they
sprang from their horses. Ali Baba counted forty of them,
and he could not doubt but they were thieves, by their ill-
looking faces. Each of them took a loaded box from his
10 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

horse; and he who seemed °=











to be their captain, turning
to the rock, called out, “Open,

Ses-a-me!” and at once the door
in the rock opened, and all the rob- _
bers passed in, when the door shut
of itself. In a short time the door
opened again, and the forty robbers
came out, followed by their captain,
who said, “Shut, Ses-a-me.” The
door at once closed, and the men,





mounting their horses, were presently
out of sight.
Ali Baba remained in the tree a




ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. bel

long time; and seeing that
the robbers did not return,
he ventured down, and,
going close to the rock,
said, “Open, Ses-a-me.”
Immediately the door flew
open, and Ali Baba beheld
a large cavern, well lighted,
and filled with all sorts
of provisions, merchandise,
rich stuffs, and heaps of
gold and silver coin which
these robbers had taken
from merchants and tra-
vellers. Ali Baba then
went in search of his asses ;



and, having brought them to the rock, took as many bags
of gold coin as they could carry, and put them on their
backs, covering them with some loose faggots of wood, and


‘

12 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

afterwards (not forgetting to say “Shut, Ses-a-me”) he drove
his asses back to the city; and, having unloaded them in the
stable belonging to his cottage, he carried the bags into his
house, and spread the gold coin out upon the floor before his
wife.

His wife, glad to be the owner of so much money, wanted
to count it; but finding that it would take up too much time,
she made up her mind to measure it. Running to the house
of Ali Baba’s brother, she
begged his wife to lend
her a small measure.

Cassim’s wife was
proud as well as greedy.
“T wonder,” she said to
herself, “what kind of
grain such poor people can
have to measure. I shall
not rest till I find out what
they are doing.” So be-
fore she gave the measure
she artfully rubbed the
bottom with some suet.



Away ran Ali Baba’s wife, measured the money, and
having helped her husband to bury it in the yard, she carried
back the measure to her brother-in-law’s house, without seeing
that a piece of gold was left sticking to the bottom of it.

“Fine doings indeed!” cried Cassim’s wife to her husband
after looking into the measure: “your brother there, who
pretends to be so very poor, is richer than you are; for he
does not count his money, but measures it.”
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 13

Cassim, hearing these words and seeing the piece of gold,
grew as greedy as his wife, and hastening to his brother,
threatened to inform the cadi of his wealth if he did not con-
fess to him how he came by it. Ali Baba, without stopping
to think, told him the history of the robbers and the secret
of the cave, and offered him half of the treasure. But the
greedy Cassim, scorning so poor a sum, resolved to have fifty
times more from the
robbers’ cave.

He rose early
next morning, and
set out with ten
mules loaded with
large chests. From
what Ali Baba had
told him, he found
the rock easily
enough, and having
said, “Open, Ses-a-
me,’ he made his
way into the cave,



where he found
more treasure than he had thought to see from his brother's
account of it. He at once began to gather bags of gold and
pieces of rich silk, all which he piled close to the door.
When he had got together as much as his mules could carry,
he wanted to get out to load them, but the thoughts of
his wonderful riches had made him forget the words which
caused the door to open. He tried many names all to no
purpose ; the door remained as fast as the rock itself. Before
14 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

long he heard the sound of horses’ feet, from which he rightly
thought that the robbers would be coming home, and he
trembled lest he should now fall a victim to his thirst for
riches.

He resolved, however, to make an effort at escape; and
when he heard the word “Ses-a-me,” and saw the door open,
he sprang out, but was at once put to death by the swords
of the robbers.



The thieves now held a council, but not one of them
could guess by what means Cassim had got into the cave.
They saw the heaps of treasure he had piled ready to
take away, but they did not miss what Ali Baba had secured
before. At length they agreed to cut Cassim’s body into
four quarters, and to hang the pieces within the cave, that
it might terrify any one from further attempts. They also
made up their minds not to return to the cave themselves,
for fear of being watched and found out.
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 15

When Cassim’s wife saw night come on without her hus-
band returning, she became frightened, and watched at her
window till daybreak, and then went to tell Ali Baba of her
fears. Cassim had not informed him of his design of going
to the cave; but Ali Baba now hearing of his journey thither,
did not wait to be asked to go in search of him.

He drove his asses to the forest without delay, but was
filled with fear when he saw blood near the rock, and on
entering the cave he found the body of his brother cut to
pieces and hung up within the door. It was now too late
to save him, but he took down the quarters, and put them
upon one of his asses, Covering them with faggots of wood,
he went back to the city.

The door of his brother’s house was opened by Morgiana,
a faithful female slave, who, Ali Baba knew, was worthy to
be trusted with the secret. He therefore gave up the body
to Morgiana, and went himself to tell the sad news to Cassim’s
wife. The poor woman was greatly vexed, and blamed herself
for her foolish greed and love of prying as the causes of her
husband’s death; but when Ali Baba showed her the need
there was for caution, she checked her tears, and left every-
thing to be managed by Morgiana.

Morgiana, having washed Cassim’s body, hastened to a
doctor's shop, and asked for a certain medicine, saying that
it was for her master, Cassim, who was very ill. She took
care to spread the report of Cassim’s illness ; and as the neigh-
bours saw Ali Baba and his wife go daily to the house of
their brother, they did not wonder when they heard shortly
that Cassim had died.

The next difficulty was to bury him without being found
16 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

out; but Morgiana was ready with a plan for that also. She
went to a distant part of the city early in the morning, where
she found a poor cobbler just opening his stall. She put a
piece of gold into his hand, and told him he would get
another piece if he would let himself be blindfolded and go
with her, carrying his tools with him. Mustapha, the cobbler,
was doubtful at first, but the gold tempted him, and he agreed.
Morgiana, carefully covering his eyes so that he could not see
a step of the way, led him
to Cassim’s house, and tak-
ing him to the room where
the body was lying, re-
moved the bandage from
his eyes, and bade him sew
the mangled limbs together.

Mustapha obeyed her
orders, and having received
other two pieces of gold,
was led blindfolded the
same way back.

Morgiana then covered





the body with a winding-
sheet, sent for the undertaker to make ready for the funeral,
and Cassim was duly buried.

Ali Baba now removed his few goods, and all the gold
coin that he had brought from the cavern, to the house of his
dead brother, in which he took up his abode; and Cassim’s
widow received every kind attention both from Ali Baba and
from his wife.

After some months had passed, the troop of robbers again
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 17

visited their retreat in the forest, and were very much
surprised to find the body taken away from the cave, while
everything else remained as before. “We are found out,”
said the captain, “and we shall be undone if we do not take
speedy measures to prevent our ruin. Which of you, my
brave comrades, will undertake to search out the villain who
knows our secret ?”

One of the boldest of the troop stepped forward and
offered himself, and was accepted, on the following terms—
namely, that if he succeeded, he was to be made second in
command of the troop; but if he brought false news, he
_ was to be put to death.

The bold robber readily agreed to the bargain, and having
disguised himself, he went on to the city. He reached it
about daybreak, and found the cobbler Mustapha in his
stall, which was always open before any other shop in the
town.

“Good-morrow, friend,” said the robber as he passed the
stall; “you rise betimes, old as you are. I should think you
_ could scarcely see to work by this light.”

“Indeed, sir,” said the cobbler, “old as I am I do not
want for good eyesight, as you must needs believe when I
tell you I sewed a dead body together the other day where
I had not so good a light as I have now.” »

“A dead body!” said the robber, who had thus luckily
met the very man who could tell him what he wanted to
know. “However, you do not wish to make me believe
that the people of your city do impossible things.”

“TI tell you,” said Mustapha in a loud and angry tone,

“TI sewed a dead body together with my own hands.”
2

a
18 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

“Then I suppose you can tell me also where you did
this wonderful thing.”

Upon this Mustapha told all about his being led blind-
folded to the house.

“Well, my friend,” said the robber, “’tis a fine story,
I confess, but not very easy to believe; however, if you
succeed in showing me
the house you talk of, I
will give you four pieces
of gold to make amends
for my unbelief.”

“T think,” said the
cobbler, after thinking
awhile, “ that if you were
to blindfold me, I would
remember every turning
we made; but with my
eyes open I am_ sure



I would never find it
out.”
Accordinely the rob-



ber covered Mustapha’s
eyes with his handker-
chief. The latter led him through some of the principal
streets, and stopping by Cassim’s door, said, “Here it is;
I went no further than this house.”

The robber thereupon marked the door with a piece of
chalk, and giving Mustapha four pieces of gold, sent him
away.

Shortly after the thief and Mustapha had quitted the
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 19

door, Morgiana, coming from market, saw the little white
mark of chalk on the door, and thinking that something
was wrong, directly marked four doors on the one side and
five on the other side of her master’s in exactly the same
manner, without telling any one of it.

The robber meantime went back to his troop, and
boasted greatly of his success. His captain and comrades
praised his cleverness, and being well armed, they went
to the town in different dresses, and
in separate parties of three and four
together.

It was agreed among them that they
were to meet in the market-place at the
dusk of the evening, and that the cap-
tain and the robber who had found out
the house were to go there first to find
out to whom it belonged. Accordingly,
being arrived in the streets, and having
a lantern with them, they began to ex-
amine the doors, and were puzzled and



put out when they found that ten doors
were marked exactly alike. The robber
who was the captain’s guide could not say one word to
explain the mystery; and when the troop got back to the
forest, his enraged companions ordered him to be put to
death.

Another now offered himself on the same terms as the
former; and having bribed Mustapha, and discovered the
house, he made a mark with dark red chalk upon the door
in a part that was not likely to be noticed, and carefully
20 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

examined the surrounding doors to be certain that no such
mark was upon any one of them.

But nothing could escape the prying eyes of Morgiana.
Scarcely had the robber gone when she discovered the red
mark; and getting some red chalk, she marked seven doors
on each side precisely in the same place and in the same
manner.

The robber, .priding himself highly on the care he had
taken, led his captain to the spot; but great indeed was his
dismay when he found it impossible to say which, among
fifteen houses marked exactly alike, was the right one. The
captain, furious at being cheated a second time, returned. with
the troop to the forest, and the second robber was also put
to death.

The captain, having thus lost two of his troop, judged that
their hands were more active than their heads in such work,
and he made up his mind to employ no other of them, but to
go himself upon the business.

Accordingly he went to the city, and spoke with the
cobbler Mustapha, who for six pieces of gold readily did
the same work for him as he had done for the two other
strangers ; and the captain, much wiser than his men, did not
amuse himself with setting a mark upon the door, but looked
carefully at the house, counted the number of its windows,
and passed by it very often, to be certain that he should
know it again.

He then returned to the forest and ordered his troop to
go into the town, and buy nineteen mules and thirty-eight
large leathern jars, one full of oil and the rest empty.

In two or three days the jars were brought in, and all
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 21

things were in readiness. The captain put into each jar a
man fully armed. The jars were rubbed on the outside with
oil, and the covers had holes bored in them for the men to
breathe through. He then loaded his mules} and in the habit
of an oil-merchant entered the town in the dusk of the even-
ing. He went to the street where Ali Baba dwelt, and found
him sitting in the porch of his house. “Sir,” said he to Ali

ee



Baba, “I have brought this oil a great way to sell, and I am
too late for this day’s market. As I am a stranger in this
town, will you be kind enough to let me put my mules into
your court-yard, and direct me where I may lodge to-night ?”

Ali Baba, who was a good-natured man, welcomed the
pretended oil-merchant very kindly, and offered him a bed in
22 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

his own house; and having ordered the mules to be unloaded
in the yard and properly fed, he asked his guest to supper.
The captain, having seen the jars placed ready in the yard,
followed Ali Baba into the house, and, after supper, was shown
to the chamber where he was to sleep.

It happened that Morgiana was obliged to sit up later
that night than usual to get ready her master’s bathing-linen
for the following morning ; and while she was busy about the
fire, her lamp went out, and there was no more oil in the
house. /

After thinking what she could possibly do for a light,
she thought of the thirty-eight jars in the yard, and resolved
to take a little oil out of one of them for her lamp. She
took her oil-pot in her hand. When she went up to the first
jar, the robber within said, “Is it time, captain?” Any other
slave, perhaps, on hearing the voice of a man from an oil-jar,
would have screamed out; but Morgiana had her wits about
her, and replied softly, “No, not yet; lie still till I call you.”
She passed on to each of the jars, receiving the same question
and giving the same answer, till she arrived at the last, which
was full of oil. i

Morgiana was now quite sure that this was a plot-of the
robbers to murder her master Ali Baba, so she ran back to
the kitchen, and brought out a large kettle; which she filled
with oil, and set on a great wood-fire; and as soon as it
boiled she poured into each jar enough of the boiling oil to
kill the man within it.

Having done this, she put out her fire and lamp, and crept
softly to her own room.

The captain of the robbers, hearing everything quiet in
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 23

the house, and seeing no light anywhere, arose and went down
into the yard to gather his men. Coming to the first jar,
he noticed the smell of the boiling oil. He ran hastily to the
rest, and found every one
of his troop put to death
in the same manner. Full
of rage at having failed
in his plan, he forced the
lock of a-door that led to
a garden, and made his
escape over the walls.

On the following
morning Morgiana told
her master, Ali Baba, of
his wonderful escape from
the pretended oil - mer-
chant and his gang of
robbers. Ali Baba at first
could scarcely believe her
tale; but when he saw
the robbers dead in the
jars, he could not praise
her courage and wisdom
enough, and without let-
ting any one else into the



secret, he and Morgiana





the next night buried the
thirty-seven thieves in a deep trench at the bottom of the gar-
den. As he had no use for the jars and the mules, they were
sent from time to time to the different markets and were sold.
24 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

While Ali Baba took these steps to prevent the public
from knowing how he came by his riches in so short a time,
the captain of the forty robbers went back to the forest in
ereat trouble; and in his sorrow at not meeting with the
success he had promised himself, he entered the cave, not
being able, all the way from the town, to decide what to do
to Ali Baba.

When he awoke the next morning, he dressed himself,
as he had proposed, so as to suit the plan he had in his head,
and went to the town and took a lodging in a khan. And
thinking that there would be a great noise in the town
because of what had happened at Ali Baba’s, he asked his
host in the course of their talking what news there was in
the city. Thereupon the innkeeper told him a great many
things which had nothing to do with his affairs. He thought
from this that Ali Baba kept this affair so secret for fear
that people should know where the treasure lay, and the
means of coming at it, and because he knew that his life
would be sought on account of it; and this made him the
more anxious to get rid of so dangerous a person.

The next thing the captain had to do was to get a horse
to carry a great many sorts of rich stuffs and fine linen to his
lodging, which he did by making a great many journeys to
the forest, but with the greatest care, so as to conceal the
place whence he brought them. In order to sell the goods,
he took a shop which happened to be opposite to Cassim’s,
which Ali Baba’s son had not long occupied. He took upon
him the name of Cogia Houssian, and as a new-comer was,
according to custom, very civil and polite to all the other
merchants about him. He tried to be friendly with Al
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 25

Baba’s son, more particularly when, shortly after he was
settled, he recognized Ali Baba, who came to see his son, and
often stopped to talk with him, as he was accustomed to do;
and when he was gone he learned from his son who he was.
He grew more and more attentive to the young man, made him
small presents, and often asked him to dine and sup with him.

One day after dinner Ali Baba’s son and Cogia Houssian



met as they had arranged, and took their walk. On the way
back, Ali Baba’s son led Cogia Houssian through the street
where his father lived ; and when they came to the house, he
stopped and knocked at the door. “This, sir,” said he, “is
the house of my father, who is so much interested in our
friendship that he wishes to know you; and I wish you to
add this pleasure to those I already owe to you.”
26 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

The artful Cogia Houssian would not too hastily accept
this invitation, but pretended he was not fond of going into
company, and that he had business which needed his pres-
ence at home. These excuses only made Ali Baba’s son the
more eager to take him to his father’s house; and after being
pressed again and again, the merchant agreed to sup at Ali
Baba’s the following evening.









le

A most excellent supper was provided, which Morgiana
cooked in her best manner. As was her usual custom, she
carried in the first dish herself. The moment she drew aside
the curtain to enter, her eyes fell upon Cogia Houssian, whom
she at once knew to be the pretended oil-merchant. The
prudent Morgiana did not tell any one what she had found out,
but sent the other slave into the kitchen, and waited at table
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 27

herself ; and while Cogia Houssian was drinking, she saw that
he had a dagger under his coat. After supper, when the dessert
and the wines were on the table, Morgiana went away and
dressed herself in the habit of a dancing-girl; she next called
Abdalla, a faithful slave, to play on his tabor while she danced.







As soon as she appeared at the parlour door, her master,

who was very fond of seeing her dance, ordered her to come
in and dance before the guest. Though not really pleased
with the dancing, Cogia Houssian pretended to be so for fear
of discovering himself, while in fact he wished Morgiana any-
where else but there, and was quite alarmed lest he should
lose his chance of murdering Ali Baba and his son..
28 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.

Morgiana danced several dances with the utmost grace’
and cleverness, and then drawing a dagger from her girdle’
she did many wonderful things with it, sometimes present-
ing the point to one, then to another, and then seeming to
strike it into her own bosom. Suddenly she paused, and
holding the dagger in the right hand, held-her left to her
master as if begging some money; upon which Ali Baba and
his son each gave her a small piece of money. She then
turned to the pretended Cogia Houssian, and when he was
putting his hand into his purse, she plunged the dagger into
his heart.

Ali Baba and his son were frightened at this action.
“Unhappy wretch!” cried Ali Baba, “what have you done
to ruin me and my family?” ;

“Tt was to save you, not to ruin you,” answered Morgiana ;
“for see here,” she said, opening Cogia Houssian’s robe and
showing the dagger, “what an enemy you had taken into
your house. Look well at him, and you will find him to be
both the pretended oil-merchant and the captain of the gang
of forty thieves; and what would you have more to persuade
you of his wicked design? I suspected him before I saw
him, and as soon as you told me you had such a guest,
I saw him, and you now find that my suspicion was not
groundless.”

Ali Baba, who now saw that Morgiana had saved his life
a second time, took her in his arms. “ Morgiana,” he said, “I
gave you your liberty, and then I promised you that my
gratitude should not stop there, but that I would soon com-
plete it. The time is now come for me to give you a proof

22

of it by making you my daughter-in-law.” Then turning
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 29

to his son, he said, “My son, I believe you to be so good a
child that you will not refuse Morgiana for your wife. You
see that when Cogia Houssian sought your friendship his real
wish was to take away my life; and if he had succeeded,
there is no doubt that you also would have been put to death.
Consider that by marrying Morgiana you marry the support
of my family and of your own.”

The son, far from showing any dislike, readily agreed to
the marriage, not only because he would not disobey his
father, but because he really loved Morgiana.

After this they buried the captain of the robbers with
his friends, and they did it so quietly that nobody knew any-
thing of it till a great many years after.

A few days afterwards Ali Baba held a great feast in
honour of the marriage of his son and Morgiana; and every
one who knew Morgiana said she was worthy of her- good
fortune, and highly praised her master’s kindness towards her.
TA HISTORY OF TOM THUMB.



N the days when the good old King Arthur was able
To feast knights each day at his famous Round Table,
There lived in a cottage—it matters not where,
Indeed I don’t know, and I’m sure you don’t care—
A thrifty young farmer; and he and his wife
Knew little of trouble, and nothing of strife.
It happened one day that the lady felt sad,
And she cried, “Oh, I wish that a baby I had!”

“Have your wish then!” a voice from her pocket replied.
Up went both her hands and her eyes opened wide,
And out of her pocket a fairy arose, ‘

In what shape or form there is no one who knows,
But just as her handkerchief fell to the ground,
She heard in her pocket another strange sound :

“Mamma! dear mamma! see—see—I have come,

Just the length and the thickness of dear papa’s thumb!”
Mamma said, “How charming! now we are so blest;
But, child, you'll take cold, you have come quite undrest.
From those pea-pods the stuff for a coat you can choose ;
Two pips of this apple will make you nice shoes ;

And if a good boy you will promise to be,
Knickerbockers I'll scrape from that carrot, you see.”
THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB. 31

Just then to the cottage the fairy queen came,

And said to the lady, “ Your boy I will name.”

She waved her white wand and said, “ Boy, hither come ;

Henceforth and for ever your name is Tom THUMB.”
“Oh, what a nice name!” his fond mother said ;

‘I am glad he is named—he can now go to bed.

With a bean-pod a very snug crib we can make,

And for curtains the skins of two cherries [ll take.”

So Tom Thumb went to bed without crying, each night,
And got up by a ladder as soon as ’twas light.

Tom went with his mother to see a dun cow:

The leaf of a thistle he took for a bough ;

He sat down upon it, but shocking to tell,

The cow seized the thistle, and Tom Thumb as well.

To the cow’s upper jaw Tom manfully clung ;

He kicked her front teeth, and he tickled her tongue.
The cow could not ask him what he was about,

So she opened her mouth and she let him jump out.

To his mother he ran, told his tale, and she soon

Gave him a bath in an old silver spoon.

How to play games with cherry-stones Tommy soon knew,
For the longer he lived the more cunning he grew ;
But Tom was dishonest, I’m sorry to say,

For he stole cherry-stones in a curious way :

Into the bags of his playmates he crept,

And there sometimes till morning he quietly slept,
Then helped himself, so that with cherry-stones he
Seemed always provided with plenty to be.

A boy caught him one day in his bag stealing stones,
So he fastened and shook it, not heeding Tom’s groans ;
2

THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB.

Then he let out our hero, who felt very sore,

And said that he never would steal any more.

Tom’s mother was mixing a pudding one day ;—

He fell into the batter, and sprawling he lay ;

He was bound in a cloth and put into the pot,

But he soon began kickine—the water was hot.

The pudding’s bewitched,” said his mother, “so I

Will give it to Tinker, he is now passing by.”

The tinker was pleased; but he soon was afraid,

For Tom -in the pudding a dismal noise made.

Said the tinker, “ Of puddings, this pudding is worst.”
And he threw it right over the hedge, where it burst ;
Then Tommy ran home, so ill, it is said,

He was bathed in a tea-cup and put into bed.

Two days after that, Tom was seized by a crow,

Which bore him away to grim Giant Grumbow.

The giant exclaimed, “ What a queer little fly!

Pll put it in water, and there let it die.”

Then into the river poor Tom Thumb was thrown,

And made a small splash like a round pebble stone.

He was seized by a salmon which swallowed him whole;
But just then a fisherman named Simon Cole

Caught the salmon, and sent it without much delay

To the King, who for salmon would handsomely pay.
The salmon was cut; but it made the cook stare,

For as no doubt you guess our small hero was there.
When King Arthur saw Tom, he was filled with delight,
And he and the Queen kept.awake all the night ;

But before they did that, the King asked Tom his name,
And of course Tom had read of King Arthur’s great fame ;

34 THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB.

So Tom told him his name, and his history also,

And said, “I should like to my mother to go.”
“Then go,” said the King; “but, pray, come again soon.”

Tom said, “I'll be with you to-morrow at noon.”

Tom did as he promised, but shocking to tell,

Into hot porridge made for the King, Tommy fell.

A maid took him out. “Poor fellow!”
“J think in a mouse-trap much safer you'll be.”

said she,



The maid quite forgot about Tom in the trap,

Till the King, having heard of his awkward mishap,
THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB. 35

Sent two or three pages of honour to know

Why Tom Thumb was kept in the kitchen below.

The servants all then were, of course, much afraid,
And went down on their knees, when Jemima the maid
Recollected the trap, and to Tom Thumb she went,

To tell him the message King Arthur had sent,

And begged for her pardon he’d do what he could.
Tom Thumb very kindly replied that he would.

So as soon as before great King Arthur he came,

He said, “ Pardon the servants, they are not to blame.
And as for Jemima, no maid have I seen

So thoughtful, and civil, and steady, and clean ;

Yea, all that she does is so worthy of praise,

That I hope great King Arthur her wages will raise.”
The King was so pleased that he could not say no,

But turned to Earl-Marshal and said, “ My lord, go
Tell Jemima the maid she has nothing to fear,

Her wages are raised thirteen shillings a year.”

Then the Earl-Marshal bowed himself down to the ground *
And said, “ My lord King, there is not to be found

Such a generous Monarch throughout all the land;

Most gladly I’ll do what you're pleased to command.”

Tom Thumb so delighted the King and the Queen,

That wherever they went he was sure to be seen.

In the King’s waistcoat-pocket he sometimes would loll,
Sometimes he would lounge in the Queen’s parasol ;

A ladder he had to get into her lap,

And he sometimes would hide in the bows of her cap.
Once a captain came in who had on a new coat;

Tom Thumb just to tease him jumped right down his throat.
THE, HISTORY OF TOM THUMB.

The captain, alarmed, sent for thirty strong men ;
By the time they arrived, Tom had jumped back again.
The captain was vexed, but what could he do?
The King and Queen laughed, he was forced to laugh too;
But he said to Earl-Marshal, “The next time I come,
Tll keep far enough from that little Tom Thumb.”
King Arthur, for fun, made Tom Thumb a knight ;
He was armed with a sword, and was taught how to fight.
Instead of a steed, he rode a white mouse
‘Which knew all the corners and holes in the house.
One day a great cat came rushing at Tom,
But he told her to go to the place she came from.
She did not move on—Tom thought she would scratch,
Or that perhaps she might fancy his white mouse to catch ;
So he drew his good sword, so sharp and so bright—
Puss ran with dismay and half fainted from fright.
As the King, and the Queen, and the court slept one day,
- The fairy Queen Mab came and fetched Tom away.
In the land of the fairies he dwells for some years,
And then once again in old England appears.
' But the times are now changed, and King Arthur is dead,
And Thunstone, another king, reigns in his stead.
Tom went to the palace without much ado;
He was shown to King Thunstone, who said, “Who are you?”
Tom bowed to the King, and the Queen his fair bride,
And thus in his musical voice he replied,—
s My name is Tom Thumb,
From the fairies I come.
When King Arthur shone,
This court was my own;
=—T

THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB. 3





In me he delighted,

By him I was knighted:
Did you never hear of
Sir Thomas Thumb ?”
38 THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB.

The King said, “Sir Thomas, I hope you'll agree

To live here, to play with the Queen and with me.”

So Tom went to the palace and lived at his ease,

And tried how the King and the Queen he could please.
A carriage he had, out of orange-peel made ;

Six white mice which drew it his orders obeyed,

And day after day Tom Thumb might be seen,

With his carriage and mice, near the King and the Queen.
But the Queen soon got jealous, and said, “I declare
Tom Thumb has a carriage as well as a chair ;

When I asked for a carriage, I met with reproach,

And was told I must use the old family coach.

I don’t know, I’m sure, to what things may come,

If the King spends so much on that little Tom Thumb.”
So she went to the King, and her face was quite red.

“Dear! what is the matter?” the King to her said.

“Oh, I don’t like to tell, but I must tell,” said she,

“That Tom Thumb behaves, oh, so rudely to me.”

The King said, “I thought he was always polite.”
Said the Queen, “ He is civil when you are in sight;
But oh, I so hate him, I wish he were dead.”

“To oblige you,” the King said, “ we'll cut off his head.”
So he sent out his soldiers to find Sir Tom Thumb;
The trumpets they blew, and they beat the big drum,
And if any boys out in the street asked them why,
They answered, “ Because a brave knight is to die.”
Tom heard it and said, “I don’t know as to that,

Ere they cut off my head, I will put on my hat.”
Tom ran to his mother, and told her his life
Was in danger because of the King’s jealous wife.
THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB. 39



So his mother advised him to lie still in bed,

In order to save both his clothes and his head.

*
40 THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB.

So Tom went to bed, and he slept for ten days,
And to sleep longer still he tried all sorts of ways.
At last he was tired of keeping awake,
So he said, “I'll get up, and a walk I will take.”
He walked for two days, and for three or four nights
Saw all sorts of people and all sorts of sights.
Then he thought he must rest, or his strength would soon fail,
And he went to lie down in the shell of a snail.
Tom soon fell asleep, but somebody spoke,
And Tom, in alarm for his safety, awoke.
He listened—'twas only some children at play.
Said he, “I had better keep out of their way ;
They are going to school, and when they are there
To find better lodging will be my first care.”
~ Just then came a little girl seven years old,
Her frock was of silk trimmed with spangles of gold;
She took up the shell in which Tom Thumb was hid,
And little she thought of the mischief she did ;
For she threw up the shell on a very high bank,
And amid the long grass, with Tom in it, it sank.
The bank to Tom Thumb such a mountain appeared,
That he never would get to the bottom, he feared.
“Tt will take me a week to go down it,” said he;
“And when I am down there, what good will it be ?
I'll stop where I am, till a lark comes this way,
Then Tl mount on its back and fly quite away.”
Just then as he spoke, he saw near the bank
A friend of the Queen’s—a Duke of high rank.
“T am caught now at last,” said poor Tom in a fright,
“And I much want to sleep with my head on to-night.
THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB. 41



But how to escape I am sure I can’t teli—
Ah! there’s a fine butterfly close to the shell!
42 THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB.

Til jump on its back, and be off in a trice—

A ride on a butterfly’s back must be nice.”

The Duke saw Sir Thomas just taking his flight,

So he called to him kindly, “Sir Thomas, good-night.”

“O Duke,” said our hero, “I guess what you mean ;
Good-night, sir, and give my respects to the Queen.”
Then up flew the butterfly—Tom with him went,

But the butterfly could not make out what it meant,

That without asking leave any mortal should dare

To jump on his back, and take a ride there.

So he flew over houses and churches and trees,

And Tom soon bégan to feel not quite at ease.

The butterfly tried to make Tom Thumb fall down ;

In a puddle he threw him, that there he might drown.
Tom Thumb thought that drowning would not do him good,
So he called out for help quite as loud as he could.

And whilst he was shouting two soldiers came by :

“Sir Thomas,” said they, “the King says you must die ;
But you know, it is said, whilst there’s life there is hope,
And ’tis better to wait for the axe or the rope
Than to drown in a puddle, so now out you come,

And we shall get something for finding Tom Thumb.”
When they came to the palace, the King had gone out ;
The Queen heard a noise, and asked what ’twas about.
They told her that little Tom Thumb had been found—

“ Before he was lost,’ said the Queen, “I'll be bound ;
The King likes that dwarf, and will not have him killed.
But Pl let him know that I too am self-willed.

- Put Tom in a mouse-trap, and there let him stay,
Give him nothing to eat or to drink all the day.”
THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB. 43

So there in the trap poor Tom Thumb was kept,
And, more from vexation than hunger, he wept.
The Queen’s kitten thought that a mouse or a rat
In the trap had been caught, so she gave it a pat.



She was rather surprised when our hero she saw,
And she opened the trap by a dab of her paw.
Once more Tom was free; but a spider came by,
And taking the knight for a blue-bottle fly,
44 THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB.

Sprang forward to seize him; when our brave little knight
Stood his ground, drew his sword, and made ready to fight.
But the spider drew near, and his poisonous breath
So affected poor Tom that it soon caused his death.
“He fell on the ground where he lately had stood,
And the spider sucked up the last drop of his blood.”
The King and the court into deep mourning went ;
Two days and three nights in lamenting they spent.
Then under a rose-bush they buried Tom Thumb—
His monument cost them a very large sum ;
For on it his name, death, and doings were told—
Jt had this inscription in letters of gold:

“ Here lies Tom Thumb, King Arthur’s knight,
Who died by a spider’s cruel bite.
He was well known in Arthur’s court,
Where he afforded gallant sport ;
He rode at tilt and tournament,
And on a mouse a-hunting went.
Alive, he filled the court with mirth ;
His death to sorrow soon gave birth.
Wipe, wipe your eyes and shake your head,
And ery, ‘Alas! Tom Thumb is dead.’”




THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD.



ONG ago, in fairy times, there lived a king and queen

who were very happy, having nothing to complain

of but the want of children to share their joy. At last it
pleased Heaven to present them with a daughter. At the
birth of this princess there was great joy all over the
46 THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD.

kingdom, and at the christening seven fairies: were asked
to stand as godmothers, in the hope that each would offer
the little princess some gift, as was always done in those
days; by which means she would be adorned with every
good thing that could be thought of or wished for.

The christening being over, a grand feast was prepared
to entertain and thank the fairies. Before each of them was
laid a splendid dish, with a spoon, a knife, and a fork of
pure gold, richly carved. Just as they were going to sit
down, in came a very old fairy whom they had not invited,
because for nearly fifty years she had been shut up in a
tower, and she was supposed to be either dead or in a
trance. ‘The king immediately ordered a plate to be laid for
her, but he could not give her such a case of gold as the
others had, because he had only had seven made—one for
each of the fairies. The aged fairy, thinking that she was

slighted, muttered many threats betwixt her teeth, which
were overheard by one of the young fairies who sat beside
her. Judging that the old fairy might give the little princess
some fatal gifts, the young fairy, as soon as she rose from
the table, hid herself behind the hangings of the room, that
she might speak last and undo as much as possible the evil
which the old fairy might intend.

Meanwhile the fairies began to bestow their gifts on the
princess. The youngest gave her great beauty; another gave
her wit; a third added grace to everything that she did;
a fourth said that she would sing perfectly; a fifth, that
she would excel in dancing; and a sixth, that she would
play on all kinds of musical instruments in the most charm-

ing manner. The old fairy’s turn coming next, she went
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD. AT





forward, and with a shaking head, more from spite than
from age, she said that the princess would have her hand

pierced with a spindle, and that she would die of the
wound.
48 THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD.

These awful words made the whole company tremble,
and few there were who did not shed tears.

At this instant the young fairy came out from behind the
curtains and spoke these words aloud: “Be comforted, O
king and queen, and be assured that your daughter shall not
die of this evil. It is true that I have not power to undo
what my elder has done. The princess shall indeed pierce
her hand with a spindle; but instead of dying, she shall
only fall into a deep sleep, which shall last one hundred
years, at the end of which a king’s son will come and
- awake her.”

Yet the king, to turn aside the evil words spoken by the
old fairy, sent forth a royal order whereby every person was
forbidden, on pain of death, to spin with a distaff or spindle,
or even to keep them in their houses.

About fifteen or sixteen years after, the king and queen
being gone on a visit to one of their summer palaces, the
young princess, to amuse herself, went over the rooms of the
palace in the froliesome spirit of youth, and at length climbed
up one of the turrets, where in a little garret she found an
old woman spinning with the distaff. This good woman had
never heard of the king’s order against the spindle.

“What are you doing, Goody ?” said the princess.

“T am spinning, my pretty child,” replied the old woman,
not knowing who she was.

“Oh, that is very pretty!” said the princess; “how do
you do it? Give it to me, that I may see if I can do so.”

The old woman, to please the child, granted her request.
She had no sooner taken it into her hand than, being some-
what hasty and careless, or because the spiteful fairy had
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD. 49

ordered it, the spindle pierced her hand, when she fell down
in a swoon.

The good old woman became alarmed, and not knowing
what to do, called aloud for help, when a number of servants















flocked around the princess, trying every means to restore
her, but all to no purpose.
The good fairy who had saved her life by causing her

to sleep for one hundred years was in the kingdom of
4
50 THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD.

Matakin, twelve hundred miles off, when this accident befell
the princess ; but she was instantly informed of it by a dwarf,
who had boots with which he could tread over seven leagues
of ground at a stride. The fairy left the kingdom at once,
and arrived at the palace in about an hour after in a fiery
chariot drawn by dragons.

The king handed her out of the chariot, and she appr oved
of everything he had done; but as she had great foresight,
she thought that when the princess should awake, she might
be puzzled.what to do on finding herself alone in this large
old palace. She therefore touched with her wand all the
ladies-in-waiting, maids of honour, ladies’-maids, gentlemen,
officers, stewards, cooks, scullions, footmen, guards, porters,
pages, etc.—in short, every one in the palace except the king
and queen; she likewise touched all the horses, with their
grooms, the great dog in the outer court, and the princess’s
little spaniel that lay beside her on the bed. No sooner
had she done so than they all fell into a sound sleep that
was to last till their mistress should awake, that they might
be ready to wait upon her when required. Even the spits
before the fire, on which partridges and pheasants were
roasting, seemed to fall asleep, as well as the fire itself.
All this was done in a moment, fairies being never long in
doing their spiriting.

The king and queen, having kissed their child without
waking her, left the palace, and put forth an order for-
bidding any one to come near the spot. This, however,
was needless, for in less than a quarter of an hour there
sprang up all around the park such a vast number of trees,
great and small bushes, briers, and brambles, twined one
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD. 51

within the other, that neither man nor beast could pass
through. Nothing could be seen but the tops of the towers
of the palace, and even these only from a good way off.
Indeed the fairy had given a wonderful example of her art,
in order that the princess, while she remained sleeping, might
be quite secure from prying eyes.

At the end of one hundred years the son of the king
who then reigned (but not of the same family as the sleep-
ing princess), being out a-hunting on that side of the country,
asked what these towers were, the tops of which he saw
in the midst of a great thick wood. Every one answered
according as they heard. Some said it was an old ruinous
castle haunted by spirits; others, that it was a place of
meeting for all the witches in the land; while the most
common opinion was that an ogre lived there who was in the
habit of stealing all the little children he could, that he might
eat them up at his leisure, without anybody being able to
follow him, as he himself only had the power to pass through
the wood. The prince did not know what to make of these
different accounts, when an aged countryman said, “May it
please your highness, it is about fifty years since I heard my
father tell what his father had told him—that there was
then in this castle a princess, the most beautiful that was
ever seen; that she must sleep there for a hundred years,
and would be awakened by a king’s son whose bride she
would become.”

The young prince was much excited at these words, and
with the hope of being himself the hero who was to end the
long fairy-sleep, resolved that moment to look into it and
find out how far the story might prove true. Scarce had
52 THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD.

he advanced towards the wood when all the great trees, the
bushes, and brambles gave way of their own accord to allow
him to pass through. He went up to the castle; but what
not a little surprised him was to find that none of his own































people were able to follow him, because the trees and bushes
closed the moment he passed between them. However, he
did not cease from going forward. He came into a large
outer courtyard, where everything he saw might have fright-

a
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD. 53

ened any one less brave than himself. There reigned all
over a frightful silence; the image of death was everywhere
present, for there was nothing to be seen but the’ bodies
of men and animals, all seeming to be dead. He, however,
very well knew by the jolly, rosy faces of the porters
that they were only asleep with their goblets in their
hands, plainly showing they all had fallen asleep in their
cups. He then crossed a court paved with marble, went
upstairs, and entered the guard-chamber, where the guards
were standing in their ranks with their guns upon their
shoulders, and snoring loudly. After that he went through
several rooms full of ladies and gentlemen-in-waiting, some
standing and others sitting, but all fast asleep. At last he
entered a chamber all gilt with gold. Here he saw upon a
splendid bed, the curtains of which were open, the finest
sight that ever he beheld



a princess who seemed to be
about sixteen years of age, and whose rare beauty had
in it something divine. He went near with fear and
trembling, and could not keep from bending his knee
before her.

Now the trance was at an end. The princess awoke,
and looked on him with eyes more tender than the first
view would seem to admit of “Is it you, my prince?
How long I’ve been waiting for you!” The prince, charmed
with these words and the manner in which they were spoken,
assured her that he loved her far better than himself. Their
meeting was so quiet that indeed they wept more than
they talked; there was very little speaking, but a great
deal of love. He was more at a loss than she was, and little
wonder, as she had time to think on what to say to him; for
54 THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD.

it is very probable, though the history mentions nothing of
it, that the good fairy during so long a sleep had given her
pleasant dreams. In short, they talked for about four hours
together, and yet said not half of what they had to say.









“In the meantime, the people of the palace having awoke
at the same time as the princess, each began to perform the
duties of his or her office; and as they were not all in love,
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY OF THE WOOD. 55

like their mistress, but were rather ready to die with hunger,
the lady-in-waiting grew very impatient, and told the prin-
cess that supper was served. The prince helped the prin-
cess to rise; for she was already dressed in splendid robes,
though his royal highness did not tell her that her clothes
were cut on the pattern of those of his great-grandmother,
which were long out of fashion. However, she looked not
less beautiful than if her dress had been more modern.

They went into the great hall of looking-glasses, where
they supped to the sound of delightful music. With fiddles
and spinet tunes were played about a century old. After
supper, and without losing any time, the chaplain joined the
pair in happy wedlock. The next day they left the old
castle, and returned to court, where the king was delighted
to welcome back the prince with his lovely bride, who was
thenceforth known, both by her own people and by those
who handed down the story to us, as the “Sleeping Beauty
of the Wood.”
LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD.



HE Lirrte Rep Ripinc-Hoop—such was the name
Of a nice little girl who lived ages ago ;
But listen, I pray you, and then how she came
Such a title to get you shall speedily know.

She lived in a village not far from a wood,

And her parents were all the relations she had,
Except her old grandmother, gentle and good,

Who to pet her and please her was always most glad.

Her grandmother made her a riding-hood, which
She was always to wear at such times as she could;
"Twas made of red cloth, so the poor and the rich
Used to call the child Little Red Riding-Hood.

Her mother, one day, said, “ Your granny is ill,
Go and see her—be sure not to loiter along ;
Your basket with cheese-cakes and butter I'll fill—
Now, be sure not to gossip, for that’s very wrong.

“Tf met by a stranger, be cautious, my child;
Do not hold conversation—just courtesy and say,
LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD. 57



‘I’m sent on an errand.’ Do not be beguiled

By strange folks and smooth words from your straight
path to stray.”

Not far had she gone through the wood, when she met
With a wolf, who most civilly bade her good-day.
58 LITTLE, RED RIDING-HOOD.



He talked so politely, he made her forget
She was not to converse with strange folks on the way

“To see your dear granny you're going,” said he,—
“T have known her some years, so a visit I'll pay ;
If what you have told me is true, I shall see.”
And the wolf then ran off without further delay.
LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD. 59

The maiden forgot her fond mother’s advice,

As some pretty wild-flowers she gathered with glee
To take to her granny. She said, “Twill be nice

If‘ take them to granny ; how pleased she will be!”

The wolf hastened on to the grandmother’s cot.
“Who is there?” cried the dame. “’Tis your grandchild,”
he said.
“Pull the bobbin!” said she. Soon entrance he got,
And devoured the poor helpless dame in her bed.

He scarcely had finished his horrible feast,

When the Little Red Riding-Hood came to the door.
She tapped very gently ; the ravenous beast

Cried out, “ Oh, I’m so hoarse! oh, my throat is so sore!”

Then Little Red Riding-Hood said, “Granny dear,
It is I who am knocking, so please let me in.”
“Pull the bobbin,” the wolf said; “I’m glad you are here—
You bring me a supper,” he said with a grin.

When Riding-Hood entered, the wolf said, “I’m weak ;
I have pain in my limbs, and much pain in my head:
Be quiet, dear grandchild, don’t ask me to speak,
But undress yourself quickly and come into bed.”

She quickly undressed, and she got into bed,
But she could not refrain from expressing her fears.
“Oh, grandmother dear,” the maid timidly said,
“T have never before seen such very large ears!”
60 LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD.



“The better to hear you,” the wolf then replied ; -

But Red Riding-Hood heard what he said with
surprise,

And trembling with fear, “Oh, my granny !” she cried,

“You have very large teeth! and what great flashing
eyes!”
LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD. 61













“The better to see you !the better to bite!
I am not your old granny, I'll soon let you
see—
I ate her to-day, and I'll eat you to-night ;
By-and-by you shall make a nice supper
for me.”
62 LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD.

But just as he said so, the door open flew,
And in rushed some brave men who had heard all that
passed :
The blood-thirsty wolf then they speedily slew,
And saved Little Red Riding-Hood’s life at the last.






HOP: 07 MY “LHUMB: AND: "THE
SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.



NCE upon a time there lived in a small cottage near
() the edge of a great forest a man with his wife and
six sons. They were very poor. The man had once been a
rich nobleman, but his gambling and his drinking had brought
him to poverty; and now he was obliged to cut faggots in
the forest for fuel, in order to keep up the scanty food supply
for the family. As I have told you, he had six children, all
boys. One of them was very little, too little to be called a
dwarf: for although at this time he might be about eight
years of age, it is said that he could hide himself in his
father’s shoe; and as he always danced about so nimbly, he
was named “Hop,” widened to “Hop o’ My Thumb,” owing
to his small size. Nevertheless, his small body held a large
heart; he was very loving and kind in his nature, good-
64 HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.

tempered, and wise beyond his years. Moreover, he had the
rare power of making-others merry by his droll speech and
queer antics. y

One night, when the children were all in bed and sup-
posed to be fast asleep, little Hop was wide awake, and was
listening to what his father and mother were saying as they
sat by the fireside. The father was grieving bitterly for the
hard times, and was sorry that he was no longer able to get
enough of bread for themselves and the children ; indeed they
were likely to starve. The father, who was hard-hearted,
proposed to his wife that in the morning they should take
the children to the great forest and lose them there.

“There is no other way, and no help for it,” said he. “I
cannot bear the thought of looking upon them dying of hunger
at home.”

The mother, sobbing, said, “No indeed; if the poor dear
children are to die, I will die with them.”

But the father was firm in his purpose.

There was no sleep for little Hop for thinking over what
he had heard. As soon as daylight began to appear he arose,
and, slipping on his clothes, left the house very quietly, and
betook himself to a certain brook, where he filled his pockets
with small white pebbles. He returned to the house and
crept quietly to bed again before his parents were up. Soon,
however, they all awoke and got up. After having eaten
of a scanty breakfast, they: were ordered by the father, in a
eruff voice, to “Come along and let us set to work!” This
was a pretence of binding the faggots into bundles. They then
set out on their journey to the darkest part of the forest,
which was a long way off. On entering it, little Hop took
HOP 0 MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS. 65

care to fall behind the others, and dropped a white pebble
here and there along the path. For awhile they all seemed
busy, the father chopping the faggots, the mother and her
boys making them into bundles, till at length the father told
his sons that they should now have a romp, “for,” said
he, “all work and no play will make you dull boys.” He
therefore told them to form a ring by joining hands, keeping
their little brother in the middle and dancing round him.



The time had now arrived for leaving the children in the
wood, and while they danced the father dragged his wife
by force out of the wood. Getting tired of jingo-ring, the
children sat down to rest, when, to their alarm, neither
father nor mother could be seen. They began to feel in a
bad case ; but little Hop cheered his brothers by telling them
that if they would follow him he would lead them out of
the wood. So he led the way, following the track of the

white pebbles. On their way home they were met by their
b :
66 HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.

mother, into whose arms they joyfully threw themselves,
The father put on a cheerful face, and pretended to be very
glad to see them again, for he thought, really thought to him-
self, “As easy done another day as to-day.” The other day
soon came round, which heard the father, in angry tones,
calling upon his children to get up, as they ought by this time
to have been in the wood and at work. Poor little Hop o’
My Thumb jumped out of bed, and, hurrying on his clothes,
was about to slip out to the brook for another pocketful of



white pebbles, when he was caught by his father, who sternly
ordered him and the others to be quick with their breakfast
a breakfast that was too easily and too quickly eaten—
and to follow him. The father that day took a different
road, and went to the forest by a more, roundabout way. At
breakfast, Hop o’ My Thumb had slipped a piece of his bread
into his pocket, thinking that that would do as well as the
pebbles he could not get. On entering the wood he again
fell behind, and scattered bread-crumbs on the path, and took


HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS. 67

notice of particular trees. On reaching a thick, shady part
of the wood, the father, on some pretence or other, again
slipped away from his children. And again Hop o’ My
Thumb cheered his brothers with the ery of, “Come along; I
know the way out.” But our little hero was vexed to find
that the birds had eaten all the crumbs.

Now little Hop’s heart was brave as well as kind. His
next plan was to climb to the top of the tallest tree, that he
might see how the land lay. By the time he got to the top
of the tree darkness was coming on, which enabled him to
see a light in a window a long way off. They travelled on
and on in the direction of the light, till they came to a very
large house or castle, in a window of which shone. the very
light Hop had seen from the tree-top. Going up to a very
large door, they knocked at it with a large stone taken from
the roadway, as the knocker was far out of their reach. The
door was opened by a woman who looked good-natured, and
who in a kindly way asked what they wanted. Hop o’ my
Thumb told her their sad story, and begged her to give them
some food and a night’s lodging. The woman shook her
head.

“My poor children!” she said, “you know not what you
ask ; and you could not have come to a worse place than this.
My husband is what is called a giant-ogre, and if he were to find
you here, he would make short work in eating you all up.”

But Hop o’ My Thumb pleaded, “As we are all very
hungry,” would she be so kind as give them something to
eat? As has been said, she was a good-natured, kindly lady.
She could not withstand this appeal, but gave them some
food, telling them to eat it up quickly and be gone before her
68 HOP 0 MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.

husband came home. Here Hop again pleaded hard for a
night’s lodging, even in an outhouse or barn, as they were
afraid of wild beasts in the forest. ;

At this moment a loud snorting noise was heard outside.
The ogre’s wife started and turned pale.

“There he is!” she cried; “and in an angry mood too,
I know by his snorting. It is too late now for you to escape ;
what will be done? Quick, all of you! creep behind that
box there !”

No sooner had they got behind the great box than a ter-
ribly loud knock was heard on the door. On its being opened
the ogre stalked in with a heavy tread, stamping and snort-
ing, and sniffing the air.

“ Fee, faw, foe, fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman ;

Be he alive, or be he dead,
I'll grind his bones to make me bread !”

“Wife, what have you for supper, eh ?”

“T have a large roasted sheep,” she said.

“Ah! and what else?” he asked; “for I smell fresh meat.”

“Well,” said the wife, “it is the calf which I have just
killed.”

With this answer he seemed satisfied, and sat down to
supper. He was not long in eating up the sheep, only
giving his wife some of the bones to pick. When he had
finished eating, he poured some kind of liquid from a great
bottle into a cup that would hold, as some say, about two
gallons, He then rested with his elbows on the table, when
the sniff-sniffing began again. Rising up, still sniffing, he
roared with a voice like thunder,—
HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS. 69

“T know there is something else in the house: I smell
fresh meat !”

With that he took his huge knife in his hand, and went
smelling about the room till he came to the box behind which
the six brothers were in hiding.

« Aha!” he roared with a voice that was terrible to hear.







“Come out of there!” The poor boys, half dead with fright,
crept out and stood trembling before him. “Aha!” cried
the ogre; “oho!” laughed the ogre; “is it so? Why, what
have we here?” Stooping down from the box on which he
sat, he lifted up poor little trembling Hop between his great
finger and thumb. “Well, this is a rare and sweet morsel,
70 HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.

to be sure!” grinned the ogre, showing his blue-steel teeth,
which were hideous to behold, as he was going to pop the
boy into his large mouth.

Poor little Hop cried loudly for mercy, while his brothers,
going down on their knees before the giant, begged him to
spare their little Hoppy; at the same time his wife, laying
both hands on his great arm, said,—

“What are you going to do? You had a good supper
but a few minutes ago, so you cannot be hungry already ;
besides, you -see how lean they look. I am going to fatten
them up and make them into a pie for your dinner the day
after to-morrow.”

The idea of seeing the six boys made into a nice pie
seemed to please the ogre very much. The woman then
beckoned the boys to a closet where they were to sleep.
saying,—

“There now! didn’t I tell you what you had to expect
if you stayed here? I’ve done the best I could for you. I
will do more if I can. There, now, go to sleep.”

That was more easily said than done, for sleep, in their
sad case, was quite out of the question. So little Hop, who
did not like the idea of being baked in a pie, began to
think of some means of escape. He _ therefore told his
brothers not to be so down-hearted, but to lend him a hand
in trying to get out of the giant’s house as soon as they
knew the giant to be asleep. At length they heard loud
snoring, and when it had lasted some time they made sure
that the great giant-ogre was fast asleep. Although the
door of the closet was not. fastened, they knew or thought
they might have many difficulties to get over before reaching
HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS. 71

the outside of the house. By the help of the moon the
prisoners wandered through room after room, along passage
- after passage to the entrance-hall, where stood the great door,
which they found to be fastened. The lock had the key in
it, but at such a height that none of them could reach it. At
length Hop, with his clever head, put them on a plan: which
was, for three to stand in a stooping posture, with their
heads leaning on the door; and for the other two to mount
up and stand on the shoulders of the three, so that the two
pair of hands might reach the lock and turn the key. The
plan was successful, with Hop standing by to direct the work.

Having gained the outside, they breathed more freely.
Finding themselves in the open country, they set off at a
rapid pace toward home, the older brothers carrying Hop by
turns, because they knew that when the giant came to know
the state of matters he would be in a fearful passion, and
would run after them. Nor were their fears groundless, as
we shall shortly see. .

Meanwhile the giant had awoke, and smacking his lips
at the thought of the pie, he set about rubbing his steel
teeth with a file, and sharpening his great heavy knife. His
wife then rushed in with uplifted arms to tell him that the
closet was empty and the hall-door standing open. At this
the giant flew into a terrible rage.

“Here, wife!” he roared; “bring me my fairy boots—
my seven-leacue boots, quick! and I will soon catch the
rascals.”

Off then flew the giant-ogre to overtake and catch the
runaways; but as he had drunk too much the night before,
and was not quite sober (so the story goes), the boots, which
72 HOP 0 MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.

had been bewitched by a fairy, could not agree with their

wearer. When the giant wanted to go this way, the boots

went that way; when he wanted to go that way, they went

this way. So there was much making of circles in the air.

The tugging and struggling for the mastery soon began. to
- tell sorely on the giant.



Hop and his brothers were now beginning to think them-
selves safe, but were still hurrying on, when they heard a
sound that sent a thrill through every heart. It was the
giant snorting out his wrath. Turning in the direction of
the sound, they were struck with horror to see the giant.
high in air, making awful strides. What was to be done?
HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS. 73

There was no time to lose. Looking about, Hop by good
luck saw a small cave, in which he told his brothers to hide.
Hop had barely time to follow when the giant, worn out
with his struggle with the boots, laid himself down on the
ledge of rock under which his runaway dinner lay, and soon
fell into a deep sleep.



Nip oie

Meantime the brothers whispered their wonder how the
giant could take such long strides in the air as if he was
flying. Hop being a great reader, told his brothers that
he had once read in a story-book about the seven-league
boots.

“But listen! the giant-ogre snores loud and long. Never
venture, never win,” said Hop. “Now for the attempt; and
74 HOP 0 MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.

now is your time, brothers, to run home as fast as you can,
and I will follow you.”

“Why not come with us?” they asked.

“Because I mean to be home before any of you,” an-

swered Hop.

: Hop, on account of his cleverness, had always been
looked up to by his brothers; so they obeyed by running
home as fast as they could. Then Hop o’ My Thumb crept



softly from the cave, and drew off first one of the seven-
league boots and then the other without awaking the giant.
He then drew them over his own little feet, which they fitted
to a nicety; for he had read in the story-book that the boots
were magical, so that they could fit any foot, large or small.
All this was done in less time than it takes to tell you. And
not a moment too soon; for the giant, on opening his great
eyes, beheld little Hop skimming through the air, and he, the
giant, not knowing of the loss of his wonderful boots, got up
HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS. 75

to overtake him. He ran on, and ran on, as some people say,
always keeping his eyes on Hop, never looking to the ground,
until he fell over a precipice, and broke his neck, so that he
died. Nor was this all: his wife sent Hop a large sum of money
as a present for his ridding her of her horrid ugly husband.
A few strides and jumps soon brought Hop to his father’s

door some time before the arrival of his brothers. His father



and mother were very glad to see him, weeping over him and
caressing him. He said,—

“Now, dear father and mother, you must cheer up, for I
have good news to tell you.”

He then showed them the seven-league boots, and told
them how he had got them; which brought him to tell all
about the giant-ogre and his kind, good wife, and “the nar-
row escape we all had, dear father, from being eaten in a pie.”

At this moment in rushed the other brothers, with cries
76 HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.

of joy on all sides. When they were all at breakfast, little
Hop seemed to fall into a waking dream, or a musing mood.
When his father noticed that, he said,—

“ What is my little Hoppy thinking ?”

“T am thinking, dear father, it will be best for me to
set out for the royal palace, and present the seven-league
boots to our good king, and tell him all about the giant-oore,
and ask him to kill all the giant-ogres in the kingdom.”

Of this plan every one approved; and so, as goon as
breakfast was over, Hop got ready for the journey. When
he was ready to start, they all went with him to the door,
the father pointing out the direction of the great city where
the king’s palace was. But he need not have done so, for
ali that Hop had to say to the boots was, “To the king’s
palace,” and off they went; and as it was only a few leagues
distant, he was there in little more than no time. Arrived
at the palace, he was shown into the court-yard, to the great
wonder and amusement of all the officers and soldiers there.
He politely asked, as loudly as he could, to be led to the
royal presence, as he had something of importance to say to
his majesty. He was soon led to the king’s chamber, and
was introduced to the king and the queen, who were seated
upon a throne; and we may fancy how amused their majesties
would be, as well as the courtiers present, at seeing such a
tiny mite of a gentleman. Hop, after making a polite bow,
told the king all about the giant-ogre, and said that he
hoped his majesty would see fit to cause all the ogres in his
kingdom to be put to death. He then went on to describe
the wonderful boots, of which the king had often heard,
though he had never seen them. The king then told Hop
HOP O MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS. RG

how glad he would be to be the owner of them. He added,
“They will be of great use to us in our royal journeys
through our kingdom.” Hop, pulling off the boots, placed
them before the throne, when they immediately grew to a
size that would fit his majesty; at the same time they
bowed with all respect before him.

aS



The king, asking about the little man’s family history,
found him to be the son of Count d’Abby, a former friend
of his own, of whom he had long lost all trace. The king
was glad to find that he was still alive, and sent messengers
to inquire into the truth of Hop’s story, and to order the
count to attend at court, along with his lady and family.
78 HOP 0 MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS.

On their arrival, the king showed them great kindness,
welcoming his old friend the count very warmly. As the
king wished them to remain at court, he gave to each of
them an important office in the royal household—those of
page-in-chief to the king and director-general being long and
faithfully filled by Hop o My Thumb, where his father and
mother passed the evening of their days in great joy and
comfort.
TE CELLO REN: IN THE WOOD.



OW ponder well, you parents dear,

N These words which I shall write ;
A doleful story you shall hear, .

In time brought forth to light. ©
A gentleman of good account

In Norfolk dwelt of late,
Who did in honour far surmount

Most men of his estate.

Sore sick he was, and like to die,
No help his life could save ;

His wife by him as sick did lie,
And both possessed one grave.

No love between these two was lost,
Each was to other kind ;

In love they lived, in love they died,
And left two babes behind :

The one, a fine and pretty boy,
Not passing three years old ;
The other, a girl more young than he,

And framed in beauty’s mould.
80

THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD.

The father left his little son,
As plainly doth appear,

When he to perfect age should come,
Three hundred pounds a year.

And to his little daughter Jane,
Five hundred pounds in gold,

To be paid down on her marriage-day,
Which might not be controlled.

But if the children chanced to die
Ere they to age should come,

Their uncle should possess their wealth ;
For so the will did run.

“ Now, brother,” said the dying man,
“Look to my children dear ;

Be good unto my boy and girl,
No friends else have they here.

To God and you I recommend
My children dear this day ;

But little while be sure we have
Within this world to stay. |

“You must be father and mother both,
And uncle, all in one;
God knows what will become of them
When I am dead and gone.”
With that bespake their mother dear:
“O brother kind,” quoth she,
THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 81



“You are the man must bring our babes

To wealth or misery.

“ And if you keep them carefully,

Then God will you reward ;
6
82

THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD.

But if you otherwise should deal,
God will your deeds regard.”
With lips as cold as any stone,
They kissed their children small :
“God bless you both, my children dear ;”
With that their tears did fall.

These speeches then their brother spake,

To this sick couple there:
“The keeping of your little ones,

Sweet sister, do not fear.

God never prosper me nor mine,
Nor aught else that I have,

If I do wrong your children dear,
When you are laid in grave.”

The parents being dead and gone,
The children home he takes,
And brings them straight unto his house,
Where much of them he makes.
He had not kept these pretty babes
A twelvemonth and a day,
But, for their wealth, he did devise
To make them both away.

He bargained with two ruffians strong,
Which were of furious mood,

That they should take these children young,
And slay them in a wood.
THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 83



He told his wife an artful tale:

He would the children send
To be brought up in fair London,
ith one that was his friend.

Away then went those pretty babes,
Rejoicing at that tide,


THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD.

Rejoicing with a merry mind,
They should on cock-horse ride.
They prate and prattle pleasantly,
As they rode on the way,
To those that should their butchers be,
And work their lives’ decay.

So that the pretty speech they had
Made murder’s heart relent ;
THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 85

And they that undertook the deed
Full sore did now repent.

Yet one of them, more hard of heart,
Did vow to do his charge,

Because the wretch that hiréd him
Had paid him very large.

The other won’t agree thereto,
So here they fall to strife ;
With one another they did fight

About the children’s life:
And he that was of mildest mood
Did slay the other there,
Within an unfrequented wood:
The babes did quake for fear !

He took the children by the hand,
Tears standing in their eye,

And bade them straightway follow him,
And look they did not cry;

And two long miles he led them on,
While they for food complain :

“Stay here,” quoth he, “Ill bring you bread,

When I come back again.”

These pretty babes, with hand in hand,
Went wandering up and down,

But never more could see the man
Approaching from the town ;
86

THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD.

Their pretty lips with blackberries
Were all besmeared and dyed,
And when they saw the darksome night,

They sat them down and cried.



Thus wandered these poor innocents
Till death did end their grief,

In one another’s arms they died,
As wanting due relief :
THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD. 87

No burial this pretty pair
Of any man receives,

Till Robin Redbreast piously
Did cover them with leaves.

And now the heavy wrath of God
Upon their uncle fell ;









Yea, fearful fiends did haunt his house,
His conscience felt an hell,

His barns were fired, his goods consumed,
His lands were barren made,

His cattle died within the field,
And nothing with him stayed.
88

THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD.

And in the voyage to Portugal
Two of his sons did die ;

And to conclude, himself was brought
To want and misery.

He pawned and mortgaged all his land
Ere seven years came about ;

And now at length this wicked act
Did by this means come out :—

The fellow that did take in hand
These children for to kill,
Was for a robbery judged to die,
Such was God’s blessed will.
Who did confess the very truth,
As here hath been displayed:
Their uncle having died in jail,
Where he for debt was laid.

You that executors be made,
And overseers eke

Of children that be fatherless,
And infants mild and meek,—

Take you example by this thing,
And yield to each his right,

Lest God with such like misery
Your wicked minds requite.








SIMPLE HANS
IN VLUCKy AND OUT OF 135



ANS had served his master for seven years, when a
H great longing came over him to see his mother
again.

His master heard of this, and sending for him, said,
‘Hans, you have served me well and faithfully ; and as your
service, so shall your wages be.”

So saying, he gave him a lump of gold as big as his
head.

Hans drew his handkerchief from his pocket, wrapped up
90 SIMPLE HANS IN LUCK AND OUT OF IT.

the lump of gold in it, placed it on his shoulder, and bidding
his master farewell, set out for home.

As he trudged wearily on he was overtaken by a horse-
man, who came trotting along on a fine spirited horse.

“Ah,” said Hans aloud, “ how pleasant a thing it is to ride!
You save your shoes, and get quickly to your journey’s end!”



























”

“Tf you think so,” cried the horseman; “why do you

travel on foot ?”

“Oh,” replied Hans, “I am on my way home with this
great lump of gold. I have to carry it on my shoulder, and
it hurts me very much.”

“Tl tell you what,” said the horseman: “let us exchange.
Give me your lump of gold, and I shall give you my horse.”
SIMPLE HANS IN LUCK AND OUT OF IT. 91

“With all my heart!” cried Hans joyfully ; and he at
cence gave his gold to the horseman, while the latter helped
him to mount the horse.

Hans rode away at a gentle pace; but after awhile,
thinking be should like to go a little quicker, he began to

make a clucking sound with his tongue, and to cry, “ Hopp!

hopp !”
The horse immediately set off at a gallop, and before







Hans had time to think, he was lying in a ditch by the
roadside. After playing this trick the horse galloped on,
and would have got clear away, had it not been caught
by a countryman, who happened to be driving a cow along
the road.

The countryman led the horse back to Hans; but the
latter had had enough of riding.
92 SIMPLE HANS IN LUCK AND OUT OF IT.

“No, no,” he said; “you can keep the horse, if you give
me your cow in exchange. She will supply me with milk
and butter and cheese, and will not throw me.”

The countryman was only too glad to make such a bargain,
and he at once handed over his cow to Hans, who joyfully set
out with his new charge.

At first all went well; but as the heat became greater
and greater, Hans became very thirsty.





“Now is the time,” he thought, “to make use of my
cow. I shall milk her, and get a drink of nice fresh milk.”

Tying the cow to a tree, he tried to milk her; but set
about it so clumsily that the animal became angry, and gave
him a kick with one of her hind feet which tumbled him
head over heels.
SIMPLE HANS IN LUCK AND OUT OF IT. 93

Fortunately at that moment a butcher came along
trundling a wheelbarrow on which lay a young pig, and
Hans at once offered to exchange his cow for the pig.

“JT would rather have a pig than a cow,’ he thought.

“Roast pig is very tasty, and nothing could be better than
the sausages.”

Without much ado the butcher agreed; and taking the

pig from the wheelbarrow, he placed the cord that was tied
round the animal's leg in its new master’s hand.









Our friend had not gone very far on his road, when he
was joined by a lad who carried a beautiful white goose
under his arm. He told him how lucky he had been, and
how everything had turned out according to his wishes.

The lad shook his head.
94 SIMPLE HANS IN LUCK AND OUT OF IT.

“T don’t like what you say about your pig,” he said.
“In the village from which I come a pig has just been stolen
out of the constable’s sty, and I believe that is it which
you are driving before you. It would be terrible if they
were to catch you with it.”

On hearing this poor Hans was greatly alarmed, and
begged the lad to take the pig in exchange for his goose.

At first the lad pretended to be unwilling to take the pig,
owing to the risk he would run if it were found in his
hands. To oblige Hans, however, he at last agreed, and
drove away the pig in one direction, while Hans, glad to
have escaped such a danger, put the goose under his arm, and
went on his way in another.

As he went along he thought how pleased his mother
would be to have the fat and the feathers of the goose; and
he was almost ready to shout aloud for joy at his good
fortune.

At the farther end of the last village through which he
passed he met a knife-grinder, whom he told of all the good
things which had befallen him.

“That is all very well,” said the grinder; “but if you
want to make your fortune, you must learn a trade. There
is nothing like a trade for making money, and especially the
trade of knife-grinding. That beats all. With a grind-
stone you can travel the world through. The only thing
needed is a grindstone. Here is one which I will let you
have for your goose.”

Hans laughed for joy, and gave his goose to the knife-
grinder, who handed him a grindstone in return. The rogue
then picked up a large, heavy stone from the roadside, and
SIMPLE HANS IN LUCK AND OUT OF IT. 95

placing it on the top of the other, told Hans that he might
have it into the bargain.

Hans thanked him for his kindness, and set off home-
ward with a light heart. Before long, however, the weight
of the stones began to tell, and



he became very hungry and



very thirsty. At length he reached a well. Placing the
stones carefully on the edge, he stooped down to drink. In
doing so he happened to give the stones a gentle push, when
down they fell into the water, and were seen no more.

Hans sprang up joyfully.

“IT am the luckiest fellow in the world!” he cried.
96 SIMPLE HANS IN LUCK AND OUT OF IT.

“Without any fault on my part, I have got rid of these
heavy stones, and now I am free to run home as fast as I
can.”

Off he started, his eyes sparkling with joy, and was soon
in his mother’s arms.

This is the story of simple Hans, in luck and out of it,
who exchanged a lump of gold for a horse, the horse for a
cow, the cow for a pig, the pig for a goose, the goose for a
grindstone, and this at last for nothing at all.










THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD

THE SAILOR.



NE day a poor porter of Bagdad named Hindbad,

stopping to rest himself before a grand dwelling,

and finding that it belonged to one Sindbad a sailor, began

to lament the difference between this man and himself.

Sindbad, having heard what the porter said, invited him in,

and, to show him that the gifts of fortune were not gained
without trouble, told his story.

My father, who was a native of the city of Bagdad,
dying when I was yet young, left me a large estate. Wish-
ing to get more money, I went to Balsorah, a port on the
Persian Gulf, and joined with several merchants in fitting

out a ship to trade with distant lands. In our voyage we
7
98 THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR.

touched at several islands, where we sold or exchanged our
goods. One day, while under sail, we were becalmed near a
little island, almost level with the surface of the water, which
looked like a green meadow. The captain ordered his sails
to be furled, and allowed such of us as had a mind to do so
to land on the island; of whom I was one. But while we
were amusing ourselves with eating and drinking, and refresh-
ing ourselves after the fatigue of the sea, the island all of a
sudden trembled and shook.

Those on board the ship noticed the trembling of the
island, and called to us to re-embark speedily, else we should
all be lost; for what we took for an island was only the back
of a whale. The nimblest got into the sloop, others betook
themselves to swimming; but for my part, I was still on the
back of the whale, when he dived into the sea, and had only
time to catch hold of a piece of wood that we had brought out
of the ship to make a fire. Meanwhile, the captain having
received those on board who were in the sloop, and having
taken up some of those that swam, went on his way, so that
it was impossible for me to reach the ship.

Thus I was at the mercy of the waves, and struggled
for my life all the rest of the day and the following night.
Next morning I found my strength gone, and despaired of sav-
ing my life, when a wave threw me happily upon an island.

Here I was received with great kindness by the servants
of King Mihragé, who gave me bread and fruits. The vessel
in which I had sailed happening on her return to touch at
this island, the captain knew me, and gave me back my
goods. I made a handsome present to King Mihragé, and
then returned to Balsorah. ;
THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR. 99

Having laid in a stock of goods, I again embarked with
some merchants. One day they landed on an uninhabited
island, and as my companions were amusing themselves with
gathering fruits and flowers, I sat down under a tree and
fell asleep. When I awoke, I found to my horror that the
ship was gone.

I climbed to the top of a very high tree, and saw at
some distance an object that was very large and white. I
went down to the ground, and ran towards this strange-
looking object; which, when I came near it, I found to
measure about fifty paces round about. It was quite round,
and as smooth as ivory, but had no sort of opening. It was
now almost sunset, and suddenly the sky became dark. I
looked up, and beheld a bird of great size, moving like a vast
cloud towards me.

I remembered that I had heard of a bird called the roc,
so large that it could carry away young elephants; and I
therefore supposed that the large object I had been looking
at was the egg of this bird.

As the bird came near, I crept close to the egg, so that
I had one of the legs of this winged animal before me: this
limb being as large as the trunk of a tree, I tied myself
firmly to it with the cloth of my turban.

The next morning the bird flew away, and carried me
from this desert island. I was borne so high that I could
not see the earth; and then carried downwards so swiftly
that I lost my senses. When I recovered, finding myself on
the ground, I quickly untied the cloth that bound me; and
scarcely was I free, when the bird, having taken up a large
serpent, flew away.
100 THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR.

I found myself in a deep valley, the sides of which were
too steep to be climbed. As I walked up and down in de-
spair, I noticed that the valley was strewed with diamonds
of wonderful size; but I soon saw other objects much less
pleasant to look on. Serpents of the most terrible size were
peeping out of holes on every side. I sat down and fell asleep.







I was awakened by something which fell near me. It was
a large piece of fresh meat; and by-and-by I saw several
other pieces.

I now felt sure that I must be in the famous valley of
diamonds, and that the pieces of meat were thrown in by
merchants, who expected eagles to pounce upon the flesh, to
which diamonds were almost sure to stick. JI made haste
to pick up some of the largest diamonds I could find, and I
put them into a little bag, which fastened to my girdle. I
THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR. 101

then took the largest piece of flesh in the valley, and tied it
to my waist with the cloth of my turban, and then lay down
upon my face to wait for the eagles,

Very soon one of the strongest pounced upon the meat on
my back, and flew with me to its nest on the top of the moun-
tain, The merchants began shouting to frighten the eagles ;



and when they had obliged the birds to quit their prey, one
of them came to the nest where I was.

At first the man was frightened when he saw me there ;
but having recovered himself, he asked me how I came
thither. I soon told him and the rest of the merchants my
story, and they were equally surprised at my cleverness and
my courage. I then opened my bag, and they declared that
they had never seen diamonds of such brightness and size

as mine. The merchants having gathered their diamonds
102 THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR.

together, we left the place the next morning, and crossed the
mountains until we reached a port. We there took shipping,
and sailed to the island of Roha. There I exchanged some
of my diamonds for other goods, and we went to Balsorah.
From Balsorah I returned to my native city Bagdad, where I
lived in ease on the vast riches I had gained.

The pleasures of the life which I then led soon made me
forget the risks I had run in my former voyages; but being
then in the flower of my age, I grew weary of living without
business. . Putting away from me the thought of any danger
I might incur, I went from Bagdad with the richest products
of the country to Balsorah; and there I took ship again with
other merchants.

After touching at several ports, and doing a good trade,
we lost our course in a storm, and were obliged to put in at
an island inhabited by red hairy dwarfs, who seized the ship
and forced us to go ashore on another island. In going over
it we came to a large town with a gate of ebony, and saw
a huge black giant with one eye striding towards us. The
giant seized the captain of the ship, who was the fattest of
the company, and roasted and ate him. Next day he came
back and ate another. After this he lay down and fell asleep.
In the meantime, having found wood in the island, we were
inaking rafts on which to escape, and when the rafts were
ready, I and nine of the boldest attacked the giant and
knocked out his eye. He went away howling; but we had
scarcely put to sea when he returned, and bringing with him
a number more, they threw great stones and sank all the rafts
but the one on which I and two of my friends were.

In seven days I reached the shore, where I found white
THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR. 1038

people. gathering pepper. I stayed with them till they
gathered their quantity of pepper, and then sailed with them
to the island whence they came. They presented me to their
king, who was a good prince, and ordered that care should be

taken of me.

I was very polite to the king, who wished me to marry



and settle in the country. I dared not resist the prince’s
will, so he gave me one of the ladies of his court—a noble,
beautiful, chaste, and rich lady. When the marriage was
over, I went and dwelt with the lady, and for some time
we lived very happily. At length my dear wife died.

It is the custom of this country to bury the living hus-
104 THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR.

band with the dead wife, which seemed to me as fearful an
end as to be eaten by cannibals; but I must submit. The
king and all the court honoured the funeral with their
presence, and the chief people of the city did the same.
When all was ready, the corpse was put into a coffin with all
my wife’s jewels and fine clothes; and I went next to the
corpse, with my eyes full of tears, bewailing my sad fate.
Before I came to the mountain, I addressed myself to the
king in the first place, and then to all those who were around
me, and bowing before them to the earth, to kiss the border
of their garments, I prayed them to have pity on me. It
was of no use; on the contrary, they made haste to let down
my wife’s corpse into the pit, and put me down the next
moment in an open coffin, with a vessel full of water and
seven loaves. When all was finished, they covered up the
mouth of the pit, in spite of my grief and my fearful cries.
As I came near the bottom, I saw, by the help of the
little light that came from above, the nature of this under-
ground place. It was a vast long cave, and might be about
fifty fathoms deep. I immediately noticed a very foul
stench, coming from the heaps of dead which I saw on the
right and left; nay, I fancied that I heard some of them sigh
out their last. I lived for some days on my bread and water, -
and when it was all spent I was making ready for death.
While I was thinking of death, I heard the stone lifted
up from the mouth of the cave, and immediately the corpse
of a man was let down. When they let down the woman, I
went to the place where her coffin was to be put; and as
soon as they began to cover again the mouth of the cave, I
seized the bread and water that were in her coffin, and thus
THE HISTORY OF.SINDBAD THE SAILOR. 105

I had provisions for some days more; and, as good luck
would have it for me, there were then many deaths in the
town, so by this means I did not want for food.

At this time I heard something walking, and blowing or
panting as it walked. I went towards the side whence the
noise came, and as I drew near it the thing puffed and blew
harder, as if it had been running away from me. I followed
it till at last I saw a light,
like a star; I went on to-
wards that light, and found
that it came through a hole
in the rock, large enough for
a man to creep through.

Upon this, I stopped some
time to rest myself, being very
tired with following up this
discovery. Afterwards coming
up to the hole, I went out at
it, and found myself on the
sea-shore. I leave you to guess



the greatness of my joy; it
was such that I could scarcely
believe that it was real.

I afterwards entered the cave which I had just left, and
groped about for all the diamonds, rubies, pearls, gold brace-
lets, and rich stuffs I could find; these I brought to the
shore, and tying them up neatly into bales, with the cords
that let down the coffins, I laid them together upon the bank,
and next day I saw a ship that had just come out of the
harbour. JI made a sign with the linen of my turban, and


106 THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR.

called to them as loud asI could. They heard me, and sent
a boat to bring me on board, when the mariners asked by
what mishap I had come thither. Having satisfied their
curiosity about my past history, they troubled me no more
with questions, but did all in their power to make me com-
fortable, until I arrived
happy at Bagdad with
great riches, of which it
is needless to trouble you
with the details.

On my next voyage
Wwe were again shipwrecked
on the shore of a desolate
island. When I had gone
a little way into the island,
I saw an old man who to
me seemed very weak and
feeble. I asked him what
he did there; instead of
answering me, he made a
sign for me to take him
upon my back, and carry
_ him over the brook, sig-



nifying that it was to
gather fruit. So I took him on my back, and having carried
him over, bid him get down, and for that end I stooped, that
he might get off with ease; but instead of that, the old man
clasped his legs tightly about my neck, and held my throat
so fast that I thought he would have strangled me. I threw

him upon the ground, where he lay without motion ; and then
THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR. 107

I took up a great stone, with which I crushed his head to
pieces.

Warned by this adventure not to rove too far from my
companions—from whom alone I might expect help in case
of need—I set out to find them; but it was not till after
some days’ journeying that I found myself in their midst
again.

We remained on the shore like men out of their senses,
and expected death every day. At first we divided our pro-
visions as equally as we could, and so every one lived a longer
or a shorter while, according to the use he made of his pro-
visions. Those who died first were buried by the rest; and
as for my part, I paid the last duty to all my companions.
Nor are you to wonder at this, for I took better care of my
provisions than they did; yet when I buried the last, I had
so little left that I thought I could not hold out any longer.

I soon escaped from that place (whence it seemed I could
go neither forward nor backward) in the following manner :—

A thought came into my mind to go to the bank of the
river which runs into a great cave, where, watching the
river with great care, I said to myself, “This river, which
thus runs underground, must come out somewhere or other.”

After this I immediately made a raft, and loaded it with
bales of rubies, emeralds, and rich stuffs, and so, giving my-
self up to the will of God, entered the cave; which I had no
sooner done than I lost all light, and was carried I knew not
whither. Thus I sailed some days in perfect darkness, and
once found the arch so low that it well-nigh broke my head;
which made me very cautious afterwards. All this while I

ate nothing but what was necessary to keep me alive; yet,
108 THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR.

notwithstanding this care, all my provisions were spent. Then
a pleasant sleep seized upon me. I cannot tell how long it
lasted ; but when I awoke I was surprised to find myself in
the middle of a vast country, at the brink of a river, where
my raft was tied, amidst a great number of negroes. One of
the blacks, who understood Arabic, hearing me speak in that
language, came towards me and said, “Brother, tell us your
history, for it must be very wonderful; and whence do you



come?” I begged of them first to give me something to eat,
and then I would answer their questions. They gave me
several sorts of food, and when I had satisfied my hunger,
I gave them a true account of all that had befallen me.

We marched all together till we came to the city of Ser-
endib, for it was in that island that I had landed. The blacks
presented me to their king. I went up to his throne, and
bowed myself at his feet, and kissed the earth. He or-
dered me to rise up and sit down near him. I kept back
THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR. 109



nothing from the king, I told him

all; and his majesty was so sur-
prised and charmed with my ad-
ventures that he commanded them
to be written in letters of gold,
and laid up among the records of
his kingdom. He told off one of
his officers to take care of
me, and ordered people to
serve me at his own charge.
I begged the king to
allow me to return to my
country; which he readily
granted. And when
I went to take my


110 THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR.

leave of him he gave me a













* yvich present, and at the same
time a letter for Caliph Haroun
Alraschid.

The ship set sail, and after a
long and very pleasant voyage we
landed at Balsorah, from whence I
went to Bagdad, and delivered the
letter to the Caliph Haroun Alraschid.
Having now returned home, I laid
aside all thoughts of travelling any
farther, so that I thought of no-
thing but to pass the rest of my

days in quiet. One day as I was




THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR. lil

treating a number of my friends, one of my servants came and
told me that an officer of the caliph asked for me. “The
caliph,” said he, “has sent me to tell you that he must speak
with you.” I followed the officer to the palace, where, being
presented to the caliph, I saluted him by kneeling at his feet.
“Sindbad,” said he to me, “I stand in need of you. You must
do me the favour to carry my answer and a present to the
King of Serendib ; it is but just I should return his politeness.”

The King of Serendib was mightily pleased that the
caliph answered his friendship.

I took ship immediately to return to Bagdad, but had
not the good fortune to arrive there as I hoped. I fell into
the hands of a rich merchant, who, as soon as he bought me,
carried me to his house, treated me well, and clad me hand-
somely for a slave. “Tell me,” said he, “can you shoot with
a bow?” I answered that shooting with the bow was one
of the sports of my youth, and that I had not yet forgotten it.
We then went a great way into a forest, and alighted at a great
tree. “ Climb up that tree,” says he; “shoot at the elephants
as you see them pass, for there is a very great number of
them in this forest, and if any of them fall come and tell me.”

Early next morning I saw a great number of elephants ;
I shot several arrows among them, and at last one of them
fell. I immediately went to tell my patron of my success, and
when I told him the news he took me in his arms.

One morning, instead of the elephants passing by me as
usual, they stopped, and then ran toward me with a horrible
noise. They surrounded the tree where I was, with their eyes
all fixed on me. I was so much frightened that my bow and
arrow fell out of my hand. After the elephants had stared
112 THE HISTORY OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR.

at me for some time, one of the largest of them put his
trunk round the root of the tree, and pulled it so strongly that
he plucked it up, and threw it on the ground. The elephant,
taking me up with his trunk, laid me on his back, where I
sat more like one dead than alive, with my quiver on my
shoulder. He put himself afterwards at the head of the rest,
and carried me to a place where he laid me down, and retired
with his companions. I soon got up, and found I was upon a
long and broad hill, covered with the bones and tusks of ele-
phants. I then turned towards the city, and came to my patron.
“Ah, poor Sindbad !” says he, “I was in trouble to know what
had become of you. Pray tell me what befell you.” I told
him all, and going the next morning to the hill, he found that
what I had told him was true. We loaded our elephant with
as many tusks as he could carry; and on our return, “Brother,”
said my patron, “after having made such a discovery as will
enrich me, I give you your liberty.” I thanked him, and stayed
awhile expecting the Mocan. During that time we made so
many journeys to the hill that we filled warehouses with ivory.

My patron himself having made choice of the ship wherein I
was to embark, loaded half of it with ivory for me, laid in provi-
sions for my passage, and obliged me to accept a present of great
value. I thanked him for all his favours, and went on board.

All these fatigues ended at last, and I came safe to Bag-
dad. I went immediately to wait upon the caliph, and gave
him an account of my journey. That prince told me that he
had been uneasy, because I was so long in returning. I
told him the adventure of the elephants. I then retired very
well pleased with the honours I had received, and gave myself
up wholly to my family, kindred, and friends.
[EPH S LORY OF BLUE BEARD,



HERE lived long ago a man who was very rich. He

had fine town and country houses, his dishes and

plates were all of gold and silver, his rooms were hung with

damask, his chairs and sofas were covered with the richest
silks, and his carriages were gilt in the grandest style.

But it happened that this gentleman had a blue beard,
which made him so very ugly and disagreeable that none of
the ladies in the parts where he lived would remain in his
company. Now a certain lady of rank who lived very near
him had two daughters, both of them of very great beauty.
Blue Beard asked her to give one of them to him for a
wife, and left it to herself to choose which of the two it
should be. Both of the young ladies said again and again
that they would never marry Blue Beard; yet to be as civil
as they could, each of them sent him to the other, saying she
hoped he would succeed better there. The truth was that
neither of them could bear the thought of having a husband
with a blue beard; and besides, they had heard of his having
been married to several wives before, who appeared to be
dead, but no one could tell what had become of any of them.

Blue Beard at length asked the lady and her daughters

8
114 THE STORY OF BLUE BEARD.

to visit one of his country houses, where they spent a week in
hunting and fishing, music, dancing, and all kinds of feasts
and merry-makings. The time passed so pleasantly that the
younger of the two sisters began to think that the beard

























she had disliked so much was not so very blue, and that the
gentleman to whom it belonged was vastly civil and pleasing.
She told her mother that she had no longer any dislike to
Blue Beard, and in a short time after they were married.
THE STORY OF BLUE BEARD. 115

About amonth after the marriage, Blue Beard told his
wife he would have to leave her for a few weeks, as he had
some affairs to attend to in the country. He told her to
amuse herself with her friends during his absence in the
best way she could; gave her the keys of his wardrobes,
plate, treasures, and of all
the rooms of the house;
but warned her, under pain
of the most terrible punish-
ment, that she should not
open a certain closet at the
end of a long gallery on
the ground floor.

When Blue Beard was
gone, his wife’s friends
came to see her, but she
could. scarcely entertain
them for thinking of the
closet at the end of the
gallery; and at last she
ran away from them, re-
solved to open it. Her
sister, who alone knew
what she meant to do, fol-



lowed and tried to bring
her back; but she was determined to go into the closet, so
her sister returned, leaving her alone.

When she opened the door of the closet she could see
nothing at first, because the place was dark. To her horror,

however, she goon found that the floor was covered with the
116 THE STORY OF BLUE BEARD.

dead bodies of women, while other bodies were hanging on
the wall. In her alarm she let the key fall, and on taking
it up found it stained with blood.

When her friends had gone home, she tried every means
to clean the key, but without success; it was the gift of a
fairy, and the blood would not come out without the leave
of the owner.

Blue Beard came home the same evening, having met a
man who told him that his journey was useless. His wife
pretended to be very glad to see him so unexpectedly, and
for that night all went well.

Next morning, Blue Beard asked for his keys; upon which
his wife could no longer hide her terror. When she brought
them he observed that the key of the closet was not with
the others. She said she had left it on her dressing-table,
and went very slowly and unwillingly to fetch it. When it
was brought, Blue Beard looked at it carefully, and asked
how it came to be stained with blood. She answered that
she did not know.

“Do you not?” said he; “but I know very well. You
have been in the closet on the ground floor; and since you
have been so fond of doing what I have forbidden, you shall
take your place among the ladies you have seen there.”

Almost dead with fear, she fell upon her knees and begged
his pardon, looking all the time so sad and so lovely that she
would have melted any heart that was not harder than a rock.

“No, no, madam,” said Blue Beard ; “you shall certainly
die, and that this very minute.”

“Give me at least,” she said, “a little time to say my
prayers.”
THE STORY OF BLUE BEARD. 117

Blue Beard hesitated, but at last agreed to give her seven
and a half minutes exactly, and not a moment longer.

He then left her, and she called her sister, whose name
was Ann, and taking her along with her, went up to her
bedroom, which was next to the roof of the tower. She told
her sister, as well as she could for sobbing, how long she
had to live, and begged her to look out at the window at
the top of the tower, and if she saw her brothers coming,
whom she expected to visit her that day, to make signs to
them to gallop on with the utmost speed.

She then betook herself to her prayers, but every minute
she paused to cry, “Sister Ann, Sister Ann, do you see any
one coming ?”—“T see nothing but the green grass growing.”
Blue Beard, with a great sword in his hand, was now at
the foot of the stair, shouting to his wife to come down, as
her time was up.

Begging another moment, she again called to her sister,
“ Ann, Sister Ann, do you see any one coming?” Her sister
said, “I see a cloud of dust a little to the west.’—“ Do you
think it is my brothers?” said she-——* Alas! no,” replied her
sister; “it is only a flock of sheep.”

“Will you come down, madam?” cried Blue Beard in
the greatest rage.

“One moment more,” she said; and again addressing her
sister, she asked, “Do you see no one coming ?”——“I see two
men on horseback,” said her sister, “a great way off”—*It
is my brothers,” said she; “beckon them to make haste.”

The voice of Blue Beard now shook the whole house, and
he threatened, if she did not come down immediately, that he

would come and fetch her.
118 THE STORY OF BLUE BEARD.

Seeing no help for it, she went down as slowly as she
could, with her hair flowing loose and her face bathed in
tears; and as soon as she reached her husband she fell on
her knees, and begged him to spare her life. Blue Beard
stopped her, saying, “ All this is of no use; you shall die.”

























































She begged another moment to say a prayer.
“No,” said Blue Beard, “you have had too much time
already ;” and seizing her by the hair, he raised his sword

to strike off her head.
_ Just at this moment a loud knocking was heard at the
gates. Blue Beard paused to see who it was. As soon. as
THE STORY OF BLUE BEARD. 119

the porter opened the gates, the lady’s brothers rushed in,
each with his sword in his hand. Blue Beard, on seeing
that they were his wife’s brothers, tried to escape, but was
seized before he had gone many steps, and both having
plunged their swords in his body, he fell dead at their feet.

Blue Beard’s wife now got all his creat riches, and was
5 5 2









soon after married to a better man. She gave a portion to
her sister Ann, and paid a large sum of money to make her
brothers officers in the army. Although the kindness of her
second husband was equal to Blue Beard’s cruelty, she never
forgot that her own foolish prying was the cause of the
terrible danger she had so narrowly escaped.
THE YELLOW DWARF.



HERE was once a Queen who, although she had given
birth to many children, had but one daughter left, of
whom she was very fond, giving in to all her ways and
wishes, and never correcting her faults. This Princess was
so very beautiful that she was called All-Fair, and very
proud she was, and vain of her beauty and rank, so much so
that she thought no one in the world good enough for her to
marry. Her mother, the Queen, would fain have had her
married and settled before she died, but all was of no use;
whereupon she determined to go to the Desert Fairy to ask
advice about her stubborn daughter.

Now, this fairy being guarded by two fierce lions, the
Queen made a cake of millet, sugar-candy, and crocodile’s
eggs, in order to overcome their fury and pass by them; hav-
ing thus provided herself, she set out. After travelling some
time, she found herself weary, and lying down under a tree,
fell asleep. When she awoke, she heard the lions that
guarded the fairy roaring; upon which looking for her magic
cake, she found that it was gone. This threw her into the
greatest distress, not knowing how to save herself from being
eaten up by them; when, suddenly hearing a voice from the
tree cry, “High! high!” she lifted up her eyes and beheld
THE YELLOW DWARF. 121

a little yellow man, about two feet high, picking and eating
oranges.

“ Ah, Queen,” said the Yellow Dwarf (for so he was called
on account of his colour, and that of the orange tree he lived
in), “how will you escape the lions? There is but one way.
I know what business brought you here.







Promise me your daughter in marriage,
and I will save you.” The Queen, though
she could not but look upon so frightful
j« a figure with horror, yet was forced
to agree: whereupon she at once
found herself in her own palace, and
122 THE YELLOW DWARF.

all that had passed seemed only as a dream ; nevertheless, she
was so sure of the reality that she became very sad.

The young Princess being unable to learn the cause of her
mother’s sadness, resolved to go and inquire of the Desert
Fairy ; and accordingly, having prepared a cake for the lions,
she also set out for her abode. It happened that All-Fair
took exactly the same road her mother had taken; and
coming to the orange tree, where she stopped to gather some
of the fruit, she laid down her basket and was enjoying the
oranges, when the lions began to roar. All-Fair looked for
her cake, and was thrown into the utmost trouble and fear
on finding that it was gone. As she was lamenting her
unhappy condition, the Yellow Dwarf appeared before her
with these words: “ Lovely Princess, dry up your tears, and
hear what I am going to say. You need not go to the Desert
Fairy to know the reason of your mother’s illness; she is un-
kind enough to repent of having promised you, her lovely
daughter, to me in marriage.” This was said with an ugly
leer.

“To you! to such a fright as you!” said the Princess,
drawing back with disgust; “was there ever such madness!”

“ Nay, no scoffing,” answered the dwarf; “you had better
not stir up my anger. If you will promise to marry me, I
will be the most tender and loving of husbands; if not, save
~ yourself from the lions if you can.” In short, the Princess
was forced to give her word that she would have him, but
with such grief that she fell into a swoon. When she re-
covered, she found herself in her own bed, finely adorned
with ribbons, and a ring of a single red hair so fastened round
her finger that it could not be got off 2
THE YELLOW DWARF. 123

This adventure had the same effect on All-Fair as the
former had had on her mother. She grew sad; which was
noticed and wondered at by the whole court. The best way
to amuse her, they thought, would be to urge her to marry ;
which the Princess, who had now become less stubborn,
agreed to do; and thinking that such a pigmy as the Yellow
Dwarf would not dare to strive with so gallant a person as
the King of the Golden Mines, she fixed upon this King for
her husband, who was very rich and powerful, and who loved
her very much. The grandest preparations were made for
the marriage, and the happy day was fixed; but as they
were going to the wedding, they saw moving towards them
a box, whereon sat a very ugly old woman.

“ Hold! Queen and Princess,” she cried, knittine her brows;
“remember the promises you both made to my friend the
Yellow Dwarf. Iam the Desert Fairy, and if All-Fair does
not marry him, I swear by my head-dress, I will burn my
crutch.” The Queen and Princess were struck dumb by this
greeting of the fairy; but the King of the Golden Mines felt
very wroth; and holding his sword to her throat, “ Fly,
wretch !” he cried, “or thy spite shall cost thee thy life.” No
sooner had he said these words than, the top of the box fly-
ing off, out came the Yellow Dwarf, mounted upon a large .
Spanish cat, which, placing itself between the King and the
fairy, said these words: “Rash youth, thy rage should be
aimed at me, not at the Desert Fairy; I am thy rival, and
claim her by promise, and the single hair around her finger.”

This made the King so angry that he cried out,
“Wretched creature! wert thou worthy of notice I would
kill thee for thy impudence.” Whereupon the Yellow Dwarf,
124 THE YELLOW DWARF.





















clapping spurs to his cat, and
drawing a large sword, dared
the King to fight him; and
so they went into the court-
yard. The sun then imme-
diately turned red as blood,
and it became dark ; thunder
and lightning followed, by the
flashes whereof were perceived
two giants vomiting fire on
each. side of the Yellow
Dwarf.

The King behaved
with so much courage
that he puzzled the
dwarf very much; but

he was dismayed
when he saw the
Desert Fairy, mounted
on a winged griffin, and
her head covered with
THE YELLOW DWARF. 2

snakes, strike the Princess so hard with a lance that she fell
into the Queen’s arms covered with blood. He left the fight
to go to her help; but the dwarf was too quick for him,
for, flying on his Spanish cat to the balcony where she was,
he took her from her mother’s arms, leaped with her upon
the top of the palace, and immediately disappeared.

As the King stood confused at this strange turn of
affairs, he suddenly found a mist before his eyes, and felt
himself lifted up in the air by some strange power; for the
Desert Fairy, to secure him for herself, carried him to a
frightful cavern, hoping he would there forget All-Fair, and
tried many plans to carry out her purpose. But finding
this scheme a failure, she resolved to carry him to a place
altogether as pleasant as the other was terrible, and accord-
ingly set him by herself in a chariot drawn by swans. In
passing through the air, he was very much surprised to see
his adored Princess in a castle of polished steel, leaning her
head on one hand, and wiping away the tears with the other.
She happened to look up, and was pained to see the King
sitting by the fairy, who then, by her art, made herself
appear very beautiful. Had not the King been aware of the
fairy’s power, he would certainly then have tried to free
himself from her. At last they came to a stately palace,
fenced on one side by walls of emeralds, and on the other by
a wild sea.

The King, by pretending to be in love with the fairy,
got leave to walk by himself on the shore; and as he was
one day calling on the powers of the sea, he heard a voice,
and presently was surprised to see a mermaid, which, coming
up with a pleasant smile, spoke these words: “O King of
126 THE YELLOW DWARF.

the Golden Mines, I well know all that has passed in regard
to you and the fair Princess. Don’t suppose this to be a
trick of the fairy’s to try you, for I am an old enemy both
to her and the Yellow Dwarf; therefore, if you will trust in
me, I will lend you my help to set free not only yourself but
All-Fair also.” The overjoyed King promised to do what-
ever the mermaid bade him; whereupon, setting him upon
her tail, they sailed away on a rolling sea.

When they had sailed some time, “ Now,” said the mermaid
to the King, “ we draw near the place where your Princess is
kept by the Yellow Dwarf. You will have many enemies to
fight before you can come to her; take therefore this sword,
with which you may overcome everything, if only you never
let it go out of your hand.” The King returned her all the
thanks that the most grateful heart could think of; and the
mermaid landed and took leave of him, promising to give
farther help when necessary.

The young King went boldly forward, and meeting with
two terrible sphinxes, laid them dead at his feet with his
sword. Next he attacked six dragons, and killed them also.
Then he met with four-and-twenty nymphs, with garlands of
flowers, at sight of whom he stopped, being loath to destroy
so much beauty, when he heard a voice say, “Strike! strike!
or you will lose your Princess for ever ;” upon which he threw
himself into the midst of them and soon scattered them. He
now came in view of All-Fair, who was looking very un-
happy; but she turned away from him with a look of anger
in her eyes. Hastening to her he cried, “Oh my Princess,
behold your faithful lover !”

But she, drawing back, replied, “Faithful lover indeed !
THE YELLOW DWARF. Lz

Did I not see you passing through the air with a beautiful
nymph? Were you faithful then ?”

“Yes,” replied the King, “I was; but sweet Prin-

-7 cess, do not condemn me unheard. I can explain all.

That was the hateful Desert Fairy, who was carry-

ing me to a place where I must have spent all my

days, had it not been for a kind mermaid, by whose

help it is that I am now come to set you free.” So

‘saying, he cast himself at her feet; but catching

hold of her dress, he unfortunately lost his hold of
the magic sword. The Yellow
Dwarf no sooner saw that than he




128 THE YELLOW DWARF.

leaped from behind a shrub where he had been hidden, and
sprang forward to seize it. The Princess at this gave é
scream, which caused the Kine to turn suddenly roun.,
with a single blow he made an end of the dwarf.

Taking the Princess in his arms, he hastened to the s’
where the friendly mermaid was waiting to take them hv
They soon reached the country of the Princess, to the great
joy of the Queen, when she once more held her daughter in
her arms, and saw beside her the young King of the Golden
Mines, who loved the Princess so dearly.

Almost immediately a royal wedding took place ; onal All
Fair, now cured of her self-will, lived long and happily with
the good King who had freed her from the power of the
Yellow Dwarf.

THE END.
RTE