BY EMILIE POULSSON This is the mother, so busy at home, Who loves her dear children, whatever may come. This is the father, so brave and so strong, Who works for his family all the...
A HALF-FAMISHED JACKDAW seated himself on a fig-tree, which had produced some fruit entirely out of season, and waited in the hope that the figs would ripen. A Fox seeing him sitti...
There was a certain village wherein no one lived but really rich peasants, and just one poor one, whom they called the little peasant. He had not even so much as a cow, and still l...
A FAMISHED WOLF was prowling about in the morning in search of food. As he passed the door of a cottage built in the forest, he heard a Mother say to her child, "Be quiet, or I wil...
THE RIVERS joined together to complain to the Sea, saying, "Why is it that when we flow into your tides so potable and sweet, you work in us such a change, and make us salty and un...
I set off from Rome on a journey to Russia, in the midst of winter, from a just notion that frost and snow must of course mend the roads, which every traveler had described as unco...
There was once a king who had three daughters. The two eldest were very proud and quarrelsome, but the youngest was as good as they were bad. Well, three princes came to court them...
A FISHERMAN skilled in music took his flute and his nets to the seashore. Standing on a projecting rock, he played several tunes in the hope that the fish, attracted by his melody,...
A Man and a Lion were discussing the relative strength of men and lions in general. The Man contended that he and his fellows were stronger than lions by reason of their greater in...
You remember, John, I told you about the "wiggle-tails," or baby mosquitoes, in the rain barrel, and how eager my mother was to put oil on the water and kill them. Well, Mother tol...
From the Polish. Kletke. There was once upon a time a witch, who in the shape of a hawk used every night to break the windows of a certain village church. In the same village there...
Old Mother Hubbard Went to the cupboard To get her poor dog a bone; But when she came there The cupboard was bare, And so the poor dog had none. She went to the baker's To buy him...
A ring-dance imitation-play, the metrical portion of which is not without a little melody. The bramble-bush is often imaginative, but sometimes represented by a child in the centre...
ADAPTED FROM JOHN GAY Once upon a time, a restless, dissatisfied horse persuaded all the other horses on the farm that they were oppressed by the man who owned them, and that they...
BY CAROLINE S. ALLEN Once there were four little brothers. The oldest had black eyes. He was called Little Boy Black. But I haven't time to tell about him just now. The second litt...
Ahasuerus reigned over the vast empire of Persia, and Esther, the adopted daughter of a Jew named Mordecai, was Queen. None in the palace knew she was a Jewess, for Mordecai had ch...
Mr. Coon and Mr. Possum lived near each other in the woods, and one day they decided to give a supper the first bright moonlight night. "It will be much easier for us to provide th...
by D.K. Stevens A Cautious Cat And a Reckless Rat Went to sea with an Innocent Lamb. They sailed in a yawl With nothing at all To eat but a Sugar-cured Ham. The wind blew high In a...
by D. K. Stevens There was once a Frog In a lonesome Bog With a voice that was well worth praising. He had one song and it used to go Way down in the added lines below Like this: [...
A heron having bolted down too large a fish, burst its deep gullet-bag and lay down on the shore to die. A kite seeing it, exclaimed: "You richly deserve your fate; for a bird of t...
"Some tell about their sweethearts, How they tirled them to the winnock, But I'll tell you a bonnie tale About a guid oatmeal bannock." There was once an old man and his wife, who...
AN EAGLE stayed his flight and entreated a Lion to make an alliance with him to their mutual advantage. The Lion replied, "I have no objection, but you must excuse me for requiring...
The professor gave a great start at this almost reluctant suggestion, shrinking back with a look which fell not far short of being horrified. But then he rallied, forcing a laugh b...
Once on a time a poor couple lived far, far away in a great wood. The wife was brought to bed, and had a pretty girl, but they were so poor they did not know how to get the babe ch...
There was once upon a time a king who reigned over a country called ‘Bello Puojo.' He was very rich and powerful, and had everything in the world he could desire except a child. Bu...
"I AM going to tell a story," said the Wind. "I beg your pardon," said the Rain, "but now it is my turn. Have you not been howling round the corner this long time, as hard as ever...
There was an old woman tossed up in a basket, Nineteen times as high as the moon; Where she was going I couldn't but ask it For in her hand she carried a broom. "Old woman, old wom...
A SWALLOW, returning from abroad and especially fond of dwelling with men, built herself a nest in the wall of a Court of Justice and there hatched seven young birds. A Serpent gli...
A Serpent in the course of its wanderings came into an armourer's shop. As he glided over the floor he felt his skin pricked by a file lying there. In a rage he turned round upon i...
You must know that once upon a time Reynard the Fox and Bruin the Bear went into partnership and kept house together. Would you like to know the reason? Well, Reynard knew that Bru...