1. Beauty and the Beast
Once
upon a time as a merchant set off for market, he asked each of his three
daughters what she would like as a present on his return. The first daughter
wanted a brocade dress, the second a pearl necklace, but the third, whose name was
Beauty, the youngest, prettiest and sweetest of them all, said to her father:
"All
I'd like is a rose you've picked specially for me!"
When the merchant had finished his business, he set off for home.
However, a sudden storm blew up, and his horse could hardly make headway in the
howling gale. Cold and weary, the merchant had lost all hope of reaching an inn
when he suddenly noticed a bright light shining in the middle of a wood. As he
drew near, he saw that it was a castle, bathed in light.
"I
hope I'll find shelter there for the night," he said to himself. When he
reached the door, he saw it was open, but though he shouted, nobody came to
greet him. Plucking up courage, he went inside, still calling out to attract
attention. On a table in the main hall, a splendid dinner lay already served.
The merchant lingered, still shouting for the owner of the castle. But no one came,
and so the starving merchant sat down to a hearty meal.
Overcome
by curiosity, he ventured upstairs, where the corridor led into magnificent
rooms and halls. A fire crackled in the first room and a soft bed looked very
inviting. It was now late, and the merchant could not resist. He lay down on
the bed and fell fast asleep. When he woke next morning, an unknown hand had
placed a mug of steaming coffee and some fruit by his bedside.
The
merchant had breakfast and after tidying himself up, went downstairs to thank
his generous host. But, as on the evening before, there was nobody in sight.
Shaking his head in wonder at the strangeness of it all, he went towards the
garden where he had left his horse, tethered to a tree. Suddenly, a large rose
bush caught his eye.
Remembering
his promise to Beauty, he bent down to pick a rose. Instantly, out of the rose
garden, sprang a horrible beast, wearing splendid clothes. Two bloodshot eyes,
gleaming angrily, glared at him and a deep, terrifying voice growled:
"Ungrateful man! I gave you shelter, you ate at my table and slept in my
own bed, but now all the thanks I get is the theft of my favorite flowers! I
shall put you to death for this slight!" Trembling with fear, the merchant
fell on his knees before the Beast.
"Forgive
me! Forgive me! Don't kill me! I'll do anything you say! The rose wasn't for
me, it was for my daughter Beauty. I promised to bring her back a rose from my
journey!" The Beast dropped the paw it had clamped on the unhappy
merchant.
"I
shall spare your life, but on one condition, that you bring me your
daughter!" The terror-stricken merchant, faced with certain death if he
did not obey, promised that he would do so. When he reached home in tears, his
three daughters ran to greet him. After he had told them of his dreadful
adventure, Beauty put his mind at rest immediately.
"Dear
father, I'd do anything for you! Don't worry, you'll be able to keep your
promise and save your life! Take me to the castle. I'll stay there in your
place!" The merchant hugged his daughter.
"I
never did doubt your love for me. For the moment I can only thank you for
saving my life." So Beauty was led to the castle. The Beast, however, had
quite an unexpected greeting for the girl. Instead of menacing doom as it had
done with her father, it was surprisingly pleasant.
In
the beginning, Beauty was frightened of the Beast, and shuddered at the sight
of it. Then she found that, in spite of the monster's awful head, her horror of
it was gradually fading as time went by. She had one of the finest rooms in the
Castle, and sat for hours, embroidering in front of the fire. And the Beast
would sit, for hours on end, only a short distance away, silently gazing at
her. Then it started to say a few kind words, till in the end, Beauty was
amazed to discover that she was actually enjoying its conversation. The days
passed, and Beauty and the Beast became good friends. Then one day, the Beast
asked the girl to be his wife.
Taken
by surprise, Beauty did not know what to say. Marry such an ugly monster? She
would rather die! But she did not want to hurt the feelings of one who, after
all, had been kind to her. And she remembered too that she owed it her own life
as well as her father's.
"I
really can't say yes," she began shakily. "I'd so much like
to..." The Beast interrupted her with an abrupt gesture.
"I
quite understand! And I'm not offended by your refusal!" Life went on as
usual, and nothing further was said. One day, the Beast presented Beauty with a
magnificent magic mirror. When Beauty peeped into it, she could see her family,
far away.
"You
won't feel so lonely now," were the words that accompanied the gift.
Beauty stared for hours at her distant family. Then she began to feel worried.
One day, the Beast found her weeping beside the magic mirror.
"What's
wrong?" he asked, kindly as always.
"My
father is gravely ill and close to dying! Oh, how I wish I could see him again,
before it's too late!" But the Beast only shook its head.
"No!
You will never leave this castle!" And off it stalked in a rage. However,
a little later, it returned and spoke solemnly to the girl.
"If
you swear that you will return here in seven days time, I'll let you go and
visit your father!" Beauty threw herself at the Beast's feet in delight.
"I
swear! I swear I will! How kind you are! You've made a loving daughter so
happy!" In reality, the merchant had fallen ill from a broken heart at
knowing his daughter was being kept prisoner. When he embraced her again, he
was soon on the road to recovery. Beauty stayed beside him for hours on end,
describing her life at the Castle, and explaining that the Beast was really good and kind. The days
flashed past, and at last the merchant was able to leave his bed. He was
completely well again. Beauty was happy at last. However, she had failed to
notice that seven days had gone by.
Then
one night she woke from a terrible nightmare. She had dreamt that the Beast was
dying and calling for her, twisting in agony.
"Come
back! Come back to me!" it was pleading. The solemn promise she had made
drove her to leave home immediately.
"Hurry!
Hurry, good horse!" she said, whipping her steed onwards towards the
castle, afraid that she might arrive too late. She rushed up the stairs,
calling, but there was no reply. Her heart in her mouth, Beauty ran into the
garden and there crouched the Beast, its eyes shut, as though dead. Beauty
threw herself at it and hugged it tightly.
"Don't
die! Don't die! I'll marry you . . ." At these words, a miracle took
place. The Beast's ugly snout turned magically into the face of a handsome
young man.
"How
I've been longing for this moment!" he said. "I was suffering in
silence, and couldn't tell my frightful secret. An evil witch turned me into a
monster and only the love of a maiden willing to accept me as I was, could
transform me back into my real self. My dearest! I'll be so happy if you'll
marry me."
The
wedding took place shortly after and, from that day on, the young Prince would
have nothing but roses in his gardens. And that's why, to this day, the castle
is known as the Castle of the Rose.
2. Little Red Riding Hood
Once
upon a time in the middle of a thick forest stood a small cottage, the home of
a pretty little girl known to everyone as Little Red Riding Hood. One day, her
Mummy waved her goodbye at the garden gate, saying: "Grandma is ill. Take
her this basket of cakes, but be very careful. Keep to the path through the
wood and don't ever stop. That way, you will come to no harm."
Little
Red Riding Hood kissed her mother and ran off. "Don't worry," she
said, "I'll run all the way to Grandma's without stopping."
Full
of good intentions, the little girl made her way through the wood, but she was
soon to forget her mother's wise words. "What lovely strawberries! And so
red."
Laying
her basket on the ground, Little Red Riding Hood bent over the strawberry
plants. "They're nice and ripe, and so big! Yummy! Delicious! Just another
one. And one more. This is the last. Well, this one Mmmm."
The
red fruit peeped invitingly through the leaves in the grassy glade, and Little
Red Riding Hood ran back and forth popping strawberries into her mouth.
Suddenly she remembered her mother, her promise, Grandma and the basket and
hurried back towards the path. The basket was still in the grass and, humming
to herself, Little Red Riding Hood walked on.
The
wood became thicker and thicker. Suddenly a yellow butterfly fluttered down
through the trees. Little Red Riding Hood started to chase the butterfly.
"I'll
catch you! I'll catch you!" she called. Suddenly she saw some large
daisies in the grass.
"Oh,
how sweet!" she exclaimed and, thinking of Grandma, she picked a large
bunch of flowers.
In
the meantime, two wicked eyes were spying on her from behind a tree. A strange
rustling in the woods made Little Red Riding Hood's heart thump.
Now
quite afraid she said to herself. "I must find the path and run away from
here!"
At
last she reached the path again but her heart leapt into her mouth at the sound
of a gruff voice which said: "Where are you going, my pretty girl, all
alone in the woods?"
"I'm
taking Grandma some cakes. She lives at the end of the path," said Little
Riding Hood in a faint voice.
When
he heard this, the wolf (for it was the big bad wolf himself) politely asked:
"Does Grandma live by herself?"
"Oh,
yes," replied Little Red Riding Hood, "and she never opens the door
to strangers!"
"Goodbye.
Perhaps we'll meet again," replied the wolf. Then he loped away thinking
to himself "I'll gobble the grandmother first, then lie in wait for the
grandchild!" At last, the cottage came in sight. Knock! Knock! The wolf
rapped on the door.
"Who's
there?" cried Grandma from her bed.
"It's
me, Little Red Riding Hood. I've brought you some cakes because you're
ill," replied the wolf, trying hard to hide his gruff voice.
"Lift
the latch and come in," said Grandma, unaware of anything amiss, till a
horrible shadow appeared on the wall. Poor Grandma! For in one bound, the wolf
leapt across the room and, in a single mouthful, swallowed the old lady. Soon
after, Little Red Riding Hood tapped on the door.
"Grandma,
can I come in?" she called.
Now,
the wolf had put on the old lady's shawl and cap and slipped into the bed.
Trying to imitate Grandma's quavering little voice, he replied: "Open the
latch and come in!
"What
a deep voice you have," said the little girl in surprise.
"The
better to greet you with," said the wolf.
"Goodness,
what big eyes you have."
"The
better to see you with."
"And
what big hands you have!" exclaimed Little Red Riding Hood, stepping over
to the bed.
"The
better to hug you with," said the wolf.
"What
a big mouth you have," the little girl murmured in a weak voice.
"The
better to eat you with!" growled the wolf, and jumping out of bed, he
swallowed her up too. Then, with a fat full tummy, he fell fast asleep.
In
the meantime, a hunter had emerged from the wood, and on noticing the cottage,
he decided to stop and ask for a drink. He had spent a lot of time trying to
catch a large wolf that had been terrorizing the neighborhood, but had lost its
tracks. The hunter could hear a strange whistling sound; it seemed to be coming
from inside the cottage. He peered through the window and saw the large wolf
himself, with a fat full tummy, snoring away in Grandma's bed.
"The
wolf! He won't get away this time!"
Without
making a sound, the hunter carefully loaded his gun and gently opened the
window. He pointed the barrel straight at the wolf's head and BANG! The wolf
was dead.
"Got
you at last!" shouted the hunter in glee. "You'll never frighten
anyone again.
He
cut open the wolf's stomach and to his amazement, out popped Grandma and Little
Red Riding Hood, safe and unharmed.
"You
arrived just in time," murmured the old lady, quite overcome by all the
excitement.
"It's
safe to go home now," the hunter told Little Red Riding Hood. "The
big bad wolf is dead and gone, and there is no danger on the path.
Still
scared, the little girl hugged her grandmother.
Much
later, Little Red Riding Hood's mother arrived, all out of breath, worried
because her little girl had not come home. And when she saw Little Red Riding
Hood, safe and sound, she burst into tears of joy.
After
thanking the hunter again, Little Red Riding Hood and her mother set off
towards the wood. As they walked quickly through the trees, the little girl
told her mother: "We must always keep to the path and never stop. That
way, we come to no harm!"
3. Princes Rose and the Golden Bird
by Sergey Nikolov
Many, many years ago, in a
kingdom far, far away there lived a beautiful princes. She had long red hair
and loved roses so much that everyone called her Princes Rose. Every evening
after dusk, Princes Rose went out on the balcony and clapped her hands. A
golden bird came flying out of nowhere and alighted on her shoulder. Instantly,
the princess's hair began to shine, ablaze with brilliant red light.
When the bird started to
warble an enchanting tune, Princess Rose joined it in a song, and everyone in
the kingdom fell asleep and had sweet dreams till the break of dawn.
Thus passed the years.
Every evening Princess Rose, along with the little golden bird, sang a loving
lullaby, so that all people fell asleep and had sweet dreams till the break of
dawn.
Until one day something
terrible happened. A wicked witch learned about Princess Rose and decided to
curse her. "Abracadabra, Sim-Sala-Bim, may the rose's color dim!" the
witch said, and Princess Rose's hair instantly turned as black as tar.
That evening, too, Princess
Rose went out on her balcony and clapped her hands. But when the golden bird
appeared, her hair glowed black instead of red. The bird warbled its enchanting
melody, and Princess Rose sang her lullaby.
Everyone in the kingdom
fell asleep, but that night they only had bad dreams and nightmares.
On the following day, the
saddened princess asked the bird, "Tell me, golden bird, how can I make my
people's dreams so sweet again till the break of dawn?"
"Black hair in rose
water," the bird chirped in reply.
The princess wondered at
this counsel, but abided by it, nevertheless.
She filled up a basin with
water and sprinkled rose petals on its surface. Then, she dipped her hair into
the rose water, and it instantly turned red again.
That evening, when the bird
perched on her shoulder, the radiant red glow of her hair lit up the night sky
once more. The Princess sang her lullaby, and everyone in the kingdom fell
asleep and had sweet dreams till the break of dawn.
The wicked witch was so
very angry that her curse had been broken that she decided to cast it again.
"Abracadabra,
Sim-Sala-Bim, may the rose's color dim!" And the princess's hair turned as
black as tar again.
Only this time the witch
also picked up all of the rose blooms in the entire kingdom.
"Let's see how you'll
break my curse now!" she sneered, filled with rage.
Once again, the saddened
princess asked the bird, "Tell me, golden bird, how can I make my people's
dreams so sweet again till the break of dawn?"
"Black hair in rose
water," the bird chirped in reply.
"But where should I
find a rose?"
"Black hair in rose
water," the bird chirped and flew away.
The princess didn't know
what to do. So great was her anguish that her eyes filled with tears, one of
them falling to the ground below. At that very moment, a young and handsome
prince, who had stopped under the balcony of the princess, took out a little
box and a single red hair from within it.
He bent down and placed the
hair atop the princess's tear. And then, a miracle happened. Suddenly, the red
hair turned into a red rose.
The prince picked the rose
and took it up to the princess. Upon seeing the rose, she immediately brushed
off her tears and plucked its petals to add to the water in the basin. Then,
she dipped in her hair, and the curse was broken. Everyone gasped in
astonishment, and the King asked the prince, "Young man, where did you
find that red hair?"
"When the princess and
I were both children, I picked a single strand of hair from her head as a sign
of my loyalty to her. And she did the same to me, pulling out a strand of my
own hair."
"It's true,
father," the princess confirmed and took out a little box. She opened it to reveal a
single hair from the prince's head inside.
Everyone was delighted with
this news. The prince and Princess Rose got married on that very same day.
Upon learning that her
curse had been broken again, the wicked witch's evilness swelled so much that
she exploded into a thousand tiny pieces. Eventually, rose blooms sprang up in
every garden in the kingdom once again. And so it went: each evening Princess
Rose sang her loving lullaby, so that all people fell asleep and had sweet
dreams till the break of dawn.
4. Puss in Boots
There was a miller who had three sons, and
when he died he divided what he possessed among them in the following manner:
He gave his mill to the eldest, his ass to the second, and his cat to the
youngest. Each of the brothers accordingly took what belonged to him, without
the help of an attorney, who would soon have brought their little fortune to
nothing, in law expenses. The poor young fellow who had nothing but the cat,
complained that he was hardly used: "My brothers," said he, "by
joining their stocks together, may do well in the world, but for me, when I
have eaten my cat, and made a fur cap of his skin, I may soon die of
hunger!" The cat, who all this time sat listening just inside the door of
a cupboard, now ventured to come out and addressed him as follows: "Do not
thus afflict yourself, my good master. You have only to give me a bag, and get
a pair of boots made for me, so that I may scamper through the dirt and the
brambles, and you shall see that you are not so ill provided for as you
imagine." Though the cat's master did not much depend upon these promises,
yet, as he had often observed the cunning tricks puss used to catch the rats
and mice, such as hanging upon his hind legs, and hiding in the meal to make
believe that he was dead, he did not entirely despair of his being of some use
to him in his unhappy condition.
When the cat had obtained
what he asked for, he gayly began to equip himself: he drew on his boots; and
putting the bag about his neck, he took hold of the strings with his fore paws,
and bidding his master take courage, immediately sallied forth. The first
attempt Puss made was to go into a warren in which there were a great number of
rabbits. He put some bran and some parsley into his bag; and then stretching
himself out at full length as if he was dead, he waited for some young rabbits,
who as yet knew nothing of the cunning tricks of the world, to come and get
into the bag, the better to feast upon the dainties he had put into it.
Puss in BootsScarcely had
he lain down before he succeeded as well as could be wished. A giddy young
rabbit crept into the bag, and the cat immediately drew the strings, and killed
him without mercy. Puss, proud of his prey, hastened directly to the palace,
where he asked to speak to the king. On being shown into the apartment of his
majesty, he made a low bow, and said, "I have brought you, sire, this
rabbit from the warren of my lord the marquis of Carabas, who commanded me to
present it to your majesty with the assurance of his respect." (This was
the title the cat thought proper to bestow upon his master.) "Tell my lord
marquis of Carabas," replied the king, "that I accept of his present
with pleasure, and that I am greatly obliged to him." Soon after, the cat
laid himself down in the same manner in a field of corn, and had as much good
fortune as before; for two fine partridges got into his bag, which he
immediately killed and carried to the palace: the king received them as he had
done the rabbit, and ordered his servants to give the messenger something to
drink. In this manner he continued to carry presents of game to the king from
my lord marquis of Carabas, once at least in every week.
One day, the cat having
heard that the king intended to take a ride that morning by the river's side
with his daughter, who was the most beautiful princess in the world, he said to
his master: "If you will but follow my advice, your fortune is made. Take
off your clothes, and bathe yourself in the river, just in the place I shall
show you, and leave the rest to me," The marquis of Carabas did exactly as
he was desired, without being able to guess at what the cat intended. While he
was bathing the king passed by, and puss directly called out as loud as he
could bawl: "Help! help! My lord marquis of Carabas is in danger of being
drowned!" The king hearing the cries, put his head out at the window of
his carriage to see what was the matter: when, perceiving the very cat who had
brought him so many presents, he ordered his attendants to go directly to the
assistance of my lord marquis of Carabas. While they were employed in taking
the marquis out of the river, the cat ran to the king's carriage, and told his
majesty, that while his master was bathing, some thieves had run off with his
clothes as they lay by the river's side; the cunning cat all the time having
hid them under a large stone. The king hearing this, commanded the officers of
his wardrobe to fetch one of the handsomest suits it contained, and present it
to my lord marquis of Carabas, at the same time loading him with a thousand
attentions. As the fine clothes they brought him made him look like a
gentleman, and set off his person, which was very comely, to the greatest
advantage, the king's daughter was mightily taken with his appearance, and the
marquis of Carabas had no sooner cast upon her two or three respectful glances,
then she became violently in love with him.
The king insisted on his
getting into the carriage and taking a ride with them. The cat, enchanted to
see how well his scheme was likely to succeed, ran before to a meadow that was
reaping, and said to the reapers: "Good people, if you do not tell the
king, who will soon pass this way, that the meadow you are reaping belongs to
my lord marquis of Carabas, you shall be chopped as small as mince meat."
The king did not fail to ask the reapers to whom the meadow belonged? "To
my lord marquis of Carabas," said they all at once; for the threats of the
cat had terribly frighted them. "You have here a very fine piece of land,
my lord marquis," said the king. "Truly, sire," replied he,
"it does not fail to bring me every year a plentiful harvest." The
cat who still went on before, now came to a field where some other labourers
were making sheaves of the corn they had reaped, to whom he said as before:
"Good people, if you do not tell the king who will presently pass this
way, that the corn you have reaped in this field belongs to my lord marquis of
Carabas, you shall be chopped as small as mince meat." The king
accordingly passed a moment after, and inquired to whom the corn he saw
belonged? "To my lord marquis of Carabas," answered they very glibly;
upon which the king again complimented the marquis upon his noble possessions.
The cat still continued to go before, and gave the same charge to all the
people he met with; so that the king was greatly astonished at the splendid
fortune of my lord marquis of Carabas. Puss at length arrived at a stately
castle, which belonged to an Ogre, the richest ever known; for all the lands
the king had passed through and admired were his. The cat took care to learn
every particular about the Ogre, and what he could do, and then asked to speak
with him, saying, as he entered the room in which he was, that he could not
pass so near his castle without doing himself the honour to inquire after his
health. The Ogre received him as civilly as an Ogre could do, and desired him
to be seated, "I have been informed," said the cat, "that you
have the gift of changing yourself to all sorts of animals; into a lion or an
elephant for example." "It is very true," replied the Ogre
somewhat sternly; "and to convince you I will directly take the form of a
lion." The cat was so much terrified at finding himself so near to a lion,
that he sprang from him, and climbed to the roof of the house; but not without
much difficulty, as his boots were not very fit to walk upon the tiles.
Some minutes after, the cat
perceiving that the Ogre had quitted the form of a lion, ventured to come down
from the tiles, and owned that he had been a good deal frightened, "I have
been further informed," continued the cat, "but I know not how to
believe it, that you have the power of taking the form of the smallest animals
also; for example of changing yourself to a rat or a mouse: I confess I should
think this impossible." "Impossible! you shall see;" and at the
same instant he changed himself into a mouse, and began to frisk about the
room. The cat no sooner cast his eyes upon the Ogre in this form, than he
sprang upon him and devoured him in an instant. In the meantime the king,
admiring as he came near it, the magnificent castle of the Ogre, ordered his
attendants to drive up to the gates, as he wished to take a nearer view of it.
The cat, hearing the noise of the carriage on the drawbridge, immediately came out,
saying: "Your majesty is welcome to the castle of my lord marquis of
Carabas." "And is this splendid castle yours also, my lord marquis of
Carabas? I never saw anything more stately than the building, or more beautiful
than the park and pleasure grounds around it; no doubt the castle is no less
magnificent within than without: pray, my lord marquis, indulge me with a sight
of it."
The marquis gave his hand
to the young princess as she alighted, and followed the king who went before;
they entered a spacious hall, where they found a splendid collation which the
Ogre had prepared for some friends he had that day expected to visit him; but
who, hearing that the king with the princess and a great gentleman of the court
were within, had not dared to enter. The king was so much charmed with the
amiable qualities and noble fortune of the marquis of Carabas, and the young
princess too had fallen so violently in love with him, that when the king had
partaken of the collation, and drunk a few glasses of wine, he said to the
marquis: "It will be you own fault, my lord marquis of Carabas, if you do
not soon become my son-in-law." The marquis received the intelligence with
a thousand respectful acknowledgments, accepted the honour conferred upon him,
and married the princess that very day. The cat became a great lord, and never
after ran after rats and mice but for his amusement.
5. Rapunzel
There was once a couple who
had long in vain wished for a child. At length the woman hoped that God was
about to grant her desire. They had a little window at the back of their house
from which a splendid garden could be seen, which was full of beautiful flowers
and herbs. It was, however, surrounded by a high wall, and no one dared to go
into it because it belonged to an enchantress, who had great power and was
dreaded by all the world.
One day the woman was
standing by this window and looking down into the garden, when she saw a bed
which was planted with the most beautiful rampion - rapunzel, and it looked so
fresh and green that she longed for it, and had the greatest desire to eat
some. This desire increased every day, and as she knew that she could not get
any of it, she quite pined away, and began to look pale and miserable. Her
husband was alarmed, and asked, "what makes you sad, dear wife."
"Ah", she replied, "if I can't eat some of the rampion, which is
in the garden behind our house, I shall die". The man, who loved her,
thought, sooner than let your wife die, bring her some of the rampion yourself,
let it cost what it will. At twilight, he clambered down over the wall into the
garden of the enchantress, hastily clutched a handful of rampion, and took it
to his wife. She at once made herself a salad of it, and ate it greedily. It
tasted so good to her - so very good, that the next day she longed for it three
times as much as before. If he was to have any rest, her husband must once more
descend into the garden. In the gloom of evening, therefore, he let himself
down again. But when he had clambered down the wall he was terribly afraid, for
he saw the enchantress standing before him. "How dare you", said she
with angry look, "descend into my garden and steal my rampion like a
thief. You shall suffer for it". He answered, "let mercy take the
place of justice, I only made up my mind to do it out of necessity. My wife saw
your rampion from the window, and felt such a longing for it that she would
have died if she had not got some to eat". Then the enchantress allowed
her anger to be softened, and said to him, if the case be as you say, I will
allow you to take away with you as much rampion as you will, only I make one
condition, you must give me the child which your wife will bring into the
world. It shall be well treated, and I will care for it like a mother. The man
in his terror consented to everything, and when the woman was brought to bed,
the enchantress appeared at once, gave the child the name of Rapunzel, and took
it away with her. Rapunzel grew into the most beautiful child under the sun.
When she was twelve years
old, the enchantress shut her into a tower, which lay in a forest, and had
neither stairs nor door, but quite at the top was a little window. When the
enchantress wanted to go in, she placed herself beneath it and cried,
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair to me".
Rapunzel had magnificent
long hair, fine as spun gold, and when she heard the voice of the enchantress
she unfastened her braided tresses, wound them round one of the hooks of the
window above, and then the hair fell twenty ells down, and the enchantress
climbed up by it.
After a year or two, it
came to pass that the king's son rode through the forest and passed by the
tower. Then he heard a song, which was so charming that he stood still and
listened. This was Rapunzel, who in her solitude passed her time in letting her
sweet voice resound. The king's son wanted to climb up to her, and looked for
the door of the tower, but none was to be found. He rode home, but the singing
had so deeply touched his heart, that every day he went out into the forest and
listened to it. Once when he was thus standing behind a tree, he saw that an
enchantress came there, and he heard how she cried,
"If that is the ladder
by which one mounts, I too will try my fortune". thought he, and the next
day when it began to grow dark, he went to the tower and cried, "Rapunzel,
Rapunzel, let down your hair". Immediately the hair fell down and the
king's son climbed up. At first Rapunzel was terribly frightened when a man,
such as her eyes had never yet beheld, came to her. But the king's son began to
talk to her quite like a friend, and told her that his heart had been so
stirred that it had let him have no rest, and he had been forced to see her.
Then rapunzel lost her fear, and when he asked her if she would take him for
her husband, and she saw that he was young and handsome, she thought, he will
love me more than old dame gothic does. And she said yes, and laid her hand in
his. She said, I will willingly go away with you, but I do not know how to get
down. Bring with you a skein of silk every time that you come, and I will weave
a ladder with it, and when that is ready I will descend, and you will take me
on your horse. They agreed that until that time he should come to her every
evening, for the old woman came by day. The enchantress remarked nothing of
this, until once Rapunzel said to her, tell me, how it happens that you are so
much heavier for me to draw up than the young king's son - he is with me in a
moment. Ah. You wicked child, cried the enchantress. What do I hear you say. I
thought I had separated you from all the world, and yet you have deceived me.
In her anger she clutched rapunzel's beautiful tresses, wrapped them twice
round her left hand, seized a pair of scissors with the right, and snip, snap,
they were cut off, and the lovely braids lay on the ground. And she was so
pitiless that she took poor rapunzel into a desert where she had to live in
great grief and misery.
On the same day that she
cast out rapunzel, however, the enchantress fastened the braids of hair, which
she had cut off, to the hook of the window, and when the king's son came and
cried, rapunzel, rapunzel, let down your hair, she let the hair down. The
king's son ascended, but instead of finding his dearest rapunzel, he found the
enchantress, who gazed at him with wicked and venomous looks. Aha, she cried
mockingly, you would fetch your dearest, but the beautiful bird sits no longer
singing in the nest. The cat has got it, and will scratch out your eyes as
well. Rapunzel is lost to you. You will never see her again. The king's son was
beside himself with pain, and in his despair he leapt down from the tower. He
escaped with his life, but the thorns into which he fell pierced his eyes. Then
he wandered quite blind about the forest, ate nothing but roots and berries,
and did naught but lament and weep over the loss of his dear wife. Thus he
roamed about in misery for some years, and at length came to the desert where
Rapunzel, with the twins to which she had given birth, a boy and a girl, lived
in wretchedness. He heard a voice, and it seemed so familiar to him that he
went towards it, and when he approached, Rapunzel knew him and fell on his neck
and wept. Two of her tears wetted his eyes and they grew clear again, and he
could see with them as before. He led her to his kingdom where he was joyfully
received, and they lived for a long time afterwards, happy and contented.
6. The Finest Liar in the World
At the edge of a wood there
lived an old man who had only one son, and one day he called the boy to him and
said he wanted some corn ground, but the youth must be sure never to enter any
mill where the miller was beardless.
The boy took the corn and
set out, and before he had gone very far he saw a large mill in front of him,
with a beardless man standing in the doorway.
'Good greeting, beardless
one!' cried he.
'Good greeting, sonny,'
replied the man.
'Could I grind something
here?'
'Yes, certainly! I will
finish what I am doing and then you can grind as long as you like.'
But suddenly the boy
remembered what his father had told him, and bade farewell to the man, and went
further down the river, till he came to another mill, not knowing that as soon
as his back was turned the beardless man had picked up a bag of corn and run
hastily to the same mill before him. When the boy reached the second mill, and
saw a second beardless man sitting there, he did not stop, and walked on till
he came to a third mill. But this time also the beardless man had been too
clever for him, and had arrived first by another road. When it happened a
fourth time the boy grew cross, and said to himself, 'It is no good going on;
there seems to be a beardless man in every mill'; and he took his sack from his
back, and made up his mind to grind his corn where he was.
The beardless man finished
grinding his own corn, and when he had done he said to the boy, who was
beginning to grind his, 'Suppose, sonny, we make a cake of what you have
there.'
Now the boy had been rather
uneasy when he recollected his father's words, but he thought to himself, 'What
is done cannot be undone,' and answered, 'Very well, so let it be.'
Then the beardless one got
up, threw the flour into the tub, and made a hole in the middle, telling the
boy to fetch some water from the river in his two hands, to mix the cake. When
the cake was ready for baking they put it on the fire, and covered it with hot
ashes, till it was cooked through. Then they leaned it up against the wall, for
it was too big to go into a cupboard, and the beardless one said to the boy:
'Look here, sonny: if we
share this cake we shall neither of us have enough. Let us see who can tell the
biggest lie, and the one who lies the best shall have the whole cake.'
The boy, not knowing what
else to do, answered, 'All right; you begin.'
So the beardless one began
to lie with all his might, and when he was tired of inventing new lies the boy
said to him, 'My good fellow, if THAT is all you can do it is not much! Listen
to me, and I will tell you a true story.
'In my youth, when I was an
old man, we had a quantity of beehives. Every morning when I got up I counted
them over, and it was quite easy to number the bees, but I never could reckon
the hives properly. One day, as I was counting the bees, I discovered that my
best bee was missing, and without losing a moment I saddled a cock and went out
to look for him. I traced him as far as the shore, and knew that he had crossed
the sea, and that I must follow. When I had reached the other side I found a
man had harnessed my bee to a plough, and with his help was sowing millet seed.
' "That is my
bee!" I shouted. "Where did you get him from?" '
"Brother," replied the man, "if he is yours, take him." And
he not only gave me back my bee, but a sack of millet seed into the bargain,
because he had made use of my bee. Then I put the bag on my shoulders, took the
saddle from the cock, and placed it on the back of the bee, which I mounted,
leading the cock by a string, so that he should have a rest. As we were flying
home over the sea one of the strings that held the bag of millet broke in two,
and the sack dropped straight into the ocean. It was quite lost, of course, and
there was no use thinking about it, and by the time we were safe back again
night had come. I then got down from my bee, and let him loose, that he might
get his supper, gave the cock some hay, and went to sleep myself. But when I
awoke with the sun what a scene met my eyes! During the night wolves had come
and had eaten my bee. And honey lay ankle-deep in the valley and knee-deep on
the hills. Then I began to consider how I could best collect some, to take home
with me.
'Now it happened that I had
with me a small hatchet, and this I took to the wood, hoping to meet some
animal which I could kill, whose skin I might turn into a bag. As I entered the
forest I saw two roe-deer hopping on one foot, so I slew them with a single
blow, and made three bags from their skins, all of which I filled with honey
and placed on the back of the cock. At length I reached home, where I was told
that my father had just been born, and that I must go at once to fetch some
holy water to sprinkle him with. As I went I turned over in my mind if there
was no way for me to get back my millet seed, which had dropped into the sea,
and when I arrived at the place with the holy water I saw the seed had fallen
on fruitful soil, and was growing before my eyes. And more than that, it was
even cut by an invisible hand, and made into a cake.
'So I took the cake as well
as the holy water, and was flying back with them over the sea, when there fell
a great rain, and the sea was swollen, and swept away my millet cake. Ah, how
vexed I was at its loss when I was safe on earth again.
'Suddenly I remembered that
my hair was very long. If I stood it touched the ground, although if I was
sitting it only reached my ears. I seized a knife and cut off a large lock,
which I plaited together, and when night came tied it into a knot, and prepared
to use it for a pillow. But what was I to do for a fire? A tinder box I had,
but no wood. Then it occurred to me that I had stuck a needle in my clothes, so
I took the needle and split it in pieces, and lit it, then laid myself down by
the fire and went to sleep. But ill-luck still pursued me. While I was sleeping
a spark from the fire lighted on the hair, which was burnt up in a moment. In
despair I threw myself on the ground, and instantly sank in it as far as my
waist. I struggled to get out, but only fell in further; so I ran to the house,
seized a spade, dug myself out, and took home the holy water. On the way I
noticed that the ripe fields were full of reapers, and suddenly the air became
so frightfully hot that the men dropped down in a faint. Then I called to them,
"Why don't you bring out our mare, which is as tall as two days, and as
broad as half a day, and make a shade for yourselves?" My father heard
what I said and jumped quickly on the mare, and the reapers worked with a will
in the shadow, while I snatched up a wooden pail to bring them some water to
drink. When I got to the well everything was frozen hard, so in order to draw
some water I had to take off my head and break the ice with it. As I drew near
them, carrying the water, the reapers all cried out, "Why, what has become
of your head?" I put up my hand and discovered that I really had no head,
and that I must have left it in the well. I ran back to look for it, but found
that meanwhile a fox which was passing by had pulled my head out of the water,
and was tearing at my brains. I stole cautiously up to him, and gave him such a
kick that he uttered a loud scream, and let fall a parchment on which was
written, "The cake is mine, and the beardless one goes empty-handed."
'
With these words the boy
rose, took the cake, and went home, while the beardless one remained behind to
swallow his disappointment.
7. The Frog Prince
One fine evening a young
princess put on her bonnet and clogs, and went out to take a walk by herself in
a wood; and when she came to a cool spring of water with a rose in the middle
of it, she sat herself down to rest a while. Now she had a golden ball in her
hand, which was her favourite plaything; and she was always tossing it up into
the air, and catching it again as it fell.
After a time she threw it
up so high that she missed catching it as it fell; and the ball bounded away,
and rolled along on the ground, until at last it fell down into the spring. The
princess looked into the spring after her ball, but it was very deep, so deep
that she could not see the bottom of it. She began to cry, and said, 'Alas! if
I could only get my ball again, I would give all my fine clothes and jewels,
and everything that I have in the world.'
Whilst she was speaking, a
frog put its head out of the water, and said, 'Princess, why do you weep so
bitterly?'
'Alas!' said she, 'what can
you do for me, you nasty frog? My golden ball has fallen into the spring.'
The frog said, 'I do not
want your pearls, and jewels, and fine clothes; but if you will love me, and
let me live with you and eat from off your golden plate, and sleep on your bed,
I will bring you your ball again.'
'What nonsense,' thought
the princess, 'this silly frog is talking! He can never even get out of the
spring to visit me, though he may be able to get my ball for me, and therefore
I will tell him he shall have what he asks.'
So she said to the frog,
'Well, if you will bring me my ball, I will do all you ask.'
Then the frog put his head
down, and dived deep under the water; and after a little while he came up
again, with the ball in his mouth, and threw it on the edge of the spring.
As soon as the young
princess saw her ball, she ran to pick it up; and she was so overjoyed to have
it in her hand again, that she never thought of the frog, but ran home with it
as fast as she could.
The frog called after her,
'Stay, princess, and take me with you as you said,'
But she did not stop to
hear a word.
The next day, just as the
princess had sat down to dinner, she heard a strange noise - tap, tap - plash,
plash - as if something was coming up the marble staircase, and soon afterwards
there was a gentle knock at the door, and a little voice cried out and said:
'Open the door, my princess
dear,
Open the door to thy true
love here!
And mind the words that
thou and I said
By the fountain cool, in
the greenwood shade.'
Then the princess ran to the
door and opened it, and there she saw the frog, whom she had quite forgotten.
At this sight she was sadly frightened, and shutting the door as fast as she
could came back to her seat.
The king, her father,
seeing that something had frightened her, asked her what was the matter.
'There is a nasty frog,'
said she, 'at the door, that lifted my ball for me out of the spring this
morning. I told him that he should live with me here, thinking that he could
never get out of the spring; but there he is at the door, and he wants to come
in.'
While she was speaking the
frog knocked again at the door, and said:
'Open the door, my princess
dear,
Open the door to thy true
love here!
And mind the words that
thou and I said
By the fountain cool, in
the greenwood shade.'
Then the king said to the
young princess, 'As you have given your word you must keep it; so go and let
him in.'
She did so, and the frog
hopped into the room, and then straight on - tap, tap - plash, plash - from the
bottom of the room to the top, till he came up close to the table where the
princess sat.
'Pray lift me upon chair,'
said he to the princess, 'and let me sit next to you.'
As soon as she had done
this, the frog said, 'Put your plate nearer to me, that I may eat out of it.'
This she did, and when he
had eaten as much as he could, he said, 'Now I am tired; carry me upstairs, and
put me into your bed.' And the princess, though very unwilling, took him up in
her hand, and put him upon the pillow of her own bed, where he slept all night
long.
As soon as it was light the
frog jumped up, hopped downstairs, and went out of the house.
'Now, then,' thought the
princess, 'at last he is gone, and I shall be troubled with him no more.'
But she was mistaken; for
when night came again she heard the same tapping at the door; and the frog came
once more, and said:
'Open the door, my princess
dear,
Open the door to thy true
love here!
And mind the words that
thou and I said
By the fountain cool, in
the greenwood shade.'
And when the princess
opened the door the frog came in, and slept upon her pillow as before, till the
morning broke. And the third night he did the same. But when the princess awoke
on the following morning she was astonished to see, instead of the frog, a
handsome prince, gazing on her with the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen
and standing at the head of her bed.
He told her that he had
been enchanted by a spiteful fairy, who had changed him into a frog; and that
he had been fated so to abide till some princess should take him out of the
spring, and let him eat from her plate, and sleep upon her bed for three
nights.
'You,' said the prince,
'have broken his cruel charm, and now I have nothing to wish for but that you
should go with me into my father's kingdom, where I will marry you, and love
you as long as you live.'
The young princess, you may
be sure, was not long in saying 'Yes' to all this; and as they spoke a brightly
coloured coach drove up, with eight beautiful horses, decked with plumes of
feathers and a golden harness; and behind the coach rode the prince's servant,
faithful Heinrich, who had bewailed the misfortunes of his dear master during
his enchantment so long and so bitterly, that his heart had well-nigh burst.
They then took leave of the
king, and got into the coach with eight horses, and all set out, full of joy
and merriment, for the prince's kingdom, which they reached safely; and there
they lived happily a great many years.
8. The Magic Swan
THERE WERE ONCE upon a time
three brothers; the eldest was called Jacob, the second Frederick, and the
youngest Peter. This youngest brother was treated shamefully by the other two.
If anything went wrong Peter had to bear the blame and put things right for
them. He had to endure all this ill treatment because he was weak and delicate
and could not defend himself against his stronger brothers. One day, when he
was in the woods gathering sticks, a little old woman came up to him and he
told her all his troubles.
'Come, my good youth,' said
the old dame, when he had finished his tale of woe, 'isn't the world wide
enough?
Set out and try
your fortune elsewhere:
Peter took her words to
heart and left his father's house early one morning. But he felt very bitterly
parting from the home where he had been born, and where at least he had passed
a happy childhood. Sitting down on a hill he gazed once more fondly on his
native place.
Suddenly the little old
woman stood before him and, tapping him on the shoulder, said, 'So far so good,
my boy. What do you mean to do now?'
Peter was at a loss what to
answer, for he had always thought fortune would drop into his mouth like a ripe
cherry. The old woman, who guessed his thoughts, laughed kindly, and said:
'I'll tell you what you
must do, for I have taken a fancy to you. I am sure you will not forget me when
you have made your fortune.'
Peter promised faithfully
he would not, and the old woman continued, 'This evening, at sunset, go to yonder
pear tree growing at the crossroads. Under it you will find a man lying asleep,
and a beautiful large swan will be fastened to the tree close to him. Be
careful not to waken the man, but unfasten the swan and take it away with you.
Everyone will fall in love with its beautiful plumage, and you must allow
anyone who likes to pull out a feather. But as soon as the swan feels as much
as a finger on it, it will scream. Then you must say, "Swan, hold
fast." The hand of the person who has touched the bird will be held and
nothing will set it free, unless you touch it with this little stick, of which
I make you a present. When you have captured a whole lot of people in this way,
lead your train straight on with you. You will come to a big town where a princess
lives who has never been known to laugh. If you can only make her laugh your
fortune is made. Then I beg you will not forget your old friend.'
Peter promised again that
he would not, and at sunset he went to the tree the old woman had mentioned.
The man lay there fast asleep, and a large beautiful swan was fastened to the
tree beside him by a red cord. Peter loosed the bird and led it away with him
without disturbing its sleeping master.
He walked on with the swan
for some time and came, at last, to a yard where some men were busily at work.
They were all lost in admiration of the bird's beautiful plumage. One forward
youth, who was covered with clay from head to foot, called out:
'Oh, if I'd only one of
those feathers how happy I should be!'
'Pull one out then,' said
Peter kindly. The youth seized one from the bird's tail. Instantly the swan
screamed, and Peter called out, 'Swan, hold fast.' And do what he would the
poor youth could not get his hand away. The more he howled the more the others
laughed, till a girl who had been washing clothes in the neighboring stream
hurried up. When she saw the poor boy fastened to the swan she felt so sorry
for him that she stretched out her hand to free him. The bird screamed.
'Swan, hold fast,' called
out Peter, and the girl was caught also.
When Peter had gone on for
a bit with his captives, they met a chimney sweep, who laughed loudly over the
extraordinary troop, and asked the girl what she was doing.
'Oh, dearest John,' replied
the girl, 'give me your hand and set me free from this young man:
'Most certainly, I will,'
replied the sweep, and gave the girl his hand. The bird screamed.
'Swan, hold fast,' said
Peter, and the sweep was added to their number.
They soon came to a village
where a fair was being held. A traveling circus was giving a performance and
the clown was just doing his tricks. He opened his eyes wide with amazement
when he saw the remarkable trio fastened to the swan's tail.
'Have you gone raving mad,
Blackie?' he asked as well as he could for laughing.
When the bird screamed,
Peter called, 'Swan, hold fast!'
'It is no laughing matter,'
the sweep replied. 'This wench has so tight hold of me I feel as if I were
glued to her. Do set me free, like a good clown, and I shall do you a good turn
some day.'
Without a moment's
hesitation the clown grasped the outstretched hand. The bird screamed.
'Swan, hold fast,' called
out Peter, and the clown became the fourth of the party.
Now in the front row of the
spectators sat the respected and popular mayor of the village. He was much put
out by what he considered nothing but a foolish trick. So much annoyed was he
that he seized the clown by the hand and tried to tear him away, to hand him
over to the police.
Then the bird screamed, and
Peter called out, 'Swan, hold fast,' and the dignified mayor was caught fast as
the others were.
The mayoress, a long thin
stick of a woman, enraged at the insult done her husband, seized his free arm
and tore at it with all her might. The only result was that she too was forced
to join the procession. After this no one else had any wish to aid them.
Soon Peter saw the towers
of the capital in front of him. Just before entering the city, a glittering
carriage came out to meet him. In it was a young lady as beautiful as the day,
but with a very solemn and serious expression. No sooner had she perceived the
motley crowd fastened to the swan's tail than she burst into loud laughter, in
which she was joined by all her servants and ladies-in-waiting.
'The princess has laughed
at last!" they all cried with joy.
She stepped out of her
carriage to look more closely at the wonderful sight and laughed again over the
capers of the poor captives. She ordered her carriage to be turned round and
drove slowly back into town, never taking her eyes off Peter and his
procession.
When the king heard the
news that his daughter had actually laughed, he was more than delighted and had
Peter and his marvelous train brought before him. When he saw them he laughed
till the tears rolled down his cheeks.
'My good friend,' he said
to Peter, 'do you know what I promised the person who succeeded in making the
princess laugh?'
'No, I don't,' said Peter.
'Then I will tell you,'
answered the king. 'A thousand gold crowns or a piece of land. Which will you
choose?'
Peter decided in favor of
the land. Then he touched the youth, the girl, the sweep, the clown, the mayor
and the mayoress with his little stick, and they were all free again and ran
away home as if a fire were burning behind them. Their flight gave rise to
renewed merriment.
Then the princess felt
moved to stroke the swan, at the same time admiring its plumage. The bird
screamed.
'Swan, hold fast,' called
out Peter, and so he won the princess for his bride. But the swan flew up into
the air and vanished into the blue horizon. Peter now received a duchy as a
present and became a very great man indeed. He did not forget the little old
woman who had been the cause of all his good fortune and appointed her as head housekeeper
to him and his royal bride in their magnificent castle.
9. The Ugly Duckling
Once upon a time down on an
old farm, lived a duck family, and Mother Duck had been sitting on a clutch of
new eggs. One nice morning, the eggs hatched and out popped six chirpy
ducklings. But one egg was bigger than the rest, and it didn't hatch. Mother
Duck couldn't recall laying that seventh egg. How did it get there? TOCK! TOCK!
The little prisoner was pecking inside his shell.
"Did I count the eggs
wrongly?" Mother Duck wondered. But before she had time to think about it,
the last egg finally hatched. A strange looking duckling with gray feathers
that should have been yellow gazed at a worried mother. The ducklings grew
quickly, but Mother Duck had a secret worry.
"I can't understand
how this ugly duckling can be one of mine!" she said to herself, shaking
her head as she looked at her last born. Well, the gray duckling certainly
wasn't pretty, and since he ate far more than his brothers, he was outgrowing
them. As the days went by, the poor ugly duckling became more and more unhappy.
His brothers didn't want to play with him, he was so clumsy, and all the
farmyard folks simply laughed at him. He felt sad and lonely, while Mother Duck
did her best to console him.
"Poor little ugly
duckling!" she would say. "Why are you so different from the
others?" And the ugly duckling felt worse than ever. He secretly wept at
night. He felt nobody wanted him.
"Nobody loves me, they
all tease me! Why am I different from my brothers?"
Then one day, at sunrise,
he ran away from the farmyard. He stopped at a pond and began to question all
the other birds. "Do you know of any ducklings with gray feathers like
mine?" But everyone shook their heads in scorn.
"We don't know anyone
as ugly as you." The ugly duckling did not lose heart, however, and kept
on making inquiries. He went to another pond, where a pair of large geese gave
him the same answer to his question. What's more, they warned him: "Don't
stay here! Go away! It's dangerous. There are men with guns around here!"
The duckling was sorry he had ever left the farmyard.
Then one day, his travels
took him near an old countrywoman's cottage. Thinking he was a stray goose, she
caught him.
"I'll put this in a
hutch. I hope it's a female and lays plenty of eggs!" said the old woman,
whose eyesight was poor. But the ugly duckling laid not a single egg. The hen
kept frightening him.
"Just wait! If you
don't lay eggs, the old woman will wring your neck and pop you into the
pot!" And the cat chipped in: "Hee! Hee! I hope the woman cooks you,
then I can gnaw at your bones!" The poor ugly duckling was so scared that
he lost his appetite, though the old woman kept stuffing him with food and
grumbling: "If you won't lay eggs, at least hurry up and get plump!"
"Oh, dear me!"
moaned the now terrified duckling. "I'll die of fright first! And I did so
hope someone would love me!"
Then one night, finding the
hutch door ajar, he escaped. Once again he was all alone. He fled as far away
as he could, and at dawn, he found himself in a thick bed of reeds. "If
nobody wants me, I'll hid here forever." There was plenty a food, and the
duckling began to feel a little happier, though he was lonely. One day at
sunrise, he saw a flight of beautiful birds wing overhead. White, with long slender
necks, yellow beaks and large wings, they were migrating south.
"If only I could look
like them, just for a day!" said the duckling, admiringly. Winter came and
the water in the reed bed froze. The poor duckling left home to seek food in
the snow. He dropped exhausted to the ground, but a farmer found him and put
him in his big jacket pocket.
"I'll take him home to
my children. They'll look after him. Poor thing, he's frozen!" The
duckling was showered with kindly care at the farmer's house. In this way, the
ugly duckling was able to survive the bitterly cold winter.
However, by springtime, he
had grown so big that the farmer decided: "I'll set him free by the
pond!" That was when the duckling saw himself mirrored in the water.
"Goodness! How I've
changed! I hardly recognize myself!" The flight of swans winged north
again and glided on to the pond. When the duckling saw them, he realized he was
one of their kind, and soon made friends.
"We're swans like
you!" they said, warmly. "Where have you been hiding?"
"It's a long
story," replied the young swan, still astounded. Now, he swam majestically
with his fellow swans. One day, he heard children on the river bank exclaim:
"Look at that young swan! He's the finest of them all!"
And he almost burst with happiness.
10. Thumbelina
Once upon a time there was
an old woman who lived in a cottage on a hill, all by herself.
She never had any children
of her own. No one ever came to visit
and, thus, the woman took to caring for her garden of beautiful flowers. Eventually not even the old woman’s garden
could keep her from feeling lonesome.
One day, as the old woman
was watering her bright red roses, a witch came walking up the hill to the
woman’s house. The old woman was
skeptical of witches because she’d heard about all the apples and beans they
tried to sell; however, this witch seemed nicer than what the old woman
imagined. They talked for a long time,
and each grew fond of the other. The woman
finally told the witch that she had grown lonely in her old age. The witch, feeling sorry for the old woman,
gave her a special seed for free. The
witch told her to plant the seed in her best soil, to water her seed with her
clearest water, and to give her seed some extra love.
ThumbelinaThe old woman did
what the witch asked: she planted the seed in a small pot with the finest soil;
she watered the seed with fresh rainwater; and one day, when the beautiful pink
flower had sprouted up from the dirt, the old woman kissed its closed petals.
Suddenly, the flower petals
opened up and inside sat a small girl with long golden hair. She was no larger than the old woman’s
thumb. The old woman named her
Thumbelina.
She took great care of
Thumbelina as her own daughter. She made
her a bed out of a polished walnut shell and each night she gathered flower
petals from her garden for Thumbelina to use for warmth. Thumbelina would sing the old woman to sleep
with a most beautiful singing voice.
After hearing Thumbelina’s
lovely voice one warm summer night, a large toad hopped up to a window. Hop!
Hop! Hop!
Once Thumbelina had fallen
asleep, the toad crept in through the window.
“Oh my! This one will make the perfect wife for my
son!” she exclaimed. The toad grabbed
Thumbelina in the walnut shell and carried her off to the nearby river. Once near the river the toad said to her son,
“Gaze at the lovely bride I found for you!”
Croak! Croak!
Crooooooak! was all her son could
reply.
Proudly, the mother toad
took the still sleeping Thumbelina to a patch of lily pads and placed her on
the smallest one. Then she went back to
where her son was now lying in a large puddle of mud and the two of them began
to construct a house of mud and reeds fit for the new bride.
Thumbelina awoke at the
sound of hops and croaks and immediately began to sob at the thought of her
mother all alone without the company of being sung to sleep.
Two orange fish heard
Thumbelina weeping and saw the lily pad she was sitting on.
“We should help her,” both
said at the same time. Immediately they
swam over to Thumbelina’s lily pad and chewed at her lily stalk until she broke
free.
“Oh! Thank you!
Thank you so much,” Thumbelina exclaimed, waving goodbye to the fish as
she began float away downstream.
As Thumbelina traveled down
the river, her heart was filled with all the wonder of the world outside. She saw the beautiful stars in the sky; she
heard the sounds of crickets chirping; and she could smell the lovely aroma of
the flowers surrounding the river’s edge.
Suddenly a beautiful purple
butterfly flew next to her, following her path down the river. Thumbelina gazed in surprise at the
butterfly’s magnificent wings flapping beside her.
She cried out in joy and
clapped her hands as the butterfly flew off into the rising sun. Thumbelina yawned and fell asleep once more
until the sun had risen high above her.
When she awoke, she found
herself at the river’s edge in a land even farther away from her dear old
mother. Thumbelina tried to ignore her
sadness during the summer months by surrounding herself with all the flowers
and sun she could. She became friends
with butterflies, and dragonflies, and bumblebees. She could hear the chirping of birds above
her. She was happy once more.
But once autumn came, all
the winged creatures began to fly away, leaving Thumbelina by herself. And once winter came, Thumbelina became very
cold and even more alone. She could only
warm herself with the dried leaves that had fallen off the trees during autumn.
One very snowy day,
Thumbelina had become so cold and hungry that she decided to search for shelter
and something to eat. She wandered
farther than she ever had into the meadow beside a field of corn. There she found a small hole beside a tree. She climbed inside and was surprised to find
a field mouse standing in a large room filled with pebbles of corn.
“Come inside, dear. You’re shaking. I will warm you. You will stay with me,” the field mouse
said. The field mouse was kind to
Thumbelina. She fed her all the corn
Thumbelina desired and gave her a warm place to live and sleep. In return, the mouse asked that Thumbelina
tend to the chores and tell her stories.
Thumbelina told the mouse all the stories of her travels and eventually
the mouse loved to be sung to sleep as well.
One morning Thumbelina
awoke to the sounds of the field mouse scurrying around in a panic to
spotlessly clean the hole where they lived.
When Thumbelina questioned
this, the mouse replied, “Our neighbor is coming to visit. He is a very important visitor. He is rich, he wears a shiny black coat made
of the finest velvet, and he will make the perfect husband for you. Unfortunately he is blind for he is a mole.”
The mole visited later that
day and the mouse told Thumbelina to tell him a story. Thumbelina did. The mole became fond of Thumbelina. Then the mouse urged Thumbelina to sing for
the blind mole. Thumbelina did. The mole immediately fell in love with
Thumbelina.
He began to visit the
mouse’s hole daily and often invited Thumbelina to walk through the tunnels
he’d built. Thumbelina reluctantly did,
but only to make the field mouse, who had been so kind to her, happy.
“Don’t mind that bird. It just lays in the middle of my tunnel. The stupid thing is gone and dead!” exclaimed
the mole. Thumbelina was filled with
sadness at the sight of the beautiful bird lying in the middle of the dirty
tunnel. The mole kicked the bird
grumpily as he walked past it.
“Come! Come!” he called to
Thumbelina.
“I will be back for you,”
Thumbelina whispered to the bird. She
spent the rest of her day with the mole, unhappy.
That night Thumbelina tried
to sleep, but all she could think about was the poor bird lying alone in the
mole’s tunnel. She crept quietly as not
to wake the field mouse. She grabbed her
bed sheet, which the mouse had knit for her out of corn leaves and soft down,
and ran through the tunnel to the bird.
She covered the meek animal as much she could. She wept quietly and hugged the bird. Suddenly she could hear the bird’s
heartbeat. Ba bump! Ba buMP!
BA BUMP!
Thumbelina gasped as she
saw the bird open its eyes. The bird was
not dead! The winter’s air had only
frozen the bird’s heartbeat. Her blanket
had warmed the bird back to life.
For the rest of the winter
Thumbelina nursed the bird back to full health.
She kept this hidden from the field mouse and mole while they secretly
planned to marry her off to the mole himself.
Once spring came around
again, the ground began to warm up and the bird was back to full health just in
time to leave the hole for summer. He
asked Thumbelina to join him in the warm sun, flying around all day surrounded
by flowers and other birds.
Thumbelina truly wished
that she could, but she remembered how kind the field mouse had been to her
during her time of need. Thus,
Thumbelina sadly declined the bird’s offer.
She wept as each bid farewell to the other. The bird wished her the best of luck and
Thumbelina stood at the entrance of the hole as she watched him fly away, the
sun shining splendidly on her face.
One day, when Thumbelina
was tending the chores of the mouse’s hole, the field mouse said, “The mole has
announced that he would like to marry you.
With help, I will make you the nicest wedding dress. You will live a lavish life with him as your
husband.”
The field mouse rounded up
a group of spiders to weave the linen for Thumbelina’s wedding dress and other
linens for her future life with the mole - all the while ignoring Thumbelina’s
protests.
Thumbelina was not happy
and much rather wished to live outside in the sun than inside in a dark and
cold hole with the blind, boring mole.
When autumn arrived,
Thumbelina sat at the edge of the hole and gazed at her beloved sun lowering
behind the cornfield. She saw leaves
upon the ground and her heart filled with a sudden sadness. Thumbelina began to sob. She told the field mouse that she did not
wish to marry the mole. The mouse
scampered around, ignoring Thumbelina’s sadness.
“You will live a good life
with the mole. Don’t be ungrateful. You are lucky to have such a nice mole with such
a nice velvet jacket who wants to marry you,” she stated. Thumbelina became sadder than ever and
waited, dreading the day of her marriage.
One morning, she gazed up
at the late autumn sun with tears in her eyes at the thought of never seeing it
again. Suddenly she saw the bird that
she had rescued. It flew down and landed
beside her. The bird informed Thumbelina
that he would be flying away for the winter to the land of summer, where the
sun was always shining and the birds sang beautiful songs just like
Thumbelina. He, once more, asked
Thumbelina to fly away with him.
Without thinking twice
Thumbelina hopped on the bird's back and the two flew towards the sun. They traveled for days across large mountains
filled with snow, beautiful green fields, and patches upon patches of brilliant
flowers. Finally, they arrived at a
large flower-filled meadow. The air was
warm and the sun was brighter than Thumbelina had ever seen. The bird landed on a high tree in a nest.
“You are more than welcome
to stay with me, Thumbelina, but I suspect that you would enjoy being
surrounded by the flowers below,” he said.
Thumbelina nodded and kissed the kind bird’s feathers.
The bird swooped to the
flowery meadow below and placed Thumbelina on a large pink flower, much like
the one she came from. All of a sudden,
behind a large pink petal, emerged a crowned man just a little bit larger than
Thumbelina herself. He was alarmed at
the size of the bird but once he saw Thumbelina standing next to it, he
approached Thumbelina and immediately fell in love with her glowing happiness
and the way her golden hair shone in the sun's light.
After spending many happy
weeks together in the sunshine, he placed his brilliant crown upon Thumbelina's
head and smiled warmly at her. He asked
her to be his queen of the fairy kingdom.
Thumbelina pondered this
for a moment. The fairy king was the
first man to ask her. He was kinder to
her than both the toad and the mole put together. She agreed to be his queen.
Seeing how happy Thumbelina
was in the fairy king’s presence, the bird flew off and promised to return
often to visit Thumbelina.
Once Thumbelina and the
fairy king joined as king and queen, all of the flowers in the meadow each
blossomed open to reveal one or two fairies sitting inside.
At the wedding, the fairy
kingdom rejoiced in the king and queen’s newfound happiness. Thumbelina sang beautiful songs for all to
hear. She was given many gifts, but her
most favorite was a pair of gorgeous wings that reminded her of the butterfly’s
she had first seen at the beginning of her journey.
The kingdom danced in the
sunlight, drank sweet nectar, and befriended many of the birds that nested in
the trees above thanks to Thumbelina.
During the hot days the butterflies and dragonflies kept Thumbelina cool
with their wings and in the evenings, Thumbelina sang her fairy king and the
rest of the kingdom to sleep. Eventually
all of the birds picked up on her song and sang along with her.
The bird that Thumbelina
had rescued was always sad to leave Thumbelina, but he loved to travel and
promised her that he would spread her story with the world.
One day he flew to an old
woman’s cottage on a small hill and sang Thumbelina’s song. The old woman immediately recognized the song
as Thumbelina’s as she was Thumbelina’s long lost mother. Her loneliness was forever removed for she
knew that Thumbelina was safe and living happily in the far away sun. And if the old woman missed her dear
Thumbelina, she would go to her window and see a bird perched on a tree,
chirping Thumbelina’s song.
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