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+Project Gutenberg's Merry Tales, by Eleanor L. Skinner and Ada M. Skinner
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
+the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
+to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
+
+Title: Merry Tales
+
+Author: Eleanor L. Skinner
+        Ada M. Skinner
+
+Release Date: December 18, 2016 [EBook #53766]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MERRY TALES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Richard Tonsing, David Edwards and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+                              MERRY TALES
+
+
+                                   BY
+
+                           ELEANOR L. SKINNER
+
+                 TEACHER OF ENGLISH, NORTH HIGH SCHOOL
+                             COLUMBUS, OHIO
+
+                                  AND
+
+                             ADA M. SKINNER
+
+                  ST. AGATHA SCHOOL, CITY OF NEW YORK
+
+[Illustration]
+
+                         AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
+
+ NEW YORK                      CINCINNATI                        CHICAGO
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                          COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY
+
+                           ELEANOR L. SKINNER
+
+                                  AND
+
+                            ADA M. SKINNER.
+
+
+                                E. P. I.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                                FOREWORD
+
+
+From a knowledge and love of children both extending through many years,
+I wish to speak of the pleasure and profit they will derive from reading
+and possessing _Merry Tales_.
+
+To keep children sane and sweet they must be given bright and cheery
+stories to read. They will find them in _Merry Tales_. Early in life
+they should learn something of myths and folklore. These tales are
+founded on these old treasures, but are charmingly adapted to the
+understanding of present-day children. I have read few books for
+children possessing such literary value and yet using words that
+children can master without difficulty, thereby being able to enjoy
+their own reading.
+
+I hope that _Merry Tales_ will find a place not only in the schoolroom
+for that time of delight in a well-taught school,—“the period for
+supplementary reading,”—but that parents may find the book out to place
+it in the child’s own library, a thing that a child must have if it is
+ever to have in later life the joys of a genuine booklover.
+
+                            MARGARET W. SUTHERLAND,
+                              _Principal of the Columbus Normal School_.
+
+
+
+
+                                PREFACE
+
+
+The stories in this collection have been chosen, first, because they are
+stories children have always loved, and second, because they are free
+from much of the grewsome or grotesque which figures in so many of the
+folk tales and fables of the past. Although there are elements of
+surprise and danger in the adventures of the various characters, yet
+each story ends happily. The little book is intended as a supplementary
+reader for children in the third or fourth year of school and the
+vocabulary has been carefully graded to meet that need. Some of the
+stories have dramatic qualities and will be found to lend themselves
+readily to dramatization.
+
+
+
+
+                                CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+
+ THE MONKEY AND THE CROCODILE      _Jataka Tale_                      11
+
+ THE HILLMAN AND THE HOUSEWIFE     _Juliana H. Ewing_                 15
+
+ THE FISHING PARTY                 _Southern Folk Tale_               18
+
+ THE FOREST BAILIFF                _Russian Legend_                   27
+
+ BRUIN AND REYNARD PARTNERS        _Scandinavian Folk Tale_           35
+
+ THE THREE WISHES                  _Swedish Legend_                   39
+
+ THE PIGTAIL (POEM)                _Translated by William Makepeace   46
+                                     Thackeray_
+
+ THE STONE LION                    _Captain W. P. O’Connor_           48
+
+ THE STORY THAT HAD NO END         _Old Folk Tale_                    54
+
+ THE KING’S RABBIT KEEPER          _Norse Legend_                     62
+
+ THE LEAPING MATCH                 _H. C. Andersen_                   72
+
+ THE CLEVER TURTLE                 _East Indian Tale_                 79
+
+ ROBIN GOODFELLOW (POEM)           _Percy’s Reliques_                 83
+
+ MERLIN’S CRAG                     _Irish Folk Tale_                  86
+
+ THE STORY OF LI’L’ HANNIBAL       _Carolyn Sherwin Bailey_           97
+
+ HOW TIMOTHY WON THE PRINCESS      _Irish Fairy Tale_                106
+
+ THE OVERTURNED CART               _Agnes C. Herbertson_             123
+
+ CHANTICLEER                       _Chaucer_                         138
+
+ THE JACKAL AND THE ALLIGATOR      _East Indian Tale_                149
+
+ FINN AND THE FAIRY SHOEMAKER      _Irish Legend_                    158
+
+ MAKING THE BEST OF IT             _Frances Fox_                     173
+
+ THE BROWNIE OF BLEDNOCK           _Elizabeth Grierson_              178
+
+ HOW OLAF BROUGHT THE BROWNIE BACK _Old English Tale_                189
+
+ THE POOR LITTLE TURKEY GIRL       _F. Cushing_                      197
+
+ MEADOW FIDDLERS (POEM)            _Agnes McLellan Daulton_          211
+
+ CASTLE FORTUNE                    _German Legend_                   213
+
+ A LITTLE DUTCH GARDEN (POEM)      _Harriet Durban_                  222
+
+ TRUE FRIENDSHIP                   _Translated from the Greek by     224
+                                     Mrs. Symonds_
+
+
+
+
+                            ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
+
+
+For permission to reprint, or to use in adapted form, certain
+copyrighted and valuable material in this volume, the following
+acknowledgments are made:
+
+To Sturgis and Walton Company, for “The Stone Lion,” by Captain W. P.
+O’Connor, from _Story Telling in School and Home_, copyright, 1912, by
+Sturgis and Walton Company;
+
+To Carolyn Sherwin Bailey and the publishers of _Good Housekeeping_, for
+“The Story of Li’l’ Hannibal,” reprinted by permission of _Good
+Housekeeping_;
+
+To the Grolier Society, publishers of _The Book of Knowledge_, for “How
+Olaf Brought the Brownie Back”;
+
+To George H. Doran Company, for “The Overturned Cart” from _Cap
+O’Yellow_, by Agnes Crozier Herbertson;
+
+To Frances Fox and The Outlook Company, for “Making the Best of It”;
+
+To Elizabeth Grierson and Frederick A. Stokes Company, publishers of
+_Scottish Fairy Tales_, for “The Brownie of Blednock”;
+
+To F. Cushing and G. P. Putnam’s Sons for “The Poor Little Turkey Girl”
+from _Zuñi Folk Tales_; and
+
+To T. Fisher Unwin for “True Friendship.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+                      THE MONKEY AND THE CROCODILE
+
+
+“It is no use trying to live here any longer,” thought the monkey,
+looking down, from his home in the tree, at a big crocodile sleeping on
+the sunlit bank of the river. “Whenever that creature opens his great
+mouth, I shudder to think what might happen if I were near.”
+
+Just then the crocodile yawned. Wider and wider and wider he opened his
+mouth. Away whisked the monkey to the topmost branch of the tree.
+
+“This very day I shall move farther down the river!” he said.
+
+So the monkey slipped away to a tree about half a mile distant. There he
+lived peaceably for some time. He was delighted with his new home. The
+water was cool and clear. In the middle of the stream was an island
+covered with fruit trees.
+
+It was very easy to reach the little island. One leap from his tree
+brought the monkey to the end of a large rock which jutted out into the
+river; another leap brought him to the island, where he could get a fine
+feast and frisk about all the day long. In the evening he went back to
+his home in the great tree on the river’s bank.
+
+One day he stayed later than usual on the island. When he came to the
+water’s edge, he looked and blinked and looked and blinked! “How strange
+that rock looks!” he said to himself. “Surely it was never so high
+before! What can be the matter with it?” Suddenly the monkey’s heart
+beat very fast. The crocodile was lying on the top of that rock!
+
+“Oho! Mr. Crocodile,” thought the monkey, “I see I must put my wits to
+work very, very quickly indeed if I am to escape from you!”
+
+“Good evening, Big Rock,” he called.
+
+The crocodile lay very still.
+
+“This is a fine evening, Big Rock!” called the monkey.
+
+The crocodile lay very, very still.
+
+“What is the matter, Big Rock? You have always been a good friend of
+mine. Why are you so silent this evening?”
+
+Then the crocodile thought, “Now I see I must pretend to be the rock, or
+the monkey may not come this way to-night.” So with his mouth shut he
+mumbled as best he could, “Good evening, Mr. Monkey.”
+
+“Oh! Is that you, Mr. Crocodile?” said the monkey, pleasantly. “I’m
+afraid I have awakened you!”
+
+“Never mind that,” said the crocodile, raising his head. “Come, make
+your leap! You cannot escape me this time.”
+
+“No, I’m afraid not,” said the monkey, meekly.
+
+And all the time he was thinking, “Crocodiles shut their eyes when they
+open their mouths wide.”
+
+“Come along and make haste, Monkey,” said the crocodile.
+
+“I’m caught, that is sure, for I must leap your way. Well, as you say, I
+cannot escape you, Crocodile. Open your mouth. Oh, wider than that,
+please, if I am to leap into it. Wider! There! Here I go! Ready!”
+
+Before the crocodile knew what was happening, the monkey gave three
+bounds—first to the top of the crocodile’s head,—then to the bank,—then
+to his tree. Away he whisked to the topmost branch.
+
+“Thank you, Mr. Crocodile,” he called.
+
+
+
+
+                     THE HILLMAN AND THE HOUSEWIFE
+
+
+One day a hillman knocked at the door of a selfish housewife.
+
+“Can you lend me a saucepan, good mother?” said he. “There’s a wedding
+in the hill, and all the pots are in use.”
+
+“Is he to have one?” asked the servant girl who had opened the door.
+
+“Ay, to be sure,” said the housewife. But when the maid was taking a
+saucepan from the shelf, the housewife whispered slyly to her, “Do not
+lend him a good pan; get the old one out of the cupboard. It leaks, and
+the hillmen are so neat and such nimble workers that they are sure to
+mend it before they send it home. So one does a good turn and saves
+sixpence from the tinker.”
+
+The maid fetched the old saucepan which had been laid by till the
+tinker’s next visit and gave it to the dwarf, who thanked her and went
+away.
+
+The saucepan was soon returned neatly mended and ready for use. At
+supper time the maid filled the pan with milk and set it on the fire for
+the children’s supper, but in a few minutes the milk was so burned and
+smoked that no one could touch it. Even the pigs would not drink the
+wash into which the milk was thrown.
+
+“Ah, you good-for-nothing girl!” cried the housewife as this time she
+filled the pan herself. “Your careless ways would ruin the richest.
+There’s a whole quart of milk spoiled at once.”
+
+“A quart of milk costs twopence!” cried a queer small voice from the
+chimney corner.
+
+The housewife had not left the saucepan for two minutes when the milk
+boiled over and was all burned and smoked as before.
+
+“The pan must be dirty,” cried the housewife in a rage; “and there are
+two full quarts of milk as good as thrown to the dogs. Oh, what dreadful
+waste!”
+
+“Two quarts of milk cost fourpence!” cried the queer small voice.
+
+After a long scrubbing, the saucepan was once more filled with milk and
+set on the fire, but in a little while the milk was burned and smoked
+again.
+
+The housewife burst into tears at the waste, and cried out, “Never
+before did such a thing happen to me since I kept house! Three quarts of
+milk burned for one meal.”
+
+“Three quarts of milk cost sixpence!” cried the queer small voice. “You
+didn’t save the tinker after all!”
+
+Then the hillman himself came tumbling down the chimney and went off
+laughing through the door. But from that time the saucepan was as good
+as any other.
+
+
+
+
+                           THE FISHING PARTY
+
+
+One clear, warm evening about sunset Brother Rabbit was walking down a
+road which led to the old mill. He was saying to himself: “It has been a
+week or more since I have had any fun. I do wish something would happen
+to make times a little livelier. I’m—”
+
+“A fine sunset, Brother Rabbit! A penny for your thoughts. I do believe
+you would have passed me without speaking.”
+
+“Good evening, Brother Terrapin,” said the rabbit, stopping and holding
+out his hand in a most cordial way. “I am very glad to see you, for I
+like your opinion immensely. I’ll tell you what I was thinking about, my
+friend. I was planning a little fishing party. Come, let us sit down
+here on the roadside and talk it over.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Brother Terrapin replied: “A fishing party! That will be fine sport. We
+should become very dull indeed in this neighborhood, Brother Rabbit, if
+it were not for your plans. Have you decided whom to invite?”
+
+“Well,” said Brother Rabbit, “I think it unwise to invite too many.
+Perhaps five, including ourselves, are enough, because, you see, we must
+keep very quiet, and if the party is large, there is danger of too much
+merriment. Have you any particular friend who enjoys fishing?”
+
+“Oh, yes, indeed. Brother Bear is very quiet and sensible, and he loves
+to fish for mud turtles,” replied Brother Terrapin.
+
+“Well, I have in mind Brother Fox and Brother Wolf. Look, here they
+come! What good luck! Let us see what they think about the plan.” And
+the rabbit danced away up the road to meet his friends and tell them
+about the fishing party.
+
+“Exactly the kind of sport I enjoy most,” said Brother Wolf,
+interrupting Brother Rabbit. “I’ll fish for hornyheads. Come, Brother
+Fox, what do you say?”
+
+“First, I wish to thank Brother Rabbit for his kind invitation,” said
+Brother Fox, politely. “Of course, you all know that I shall fish for
+perch, and I think I shall use a dip net. Good evening, Brother
+Terrapin. What an interesting party ours will be. What will you fish
+for?”
+
+“Oh,” laughed Brother Terrapin, “minnows suit my taste very well.”
+
+“All right,” said Brother Rabbit. “Now let us meet at the mill pond
+about eight o’clock this evening. Brother Terrapin, may I trouble you to
+bring the bait? The others will each bring a hook and line, and, Brother
+Fox, please do not forget your fine dip net. About twelve o’clock you
+are all invited to a fish supper at my house. Don’t forget the time and
+place of meeting. Farewell.”
+
+All hurried away to prepare for the evening’s amusement, and, at the
+appointed time, the five merry brothers met at the mill pond.
+
+Brother Rabbit was very anxious to begin; so he baited his hook and
+stepped up to the very edge of the water. Then he stopped suddenly,
+looked straight down into the pond, dropped his fishing pole, and
+scratched his head.
+
+“Mercy!” said Brother Fox. “What in the world is the matter with Brother
+Rabbit? Let us slip up to him and see what is the trouble. Come, all
+together.”
+
+But Brother Rabbit turned and walked toward them, shook his head
+seriously, and said: “No fishing to-night, my friends. We might as well
+go home.”
+
+“What is it? What did you see?” began the bear, the fox, and the wolf.
+Brother Terrapin crept up to the edge of the pond, looked straight into
+the water, jumped back, and said, “Tut, tut, tut! To be sure! To be
+sure!”
+
+“Come, come, tell us. We cannot bear this suspense,” snapped the fox.
+
+Then Brother Rabbit said slowly, “The moon has dropped into the mill
+pond, and if you don’t believe me, go and look for yourselves.”
+
+“Impossible!” cried Brother Bear.
+
+They all crept up to the edge of the pond and looked in and there they
+saw the golden moon right down in the clear water.
+
+“Isn’t that too bad?” said Brother Wolf.
+
+“Well, well, well,” sighed Brother Fox; and Brother Bear shook his head
+slowly and said, “The impossible has happened!”
+
+“Now, I’ll tell you something,” began the rabbit, who was not to be
+easily daunted, “we must get that moon out of the water before we begin
+to fish. I tell you truly no fish will bite while that great golden ball
+is near.”
+
+“Well, Brother Rabbit,” said the wolf, “can’t you make a suggestion in
+this matter? You usually know what to do.”
+
+“I have it, my friends,” said the rabbit jumping up and down. “I have
+it! I know where I can borrow a sieve. I’ll run and get it and then we
+can dip up the moon in no time. We’ll have our fishing party yet!” and
+off he ran.
+
+Brother Terrapin was thinking. In a little while he looked up and said,
+“My friends, I have often heard that there is a pot of gold in the
+moon.”
+
+“What’s that?” said Brother Fox, quickly.
+
+“I was saying that my grandmother has often told me that there is a pot
+of gold in the moon. But here comes Brother Rabbit with the sieve.”
+
+“My good friend,” said Brother Fox, “you were kind enough to go after
+that sieve and now you must let Brother Bear, Brother Wolf, and myself
+do the work. No, don’t take off your coat. You are such a little fellow
+that it would be dangerous for you to go into the water. You and Brother
+Terrapin stand here on the bank and watch us. Come, give me the sieve.”
+
+So Brother Terrapin and Brother Rabbit stood on the bank and watched the
+others wade into the pond.
+
+They dipped the sieve down once. “No moon,” said Brother Bear.
+
+Again they dipped. “No moon,” said Brother Wolf.
+
+“Come,” said Brother Fox, “we must go farther in.”
+
+“Oh, do be careful, my friends,” called the rabbit, “you are near a very
+deep hole.”
+
+Buzz, buzz! The water was roaring in Brother Bear’s ears and he shook
+his head violently. Down went the sieve again.
+
+“No moon,” sighed Brother Fox. “A little farther out, friends. Now, down
+again with the sieve.”
+
+Splash! Splash! Splash! Down they all went with the sieve. They kicked
+and tumbled and splashed as if they would throw all the water out of the
+mill pond. Then they swam for the shore and all came out dripping wet.
+“No moon,” said Brother Fox, sulkily. “What! No moon? Well, well, well!”
+said Brother Rabbit.
+
+“Too bad! Too bad!” said Brother Terrapin.
+
+“My friends,” said the rabbit, seriously, “I think you ought to go home
+and put on some dry clothes. I do, indeed. And I hope we shall have
+better luck next time. Good night.”
+
+
+
+
+                           THE FOREST BAILIFF
+
+
+Once upon a time a peasant owned a cat which was so disagreeable and
+mischievous that all the neighbors complained about him. Finally the
+peasant became impatient and said to his wife, “I have decided to get
+rid of our cat. He is such a nuisance that I feel we ought not to keep
+him any longer.”
+
+“I do not blame you,” replied his wife. “My patience, too, is worn out
+listening to the stories told about that mischievous animal.”
+
+In a few days the peasant put the cat into a large sack and walked far
+into a leafy forest. Then he opened the sack and let the cat bound away.
+How many interesting things there were in the depths of the beautiful
+wood! After wandering about for a few hours the cat began to feel quite
+at home, especially when he found a little deserted cabin where he took
+up his abode and dined bountifully on mice and birds.
+
+One day when Master Cat was walking proudly along a path which led to a
+pond, he met Miss Fox, who looked at him with great interest and
+curiosity. When she came close enough to be heard, she said, “Your
+pardon, good sir, but may I ask who you are, and why you are walking in
+the forest?”
+
+Master Cat raised his head very high and replied proudly: “I am the
+bailiff of the forest. My name is Ivan, and I have been sent from
+Siberia to become governor of this vast wood.”
+
+“Oh, indeed,” said Miss Fox. “Dear Master Bailiff, will you not honor me
+with your presence at dinner? I shall be most proud to entertain such a
+distinguished guest.”
+
+“Lady, I accept your invitation,” replied Master Cat, making a profound
+bow.
+
+Now Miss Fox knew well how to entertain. She not only provided the
+greatest delicacies for her table, but she chatted in the merriest
+fashion and told the bailiff many interesting things about life in the
+forest.
+
+“My dear Sir Bailiff, do have another serving of this savory pie. The
+forest, you know, gives one a good appetite,” said she, with a side
+glance at her visitor.
+
+“Thank you, dear lady,” returned Master Ivan. “It is indeed delicious. I
+have tasted nothing so good for weeks. What a cozy home you have here.”
+
+“It is very comfortable,” replied Miss Fox. “But I am often a little
+lonely. May I ask, sir, are you married or single?”
+
+“I am single,” replied Mr. Bailiff.
+
+“Why, so am I,” said his companion, dropping her eyes shyly. “Master
+Ivan, the Bailiff, will you not marry me?”
+
+The guest was a little astonished, but he finally consented to marry
+Miss Fox. Their wedding was attended with much ceremony, and the bailiff
+came to live in his wife’s cozy home.
+
+A few days after their marriage Ivan said: “Madam, I am very hungry. Go
+on a little hunting trip and bring me home a fine dinner.” Away went the
+wife toward a deep hollow. She had not gone very far when she met her
+old friend the wolf.
+
+“Good morning, my dear friend,” he began. “I have been looking in vain
+for you in the forest. Do tell me where you have been.”
+
+Madam Fox replied coyly: “Oh, I am married, you know. My husband is the
+bailiff of the forest.”
+
+“Indeed,” said the wolf. “How I should like to see his honor, your
+husband.”
+
+“That can be managed if you will follow my advice closely. You see, my
+husband is very ferocious, and unless you do as I say he might devour
+you. However, I’ll see what can be done. Let me see. You had better get
+a lamb and place it on our doorstep. Then hide in the bushes which grow
+near. When my husband opens the door, you can get a very good look at
+him,” said Madam Fox, proudly.
+
+The wolf ran away in search of a lamb, and Madam continued on her way.
+In a short time she met a bear. “Good day, my good friend,” he said. “I
+have missed you for some time. May I ask where you have been?”
+
+“Oh,” said Madam, “is it possible you have not heard of my marriage with
+Ivan, the bailiff of the forest?”
+
+“Is it true? Then I offer you my sincere congratulations! The bailiff of
+the forest, you say?” said the bear, in a puzzled tone. “Madam, it would
+give me the greatest pleasure to see his honor, your husband.”
+
+“Yes,” said Madam, “that would be a great privilege, but I must tell you
+that the bailiff is very fierce. In fact, he is likely to devour anyone
+who does not please him. But perhaps I can help you out a little. Let me
+see. You had better procure an ox. And be sure to offer your gift very
+humbly. The wolf, who is also most anxious to see my husband, is going
+to bring a lamb for a present.”
+
+Away went the bear in search of his gift, which he soon found; then he
+hurried clumsily along, and in a little while he met the wolf with a
+lamb.
+
+“Good day to you, my friend,” began the wolf. “May I ask where you are
+going with such a burden?”
+
+“I am going to see the husband of Madam Fox, to whom I shall give this
+ox. Will you tell me where you are going?” said the bear.
+
+“Why, I am bound for the same place, my friend. Madam Fox told me her
+husband is terrible. He devours anyone who displeases him, so I am
+taking a lamb for a present.” The wolf’s voice trembled a little as he
+continued, “I do hope he will take kindly to me.”
+
+The friends went on their way, and in a short time they came to the
+house of the cat. The wolf pushed the bear a little ahead and whispered,
+“Go, my good comrade, knock on the door and say to the husband of Madam
+Fox that we have brought an ox and a lamb as gifts.”
+
+“Oh,” shivered the bear, “I dare not! I am so filled with fear. Indeed,
+indeed, I cannot. You go, good wolf! Do.”
+
+“Impossible,” returned the wolf, in a quaking voice. “I am trembling all
+over. I haven’t strength enough to walk there much less to rap on the
+door. Come, let us hide ourselves and bide our time.”
+
+So the wolf hid himself under some dry leaves, and the bear jumped into
+a tree and carefully hid himself among the branches. In a few moments
+Madam Fox and her husband, who had been walking in the forest, came
+home.
+
+“How very small the bailiff is,” whispered the wolf.
+
+“He is, indeed,” gasped the bear, a little scornfully.
+
+The cat now saw the ox and leaped to the step saying, “Oh, a small meal
+for me.”
+
+“A _small_ meal,” said the bear, with surprise. “How very, very hungry
+the bailiff must be! And he is so small, too. Why, a bull is a good meal
+for four bears. What an immense appetite he must have!”
+
+The wolf was too much frightened to answer. There was a slight rustling
+sound in the dry leaves and, thinking a mouse was hidden there, the cat
+gave a bound and fastened his claws in the snout of the wolf. With a
+gasp of fear the wolf leaped up and ran away as fast as he could go.
+Now, the cat was very much afraid of a wolf, and so he gave one leap
+into the tree where the bear lay hidden. “Oh, mercy, mercy!” cried the
+bear. “The cat is after me. He will devour me. Oh, help, help!” and down
+the tree scrambled the bear. Off he ran, as fast as he could go, after
+the wolf. Madam Fox screamed out: “My husband is terrible! He will
+devour you! He will devour you!”
+
+Away sped the wolf and the bear, and they told their adventure to the
+other animals of the forest, who took good care to stay far away from
+the terrible bailiff. Meanwhile the cat and the fox were very happy, and
+they had plenty to eat for a long time.
+
+
+
+
+                       BRUIN AND REYNARD PARTNERS
+
+
+Once upon a time Bruin and Reynard were to plant a field in common and
+to share the crops in a fair way. “If you’ll have the root, I’ll take
+the top,” said Reynard. Bruin thought that plan would do very well.
+
+The first year they sowed rye. But when they had thrashed out the crop,
+Reynard got all the grain and Bruin got nothing but roots and rubbish.
+He did not like that at all, but Reynard said that was how they had
+agreed to share the crop, and it was fair and right.
+
+“The tops come to me this year,” said Reynard, “but next year it will be
+your turn. Then you will have the tops and I shall have to put up with
+the roots.”
+
+Spring came and it was time to sow again. Sly Reynard asked Bruin what
+he thought of sowing turnip seed for the second year’s crop.
+
+“Yes, yes,” said Bruin, “we will have turnips. Turnips are better food
+than rye.”
+
+Reynard agreed with him. Harvest time came. “We will divide the crops as
+is fair and right,” said Reynard. “I get the roots this time and you get
+the tops.” So Reynard got all the turnip roots and Bruin the turnip
+tops. When Bruin saw what Reynard had done, he was very angry, and he
+put an end to his partnership with him at once.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+                            THE THREE WISHES
+
+
+Once upon a time in the heart of a forest lived a woodcutter and his
+wife. They were very poor indeed. Their little cabin, built of
+rough-hewn logs, had only one room, which was very scantily and poorly
+furnished. One day the woodcutter said to his wife,
+
+“How miserable we are! We work all day, and we have barely enough food
+to keep life in our bodies! Surely there are few who work as hard as we
+do and have so little!”
+
+The housewife replied, “Yes, indeed, we are very miserable.”
+
+“Well, I’m off for another day’s work,” sighed the husband. “My lot is
+too hard.”
+
+He picked up his ax and made his way to the place in the forest where he
+was to perform his task. Suddenly, a dear little fairy whose face was
+wreathed in smiles danced into the path and stood before him.
+
+“I am the wishing fairy,” she began. “I heard what you said about your
+work and your life, and my heart aches for you. Now, because I am a
+fairy, it is in my power to grant you three wishes. Ask for any three
+things you desire and your wishes shall be granted.” The fairy
+disappeared in the twinkling of an eye, and the woodcutter was left
+standing alone in the forest. Was he dreaming? He couldn’t believe his
+own senses! He thought of a thousand wishes all in an instant. He would
+go home and talk the matter over with his wife. He turned in his path
+and retraced his steps to the cabin.
+
+“Art thou ill?” demanded his wife, who came to the door.
+
+“Oh, no, indeed, I am not ill; I am very, very happy!” he burst forth.
+“I met a fairy in the forest. She told me that she was very, very sorry
+for me, and that she would help me by granting three wishes. Think of
+it! Any three wishes in the world will be granted by the charming
+fairy.”
+
+“Wonderful!” responded the housewife.
+
+“Oh, how happy the very thought of it makes me! Come, let us sit down
+and talk the matter over; for I assure you it is not easy to come to a
+decision. I am indeed, very, very happy.”
+
+They drew up their chairs to the little table and sat down.
+
+“I am _so_ hungry,” began the woodcutter. “Let us have dinner, and then,
+while we are eating, we can talk about our wishes and see which three
+are nearest our hearts’ desires.”
+
+They began their humble meal immediately, and the husband continued: “Of
+course one of our wishes must be great riches. What do you say?”
+
+“Oh, yes, indeed,” said his wife. “I should love a beautiful house to
+live in, also carriages and fine clothes, and servants and—”
+
+“Oh, for that matter,” said the husband, “we could wish for an empire.”
+
+“Or rich jewels, such as great numbers of pearls and diamonds! What a
+wish that would be,” said the wife, whose face was all aglow.
+
+“I have it,” burst forth the woodman, “let us wish for a fine large
+family, five sons and five daughters, What say you to that?”
+
+“Oh!” returned his wife, “I think I prefer six sons and four daughters.”
+
+So they continued weighing one wish with another until they seemed
+almost in despair about coming to a decision regarding which three
+wishes would be the wisest and best. They finally stopped talking and
+ate their simple food in silence. The woodcutter did not seem to relish
+his soup and dry bread.
+
+“Oh,” he cried out suddenly, “how I wish I had some nice savory sausage
+for dinner!” No sooner had the words fallen from his lips than a large
+dish of fine sausages appeared on the table. What a surprise! The two
+were so astonished that for a few moments they could not speak. Then the
+wife said impatiently:
+
+“What do you mean by making such a foolish wish? Do you not see that
+this dish of sausage means that one wish has been granted and that there
+are but two left? How could you make such a stupid, stupid wish?”
+
+“Well,” replied the husband, “to be sure I have been foolish. I really
+did not think what I was saying. However, we may still wish for great
+riches and an empire.”
+
+“Humph!” grumbled the wife, “we may wish for riches and an empire, but
+what about a fine large family? You have certainly been foolish in
+wishing for that horrid sausage. I suppose, however, you prefer sausage
+to a fine family;” and she burst out into tears of lamentation, crying:
+“How could you? How could you be so foolish? Oh, dear! Oh, dear! How
+very foolish and stupid you have been.”
+
+Finally her husband lost all patience and cried out: “I’m tired of your
+grumbling! I wish the sausage were on the end of your nose!”
+
+In an instant the sausage was fastened to the end of the poor woman’s
+nose. How comical she did look! The husband and wife were so astonished
+that they could not speak. The poor woman again burst into tears.
+
+“Oh!” she cried. “How could you? How could you? First, you wished for
+sausage, and second, you wished that the sausage were fastened to my
+poor nose. It is terrible. It is cruel. Two wishes have been granted.
+There remains but one! Oh, dear, dear!”
+
+The husband, who now saw what a dreadful mistake he had made, said
+meekly,
+
+“We may still wish for great riches.”
+
+“Riches indeed!” snapped his wife. “Here I am with this great sausage
+fastened to the end of my nose. What good would riches do me? How
+ridiculous I am. It is all your fault. I was so happy at the thought of
+great riches, beautiful jewels, and a fine family, and now I am sad and
+miserable.” She continued to weep so pitifully that her husband’s heart
+was touched.
+
+“I wish with all my heart that the sausage were not on your nose,” he
+said. In an instant the sausage disappeared. There the two sat
+lamenting; but as the three wishes had been granted there is nothing
+further to be said.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+                              THE PIGTAIL
+
+
+               There lived a sage in days of yore,
+               And he a handsome pigtail wore;
+               But wondered much and sorrowed more
+               Because it hung behind him.
+
+               He mused upon the curious case,
+               And vowed he’d change the pigtail’s place,
+               And have it hanging at his face,
+               Not dangling there behind him.
+
+               Says he, “The mystery I’ve found.
+               I’ll turn me round,”—He turned him round,—
+               But still it hung behind him.
+
+               Then round and round and out and in,
+               All day the puzzled sage did spin
+               In vain; it mattered not a pin,
+               The pigtail hung behind him.
+
+               And up and down and in and out
+               He turned, but still the pigtail stout
+               Hung dangling there behind him;
+               And though his efforts never slack,
+               And though he twist and twirl and tack,
+               Alas! still faithful to his back
+               The pigtail hangs behind him.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+                             THE STONE LION
+
+
+Once there were two brothers who lived with their mother in a large
+house on a farm. Their father was dead. The older brother was clever and
+selfish, but the younger was kind and gentle. The older brother did not
+like the younger because he was so honest that he never could get the
+best of a bargain. One day he said to him: “You must go away. I cannot
+afford to support you any longer.”
+
+So the younger brother packed all his belongings, and went to bid his
+mother good-by. When she heard what the older brother had done, she
+said, “I will go with you, my son. I will not live here any longer with
+so hard-hearted a man as your brother.”
+
+The next morning the mother and the younger brother started out
+together. Toward night when they reached the foot of the hill, they came
+to a hut with nothing in it except an ax which stood behind the door.
+But they managed to get their supper and stayed in the hut all night.
+
+In the morning they saw that on the side of the hill near the hut was a
+great forest. The son took the ax, went up on the hillside and chopped
+enough wood for a load to carry to the town on the other side of the
+hill. He easily sold it, and with a happy heart brought back food and
+some clothing to make his mother and himself comfortable.
+
+“Now, mother,” he said, “I can earn enough to keep us both, and we shall
+be happy here together.”
+
+One day, in search of timber, the boy went farther up the hill than he
+had ever gone before. As he climbed up the steep hillside, he suddenly
+came upon a lion carved from stone.
+
+“Oh,” thought the boy, “this must be the guardian spirit of the
+mountain. I will make him some offering to-morrow morning without fail.”
+
+That night he bought two candles and carried them to the lion. He
+lighted them, put one on each side of the lion, and asked that his own
+good fortune might continue.
+
+As he stood there, suddenly, the lion opened his great stone mouth and
+said:
+
+“What are you doing here?”
+
+The boy told him how cruel the elder brother had been; how the mother
+and himself had been obliged to leave home and live in a hut at the foot
+of the hill. When he had heard all of the story, the lion said:
+
+“If you will bring a bucket here to-morrow and put it under my mouth, I
+will fill it with gold for you.”
+
+The next day the boy brought the bucket.
+
+“You must be very careful to tell me when it is nearly full,” said the
+lion, “for if even one piece of gold should fall to the ground, great
+trouble would be in store for you.”
+
+The boy was very careful to do exactly as the lion told him, and soon he
+was on his way home to his mother with a bucketful of gold. They were so
+rich now that they bought a beautiful farm and went there to live.
+
+At last the hard-hearted brother heard of their good fortune. He had
+married since his mother and brother had gone away, so he took his wife
+and went to pay a visit to his younger brother. It was not long before
+he had heard the whole story of their good fortune, and how the lion had
+given them all the gold.
+
+“I will try that, too,” he said.
+
+He and his wife went to the same hut his brother had lived in, and there
+they passed the night.
+
+The next morning he started out with a bucket to visit the stone lion.
+When he had told the lion his errand, the lion said:
+
+“I will grant your wish, but you must be very careful to tell me when
+the bucket is nearly full; for if even one little piece of gold touches
+the ground, great misery will surely fall upon you.”
+
+Now the elder brother was so greedy that he kept shaking the bucket to
+get the gold pieces closer together. And when the bucket was full he did
+not tell the lion, as the younger brother had done, for he wanted all he
+could possibly get.
+
+Suddenly one of the gold pieces fell upon the ground.
+
+“Oh,” cried the lion, “a big piece of gold is stuck in my throat. Put
+your hand in and get it out. It is the largest piece of all.”
+
+The greedy man thrust his hand at once into the lion’s mouth and the
+lion snapped his jaws together! And there the man stayed, for the lion
+would not let him go. And the gold in the bucket turned into earth and
+stones.
+
+When night came and the husband did not return, the wife became anxious
+and went out to search for him. At last she found him with his arm held
+fast in the lion’s mouth. He was tired and cold and hungry.
+
+“Alas!” she said, “I wish we had not tried to get the gold. There is no
+food in the hut for us and we shall have to die.”
+
+The lion was listening to all that was said, and he was so pleased at
+their misfortune that he began to laugh at them, “Ha, ha, ha!” As he
+laughed, _he opened his mouth_ and the greedy man _quickly_ drew out his
+hand, before the lion had a chance to close his jaws again. They were
+glad enough to get away, and they went to their brother’s house once
+more. The brother was sorry for them and gave them enough money to buy a
+home.
+
+The younger brother and his mother lived very happily in their beautiful
+home, but they always remembered the Stone Lion on the hillside, who
+gave them their good fortune.
+
+
+
+
+                       THE STORY THAT HAD NO END
+
+
+Once upon a time there was a king who was so fond of hearing stories
+told that he would listen to them all day long. He cared for no other
+kind of amusement and he was always angry when the story came to an end.
+“Your stories are too short,” he said to the many story-tellers who
+tried to amuse him. Indeed no one had ever been found who was able to
+tell him a story that lasted long enough.
+
+All the people of his court had tried again and again to please him.
+Some had told stories that lasted three months, some had told stories
+that lasted six months, and a few courtiers had been able to carry on
+their stories for one whole year. Still the king complained, for sooner
+or later the story was sure to come to an end.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+At last he sent out the following proclamation to all the people of his
+kingdom:
+
+                              PROCLAMATION
+
+    TO THE MAN WHO WILL TELL ME A STORY WHICH SHALL LAST FOREVER, I
+    WILL GIVE THE PRINCESS, MY DAUGHTER, IN MARRIAGE; ALSO, I WILL
+    MAKE THE SUCCESSFUL ONE MY HEIR AND HE SHALL BE KING AFTER ME.
+    BUT MARK, LET NO MAN PRETEND THAT HE CAN DO SO, AND FAIL; FOR,
+    IF THE STORY COMES TO AN END, THE STORY-TELLER SHALL BE THROWN
+    INTO PRISON. THE KING.
+
+The king’s daughter was a very beautiful princess, and there were many
+suitors in the kingdom who came to the court in hope of winning such a
+prize. But it was all of no use. Each tried as hard as he could to spin
+the story out, but sooner or later it came to an end and the unfortunate
+one met the fate the king had threatened.
+
+This grieved the princess very much, and each time she begged the king
+to lighten the punishment of the poor story-teller who had risked so
+much for her sake.
+
+At last one man sent word to the king that he had a story which would
+last forever and ever, and that he was ready to come to the court at
+once. On hearing this the princess sent for the man and warned him of
+his danger. She begged him not to be so rash as to try the king’s
+patience, for no one had ever pleased his majesty, and she feared he
+would meet the fate of all those who had tried and failed. But he said
+he was not afraid, and he asked to be taken at once before the king.
+
+“So you are the man who is to tell me a story that will have no end?”
+said the king.
+
+“If it please your majesty,” answered the man.
+
+“If you can do this, you shall be king after me, and you shall marry the
+princess, my daughter. But if you fail, you shall be cast into prison.”
+
+“I understand, O king. I have a story about locusts which I shall be
+pleased to tell you.”
+
+“Very well. Begin the story.”
+
+The story-teller began his tale.
+
+“O king, there was once a ruler who was a great tyrant. He wished to be
+the richest in the land, so he seized all the corn and grain in his
+kingdom and had it stored away. Year after year he did this until all
+his granaries were filled full. But one year there came a swarm of
+locusts and they discovered where all the grain had been stored. After a
+long search, they found near the top of the granary a very small hole
+that was just large enough for one locust at a time to pass through. So
+one locust went in and carried off one grain of corn; then another
+locust went in and carried off one grain of corn; then another locust
+went in and carried off one grain of corn; then another locust went in
+and carried off one grain of corn—”
+
+Thus the story-teller went on day after day, week after week, from
+morning till night. After hearing about the locusts for nearly a year
+the king became rather tired of them, patient though he was, and one day
+he interrupted the story-teller with:
+
+“Yes, yes, we’ve had enough of those locusts. Let us take for granted
+that they got all the grain they wanted. Now go on with the story. What
+happened afterwards?”
+
+“If it please your majesty, I cannot tell you what happened afterwards
+until I have told you all that took place in the beginning. I go on with
+the story. Then another locust went in and carried off one grain of
+corn; then another locust went in and carried off one grain of corn.”
+
+Another month passed by. At the end of this time the king asked
+impatiently, “Come, sir, how long will it take those locusts to carry
+away all the corn?”
+
+“O king, I cannot tell. They have cleared away but a small space round
+the inside of the hole, and there are still thousands and thousands of
+locusts on the outside. Have patience, O king, there are enough grains
+for each locust to have one, and in time they, no doubt, will all pass
+in and each in turn carry away one grain of corn. Permit me, O king, to
+go on with my story. Then another locust went in and carried off one
+grain of corn; then another locust went in and carried off one grain of
+corn—”
+
+“Stop, stop,” called out the king at last. “I cannot stand those locusts
+any longer. Take my kingdom, be king after me, marry my daughter, take
+everything, only never let me hear about those ridiculous locusts
+again.”
+
+So the story-teller married the princess and succeeded to the throne
+upon the death of the king.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE KING’S RABBIT KEEPER
+
+
+Once upon a time a king wanted a good rabbit keeper. He made it known
+throughout the country that he would give not only good pay, but also
+the hand of the princess, to any youth who could take good care of his
+wonderful rabbits.
+
+Now it happened that an old farmer had three very lazy sons, Jan, Hans,
+and Olaf. They disliked the work on the farm and spent most of their
+time amusing themselves, or doing as they pleased. When Jan heard that
+the king wanted a rabbit keeper, he told his father he would go to the
+palace and try to get the place.
+
+“What!” cried the old man. “The king does not want an idler. The rabbits
+are brisk and lively and need care every moment. A lazybones like you
+could never be His Majesty’s rabbit keeper.”
+
+“Well, I am determined to go. I should like the work better than the
+farm drudgery,” replied Jan. He filled a bag with things to eat, and a
+few clothes, and started to the palace of the king. After he had
+traveled a few miles he heard a voice calling him: “Help! Help!” Jan
+hurried toward the sound and came to a deep pit. He looked down into it,
+and there was a shriveled old woman. She spoke very sharply to him.
+“Pull me up! Pull me up!” she cried. “I have been here for one year, and
+have had no food in all that time. Pull me up!”
+
+“Not I,” replied Jan. “Only a witch could live a year in such a place
+without food. I’ll have nothing to do with you,” and on he went.
+
+At length he came to the palace of the king and asked to serve as rabbit
+keeper. The delighted king said, “He who guards the rabbits well and
+lets none escape shall have fine food, good pay, and perhaps the hand of
+a beautiful princess.”
+
+The next day Jan took the rabbits into a large field to browse. During
+the daytime they nibbled the tender grass and stayed together, but when
+the sun began to set, they darted toward a wood which bordered a meadow
+and they soon became lost in the shadows of the trees. Jan called to
+them and ran after them until he was out of breath, but he could not
+bring them together. He rested awhile and tried again. It was of no use;
+they had scattered in every direction. Surely they were playing hide and
+seek, and Jan was not in the game. When he reached the palace, he told
+his story to the king, who burst into a rage and banished Jan from the
+country.
+
+In a short time the king got another warren of rabbits and again made it
+known that he wanted a keeper. Jan’s brother, Hans, now determined that
+he would try to serve the king and perhaps gain the rich reward. Off he
+walked. He passed the pit and heard the old woman calling for help, but
+he hurried on without even stopping to see what was the matter with her.
+
+The king made him keeper of the rabbits, but the first time he took them
+out to browse he failed in his work. All was well during the day, but
+when the sun sank, the rabbits scurried away to the woods, and no matter
+what he did, Hans could not gather them together again. When he returned
+to the palace without a single rabbit, the furious king banished him,
+too, from the country.
+
+A third time the king got beautiful rabbits and made it known that he
+wanted a keeper. “Father,” said Olaf, the youngest of the three
+brothers, “it is my turn to try. I am sure I could guard the king’s
+rabbits.”
+
+“It will be the same old story,” said the farmer. “If you take no better
+care of the rabbits than you do of the calves, you will share your
+brothers’ fate.”
+
+“At any rate I mean to try,” replied Olaf. Throwing his bag over his
+shoulder, he set out for the palace of the king.
+
+“Help! Help!” called a voice from the field near the road. Olaf ran in
+the direction of the sound and saw the old woman in the pit.
+
+“What can I do for you, my good woman?” he asked.
+
+“Please reach me your hand and help me out. I’ve had nothing to eat for
+a year and I can’t get out without help.”
+
+Olaf willingly reached down and pulled the old woman up. Then he gave
+her food from his bag and brought her water from a spring. She ate a
+large share of Olaf’s store while he good-naturedly looked on. When she
+had finished, she drew from her pocket a magic horn.
+
+“Take this for your pains,” said she. “It is a wonderful horn and will
+help you in many ways. If you blow into the small end of it, you will
+scatter to the four winds whatever you wish away from you. If you blow
+into the large end of it, you will bring near you whatever you wish. If
+you should lose it, or if by chance it should be stolen from you, a wish
+will bring it back again.”
+
+“A wonderful help it will be to me,” said Olaf, as he took it eagerly
+from the old woman’s hand.
+
+He sauntered on again, and after some time he came to the palace of the
+king. The rabbits were put into his charge, and Olaf’s heart beat high
+when he thought of the princess he might win.
+
+The next morning he took the rabbits out into the meadow. They danced
+about in high glee for several hours. But about noon, Olaf noticed two
+of them scamper away to the woods. These two were soon followed by
+others. “Very well,” said Olaf, “go away from me if you like.” He blew
+into the small end of the magic horn, and then cried out, “Be off, every
+one of you!” and away they scattered in every direction.
+
+Olaf then ate his noonday lunch and stretched himself out for a nap on
+the soft green bank. When he awoke, the sun was low in the west. He took
+up the magic horn and blew into the large end of it. From every
+direction came the frisky rabbits dancing and hopping about him. Olaf
+counted them and was well pleased to find exactly the right number. When
+he reached the palace with the rabbits, he saw that the king, the queen,
+and the princess were on the lookout for him. Also he noticed that each
+one counted the rabbits and then glanced at the others in wonder.
+
+“Alas!” sighed the princess, “how I wish he were of noble birth! But a
+farmer’s lad! Dear me!”
+
+Day after day Olaf took the rabbits out to browse in the meadow. At noon
+he scattered them in the deep wood, and when the sun began to sink
+behind a distant hill, he gathered them together and led them back to
+the palace.
+
+The king was very much puzzled and determined to send a servant to spy
+upon Olaf. With greatest care the servant slipped into the field and
+noticed Olaf asleep on the soft green bank near the edge of the wood.
+The servant hid himself in the low underbrush of the wood and waited
+until evening. At sunset, Olaf awoke, drew out his magic horn, gathered
+together the rabbits, and led them back to the palace. The servant
+explained to the king what he had seen, and the king told his queen and
+the princess. “I shall steal his horn while he is asleep in the meadow,”
+said the princess, “for I am determined not to marry a common farmer’s
+son.”
+
+The next day she stole carefully to Olaf’s side while he lay asleep and
+took the magic horn from his pocket. She had not reached the palace
+before Olaf awoke and thought of his rabbits. But where was his horn? He
+searched about the banks in vain. “Oh, how I wish I had my magic horn!”
+he cried. No sooner had he made his wish than he found the horn in his
+hands. He blew into the larger end of it and again the rabbits danced
+and frisked about him ready to return.
+
+Now the queen thought she would try her skill in getting Olaf’s horn.
+She had no trouble in getting it from his pocket, but as she neared the
+palace, the horn slipped away from her. In the evening, Olaf returned
+with his flock as usual.
+
+“I see that I must do the thing myself,” muttered the king. “That
+farmer’s lad shall not outwit me. I’ll tie the horn in one of my hunting
+bags to make sure of it.”
+
+Anxiously the queen and princess awaited the king’s return. At last he
+came, untied the bag, and reached in for the horn. Alas! it had
+disappeared. And there in the distance came Olaf and the rabbits. The
+king sent word for Olaf to appear before the royal family. “Tell me
+about that horn of yours. Where did you get it? Hasn’t it magic power?”
+said the king, impatiently.
+
+“Sire, it is a magic horn,” began Olaf.
+
+“Prove it,” said the king.
+
+“I would rather not,” said Olaf.
+
+“Do as I bid you, without a word!” roared the king, becoming red with
+anger.
+
+Olaf raised the little end of his horn to his lips and blew a strong
+blast, while secretly he made a wish. In a moment the royal family
+scattered in all directions.
+
+“Bring us back! Bring us back! How dare you? I’ll have you punished for
+this!” roared the king, as he tumbled into the distance.
+
+Olaf blew into the big end of his horn and instantly the royal family
+were back at the palace. The king, in a rage, tried to seize Olaf, but
+just then the rabbit keeper raised the small end of the horn to his
+lips.
+
+“Hold, hold!” cried the king. “I will do you no harm if you will keep
+that wicked horn from your lips. I would rather give up half my kingdom
+than take another flighty trip. You are a wonderful lad and the best of
+rabbit keepers. The reward is yours.”
+
+In a short time there was a beautiful wedding at the palace. Olaf had
+won the princess.
+
+
+
+
+                           THE LEAPING MATCH
+
+
+A flea, a grasshopper, and a frog once wanted to see which one of them
+could jump the highest. So they made a festival and invited the whole
+world and everybody else besides, who would like to come, to see the
+frolic. When the people assembled to see the contest they all admitted
+that these three famous jumpers were indeed well worth seeing.
+
+“I will give the princess, my daughter, to the one who can jump the
+highest,” said the king. “The champion in such a trial of skill must be
+rewarded.”
+
+The flea was the first to come forward. His manners were perfect and he
+bowed to the company on every side, for noble blood flowed in his veins;
+and, besides, he had been accustomed to associating with human beings,
+which was much to his advantage.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The grasshopper came next. The green uniform, which he always wore, set
+off his figure very well. He carried himself with great dignity, for he
+belonged to a very old Egyptian family, he said, and was highly thought
+of in the house in which he lived.
+
+In fact when he was brought out of the fields he was put into a card
+house, three stories high. The colored sides of the cards were turned in
+and the doors and windows were cut out of the Queen of Hearts. “It was
+built on purpose for me,” he said, “and I sing so well that sixteen
+crickets who had chirped all their life, and still had no card house to
+live in, were so angry at hearing me that they grew thinner than they
+ever had been before.”
+
+In this way the flea and the grasshopper went on with their long
+praises, each thinking himself quite an excellent match for the
+princess.
+
+The frog said nothing, but his silence only made the people think he
+knew a great deal, and the house dog who sniffed at him walked away with
+an air of approval.
+
+The old counselor who had issued three orders for keeping quiet, said at
+last, that the frog was a prophet, for one could tell from his back
+whether the coming winter would be severe or mild. Such wisdom could
+never be gained from the back of the man who writes almanacs.
+
+“I shall say nothing,” said the king, “but I have my own opinion; for I
+see everything.”
+
+And now the leaping match began. The flea jumped first. He jumped so
+high that no one could see what had become of him. So the people said he
+did not jump at all. How shameful it was of him after all his boasting!
+
+The grasshopper jumped only half as high; but he jumped right into the
+king’s face. This act the king thought extremely rude.
+
+The frog stood still for a long time; some began to think that he did
+not mean to jump at all.
+
+“Perhaps he’s ill,” said the house dog; so he went up to sniff at the
+frog again; when “pop” he made a side jump which landed him right into
+the lap of the princess, who was sitting on a little golden stool.
+
+“There is nothing in the world higher than my daughter,” called out the
+king. “The frog has made the highest jump that can be made. Only one who
+has a good mind could have done anything so clever as that.” And so the
+leaping frog won the princess.
+
+“I jumped the highest,” said the flea, “in spite of what the king said,
+but the decision does not matter to me. The princess may have that
+heavy, stiff-legged, ugly creature if he’s to her taste. Dullness and
+heaviness win in this stupid world. I’m too light and airy.” So the flea
+went into foreign lands.
+
+The grasshopper sat down upon a green bank and thought about the world
+and its ways. “Yes,” he said to himself, “dullness and heaviness do win
+in this stupid world. People care most about fine looks nowadays.” Then
+he began to sing in the grasshopper way; and from his song we have taken
+this little story.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+                           THE CLEVER TURTLE
+
+
+A turtle lay upon a large rock sunning himself. His eyes were turned
+toward the palace of the king which overlooked the beautiful river. He
+could hear the merry voices of the little princes playing in the royal
+courtyard.
+
+“What happy times they have!” thought the turtle. “I have heard that
+there is a lovely little lake in the princes’ playground, where they
+have fine fun, swimming and sailing tiny boats. How dull it is living
+out here on the rocks! I’m sure I should be happier if I lived in a
+royal courtyard.”
+
+At that moment the turtle was startled by the voices of two men who were
+carrying fishing nets and large buckets to the river. He slipped under
+the rock and lay very still and listened.
+
+“You see,” said one of the men, “we are to put the fishes into the
+courtyard lake and surprise the young princes. His majesty, the king,
+heard them wish that fishes swam in their lake, and he decided to
+surprise them.”
+
+“How happy they will be in the morning!” replied the other man. “Come,
+let us climb to the edge of these rocks and throw our nets into the
+river. Then we will draw them in, empty the fishes into those buckets,
+and carry them to the courtyard lake this evening.”
+
+When the turtle heard that some of his neighbors were to live in the
+royal courtyard, he was very jealous indeed!
+
+“Fishes are such stupid creatures!” he said to himself. “How much more
+delight a turtle would give those young princes. I’ll not live on this
+rock any longer. I’ll slip very quietly into one of those buckets, and
+the men will carry me into the royal courtyard. They will never notice
+me. Fishes for the delight of royalty! It is absurd!”
+
+The next morning the little princes took their sailboats and ran to the
+lake in the courtyard.
+
+“See, see!” cried one of them. “Our wish has come true! There are fishes
+swimming about in the water. Oh, what fun?”
+
+“Come away! Come, come, brother!” shouted the other little prince in
+terror. “See, there is a demon on the bank! Perhaps the fishes belong to
+him! Come!”
+
+To the turtle’s great surprise off ran the lads, crying out, “A demon
+has come to live on the bank of our lake!”
+
+When the king saw how frightened the princes were, he ordered an
+attendant to capture the demon and bring him to the palace. So, before
+the poor turtle could make up his mind what to do, he was caught and
+brought before the king.
+
+“How shall we kill him?” asked an attendant.
+
+“Throw him into the fire,” said one.
+
+“Drop a large rock on his head and crush him,” said another.
+
+“Oh, that would not do,” said one of the princes. “See! He has pulled
+his head inside that shell back of his. Perhaps his back is too strong
+to be crushed by a rock.”
+
+“I have it,” said an old servant who was afraid of the water, “let us
+fling him over the rocks into the river. Then he will be swept away into
+the sea and drowned.”
+
+In a twinkling out came the turtle’s head.
+
+“My friends,” he said, “pray do not throw me into the river that flows
+to the great wide sea! Of all your plans to punish me, that is the
+worst! Burn me, or crush me if you will, but do not throw me into the
+river that flows to the great wide sea! I shudder at the thought of it.”
+
+“Take the demon to the rocks and throw him into the river,” said the
+king.
+
+“Ha! ha! ha!” laughed the turtle when he whirled about in the water and
+swam back to the friendly rocks where he had lived so long.
+
+
+
+
+                            ROBIN GOODFELLOW
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+              From Oberon, in fairy land,
+              The king of ghosts and shadows there,
+              Mad Robin, I, at his command,
+              Am sent to view the night sports here.
+                What revel rout
+                Is kept about
+              In every corner where I go,
+                I will o’ersee
+                And merry be,
+              And make good sport, with ho, ho, ho!
+
+              More swift than lightning can I fly
+              About this airy welkin soon;
+              And, in a minute’s space, descry
+              Each thing that’s done below the moon.
+                There’s not a hag
+                Or ghost shall wag
+              Or cry, ‘ware goblins! where I go;
+                But, Robin, I,
+                Their feats will spy
+              And send them home with ho, ho, ho!
+
+              Whene’er such wanderers I meet,
+              As from their night sports they trudge home,
+              With counterfeiting voice I greet,
+              And call them on with me to roam;
+                Through woods, through lakes,
+                Through bogs, through brakes,
+              Or else, unseen, with them I go,
+                All in the nick
+                To play some trick,
+              And frolic it, with ho, ho, ho!
+
+              Sometimes I meet them like a man,
+              Sometimes an ox, sometimes a hound;
+              And to a horse I turn me can,
+              To trip and trot about them round.
+                But if to ride,
+                My back they stride,
+              More swift than wind away I go,
+                O’er hedge and lands
+                Through pools and ponds
+              I hurry laughing, ho, ho, ho!
+
+              By wells and rills in meadows green
+              We nightly dance our heyday guise;
+              And to our fairy King and Queen
+              We chant our moonlight minstrelsies.
+                When larks ‘gin sing
+                Away we fling;
+              And babes new born steal as we go;
+                And elf in bed,
+                We leave instead,
+              And wend us, laughing ho, ho, ho!
+
+              From hag-bred Merlin’s time have I
+              Thus nightly revel’d to and fro;
+              And for my pranks men call me by
+              The name of Robin Goodfellow.
+                Fiends, ghosts, and sprites
+                Who haunt the nights,
+              The hags and goblins do me know;
+                And beldames old
+                My feats have told,
+              So _vale, vale_, ho, ho, ho!
+
+
+
+
+                             MERLIN’S CRAG
+
+
+One evening the master of a fine estate and a farm laborer were walking
+over the fields. The master said, “To-morrow I want the peat cut from
+yonder crag, which rises at the end of the moorland.”
+
+“Do you mean Merlin’s Crag, master?” asked the laborer.
+
+“You have been here but a short time. How did you learn that name?” said
+the master in surprise.
+
+“One of the old servants told me about it, sir. He said that long, long
+ago an enchanter named Merlin lived there. And, master, there is a
+haunted cave under the crag where—”
+
+“Nonsense! Pay no attention to the stories servants tell, but see to it
+that the peat is cut to-morrow,” said the owner impatiently.
+
+The next afternoon the laborer began to cut the peat which covered the
+curiously shaped crag. He was about to lift up a piece of turf when,
+suddenly, there appeared before him the daintiest little creature he had
+ever seen. She was twelve inches tall and was dressed in a gown of
+sparkling green. She wore red stockings and dainty red sandals with
+jeweled buckles. On her head was a tiny, dazzling coronet. Her lovely
+golden hair rippled down under the crown and over her shoulders.
+
+The laborer stopped his work and in amazement gazed silently at this
+exquisite little queen. She raised her tiny wand in warning and said in
+a silvery small voice:
+
+“Now tell me, pray, what would you think if I should send one of my
+people to unroof your home? I am out of patience with you mortals! I am,
+indeed. You are selfish creatures. You do anything that pleases you and
+you consider no one but yourselves.” Here she stamped her tiny sandaled
+foot and continued, “Now listen to me! Put back that turf this instant,
+or I declare you shall rue the day that you disturbed the roof of
+Merlin’s Crag.” Then she vanished.
+
+The poor bewildered laborer could hardly believe his senses. He put back
+the turf exactly where it belonged, took up his spade, and went back to
+his master.
+
+“Why, where is the peat?” began the landlord.
+
+“O master,” said the poor man, “the fairies live in Merlin’s Crag! I
+have seen the queen, and she warned me not to take the turf from the
+top. May I cut the peat from the other side of the moor?”
+
+“What do you mean? I believe your senses are wandering, or you would not
+say such stupid things,” replied the master. “Go back immediately and
+cut all the peat from Merlin’s Crag. Even if the old wizard himself
+appears, you must do as I command.”
+
+The poor laborer was obliged to obey, so he went back to the crag and
+cut the peat. His heart beat very fast, for every minute he expected the
+fairy to reappear and upbraid him, but strange to say, nothing of the
+kind happened.
+
+Exactly one year from the day when the peat was cut from the top of
+Merlin’s Crag, the laborer started on his way home across the fields.
+The master had given him a present of a can of milk and some cheese for
+his wife and children; so he whistled a merry tune as he hurried along.
+In the distance he noticed the queerly-shaped outline of Merlin’s Crag
+against a pale amber sky and his thoughts wandered back to the day one
+year ago. How strange that he had never again seen the exquisite little
+fairy! What a funny threat she had made! As he drew near the crag he
+began to feel strangely tired. He seemed to drag his leaden feet, and
+his eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
+
+“I must rest a bit,” he thought. “How long the road seems this evening!”
+So he sat down in a shadow near the crag and fell into a deep sleep.
+
+When he awoke, the soft silvery moonlight flooded the fields, and he
+heard distinctly the village bell striking the midnight hour. Then there
+floated to his ears the happiest ripple of laughter. He rubbed his eyes
+and aroused himself. He heard a sweet, small voice singing:
+
+                   “Come, follow, follow me
+                   Ye fairy elves that be,
+                   Which circle on the green,
+                   Come follow Mab, your queen;
+                   Hand in hand, let’s dance around,
+                   For the place is fairy ground.”
+
+And a fairy chorus answered:
+
+                 “O’er tops of dewy grass
+                 So nimbly do we pass,
+                 The young and tender stalk
+                 Ne’er bends when we do walk;
+                 Yet in the morning may be seen
+                 Where we the night before have been.”
+
+Ringed about him was a host of dainty fairies singing and dancing, and
+laughing and pointing wee elfin fingers at him as if he were the
+funniest object in the whole world. What could it all mean?
+
+[Illustration]
+
+He determined to break through their circle and make for home, but, when
+he rose and tried to walk away, the magic green ring and the dancing
+fairies accompanied him and held him prisoner. How the wee folks enjoyed
+his dilemma! They fairly shrieked with laughter. In a little while the
+queen, whom he had met before, danced forward and said slyly, “Wilt thou
+not tread a measure, O mortal? Come, thou mayest have our loveliest
+maiden for a partner. Join our sport, do. Then thou wilt not be so eager
+to depart.”
+
+She waved her wand to the circle of fairies, and a charming little
+creature flitted up to him. Before the poor man realized what was
+happening the wee dancer took one of his fingers in each of her tiny
+hands and away they went, swinging, whirling, waltzing about in the
+gayest manner. The little people shrieked again and again with elfin
+laughter at the sight of this strange couple treading a measure. All
+night long the merriment continued.
+
+Finally the moon set behind the dark crag, and rosy streaks broke
+through the gray curtain in the east. Then the queen held up her tiny
+wand and said, “Come, the cock is welcoming the dawn.” She led the way
+and the other fairies forced our friend to accompany them. As she drew
+near the crag a mysterious door opened and the fairies trooped through
+into a beautiful hall carpeted with velvet moss and dimly lighted by
+glow-worms. On tiny couches the wee people soon fell asleep. Our friend
+the countryman sat on a fragment of rock in the corner of the hall.
+
+When the fairies woke each went, about some special task. Some mixed
+wonderful colors for flower petals, birds’ eggs, and delicate shells,
+others powdered gold dust for pollen and spun gossamer threads, while
+still others mixed the most delicious odors for violets, wild roses, and
+hyacinths.
+
+The countryman was so charmed with the sight that he desired nothing
+more than the joy of watching these elfin people forever. Toward evening
+the queen touched his arm with her wand and said,
+
+“Your punishment is over.”
+
+“What do you mean?” asked our friend.
+
+She replied, “The turf you cut from the roof of Merlin’s Crag has grown
+again. Once more the roof of our hall is whole. You may go back to your
+friends now. But first you must take a solemn oath that you will never
+disclose to mortal ears where you have been, or what you have seen. Do
+you promise?”
+
+“I promise,” said the countryman.
+
+Then the fairy led the way to the cave’s door which opened of its own
+accord, and he passed out into the fields.
+
+As he made his way to the village, he noticed that the people looked at
+him in astonishment. When he reached his cottage his wife, who came to
+the door, drew back in fear and wonder.
+
+“Is it indeed you, my husband?” she cried out. “Where have you been so
+long?”
+
+“So long?” the dazed countryman echoed. “So long? What do you mean? I
+don’t understand. Where are the children?”
+
+“There they are,” said his wife, pointing to a well-grown boy and girl.
+“You have been gone from us seven years. No wonder you do not know us.”
+
+“Seven years!” he exclaimed. “Seven years do you say? Let me think.”
+
+Then suddenly he knew what the fairy queen meant by his punishment. He
+had been imprisoned seven long years by the wee folk of fairyland.
+
+He was besieged with questions when the village people learned about his
+return, but he shook his head and said nothing.
+
+He never explained the mystery of his long absence, but many noticed
+that there was one name which always made him hasten to change the
+subject, and that name was—Merlin’s Crag.
+
+
+
+
+                      THE STORY OF LI’L’ HANNIBAL
+
+
+Once on a time, ‘way down South, there lived a little boy named
+Hannibal, Li’l’ Hannibal. He lived along with his gran’mammy and his
+gran’daddy in a li’l’ one-story log cabin that was set right down in a
+cotton field. Well, from morning until night, Li’l’ Hannibal’s
+gran’mammy kept him toting things. As soon as he woke up in the morning
+it was:
+
+“Oh, Li’l’ Hannibal, fetch a pine knot and light the kitchen fire.”
+
+“Oh, Li’l’ Hannibal, fetch the teakettle to the well and get some water
+for the tea.”
+
+“Oh, Li’l’ Hannibal, mix a li’l’ hoecake for your gran’daddy’s
+brea’fus’.”
+
+“Oh, Li’l’ Hannibal, take the bunch of turkeys’ feathers and dust the
+ashes off the hearth.”
+
+And from morning until night, Li’l’ Hannibal’s gran’daddy kept him
+toting things, too.
+
+“Oh, Li’l’ Hannibal,” his gran’daddy would say, “fetch the corn and feed
+the turkeys.”
+
+“Oh, Li’l’ Hannibal, take your li’l’ ax and chop some lightwood for
+gran’mammy’s fire.”
+
+“Oh, Li’l’ Hannibal, run ‘round to the store and buy a bag of flour.”
+
+“Oh, Li’l’ Hannibal, fetch your basket and pick a li’l’ cotton off the
+edge of the field.”
+
+So they kept poor little Hannibal toting ‘most all day long, and he had
+only four or five hours to play.
+
+Well, one morning when Li’l’ Hannibal woke up, he made up his mind to
+something. Before they could ask him to light the kitchen fire, or fill
+the teakettle, or mix the hoecake, or dust the hearth, or feed the
+turkeys, or chop any wood, or go to the store, or pick any cotton, he
+had made up his mind that he was not going to tote for his gran’mammy
+and his gran’daddy any longer. He was going to run away!
+
+So Li’l’ Hannibal got out of bed very quietly. He put on his li’l’
+trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’
+shoes—he never wore stockings. He pulled his li’l’ straw hat down tight
+over his ears, and then Li’l’ Hannibal ran away!
+
+He went down the road past all the cabins. He went under the fence and
+across the cotton fields. He went through the pine grove past the
+schoolhouse, stooping down low—so the schoolmistress couldn’t see
+him—and then he went ‘way, ‘way off into the country.
+
+When he was a long way from town, Li’l’ Hannibal met a possum loping
+along by the edge of the road, and the possum stopped and looked at
+Li’l’ Hannibal.
+
+“How do? Where you goin’, Li’l’ Hannibal?” asked the possum.
+
+Li’l’ Hannibal sat down by the side of the road and took off his straw
+hat to fan himself, for he felt quite warm, and he said,
+
+“I done run away, Br’er Possum, my gran’mammy and my gran’daddy kept me
+totin’, totin’ for them all the time. I don’t like to work, Br’er
+Possum.”
+
+“Po’ Li’l’ Hannibal!” said the possum, sitting up and scratching
+himself. “Any special place you bound for?”
+
+“I don’t reckon so,” said Li’l’ Hannibal, for he was getting tired, and
+he had come away without any breakfast.
+
+“You come along with me, Li’l’ Hannibal,” said the possum; “I reckon I
+kin take you somewhere.”
+
+So the possum and Li’l’ Hannibal went along together, the possum loping
+along by the side of the road and Li’l’ Hannibal going very slowly in
+the middle of the road, for his shoes were full of sand and it hurt his
+toes. They went on and on until they came, all at once, to a sort of
+open space in the woods and then they stopped. There was a big company
+there—Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Partridge, and Br’er Jay Bird and Br’er
+Robin, and Ol’ Miss Guinea Hen.
+
+“Here’s po’ Li’l’ Hannibal come to see you,” said the possum. “Li’l’
+Hannibal done run away from his gran’mammy and gran’daddy.”
+
+Li’l’ Hannibal hung his head as if he was ashamed, but nobody noticed
+him. They were all as busy as they could be, and so he just sat down on
+a pine stump and watched them.
+
+Each one had his own special work and he was keeping at it right smart.
+Br’er Robin was gathering all the holly berries from the south side of
+the holly tree and singing as he worked:
+
+                        “Cheer up, cheer-u-up!”
+
+Br’er Partridge was building a new house down low in the bushes. As he
+hurried back and forth with twigs, he would stop and drum a little, he
+felt so happy to be busy.
+
+Br’er Jay Bird was taking corn down below. You know that is what Br’er
+Jay Bird does all the time. He takes one kernel of corn in his bill to
+the people down below and then comes back for another. It is a very long
+trip to take with one kernel of corn, but Br’er Jay Bird doesn’t seem to
+mind how hard he works.
+
+Ol’ Miss Guinea Hen was almost the busiest of the whole company, for she
+was laying eggs. As soon as ever she laid one she would get up on a low
+branch and screech, “Catch it! Catch it! Catch it!” like to deafen
+everybody.
+
+But Li’l’ Hannibal was most interested to see what Br’er Rabbit was
+doing. Br’er Rabbit had on a li’l’ apron, and he kept bringing things in
+his market basket. Then he cooked the things over a fire back in the
+bushes, and when it got to be late in the afternoon, he spread a
+tablecloth on a big stump and then he pounded on his stewpan with his
+soup ladle. “Supper’s ready,” said Br’er Rabbit.
+
+Then Br’er Robin, and Br’er Partridge, and Br’er Jay Bird, and Br’er
+Possum, and Ol’ Miss Guinea Hen all scrambled to their places at the
+table and Li’l’ Hannibal tried to find a place to sit at, but there
+wasn’t any.
+
+“Po’ Li’l’ Hannibal!” said Br’er Rabbit as he poured the soup. “Doesn’t
+like work! Doesn’t like to tote for his gran’mammy. Can’t have no
+supper!”
+
+“Catch him! Catch him!” said Ol’ Miss Guinea Hen, but no one did it.
+They were all too busy eating.
+
+They had a grand supper. There was breakfast strip, and roast turkey,
+and fried chicken, and mutton and rice, and hominy and sweet potatoes,
+and peas and beans, and baked apples, and cabbage, and hoe cake, and hot
+biscuits, and corn muffins, and butter cakes and waffles and maple
+syrup.
+
+When they were through eating, it was dark, and they all went home, and
+they left Li’l’ Hannibal all by himself.
+
+Well, after a while it began to get darker. Br’er Mocking Bird came out,
+and he looked at Li’l’ Hannibal and then he began to scream, just like
+Ol’ Miss Guinea Hen,
+
+“Catch him! Catch him! Catch him!” Br’er Screech Owl looked down from a
+tree and he said very hoarsely:
+
+                          “Who! Who! Who-oo!”
+
+Then all the frogs began to say, loud and shrill, “Li’l’ Hannibal! Li’l’
+Hannibal!” like they thought he was deaf.
+
+So Li’l’ Hannibal got up from his pine stump and he said, “I reckon I
+better go home to my gran’mammy.”
+
+Well, Li’l’ Hannibal started for home slowly, because his feet hurt and
+he was hungry. When he came to the pine grove by the schoolhouse the
+shadows came out from behind the trees and followed him, and that was
+much worse than seeing the schoolmistress. But Li’l’ Hannibal got away
+from them all right. He crawled under the fence and ran across the
+cotton field, and there in the door of the cabin was his gran’daddy with
+a lantern. His gran’daddy had been out looking for Li’l’ Hannibal.
+
+“Why, Li’l’ Hannibal, where you been all day?” asked his gran’daddy.
+
+“Oh, Li’l’ Han’,” said his gran’mammy, “here’s your corn mush. I kep’ it
+warm on the hearth, but afore you eat your supper, Li’l’ Han, jus’ take
+your li’l’ basket and run ‘round to the chicken house for a couple of
+eggs.”
+
+So Li’l’ Hannibal took his li’l’ basket, and he started for those eggs
+singing all the way. You see, he reckoned he was mighty glad to be at
+home, and toting again.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+                      HOW TIMOTHY WON THE PRINCESS
+
+
+Once upon a time a poor widow and her son Timothy lived in a little
+cottage near a village. One day Tim’s mother said: “Tim, my boy, the
+landlord’s rent must be paid and I haven’t a bit of money in the house.
+I’ve made up my mind to sell one of our three cows.”
+
+Tim replied: “All right! I’ll take the old red cow to the fair in the
+morning, and sell her for a good price, mother mine.”
+
+Bright and early Tim was ready. It was a fine spring morning, and the
+birds sang merrily in the trees. The hedgerows were white with May
+blossoms. Tim drove the old cow along the mossy green lanes until he
+came to the village, where a fair was being held.
+
+A great crowd had gathered in a ring near the main road, and Timothy
+hurried there to see what caused the excitement. In the middle of this
+ring, on a tiny platform, was a little man with a tiny harp and a tiny
+stool. The dwarf reached down deep into his pocket and brought out a
+bee, all dressed up in a blue suit of clothes with bright buttons and
+gold braid. Perched on one side of his head was a cunning little cap
+which matched his suit. Again the little man reached down into his
+pocket and drew out a cockroach and a tiny mouse.
+
+The cockroach was dressed in a very full skirt of flowered silk, a lace
+bodice, and bright panniers of velvet. On her head was a dainty bit of a
+hat wreathed with flowers.
+
+The little mouse wore a dress suit and a tall silk hat. At a sign from
+the little man, the bee jumped on the stool and began to play a tune on
+the harp. Then Mr. Mouse bowed to Miss Cockroach. She courtesied
+gracefully, and the two began to waltz to the music.
+
+Now the moment they began to dance every man and woman, youth and maid,
+joined them. Soon everything in sight, pots and pans, pigs and cows,
+ducks and hens, began to reel about as if they had all gone mad! The old
+cow began to whirl round and round, and then Timothy started. His feet
+kept time to the music which grew louder and faster as the sport
+proceeded. In a short time the little man picked up the harp, stool, and
+animals and put them back into his pocket.
+
+Instantly, everybody and everything came to a standstill! Then such a
+roar of laughter burst forth as was never heard before. The people
+laughed until their sides ached, and Timothy’s voice was heard above all
+the others. The little man walked up to him.
+
+“What do you think of that for sport?” he asked.
+
+“Oh, indeed, it was fine fun, sir,” answered Tim.
+
+“And how would you like to own my little animals?”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“Like to own them, sir? Indeed I should, but I have no money, nor have I
+any way of getting it.”
+
+“I’ll tell you how to make a good bargain though,” said the little man,
+coming closer. “I’ll trade you the harp and my musician, the bee, for
+the cow you’ve brought to the fair to sell. Come, what do you say to
+that?”
+
+“Oh, how I should like to have them, sir! But mother must have money for
+the landlord. She is very sad and downhearted because we cannot pay the
+rent.”
+
+“Yes, yes, but think how the tiny musician will make her laugh, my boy.
+She needs cheering,” persuaded the little man.
+
+“So she does, sir,” said Tim. “I’ll trade with you.”
+
+The little man took the cow and disappeared, and Timothy put the harp,
+the stool, and the bee into his pocket and went home.
+
+“You’ve sold the cow, my boy?” said his mother, anxiously. “How much
+money did you get for her?”
+
+“Money, mother! I got something much better than money,” said Tim,
+excitedly.
+
+Then out of his pocket he took the harp, the stool, and the bee, and set
+them on the floor. After a deep bow the bee seated himself on the stool,
+cocked his head on one side, and began to play a lively tune. The little
+fellow looked so comical that Timothy’s mother couldn’t keep a straight
+face. She burst into a peal of laughter. The lad joined her, and then
+the pots and the pans, the table and chairs, everything in the house
+began to reel and jig. Tim and his mother began to hop up and down in
+the funniest manner. This kept on for some time, and then Tim took up
+the harp, the stool, and the bee, and put them into his pocket. In a
+second, everything quieted down. Tim’s mother, however, kept on laughing
+for some minutes. Finally she stopped, and then she grew very angry.
+
+“What a foolish bargain you’ve made!” she cried. “Here we are without
+food or money, and you have traded the red cow for such worthless toys!
+Oh, what shall I do? You must go back to the fair and sell the white
+cow, I suppose. See that you keep your wits about you this time.”
+
+Early next morning Timothy started to the fair, driving the white cow.
+They soon arrived, and there in the main road he saw a big crowd
+gathered. He pushed forward to see what was going on. In the middle of
+the ring stood the little man with twinkling eyes. His mouth was screwed
+up in a very queer way, and he was whistling. The mouse and the
+cockroach were dancing an Irish jig; bowing, reeling, scraping,
+courtesying in the finest manner. Tim’s heart beat fast at the sight.
+Soon everybody and everything in the fair began to imitate the movements
+of the queer little creatures. Men and women, youths and maidens, pots
+and pans, carts and gigs, all hopped about and jigged exactly like the
+mouse and the cockroach; even the stalls and the buildings seemed to hop
+up and down in time with the music. In a little while the tiny man
+stopped whistling, picked up the little animals, and put them into his
+pocket. Then there was no more dancing, but everybody burst into a
+hearty roar of laughter. How they did laugh! The little man now spied
+Tim.
+
+“Ah, my lad,” he said, “wouldn’t you like to own those wonderful little
+creatures?”
+
+“Indeed I should, sir, but I have no money,” said Tim, shaking his head.
+
+“Oh! that makes no difference, I’ll trade with you again. Give me the
+old white cow, and I’ll give you the mouse.”
+
+“Indeed I can’t, sir. Mother is so sad because we can’t pay our rent or
+buy any food. I must get money to pay the landlord,” replied Tim,
+looking longingly at the little man’s pocket.
+
+“Oh, stuff and nonsense! Better be lighthearted than rich! What will
+cheer her like the sight of my little gentleman mouse dancing to the
+music of your musician, the bee?”
+
+“All right, sir,” answered Tim, meekly, and he traded the white cow for
+the mouse.
+
+When he reached home, his mother cried out, “You’ve sold the cow, my
+boy?”
+
+“Yes, mother.”
+
+“How much money did you get?”
+
+Timothy said not one word, but took the mouse, the harp, and the bee out
+of his pocket and put them on the floor. Tim began to whistle. The bee
+accompanied him with beautiful chords on the harp. After a grand
+sweeping bow the mouse fell into a gay Irish jig. Soon everything in the
+house seemed to be hopping and jigging about. Even Tim and his mother
+could not hold their feet still. In a little while Tim took up the
+mouse, the bee, and the harp and put them into his pocket. Then
+everything quieted down except the peals of laughter which his mother
+could not stop. She laughed and laughed until her sides ached. After
+some time she began to look serious; then she grew very, very angry.
+
+“Tim, you are the most foolish boy in the whole world,” she began. “How
+could you take such worthless toys for our fine old white cow? Oh, dear.
+What shall I do? There is no money, and the landlord will turn us out.
+The old spotted cow must go, I see. Take her to the fair to-morrow and
+see you bring back _nothing_ but money.”
+
+“I’ll do that mother,” said Tim. His intentions were good, but alas!
+when he reached the fair, there was the little man again with the
+cockroach. He was whistling merrily and the whole fair went jigging and
+dancing about, all led by the lively cockroach. Soon the little man put
+the tiny, graceful dancer into his pocket. Then, as before, the dancing
+stopped. But the laughter! You should have heard the merry peals in
+every direction.
+
+“Ha, my boy! Here again! You’ve brought me the spotted cow, I see! Good!
+You ought to have the cockroach to complete your wonders. Take her
+along.”
+
+“But, sir, I promised mother,” began Tim, “that——”
+
+“See her pretty bright dress. Master Mouse and she make a charming
+couple. How your mother will be cheered when she sees them dancing
+together. There is no sight like it. Here you are.” Carefully he lifted
+the cockroach, and Tim could not resist the offer of such a wonderful
+little creature. He put her into his pocket, and the little man
+disappeared with the spotted cow.
+
+Tim hurried home. He slipped into the house. He took out of his pocket
+Miss Cockroach, Master Mouse, Musician Bee, the harp, and the stool, and
+arranged them in a corner of the room, telling them to remain quiet
+until he came back. Then he went into the kitchen.
+
+“Tim, my boy,” cried the mother, “how much money did you get?”
+
+“Mother,” replied Tim, “don’t talk about money. Come with me.”
+
+He led her into the next room. The minute they entered, Tim began to
+whistle. The bee joined him with a lively tune on the harp; the mouse
+made a deep bow, hat in hand, and the cockroach courtesied most
+gracefully. Then the two danced toward each other and began a real Irish
+jig, keeping excellent time to the music. Everything in the house joined
+in the merriment, pots and pans, chairs and tables, forks and spoons,
+all went hopping and jigging about in the most comical way. Tim clapped
+his hands. His mother nodded her head in time with the music and a broad
+smile spread over her face, although she tried and tried to frown.
+Finally Tim took up the tiny dancers, the musician, and the harp, and
+put them into his pocket. In an instant everything quieted down. Then
+how Tim’s mother did laugh! She laughed until the tears streamed down
+her cheeks. After some time she quieted herself; then she frowned and
+grew very angry.
+
+“Oh! you foolish, foolish boy,” she began; “you’ve traded away all my
+cows for those worthless things. Where shall I get money to pay the
+rent? We are much worse off than before. Oh, dear! Oh, dear!”
+
+Tim couldn’t bear to hear her cry, and so he took his hat and hastened
+out of doors. He was strolling down the lane toward the distant hills
+when suddenly he saw a tiny woman who held up her finger in a very
+mysterious way. Tim politely raised his hat and bowed.
+
+“Good morning!” she said pleasantly. “I thought all gallant youths were
+at the palace of the king.”
+
+“And why should they be there?” asked Tim astonished.
+
+“Oh, haven’t you heard that the king is in great trouble about his
+beautiful daughter, the princess? She is so sad and downhearted that the
+court physicians fear she will die. She hasn’t laughed for years, and
+the king has sent word throughout the land that he will give the
+princess in marriage to any youth who can make her laugh three times.”
+
+Tim didn’t wait to hear another word. He darted away and ran as fast as
+he could to the palace. After a time he reached the outer gates, and
+told the guards who were stationed there why he had come.
+
+“You had better think twice before you try,” said one of them, “for the
+king casts all who fail into a dungeon.”
+
+“No matter, I shall try,” said Timothy.
+
+Word was sent to the king that a new suitor had arrived at the palace.
+The king commanded the newcomer to appear immediately.
+
+“You know the penalty if you fail to make the princess laugh three
+times?” said his majesty.
+
+“I do, most gracious sire,” replied Tim, bowing very humbly.
+
+“Then, in a short time, be ready to make your trial.” With a gesture the
+king dismissed him.
+
+In a few minutes a messenger brought word that the king, the queen, the
+sad princess, and attendants were ready for the trial. Tim took out of
+his pocket the mouse, the cockroach, the bee, the harp, and the stool.
+He tied them all together with a long string. Then he marched into the
+king’s room, holding the end of the string in his hand. All the queer
+menagerie followed after him. He looked so comical as he approached that
+the king, the queen, and the courtiers burst into a hearty laugh. This
+made the princess lift her bowed head and look. When her eyes fell on
+Tim and his string of queer little followers, she threw back her head
+and laughed heartily.
+
+“That’s once,” nodded Tim.
+
+Then he untied the string. Musician Bee at once took his place on the
+stool near the harp. Mr. Mouse made his deepest bow. Miss Cockroach
+courtesied deep and long. Tim began to whistle. The bee tuned the harp
+and joined him with silvery chords. The mouse and the cockroach stepped
+gracefully in time to the music until they came near each other. Then
+they began to perform their merry Irish jig. The sight was too much for
+the king and queen and courtiers. They all burst into such a merry laugh
+that the castle walls rang. The princess tried to look serious but she
+couldn’t! She joined the others and they all laughed heartily.
+
+“That’s twice,” said Tim smiling.
+
+Then he began to whistle faster; the bee followed him in time. The mouse
+and the cockroach bowed and jigged and reeled and whirled,—all to no
+purpose. The king, queen, and courtiers laughed heartily, but the
+princess kept a grave expression. Finally the mouse whirled around on
+one heel three times, and on the last turn his tail swept right into the
+cockroach’s mouth. The cockroach started to cough violently. She coughed
+and coughed, and took out her tiny bit of a handkerchief to hold to her
+mouth. When the princess and her ladies saw this, they threw back their
+heads and shrieked with laughter.
+
+“That’s thrice,” said Timothy. “I’ve won the Princess.”
+
+The king now ordered the courtiers to take Timothy to a royal dressing
+room. There he was dressed in a satin suit with gold lace trimmings and
+beautiful ornaments. He looked so handsome in his new clothes that the
+Princess fell in love with him. A glorious wedding feast was prepared.
+Timothy’s mother came in a wonderful coach drawn by six beautiful white
+horses. At the wedding, the bee furnished the music; the mouse and the
+cockroach led the dancing; and such was the merriment that the peals of
+laughter are still ringing in the valley around the palace.
+
+
+
+
+                          THE OVERTURNED CART
+
+
+One day, as Oh-I-Am, the wizard, went over Three-Tree Common, his shoe
+became untied, and he bent down to refasten it. Then he saw Wry-Face,
+the gnome, hiding among the bracken and looking as mischievous as
+anything. In one hand he held a white fluff-feather. Now these feathers
+are as light as anything, and will blow in the wind; and whatever they
+are placed under, whether light or heavy, they are bound to topple over
+as soon as the wind blows.
+
+As Oh-I-Am tied his shoe he saw Wry-Face place his fluff-feather
+carefully in the roadway, and at the same moment there came along
+One-Eye, the potato wife, with her cart full of potatoes. The cart went
+rumble, crumble, crack, crack, crack, over the leaves and twigs, and
+One-Eye sang to her donkey:
+
+                         “Steady, steady,
+                         We’re always ready,—”
+
+in a most cheerful voice.
+
+Then the cart came to the fluff-feather, and over it went—crash, bang,
+splutter; and the potatoes flew everywhere, like rain.
+
+Wry-Face, the gnome, laughed to himself so that he ached, and he rolled
+over the ground with mirth. Then he flew away, laughing as he went.
+
+But One-Eye, the potato wife, was not laughing. Her tears went drip-drip
+as she started to gather her potatoes together. And as to getting her
+cart straight again, she did not know how she was to do it.
+
+But, when she turned round from gathering together the potatoes, she
+found that the cart was all right again, since Oh-I-Am the wizard had
+straightened it for her, and the donkey was standing on his legs, none
+the worse for his fall.
+
+Oh-I-Am looked stern and straight in his brown robe which trailed behind
+him. He said,
+
+“One-Eye, have you got all your potatoes together?”
+
+One-Eye still wept. She said, “No, I have not found all of them, for
+some have wandered far. And I must not seek further, for this is market
+day, and I must away to the town.”
+
+And she began to gather up the potatoes, and drop them into the cart,
+thud, thud, thud.
+
+Oh-I-Am stooped then, and he, too, gathered up the potatoes; and he
+threw them into the cart, splish, splash, splutter!
+
+“Alas!” said One-Eye, “if you throw them into the cart, splish, splash,
+splutter, you will bruise and break them. You must throw them in gently,
+thud, thud, thud.”
+
+So Oh-I-Am held back his anger, and he threw the potatoes in gently,
+thud, thud, thud. But, when the potato wife had gone on her way, he flew
+to his Brown House by the Brown Bramble; and he began to weave a spell.
+
+He put into it a potato, and a grain of earth, and a down from a pillow,
+and a pearl and an apple pip from a pie. And when the spell was ready,
+he lay down, and fell asleep.
+
+Wry-Face had gone round to all the neighbors to tell them the grand joke
+about One-Eye, the potato wife. Sometimes he told it through the window,
+and sometimes he stood at the door. Sometimes he told it to a gnome who
+was fine and feathery, and sometimes to one who was making bread. But
+all the time he laughed, laughed, laughed, till he was scarcely fit to
+stand.
+
+Now he did not call at Oh-I-Am’s fine house to tell _him_, not he! And
+it was quite unnecessary, since Oh-I-Am knew the joke already, every
+bit.
+
+Oh-I-Am had hidden the spell in his cupboard. When it was evening time,
+he stole out and laid it by Wry-Face’s door. Then he went home, and went
+to bed.
+
+Wry-Face was making a pie for his supper. Suddenly the room became as
+dark as dark. The darkness was not night coming on, for this was summer
+time and night never came on as quickly as all that.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“Dear me, what can be the matter?” thought Wry-Face; for he could barely
+see to finish making his pie.
+
+Then he heard a little voice from his window, crying, “Here I am,
+Wry-Face, here I am!” But he could not go out to see what it was yet
+awhile.
+
+When the apple pie was finished and in the oven, Wry-Face ran outside as
+fast as he could. But he did not see the spell which Oh-I-Am had placed
+by his door.
+
+What he did see was a great potato plant which had sprung up suddenly
+close to his window, and was springing up further still, high, high, and
+higher.
+
+“Good gracious me!” cried Wry-Face in a rage, “I never planted a potato
+plant there, not in my whole life! Now I should just like to know what
+you are doing by my window?”
+
+The potato plant took no notice, but went on climbing high, high, and
+higher, and, ever so far above, he heard a tiny faint voice crying,
+
+“Here I am, Wry-Face, here I am!”
+
+“Well, I never did!” cried Wry-Face, and he began to weep; for he saw
+that the potato plant would climb up to his roof and round his chimney
+and he would never be able to get rid of it.
+
+And he wept and wept.
+
+At last he went in, and took his pie out of the oven, and set it in the
+pantry, for it was quite done. And he found a spade, and went out, and
+began to dig and dig at the root of the potato plant. But his digging
+did not seem to make any difference, and the evening began to grow
+darker.
+
+Wry-Face fetched his little lamp, which is named Bright Beauty and which
+always burns without flickering. Then he went on digging, and he dug and
+dug and dug.
+
+And when he had dug for hours and hours, so that he was very, very
+tired, the potato plant began suddenly to dwindle and dwindle. It
+dwindled as fast as anything, the leaves disappeared and the stem
+disappeared and all the horrid stretching arms. They sank down, down,
+and down, till at last there was nothing left at all but—a big brown
+potato!
+
+“Well, I do declare!” cried Wry-Face. “I should like to know what _you_
+have to do with my fine garden.”
+
+The potato replied, “I jumped here from the cart of One-Eye, the potato
+wife, and it is quite certain that unless I am taken back to her
+immediately, I shall start again, growing and growing and growing.”
+
+“Dear potato, you must not start growing again,” cried Wry-Face, in a
+great way. “To-night I am so tired, I cannot do anything, but if you
+will but wait till to-morrow I will take you back to One-Eye, the potato
+wife—I will, indeed.”
+
+At first the potato would not listen to this at all; but after a while
+it said, “Well, well, I will wait till to-morrow. But remember, if you
+do not carry me home to One-Eye, the potato wife, to-morrow, I shall
+grow into a potato _tree_, without a doubt.”
+
+So Wry-Face carried the potato into his house, and stored it in his bin.
+But he never noticed the spell which Oh-I-Am had placed by his door.
+
+“I am so tired, I can scarcely yawn,” said Wry-Face. “It is quite time
+for me to have my supper and go to bed.”
+
+So he fetched the apple pie from the pantry and set it upon the table,
+and presently he sat down to his meal.
+
+And he forgot for a moment how tired he was, thinking how delightful it
+was to sit down to a supper of apple pie.
+
+Then he lifted his knife and fork to cut off a large piece, but alas,
+the fork stuck fast. As for the knife, it would not move either, not an
+inch. Wry-Face began to weep.
+
+“Alack, what has happened to my apple pie?” cried he, and his tears
+fell, round as round.
+
+Then he got upon his feet, and he caught hold of the knife and fork and
+pulled and pulled and pulled. And with the last pull the top of the
+apple pie came off, sticking to the knife and fork, and Wry-Face saw
+that within the pie there was not one piece of apple, but—a big brown
+potato!
+
+Wry-Face wept again with horror at the sight.
+
+“I should like to know,” cried he, “what _you_ are doing in my fine
+apple pie?”
+
+The brown potato replied, as cool as cool, “I am one of the potatoes
+belonging to One-Eye, the potato wife, and I turned the apples out, that
+I might hide here awhile. But this I must tell you, Wry-Face, unless you
+take me home to the potato wife immediately, here, in this pie dish, I
+intend to remain.”
+
+“Alas!” cried Wry-Face, “to-night I am so tired I could never find
+One-Eye; but if you will but wait till to-morrow, I will carry you home
+to the potato wife—I will, indeed.”
+
+At first the potato would not agree to this at all, but after a while it
+said, “Very well, I will wait till to-morrow. But remember, my Wry-Face,
+if you do not carry me home to One-Eye to-morrow, I will creep into
+every pie you make; and you will die at last of starvation without a
+doubt.”
+
+So Wry-Face stored the potato in the potato bin and went supperless to
+bed. And he knew nothing of the spell which Oh-I-Am had placed by his
+door.
+
+Now he got into bed, and thought he would go to sleep; but oh, how hard
+the mattress was! Wry-Face lay this way, then that, but no matter which
+way he lay, he found a great hump just beneath him which was as hard as
+hard, and as nobbly as could be.
+
+Wry-Face tossed and tossed till it was nearly morning; and his bones
+were so sore that he could lie no longer.
+
+Then he pulled the mattress from the bed and cut a great hole in it, and
+when he had searched and searched he found in the middle of the
+mattress—a big brown potato!
+
+“This,” cried Wry-Face, “is why I have not slept the whole night
+through!” And he wept like anything.
+
+But the potato was as cool as cool.
+
+“I belong,” it said, “to One-Eye, the potato wife; and let me tell you,
+my little gnome, unless you take me to her immediately, I shall climb
+into your mattress again, and there I shall remain.”
+
+“Alas,” cried Wry-Face, “I have tossed about for hours and hours and am
+too tired to do anything. But if you will wait till to-morrow, dear
+potato, I will carry you to One-Eye, the potato wife—I will, indeed.”
+
+At first the potato was unwilling to listen to this, but after a while
+it said, “Very well, then, I will wait till the morning. But this much I
+know, my Wry-Face, if you do not carry me then to One-Eye, the potato
+wife, I shall get into your mattress and you shall roll again _every
+night_.”
+
+So Wry-Face put the potato in the bin. When he had done that he went to
+bed, and slept and slept.
+
+When the sun was shining he awoke, and he remembered that he had to
+carry the potatoes back to One-Eye, the potato wife; and he was as cross
+as anything.
+
+“Well, I suppose I must,” he said. And when he had had his breakfast, he
+went to his cupboard to get a sack.
+
+Then he found that his sack was full of pearls which he had gathered
+together for Heigh-Heavy, the giant, whose daughter, So-Small, he wished
+to marry.
+
+So he thought, “First of all I will carry the pearls to Heigh-Heavy, for
+that is more important.” And away he went with the sack upon his back.
+And he never saw the spell which Oh-I-Am had placed beside his door.
+
+When he reached the Most Enormous House of Heigh-Heavy, the Giant, there
+the giant was sitting in his parlor lacing his shoes.
+
+So Wry-Face cried out in a gay little voice, “Here I am, Heigh-Heavy,
+here I am. And here is a bag of pearls which I have brought you in
+exchange for your beautiful daughter, So-Small.”
+
+When Heigh-Heavy heard this, he stopped lacing his shoes, and said, “You
+must bring me in exchange for my daughter So-Small as many pearls as
+will cover my palm.”
+
+Then Wry-Face ran forward and he tipped up the sack; and, standing high
+upon his toes, he shook out all that it held into the hand of
+Heigh-Heavy, the Giant.
+
+Now all that it held was—one brown potato!
+
+Wry-Face the gnome stared and stared and stared, his eyes growing
+rounder and rounder; but he had no time to weep, on account of
+Heigh-Heavy the giant who had fallen into a rage terrible to see.
+
+“Now there is one thing quite certain,” said Heigh-Heavy, “and that is
+that you shall never marry my daughter So-Small, for, my Wry-Face, I
+will turn you into a brown potato, and a brown potato you shall remain
+your whole life through.”
+
+When Wry-Face heard this terrible threat he took to his heels, and ran
+from the Most Enormous House of Heigh-Heavy, the giant. He ran, and ran,
+till his coat was torn and his ears were red; and he never rested till
+he reached his cottage door, and got inside.
+
+Heigh-Heavy laughed till he cried to see the little gnome run. “He will
+play no tricks on _me_!” said he. And he went in and shut the door.
+
+But Wry-Face said to himself, as he carried the potatoes, weeping, to
+the potato-wife:
+
+“I will never play a trick on _anyone_ again, not as long as I live!”
+
+
+
+
+                              CHANTICLEER
+
+
+Once upon a time a widow and her two daughters lived in a little cottage
+near a grove. They were so poor that it took the most careful managing
+to earn a humble living. Their meals were very simple; indeed, they
+often had nothing but milk and brown bread, and once in a while a bit of
+bacon and an egg or two.
+
+Around the cottage was a henyard, fenced in with sticks and a dry ditch,
+and here the old widow kept a handsome rooster called Chanticleer. His
+match for crowing could not be found; his voice was merrier than the
+merry organ heard in the church on Mass days, and the wonder of it was
+one could tell the hour of the day by his crowing! His comb was redder
+than fine coral, and all notched like a castle wall. His bill was black
+and shone like jet, his legs and his toes were like azure, his nails
+whiter than the lily flower, and his feathers the color of burnished
+gold.
+
+Chanticleer lived a happy life. He had with him seven plump wives, all
+very much like him in color, but by far the cheeriest companion among
+them was Demoiselle Partlet, who was not only beautiful but also wise
+and courteous. Chanticleer loved her dearly. What joy it was to hear
+them sing together at sunrise,
+
+                         “My love is far away.”
+
+Early one morning when Chanticleer and his seven hens sat on the perch,
+Partlet, who was beside her lord, heard a loud groan. “My dear,” she
+said, astonished and alarmed, “what can be the matter with you? For
+shame, to wake us all up in this way!”
+
+“Madam,” replied the rooster, “do not be anxious about me. It was only a
+dream, but it has frightened me almost beyond words. I thought I was
+roaming up and down the yard, when suddenly I saw a beast somewhat like
+a hound ready to spring at me. He was between yellow and red in color,
+his tail and ears were tipped with black, his nose was small and his
+eyes glowed like fire. I almost died of fright! That is what made me
+groan.”
+
+“Fie for shame!” retorted Partlet. “Do you admit to your love that
+anything could fill your heart with fear? Alas! Alas! You know that
+dreams mean nothing. Let me explain what causes them. Overeating creates
+too much black humor, and in consequence one is likely to dream that
+black bears, or black bulls, or even _devils_ will catch him. Then
+again, if one has too much red humor he may dream of arrows, of fire
+with red blazes, or of great and small whelps that will bite. I could go
+on, but further talk is unnecessary. Dearest, when we fly down from
+these rafters I will point out to you herbs and berries that will cure
+you; also for a day or two you shall have a light diet of worms. Cheer
+up, I say, and in a little while all will be well. Should this occur
+again, remember the words of the wise Cato: ‘Take no heed of dreams!’”
+
+“Thank you for your excellent advice, my dear,” replied Chanticleer. “I
+know that Cato had much wisdom, but I can give you examples of other
+very wise men who did not agree with him. Do you not remember the story
+of Daniel in the Old Testament? Did he think dreams mean nothing? Also
+read the story of Joseph and you will see that a dream held warnings of
+future things. Recall for a moment Pharaoh, King of Egypt, his baker and
+his butler! See what they thought about the meaning of dreams. Wonderful
+stories on this subject I could point out to you, so do not be surprised
+that this dream of mine makes me anxious. But now, my dearest Partlet,
+let us talk about merrier things, for, when I see the beauty of your
+face and the lovely scarlet hue about your eyes, all my fears leave me.
+I am so full of joy and comfort in your company that I forget dreams.”
+
+Daybreak had come and the rooster and his seven wives flew down from the
+perch. “Cluck! Cluck!” he called gayly when he found a tidbit in the
+yard. Behold Chanticleer in all his glory! Brave as a lion, he roamed
+proudly on his tiptoes up and down the henyard, never dreaming that an
+enemy was watching him with cunning interest.
+
+Now it happened that a wicked fox had lived for three years in the grove
+near the cottage. All this time he had been watching his chance to fall
+upon the handsome rooster. During the night of Chanticleer’s dream, the
+fox had pushed slyly through the hedge into the garden and had carefully
+hidden himself among the vegetables.
+
+The sun was shining gloriously! Partlet and her sisters were bathing
+merrily in the warm sand! Gallant Chanticleer, singing merrier than a
+mermaid, was watching a butterfly flitting about in the sunshine among
+the herbs when suddenly his eye caught sight of the fox lying low among
+the leaves! Terror seized him. The song died in his throat. “Cok! Cok!”
+he gasped. In a moment he would have fled, but the fox began right away
+to speak to him in a very persuasive tone.
+
+“Gentle sir, I hope you are not afraid of me, your own good friend.
+Certainly I should be worse than a fiend if I harmed you. Indeed I did
+not come here to spy upon you, but, pardon me, to hear your glorious
+voice. No angel in heaven could sing sweeter than you do. How well I
+remember my lord, your father, and my lady, your honorable mother. They
+have been guests at my house many times. Shall I ever again hear a voice
+as beautiful as your father’s when he greeted the sunrise! I remember
+exactly how he looked. He stood on his tiptoes, shut his eyes tightly,
+stretched out his long slender neck and then poured forth his glorious
+song. He was indeed a wonder. Also, he was very wise and careful. I have
+heard it said that no one could surpass him in song or wisdom. I wonder,
+kind sir, if your voice is as beautiful as your father’s. For sweet
+charity’s sake, will you not sing one song for me and let me compare the
+two voices?”
+
+How could Chanticleer refuse one so kind and courteous? He began to flap
+his wings. He stood on tiptoe. He closed his eyes. He stretched his
+long, slender neck and began to crow. Snap! In a twinkling the fox
+seized Chanticleer by the throat, swung him across his back, and was off
+to the woods with him.
+
+Never was there such a commotion! The hens screamed and cried pitifully.
+Partlet shrieked at the top of her voice. This brought the widow and her
+daughters to the door, and then they saw the wicked fox with Chanticleer
+across his back making for the wood. “Help! Help! A fox! A fox!” they
+cried, and started after him as fast as they could go. Men snatched up
+sticks and joined them. The dog Coll ran yelping and barking. Malkin
+started with the distaff in her hand. The cow and the calf ran. The
+hogs, frightened at the loud barking of the dogs and the screaming of
+the people, set up a squealing like fiends and followed in the chase.
+The ducks quacked as if they were being murdered, the geese in terror
+took flight over the tree tops. The hideous deafening noise started a
+swarm of bees forth from their hive. Soon other people followed with
+horns of brass, wood, and bone. They blew, they bellowed, they cried,
+they screamed, they whooped, they shrieked, and made such a bedlam that
+it seemed the very heavens would fall. And on ran the fox with the
+rooster on his back.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Now Chanticleer in all his breathless terror was rapidly turning over in
+his mind how he could help his friends to rescue him. Controlling his
+fright as best he could, he said,
+
+“Sir, if I were you, I’d scoff at these followers. Say to them, ‘Turn
+back you proud churls! A plague upon you! The rooster is mine and I’ll
+soon be where I can eat him.’”
+
+“In faith,” replied the fox, “I’ll do what you say.” As soon as the fox
+opened his mouth, Chanticleer flew high up into a tree which stood near.
+Now the fox saw his mistake, but was not ready to give up.
+
+“Alas, alas, Chanticleer,” he began, “I’ve done you a great wrong. I
+seized you and carried you entirely too roughly. Forgive me for
+frightening you. Come now, fly down a moment and let me explain.”
+
+“No thank you,” crowed Chanticleer. “Your flattery will not catch me a
+second time, and make me sing again with my eyes closed. For no good can
+come to anyone who closes his eyes when they should be open.”
+
+“Bad luck to the one who talks when he should hold his peace,” grumbled
+the fox.
+
+
+
+
+                      THE JACKAL AND THE ALLIGATOR
+
+
+A little Jackal, who was very fond of crabs and bits of fish and
+whatever else he could find, went down to the riverside one morning in
+search of something for his dinner. He ran up and down the bank, here
+and there, but he could find nothing to eat. At last, near some tall
+bulrushes and under clear, shallow water he saw a little crab who was
+sidling along as fast as his legs could carry him. The little jackal was
+so very hungry that, without looking, he put his paw into the water
+after the crab. “Snap!” A great big alligator who lived in the river,
+had the paw in his jaws.
+
+“Oh, dear,” thought the little jackal, “a big alligator has my paw in
+his mouth. In another minute he will drag me down under the water and
+swallow me. What can I do?” Then a thought came to the little jackal,
+“I’ll fool that old alligator and get away from him.” So he called out
+in a very cheerful voice, “Clever Alligator! Clever Alligator! To catch
+hold of that bulrush root for my paw! I hope you will find it very
+tender.”
+
+The old alligator was so hidden among the bulrushes that he could
+scarcely see anything. On hearing the little jackal call out he said to
+himself, “Dear me, I thought I had caught hold of the jackal’s paw; but
+there he is calling out in a cheerful voice. I suppose I have made a
+mistake.” So saying he opened his mouth and let the little jackal go.
+
+The jackal ran away as fast as he could. When he was at a safe distance
+he called out, “O wise Alligator! O wise Alligator! So you let me go
+again.” The alligator was very angry, but the little jackal had run too
+far away to be caught.
+
+The next day the jackal returned to the riverside to get his dinner as
+before. The old alligator was nowhere to be seen, but the little jackal
+thought it best not to take any chances, so he called out, “Wherever I
+go to look for my dinner, I search for the nice little fat crabs that
+come peeping up through the mud. Then I put my paw down and catch them.
+I wish I could see one now.”
+
+The old alligator was down in the mud at the bottom of the river, and he
+heard every word the jackal said. He thought to himself, “Aha! I’ll just
+show the tip of my nose up through the mud. He’ll take it for a little
+fat crab and put his paw in to catch me. As soon as he does so, I’ll
+gobble him up!” So he popped the little point of his nose out of the mud
+and waited. No sooner did the jackal see the tip of the alligator’s nose
+than he called out, “O Friend Alligator, so there you are. No dinner for
+me here, thank you.” And off he ran and fished for his dinner a long,
+long way from that place. The old alligator snapped his jaws again and
+again. He was very angry at missing his dinner a second time, and he
+made up his mind not to let the jackal escape again.
+
+The following day, the little jackal went down to the waterside as usual
+to look for crabs. He was rather afraid to go too near the river’s edge,
+for he felt sure the old enemy was hiding somewhere. So he stayed back
+at a safe distance and called out,
+
+“Where are all the little crabs gone? There is not one here and I am
+very hungry. When I don’t see them on the shore or peeping up through
+the mud I see them blowing bubble, bubble, bubble, and all the little
+bubbles go pop! pop! pop!” The old alligator lying low in the mud heard
+this and he said to himself, “I can fool that little jackal easy enough
+_this_ time. I’ll pretend to be a little crab.” Then he began to blow,
+puff, puff! Bubble, bubble, bubble! And all the great bubbles rushed to
+the top of the river, and burst there, and the water whirled and whirled
+round and round just above the place where the old alligator lay hidden.
+It didn’t take the jackal long to know who was underneath those bubbles,
+and off he ran, as fast as he could go, calling out,
+
+“Thank you, kind Alligator, thank you, thank you! Indeed it is very kind
+of you to show me just where you are.”
+
+The old alligator was furious at being deceived by the little jackal
+once more. “Next time I will be very cunning,” he said. So, for a long
+time he waited and waited for the jackal, to come to the riverside, but
+the jackal never returned.
+
+“I shall be caught and eaten by that wicked old alligator some day if I
+am not careful. I must content myself to do without crabs.” He went no
+more to the river, but stayed in the jungle and ate wild figs and roots
+which he dug up with his paws.
+
+When the alligator found this out he was angry again, and he determined
+to try to catch the jackal on land. So he crawled over the ground to a
+place where the largest of the wild fig trees grew. He made a great heap
+of the fallen figs and hid himself under it, and there he waited for the
+jackal. No sooner did the cunning little animal spy the great pile of
+figs than he thought, “Oh, ho, that looks much like my friend the
+alligator. I’ll see.” So he called out,
+
+“The little wild figs I like best always tumble down from the tree, and
+roll here and there as the wind drives them. That great heap of figs is
+quite still. They can not be good figs. I will not eat one of them.”
+
+The old alligator thought, “Oh, ho! How suspicious this jackal is. I
+will make the figs roll about a little, then he will come and eat them.”
+
+So the great beast shook himself and all the little figs went roll,
+roll, roll, this way and that, farther than the most blustering wind
+could have driven them. The jackal knew who was under the heap. Away he
+scampered, calling back, “Thank you, Mr. Alligator, for letting me know
+you are there! I should scarcely have guessed it.” The alligator hearing
+this was so angry that he ran after the jackal, but the jackal ran away
+too quickly to be caught.
+
+The old alligator was now in a rage. “I will not let him make fun of me
+another time and then run away out of my reach. I will show him I can be
+more cunning than he thinks,” he declared.
+
+Early the next morning he crawled as fast as he could till he came to
+the little jackal’s den. The jackal was away, and so he crept in and hid
+himself to wait until the little animal should return. By and by the
+jackal came home. He looked all about the place, for the ground around
+his house was torn up as though some very heavy animal had been crawling
+there.
+
+“Dear me,” he said. Then he saw that the earth on each side of the door
+of his den had been knocked down as if something very big had tried to
+squeeze through it.
+
+“I certainly will not go inside until I know who has gone in there.” So
+he called out, “Little house, why do you not give me an answer when I
+call? You always call out to me if all is safe and right. Is anything
+wrong that you do not speak?”
+
+Then the alligator who was inside thought, “I must pretend to be the
+little house and call out. He will not come in unless he thinks all is
+right in here.” So he called out in as pleasant a voice as he could,
+“Sweet little Jackal.” When the little jackal heard that he was
+frightened indeed.
+
+“So that dreadful old alligator is in my house. I must try to kill him
+if I can, or he will certainly make an end of me some day.”
+
+Then he answered, “Thank you, my dear little house. I like to hear your
+pretty voice. I am coming in a minute, but first I must collect some
+firewood to cook my dinner.” As fast as he could, he gathered all the
+dry branches and bits of sticks and piled them up close to the mouth of
+the den. The old alligator inside kept as quiet as a mouse, but he could
+not help laughing a little to himself, “So I have deceived that little
+jackal at last. In a few minutes he will run in here, and then, won’t I
+snap him up!”
+
+When the jackal had gathered as many sticks as he could find, he ran
+back and placed the sticks all round the outside of his den. Then he set
+fire to them. The great fire blazed up, and the smoke filled the den and
+smothered that wicked old alligator.
+
+
+
+
+                      FINN AND THE FAIRY SHOEMAKER
+
+
+Finn O’Shea’s grandmother knew more about fairies than anyone else in
+the village. One afternoon when the sun was shining on the tops of the
+Nine Hills, which rose up a few fields beyond the edge of the village,
+Finn and his grandmother were coming home from a walk. Suddenly the old
+woman darted forward and picked up the tiniest bit of a gray feather.
+Her sharp eyes had spied it under the shadow of a foxglove.
+
+“What is it, Granny?” asked Finn.
+
+“An owl’s feather, lad. It fell out of one of their wee red caps,” said
+she, laughing quietly. “They had a fine revel in the fields last night,
+my boy, for it was Midsummer Eve. That is the time when the wee folks
+are gayest, you know.”
+
+“I wish I could see them dancing,” said Finn.
+
+“Ah, my lad, no mortal can see them so long as they keep their wee red
+caps on,” said grandmother. “Sometimes in their revels they toss their
+caps aside, but you see the frogs are always on the lookout to warn the
+fairies if mortal steps are near. These tiny elves are very clever. Do
+you see those three circles of green which are a little lighter in color
+than the rest of the grass? That is where they danced until the village
+cocks began to crow. Then they made off to the Nine Hills. Ah! It would
+be a wonderful sight to see the wee folks whirling and gliding about in
+the white moonlight to the sweetest fairy music. But as I said, few
+mortals have ever seen them.”
+
+“Do they dance every night, grandmother?”
+
+“Every night, Finn. If the weather is fine they frolic on the green,
+especially if the moon is bright. When the nights are wet and stormy
+they keep inside the hills, where there is an elfin village.”
+
+Finn look very serious. “Grandmother,” he said, “these wee folks must
+wear out a good many pairs of shoes.”
+
+“That they do, my lad. I’m sure I don’t know what they would do without
+little Leprechaun, the Fairy Shoemaker. He is the only industrious one
+among them.”
+
+“Tell me about him, Granny,” said Finn.
+
+Grandmother sat down on a large stone and looked toward the Nine Hills.
+
+“The Fairy Shoemaker is very rich, Finn, richer than my lord O’Toole who
+lives in the castle by the sea. Indeed, there is no one in all Ireland
+who has as much gold as this elfin shoemaker who spends his days working
+for the fairies. All kinds of shoes he makes,—stout little brogans and
+buskins, high hunting boots, bits of satin slippers that you could stand
+on a penny, tiny sandals with silver laces and diamond buckles,—all
+kinds of shoes. O Finn, my lad, he is a wonderful wee old man.”
+
+“Where does he keep his money, Granny?”
+
+“Why, what a question, my lad! Do you think this sly little Elf would
+let any mortal know that secret? Not he!”
+
+“I wonder if anyone has ever seen him,” said Finn.
+
+“My lad, your great-grandmother O’Shea knew a poor farmer who found a
+pot of gold buried in one of his fields. The villagers always believed
+that the man had in some way caught little Leprechaun, and made him
+point out the spot where his gold was hidden.”
+
+“Granny,” said Finn, “I’d like to catch the Fairy Shoemaker. One pot of
+his gold would make us very rich, wouldn’t it?”
+
+“Catch little Leprechaun, Finn! My lad, you couldn’t do it.”
+
+“He is very tiny, grandmother. I’m sure I could hold him easily.”
+
+“You would have to catch him, first, Finn. He is the trickiest Elf of
+all. No one can see him as long as he wears his wee red cap! And if you
+should chance to find him without it, you wouldn’t dare take your eyes
+off him for one second or away he would go. Some people say bad luck is
+sure to come to mortals who meddle with the fairies,” said grandmother,
+looking about cautiously. “It is better to earn your pot of gold, my
+lad. But come, the sun has gone behind the hills.”
+
+Finn was very quiet all the way home. He was wondering how he could
+catch the Fairy Shoemaker and make the little Elf tell where his
+treasure crocks were hidden. He would begin the search in good earnest
+the very next day.
+
+In the morning when Finn drove the cow to the pasture, he peeped
+carefully among the low willows that bordered the brook. He looked all
+around the big stones in the meadow. Several times he stopped and
+listened! Once he felt sure he caught the clicking sound of an elfin
+hammer. It seemed to come from the direction of a tall ragweed, but when
+Finn drew near, the sound stopped suddenly and he could see nothing.
+Patiently each day he searched for the little Leprechaun. One afternoon
+when he was sauntering through a shady glen near the Nine Hills he
+stooped down to quench his thirst at a tiny spring of clear water. He
+fancied he heard a faint clicking sound! “Tip-tap, tip-tap.” Finn raised
+his head quickly and listened!
+
+[Illustration]
+
+                            “Rip-rap-tip-tap
+                            Tick-a-tack-too;
+                              Tip-tap-tip,
+                              Rip-rap-rip,
+                            Tick-tack-too.”
+
+The sound came from behind a large stone near the spring. Soon the
+tapping stopped and the shrill voice sang out:
+
+                          “Tip-a tap-tip
+                          And tick-a-tack-too,
+                          Every stitch helps
+                          To finish a shoe.”
+
+Finn could hear his heart beat. He crept cautiously along and peeped
+around the stone. There, on a tiny stool, sat the Fairy Shoemaker
+hammering away at a wee hunting boot of scarlet leather, which he held
+between his knees. _And his bit of a red cap was hanging on a spear of
+tall grass!_ Finn leaped to his feet, faced little Leprechaun, seized
+the red cap, and said, “Good day, sir.”
+
+Instantly the little Elf jumped up and looked sharply through his
+spectacles at Finn. He was about twelve inches tall and his queer little
+face was full of wrinkles. A long gray beard reached to the top of a
+leathern apron which almost covered his brown suit.
+
+“Good day, sir,” repeated Finn.
+
+“Humph!” grunted Leprechaun.
+
+Finn went closer, grasped the little Elf’s shoulder, held him tightly,
+and stared sharply at him.
+
+“You’d better be off,” said the Fairy Shoemaker; “I have work to do.”
+
+Finn kept his eyes fixed on the wee man, and said, “Come, now, where do
+you keep your treasure crocks? I shall not let you go until you tell
+me.”
+
+“Oh! Is that all you want?” laughed the Elf. “Well, come along with me.”
+
+Finn was delighted. The old man seemed very easy to manage. Leprechaun
+looked up pleasantly and said, “Your pardon, sir.” He pulled out a tiny
+gold snuffbox, took a pinch and offered some to Finn. “Snuff, sir?” he
+said with a smile.
+
+“Why, how friendly he seems,” thought Finn, taking a pinch.
+
+“Pouf-f!!” The Fairy Shoemaker blew all the snuff right into Finn’s
+face.
+
+“Tshoo-oo!—Tshoo-oo! A-a-a-tshoo-oo-oo!” sneezed Finn, _shutting his
+eyes_! In a twinkling the wee man had snatched his red cap and was gone!
+
+Finn went home a little discouraged. “Why didn’t I remember what Granny
+told me about his tricks?” he said to himself. “I’ll try again, and he
+shall not catch me a second time.”
+
+One afternoon a few weeks later, Finn walked as far as the Nine Hills.
+He was very tired, so he lay down on one of the grassy slopes to rest.
+How quiet it was on the shady hillside!
+
+                          “Tip-a-tap-tip
+                          And tick-a-tack-too,
+                            Rip-rap-rip
+                          Tick-tack-too.”
+
+The sound came from the crest of the hill. After a little pause a shrill
+voice sang:
+
+                       “A wedding feast to-night
+                       And dancing on the green!
+                       In moonbeams’ silver light
+                       Gay fairies will be seen!
+                       Tiny satin sandals
+                       To grace the dainty bride;
+                       Stitch away Leprechaun
+                       They must be your pride.”
+
+It was the voice of little Leprechaun! The Fairy Shoemaker was working
+away near the crest of the hill. Finn crept up the grassy slope, and
+there in the shadow of some low bushes sat the tiny Elf. He was putting
+a high heel on the daintiest white satin sandal. And beside him lay his
+wee red cap!
+
+                           “Tip-tap-rip-rap
+                           Tick-a-tack-too.”
+
+The elfin hammer was working busily—busily!
+
+Finn slipped up quietly, and grasping the red cap in one hand laid hold
+of the wee man’s shoulder with the other. Up jumped the Elf. He looked
+round quickly for his cap.
+
+“Good day, sir,” said Finn.
+
+Leprechaun made a deep bow.
+
+“You are busy, I see.”
+
+“Always busy, sir,” answered the wee man. “Always busy.”
+
+“I suppose you like to make shoes, especially such dainty ones?” And all
+the time Finn kept his eyes on the little Elf’s face and held him fast.
+
+“I like to _work_” said the Fairy Shoemaker slyly. “Come, now, do you?”
+
+Finn felt a little confused at this last question, but he answered,
+
+“You have plenty of gold and some to spare, I should think. Come, tell
+me where you keep your treasure crocks.”
+
+“I will show you where I keep _one_ of them,” answered Leprechaun.
+
+“All right,” answered Finn. “If you’ll lead me to the spot where one
+crock of gold is buried, I’ll not bother you again.”
+
+“Come, then,” said the Elf.
+
+“Mind that you keep your snuffbox in your pocket,” said Finn. “You
+shan’t catch me that way again.”
+
+“This way,” laughed the wee man.
+
+Down the hillside and over the fields hurried the Fairy Shoemaker,
+leading Finn along at a good pace. It was wonderful to see this queer
+Elf skip across the ditches and hedges, and hop over the stones and
+rough places in the meadow. Finn was becoming very tired. “How much
+farther is it?” he asked.
+
+“Come along, come along,” laughed little Leprechaun.
+
+Finally they came to a field full of ragweed. The Fairy Shoemaker
+stopped suddenly. Then pointing with his tiny finger, he said, “If you
+dig deep under the roots of this weed, you’ll find one of my treasure
+crocks filled to the brim with gold.”
+
+“But I can’t dig without a spade,” said Finn excitedly.
+
+“Of course not,” answered Leprechaun. “But now that you know the spot
+you can get the gold whenever you like.”
+
+“I shall get it to-day,” said Finn. “I’ll run home now and get my spade.
+But I’d better mark the weed, I think.”
+
+“That would be a good plan,” said the Shoemaker. “Here I have a bit of
+bright red string in my pocket. Let us tie it around the stem near the
+top.”
+
+How deftly the elfin fingers tied the mark!
+
+“Thank you very kindly,” said Finn.
+
+“Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?” asked Leprechaun.
+
+“You will promise not to touch the string?”
+
+“I promise not to touch it, sir. Also I assure you no one else shall
+touch it,” said Leprechaun.
+
+“Well, then, you may go. Here is your red cap. I thank you very much for
+your kindness. Good day!” said Finn pleasantly.
+
+“Good day, sir,” said the Fairy Shoemaker, and off he scampered,
+chuckling to himself.
+
+You may be sure Finn hurried away to fetch his spade. How surprised
+Granny would be to hear that he had caught the Fairy Shoemaker. He would
+not tell her until he carried home the treasure. In breathless haste he
+got his spade and hurried back to the field of ragweed. Then Finn stood
+still and looked! A bit of bright red string was tied around every
+ragweed in the field! The Fairy Shoemaker had tricked him again! He
+thought he heard a low chuckling laugh. Finn listened carefully. From
+among the weeds he heard a faint voice singing,
+
+                   “How does the little Leprechaun
+                     Fill treasure crocks with gold?
+                   The live long day he _works away_
+                     From far-off times of old.”
+
+
+
+
+                         MAKING THE BEST OF IT
+
+
+“What a pretty day this is!” said the old gray goose to the brown hen,
+as they stood at the henhouse window and watched the falling snow which
+covered every nook and corner of the farmyard.
+
+“Yes, indeed,” said the brown hen; “I would be almost willing to be made
+into chicken pie on such a day.”
+
+She had scarcely stopped talking, when the Pekin duck said, fretfully,
+“I am dreadfully hungry,” and a little flock of speckled chickens all
+huddled together wailed in sad chorus, “And we’re so thirsty!”
+
+In fact, the feathered folks in the henhouse were very much inclined to
+be cross and discontented. Since the farmer’s boy fed them, early in the
+morning, they had been given nothing to eat or drink, and, as hour after
+hour went by, and the cold winter wind howled around their house, it is
+no wonder they felt deserted.
+
+The handsome white rooster, however, appeared quite as happy as usual,
+and that is saying a great deal, for a jollier, better-natured old
+fellow than he never graced a farmyard. Sunshine, rain, or snow were all
+the same to him, and he crowed quite as lustily in stormy weather as in
+fair.
+
+“Well,” he said, laughing heartily, as his bright eyes glanced about the
+henhouse, “you all seem to be having a fit of the dumps.”
+
+Nobody answered the white rooster, but a faint cluck or two came from
+some hens who immediately put their heads back under their wings, as if
+ashamed of having spoken at all.
+
+This was quite too much for the white rooster, who, standing first on
+one yellow foot and then on the other, said: “Well, we are a lively set!
+Anyone would think, to look in here, that we were surrounded by a band
+of hungry foxes.”
+
+Just then a daring little white bantam rooster hopped down from his
+perch, and, strutting pompously over to the big rooster, created quite a
+stir among the feathered folk by saying,
+
+“We’re all lively enough when our crops are full, but when we’re
+starving the wonder is that we can hold our heads up at all. If I ever
+see that farmer’s boy again, I’ll—I’ll peck his foot!”
+
+“You won’t see him until he feeds us,” said the white rooster, “and then
+I think you will peck his corn.”
+
+“Oh, oh!” moaned the brown hen, “don’t mention a peck of corn.”
+
+“Madam,” remarked the white rooster, bowing politely, “your trouble is
+my own—that is, I’m hungry, too. But we might be worse off; we might be
+on our way to market in a box. Then, too, suppose we haven’t had enough
+to eat to-day, at least we have room enough to stretch our wings and a
+good, quiet place to sleep in.”
+
+“Why, that is a fact,” answered the brown hen; and all the feathered
+family—the smallest chickens included—stretched their wings, preened
+their feathers, and looked a trifle more animated.
+
+“Now then,” went on the rooster, “suppose we have a little music to
+cheer us and help pass the hours until roosting time. We will all
+crow—there, I beg your pardon, ladies; I am sorry you can’t crow—we will
+sing a merry song. Will you be kind enough to start a lively tune, Mrs.
+Brown Hen?”
+
+The brown hen shook herself proudly, tossed her head back, and began:
+“Cut-cut-cut-ca-dak-cut,” and in less than two minutes every one in the
+henhouse had joined her.
+
+Now the horses, cows, and sheep were not far away, and, hearing the
+happy voices in the henhouse, they, too, joined in the grand chorus,
+while the pigs did their best to sing louder than all the rest. Higher
+and higher, stronger and stronger, rose the chorus; louder and louder
+quacked the ducks, and shriller and shriller squealed the pigs. At
+length even the dogs barked merrily.
+
+They were all so happy that they quite forgot their hunger until the
+door of the henhouse burst open, and in came three chubby children, each
+carrying a dish full of steaming chicken food.
+
+“Don’t stop your music, Mr. Rooster,” said the little girl, who was so
+snugly bundled up that you could scarcely see her dear little face. “You
+see, we were so lonesome that we didn’t know what to do; but when we
+heard all you folks singing out here in your house, we laughed and
+laughed until we almost cried. Then we went to tell Jack about you; he
+was lonesome, too—poor Jack sick with a sore throat—and he said, ‘Why,
+those poor hens; they haven’t been fed since morning!’”
+
+“Cock-a-doodle-do!” said the white rooster. “This comes of making the
+best of things. Cock-a-doodle-do!” And nobody asked him to stop his
+crowing.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE BROWNIE OF BLEDNOCK
+
+
+Did you ever hear how a Brownie came to the village of Blednock and was
+frightened away again?
+
+It was one November evening, just when the milking was done and before
+the children were put to bed. The people of the village were standing by
+their doorsteps talking about their bad harvest and the turnips, and
+what chances there were of a good price for their cattle at the coming
+fair.
+
+All at once the queerest humming noise seemed to come up from the
+riverside. It came nearer and nearer, and all the good people stopped
+talking and began to look down the road. And, indeed, it was no wonder
+that they stared, for there, coming up the middle of the highway, was
+the strangest little creature that human eyes had ever seen.
+
+He looked like a wee, wee man. He had a long blue beard which almost
+touched the ground. His legs were twisted, his knees knocked together as
+he walked, and his arms were so long that his hands trailed in the mud
+as he came along. He seemed to be humming something over and over. As he
+came nearer, the good people of the village could make out the words:
+
+                     “Have ye work for Aiken-Drum?
+                     Any work for Aiken-Drum?”
+
+Oh, how frightened the people were! The children screamed and hid their
+faces in their mothers’ gowns and the milkmaids threw down the pails of
+milk they were carrying. Even the dogs crept in behind the doors,
+whining and hiding their tails between their legs. Some of the men who
+were not too frightened to look the wee man in the face, laughed and
+hooted at him.
+
+“Did you ever see such eyes?” cried one.
+
+“His mouth is so big he could swallow the moon and never even notice
+it,” said the other.
+
+“Look at his long blue beard!” said a third.
+
+And still the poor little man came slowly up the road, crying:
+
+                     “Have ye work for Aiken-Drum?
+                     Any work for Aiken-Drum?”
+
+Good Grannie Duncan, the kindest old woman in the village, called out at
+last: “He’s just a Brownie, a simple, kindly Brownie. I’ve heard tell of
+Brownies before. Many a long day’s work will they do for the people who
+treat them well.”
+
+Gathering courage from her words, all the village folk crowded around
+the little man. When they were close to him, they saw that his face was
+kind and gentle and that his tiny eyes had a merry twinkle in them.
+
+“Strange little creature,” said an old man, “tell us what you want and
+where you came from?”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“I cannot well tell thee whence I came,” said the wee man. “My country
+is a nameless land and is very different from this land of yours. For
+there we all learn to serve, while here every one wishes to be served.
+When there is no work for us to do at home, we sometimes set out to
+visit thy land to see if there is any work we can do there. If thou
+wilt, I will stay here awhile. I do not wish anyone to wait on me, for I
+want no wages, nor clothes, nor bedding. All I ask for is a corner of
+the barn to sleep in, and a bowl of broth set down on the floor at
+bedtime. If no one meddles with me, I shall be ready to help any one who
+needs me. I’ll gather your sheep on the hill. I’ll take in the harvest
+by moonlight. I’ll sing your bairns to sleep in their cradles. You’ll
+find that the bairns all love Aiken-Drum. And, good housewives, I’ll
+churn for you and bake your bread on a busy day. The men folk, too, may
+find me useful when there is corn to thrash, or untamed colts in the
+stables, or when the waters are out in flood.”
+
+No one knew quite what to say in answer to the little creature’s strange
+request. It was an unheard-of thing for anyone to come and offer his
+services for nothing. Some thought it could not be true; others said it
+were better to have nothing to do with the little creature.
+
+Then up spoke good Grannie Duncan again:
+
+“He’s but a Brownie, I tell you, a harmless Brownie. Many a story I’ve
+heard in my young days about the work that a Brownie can do, if he be
+treated well and let alone. Have we not all been complaining about bad
+times, small wages, and the hard work we all have to do? And now, when a
+workman comes ready to your hand, you will have nothing to do with him
+just because he is strange looking. And I’ve heard that a Brownie can
+stalk a whole ten-acre field in a single night! Shame on you, say I!”
+
+“A ten-acre field in a single night!” cried out all the men of the
+village at once. “A ten-acre field!” repeated one. “And in a single
+night!” added another. That settled the matter. The miller at once
+offered the Brownie a corner of his barn to sleep in, and good Grannie
+Duncan promised to make him some broth at bedtime and to send her
+grandchild, wee Janie, down to the barn with it every evening. Then all
+the people of the village said, “Good night,” and went to their homes.
+But they were careful to look over their shoulders once in a while, for
+fear that the strange little man was following them.
+
+But if they were afraid of him that night, they had a very different
+story to tell about him before a week had passed. Whatever he was or
+wherever he came from, he was the most wonderful little worker that
+these people had ever known. And the strange thing was that he did most
+of the work at night. Village folk came from all parts of the
+countryside to catch a glimpse of this queer little worker, but they
+were never successful, for he was never to be seen when one looked for
+him. They might have gone to the miller’s barn twenty times a day, and
+twenty times a day they would have found nothing but a heap of straw and
+an empty broth bowl.
+
+But whenever there was work to be done, whether it was a tired child to
+be sung to, or a house to be made tidy, or a batch of bread to be worked
+up, or a flock of sheep to be gathered together on a stormy night,
+Aiken-Drum always knew of it and appeared ready to help just at the
+right time.
+
+Many a time some poor mother who had been up all night with a crying
+child would sit down with it on her lap in front of the fire in the
+morning and fall asleep. When she awoke she would find that Aiken-Drum
+had made a visit to her house; for the floor would be scrubbed and the
+dishes washed, the fire made up and the kettle put on to boil. But the
+little Brownie would have slipped away as if he were afraid of being
+thanked.
+
+The little children were the only ones who ever saw him when he was not
+working, and, oh, how they loved him! When school was out you could see
+them away down by the stream crowding around the little dark brown
+figure, and you could hear the sound of low, sweet singing; for
+Aiken-Drum knew all the songs that children love well.
+
+By and by the name of Aiken-Drum came to be a household word among the
+good people of the village, for, although they seldom saw him near at
+hand, they loved him like one of their own people.
+
+And he would never have gone away if every one in the village had
+remembered what good Grannie Duncan told them about Brownies. “A Brownie
+works for love,” she had said to them over and over again. “He will not
+work for pay. If anyone tries to pay him, the wee creature’s feelings
+will be hurt, and he will vanish in the night.”
+
+But a good man of the village and his wife forgot all that had been
+said, and one day they planned to make something for Aiken-Drum.
+
+“He should not work for nothing,” said the good man.
+
+“He has already worn out his coat and trousers slaving for us,” said his
+wife.
+
+So one day they made him a little pair of green trousers and a little
+brown coat. That night the two good people laid a parcel by the side of
+the bowl of broth in the miller’s barn.
+
+In the middle of the night some one heard the Brownie saying to himself,
+“A nice pair of green trousers and a little brown coat for me. I can
+come here no more till one of the children of this village travels the
+world over and finds me first.”
+
+So this strange little creature had to go away. He vanished in the night
+as any Brownie is sure to do if some one tries to pay him.
+
+And all the good people of Blednock talked of the kind deeds of the
+little strange man who came one evening into their midst, and they
+wondered and wondered if he would ever come back to them again.
+
+
+
+
+                   HOW OLAF BROUGHT THE BROWNIE BACK
+
+
+Did you ever hear how Olaf, one of the village children, went in search
+of the Brownie and brought him back to the good people of Blednock?
+
+It came about in this way.
+
+Olaf’s father had often told him of the Brownie that had once lived in
+the village and had helped all the village people to do their work.
+
+“The little lively thing would come night after night and clean the
+floor, and scrub the table, and wash the dishes, and keep the whole
+house as clean as a new pin. But one night he went away and he never
+came back.”
+
+“Why did he go away, father?” asked Olaf.
+
+“Well,” said his father, “there’s great pride in Brownies. They’ll work
+their fingers off for love, but you must never thank them, nor give them
+anything, or away they will go. Good Grannie Duncan had told us that
+over and over again, but your mother and I forgot all about her wise
+words. We thought that the little thing ought not to work for nothing.
+So we bought a piece of green cloth and a piece of brown cloth and your
+mother sat up all night cutting and stitching. By morning she had made
+as neat a pair of little trousers and as fine a coat as ever she made
+for you.
+
+“That night we laid the clothes in a little parcel beside the bowl of
+broth, and we heard the little thing saying to himself:
+
+“‘A nice pair of green trousers and a little brown coat for me. I can
+come here no more—_no more_—till one of the children of the village
+travels the world over and finds me first.’
+
+“And the strange little creature vanished in the night and no one has
+seen or heard of him since though we have missed him very, very much.”
+
+Olaf thought about the Brownie all day. He felt that, although the world
+away from the village might be very dangerous, he was quite willing to
+travel in it if, by so doing, he could bring the Brownie back to
+Blednock.
+
+Olaf asked each person in the village where to find the Brownie. Also,
+he asked the oldest apple tree in the orchard, but it said nothing. He
+asked the cows, but they said nothing. He asked the dog, but he barked
+about other things. Only the sheep helped him. They said nothing, but
+they looked as if they knew. Olaf tended the sheep and the young lambs
+throughout the year, and he wondered and wondered if the lambs learned
+from the old sheep where the Brownie was hidden.
+
+“I will not come back until a child of this village travels the world
+over and finds me first,—travels the world over and finds me first,”
+Olaf kept saying to himself over and over.
+
+At last one summer evening, as he was coming home from the sheepfolds,
+he heard the faint sound of bagpipes very near. He heard it again the
+next night, and the next, and the night after that, and every night,
+until, at last, he made up his mind to follow the sound and find out who
+it was that played the pipes so sweetly.
+
+He left the sheep path and followed the music, walking carefully lest he
+should lose it. The soft sweet notes seemed to come from a mass of rocks
+which lay on the moor behind him. As he came near the rocks he knew the
+music was directly above it, so he started to climb up. Halfway up the
+path was easy to climb, and he soon won his way up to a little tree
+which thrust itself out of the side of the pile. He twisted himself over
+the tree and rested there, wondering how he could get up the rest of the
+way, for he saw six feet of smooth rock up to the top.
+
+All the time the music of the bagpipes, scarcely louder than a concert
+of bees and crickets, sounded close above his head. “Oho, there!”
+shouted Olaf at last. The music stopped suddenly. A little brown face
+with a long blue beard looked eagerly over the top of the rocks.
+
+“So it is you, is it?” said a voice. “Here, take hold of my wrist and
+then pull.”
+
+Olaf caught sight of a long brown arm stretched down toward him. He
+caught hold of the wrist and pulled, and the next moment Olaf found
+himself scrambling over a thick mass of heather on to the top of the
+rocks. He lay sprawling on the edge of a little cleft in the rock with
+high walls on the sides. In one of these walls there was a little cave,
+and just in front of the cave was a little three-legged stool that had
+been upset, and a little set of bagpipes was lying on the ground beside
+it.
+
+“So here you are!” said the little brown creature as he helped Olaf to
+his feet. “I’ve been waiting for you a long time. Look!” He ran into the
+cave and came out dragging a broom behind him, and holding a stone so
+polished that even in the dim light Olaf could see his face in it. And
+Olaf wondered and wondered.
+
+“Look! I’ve worn out two hundred and thirty of these brooms, and
+polished that rough stone smooth—all for want of proper work, since I
+had to leave the village.”
+
+“Are you the Brownie?” asked Olaf, joyfully.
+
+“Yes,” was the answer.
+
+“Are you Aiken-Drum?”
+
+“Yes,” came the answer again.
+
+“I’ve been looking for you ever since I can remember. That was why the
+sheep knew,—because you live on the moor.”
+
+“Yes,” said the Brownie, “the sheep know me.”
+
+“Will you come back to the village, now?” asked Olaf.
+
+“Not yet,” said the Brownie. “You and I must travel the world together.
+Then I’ll go back. Your father should have known better than to pay a
+Brownie. He should have known that we work for love. Here I have been
+all this time wearing out brooms on these rocks and polishing a stone,
+waiting for the village child to find me. And you’ve come!” said the
+Brownie, as he danced into the cave. He soon returned carrying a little
+wooden cage with a big cockroach inside. He opened the cage and took the
+cockroach on his finger.
+
+“You’ve found me,” he kept saying, “you’ve found me! Now there’s nothing
+left but the travels. Fly, cockroach,” he cried, “fly fast and straight,
+and tell my brothers that Olaf has come. Tell them to launch the boat.
+Tell them we are coming—Olaf and I.”
+
+He let the cockroach fly from his hand and it boomed away in the still
+air of the summer night. Olaf heard a kr-r-r-r-r-r in the pine woods. It
+might, he thought, be the Brownies launching the little boat.
+
+And that is how Olaf found the Brownie and came to make his travels with
+him. They sailed away—away to Glittering Harbor where great ships lay
+close together in the golden sunset; they won the marvelous horse and
+they found the white flower that can be bought only for love—like the
+Brownies’ services.
+
+By and by their travels were over and Aiken-Drum returned with Olaf to
+the village of Blednock. And that is why the kitchen floors of these
+village people are so wonderfully scrubbed and why the pans shine
+brighter than those in any other kitchens of the country side. And
+Aiken-Drum has a merry life as he scrubs the pans and washes the dishes,
+and he is very, very happy to know that he will _never_ be paid for it.
+
+
+
+
+                      THE POOR LITTLE TURKEY GIRL
+
+
+All alone in a very old cottage near the border of a village lived a
+little girl who herded turkeys for a living. She was very, very poor.
+Her clothes were patched and tattered. Little was ever given to her
+except the food she lived on from day to day, and now and then a piece
+of old worn-out clothing.
+
+But the child had a winning face and bright eyes. She had also a very
+loving disposition. She was always kind to the turkeys which she drove
+to and from the plains every day, giving to them the affection she
+longed for but which she herself never received from anyone. The turkeys
+loved their little mistress in return. They would come immediately at
+her call and they would go willingly anywhere she wished to send them.
+
+One day as the little girl went along, driving her turkeys to the
+plains, she heard a great commotion in the village. She stopped to see
+the cause of the excitement and found it to be a herald who was
+proclaiming from the house top, “The great festival will take place in
+four days. Come youths and maidens. Come one, come all. Join in the
+Dance of the Sacred Bird!”
+
+Now this child had never been permitted to join in or even watch this
+great festivity of the people, and she longed with all her heart to see
+it.
+
+“My dear turkeys, how I should love to watch this blessed festival,
+particularly the Dance of the Sacred Bird!” It was her custom to talk
+matters over with her turkeys, for they were the child’s only
+companions. She told them day after day of the wonderful festival that
+was to be, and how happy she would feel if she could join in the dance
+with the others. “But it is impossible, my beloved turkeys, ugly and
+ill-clad as I am,” she would say, when she saw the people of the village
+busy in cleaning their houses and preparing their clothes, laughing and
+talking as they made ready for the greatest holiday of the year.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The poor child never dreamed that her turkeys understood every word she
+said to them. But they did, and more.
+
+The fourth day came, and all the people of the village went to join in
+the festivities. All but one, and that one was the poor little turkey
+girl who wandered about alone with her beloved flock. Soon she sat down
+upon a stone to rest, for she was sad at the thought of all the
+merrymaking while she was alone on the plains.
+
+Suddenly it seemed to the little girl that one of her big gobblers,
+making a fan of his tail, and skirts of his wings, strutted up to her
+and, stretching out his neck said, “Little Mother, we know what your
+thoughts and wishes are and we are truly sorry for you. We wish that
+you, like all the other people of the village, might enjoy this holiday.
+Many times we have said to ourselves at night, after you had safely
+placed us in our house, that you are as worthy to enjoy these gayeties
+as anyone in the village. Little Mother, would you like to see this
+dance and even join in it and be merry with the rest?”
+
+The poor child was at first surprised, then it all seemed so very
+natural that her turkeys should talk to her as she had always done to
+them, that she looked up and said, “My dear Gobbler, how glad I am that
+we may speak together. But tell me what it all means.”
+
+“Listen well, then, for I speak the speech of my people. If you will
+drive us in early this afternoon, when the dance is most gay and the
+people are happiest, we will help you to make yourself so pretty and so
+beautifully dressed that no man, woman, or child among all those
+assembled at the dance will know you. Are you willing to do as we
+turkeys say?”
+
+“Oh, my dear turkeys, why should you tell me of things that you well
+know I long to do but cannot by any possible means in the world?”
+
+“Trust in us,” said the old gobbler. “When we begin to call and gobble
+and gobble and turn toward home, follow us and we will show you what we
+can do for you: Only let me tell you one thing. Much happiness and good
+fortune may come to you through the chance for pleasure which we turkeys
+are going to give you. But if, through your own great happiness, you
+forget us, who are your friends and who depend so much upon you, we
+shall think that our Little Mother, though so humble and poor, deserves
+her hard life. We shall think that, since good fortune came to her, she
+does unto others as others now do to her.”
+
+“Come, then,” said the old gobbler, and the little girl followed him.
+All the turkeys of their own accord followed the old gobbler and their
+Little Mother homeward. They knew their places well and ran to them as
+soon as they could. When they had all gone into their home the old
+gobbler called out, “Come in.” The little girl went in. “Now sit down
+and give me and my companions your articles of clothing one by one. You
+will see what we can do with them.”
+
+The little girl took off the ragged old shawl that covered her shoulders
+and laid it upon the ground in front of the old gobbler. He seized it in
+his beak and spread it out. Then he picked and picked at it and trod
+upon it, and, lowering his wings, strutted back and forth, back and
+forth over the old worn-out garment. Once more he took it in his beak
+and strutted and puffed and puffed and strutted, until he finally laid
+it at the feet of the little girl—a beautiful white cloak, all
+silk-embroidered.
+
+Then another gobbler came forward and took an article of the little
+girl’s clothing which he made over into a beautiful gown of golden
+cloth. Then another gobbler came, and another and another, until each
+garment the little girl had worn was new and more beautiful than any
+owned by the richest woman of the land.
+
+The little girl began to dress herself in the beautiful clothes, but
+before she finished her turkeys circled around her, singing and singing
+and clucking and clucking, and brushing her with their wings until she
+was clean and her face was as smooth and bright as that of the fairest
+maiden in the village. Her hair was soft and wavy and her cheeks were
+full of dimples and her eyes danced with smiles, for now she knew how
+true were the words of her beloved turkeys. At last one old turkey came
+forward and said, “You shall have rich jewels, Little Mother; we turkeys
+have keen eyes and have picked up many valuable things in our
+wanderings. Wait a moment.” He spread out his wings and strutted off,
+but he soon returned with a beautiful necklace in his beak. “See, this
+is for you.” The little girl could scarcely believe her own eyes. “And
+this, too,” said another turkey, as he came up and laid a pair of
+earrings in her hand.
+
+With these beautiful things the Little Mother decorated herself and,
+after thanking her beloved turkeys again and again, she started to go.
+As she did so all the turkeys seemed to call out in one voice: “Oh,
+Little Mother, we love you and we would bring you to good fortune. Leave
+our door open, for who knows whether you will remember your turkeys when
+your fortunes are changed. Perhaps you will grow ashamed that you have
+been our Little Mother. Remember us and do not tarry too long.”
+
+“I will surely remember, O my turkeys,” and with that she was on her way
+to the great festival. Hastily she ran down the river path toward the
+village until she came to a long covered way that led into the great
+dance court. When she came just inside the court she could see the crowd
+of villagers making merry in the great dance. She drew nearer as if to
+join the others, when every eye at once seemed to catch sight of her
+beauty and the richness of her dress. “Who is this beautiful maiden?”
+they asked one another. “Where did she come from?”
+
+“She is the most beautiful maiden I have ever seen,” said a prince. “She
+shall lead the dance with me.”
+
+With a smile and a toss of her hair over her eyes the little girl
+accepted the prince’s invitation and stepped forward into the circle.
+Her heart became light and her feet merry, and she danced and danced
+until the sun sank low in the west. But alas! so great was her own
+happiness that she thought little about her turkeys at home and her
+promise to them. “Why should I go away from all this pleasure, to my
+flock of gobbling turkeys?” she said to herself. “I will stay a little
+longer at least. Just before the sun sets I’ll run back to them. Then
+these people will never know who I am, and I shall like to hear them
+talk day after day and wonder who the little girl was who joined in
+their dance.”
+
+So the time sped on and another dance was called, and another, and never
+a moment did the little girl stop. At last she noticed that the sun had
+set. Then, suddenly breaking away, she ran out of the dance court down
+the long covered way, up the river path toward home, before any one
+could see where she had gone or which path she had taken. All
+breathless, she arrived at the door of the turkeys’ house and looked in.
+Not one turkey was there. The little girl called and called them. She
+ran into their house, she looked around, but not one of her beloved
+turkeys was to be seen. “Where are they?” she kept saying to herself, at
+the same time calling them with all the voice she had, “Come my turkeys,
+come, come.” But there was no answer. “I must trail them. Perhaps they
+have gone back to the plains.” She ran to the plains, then on to the
+valley, but her flock of turkeys was far, far away.
+
+After a long, long trail over the plains, up and down the valleys, she
+came within sound of their voices. “I hear them, I hear my turkeys.”
+Faster and faster ran the little girl until she caught sight of her
+beloved flock hurrying away toward the woods, round the mountain and on
+up the valley. She could hear them saying something over and over again.
+As she drew nearer she called and called to them, but it was all of no
+use. They only quickened their steps and spread their wings to help them
+along. “She has forgotten us,” they kept saying. “She is not worthy of
+better things than those she has been accustomed to. Let us go to the
+mountains. Our Little Mother is not as good and true as we once thought
+her.” Then they spread their wings and fluttered away over the plains
+above and were soon lost from sight. The poor little turkey girl put her
+hands over her face, then she looked down at her dress. Alas! what did
+she see? Her old clothes, patched and tattered. She was a poor little
+turkey girl again. Sad at heart she looked toward the valley and gave
+one loud call, “Oh, my turkeys come back to me, come back.”
+
+“Gobble, gobble, gobble,” she heard beside her. The poor little girl sat
+up, rubbed her eyes and looked about her. There were her beloved turkeys
+gathered around her calling “Gobble, gobble, gobble!” They wanted to go
+home, for the sun was ready to set and the village people were returning
+from the festival.
+
+“Oh, my beloved turkeys,” said the little girl, when she understood it
+all. “I would not part with you for all the fine dresses and festivals
+in the whole world. How glad I am it was only a dream!”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+                            MEADOW FIDDLERS
+
+
+         The red-legged locust. Oh, my, oh, my!
+         He plays all day. But why? But why?
+         You rub your legs with your dusty wings;
+         Your fiddle shrieks till the welkin rings;
+         On meadow green, through the livelong day,
+         You saw and eat till they’re bare and gray
+         Zee-e-e, zee-e-, zee-e-e!
+
+         The green katydid. Dear me, dear me!
+         The finest chap. Just see, just see;
+         You play so hard and you trill so long,
+         Your midget wife ne’er can sing a song,
+         Still you rub your wings in the drollest way
+         While dancing clover blossoms swing and sway
+         Zig, zig, z-i-g, zig, zig, z-i-g!
+
+         Cone-headed grasshopper, zip-zee, zip-zee,
+         The insects’ clown is he, is he!
+         From Maine o’er plains to the Rockies found,
+         With foolscap forehead and shrilling sound,
+         From bush and bramble your roundelay
+         Comes sharp and clear through the summer day,
+         Z-szip-zee. Z-szip, z-szip-zee!
+
+         The wee tree cricket. So free, so free!
+         Sings night and day! What glee, what glee!
+         Your high held wings make such presto fine
+         No human skill can compare with thine;
+         So fast, so shrill, and so wondrous gay,
+         Such tunes are joy to a dancing fay,
+         T-ree-ee, t-re-ee, t-re-ee! T-re-ee, t-re-ee, t-re-ee!
+
+         Sweet meadow fiddlers, zip, zee, zip, zee!
+         They fill the earth with glee, with glee!
+         We greet your coming with fond delight
+         And gayly hie in the sunshine bright,
+         Where bees and blossoms and birds all day
+         Wing, swing, and sing to your joyful lay.
+         Zip-zip-z-ee! zip-zip-z-ee!
+
+
+
+
+                             CASTLE FORTUNE
+
+
+One fine morning at sunrise, two strong young men were sauntering along
+through the fields. As they journeyed toward the east the gray morning
+mist cleared away in the distance, and there on a very high hill stood a
+beautiful castle with sparkling windows and glistening towers all bathed
+in the morning light.
+
+“Come,” said one of the youths eagerly, “let us go over to it!”
+
+“What!” exclaimed the other, who was a lazy fellow, “do you not know
+that it is miles away? I am sure I cannot walk so far.”
+
+“Try,” said a sweet strange voice.
+
+On turning about they saw a lovely fairy dressed in gauzy white, holding
+a golden wand in her hand. She was standing on a magic crystal ball
+which rolled along with her toward the distant castle. As she passed the
+travelers, she pointed with her wand toward the east smilingly, and
+said, “Follow me!”
+
+“That would be easy to do,” mumbled the lazy youth, “if one could roll
+along as you do with no effort.” He then threw himself down on the grass
+to rest.
+
+His companion, however, started off after the fairy as fast as he could
+run, and catching hold of her floating robe he cried, “Who are you?”
+
+“I am Fortune,” she answered. “Yonder is my castle. Follow me there.
+Waste no time, and if you reach the castle before midnight I’ll receive
+you as a friend. But remember! If you come one moment after the last
+stroke of midnight, the door will be closed against you.”
+
+With these words the fairy drew her robe about her and rolled swiftly on
+in the morning breeze. And the crystal ball sparkled, sparkled in the
+sunlight.
+
+The youth now hurried back to his companion and said breathlessly,
+“Yonder is the Castle of Fortune. Come! Let us go!”
+
+“What nonsense!” said the lazy youth. “With a good horse one might get
+there easily, but for my part I don’t intend to try to walk all that
+way.”
+
+“Farewell, then,” said his friend, and away he started briskly with his
+eyes fixed steadily on the distant towers. The lazy youth sighed wearily
+and threw himself down on the soft grass. “If only good luck would show
+me an easy way to get there,” he murmured. “How beautiful the castle
+looks!” He then stretched himself out and fell fast asleep. In a little
+while he was awakened by something like a warm breeze blowing in his
+ear. He slowly rubbed his eyes and yawned aloud. Then he heard the
+neighing of a horse, and turning, he saw standing near a beautiful milk
+white steed all saddled and bridled!
+
+“Good luck,” he cried. “Come here, my fine friend. You and I will soon
+reach the castle.” Then he jumped into the saddle and started off at a
+fine gait.
+
+He soon passed his comrade and called out, “What do you think of my
+steed?”
+
+The other did not speak, but nodded cheerily and kept on at a steady
+pace.
+
+About midday the horse and rider reached the summit of a hill. In the
+distance the castle towers shone brightly against the clear blue sky.
+Presently the horse turned into a shady grove on the hillside and
+stopped.
+
+“A very good idea!” exclaimed the lazy man. “‘Make haste slowly’ is good
+wisdom. This shady slope is a fine place to rest awhile, and my appetite
+is keen enough to enjoy the luncheon I have in my pocket.” So, jumping
+off, he found a cool shady nook and stretched himself out on the grass.
+
+After he had eaten his savory sandwich he felt so drowsy that he soon
+fell into a sound sleep. What a pleasant sleep he had! He dreamed he was
+in Castle Fortune resting on downy cushions. Every wish he had was
+granted! Soft strains of music soothed him, while brilliant fireworks
+all crimson and gold were set off in his honor. This continued for some
+time, when suddenly the explosion of a beautiful Roman candle awoke him.
+He sat up rubbing his eyes. In the west the sun was sinking, and he
+could hear the song of a traveler in the valley below! “I must have been
+asleep a long while!” he murmured. “It is high time to be off. Ready, my
+steed! Where are you?”
+
+He whistled and shouted again and again, but no steed came. An old bony
+gray donkey browsing on the hilltop was the only creature in sight.
+“Better a donkey than nothing,” the lazy man thought. So he walked
+slowly over to the place where the beast was grazing, and mounted him.
+
+After some urging, the donkey set off at a slow jog. The lazy man soon
+found that this kind of traveling was very uncomfortable. The donkey
+trudged slowly on. Soon it began to grow dark. In the distance he could
+see that the castle was being lighted up. How beautiful it looked. He
+was becoming anxious. If only the donkey would move a little faster. But
+instead he seemed to be going slower and slower, slower and slower,
+until in the midst of a thick wood the beast stood still and refused to
+move. The rider coaxed and threatened and urged and kicked. It was of no
+use. The donkey refused to move. At last the lazy man was thoroughly
+aroused. He struck the beast a hard blow with his fist, screaming, “Get
+on, I say.” Up went the donkey’s heels and over his head into the briers
+and stones went the rider. What a plight to be in! He was bruised and
+sore and bewildered. He sat up and tried to collect his thoughts. Ah!
+There in the distance the lights were shining in Castle Fortune. Oh, for
+a soft comfortable couch on which to rest his aching bones. The stubborn
+old donkey! Where could he be?
+
+He crept about in every direction, hoping to find his donkey, but after
+tearing his clothes and bruising himself he gave up the search. Suddenly
+his hand struck something that felt a little like a saddle. It was
+mounted on something soft and slimy.
+
+He hesitated. Castle Fortune’s clock was striking. He counted the
+strokes. “Eleven o’clock!” he exclaimed in amazement. He threw himself
+into the queer saddle. “This is rather comfortable,” he exclaimed as he
+leaned against a high back. How slowly the creature moved. At last they
+reached a clearing, where a long straight road led directly to Castle
+Fortune with its beautiful towers and its windows ablaze with lights.
+
+The sight of the castle filled him with longing. He turned his attention
+for a minute to the strange creature he was riding. Horror! He was
+mounted on a huge snail, quite as large as a calf. No wonder they had
+crept along at a snail’s pace.
+
+One! The great clock struck the first stroke of the midnight hour. He
+pushed both heels into his steed’s soft sides. In an instant the snail
+drew his head into the shell and rolled over on the ground.
+
+Two! struck the great clock. Had the lazy man taken to his heels he
+might even now have reached the castle before the last stroke of the
+great clock. But no! There he stood filled with regret and fear. “A
+beast! A beast!” he cried, “Oh, for any kind of a beast to carry me to
+the castle!”
+
+Three! What was moving near him? Was it the long lost steed? Without
+further thought he jumped into something like a low saddle. His heart
+leaped as he looked up! There in the open door of Castle Fortune stood
+his friend waving his cap and beckoning to him.
+
+Four! chimed the great clock. The queer steed began to rouse himself.
+
+Five! The creature moved slowly forward.
+
+Six! What an awkward steed it was.
+
+Seven! Which way were they going?
+
+Eight! What! Were they moving backward? Impossible! He would jump off
+and run.
+
+Nine! To our rider’s great surprise he found he was held fast by the
+creature’s claws which extended on all sides. Horror! He was riding on a
+giant crab!
+
+Ten! Backward they moved!
+
+Eleven! Farther and farther they were going away from the castle.
+
+TWELVE! The castle doors shut with a clang. Castle Fortune’s doors were
+closed forever to the lazy man.
+
+
+
+
+                         A LITTLE DUTCH GARDEN
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+          I passed by a garden, a little Dutch garden,
+          Where useful and pretty things grew;
+          Heartsease and tomatoes, and pinks and potatoes,
+          And lilies and onions and rue.
+
+          I saw in that garden, that little Dutch garden,
+          A chubby Dutch man with a spade;
+          And a rosy Dutch frau with a shoe like a scow,
+          And a flaxen-haired little Dutch maid.
+
+          There grew in that garden, that little Dutch garden,
+          Blue flag flowers lovely and tall;
+          And early blush roses, and little pink posies,
+          And Gretchen was fairer than all.
+
+          My heart’s in that garden, that little Dutch garden,
+          It tumbled right in as I passed,
+          ‘Mid ‘wildering mazes of spinach and daisies,
+          And Gretchen is holding it fast.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+                            TRUE FRIENDSHIP
+
+
+Down yonder by the thrashing floors, where the husbandmen thrash out
+their corn, some large black ants once established themselves and built
+their nests. They settled themselves in that place in order to be near
+good and wholesome food, such as wheat, barley, and maize, which they
+carried off whether the farmers liked it or not.
+
+These ants prospered and became so numerous that they formed themselves
+into a kingdom, and had their own king.
+
+The king, who was an old ant, was very wise and courageous. As he was a
+real king, he wore a golden crown upon his head and held a golden
+scepter in his hand.
+
+His crown was a small piece of round gold wire, which fitted his head
+splendidly. His soldiers in one of their raids had found it in a country
+maiden’s casket. They took possession of it, and presented it to their
+sovereign. In the same way they had come across the scepter, which they
+saw one day on the thrashing floor, and appropriated in like manner. It
+was nothing more than a little gold watch key which had dropped off the
+chain of the village steward, but that was of no consequence, because as
+soon as the royal hand grasped it, it derived value from that
+circumstance alone.
+
+The king had his own carriage. It was made out of a nutshell, and was
+drawn by two swift and well-harnessed beetles, who, like all royal
+horses, were well trained. The king generally drove out, because his
+majesty was now so aged that he had become quite white and feeble.
+
+So you see that he had every blessing, and his people loved him very
+much. But he was not happy for he was weary and no longer found pleasure
+in anything. Perhaps this was because he had so much.
+
+One day there was a great tumult in the ant kingdom. A regiment of
+soldiers, which had gone out upon an excursion, returned after a
+brilliant victory, and brought back great spoils, and also four
+prisoners.
+
+The king, from the balcony of his palace, with his crown on his head and
+his scepter in his hand, greeted his army as it marched before him in
+great order, saluting him with, “Long live the King!” Then he ordered
+that the four prisoners should be brought before him, that he might try
+them.
+
+The first captive was a spider.
+
+“What is your name?” asked the king.
+
+“Spider,” she answered humbly, and did homage with her two forelegs.
+
+“Where were you born?” said the king.
+
+“I was born in the mill’s dark cellar.”
+
+After many other questions the king again said, “What art do you know?”
+
+“I know how to weave,” said the spider. “No one can surpass me in
+weaving. I am the very, very best weaver in the whole wide world.”
+
+“Good!” said the king. “You shall weave some cloth for my palace, and if
+your work is satisfactory, I will set you free; if not, I shall hand you
+over to my soldiers to be cut to pieces. Shut her up in prison and let
+her begin at once.”
+
+As the king decreed this, he lowered his scepter and struck it on the
+ground, when immediately soldiers dragged off the spider by her feet,
+and put her in a cell.
+
+The second prisoner, which was a bee, was then brought forward. The king
+in like manner questioned her. She said her name was “Bee,” and did him
+obeisance. Upon his inquiring where she was born, she replied, “In a
+hive, which was a house built for a number of bees to live in.”
+
+“Do you know any trade or profession?” inquired the king.
+
+“Certainly, your majesty, I know how to make a most delicious food. No
+one can excel me.”
+
+“Good!” said the king. “You shall make all the sweetmeats that are
+required at the forthcoming festival, when the peasants spread their
+thrashing floors. If I am pleased with them, I shall release you; but if
+not, I shall order my soldiers to cut off your head. Shut her up in
+prison, and let her begin at once.”
+
+Again he knocked with his scepter, and the detachment of soldiers led
+the bee off to prison. Then the king said: “Bring in the two other
+prisoners together, that we may finish with them; for I have other
+business of the kingdom on hand.”
+
+The third and fourth captives were brought in together. One was a
+grasshopper, and the other a cricket.
+
+When they were asked the customary questions as to their places of
+birth, the first replied, “At the roots of a bush of thyme.” And the
+other, “In the air!”
+
+Then the king proceeded with: “And what arts do you know?”
+
+“I know how to sing,” cried the cricket.
+
+“And I, how to dance,” said the grasshopper.
+
+“Splendid arts, truly, both the one and the other,” called out the king
+in a rage, and he knocked with his scepter so loudly that all his
+courtiers and soldiers, as well as the two prisoners, were frightened.
+“Since you know nothing, you are plainly of no use. I shall have you cut
+up, the pair of you.”
+
+“Please, your majesty,” said the cricket boldly, while the grasshopper
+trembled with fear, “can we do nothing? Do we know nothing? Because this
+lady and myself cannot weave like the spider or make sweetmeats like the
+bee? We are worthy people, and the whole world loves us. We amuse all
+the insects on both hill and plain; we make life in the long summer days
+when the sun is hot a little less wearisome; then I sing, and she
+dances, and for those who see and hear us time soon passes. Allow us the
+same privilege before your majesty, and you can then judge if we be
+deserving of freedom or death.”
+
+The king was not hard-hearted, and after hearing this plea of the
+cricket, he said, “I grant your request. I have a little time in which
+to divert myself, and if you can succeed in giving me pleasure in a
+short space of time, I will give you both your liberty, and grant you
+each any favor that you may ask.”
+
+He gave orders to release them. The cricket then began to sing with all
+the skill that she possessed, and the grasshopper danced at the same
+time. Neither the king nor any of his courtiers or soldiers had ever
+heard so sweet a voice, or seen so artistic a dance. His majesty was
+delighted; his old face beamed all over, and he struck merrily with his
+scepter, and shouted: “Well done! Bravo! I’ll free you—I’ll free you. I
+only request that whenever you have the time or the inclination, you
+will come and amuse me and my subjects a little. Labor is good, but life
+wants some few pleasures also. I told you that I would grant you any
+favor that you asked for. Ask now what you will.” Then the cricket said
+pleadingly, “Your majesty, I ask this favor—that the poor spider may be
+released.”
+
+“You have a good heart,” answered the king; “be it so.” And he turned to
+the grasshopper. “And what favor do you ask, madam dancer?”
+
+“May it please your majesty to release the bee?”
+
+“And you, too, have a good heart; your wish is granted.” And the king
+ordered the release of the prisoners.
+
+They were immediately set free, and all the ants conducted them out of
+the ant hills, while the cricket, full of joy, sang along the road:
+
+                  “Zi zi zi and zi zi zi,
+                  May our lord the king live joyfully,
+                  And all his people as well as he.”
+
+                  Merry have we met,
+                  And merry have we been;
+                  Merry let us part,
+                  And merry meet again.
+
+                              OLD RIME.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+                          TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
+
+
+ 1. Silently corrected typographical errors.
+ 2. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.
+ 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Merry Tales, by 
+Eleanor L. Skinner and Ada M. Skinner
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MERRY TALES ***
+
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+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's Merry Tales, by Eleanor L. Skinner and Ada M. Skinner
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
+the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
+to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
+
+Title: Merry Tales
+
+Author: Eleanor L. Skinner
+        Ada M. Skinner
+
+Release Date: December 18, 2016 [EBook #53766]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MERRY TALES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Richard Tonsing, David Edwards and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class='tnotes covernote'>
+
+<p class='c000'><strong>Transcriber's Note:</strong></p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id001'>
+<img src='images/cfrontis.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div>
+  <h1 class='c001'>MERRY TALES</h1>
+</div>
+
+<div class='nf-center-c1'>
+<div class='nf-center c002'>
+    <div>BY</div>
+    <div class='c003'><span class='large'>ELEANOR L. SKINNER</span></div>
+    <div class='c003'><span class='small'>TEACHER OF ENGLISH, NORTH HIGH SCHOOL</span></div>
+    <div><span class='small'>COLUMBUS, OHIO</span></div>
+    <div class='c003'>AND</div>
+    <div class='c003'><span class='large'>ADA M. SKINNER</span></div>
+    <div class='c003'><span class='small'>ST. AGATHA SCHOOL, CITY OF NEW YORK</span></div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id001'>
+<img src='images/btitlepage.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='nf-center-c1'>
+  <div class='nf-center'>
+    <div><span class='xlarge'>AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY</span></div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<table class='table0' summary='AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY'>
+<colgroup>
+<col width='33%' />
+<col width='33%' />
+<col width='33%' />
+</colgroup>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c004'><span class='large'>NEW YORK</span></td>
+    <td class='c005'><span class='large'>CINCINNATI</span></td>
+    <td class='c006'><span class='large'>CHICAGO</span></td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c003' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='nf-center-c1'>
+<div class='nf-center c007'>
+    <div><span class='sc'>Copyright, 1915, by</span></div>
+    <div class='c003'>ELEANOR L. SKINNER</div>
+    <div class='c003'>AND</div>
+    <div class='c003'>ADA M. SKINNER.</div>
+    <div class='c002'>E. P. I.</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c003' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>FOREWORD</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c009'>From a knowledge and love of children both
+extending through many years, I wish to speak of
+the pleasure and profit they will derive from reading
+and possessing <em>Merry Tales</em>.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>To keep children sane and sweet they must be
+given bright and cheery stories to read. They will
+find them in <em>Merry Tales</em>. Early in life they
+should learn something of myths and folklore.
+These tales are founded on these old treasures, but
+are charmingly adapted to the understanding of
+present-day children. I have read few books for
+children possessing such literary value and yet using
+words that children can master without difficulty,
+thereby being able to enjoy their own reading.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>I hope that <em>Merry Tales</em> will find a place not
+only in the schoolroom for that time of delight in
+a well-taught school,—“the period for supplementary
+reading,”—but that parents may find the book
+out to place it in the child’s own library, a thing
+that a child must have if it is ever to have in later
+life the joys of a genuine booklover.</p>
+
+<div class='lg-container-r'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>MARGARET W. SUTHERLAND,</div>
+      <div class='line in2'><span class='small'><em>Principal of the Columbus Normal School</em>.</span></div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>PREFACE</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c009'>The stories in this collection have been chosen,
+first, because they are stories children have always
+loved, and second, because they are free from much
+of the grewsome or grotesque which figures in so
+many of the folk tales and fables of the past. Although
+there are elements of surprise and danger
+in the adventures of the various characters, yet each
+story ends happily. The little book is intended as
+a supplementary reader for children in the third or
+fourth year of school and the vocabulary has been
+carefully graded to meet that need. Some of the
+stories have dramatic qualities and will be found to
+lend themselves readily to dramatization.</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>CONTENTS</h2>
+</div>
+
+<table class='table1' summary='CONTENTS'>
+  <tr>
+    <th class='c010'></th>
+    <th class='c010'>&nbsp;</th>
+    <th class='c006'>PAGE</th>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Monkey and the Crocodile</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Jataka Tale</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_11'>11</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Hillman and the Housewife</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Juliana H. Ewing</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_15'>15</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Fishing Party</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Southern Folk Tale</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_18'>18</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Forest Bailiff</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Russian Legend</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_27'>27</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>Bruin and Reynard Partners</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Scandinavian Folk Tale</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_35'>35</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Three Wishes</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Swedish Legend</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_39'>39</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Pigtail</span> (<span class='sc'>Poem</span>)</td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Translated by William Makepeace Thackeray</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_46'>46</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Stone Lion</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Captain W. P. O’Connor</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_48'>48</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Story that had No End</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Old Folk Tale</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_54'>54</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The King’s Rabbit Keeper</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Norse Legend</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_62'>62</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Leaping Match</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>H. C. Andersen</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_72'>72</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Clever Turtle</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>East Indian Tale</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_79'>79</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>Robin Goodfellow</span> (<span class='sc'>Poem</span>)</td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Percy’s Reliques</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_83'>83</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>Merlin’s Crag</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Irish Folk Tale</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_86'>86</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Story of Li’l’ Hannibal</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Carolyn Sherwin Bailey</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_97'>97</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>How Timothy won the Princess</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Irish Fairy Tale</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_106'>106</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Overturned Cart</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Agnes C. Herbertson</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_123'>123</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>Chanticleer</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Chaucer</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_138'>138</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Jackal and the Alligator</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>East Indian Tale</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_149'>149</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>Finn and the Fairy Shoemaker</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Irish Legend</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_158'>158</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>Making the Best of it</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Frances Fox</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_173'>173</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span><span class='sc'>The Brownie of Blednock</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Elizabeth Grierson</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_178'>178</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>How Olaf brought the Brownie Back</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Old English Tale</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_189'>189</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Poor Little Turkey Girl</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>F. Cushing</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_197'>197</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>Meadow Fiddlers</span> (<span class='sc'>Poem</span>)</td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Agnes McLellan Daulton</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_211'>211</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>Castle Fortune</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>German Legend</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_213'>213</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>A Little Dutch Garden</span> (<span class='sc'>Poem</span>)</td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Harriet Durban</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_222'>222</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>True Friendship</span></td>
+    <td class='c010'><em>Translated from the Greek by Mrs. Symonds</em></td>
+    <td class='c006'><a href='#Page_224'>224</a></td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>ACKNOWLEDGMENTS</h2>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c009'>For permission to reprint, or to use in adapted
+form, certain copyrighted and valuable material in
+this volume, the following acknowledgments are
+made:</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>To Sturgis and Walton Company, for “The
+Stone Lion,” by Captain W. P. O’Connor, from
+<cite>Story Telling in School and Home</cite>, copyright, 1912, by
+Sturgis and Walton Company;</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>To Carolyn Sherwin Bailey and the publishers
+of <cite>Good Housekeeping</cite>, for “The Story of Li’l’ Hannibal,”
+reprinted by permission of <cite>Good Housekeeping</cite>;</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>To the Grolier Society, publishers of <cite>The Book of
+Knowledge</cite>, for “How Olaf Brought the Brownie
+Back”;</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>To George H. Doran Company, for “The Overturned
+Cart” from <cite>Cap O’Yellow</cite>, by Agnes Crozier
+Herbertson;</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>To Frances Fox and The Outlook Company, for
+“Making the Best of It”;</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>To Elizabeth Grierson and Frederick A. Stokes
+Company, publishers of <cite>Scottish Fairy Tales</cite>, for
+“The Brownie of Blednock”;</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>To F. Cushing and G. P. Putnam’s Sons for
+“The Poor Little Turkey Girl” from <cite>Zuñi Folk
+Tales</cite>; and</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>To T. Fisher Unwin for “True Friendship.”</p>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id002'>
+<img src='images/b010.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>THE MONKEY AND THE CROCODILE</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d011.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+“It is no use trying to live
+here any longer,” thought
+the monkey, looking
+down, from his home in
+the tree, at a big crocodile
+sleeping on the sunlit
+bank of the river.
+“Whenever that creature
+opens his great mouth, I shudder to think
+what might happen if I were near.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Just then the crocodile yawned. Wider
+and wider and wider he opened his mouth.
+Away whisked the monkey to the topmost
+branch of the tree.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“This very day I shall move farther down
+the river!” he said.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So the monkey slipped away to a tree about
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>half a mile distant. There he lived peaceably
+for some time. He was delighted with his
+new home. The water was cool and clear.
+In the middle of the stream was an island
+covered with fruit trees.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>It was very easy to reach the little island.
+One leap from his tree brought the monkey
+to the end of a large rock which jutted out
+into the river; another leap brought him to
+the island, where he could get a fine feast and
+frisk about all the day long. In the evening
+he went back to his home in the great tree
+on the river’s bank.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>One day he stayed later than usual on the
+island. When he came to the water’s edge,
+he looked and blinked and looked and
+blinked! “How strange that rock looks!”
+he said to himself. “Surely it was never so
+high before! What can be the matter with
+it?” Suddenly the monkey’s heart beat very
+fast. The crocodile was lying on the top of
+that rock!</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oho! Mr. Crocodile,” thought the
+monkey, “I see I must put my wits to work
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>very, very quickly indeed if I am to escape
+from you!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Good evening, Big Rock,” he called.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The crocodile lay very still.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“This is a fine evening, Big Rock!” called
+the monkey.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The crocodile lay very, very still.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“What is the matter, Big Rock? You
+have always been a good friend of mine.
+Why are you so silent this evening?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then the crocodile thought, “Now I see
+I must pretend to be the rock, or the monkey
+may not come this way to-night.” So with
+his mouth shut he mumbled as best he could,
+“Good evening, Mr. Monkey.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh! Is that you, Mr. Crocodile?” said
+the monkey, pleasantly. “I’m afraid I have
+awakened you!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Never mind that,” said the crocodile,
+raising his head. “Come, make your leap!
+You cannot escape me this time.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“No, I’m afraid not,” said the monkey,
+meekly.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>And all the time he was thinking, “Crocodiles
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>shut their eyes when they open their
+mouths wide.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Come along and make haste, Monkey,”
+said the crocodile.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I’m caught, that is sure, for I must
+leap your way. Well, as you say, I cannot
+escape you, Crocodile. Open your mouth.
+Oh, wider than that, please, if I am to leap
+into it. Wider! There! Here I go! Ready!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Before the crocodile knew what was happening,
+the monkey gave three bounds—first
+to the top of the crocodile’s head,—then to
+the bank,—then to his tree. Away he
+whisked to the topmost branch.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Thank you, Mr. Crocodile,” he called.</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>THE HILLMAN AND THE HOUSEWIFE</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d015.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+One day a hillman knocked
+at the door of a selfish
+housewife.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Can you lend me a
+saucepan, good mother?”
+said he. “There’s a
+wedding in the hill, and
+all the pots are in use.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Is he to have one?” asked the servant
+girl who had opened the door.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Ay, to be sure,” said the housewife. But
+when the maid was taking a saucepan from
+the shelf, the housewife whispered slyly to
+her, “Do not lend him a good pan; get the
+old one out of the cupboard. It leaks, and
+the hillmen are so neat and such nimble
+workers that they are sure to mend it before
+they send it home. So one does a good turn
+and saves sixpence from the tinker.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>The maid fetched the old saucepan which
+had been laid by till the tinker’s next visit
+and gave it to the dwarf, who thanked her
+and went away.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The saucepan was soon returned neatly
+mended and ready for use. At supper time
+the maid filled the pan with milk and set it
+on the fire for the children’s supper, but in a
+few minutes the milk was so burned and
+smoked that no one could touch it. Even
+the pigs would not drink the wash into which
+the milk was thrown.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Ah, you good-for-nothing girl!” cried
+the housewife as this time she filled the pan
+herself. “Your careless ways would ruin the
+richest. There’s a whole quart of milk spoiled
+at once.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“A quart of milk costs twopence!” cried
+a queer small voice from the chimney corner.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The housewife had not left the saucepan
+for two minutes when the milk boiled over
+and was all burned and smoked as before.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“The pan must be dirty,” cried the housewife
+in a rage; “and there are two full quarts
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>of milk as good as thrown to the dogs. Oh,
+what dreadful waste!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Two quarts of milk cost fourpence!”
+cried the queer small voice.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>After a long scrubbing, the saucepan was
+once more filled with milk and set on the fire,
+but in a little while the milk was burned and
+smoked again.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The housewife burst into tears at the waste,
+and cried out, “Never before did such a thing
+happen to me since I kept house! Three
+quarts of milk burned for one meal.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Three quarts of milk cost sixpence!”
+cried the queer small voice. “You didn’t
+save the tinker after all!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then the hillman himself came tumbling
+down the chimney and went off laughing
+through the door. But from that time the
+saucepan was as good as any other.</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>THE FISHING PARTY</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d018.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+One clear, warm evening
+about sunset Brother Rabbit
+was walking down a
+road which led to the old
+mill. He was saying to
+himself: “It has been a
+week or more since I
+have had any fun. I do
+wish something would happen to make times
+a little livelier. I’m—”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“A fine sunset, Brother Rabbit! A penny
+for your thoughts. I do believe you would
+have passed me without speaking.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Good evening, Brother Terrapin,” said
+the rabbit, stopping and holding out his hand
+in a most cordial way. “I am very glad to
+see you, for I like your opinion immensely.
+I’ll tell you what I was thinking about, my
+friend. I was planning a little fishing party.
+Come, let us sit down here on the roadside
+and talk it over.”</p>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id001'>
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>
+<img src='images/c019.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>Brother Terrapin replied: “A fishing party!
+That will be fine sport. We should become
+very dull indeed in this neighborhood, Brother
+Rabbit, if it were not for your plans. Have
+you decided whom to invite?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Well,” said Brother Rabbit, “I think it
+unwise to invite too many. Perhaps five, including
+ourselves, are enough, because, you see,
+we must keep very quiet, and if the party is
+large, there is danger of too much merriment.
+Have you any particular friend who enjoys
+fishing?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, yes, indeed. Brother Bear is very
+quiet and sensible, and he loves to fish for mud
+turtles,” replied Brother Terrapin.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Well, I have in mind Brother Fox and
+Brother Wolf. Look, here they come! What
+good luck! Let us see what they think about
+the plan.” And the rabbit danced away up
+the road to meet his friends and tell them
+about the fishing party.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Exactly the kind of sport I enjoy most,”
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>said Brother Wolf, interrupting Brother Rabbit.
+“I’ll fish for hornyheads. Come,
+Brother Fox, what do you say?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“First, I wish to thank Brother Rabbit for
+his kind invitation,” said Brother Fox, politely.
+“Of course, you all know that I shall fish for
+perch, and I think I shall use a dip net. Good
+evening, Brother Terrapin. What an interesting
+party ours will be. What will you fish for?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh,” laughed Brother Terrapin, “minnows
+suit my taste very well.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“All right,” said Brother Rabbit. “Now
+let us meet at the mill pond about eight o’clock
+this evening. Brother Terrapin, may I trouble
+you to bring the bait? The others will each
+bring a hook and line, and, Brother Fox, please
+do not forget your fine dip net. About twelve
+o’clock you are all invited to a fish supper at my
+house. Don’t forget the time and place of
+meeting. Farewell.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>All hurried away to prepare for the evening’s
+amusement, and, at the appointed time, the five
+merry brothers met at the mill pond.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Brother Rabbit was very anxious to begin;
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>so he baited his hook and stepped up to the
+very edge of the water. Then he stopped
+suddenly, looked straight down into the pond,
+dropped his fishing pole, and scratched his head.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Mercy!” said Brother Fox. “What in the
+world is the matter with Brother Rabbit?
+Let us slip up to him and see what is the
+trouble. Come, all together.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>But Brother Rabbit turned and walked
+toward them, shook his head seriously, and
+said: “No fishing to-night, my friends. We
+might as well go home.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“What is it? What did you see?” began
+the bear, the fox, and the wolf. Brother
+Terrapin crept up to the edge of the pond,
+looked straight into the water, jumped back,
+and said, “Tut, tut, tut! To be sure! To
+be sure!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Come, come, tell us. We cannot bear
+this suspense,” snapped the fox.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then Brother Rabbit said slowly, “The
+moon has dropped into the mill pond, and
+if you don’t believe me, go and look for
+yourselves.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>“Impossible!” cried Brother Bear.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>They all crept up to the edge of the pond
+and looked in and there they saw the golden
+moon right down in the clear water.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Isn’t that too bad?” said Brother Wolf.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Well, well, well,” sighed Brother Fox;
+and Brother Bear shook his head slowly and
+said, “The impossible has happened!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Now, I’ll tell you something,” began the
+rabbit, who was not to be easily daunted,
+“we must get that moon out of the water
+before we begin to fish. I tell you truly no
+fish will bite while that great golden ball is
+near.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Well, Brother Rabbit,” said the wolf,
+“can’t you make a suggestion in this matter?
+You usually know what to do.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I have it, my friends,” said the rabbit
+jumping up and down. “I have it! I know
+where I can borrow a sieve. I’ll run and get
+it and then we can dip up the moon in no
+time. We’ll have our fishing party yet!” and
+off he ran.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Brother Terrapin was thinking. In a little
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>while he looked up and said, “My friends,
+I have often heard that there is a pot of gold
+in the moon.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“What’s that?” said Brother Fox, quickly.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I was saying that my grandmother has
+often told me that there is a pot of gold in
+the moon. But here comes Brother Rabbit
+with the sieve.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“My good friend,” said Brother Fox,
+“you were kind enough to go after that
+sieve and now you must let Brother Bear,
+Brother Wolf, and myself do the work. No,
+don’t take off your coat. You are such a
+little fellow that it would be dangerous for
+you to go into the water. You and Brother
+Terrapin stand here on the bank and watch
+us. Come, give me the sieve.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So Brother Terrapin and Brother Rabbit
+stood on the bank and watched the others
+wade into the pond.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>They dipped the sieve down once. “No
+moon,” said Brother Bear.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Again they dipped. “No moon,” said
+Brother Wolf.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>“Come,” said Brother Fox, “we must
+go farther in.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, do be careful, my friends,” called the
+rabbit, “you are near a very deep hole.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Buzz, buzz! The water was roaring in
+Brother Bear’s ears and he shook his head
+violently. Down went the sieve again.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“No moon,” sighed Brother Fox. “A
+little farther out, friends. Now, down again
+with the sieve.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Splash! Splash! Splash! Down they
+all went with the sieve. They kicked and
+tumbled and splashed as if they would throw
+all the water out of the mill pond. Then
+they swam for the shore and all came out
+dripping wet. “No moon,” said Brother
+Fox, sulkily. “What! No moon? Well,
+well, well!” said Brother Rabbit.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Too bad! Too bad!” said Brother
+Terrapin.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“My friends,” said the rabbit, seriously, “I
+think you ought to go home and put on some
+dry clothes. I do, indeed. And I hope we
+shall have better luck next time. Good night.”</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>THE FOREST BAILIFF</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d027.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+Once upon a time a peasant
+owned a cat which
+was so disagreeable and
+mischievous that all the
+neighbors complained
+about him. Finally the
+peasant became impatient
+and said to his wife, “I
+have decided to get rid of our cat. He is
+such a nuisance that I feel we ought not to
+keep him any longer.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I do not blame you,” replied his wife.
+“My patience, too, is worn out listening to the
+stories told about that mischievous animal.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>In a few days the peasant put the cat into
+a large sack and walked far into a leafy forest.
+Then he opened the sack and let the cat
+bound away. How many interesting things
+there were in the depths of the beautiful wood!
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>After wandering about for a few hours the cat
+began to feel quite at home, especially when
+he found a little deserted cabin where he took
+up his abode and dined bountifully on mice
+and birds.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>One day when Master Cat was walking
+proudly along a path which led to a pond, he
+met Miss Fox, who looked at him with great
+interest and curiosity. When she came close
+enough to be heard, she said, “Your pardon,
+good sir, but may I ask who you are, and
+why you are walking in the forest?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Master Cat raised his head very high and
+replied proudly: “I am the bailiff of the forest.
+My name is Ivan, and I have been sent from
+Siberia to become governor of this vast wood.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, indeed,” said Miss Fox. “Dear
+Master Bailiff, will you not honor me with
+your presence at dinner? I shall be most
+proud to entertain such a distinguished guest.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Lady, I accept your invitation,” replied
+Master Cat, making a profound bow.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Now Miss Fox knew well how to entertain.
+She not only provided the greatest delicacies
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>for her table, but she chatted in the merriest
+fashion and told the bailiff many interesting
+things about life in the forest.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“My dear Sir Bailiff, do have another serving
+of this savory pie. The forest, you know,
+gives one a good appetite,” said she, with a
+side glance at her visitor.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Thank you, dear lady,” returned Master
+Ivan. “It is indeed delicious. I have tasted
+nothing so good for weeks. What a cozy
+home you have here.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“It is very comfortable,” replied Miss Fox.
+“But I am often a little lonely. May I ask,
+sir, are you married or single?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I am single,” replied Mr. Bailiff.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Why, so am I,” said his companion, dropping
+her eyes shyly. “Master Ivan, the
+Bailiff, will you not marry me?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The guest was a little astonished, but he
+finally consented to marry Miss Fox. Their
+wedding was attended with much ceremony,
+and the bailiff came to live in his wife’s cozy
+home.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>A few days after their marriage Ivan said:
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>“Madam, I am very hungry. Go on a little
+hunting trip and bring me home a fine dinner.”
+Away went the wife toward a deep hollow.
+She had not gone very far when she met her
+old friend the wolf.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Good morning, my dear friend,” he began.
+“I have been looking in vain for you in the
+forest. Do tell me where you have been.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Madam Fox replied coyly: “Oh, I am
+married, you know. My husband is the bailiff
+of the forest.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Indeed,” said the wolf. “How I should
+like to see his honor, your husband.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“That can be managed if you will follow my
+advice closely. You see, my husband is very
+ferocious, and unless you do as I say he might
+devour you. However, I’ll see what can be
+done. Let me see. You had better get a lamb
+and place it on our doorstep. Then hide in
+the bushes which grow near. When my husband
+opens the door, you can get a very good
+look at him,” said Madam Fox, proudly.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The wolf ran away in search of a lamb, and
+Madam continued on her way. In a short
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>time she met a bear. “Good day, my good
+friend,” he said. “I have missed you for
+some time. May I ask where you have been?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh,” said Madam, “is it possible you
+have not heard of my marriage with Ivan,
+the bailiff of the forest?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Is it true? Then I offer you my sincere
+congratulations! The bailiff of the forest,
+you say?” said the bear, in a puzzled tone.
+“Madam, it would give me the greatest pleasure
+to see his honor, your husband.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Yes,” said Madam, “that would be a
+great privilege, but I must tell you that the
+bailiff is very fierce. In fact, he is likely to
+devour anyone who does not please him. But
+perhaps I can help you out a little. Let me
+see. You had better procure an ox. And be
+sure to offer your gift very humbly. The
+wolf, who is also most anxious to see my husband,
+is going to bring a lamb for a present.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Away went the bear in search of his gift,
+which he soon found; then he hurried clumsily
+along, and in a little while he met the wolf
+with a lamb.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>“Good day to you, my friend,” began the
+wolf. “May I ask where you are going
+with such a burden?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I am going to see the husband of Madam
+Fox, to whom I shall give this ox. Will you
+tell me where you are going?” said the bear.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Why, I am bound for the same place, my
+friend. Madam Fox told me her husband is
+terrible. He devours anyone who displeases
+him, so I am taking a lamb for a present.”
+The wolf’s voice trembled a little as he continued,
+“I do hope he will take kindly to me.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The friends went on their way, and in a short
+time they came to the house of the cat. The
+wolf pushed the bear a little ahead and
+whispered, “Go, my good comrade, knock
+on the door and say to the husband of Madam
+Fox that we have brought an ox and a lamb
+as gifts.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh,” shivered the bear, “I dare not!
+I am so filled with fear. Indeed, indeed, I
+cannot. You go, good wolf! Do.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Impossible,” returned the wolf, in a quaking
+voice. “I am trembling all over. I
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>haven’t strength enough to walk there much
+less to rap on the door. Come, let us hide
+ourselves and bide our time.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So the wolf hid himself under some dry
+leaves, and the bear jumped into a tree and
+carefully hid himself among the branches.
+In a few moments Madam Fox and her husband,
+who had been walking in the forest, came
+home.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“How very small the bailiff is,” whispered
+the wolf.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“He is, indeed,” gasped the bear, a little
+scornfully.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The cat now saw the ox and leaped to the
+step saying, “Oh, a small meal for me.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“A <em>small</em> meal,” said the bear, with surprise.
+“How very, very hungry the bailiff must be!
+And he is so small, too. Why, a bull is a good
+meal for four bears. What an immense
+appetite he must have!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The wolf was too much frightened to answer.
+There was a slight rustling sound in the dry
+leaves and, thinking a mouse was hidden there,
+the cat gave a bound and fastened his claws
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>in the snout of the wolf. With a gasp of fear
+the wolf leaped up and ran away as fast as he
+could go. Now, the cat was very much afraid
+of a wolf, and so he gave one leap into the
+tree where the bear lay hidden. “Oh, mercy,
+mercy!” cried the bear. “The cat is after me.
+He will devour me. Oh, help, help!” and
+down the tree scrambled the bear. Off he
+ran, as fast as he could go, after the wolf.
+Madam Fox screamed out: “My husband is
+terrible! He will devour you! He will
+devour you!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Away sped the wolf and the bear, and they
+told their adventure to the other animals of
+the forest, who took good care to stay far away
+from the terrible bailiff. Meanwhile the cat
+and the fox were very happy, and they had
+plenty to eat for a long time.</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>BRUIN AND REYNARD PARTNERS</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d035.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+Once upon a time Bruin
+and Reynard were to
+plant a field in common
+and to share the crops
+in a fair way. “If you’ll
+have the root, I’ll take
+the top,” said Reynard.
+Bruin thought that plan
+would do very well.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The first year they sowed rye. But when
+they had thrashed out the crop, Reynard got
+all the grain and Bruin got nothing but roots
+and rubbish. He did not like that at all, but
+Reynard said that was how they had agreed
+to share the crop, and it was fair and right.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“The tops come to me this year,” said Reynard,
+“but next year it will be your turn.
+Then you will have the tops and I shall have
+to put up with the roots.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>Spring came and it was time to sow again.
+Sly Reynard asked Bruin what he thought of
+sowing turnip seed for the second year’s crop.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Yes, yes,” said Bruin, “we will have turnips.
+Turnips are better food than rye.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Reynard agreed with him. Harvest time
+came. “We will divide the crops as is fair
+and right,” said Reynard. “I get the roots
+this time and you get the tops.” So Reynard
+got all the turnip roots and Bruin the turnip
+tops. When Bruin saw what Reynard had
+done, he was very angry, and he put an end
+to his partnership with him at once.</p>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id001'>
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>
+<img src='images/c038.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>THE THREE WISHES</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d039.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+Once upon a time in the
+heart of a forest lived a
+woodcutter and his wife.
+They were very poor indeed.
+Their little cabin,
+built of rough-hewn logs,
+had only one room, which
+was very scantily and
+poorly furnished. One day the woodcutter
+said to his wife,</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“How miserable we are! We work all
+day, and we have barely enough food to keep
+life in our bodies! Surely there are few who
+work as hard as we do and have so little!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The housewife replied, “Yes, indeed, we are
+very miserable.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Well, I’m off for another day’s work,”
+sighed the husband. “My lot is too hard.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>He picked up his ax and made his way to
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>the place in the forest where he was to perform
+his task. Suddenly, a dear little fairy
+whose face was wreathed in smiles danced into
+the path and stood before him.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I am the wishing fairy,” she began. “I
+heard what you said about your work and
+your life, and my heart aches for you. Now,
+because I am a fairy, it is in my power to
+grant you three wishes. Ask for any three
+things you desire and your wishes shall be
+granted.” The fairy disappeared in the twinkling
+of an eye, and the woodcutter was left
+standing alone in the forest. Was he dreaming?
+He couldn’t believe his own senses!
+He thought of a thousand wishes all in an
+instant. He would go home and talk the
+matter over with his wife. He turned in his
+path and retraced his steps to the cabin.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Art thou ill?” demanded his wife, who
+came to the door.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, no, indeed, I am not ill; I am very,
+very happy!” he burst forth. “I met a fairy
+in the forest. She told me that she was very,
+very sorry for me, and that she would help me
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>by granting three wishes. Think of it! Any
+three wishes in the world will be granted by
+the charming fairy.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Wonderful!” responded the housewife.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, how happy the very thought of it
+makes me! Come, let us sit down and talk
+the matter over; for I assure you it is not easy
+to come to a decision. I am indeed, very,
+very happy.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>They drew up their chairs to the little table
+and sat down.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I am <em>so</em> hungry,” began the woodcutter.
+“Let us have dinner, and then, while we are
+eating, we can talk about our wishes and see
+which three are nearest our hearts’ desires.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>They began their humble meal immediately,
+and the husband continued: “Of course one
+of our wishes must be great riches. What do
+you say?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, yes, indeed,” said his wife. “I
+should love a beautiful house to live in, also
+carriages and fine clothes, and servants and—”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, for that matter,” said the husband,
+“we could wish for an empire.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>“Or rich jewels, such as great numbers of
+pearls and diamonds! What a wish that
+would be,” said the wife, whose face was all
+aglow.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I have it,” burst forth the woodman, “let
+us wish for a fine large family, five sons and
+five daughters, What say you to that?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh!” returned his wife, “I think I prefer
+six sons and four daughters.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So they continued weighing one wish with
+another until they seemed almost in despair
+about coming to a decision regarding which
+three wishes would be the wisest and best.
+They finally stopped talking and ate their
+simple food in silence. The woodcutter did
+not seem to relish his soup and dry bread.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh,” he cried out suddenly, “how I wish
+I had some nice savory sausage for dinner!”
+No sooner had the words fallen from his lips
+than a large dish of fine sausages appeared on
+the table. What a surprise! The two were
+so astonished that for a few moments they
+could not speak. Then the wife said impatiently:</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>“What do you mean by making such a
+foolish wish? Do you not see that this dish
+of sausage means that one wish has been
+granted and that there are but two left?
+How could you make such a stupid, stupid
+wish?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Well,” replied the husband, “to be sure I
+have been foolish. I really did not think
+what I was saying. However, we may still
+wish for great riches and an empire.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Humph!” grumbled the wife, “we may
+wish for riches and an empire, but what about
+a fine large family? You have certainly been
+foolish in wishing for that horrid sausage. I
+suppose, however, you prefer sausage to a
+fine family;” and she burst out into tears of
+lamentation, crying: “How could you? How
+could you be so foolish? Oh, dear! Oh,
+dear! How very foolish and stupid you have
+been.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Finally her husband lost all patience and
+cried out: “I’m tired of your grumbling! I
+wish the sausage were on the end of your
+nose!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>In an instant the sausage was fastened to the
+end of the poor woman’s nose. How comical
+she did look! The husband and wife were
+so astonished that they could not speak. The
+poor woman again burst into tears.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh!” she cried. “How could you?
+How could you? First, you wished for
+sausage, and second, you wished that the
+sausage were fastened to my poor nose. It is
+terrible. It is cruel. Two wishes have been
+granted. There remains but one! Oh,
+dear, dear!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The husband, who now saw what a dreadful
+mistake he had made, said meekly,</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“We may still wish for great riches.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Riches indeed!” snapped his wife.
+“Here I am with this great sausage fastened
+to the end of my nose. What good would
+riches do me? How ridiculous I am. It is
+all your fault. I was so happy at the thought
+of great riches, beautiful jewels, and a fine
+family, and now I am sad and miserable.”
+She continued to weep so pitifully that her
+husband’s heart was touched.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>“I wish with all my heart that the sausage
+were not on your nose,” he said. In an instant
+the sausage disappeared. There the two sat
+lamenting; but as the three wishes had been
+granted there is nothing further to be said.</p>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id002'>
+<img src='images/b045.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id002'>
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>
+<img src='images/b046.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <h2 class='c008'>THE PIGTAIL</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b c002'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>There lived a sage in days of yore,</div>
+      <div class='line'>And he a handsome pigtail wore;</div>
+      <div class='line'>But wondered much and sorrowed more</div>
+      <div class='line'>Because it hung behind him.</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>He mused upon the curious case,</div>
+      <div class='line'>And vowed he’d change the pigtail’s place,</div>
+      <div class='line'>And have it hanging at his face,</div>
+      <div class='line'>Not dangling there behind him.</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>Says he, “The mystery I’ve found.</div>
+      <div class='line'>I’ll turn me round,”—He turned him round,—</div>
+      <div class='line'>But still it hung behind him.</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>Then round and round and out and in,</div>
+      <div class='line'>All day the puzzled sage did spin</div>
+      <div class='line'>In vain; it mattered not a pin,</div>
+      <div class='line'>The pigtail hung behind him.</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>And up and down and in and out</div>
+      <div class='line'>He turned, but still the pigtail stout</div>
+      <div class='line'>Hung dangling there behind him;</div>
+      <div class='line'>And though his efforts never slack,</div>
+      <div class='line'>And though he twist and twirl and tack,</div>
+      <div class='line'>Alas! still faithful to his back</div>
+      <div class='line'>The pigtail hangs behind him.</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id003'>
+<img src='images/b047.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>THE STONE LION</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d048.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+Once there were two
+brothers who lived with
+their mother in a large
+house on a farm. Their
+father was dead. The
+older brother was clever
+and selfish, but the
+younger was kind and
+gentle. The older brother did not like the
+younger because he was so honest that he
+never could get the best of a bargain. One
+day he said to him: “You must go away.
+I cannot afford to support you any longer.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So the younger brother packed all his belongings,
+and went to bid his mother good-by.
+When she heard what the older brother had
+done, she said, “I will go with you, my son.
+I will not live here any longer with so hard-hearted
+a man as your brother.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>The next morning the mother and the
+younger brother started out together. Toward
+night when they reached the foot of the hill,
+they came to a hut with nothing in it except
+an ax which stood behind the door. But
+they managed to get their supper and stayed
+in the hut all night.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>In the morning they saw that on the side
+of the hill near the hut was a great forest.
+The son took the ax, went up on the hillside
+and chopped enough wood for a load
+to carry to the town on the other side of the
+hill. He easily sold it, and with a happy heart
+brought back food and some clothing to make
+his mother and himself comfortable.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Now, mother,” he said, “I can earn enough
+to keep us both, and we shall be happy here
+together.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>One day, in search of timber, the boy went
+farther up the hill than he had ever gone before.
+As he climbed up the steep hillside, he
+suddenly came upon a lion carved from stone.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh,” thought the boy, “this must be the
+guardian spirit of the mountain. I will make
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>him some offering to-morrow morning without
+fail.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>That night he bought two candles and carried
+them to the lion. He lighted them,
+put one on each side of the lion, and asked
+that his own good fortune might continue.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>As he stood there, suddenly, the lion opened
+his great stone mouth and said:</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“What are you doing here?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The boy told him how cruel the elder
+brother had been; how the mother and himself
+had been obliged to leave home and live
+in a hut at the foot of the hill. When he had
+heard all of the story, the lion said:</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“If you will bring a bucket here to-morrow
+and put it under my mouth, I will fill it
+with gold for you.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The next day the boy brought the bucket.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“You must be very careful to tell me when
+it is nearly full,” said the lion, “for if even
+one piece of gold should fall to the ground,
+great trouble would be in store for you.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The boy was very careful to do exactly as
+the lion told him, and soon he was on his way
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>home to his mother with a bucketful of gold.
+They were so rich now that they bought a
+beautiful farm and went there to live.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>At last the hard-hearted brother heard of
+their good fortune. He had married since
+his mother and brother had gone away, so he
+took his wife and went to pay a visit to his
+younger brother. It was not long before he
+had heard the whole story of their good
+fortune, and how the lion had given them all
+the gold.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I will try that, too,” he said.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>He and his wife went to the same hut his
+brother had lived in, and there they passed
+the night.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The next morning he started out with a
+bucket to visit the stone lion. When he had
+told the lion his errand, the lion said:</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I will grant your wish, but you must be
+very careful to tell me when the bucket is
+nearly full; for if even one little piece of gold
+touches the ground, great misery will surely
+fall upon you.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Now the elder brother was so greedy that
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>he kept shaking the bucket to get the gold
+pieces closer together. And when the bucket
+was full he did not tell the lion, as the
+younger brother had done, for he wanted all
+he could possibly get.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Suddenly one of the gold pieces fell upon
+the ground.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh,” cried the lion, “a big piece of gold
+is stuck in my throat. Put your hand in and
+get it out. It is the largest piece of all.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The greedy man thrust his hand at once
+into the lion’s mouth and the lion snapped his
+jaws together! And there the man stayed, for
+the lion would not let him go. And the gold
+in the bucket turned into earth and stones.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>When night came and the husband did not
+return, the wife became anxious and went out
+to search for him. At last she found him with
+his arm held fast in the lion’s mouth. He was
+tired and cold and hungry.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Alas!” she said, “I wish we had not tried
+to get the gold. There is no food in the hut
+for us and we shall have to die.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The lion was listening to all that was said,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>and he was so pleased at their misfortune that
+he began to laugh at them, “Ha, ha, ha!”
+As he laughed, <em>he opened his mouth</em> and the
+greedy man <em>quickly</em> drew out his hand, before
+the lion had a chance to close his jaws again.
+They were glad enough to get away, and they
+went to their brother’s house once more. The
+brother was sorry for them and gave them
+enough money to buy a home.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The younger brother and his mother lived
+very happily in their beautiful home, but they
+always remembered the Stone Lion on the
+hillside, who gave them their good fortune.</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>THE STORY THAT HAD NO END</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d054.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+Once upon a time there
+was a king who was so
+fond of hearing stories
+told that he would listen
+to them all day long.
+He cared for no other
+kind of amusement and
+he was always angry
+when the story came to an end. “Your
+stories are too short,” he said to the many
+story-tellers who tried to amuse him. Indeed
+no one had ever been found who was able to
+tell him a story that lasted long enough.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>All the people of his court had tried again
+and again to please him. Some had told
+stories that lasted three months, some had
+told stories that lasted six months, and a few
+courtiers had been able to carry on their stories
+for one whole year. Still the king complained,
+for sooner or later the story was sure
+to come to an end.</p>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id001'>
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>
+<img src='images/c055.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>At last he sent out the following proclamation
+to all the people of his kingdom:</p>
+
+<div class='nf-center-c1'>
+<div class='nf-center c011'>
+    <div>PROCLAMATION</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c012'>TO THE MAN WHO WILL TELL ME A STORY
+WHICH SHALL LAST FOREVER, I WILL GIVE THE
+PRINCESS, MY DAUGHTER, IN MARRIAGE; ALSO,
+I WILL MAKE THE SUCCESSFUL ONE MY HEIR
+AND HE SHALL BE KING AFTER ME. BUT MARK,
+LET NO MAN PRETEND THAT HE CAN DO SO,
+AND FAIL; FOR, IF THE STORY COMES TO AN
+END, THE STORY-TELLER SHALL BE THROWN
+INTO PRISON. THE KING.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The king’s daughter was a very beautiful
+princess, and there were many suitors in the
+kingdom who came to the court in hope of
+winning such a prize. But it was all of no
+use. Each tried as hard as he could to spin
+the story out, but sooner or later it came to
+an end and the unfortunate one met the fate
+the king had threatened.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>This grieved the princess very much, and
+each time she begged the king to lighten the
+punishment of the poor story-teller who had
+risked so much for her sake.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>At last one man sent word to the king that
+he had a story which would last forever and
+ever, and that he was ready to come to the
+court at once. On hearing this the princess
+sent for the man and warned him of his
+danger. She begged him not to be so rash as
+to try the king’s patience, for no one had
+ever pleased his majesty, and she feared he
+would meet the fate of all those who had
+tried and failed. But he said he was not
+afraid, and he asked to be taken at once before
+the king.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“So you are the man who is to tell me a
+story that will have no end?” said the king.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“If it please your majesty,” answered the
+man.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“If you can do this, you shall be king after
+me, and you shall marry the princess, my
+daughter. But if you fail, you shall be cast
+into prison.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I understand, O king. I have a story
+about locusts which I shall be pleased to tell
+you.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Very well. Begin the story.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>The story-teller began his tale.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“O king, there was once a ruler who was
+a great tyrant. He wished to be the richest
+in the land, so he seized all the corn and
+grain in his kingdom and had it stored away.
+Year after year he did this until all his granaries
+were filled full. But one year there came
+a swarm of locusts and they discovered where all
+the grain had been stored. After a long search,
+they found near the top of the granary a
+very small hole that was just large enough for
+one locust at a time to pass through. So one
+locust went in and carried off one grain of
+corn; then another locust went in and carried
+off one grain of corn; then another locust
+went in and carried off one grain of corn;
+then another locust went in and carried off
+one grain of corn—”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Thus the story-teller went on day after
+day, week after week, from morning till night.
+After hearing about the locusts for nearly a
+year the king became rather tired of them,
+patient though he was, and one day he interrupted
+the story-teller with:</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>“Yes, yes, we’ve had enough of those locusts.
+Let us take for granted that they got
+all the grain they wanted. Now go on with
+the story. What happened afterwards?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“If it please your majesty, I cannot tell
+you what happened afterwards until I have
+told you all that took place in the beginning.
+I go on with the story. Then another locust
+went in and carried off one grain of corn;
+then another locust went in and carried off
+one grain of corn.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Another month passed by. At the end of
+this time the king asked impatiently, “Come,
+sir, how long will it take those locusts to
+carry away all the corn?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“O king, I cannot tell. They have
+cleared away but a small space round the inside
+of the hole, and there are still thousands
+and thousands of locusts on the outside.
+Have patience, O king, there are enough
+grains for each locust to have one, and in
+time they, no doubt, will all pass in and each
+in turn carry away one grain of corn. Permit
+me, O king, to go on with my story.
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>Then another locust went in and carried off
+one grain of corn; then another locust went
+in and carried off one grain of corn—”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Stop, stop,” called out the king at last.
+“I cannot stand those locusts any longer.
+Take my kingdom, be king after me, marry
+my daughter, take everything, only never let
+me hear about those ridiculous locusts again.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So the story-teller married the princess and
+succeeded to the throne upon the death of the
+king.</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>THE KING’S RABBIT KEEPER</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d062.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+Once upon a time a king
+wanted a good rabbit
+keeper. He made it
+known throughout the
+country that he would
+give not only good pay,
+but also the hand of the
+princess, to any youth
+who could take good care of his wonderful
+rabbits.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Now it happened that an old farmer had
+three very lazy sons, Jan, Hans, and Olaf.
+They disliked the work on the farm and spent
+most of their time amusing themselves, or
+doing as they pleased. When Jan heard that
+the king wanted a rabbit keeper, he told his
+father he would go to the palace and try to
+get the place.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“What!” cried the old man. “The king
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>does not want an idler. The rabbits are brisk
+and lively and need care every moment. A
+lazybones like you could never be His Majesty’s
+rabbit keeper.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Well, I am determined to go. I should
+like the work better than the farm drudgery,”
+replied Jan. He filled a bag with things
+to eat, and a few clothes, and started to the
+palace of the king. After he had traveled
+a few miles he heard a voice calling him:
+“Help! Help!” Jan hurried toward the
+sound and came to a deep pit. He looked
+down into it, and there was a shriveled old
+woman. She spoke very sharply to him.
+“Pull me up! Pull me up!” she cried.
+“I have been here for one year, and have had
+no food in all that time. Pull me up!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Not I,” replied Jan. “Only a witch
+could live a year in such a place without food.
+I’ll have nothing to do with you,” and on he
+went.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>At length he came to the palace of the
+king and asked to serve as rabbit keeper.
+The delighted king said, “He who guards
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>the rabbits well and lets none escape shall have
+fine food, good pay, and perhaps the hand of
+a beautiful princess.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The next day Jan took the rabbits into a
+large field to browse. During the daytime
+they nibbled the tender grass and stayed together,
+but when the sun began to set, they
+darted toward a wood which bordered a
+meadow and they soon became lost in the
+shadows of the trees. Jan called to them and
+ran after them until he was out of breath, but
+he could not bring them together. He rested
+awhile and tried again. It was of no use;
+they had scattered in every direction. Surely
+they were playing hide and seek, and Jan was
+not in the game. When he reached the palace,
+he told his story to the king, who burst into a
+rage and banished Jan from the country.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>In a short time the king got another warren
+of rabbits and again made it known that he
+wanted a keeper. Jan’s brother, Hans, now
+determined that he would try to serve the
+king and perhaps gain the rich reward. Off he
+walked. He passed the pit and heard the old
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>woman calling for help, but he hurried on without
+even stopping to see what was the matter
+with her.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The king made him keeper of the rabbits,
+but the first time he took them out to browse
+he failed in his work. All was well during
+the day, but when the sun sank, the rabbits
+scurried away to the woods, and no matter
+what he did, Hans could not gather them together
+again. When he returned to the palace
+without a single rabbit, the furious king banished
+him, too, from the country.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>A third time the king got beautiful rabbits
+and made it known that he wanted a keeper.
+“Father,” said Olaf, the youngest of the
+three brothers, “it is my turn to try. I am
+sure I could guard the king’s rabbits.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“It will be the same old story,” said the
+farmer. “If you take no better care of the
+rabbits than you do of the calves, you will
+share your brothers’ fate.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“At any rate I mean to try,” replied Olaf.
+Throwing his bag over his shoulder, he set out
+for the palace of the king.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>“Help! Help!” called a voice from the
+field near the road. Olaf ran in the direction of
+the sound and saw the old woman in the pit.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“What can I do for you, my good
+woman?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Please reach me your hand and help me
+out. I’ve had nothing to eat for a year and
+I can’t get out without help.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Olaf willingly reached down and pulled
+the old woman up. Then he gave her food
+from his bag and brought her water from
+a spring. She ate a large share of Olaf’s
+store while he good-naturedly looked on.
+When she had finished, she drew from her
+pocket a magic horn.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Take this for your pains,” said she. “It
+is a wonderful horn and will help you in
+many ways. If you blow into the small end
+of it, you will scatter to the four winds whatever
+you wish away from you. If you blow
+into the large end of it, you will bring near
+you whatever you wish. If you should lose
+it, or if by chance it should be stolen from
+you, a wish will bring it back again.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>“A wonderful help it will be to me,” said
+Olaf, as he took it eagerly from the old
+woman’s hand.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>He sauntered on again, and after some time
+he came to the palace of the king. The rabbits
+were put into his charge, and Olaf’s heart
+beat high when he thought of the princess
+he might win.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The next morning he took the rabbits out
+into the meadow. They danced about in
+high glee for several hours. But about noon,
+Olaf noticed two of them scamper away to
+the woods. These two were soon followed
+by others. “Very well,” said Olaf, “go
+away from me if you like.” He blew into
+the small end of the magic horn, and then
+cried out, “Be off, every one of you!” and
+away they scattered in every direction.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Olaf then ate his noonday lunch and
+stretched himself out for a nap on the soft
+green bank. When he awoke, the sun was
+low in the west. He took up the magic
+horn and blew into the large end of it. From
+every direction came the frisky rabbits dancing
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>and hopping about him. Olaf counted
+them and was well pleased to find exactly the
+right number. When he reached the palace
+with the rabbits, he saw that the king, the
+queen, and the princess were on the lookout
+for him. Also he noticed that each one
+counted the rabbits and then glanced at the
+others in wonder.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Alas!” sighed the princess, “how I
+wish he were of noble birth! But a farmer’s
+lad! Dear me!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Day after day Olaf took the rabbits out
+to browse in the meadow. At noon he
+scattered them in the deep wood, and when
+the sun began to sink behind a distant hill, he
+gathered them together and led them back
+to the palace.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The king was very much puzzled and
+determined to send a servant to spy upon
+Olaf. With greatest care the servant slipped
+into the field and noticed Olaf asleep on
+the soft green bank near the edge of the
+wood. The servant hid himself in the low
+underbrush of the wood and waited until
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>evening. At sunset, Olaf awoke, drew out
+his magic horn, gathered together the rabbits,
+and led them back to the palace. The
+servant explained to the king what he had
+seen, and the king told his queen and the
+princess. “I shall steal his horn while he
+is asleep in the meadow,” said the princess,
+“for I am determined not to marry a common
+farmer’s son.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The next day she stole carefully to Olaf’s
+side while he lay asleep and took the magic
+horn from his pocket. She had not reached
+the palace before Olaf awoke and thought
+of his rabbits. But where was his horn?
+He searched about the banks in vain. “Oh,
+how I wish I had my magic horn!” he
+cried. No sooner had he made his wish
+than he found the horn in his hands. He
+blew into the larger end of it and again the
+rabbits danced and frisked about him ready
+to return.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Now the queen thought she would try
+her skill in getting Olaf’s horn. She had
+no trouble in getting it from his pocket, but
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>as she neared the palace, the horn slipped
+away from her. In the evening, Olaf returned
+with his flock as usual.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I see that I must do the thing myself,”
+muttered the king. “That farmer’s lad
+shall not outwit me. I’ll tie the horn in
+one of my hunting bags to make sure of
+it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Anxiously the queen and princess awaited
+the king’s return. At last he came, untied
+the bag, and reached in for the horn. Alas!
+it had disappeared. And there in the distance
+came Olaf and the rabbits. The king
+sent word for Olaf to appear before the
+royal family. “Tell me about that horn of
+yours. Where did you get it? Hasn’t it
+magic power?” said the king, impatiently.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Sire, it is a magic horn,” began Olaf.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Prove it,” said the king.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I would rather not,” said Olaf.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Do as I bid you, without a word!” roared
+the king, becoming red with anger.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Olaf raised the little end of his horn to
+his lips and blew a strong blast, while secretly
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>he made a wish. In a moment the royal family
+scattered in all directions.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Bring us back! Bring us back! How
+dare you? I’ll have you punished for this!”
+roared the king, as he tumbled into the
+distance.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Olaf blew into the big end of his horn
+and instantly the royal family were back at
+the palace. The king, in a rage, tried to seize
+Olaf, but just then the rabbit keeper raised
+the small end of the horn to his lips.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Hold, hold!” cried the king. “I will
+do you no harm if you will keep that wicked
+horn from your lips. I would rather give
+up half my kingdom than take another flighty
+trip. You are a wonderful lad and the best of
+rabbit keepers. The reward is yours.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>In a short time there was a beautiful
+wedding at the palace. Olaf had won the
+princess.</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>THE LEAPING MATCH</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d072.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+A flea, a grasshopper,
+and a frog once wanted to
+see which one of them
+could jump the highest.
+So they made a festival
+and invited the whole
+world and everybody else
+besides, who would like
+to come, to see the frolic. When the people
+assembled to see the contest they all admitted
+that these three famous jumpers were indeed
+well worth seeing.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I will give the princess, my daughter, to
+the one who can jump the highest,” said the
+king. “The champion in such a trial of skill
+must be rewarded.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The flea was the first to come forward.
+His manners were perfect and he bowed to
+the company on every side, for noble blood
+flowed in his veins; and, besides, he had been
+accustomed to associating with human beings,
+which was much to his advantage.</p>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id001'>
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>
+<img src='images/c074.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>The grasshopper came next. The green
+uniform, which he always wore, set off his
+figure very well. He carried himself with
+great dignity, for he belonged to a very old
+Egyptian family, he said, and was highly
+thought of in the house in which he lived.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>In fact when he was brought out of the
+fields he was put into a card house, three
+stories high. The colored sides of the cards
+were turned in and the doors and windows
+were cut out of the Queen of Hearts. “It
+was built on purpose for me,” he said, “and
+I sing so well that sixteen crickets who had
+chirped all their life, and still had no card
+house to live in, were so angry at hearing me
+that they grew thinner than they ever had
+been before.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>In this way the flea and the grasshopper
+went on with their long praises, each thinking
+himself quite an excellent match for the
+princess.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>The frog said nothing, but his silence only
+made the people think he knew a great deal,
+and the house dog who sniffed at him walked
+away with an air of approval.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The old counselor who had issued three
+orders for keeping quiet, said at last, that the
+frog was a prophet, for one could tell from
+his back whether the coming winter would be
+severe or mild. Such wisdom could never be
+gained from the back of the man who writes
+almanacs.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I shall say nothing,” said the king, “but
+I have my own opinion; for I see everything.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>And now the leaping match began. The
+flea jumped first. He jumped so high that
+no one could see what had become of him.
+So the people said he did not jump at all.
+How shameful it was of him after all his
+boasting!</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The grasshopper jumped only half as high;
+but he jumped right into the king’s face. This
+act the king thought extremely rude.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The frog stood still for a long time; some
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>began to think that he did not mean to
+jump at all.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Perhaps he’s ill,” said the house dog; so
+he went up to sniff at the frog again; when
+“pop” he made a side jump which landed
+him right into the lap of the princess, who
+was sitting on a little golden stool.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“There is nothing in the world higher
+than my daughter,” called out the king.
+“The frog has made the highest jump that
+can be made. Only one who has a good
+mind could have done anything so clever as
+that.” And so the leaping frog won the
+princess.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I jumped the highest,” said the flea, “in
+spite of what the king said, but the decision
+does not matter to me. The princess may
+have that heavy, stiff-legged, ugly creature if
+he’s to her taste. Dullness and heaviness win
+in this stupid world. I’m too light and airy.”
+So the flea went into foreign lands.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The grasshopper sat down upon a green
+bank and thought about the world and its
+ways. “Yes,” he said to himself, “dullness
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>and heaviness do win in this stupid world.
+People care most about fine looks nowadays.”
+Then he began to sing in the grasshopper way;
+and from his song we have taken this little
+story.</p>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id001'>
+<img src='images/b078.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>THE CLEVER TURTLE</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d079.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+A turtle lay upon a
+large rock sunning himself.
+His eyes were
+turned toward the palace
+of the king which overlooked
+the beautiful river.
+He could hear the merry
+voices of the little princes
+playing in the royal courtyard.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“What happy times they have!” thought
+the turtle. “I have heard that there is a
+lovely little lake in the princes’ playground,
+where they have fine fun, swimming and sailing
+tiny boats. How dull it is living out here
+on the rocks! I’m sure I should be happier
+if I lived in a royal courtyard.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>At that moment the turtle was startled by
+the voices of two men who were carrying
+fishing nets and large buckets to the river.
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>He slipped under the rock and lay very still
+and listened.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“You see,” said one of the men, “we are
+to put the fishes into the courtyard lake and
+surprise the young princes. His majesty,
+the king, heard them wish that fishes swam
+in their lake, and he decided to surprise them.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“How happy they will be in the morning!”
+replied the other man. “Come, let us climb
+to the edge of these rocks and throw our nets
+into the river. Then we will draw them in,
+empty the fishes into those buckets, and carry
+them to the courtyard lake this evening.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>When the turtle heard that some of his
+neighbors were to live in the royal courtyard,
+he was very jealous indeed!</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Fishes are such stupid creatures!” he said
+to himself. “How much more delight a
+turtle would give those young princes. I’ll
+not live on this rock any longer. I’ll slip
+very quietly into one of those buckets, and the
+men will carry me into the royal courtyard.
+They will never notice me. Fishes for the
+delight of royalty! It is absurd!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>The next morning the little princes took
+their sailboats and ran to the lake in the courtyard.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“See, see!” cried one of them. “Our
+wish has come true! There are fishes swimming
+about in the water. Oh, what fun?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Come away! Come, come, brother!”
+shouted the other little prince in terror. “See,
+there is a demon on the bank! Perhaps the
+fishes belong to him! Come!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>To the turtle’s great surprise off ran the lads,
+crying out, “A demon has come to live on the
+bank of our lake!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>When the king saw how frightened the
+princes were, he ordered an attendant to capture
+the demon and bring him to the palace.
+So, before the poor turtle could make up
+his mind what to do, he was caught and
+brought before the king.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“How shall we kill him?” asked an attendant.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Throw him into the fire,” said one.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Drop a large rock on his head and crush
+him,” said another.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>“Oh, that would not do,” said one of the
+princes. “See! He has pulled his head inside
+that shell back of his. Perhaps his back is
+too strong to be crushed by a rock.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I have it,” said an old servant who was
+afraid of the water, “let us fling him over
+the rocks into the river. Then he will be
+swept away into the sea and drowned.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>In a twinkling out came the turtle’s head.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“My friends,” he said, “pray do not throw
+me into the river that flows to the great wide
+sea! Of all your plans to punish me, that is
+the worst! Burn me, or crush me if you will,
+but do not throw me into the river that flows
+to the great wide sea! I shudder at the
+thought of it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Take the demon to the rocks and throw
+him into the river,” said the king.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Ha! ha! ha!” laughed the turtle when
+he whirled about in the water and swam back
+to the friendly rocks where he had lived so
+long.</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>ROBIN GOODFELLOW</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id002'>
+<img src='images/b083.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b c002'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>From Oberon, in fairy land,</div>
+      <div class='line'>The king of ghosts and shadows there,</div>
+      <div class='line'>Mad Robin, I, at his command,</div>
+      <div class='line'>Am sent to view the night sports here.</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>What revel rout</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>Is kept about</div>
+      <div class='line'>In every corner where I go,</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>I will o’ersee</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>And merry be,</div>
+      <div class='line'>And make good sport, with ho, ho, ho!</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>More swift than lightning can I fly</div>
+      <div class='line'>About this airy welkin soon;</div>
+      <div class='line'>And, in a minute’s space, descry</div>
+      <div class='line'>Each thing that’s done below the moon.</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>There’s not a hag</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>Or ghost shall wag</div>
+      <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>Or cry, ‘ware goblins! where I go;</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>But, Robin, I,</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>Their feats will spy</div>
+      <div class='line'>And send them home with ho, ho, ho!</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>Whene’er such wanderers I meet,</div>
+      <div class='line'>As from their night sports they trudge home,</div>
+      <div class='line'>With counterfeiting voice I greet,</div>
+      <div class='line'>And call them on with me to roam;</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>Through woods, through lakes,</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>Through bogs, through brakes,</div>
+      <div class='line'>Or else, unseen, with them I go,</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>All in the nick</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>To play some trick,</div>
+      <div class='line'>And frolic it, with ho, ho, ho!</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>Sometimes I meet them like a man,</div>
+      <div class='line'>Sometimes an ox, sometimes a hound;</div>
+      <div class='line'>And to a horse I turn me can,</div>
+      <div class='line'>To trip and trot about them round.</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>But if to ride,</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>My back they stride,</div>
+      <div class='line'>More swift than wind away I go,</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>O’er hedge and lands</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>Through pools and ponds</div>
+      <div class='line'>I hurry laughing, ho, ho, ho!</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>By wells and rills in meadows green</div>
+      <div class='line'>We nightly dance our heyday guise;</div>
+      <div class='line'>And to our fairy King and Queen</div>
+      <div class='line'>We chant our moonlight minstrelsies.</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>When larks ‘gin sing</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>Away we fling;</div>
+      <div class='line'>And babes new born steal as we go;</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>And elf in bed,</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>We leave instead,</div>
+      <div class='line'>And wend us, laughing ho, ho, ho!</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>From hag-bred Merlin’s time have I</div>
+      <div class='line'>Thus nightly revel’d to and fro;</div>
+      <div class='line'>And for my pranks men call me by</div>
+      <div class='line'>The name of Robin Goodfellow.</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>Fiends, ghosts, and sprites</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>Who haunt the nights,</div>
+      <div class='line'>The hags and goblins do me know;</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>And beldames old</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>My feats have told,</div>
+      <div class='line'>So <em>vale, vale</em>, ho, ho, ho!</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>MERLIN’S CRAG</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d086.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+One evening the master
+of a fine estate and a
+farm laborer were walking
+over the fields.
+The master said, “To-morrow
+I want the peat
+cut from yonder crag,
+which rises at the
+end of the moorland.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Do you mean Merlin’s Crag, master?”
+asked the laborer.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“You have been here but a short time.
+How did you learn that name?” said the
+master in surprise.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“One of the old servants told me about it,
+sir. He said that long, long ago an enchanter
+named Merlin lived there. And, master, there
+is a haunted cave under the crag where—”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Nonsense! Pay no attention to the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>stories servants tell, but see to it that the peat
+is cut to-morrow,” said the owner impatiently.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The next afternoon the laborer began to cut
+the peat which covered the curiously shaped
+crag. He was about to lift up a piece of turf
+when, suddenly, there appeared before him the
+daintiest little creature he had ever seen. She
+was twelve inches tall and was dressed in a
+gown of sparkling green. She wore red stockings
+and dainty red sandals with jeweled
+buckles. On her head was a tiny, dazzling
+coronet. Her lovely golden hair rippled down
+under the crown and over her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The laborer stopped his work and in
+amazement gazed silently at this exquisite
+little queen. She raised her tiny wand in
+warning and said in a silvery small voice:</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Now tell me, pray, what would you
+think if I should send one of my people to
+unroof your home? I am out of patience
+with you mortals! I am, indeed. You are
+selfish creatures. You do anything that pleases
+you and you consider no one but yourselves.”
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>Here she stamped her tiny sandaled foot and
+continued, “Now listen to me! Put back
+that turf this instant, or I declare you shall rue
+the day that you disturbed the roof of Merlin’s
+Crag.” Then she vanished.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The poor bewildered laborer could hardly
+believe his senses. He put back the turf exactly
+where it belonged, took up his spade,
+and went back to his master.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Why, where is the peat?” began the
+landlord.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“O master,” said the poor man, “the
+fairies live in Merlin’s Crag! I have seen
+the queen, and she warned me not to take the
+turf from the top. May I cut the peat from
+the other side of the moor?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“What do you mean? I believe your
+senses are wandering, or you would not say
+such stupid things,” replied the master. “Go
+back immediately and cut all the peat from
+Merlin’s Crag. Even if the old wizard himself
+appears, you must do as I command.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The poor laborer was obliged to obey, so
+he went back to the crag and cut the peat.
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>His heart beat very fast, for every minute
+he expected the fairy to reappear and upbraid
+him, but strange to say, nothing of the
+kind happened.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Exactly one year from the day when the peat
+was cut from the top of Merlin’s Crag, the
+laborer started on his way home across the fields.
+The master had given him a present of a can of
+milk and some cheese for his wife and children;
+so he whistled a merry tune as he hurried along.
+In the distance he noticed the queerly-shaped
+outline of Merlin’s Crag against a pale amber
+sky and his thoughts wandered back to the
+day one year ago. How strange that he had
+never again seen the exquisite little fairy!
+What a funny threat she had made! As he
+drew near the crag he began to feel strangely
+tired. He seemed to drag his leaden feet,
+and his eyelids grew heavier and heavier.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I must rest a bit,” he thought. “How
+long the road seems this evening!” So he
+sat down in a shadow near the crag and fell
+into a deep sleep.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>When he awoke, the soft silvery moonlight
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>flooded the fields, and he heard distinctly the
+village bell striking the midnight hour.
+Then there floated to his ears the happiest
+ripple of laughter. He rubbed his eyes and
+aroused himself. He heard a sweet, small
+voice singing:</p>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>“Come, follow, follow me</div>
+      <div class='line'>Ye fairy elves that be,</div>
+      <div class='line'>Which circle on the green,</div>
+      <div class='line'>Come follow Mab, your queen;</div>
+      <div class='line'>Hand in hand, let’s dance around,</div>
+      <div class='line'>For the place is fairy ground.”</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'>And a fairy chorus answered:</p>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>“O’er tops of dewy grass</div>
+      <div class='line'>So nimbly do we pass,</div>
+      <div class='line'>The young and tender stalk</div>
+      <div class='line'>Ne’er bends when we do walk;</div>
+      <div class='line'>Yet in the morning may be seen</div>
+      <div class='line'>Where we the night before have been.”</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'>Ringed about him was a host of dainty fairies
+singing and dancing, and laughing and pointing
+wee elfin fingers at him as if he were
+the funniest object in the whole world. What
+could it all mean?</p>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id001'>
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>
+<img src='images/c091.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>He determined to break through their
+circle and make for home, but, when he rose
+and tried to walk away, the magic green ring
+and the dancing fairies accompanied him and
+held him prisoner. How the wee folks enjoyed
+his dilemma! They fairly shrieked
+with laughter. In a little while the queen,
+whom he had met before, danced forward and
+said slyly, “Wilt thou not tread a measure, O
+mortal? Come, thou mayest have our loveliest
+maiden for a partner. Join our sport, do.
+Then thou wilt not be so eager to depart.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>She waved her wand to the circle of fairies,
+and a charming little creature flitted up to
+him. Before the poor man realized what
+was happening the wee dancer took one of his
+fingers in each of her tiny hands and away they
+went, swinging, whirling, waltzing about in
+the gayest manner. The little people shrieked
+again and again with elfin laughter at the sight
+of this strange couple treading a measure. All
+night long the merriment continued.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Finally the moon set behind the dark crag,
+and rosy streaks broke through the gray
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>curtain in the east. Then the queen held up
+her tiny wand and said, “Come, the cock is
+welcoming the dawn.” She led the way
+and the other fairies forced our friend to accompany
+them. As she drew near the crag
+a mysterious door opened and the fairies
+trooped through into a beautiful hall carpeted
+with velvet moss and dimly lighted by glow-worms.
+On tiny couches the wee people soon
+fell asleep. Our friend the countryman sat
+on a fragment of rock in the corner of the
+hall.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>When the fairies woke each went, about
+some special task. Some mixed wonderful
+colors for flower petals, birds’ eggs, and delicate
+shells, others powdered gold dust for
+pollen and spun gossamer threads, while still
+others mixed the most delicious odors for
+violets, wild roses, and hyacinths.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The countryman was so charmed with the
+sight that he desired nothing more than the
+joy of watching these elfin people forever.
+Toward evening the queen touched his arm
+with her wand and said,</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>“Your punishment is over.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“What do you mean?” asked our friend.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>She replied, “The turf you cut from the
+roof of Merlin’s Crag has grown again. Once
+more the roof of our hall is whole. You
+may go back to your friends now. But first
+you must take a solemn oath that you will
+never disclose to mortal ears where you have
+been, or what you have seen. Do you
+promise?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I promise,” said the countryman.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then the fairy led the way to the cave’s
+door which opened of its own accord, and he
+passed out into the fields.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>As he made his way to the village, he
+noticed that the people looked at him in astonishment.
+When he reached his cottage
+his wife, who came to the door, drew back
+in fear and wonder.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Is it indeed you, my husband?” she
+cried out. “Where have you been so long?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“So long?” the dazed countryman echoed.
+“So long? What do you mean? I don’t
+understand. Where are the children?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>“There they are,” said his wife, pointing
+to a well-grown boy and girl. “You have
+been gone from us seven years. No wonder
+you do not know us.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Seven years!” he exclaimed. “Seven
+years do you say? Let me think.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then suddenly he knew what the fairy
+queen meant by his punishment. He had
+been imprisoned seven long years by the wee
+folk of fairyland.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>He was besieged with questions when the
+village people learned about his return, but
+he shook his head and said nothing.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>He never explained the mystery of his
+long absence, but many noticed that there
+was one name which always made him hasten
+to change the subject, and that name was—Merlin’s
+Crag.</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>THE STORY OF LI’L’ HANNIBAL</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d097.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+Once on a time, ‘way
+down South, there lived
+a little boy named Hannibal,
+Li’l’ Hannibal.
+He lived along with his
+gran’mammy and his
+gran’daddy in a li’l’ one-story
+log cabin that was
+set right down in a cotton field. Well, from
+morning until night, Li’l’ Hannibal’s gran’mammy
+kept him toting things. As soon
+as he woke up in the morning it was:</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, Li’l’ Hannibal, fetch a pine knot and
+light the kitchen fire.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, Li’l’ Hannibal, fetch the teakettle to
+the well and get some water for the tea.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, Li’l’ Hannibal, mix a li’l’ hoecake
+for your gran’daddy’s brea’fus’.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, Li’l’ Hannibal, take the bunch of
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>turkeys’ feathers and dust the ashes off the
+hearth.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>And from morning until night, Li’l’ Hannibal’s
+gran’daddy kept him toting things, too.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, Li’l’ Hannibal,” his gran’daddy
+would say, “fetch the corn and feed the
+turkeys.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, Li’l’ Hannibal, take your li’l’ ax and
+chop some lightwood for gran’mammy’s fire.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, Li’l’ Hannibal, run ‘round to the
+store and buy a bag of flour.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, Li’l’ Hannibal, fetch your basket and
+pick a li’l’ cotton off the edge of the field.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So they kept poor little Hannibal toting
+‘most all day long, and he had only four or
+five hours to play.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Well, one morning when Li’l’ Hannibal
+woke up, he made up his mind to something.
+Before they could ask him to light the kitchen
+fire, or fill the teakettle, or mix the hoecake,
+or dust the hearth, or feed the turkeys, or
+chop any wood, or go to the store, or pick
+any cotton, he had made up his mind that he
+was not going to tote for his gran’mammy and
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>his gran’daddy any longer. He was going to
+run away!</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So Li’l’ Hannibal got out of bed very
+quietly. He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his
+li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’
+shoes—he never wore stockings. He pulled
+his li’l’ straw hat down tight over his ears, and
+then Li’l’ Hannibal ran away!</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>He went down the road past all the cabins.
+He went under the fence and across the cotton
+fields. He went through the pine grove past
+the schoolhouse, stooping down low—so the
+schoolmistress couldn’t see him—and then he
+went ‘way, ‘way off into the country.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>When he was a long way from town, Li’l’
+Hannibal met a possum loping along by the
+edge of the road, and the possum stopped and
+looked at Li’l’ Hannibal.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“How do? Where you goin’, Li’l’
+Hannibal?” asked the possum.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Li’l’ Hannibal sat down by the side of the
+road and took off his straw hat to fan himself,
+for he felt quite warm, and he said,</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I done run away, Br’er Possum, my gran’mammy
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>and my gran’daddy kept me totin’,
+totin’ for them all the time. I don’t like to
+work, Br’er Possum.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Po’ Li’l’ Hannibal!” said the possum,
+sitting up and scratching himself. “Any
+special place you bound for?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I don’t reckon so,” said Li’l’ Hannibal,
+for he was getting tired, and he had come
+away without any breakfast.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“You come along with me, Li’l’ Hannibal,”
+said the possum; “I reckon I kin take you
+somewhere.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So the possum and Li’l’ Hannibal went
+along together, the possum loping along by
+the side of the road and Li’l’ Hannibal going
+very slowly in the middle of the road, for his
+shoes were full of sand and it hurt his toes.
+They went on and on until they came, all at
+once, to a sort of open space in the woods
+and then they stopped. There was a big
+company there—Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Partridge,
+and Br’er Jay Bird and Br’er Robin,
+and Ol’ Miss Guinea Hen.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Here’s po’ Li’l’ Hannibal come to see
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>you,” said the possum. “Li’l’ Hannibal done
+run away from his gran’mammy and gran’daddy.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Li’l’ Hannibal hung his head as if he was
+ashamed, but nobody noticed him. They
+were all as busy as they could be, and so he
+just sat down on a pine stump and watched
+them.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Each one had his own special work and he
+was keeping at it right smart. Br’er Robin
+was gathering all the holly berries from the
+south side of the holly tree and singing as he
+worked:</p>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>“Cheer up, cheer-u-up!”</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'>Br’er Partridge was building a new house
+down low in the bushes. As he hurried back
+and forth with twigs, he would stop and drum
+a little, he felt so happy to be busy.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Br’er Jay Bird was taking corn down below.
+You know that is what Br’er Jay Bird
+does all the time. He takes one kernel of
+corn in his bill to the people down below and
+then comes back for another. It is a very
+long trip to take with one kernel of corn, but
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>Br’er Jay Bird doesn’t seem to mind how
+hard he works.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Ol’ Miss Guinea Hen was almost the busiest
+of the whole company, for she was laying
+eggs. As soon as ever she laid one she would
+get up on a low branch and screech, “Catch
+it! Catch it! Catch it!” like to deafen
+everybody.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>But Li’l’ Hannibal was most interested to
+see what Br’er Rabbit was doing. Br’er Rabbit
+had on a li’l’ apron, and he kept bringing
+things in his market basket. Then he cooked
+the things over a fire back in the bushes, and
+when it got to be late in the afternoon, he
+spread a tablecloth on a big stump and then
+he pounded on his stewpan with his soup
+ladle. “Supper’s ready,” said Br’er Rabbit.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then Br’er Robin, and Br’er Partridge, and
+Br’er Jay Bird, and Br’er Possum, and Ol’
+Miss Guinea Hen all scrambled to their
+places at the table and Li’l’ Hannibal tried to
+find a place to sit at, but there wasn’t any.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Po’ Li’l’ Hannibal!” said Br’er Rabbit
+as he poured the soup. “Doesn’t like work!
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>Doesn’t like to tote for his gran’mammy.
+Can’t have no supper!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Catch him! Catch him!” said Ol’ Miss
+Guinea Hen, but no one did it. They were
+all too busy eating.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>They had a grand supper. There was
+breakfast strip, and roast turkey, and fried
+chicken, and mutton and rice, and hominy
+and sweet potatoes, and peas and beans, and
+baked apples, and cabbage, and hoe cake, and
+hot biscuits, and corn muffins, and butter cakes
+and waffles and maple syrup.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>When they were through eating, it was
+dark, and they all went home, and they left
+Li’l’ Hannibal all by himself.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Well, after a while it began to get darker.
+Br’er Mocking Bird came out, and he looked
+at Li’l’ Hannibal and then he began to
+scream, just like Ol’ Miss Guinea Hen,</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Catch him! Catch him! Catch him!”
+Br’er Screech Owl looked down from a tree
+and he said very hoarsely:</p>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>“Who! Who! Who-oo!”</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then all the frogs began to say, loud and
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>shrill, “Li’l’ Hannibal! Li’l’ Hannibal!” like
+they thought he was deaf.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So Li’l’ Hannibal got up from his pine
+stump and he said, “I reckon I better go
+home to my gran’mammy.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Well, Li’l’ Hannibal started for home
+slowly, because his feet hurt and he was hungry.
+When he came to the pine grove by
+the schoolhouse the shadows came out from
+behind the trees and followed him, and that
+was much worse than seeing the schoolmistress.
+But Li’l’ Hannibal got away from
+them all right. He crawled under the fence
+and ran across the cotton field, and there in
+the door of the cabin was his gran’daddy
+with a lantern. His gran’daddy had been
+out looking for Li’l’ Hannibal.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Why, Li’l’ Hannibal, where you been all
+day?” asked his gran’daddy.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, Li’l’ Han’,” said his gran’mammy,
+“here’s your corn mush. I kep’ it warm on
+the hearth, but afore you eat your supper, Li’l’
+Han, jus’ take your li’l’ basket and run ‘round
+to the chicken house for a couple of eggs.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>So Li’l’ Hannibal took his li’l’ basket, and
+he started for those eggs singing all the way.
+You see, he reckoned he was mighty glad to
+be at home, and toting again.</p>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id002'>
+<img src='images/b105.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>HOW TIMOTHY WON THE PRINCESS</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d106.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+Once upon a time a poor
+widow and her son
+Timothy lived in a little
+cottage near a village.
+One day Tim’s mother
+said: “Tim, my boy,
+the landlord’s rent must
+be paid and I haven’t a
+bit of money in the house. I’ve made up
+my mind to sell one of our three cows.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Tim replied: “All right! I’ll take the old
+red cow to the fair in the morning, and sell her
+for a good price, mother mine.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Bright and early Tim was ready. It was
+a fine spring morning, and the birds sang
+merrily in the trees. The hedgerows were
+white with May blossoms. Tim drove the
+old cow along the mossy green lanes until he
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>came to the village, where a fair was being
+held.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>A great crowd had gathered in a ring near the
+main road, and Timothy hurried there to see
+what caused the excitement. In the middle of
+this ring, on a tiny platform, was a little man with
+a tiny harp and a tiny stool. The dwarf reached
+down deep into his pocket and brought out a
+bee, all dressed up in a blue suit of clothes with
+bright buttons and gold braid. Perched on
+one side of his head was a cunning little cap
+which matched his suit. Again the little man
+reached down into his pocket and drew out a
+cockroach and a tiny mouse.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The cockroach was dressed in a very full
+skirt of flowered silk, a lace bodice, and bright
+panniers of velvet. On her head was a dainty
+bit of a hat wreathed with flowers.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The little mouse wore a dress suit and a tall
+silk hat. At a sign from the little man, the
+bee jumped on the stool and began to play a
+tune on the harp. Then Mr. Mouse bowed to
+Miss Cockroach. She courtesied gracefully,
+and the two began to waltz to the music.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>Now the moment they began to dance
+every man and woman, youth and maid, joined
+them. Soon everything in sight, pots and
+pans, pigs and cows, ducks and hens, began to
+reel about as if they had all gone mad! The
+old cow began to whirl round and round, and
+then Timothy started. His feet kept time to
+the music which grew louder and faster as
+the sport proceeded. In a short time the
+little man picked up the harp, stool, and
+animals and put them back into his pocket.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Instantly, everybody and everything came
+to a standstill! Then such a roar of laughter
+burst forth as was never heard before. The
+people laughed until their sides ached, and
+Timothy’s voice was heard above all the
+others. The little man walked up to him.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“What do you think of that for sport?”
+he asked.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, indeed, it was fine fun, sir,” answered
+Tim.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“And how would you like to own my
+little animals?”</p>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id001'>
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>
+<img src='images/c110.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>“Like to own them, sir? Indeed I should,
+but I have no money, nor have I any way of
+getting it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I’ll tell you how to make a good bargain
+though,” said the little man, coming closer.
+“I’ll trade you the harp and my musician, the
+bee, for the cow you’ve brought to the fair to
+sell. Come, what do you say to that?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, how I should like to have them,
+sir! But mother must have money for the
+landlord. She is very sad and downhearted
+because we cannot pay the rent.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Yes, yes, but think how the tiny musician
+will make her laugh, my boy. She needs
+cheering,” persuaded the little man.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“So she does, sir,” said Tim. “I’ll trade
+with you.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The little man took the cow and disappeared,
+and Timothy put the harp, the stool,
+and the bee into his pocket and went home.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“You’ve sold the cow, my boy?” said his
+mother, anxiously. “How much money did
+you get for her?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Money, mother! I got something much
+better than money,” said Tim, excitedly.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>Then out of his pocket he took the harp,
+the stool, and the bee, and set them on the
+floor. After a deep bow the bee seated himself
+on the stool, cocked his head on one side,
+and began to play a lively tune. The little
+fellow looked so comical that Timothy’s
+mother couldn’t keep a straight face. She
+burst into a peal of laughter. The lad joined
+her, and then the pots and the pans, the table
+and chairs, everything in the house began to
+reel and jig. Tim and his mother began to
+hop up and down in the funniest manner.
+This kept on for some time, and then Tim
+took up the harp, the stool, and the bee, and
+put them into his pocket. In a second, everything
+quieted down. Tim’s mother, however,
+kept on laughing for some minutes.
+Finally she stopped, and then she grew very
+angry.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“What a foolish bargain you’ve made!”
+she cried. “Here we are without food or
+money, and you have traded the red cow for
+such worthless toys! Oh, what shall I do?
+You must go back to the fair and sell the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>white cow, I suppose. See that you keep
+your wits about you this time.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Early next morning Timothy started to the
+fair, driving the white cow. They soon arrived,
+and there in the main road he saw a
+big crowd gathered. He pushed forward to
+see what was going on. In the middle of
+the ring stood the little man with twinkling
+eyes. His mouth was screwed up in a very
+queer way, and he was whistling. The mouse
+and the cockroach were dancing an Irish jig;
+bowing, reeling, scraping, courtesying in the
+finest manner. Tim’s heart beat fast at the
+sight. Soon everybody and everything in
+the fair began to imitate the movements of
+the queer little creatures. Men and women,
+youths and maidens, pots and pans, carts and
+gigs, all hopped about and jigged exactly like
+the mouse and the cockroach; even the stalls
+and the buildings seemed to hop up and down
+in time with the music. In a little while the
+tiny man stopped whistling, picked up the
+little animals, and put them into his pocket.
+Then there was no more dancing, but everybody
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>burst into a hearty roar of laughter.
+How they did laugh! The little man now
+spied Tim.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Ah, my lad,” he said, “wouldn’t you
+like to own those wonderful little creatures?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Indeed I should, sir, but I have no
+money,” said Tim, shaking his head.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh! that makes no difference, I’ll trade
+with you again. Give me the old white cow,
+and I’ll give you the mouse.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Indeed I can’t, sir. Mother is so sad because
+we can’t pay our rent or buy any food.
+I must get money to pay the landlord,” replied
+Tim, looking longingly at the little
+man’s pocket.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, stuff and nonsense! Better be lighthearted
+than rich! What will cheer her like
+the sight of my little gentleman mouse dancing
+to the music of your musician, the bee?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“All right, sir,” answered Tim, meekly,
+and he traded the white cow for the mouse.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>When he reached home, his mother cried
+out, “You’ve sold the cow, my boy?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Yes, mother.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>“How much money did you get?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Timothy said not one word, but took the
+mouse, the harp, and the bee out of his
+pocket and put them on the floor. Tim began
+to whistle. The bee accompanied him
+with beautiful chords on the harp. After a
+grand sweeping bow the mouse fell into a
+gay Irish jig. Soon everything in the house
+seemed to be hopping and jigging about.
+Even Tim and his mother could not hold
+their feet still. In a little while Tim took
+up the mouse, the bee, and the harp and put
+them into his pocket. Then everything
+quieted down except the peals of laughter
+which his mother could not stop. She
+laughed and laughed until her sides ached.
+After some time she began to look serious;
+then she grew very, very angry.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Tim, you are the most foolish boy in the
+whole world,” she began. “How could you
+take such worthless toys for our fine old white
+cow? Oh, dear. What shall I do? There
+is no money, and the landlord will turn us
+out. The old spotted cow must go, I see.
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>Take her to the fair to-morrow and see you
+bring back <em>nothing</em> but money.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I’ll do that mother,” said Tim. His intentions
+were good, but alas! when he
+reached the fair, there was the little man
+again with the cockroach. He was whistling
+merrily and the whole fair went jigging
+and dancing about, all led by the lively cockroach.
+Soon the little man put the tiny,
+graceful dancer into his pocket. Then, as
+before, the dancing stopped. But the
+laughter! You should have heard the merry
+peals in every direction.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Ha, my boy! Here again! You’ve
+brought me the spotted cow, I see! Good!
+You ought to have the cockroach to complete
+your wonders. Take her along.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“But, sir, I promised mother,” began Tim,
+“that——”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“See her pretty bright dress. Master
+Mouse and she make a charming couple.
+How your mother will be cheered when she
+sees them dancing together. There is no
+sight like it. Here you are.” Carefully he
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>lifted the cockroach, and Tim could not resist
+the offer of such a wonderful little
+creature. He put her into his pocket, and
+the little man disappeared with the spotted
+cow.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Tim hurried home. He slipped into the
+house. He took out of his pocket Miss
+Cockroach, Master Mouse, Musician Bee,
+the harp, and the stool, and arranged them
+in a corner of the room, telling them to remain
+quiet until he came back. Then he
+went into the kitchen.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Tim, my boy,” cried the mother, “how
+much money did you get?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Mother,” replied Tim, “don’t talk about
+money. Come with me.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>He led her into the next room. The
+minute they entered, Tim began to whistle.
+The bee joined him with a lively tune on the
+harp; the mouse made a deep bow, hat in
+hand, and the cockroach courtesied most gracefully.
+Then the two danced toward each
+other and began a real Irish jig, keeping excellent
+time to the music. Everything in the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>house joined in the merriment, pots and pans,
+chairs and tables, forks and spoons, all went
+hopping and jigging about in the most
+comical way. Tim clapped his hands. His
+mother nodded her head in time with the
+music and a broad smile spread over her face,
+although she tried and tried to frown. Finally
+Tim took up the tiny dancers, the musician,
+and the harp, and put them into his pocket.
+In an instant everything quieted down.
+Then how Tim’s mother did laugh! She
+laughed until the tears streamed down her
+cheeks. After some time she quieted herself;
+then she frowned and grew very angry.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh! you foolish, foolish boy,” she began;
+“you’ve traded away all my cows for those
+worthless things. Where shall I get money
+to pay the rent? We are much worse off than
+before. Oh, dear! Oh, dear!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Tim couldn’t bear to hear her cry, and so
+he took his hat and hastened out of doors.
+He was strolling down the lane toward the
+distant hills when suddenly he saw a tiny
+woman who held up her finger in a very
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>mysterious way. Tim politely raised his hat
+and bowed.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Good morning!” she said pleasantly. “I
+thought all gallant youths were at the palace
+of the king.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“And why should they be there?” asked
+Tim astonished.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, haven’t you heard that the king is in
+great trouble about his beautiful daughter, the
+princess? She is so sad and downhearted that
+the court physicians fear she will die. She
+hasn’t laughed for years, and the king has sent
+word throughout the land that he will give
+the princess in marriage to any youth who
+can make her laugh three times.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Tim didn’t wait to hear another word. He
+darted away and ran as fast as he could to the
+palace. After a time he reached the outer
+gates, and told the guards who were stationed
+there why he had come.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“You had better think twice before you
+try,” said one of them, “for the king casts all
+who fail into a dungeon.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“No matter, I shall try,” said Timothy.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>Word was sent to the king that a new suitor
+had arrived at the palace. The king commanded
+the newcomer to appear immediately.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“You know the penalty if you fail to make
+the princess laugh three times?” said his
+majesty.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I do, most gracious sire,” replied Tim,
+bowing very humbly.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Then, in a short time, be ready to make
+your trial.” With a gesture the king dismissed
+him.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>In a few minutes a messenger brought word
+that the king, the queen, the sad princess, and
+attendants were ready for the trial. Tim took
+out of his pocket the mouse, the cockroach,
+the bee, the harp, and the stool. He tied
+them all together with a long string. Then
+he marched into the king’s room, holding the
+end of the string in his hand. All the queer
+menagerie followed after him. He looked so
+comical as he approached that the king, the
+queen, and the courtiers burst into a hearty
+laugh. This made the princess lift her
+bowed head and look. When her eyes fell
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>on Tim and his string of queer little followers,
+she threw back her head and laughed heartily.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“That’s once,” nodded Tim.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then he untied the string. Musician Bee
+at once took his place on the stool near the
+harp. Mr. Mouse made his deepest bow.
+Miss Cockroach courtesied deep and long.
+Tim began to whistle. The bee tuned the
+harp and joined him with silvery chords.
+The mouse and the cockroach stepped gracefully
+in time to the music until they came
+near each other. Then they began to perform
+their merry Irish jig. The sight was too
+much for the king and queen and courtiers.
+They all burst into such a merry laugh that the
+castle walls rang. The princess tried to look
+serious but she couldn’t! She joined the
+others and they all laughed heartily.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“That’s twice,” said Tim smiling.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then he began to whistle faster; the bee
+followed him in time. The mouse and the
+cockroach bowed and jigged and reeled and
+whirled,—all to no purpose. The king, queen,
+and courtiers laughed heartily, but the princess
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>kept a grave expression. Finally the mouse
+whirled around on one heel three times, and
+on the last turn his tail swept right into the
+cockroach’s mouth. The cockroach started to
+cough violently. She coughed and coughed,
+and took out her tiny bit of a handkerchief
+to hold to her mouth. When the princess
+and her ladies saw this, they threw back their
+heads and shrieked with laughter.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“That’s thrice,” said Timothy. “I’ve
+won the Princess.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The king now ordered the courtiers to take
+Timothy to a royal dressing room. There he
+was dressed in a satin suit with gold lace trimmings
+and beautiful ornaments. He looked
+so handsome in his new clothes that the
+Princess fell in love with him. A glorious
+wedding feast was prepared. Timothy’s
+mother came in a wonderful coach drawn by
+six beautiful white horses. At the wedding,
+the bee furnished the music; the mouse and
+the cockroach led the dancing; and such was
+the merriment that the peals of laughter are
+still ringing in the valley around the palace.</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>THE OVERTURNED CART</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d123.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+One day, as Oh-I-Am, the
+wizard, went over Three-Tree
+Common, his shoe
+became untied, and he
+bent down to refasten it.
+Then he saw Wry-Face,
+the gnome, hiding among
+the bracken and looking
+as mischievous as anything. In one hand he
+held a white fluff-feather. Now these feathers
+are as light as anything, and will blow in the
+wind; and whatever they are placed under,
+whether light or heavy, they are bound to
+topple over as soon as the wind blows.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>As Oh-I-Am tied his shoe he saw Wry-Face
+place his fluff-feather carefully in the
+roadway, and at the same moment there came
+along One-Eye, the potato wife, with her cart
+full of potatoes. The cart went rumble,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>crumble, crack, crack, crack, over the leaves
+and twigs, and One-Eye sang to her donkey:</p>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>“Steady, steady,</div>
+      <div class='line'>We’re always ready,—”</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'>in a most cheerful voice.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then the cart came to the fluff-feather, and
+over it went—crash, bang, splutter; and the
+potatoes flew everywhere, like rain.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Wry-Face, the gnome, laughed to himself so
+that he ached, and he rolled over the ground
+with mirth. Then he flew away, laughing
+as he went.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>But One-Eye, the potato wife, was not laughing.
+Her tears went drip-drip as she started
+to gather her potatoes together. And as to
+getting her cart straight again, she did not
+know how she was to do it.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>But, when she turned round from gathering
+together the potatoes, she found that the cart
+was all right again, since Oh-I-Am the wizard
+had straightened it for her, and the donkey
+was standing on his legs, none the worse for
+his fall.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>Oh-I-Am looked stern and straight in his
+brown robe which trailed behind him. He said,</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“One-Eye, have you got all your potatoes
+together?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>One-Eye still wept. She said, “No, I have
+not found all of them, for some have wandered
+far. And I must not seek further, for this is
+market day, and I must away to the town.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>And she began to gather up the potatoes,
+and drop them into the cart, thud, thud, thud.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Oh-I-Am stooped then, and he, too, gathered
+up the potatoes; and he threw them into the
+cart, splish, splash, splutter!</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Alas!” said One-Eye, “if you throw
+them into the cart, splish, splash, splutter, you
+will bruise and break them. You must throw
+them in gently, thud, thud, thud.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So Oh-I-Am held back his anger, and he
+threw the potatoes in gently, thud, thud, thud.
+But, when the potato wife had gone on her
+way, he flew to his Brown House by the Brown
+Bramble; and he began to weave a spell.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>He put into it a potato, and a grain of earth,
+and a down from a pillow, and a pearl and an
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>apple pip from a pie. And when the spell
+was ready, he lay down, and fell asleep.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Wry-Face had gone round to all the
+neighbors to tell them the grand joke about
+One-Eye, the potato wife. Sometimes he
+told it through the window, and sometimes
+he stood at the door. Sometimes he told it
+to a gnome who was fine and feathery, and
+sometimes to one who was making bread.
+But all the time he laughed, laughed,
+laughed, till he was scarcely fit to stand.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Now he did not call at Oh-I-Am’s fine
+house to tell <em>him</em>, not he! And it was quite
+unnecessary, since Oh-I-Am knew the joke
+already, every bit.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Oh-I-Am had hidden the spell in his cupboard.
+When it was evening time, he stole
+out and laid it by Wry-Face’s door. Then
+he went home, and went to bed.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Wry-Face was making a pie for his supper.
+Suddenly the room became as dark as dark.
+The darkness was not night coming on, for
+this was summer time and night never came
+on as quickly as all that.</p>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id001'>
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>
+<img src='images/c127.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>“Dear me, what can be the matter?”
+thought Wry-Face; for he could barely see
+to finish making his pie.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then he heard a little voice from his
+window, crying, “Here I am, Wry-Face,
+here I am!” But he could not go out to see
+what it was yet awhile.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>When the apple pie was finished and in the
+oven, Wry-Face ran outside as fast as he could.
+But he did not see the spell which Oh-I-Am
+had placed by his door.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>What he did see was a great potato plant
+which had sprung up suddenly close to his
+window, and was springing up further still,
+high, high, and higher.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Good gracious me!” cried Wry-Face in a
+rage, “I never planted a potato plant there, not
+in my whole life! Now I should just like to
+know what you are doing by my window?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The potato plant took no notice, but went on
+climbing high, high, and higher, and, ever so
+far above, he heard a tiny faint voice crying,</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Here I am, Wry-Face, here I am!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Well, I never did!” cried Wry-Face, and
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>he began to weep; for he saw that the potato
+plant would climb up to his roof and round
+his chimney and he would never be able to
+get rid of it.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>And he wept and wept.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>At last he went in, and took his pie out of
+the oven, and set it in the pantry, for it was
+quite done. And he found a spade, and went
+out, and began to dig and dig at the root of
+the potato plant. But his digging did not
+seem to make any difference, and the evening
+began to grow darker.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Wry-Face fetched his little lamp, which is
+named Bright Beauty and which always burns
+without flickering. Then he went on digging,
+and he dug and dug and dug.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>And when he had dug for hours and hours,
+so that he was very, very tired, the potato
+plant began suddenly to dwindle and dwindle.
+It dwindled as fast as anything, the leaves
+disappeared and the stem disappeared and all
+the horrid stretching arms. They sank down,
+down, and down, till at last there was nothing
+left at all but—a big brown potato!</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>“Well, I do declare!” cried Wry-Face.
+“I should like to know what <em>you</em> have to do
+with my fine garden.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The potato replied, “I jumped here from
+the cart of One-Eye, the potato wife, and it
+is quite certain that unless I am taken back
+to her immediately, I shall start again, growing
+and growing and growing.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Dear potato, you must not start growing
+again,” cried Wry-Face, in a great way.
+“To-night I am so tired, I cannot do anything,
+but if you will but wait till to-morrow
+I will take you back to One-Eye, the potato
+wife—I will, indeed.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>At first the potato would not listen to this
+at all; but after a while it said, “Well, well,
+I will wait till to-morrow. But remember,
+if you do not carry me home to One-Eye, the
+potato wife, to-morrow, I shall grow into a
+potato <em>tree</em>, without a doubt.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So Wry-Face carried the potato into his
+house, and stored it in his bin. But he never
+noticed the spell which Oh-I-Am had placed
+by his door.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>“I am so tired, I can scarcely yawn,” said
+Wry-Face. “It is quite time for me to have
+my supper and go to bed.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So he fetched the apple pie from the pantry
+and set it upon the table, and presently he sat
+down to his meal.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>And he forgot for a moment how tired he
+was, thinking how delightful it was to sit
+down to a supper of apple pie.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then he lifted his knife and fork to cut
+off a large piece, but alas, the fork stuck fast.
+As for the knife, it would not move either,
+not an inch. Wry-Face began to weep.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Alack, what has happened to my apple pie?”
+cried he, and his tears fell, round as round.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then he got upon his feet, and he caught
+hold of the knife and fork and pulled and
+pulled and pulled. And with the last pull
+the top of the apple pie came off, sticking to
+the knife and fork, and Wry-Face saw that
+within the pie there was not one piece of
+apple, but—a big brown potato!</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Wry-Face wept again with horror at the
+sight.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>“I should like to know,” cried he, “what
+<em>you</em> are doing in my fine apple pie?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The brown potato replied, as cool as cool,
+“I am one of the potatoes belonging to One-Eye,
+the potato wife, and I turned the apples
+out, that I might hide here awhile. But this
+I must tell you, Wry-Face, unless you take
+me home to the potato wife immediately,
+here, in this pie dish, I intend to remain.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Alas!” cried Wry-Face, “to-night I am
+so tired I could never find One-Eye; but if you
+will but wait till to-morrow, I will carry you
+home to the potato wife—I will, indeed.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>At first the potato would not agree to
+this at all, but after a while it said, “Very
+well, I will wait till to-morrow. But remember,
+my Wry-Face, if you do not carry me
+home to One-Eye to-morrow, I will creep into
+every pie you make; and you will die at last
+of starvation without a doubt.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So Wry-Face stored the potato in the potato
+bin and went supperless to bed. And he
+knew nothing of the spell which Oh-I-Am
+had placed by his door.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>Now he got into bed, and thought he
+would go to sleep; but oh, how hard the
+mattress was! Wry-Face lay this way, then
+that, but no matter which way he lay, he
+found a great hump just beneath him which
+was as hard as hard, and as nobbly as could be.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Wry-Face tossed and tossed till it was
+nearly morning; and his bones were so sore
+that he could lie no longer.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then he pulled the mattress from the bed
+and cut a great hole in it, and when he had
+searched and searched he found in the middle
+of the mattress—a big brown potato!</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“This,” cried Wry-Face, “is why I have
+not slept the whole night through!” And he
+wept like anything.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>But the potato was as cool as cool.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I belong,” it said, “to One-Eye, the potato
+wife; and let me tell you, my little
+gnome, unless you take me to her immediately,
+I shall climb into your mattress again,
+and there I shall remain.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Alas,” cried Wry-Face, “I have tossed
+about for hours and hours and am too tired
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>to do anything. But if you will wait till to-morrow,
+dear potato, I will carry you to One-Eye,
+the potato wife—I will, indeed.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>At first the potato was unwilling to listen
+to this, but after a while it said, “Very well,
+then, I will wait till the morning. But this
+much I know, my Wry-Face, if you do not
+carry me then to One-Eye, the potato wife,
+I shall get into your mattress and you shall
+roll again <em>every night</em>.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So Wry-Face put the potato in the bin.
+When he had done that he went to bed, and
+slept and slept.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>When the sun was shining he awoke, and
+he remembered that he had to carry the potatoes
+back to One-Eye, the potato wife; and
+he was as cross as anything.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Well, I suppose I must,” he said. And
+when he had had his breakfast, he went to his
+cupboard to get a sack.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then he found that his sack was full of
+pearls which he had gathered together for
+Heigh-Heavy, the giant, whose daughter,
+So-Small, he wished to marry.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>So he thought, “First of all I will carry
+the pearls to Heigh-Heavy, for that is more
+important.” And away he went with the sack
+upon his back. And he never saw the spell
+which Oh-I-Am had placed beside his door.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>When he reached the Most Enormous
+House of Heigh-Heavy, the Giant, there the
+giant was sitting in his parlor lacing his shoes.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So Wry-Face cried out in a gay little voice,
+“Here I am, Heigh-Heavy, here I am. And
+here is a bag of pearls which I have brought
+you in exchange for your beautiful daughter,
+So-Small.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>When Heigh-Heavy heard this, he stopped
+lacing his shoes, and said, “You must bring
+me in exchange for my daughter So-Small as
+many pearls as will cover my palm.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then Wry-Face ran forward and he tipped
+up the sack; and, standing high upon his toes,
+he shook out all that it held into the hand of
+Heigh-Heavy, the Giant.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Now all that it held was—one brown
+potato!</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Wry-Face the gnome stared and stared and
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>stared, his eyes growing rounder and rounder;
+but he had no time to weep, on account of
+Heigh-Heavy the giant who had fallen into a
+rage terrible to see.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Now there is one thing quite certain,”
+said Heigh-Heavy, “and that is that you shall
+never marry my daughter So-Small, for, my
+Wry-Face, I will turn you into a brown potato,
+and a brown potato you shall remain your
+whole life through.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>When Wry-Face heard this terrible threat
+he took to his heels, and ran from the Most
+Enormous House of Heigh-Heavy, the giant.
+He ran, and ran, till his coat was torn and his
+ears were red; and he never rested till he
+reached his cottage door, and got inside.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Heigh-Heavy laughed till he cried to see
+the little gnome run. “He will play no
+tricks on <em>me</em>!” said he. And he went in and
+shut the door.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>But Wry-Face said to himself, as he carried
+the potatoes, weeping, to the potato-wife:</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I will never play a trick on <em>anyone</em>
+again, not as long as I live!”</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>CHANTICLEER</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d138.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+Once upon a time a
+widow and her two
+daughters lived in a little
+cottage near a grove.
+They were so poor that
+it took the most careful
+managing to earn a
+humble living. Their
+meals were very simple; indeed, they often had
+nothing but milk and brown bread, and once
+in a while a bit of bacon and an egg or two.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Around the cottage was a henyard, fenced
+in with sticks and a dry ditch, and here the
+old widow kept a handsome rooster called
+Chanticleer. His match for crowing could
+not be found; his voice was merrier than the
+merry organ heard in the church on Mass days,
+and the wonder of it was one could tell the
+hour of the day by his crowing! His comb
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>was redder than fine coral, and all notched
+like a castle wall. His bill was black and
+shone like jet, his legs and his toes were like
+azure, his nails whiter than the lily flower,
+and his feathers the color of burnished gold.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Chanticleer lived a happy life. He had
+with him seven plump wives, all very much
+like him in color, but by far the cheeriest
+companion among them was Demoiselle Partlet,
+who was not only beautiful but also wise
+and courteous. Chanticleer loved her dearly.
+What joy it was to hear them sing together
+at sunrise,</p>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>“My love is far away.”</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'>Early one morning when Chanticleer and
+his seven hens sat on the perch, Partlet, who
+was beside her lord, heard a loud groan.
+“My dear,” she said, astonished and alarmed,
+“what can be the matter with you? For
+shame, to wake us all up in this way!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Madam,” replied the rooster, “do not be
+anxious about me. It was only a dream, but
+it has frightened me almost beyond words. I
+thought I was roaming up and down the yard,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>when suddenly I saw a beast somewhat like a
+hound ready to spring at me. He was between
+yellow and red in color, his tail and ears were
+tipped with black, his nose was small and his
+eyes glowed like fire. I almost died of fright!
+That is what made me groan.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Fie for shame!” retorted Partlet. “Do
+you admit to your love that anything could
+fill your heart with fear? Alas! Alas! You
+know that dreams mean nothing. Let me
+explain what causes them. Overeating creates
+too much black humor, and in consequence
+one is likely to dream that black bears,
+or black bulls, or even <em>devils</em> will catch him.
+Then again, if one has too much red humor
+he may dream of arrows, of fire with red
+blazes, or of great and small whelps that will
+bite. I could go on, but further talk is unnecessary.
+Dearest, when we fly down from
+these rafters I will point out to you herbs and
+berries that will cure you; also for a day or
+two you shall have a light diet of worms.
+Cheer up, I say, and in a little while all will
+be well. Should this occur again, remember
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>the words of the wise Cato: ‘Take no heed
+of dreams!’”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Thank you for your excellent advice, my
+dear,” replied Chanticleer. “I know that
+Cato had much wisdom, but I can give you
+examples of other very wise men who did not
+agree with him. Do you not remember the
+story of Daniel in the Old Testament? Did
+he think dreams mean nothing? Also read
+the story of Joseph and you will see that a
+dream held warnings of future things. Recall
+for a moment Pharaoh, King of Egypt, his
+baker and his butler! See what they thought
+about the meaning of dreams. Wonderful
+stories on this subject I could point out to
+you, so do not be surprised that this dream of
+mine makes me anxious. But now, my dearest
+Partlet, let us talk about merrier things, for,
+when I see the beauty of your face and the
+lovely scarlet hue about your eyes, all my fears
+leave me. I am so full of joy and comfort in
+your company that I forget dreams.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Daybreak had come and the rooster and his
+seven wives flew down from the perch.
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>“Cluck! Cluck!” he called gayly when he
+found a tidbit in the yard. Behold Chanticleer
+in all his glory! Brave as a lion, he
+roamed proudly on his tiptoes up and down
+the henyard, never dreaming that an enemy
+was watching him with cunning interest.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Now it happened that a wicked fox had
+lived for three years in the grove near the
+cottage. All this time he had been watching
+his chance to fall upon the handsome rooster.
+During the night of Chanticleer’s dream, the
+fox had pushed slyly through the hedge into
+the garden and had carefully hidden himself
+among the vegetables.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The sun was shining gloriously! Partlet
+and her sisters were bathing merrily in the
+warm sand! Gallant Chanticleer, singing
+merrier than a mermaid, was watching a butterfly
+flitting about in the sunshine among the
+herbs when suddenly his eye caught sight of
+the fox lying low among the leaves! Terror
+seized him. The song died in his throat.
+“Cok! Cok!” he gasped. In a moment
+he would have fled, but the fox began right
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>away to speak to him in a very persuasive
+tone.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Gentle sir, I hope you are not afraid of
+me, your own good friend. Certainly I should
+be worse than a fiend if I harmed you.
+Indeed I did not come here to spy upon you,
+but, pardon me, to hear your glorious voice.
+No angel in heaven could sing sweeter than
+you do. How well I remember my lord,
+your father, and my lady, your honorable
+mother. They have been guests at my house
+many times. Shall I ever again hear a voice
+as beautiful as your father’s when he greeted
+the sunrise! I remember exactly how he
+looked. He stood on his tiptoes, shut his
+eyes tightly, stretched out his long slender
+neck and then poured forth his glorious song.
+He was indeed a wonder. Also, he was very
+wise and careful. I have heard it said that no
+one could surpass him in song or wisdom. I
+wonder, kind sir, if your voice is as beautiful
+as your father’s. For sweet charity’s sake, will
+you not sing one song for me and let me
+compare the two voices?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>How could Chanticleer refuse one so kind
+and courteous? He began to flap his wings.
+He stood on tiptoe. He closed his eyes.
+He stretched his long, slender neck and began
+to crow. Snap! In a twinkling the fox
+seized Chanticleer by the throat, swung him
+across his back, and was off to the woods with
+him.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Never was there such a commotion! The
+hens screamed and cried pitifully. Partlet
+shrieked at the top of her voice. This
+brought the widow and her daughters to the
+door, and then they saw the wicked fox with
+Chanticleer across his back making for the
+wood. “Help! Help! A fox! A fox!” they
+cried, and started after him as fast as they could
+go. Men snatched up sticks and joined them.
+The dog Coll ran yelping and barking. Malkin
+started with the distaff in her hand. The
+cow and the calf ran. The hogs, frightened
+at the loud barking of the dogs and the
+screaming of the people, set up a squealing
+like fiends and followed in the chase. The
+ducks quacked as if they were being murdered,
+the geese in terror took flight over the tree
+tops. The hideous deafening noise started a
+swarm of bees forth from their hive. Soon
+other people followed with horns of brass,
+wood, and bone. They blew, they bellowed,
+they cried, they screamed, they whooped, they
+shrieked, and made such a bedlam that it seemed
+the very heavens would fall. And on ran the
+fox with the rooster on his back.</p>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id001'>
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>
+<img src='images/c146.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>Now Chanticleer in all his breathless terror
+was rapidly turning over in his mind how
+he could help his friends to rescue him. Controlling
+his fright as best he could, he said,</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Sir, if I were you, I’d scoff at these followers.
+Say to them, ‘Turn back you proud
+churls! A plague upon you! The rooster
+is mine and I’ll soon be where I can eat
+him.’”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“In faith,” replied the fox, “I’ll do what
+you say.” As soon as the fox opened his mouth,
+Chanticleer flew high up into a tree which
+stood near. Now the fox saw his mistake, but
+was not ready to give up.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Alas, alas, Chanticleer,” he began, “I’ve
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>done you a great wrong. I seized you and
+carried you entirely too roughly. Forgive me
+for frightening you. Come now, fly down a
+moment and let me explain.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“No thank you,” crowed Chanticleer.
+“Your flattery will not catch me a second time,
+and make me sing again with my eyes closed.
+For no good can come to anyone who closes
+his eyes when they should be open.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Bad luck to the one who talks when he
+should hold his peace,” grumbled the fox.</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>THE JACKAL AND THE ALLIGATOR</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d149.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+A little Jackal, who
+was very fond of crabs and
+bits of fish and whatever
+else he could find, went
+down to the riverside
+one morning in search
+of something for his
+dinner. He ran up and down the bank, here
+and there, but he could find nothing to eat.
+At last, near some tall bulrushes and under
+clear, shallow water he saw a little crab who
+was sidling along as fast as his legs could carry
+him. The little jackal was so very hungry
+that, without looking, he put his paw into
+the water after the crab. “Snap!” A great
+big alligator who lived in the river, had the
+paw in his jaws.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, dear,” thought the little jackal, “a
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>big alligator has my paw in his mouth. In
+another minute he will drag me down under
+the water and swallow me. What can I
+do?” Then a thought came to the little
+jackal, “I’ll fool that old alligator and get
+away from him.” So he called out in a very
+cheerful voice, “Clever Alligator! Clever
+Alligator! To catch hold of that bulrush root
+for my paw! I hope you will find it very
+tender.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The old alligator was so hidden among the
+bulrushes that he could scarcely see anything.
+On hearing the little jackal call out he said to
+himself, “Dear me, I thought I had caught
+hold of the jackal’s paw; but there he is calling
+out in a cheerful voice. I suppose I
+have made a mistake.” So saying he opened
+his mouth and let the little jackal go.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The jackal ran away as fast as he could.
+When he was at a safe distance he called out,
+“O wise Alligator! O wise Alligator! So
+you let me go again.” The alligator was
+very angry, but the little jackal had run too
+far away to be caught.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>The next day the jackal returned to the
+riverside to get his dinner as before. The
+old alligator was nowhere to be seen, but
+the little jackal thought it best not to take
+any chances, so he called out, “Wherever I
+go to look for my dinner, I search for the
+nice little fat crabs that come peeping up
+through the mud. Then I put my paw down
+and catch them. I wish I could see one
+now.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The old alligator was down in the mud at
+the bottom of the river, and he heard every
+word the jackal said. He thought to himself,
+“Aha! I’ll just show the tip of my nose up
+through the mud. He’ll take it for a little
+fat crab and put his paw in to catch me. As
+soon as he does so, I’ll gobble him up!” So
+he popped the little point of his nose out of
+the mud and waited. No sooner did the
+jackal see the tip of the alligator’s nose than
+he called out, “O Friend Alligator, so there
+you are. No dinner for me here, thank you.”
+And off he ran and fished for his dinner a
+long, long way from that place. The old
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>alligator snapped his jaws again and again.
+He was very angry at missing his dinner a
+second time, and he made up his mind not to
+let the jackal escape again.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The following day, the little jackal went
+down to the waterside as usual to look for
+crabs. He was rather afraid to go too near
+the river’s edge, for he felt sure the old enemy
+was hiding somewhere. So he stayed back
+at a safe distance and called out,</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Where are all the little crabs gone?
+There is not one here and I am very hungry.
+When I don’t see them on the shore or peeping
+up through the mud I see them blowing
+bubble, bubble, bubble, and all the little
+bubbles go pop! pop! pop!” The old alligator
+lying low in the mud heard this and he
+said to himself, “I can fool that little jackal
+easy enough <em>this</em> time. I’ll pretend to be a
+little crab.” Then he began to blow, puff,
+puff! Bubble, bubble, bubble! And all the
+great bubbles rushed to the top of the river,
+and burst there, and the water whirled and
+whirled round and round just above the place
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>where the old alligator lay hidden. It didn’t
+take the jackal long to know who was underneath
+those bubbles, and off he ran, as fast as
+he could go, calling out,</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Thank you, kind Alligator, thank you,
+thank you! Indeed it is very kind of you to
+show me just where you are.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The old alligator was furious at being deceived
+by the little jackal once more. “Next
+time I will be very cunning,” he said. So,
+for a long time he waited and waited for the
+jackal, to come to the riverside, but the jackal
+never returned.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I shall be caught and eaten by that wicked
+old alligator some day if I am not careful. I
+must content myself to do without crabs.” He
+went no more to the river, but stayed in the
+jungle and ate wild figs and roots which he
+dug up with his paws.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>When the alligator found this out he was
+angry again, and he determined to try to
+catch the jackal on land. So he crawled over
+the ground to a place where the largest of the
+wild fig trees grew. He made a great heap
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>of the fallen figs and hid himself under it, and
+there he waited for the jackal. No sooner
+did the cunning little animal spy the great
+pile of figs than he thought, “Oh, ho, that
+looks much like my friend the alligator. I’ll
+see.” So he called out,</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“The little wild figs I like best always
+tumble down from the tree, and roll here
+and there as the wind drives them. That
+great heap of figs is quite still. They can
+not be good figs. I will not eat one of
+them.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The old alligator thought, “Oh, ho! How
+suspicious this jackal is. I will make the figs
+roll about a little, then he will come and eat
+them.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So the great beast shook himself and all the
+little figs went roll, roll, roll, this way and that,
+farther than the most blustering wind could
+have driven them. The jackal knew who
+was under the heap. Away he scampered,
+calling back, “Thank you, Mr. Alligator,
+for letting me know you are there! I should
+scarcely have guessed it.” The alligator hearing
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>this was so angry that he ran after the
+jackal, but the jackal ran away too quickly
+to be caught.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The old alligator was now in a rage. “I
+will not let him make fun of me another time
+and then run away out of my reach. I will
+show him I can be more cunning than he
+thinks,” he declared.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Early the next morning he crawled as fast
+as he could till he came to the little jackal’s
+den. The jackal was away, and so he crept
+in and hid himself to wait until the little
+animal should return. By and by the jackal
+came home. He looked all about the place,
+for the ground around his house was torn up
+as though some very heavy animal had been
+crawling there.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Dear me,” he said. Then he saw that the
+earth on each side of the door of his den had
+been knocked down as if something very big
+had tried to squeeze through it.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I certainly will not go inside until I know
+who has gone in there.” So he called out,
+“Little house, why do you not give me an answer
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>when I call? You always call out to me
+if all is safe and right. Is anything wrong
+that you do not speak?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then the alligator who was inside thought,
+“I must pretend to be the little house and call
+out. He will not come in unless he thinks
+all is right in here.” So he called out in
+as pleasant a voice as he could, “Sweet little
+Jackal.” When the little jackal heard that
+he was frightened indeed.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“So that dreadful old alligator is in my
+house. I must try to kill him if I can, or
+he will certainly make an end of me some
+day.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then he answered, “Thank you, my dear
+little house. I like to hear your pretty voice.
+I am coming in a minute, but first I must
+collect some firewood to cook my dinner.”
+As fast as he could, he gathered all the dry
+branches and bits of sticks and piled them up
+close to the mouth of the den. The old alligator
+inside kept as quiet as a mouse, but he
+could not help laughing a little to himself,
+“So I have deceived that little jackal at last.
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>In a few minutes he will run in here, and then,
+won’t I snap him up!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>When the jackal had gathered as many
+sticks as he could find, he ran back and placed
+the sticks all round the outside of his den.
+Then he set fire to them. The great fire
+blazed up, and the smoke filled the den and
+smothered that wicked old alligator.</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>FINN AND THE FAIRY SHOEMAKER</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d158.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+Finn O’Shea’s grandmother
+knew more about
+fairies than anyone else in
+the village. One afternoon
+when the sun was
+shining on the tops of the
+Nine Hills, which rose
+up a few fields beyond the
+edge of the village, Finn and his grandmother
+were coming home from a walk. Suddenly
+the old woman darted forward and picked up
+the tiniest bit of a gray feather. Her sharp eyes
+had spied it under the shadow of a foxglove.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“What is it, Granny?” asked Finn.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“An owl’s feather, lad. It fell out of one of
+their wee red caps,” said she, laughing quietly.
+“They had a fine revel in the fields last night,
+my boy, for it was Midsummer Eve. That
+is the time when the wee folks are gayest,
+you know.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>“I wish I could see them dancing,” said
+Finn.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Ah, my lad, no mortal can see them so
+long as they keep their wee red caps on,”
+said grandmother. “Sometimes in their
+revels they toss their caps aside, but you see
+the frogs are always on the lookout to warn
+the fairies if mortal steps are near. These
+tiny elves are very clever. Do you see those
+three circles of green which are a little lighter
+in color than the rest of the grass? That is
+where they danced until the village cocks
+began to crow. Then they made off to the
+Nine Hills. Ah! It would be a wonderful
+sight to see the wee folks whirling and gliding
+about in the white moonlight to the sweetest
+fairy music. But as I said, few mortals have
+ever seen them.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Do they dance every night, grandmother?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Every night, Finn. If the weather is fine
+they frolic on the green, especially if the moon
+is bright. When the nights are wet and
+stormy they keep inside the hills, where there
+is an elfin village.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>Finn look very serious. “Grandmother,”
+he said, “these wee folks must wear out a
+good many pairs of shoes.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“That they do, my lad. I’m sure I don’t
+know what they would do without little Leprechaun,
+the Fairy Shoemaker. He is the
+only industrious one among them.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Tell me about him, Granny,” said Finn.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Grandmother sat down on a large stone
+and looked toward the Nine Hills.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“The Fairy Shoemaker is very rich, Finn,
+richer than my lord O’Toole who lives in the
+castle by the sea. Indeed, there is no one in
+all Ireland who has as much gold as this elfin
+shoemaker who spends his days working for
+the fairies. All kinds of shoes he makes,—stout
+little brogans and buskins, high hunting
+boots, bits of satin slippers that you could
+stand on a penny, tiny sandals with silver
+laces and diamond buckles,—all kinds of
+shoes. O Finn, my lad, he is a wonderful
+wee old man.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Where does he keep his money, Granny?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Why, what a question, my lad! Do you
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>think this sly little Elf would let any mortal
+know that secret? Not he!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I wonder if anyone has ever seen him,”
+said Finn.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“My lad, your great-grandmother O’Shea
+knew a poor farmer who found a pot of gold
+buried in one of his fields. The villagers always
+believed that the man had in some way
+caught little Leprechaun, and made him point
+out the spot where his gold was hidden.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Granny,” said Finn, “I’d like to catch
+the Fairy Shoemaker. One pot of his gold
+would make us very rich, wouldn’t it?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Catch little Leprechaun, Finn! My lad,
+you couldn’t do it.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“He is very tiny, grandmother. I’m sure
+I could hold him easily.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“You would have to catch him, first, Finn.
+He is the trickiest Elf of all. No one can
+see him as long as he wears his wee red cap!
+And if you should chance to find him without
+it, you wouldn’t dare take your eyes off him
+for one second or away he would go. Some
+people say bad luck is sure to come to mortals
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>who meddle with the fairies,” said grandmother,
+looking about cautiously. “It is
+better to earn your pot of gold, my lad. But
+come, the sun has gone behind the hills.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Finn was very quiet all the way home.
+He was wondering how he could catch the
+Fairy Shoemaker and make the little Elf tell
+where his treasure crocks were hidden. He
+would begin the search in good earnest the
+very next day.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>In the morning when Finn drove the cow
+to the pasture, he peeped carefully among the
+low willows that bordered the brook. He
+looked all around the big stones in the
+meadow. Several times he stopped and
+listened! Once he felt sure he caught the
+clicking sound of an elfin hammer. It
+seemed to come from the direction of a tall
+ragweed, but when Finn drew near, the sound
+stopped suddenly and he could see nothing.
+Patiently each day he searched for the little
+Leprechaun. One afternoon when he was
+sauntering through a shady glen near the Nine
+Hills he stooped down to quench his thirst at
+a tiny spring of clear water. He fancied he
+heard a faint clicking sound! “Tip-tap, tip-tap.”
+Finn raised his head quickly and listened!</p>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id001'>
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>
+<img src='images/c163.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>“Rip-rap-tip-tap</div>
+      <div class='line'>Tick-a-tack-too;</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>Tip-tap-tip,</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>Rip-rap-rip,</div>
+      <div class='line'>Tick-tack-too.”</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'>The sound came from behind a large stone
+near the spring. Soon the tapping stopped
+and the shrill voice sang out:</p>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>“Tip-a tap-tip</div>
+      <div class='line'>And tick-a-tack-too,</div>
+      <div class='line'>Every stitch helps</div>
+      <div class='line'>To finish a shoe.”</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'>Finn could hear his heart beat. He crept
+cautiously along and peeped around the stone.
+There, on a tiny stool, sat the Fairy Shoemaker
+hammering away at a wee hunting boot of
+scarlet leather, which he held between his
+knees. <em>And his bit of a red cap was hanging
+on a spear of tall grass!</em> Finn leaped to his
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>feet, faced little Leprechaun, seized the red
+cap, and said, “Good day, sir.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Instantly the little Elf jumped up and
+looked sharply through his spectacles at Finn.
+He was about twelve inches tall and his queer
+little face was full of wrinkles. A long gray
+beard reached to the top of a leathern apron
+which almost covered his brown suit.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Good day, sir,” repeated Finn.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Humph!” grunted Leprechaun.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Finn went closer, grasped the little Elf’s
+shoulder, held him tightly, and stared sharply
+at him.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“You’d better be off,” said the Fairy Shoemaker;
+“I have work to do.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Finn kept his eyes fixed on the wee man,
+and said, “Come, now, where do you keep
+your treasure crocks? I shall not let you go
+until you tell me.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh! Is that all you want?” laughed the
+Elf. “Well, come along with me.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Finn was delighted. The old man seemed
+very easy to manage. Leprechaun looked up
+pleasantly and said, “Your pardon, sir.” He
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>pulled out a tiny gold snuffbox, took a pinch
+and offered some to Finn. “Snuff, sir?” he
+said with a smile.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Why, how friendly he seems,” thought
+Finn, taking a pinch.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Pouf-f!!” The Fairy Shoemaker blew
+all the snuff right into Finn’s face.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Tshoo-oo!—Tshoo-oo! A-a-a-tshoo-oo-oo!”
+sneezed Finn, <em>shutting his eyes</em>! In a
+twinkling the wee man had snatched his red
+cap and was gone!</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Finn went home a little discouraged.
+“Why didn’t I remember what Granny told
+me about his tricks?” he said to himself.
+“I’ll try again, and he shall not catch me a
+second time.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>One afternoon a few weeks later, Finn walked
+as far as the Nine Hills. He was very tired, so
+he lay down on one of the grassy slopes to rest.
+How quiet it was on the shady hillside!</p>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>“Tip-a-tap-tip</div>
+      <div class='line'>And tick-a-tack-too,</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>Rip-rap-rip</div>
+      <div class='line'>Tick-tack-too.”</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>The sound came from the crest of the hill.
+After a little pause a shrill voice sang:</p>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>“A wedding feast to-night</div>
+      <div class='line'>And dancing on the green!</div>
+      <div class='line'>In moonbeams’ silver light</div>
+      <div class='line'>Gay fairies will be seen!</div>
+      <div class='line'>Tiny satin sandals</div>
+      <div class='line'>To grace the dainty bride;</div>
+      <div class='line'>Stitch away Leprechaun</div>
+      <div class='line'>They must be your pride.”</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'>It was the voice of little Leprechaun! The
+Fairy Shoemaker was working away near the
+crest of the hill. Finn crept up the grassy
+slope, and there in the shadow of some low
+bushes sat the tiny Elf. He was putting a
+high heel on the daintiest white satin sandal.
+And beside him lay his wee red cap!</p>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>“Tip-tap-rip-rap</div>
+      <div class='line'>Tick-a-tack-too.”</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'>The elfin hammer was working busily—busily!</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Finn slipped up quietly, and grasping the
+red cap in one hand laid hold of the wee
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>man’s shoulder with the other. Up jumped
+the Elf. He looked round quickly for his cap.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Good day, sir,” said Finn.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Leprechaun made a deep bow.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“You are busy, I see.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Always busy, sir,” answered the wee man.
+“Always busy.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I suppose you like to make shoes, especially
+such dainty ones?” And all the time Finn
+kept his eyes on the little Elf’s face and held
+him fast.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I like to <em>work</em>” said the Fairy Shoemaker
+slyly. “Come, now, do you?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Finn felt a little confused at this last question,
+but he answered,</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“You have plenty of gold and some to
+spare, I should think. Come, tell me where
+you keep your treasure crocks.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I will show you where I keep <em>one</em> of
+them,” answered Leprechaun.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“All right,” answered Finn. “If you’ll
+lead me to the spot where one crock of gold
+is buried, I’ll not bother you again.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Come, then,” said the Elf.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>“Mind that you keep your snuffbox in
+your pocket,” said Finn. “You shan’t catch
+me that way again.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“This way,” laughed the wee man.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Down the hillside and over the fields
+hurried the Fairy Shoemaker, leading Finn
+along at a good pace. It was wonderful to
+see this queer Elf skip across the ditches and
+hedges, and hop over the stones and rough
+places in the meadow. Finn was becoming very
+tired. “How much farther is it?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Come along, come along,” laughed little
+Leprechaun.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Finally they came to a field full of ragweed.
+The Fairy Shoemaker stopped suddenly.
+Then pointing with his tiny finger, he said,
+“If you dig deep under the roots of this weed,
+you’ll find one of my treasure crocks filled to
+the brim with gold.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“But I can’t dig without a spade,” said
+Finn excitedly.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Of course not,” answered Leprechaun.
+“But now that you know the spot you can
+get the gold whenever you like.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>“I shall get it to-day,” said Finn. “I’ll
+run home now and get my spade. But I’d
+better mark the weed, I think.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“That would be a good plan,” said the
+Shoemaker. “Here I have a bit of bright
+red string in my pocket. Let us tie it around
+the stem near the top.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>How deftly the elfin fingers tied the mark!</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Thank you very kindly,” said Finn.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Is there anything else I can do for you,
+sir?” asked Leprechaun.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“You will promise not to touch the string?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I promise not to touch it, sir. Also I assure
+you no one else shall touch it,” said
+Leprechaun.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Well, then, you may go. Here is your
+red cap. I thank you very much for your
+kindness. Good day!” said Finn pleasantly.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Good day, sir,” said the Fairy Shoemaker,
+and off he scampered, chuckling to himself.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>You may be sure Finn hurried away to fetch
+his spade. How surprised Granny would be
+to hear that he had caught the Fairy Shoemaker.
+He would not tell her until he
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>carried home the treasure. In breathless haste
+he got his spade and hurried back to the field
+of ragweed. Then Finn stood still and
+looked! A bit of bright red string was tied
+around every ragweed in the field! The
+Fairy Shoemaker had tricked him again!
+He thought he heard a low chuckling laugh.
+Finn listened carefully. From among the
+weeds he heard a faint voice singing,</p>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>“How does the little Leprechaun</div>
+      <div class='line in2'>Fill treasure crocks with gold?</div>
+      <div class='line'>The live long day he <em>works away</em></div>
+      <div class='line in2'>From far-off times of old.”</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>MAKING THE BEST OF IT</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d173.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+“What a pretty day this is!”
+said the old gray goose to
+the brown hen, as they
+stood at the henhouse
+window and watched the
+falling snow which covered
+every nook and
+corner of the farmyard.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Yes, indeed,” said the brown hen; “I
+would be almost willing to be made into
+chicken pie on such a day.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>She had scarcely stopped talking, when the
+Pekin duck said, fretfully, “I am dreadfully
+hungry,” and a little flock of speckled chickens
+all huddled together wailed in sad chorus,
+“And we’re so thirsty!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>In fact, the feathered folks in the henhouse
+were very much inclined to be cross and discontented.
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>Since the farmer’s boy fed them,
+early in the morning, they had been given
+nothing to eat or drink, and, as hour after
+hour went by, and the cold winter wind
+howled around their house, it is no wonder
+they felt deserted.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The handsome white rooster, however, appeared
+quite as happy as usual, and that is saying
+a great deal, for a jollier, better-natured
+old fellow than he never graced a farmyard.
+Sunshine, rain, or snow were all the same to
+him, and he crowed quite as lustily in stormy
+weather as in fair.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Well,” he said, laughing heartily, as his
+bright eyes glanced about the henhouse, “you
+all seem to be having a fit of the dumps.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Nobody answered the white rooster, but a
+faint cluck or two came from some hens
+who immediately put their heads back under
+their wings, as if ashamed of having spoken
+at all.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>This was quite too much for the white
+rooster, who, standing first on one yellow foot
+and then on the other, said: “Well, we are a
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>lively set! Anyone would think, to look in
+here, that we were surrounded by a band of
+hungry foxes.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Just then a daring little white bantam
+rooster hopped down from his perch, and,
+strutting pompously over to the big rooster,
+created quite a stir among the feathered folk
+by saying,</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“We’re all lively enough when our crops
+are full, but when we’re starving the wonder
+is that we can hold our heads up at all. If I
+ever see that farmer’s boy again, I’ll—I’ll
+peck his foot!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“You won’t see him until he feeds us,” said
+the white rooster, “and then I think you will
+peck his corn.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, oh!” moaned the brown hen, “don’t
+mention a peck of corn.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Madam,” remarked the white rooster,
+bowing politely, “your trouble is my own—that
+is, I’m hungry, too. But we might be
+worse off; we might be on our way to market
+in a box. Then, too, suppose we haven’t had
+enough to eat to-day, at least we have room
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>enough to stretch our wings and a good, quiet
+place to sleep in.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Why, that is a fact,” answered the brown
+hen; and all the feathered family—the smallest
+chickens included—stretched their wings,
+preened their feathers, and looked a trifle more
+animated.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Now then,” went on the rooster, “suppose
+we have a little music to cheer us and help
+pass the hours until roosting time. We will
+all crow—there, I beg your pardon, ladies; I
+am sorry you can’t crow—we will sing a merry
+song. Will you be kind enough to start a
+lively tune, Mrs. Brown Hen?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The brown hen shook herself proudly,
+tossed her head back, and began: “Cut-cut-cut-ca-dak-cut,”
+and in less than two minutes
+every one in the henhouse had joined her.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Now the horses, cows, and sheep were not
+far away, and, hearing the happy voices in the
+henhouse, they, too, joined in the grand chorus,
+while the pigs did their best to sing louder
+than all the rest. Higher and higher, stronger
+and stronger, rose the chorus; louder and
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>louder quacked the ducks, and shriller and
+shriller squealed the pigs. At length even
+the dogs barked merrily.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>They were all so happy that they quite forgot
+their hunger until the door of the henhouse
+burst open, and in came three chubby children,
+each carrying a dish full of steaming chicken
+food.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Don’t stop your music, Mr. Rooster,” said
+the little girl, who was so snugly bundled up
+that you could scarcely see her dear little face.
+“You see, we were so lonesome that we didn’t
+know what to do; but when we heard all you
+folks singing out here in your house, we
+laughed and laughed until we almost cried.
+Then we went to tell Jack about you; he was
+lonesome, too—poor Jack sick with a sore
+throat—and he said, ‘Why, those poor hens;
+they haven’t been fed since morning!’”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Cock-a-doodle-do!” said the white rooster.
+“This comes of making the best of things.
+Cock-a-doodle-do!” And nobody asked him
+to stop his crowing.</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>THE BROWNIE OF BLEDNOCK</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d178.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+Did you ever hear how a
+Brownie came to the
+village of Blednock and
+was frightened away
+again?</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>It was one November
+evening, just when the
+milking was done and
+before the children were put to bed. The
+people of the village were standing by their
+doorsteps talking about their bad harvest and
+the turnips, and what chances there were of a
+good price for their cattle at the coming fair.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>All at once the queerest humming noise
+seemed to come up from the riverside. It
+came nearer and nearer, and all the good people
+stopped talking and began to look down the
+road. And, indeed, it was no wonder that
+they stared, for there, coming up the middle
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>of the highway, was the strangest little creature
+that human eyes had ever seen.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>He looked like a wee, wee man. He had
+a long blue beard which almost touched the
+ground. His legs were twisted, his knees
+knocked together as he walked, and his arms
+were so long that his hands trailed in the mud
+as he came along. He seemed to be humming
+something over and over. As he came nearer,
+the good people of the village could make out
+the words:</p>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>“Have ye work for Aiken-Drum?</div>
+      <div class='line'>Any work for Aiken-Drum?”</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'>Oh, how frightened the people were! The
+children screamed and hid their faces in their
+mothers’ gowns and the milkmaids threw down
+the pails of milk they were carrying. Even
+the dogs crept in behind the doors, whining
+and hiding their tails between their legs.
+Some of the men who were not too frightened
+to look the wee man in the face, laughed and
+hooted at him.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Did you ever see such eyes?” cried one.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“His mouth is so big he could swallow the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>moon and never even notice it,” said the
+other.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Look at his long blue beard!” said a third.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>And still the poor little man came slowly
+up the road, crying:</p>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>“Have ye work for Aiken-Drum?</div>
+      <div class='line'>Any work for Aiken-Drum?”</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'>Good Grannie Duncan, the kindest old
+woman in the village, called out at last: “He’s
+just a Brownie, a simple, kindly Brownie. I’ve
+heard tell of Brownies before. Many a long
+day’s work will they do for the people who
+treat them well.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Gathering courage from her words, all the
+village folk crowded around the little man.
+When they were close to him, they saw that
+his face was kind and gentle and that his tiny
+eyes had a merry twinkle in them.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Strange little creature,” said an old man,
+“tell us what you want and where you came
+from?”</p>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id001'>
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>
+<img src='images/c182.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>“I cannot well tell thee whence I came,”
+said the wee man. “My country is a nameless
+land and is very different from this land
+of yours. For there we all learn to serve,
+while here every one wishes to be served.
+When there is no work for us to do at home,
+we sometimes set out to visit thy land to see
+if there is any work we can do there. If
+thou wilt, I will stay here awhile. I do not
+wish anyone to wait on me, for I want no
+wages, nor clothes, nor bedding. All I ask for
+is a corner of the barn to sleep in, and a bowl
+of broth set down on the floor at bedtime.
+If no one meddles with me, I shall be ready to
+help any one who needs me. I’ll gather your
+sheep on the hill. I’ll take in the harvest by
+moonlight. I’ll sing your bairns to sleep in
+their cradles. You’ll find that the bairns
+all love Aiken-Drum. And, good housewives,
+I’ll churn for you and bake your bread on a
+busy day. The men folk, too, may find me
+useful when there is corn to thrash, or untamed
+colts in the stables, or when the waters are
+out in flood.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>No one knew quite what to say in answer to
+the little creature’s strange request. It was an
+unheard-of thing for anyone to come and offer
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>his services for nothing. Some thought it
+could not be true; others said it were better
+to have nothing to do with the little creature.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then up spoke good Grannie Duncan again:</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“He’s but a Brownie, I tell you, a harmless
+Brownie. Many a story I’ve heard in my
+young days about the work that a Brownie
+can do, if he be treated well and let alone.
+Have we not all been complaining about bad
+times, small wages, and the hard work we all
+have to do? And now, when a workman
+comes ready to your hand, you will have nothing
+to do with him just because he is strange
+looking. And I’ve heard that a Brownie can
+stalk a whole ten-acre field in a single night!
+Shame on you, say I!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“A ten-acre field in a single night!” cried
+out all the men of the village at once. “A
+ten-acre field!” repeated one. “And in a
+single night!” added another. That settled
+the matter. The miller at once offered the
+Brownie a corner of his barn to sleep in, and
+good Grannie Duncan promised to make him
+some broth at bedtime and to send her grandchild,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>wee Janie, down to the barn with it
+every evening. Then all the people of the
+village said, “Good night,” and went to their
+homes. But they were careful to look over
+their shoulders once in a while, for fear that
+the strange little man was following them.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>But if they were afraid of him that night,
+they had a very different story to tell about
+him before a week had passed. Whatever he
+was or wherever he came from, he was the
+most wonderful little worker that these people
+had ever known. And the strange thing was
+that he did most of the work at night. Village
+folk came from all parts of the countryside to
+catch a glimpse of this queer little worker,
+but they were never successful, for he was never
+to be seen when one looked for him. They
+might have gone to the miller’s barn twenty
+times a day, and twenty times a day they would
+have found nothing but a heap of straw and
+an empty broth bowl.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>But whenever there was work to be done,
+whether it was a tired child to be sung to, or
+a house to be made tidy, or a batch of bread
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>to be worked up, or a flock of sheep to be
+gathered together on a stormy night, Aiken-Drum
+always knew of it and appeared ready
+to help just at the right time.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Many a time some poor mother who had
+been up all night with a crying child would
+sit down with it on her lap in front of the fire
+in the morning and fall asleep. When she
+awoke she would find that Aiken-Drum had
+made a visit to her house; for the floor would
+be scrubbed and the dishes washed, the fire
+made up and the kettle put on to boil. But
+the little Brownie would have slipped away as
+if he were afraid of being thanked.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The little children were the only ones who
+ever saw him when he was not working, and,
+oh, how they loved him! When school was
+out you could see them away down by the
+stream crowding around the little dark brown
+figure, and you could hear the sound of low,
+sweet singing; for Aiken-Drum knew all the
+songs that children love well.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>By and by the name of Aiken-Drum came
+to be a household word among the good people
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>of the village, for, although they seldom saw
+him near at hand, they loved him like one of
+their own people.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>And he would never have gone away if
+every one in the village had remembered what
+good Grannie Duncan told them about Brownies.
+“A Brownie works for love,” she had
+said to them over and over again. “He will
+not work for pay. If anyone tries to pay him,
+the wee creature’s feelings will be hurt, and he
+will vanish in the night.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>But a good man of the village and his wife
+forgot all that had been said, and one day they
+planned to make something for Aiken-Drum.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“He should not work for nothing,” said
+the good man.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“He has already worn out his coat and
+trousers slaving for us,” said his wife.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So one day they made him a little pair of
+green trousers and a little brown coat. That
+night the two good people laid a parcel by
+the side of the bowl of broth in the miller’s
+barn.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>In the middle of the night some one heard
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>the Brownie saying to himself, “A nice pair
+of green trousers and a little brown coat for
+me. I can come here no more till one of the
+children of this village travels the world over
+and finds me first.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So this strange little creature had to go
+away. He vanished in the night as any
+Brownie is sure to do if some one tries to pay
+him.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>And all the good people of Blednock talked
+of the kind deeds of the little strange man
+who came one evening into their midst, and
+they wondered and wondered if he would ever
+come back to them again.</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>HOW OLAF BROUGHT THE BROWNIE BACK</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d189.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+Did you ever hear how
+Olaf, one of the village
+children, went in search
+of the Brownie and
+brought him back to the
+good people of Blednock?</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>It came about in this
+way.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Olaf’s father had often told him of the
+Brownie that had once lived in the village
+and had helped all the village people to do
+their work.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“The little lively thing would come night
+after night and clean the floor, and scrub the
+table, and wash the dishes, and keep the
+whole house as clean as a new pin. But one
+night he went away and he never came back.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Why did he go away, father?” asked
+Olaf.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>“Well,” said his father, “there’s great
+pride in Brownies. They’ll work their
+fingers off for love, but you must never thank
+them, nor give them anything, or away they
+will go. Good Grannie Duncan had told us
+that over and over again, but your mother
+and I forgot all about her wise words. We
+thought that the little thing ought not to
+work for nothing. So we bought a piece of
+green cloth and a piece of brown cloth and
+your mother sat up all night cutting and
+stitching. By morning she had made as neat
+a pair of little trousers and as fine a coat as
+ever she made for you.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“That night we laid the clothes in a little
+parcel beside the bowl of broth, and we heard
+the little thing saying to himself:</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“‘A nice pair of green trousers and a little
+brown coat for me. I can come here no
+more—<em>no more</em>—till one of the children of
+the village travels the world over and finds
+me first.’</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“And the strange little creature vanished
+in the night and no one has seen or heard
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>of him since though we have missed him
+very, very much.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Olaf thought about the Brownie all day.
+He felt that, although the world away from
+the village might be very dangerous, he was
+quite willing to travel in it if, by so doing,
+he could bring the Brownie back to Blednock.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Olaf asked each person in the village where
+to find the Brownie. Also, he asked the
+oldest apple tree in the orchard, but it said
+nothing. He asked the cows, but they said
+nothing. He asked the dog, but he barked
+about other things. Only the sheep helped
+him. They said nothing, but they looked as
+if they knew. Olaf tended the sheep and
+the young lambs throughout the year, and
+he wondered and wondered if the lambs
+learned from the old sheep where the Brownie
+was hidden.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I will not come back until a child of this
+village travels the world over and finds me
+first,—travels the world over and finds me
+first,” Olaf kept saying to himself over and
+over.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>At last one summer evening, as he was
+coming home from the sheepfolds, he heard
+the faint sound of bagpipes very near. He
+heard it again the next night, and the next,
+and the night after that, and every night,
+until, at last, he made up his mind to follow
+the sound and find out who it was that played
+the pipes so sweetly.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>He left the sheep path and followed the
+music, walking carefully lest he should lose
+it. The soft sweet notes seemed to come from
+a mass of rocks which lay on the moor behind
+him. As he came near the rocks he knew the
+music was directly above it, so he started to
+climb up. Halfway up the path was easy to
+climb, and he soon won his way up to a little
+tree which thrust itself out of the side of the
+pile. He twisted himself over the tree and
+rested there, wondering how he could get up
+the rest of the way, for he saw six feet of
+smooth rock up to the top.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>All the time the music of the bagpipes,
+scarcely louder than a concert of bees and
+crickets, sounded close above his head. “Oho,
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>there!” shouted Olaf at last. The music
+stopped suddenly. A little brown face with
+a long blue beard looked eagerly over the top
+of the rocks.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“So it is you, is it?” said a voice. “Here,
+take hold of my wrist and then pull.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Olaf caught sight of a long brown arm
+stretched down toward him. He caught
+hold of the wrist and pulled, and the next
+moment Olaf found himself scrambling over
+a thick mass of heather on to the top of the
+rocks. He lay sprawling on the edge of a little
+cleft in the rock with high walls on the sides.
+In one of these walls there was a little cave,
+and just in front of the cave was a little three-legged
+stool that had been upset, and a little
+set of bagpipes was lying on the ground beside
+it.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“So here you are!” said the little brown
+creature as he helped Olaf to his feet. “I’ve
+been waiting for you a long time. Look!”
+He ran into the cave and came out dragging
+a broom behind him, and holding a stone so
+polished that even in the dim light Olaf
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>could see his face in it. And Olaf wondered
+and wondered.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Look! I’ve worn out two hundred and
+thirty of these brooms, and polished that
+rough stone smooth—all for want of proper
+work, since I had to leave the village.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Are you the Brownie?” asked Olaf, joyfully.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Yes,” was the answer.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Are you Aiken-Drum?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Yes,” came the answer again.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I’ve been looking for you ever since I
+can remember. That was why the sheep
+knew,—because you live on the moor.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Yes,” said the Brownie, “the sheep
+know me.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Will you come back to the village, now?”
+asked Olaf.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Not yet,” said the Brownie. “You and I
+must travel the world together. Then I’ll
+go back. Your father should have known
+better than to pay a Brownie. He should
+have known that we work for love. Here
+I have been all this time wearing out brooms
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>on these rocks and polishing a stone, waiting
+for the village child to find me. And you’ve
+come!” said the Brownie, as he danced into
+the cave. He soon returned carrying a little
+wooden cage with a big cockroach inside.
+He opened the cage and took the cockroach
+on his finger.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“You’ve found me,” he kept saying,
+“you’ve found me! Now there’s nothing left
+but the travels. Fly, cockroach,” he cried,
+“fly fast and straight, and tell my brothers
+that Olaf has come. Tell them to launch
+the boat. Tell them we are coming—Olaf
+and I.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>He let the cockroach fly from his hand
+and it boomed away in the still air of the
+summer night. Olaf heard a kr-r-r-r-r-r in
+the pine woods. It might, he thought, be
+the Brownies launching the little boat.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>And that is how Olaf found the Brownie
+and came to make his travels with him.
+They sailed away—away to Glittering Harbor
+where great ships lay close together in
+the golden sunset; they won the marvelous
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>horse and they found the white flower that
+can be bought only for love—like the
+Brownies’ services.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>By and by their travels were over and
+Aiken-Drum returned with Olaf to the village
+of Blednock. And that is why the kitchen
+floors of these village people are so wonderfully
+scrubbed and why the pans shine
+brighter than those in any other kitchens of
+the country side. And Aiken-Drum has a
+merry life as he scrubs the pans and washes
+the dishes, and he is very, very happy to know
+that he will <em>never</em> be paid for it.</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>THE POOR LITTLE TURKEY GIRL</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d197.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+All alone in a very old
+cottage near the border
+of a village lived a little
+girl who herded turkeys
+for a living. She was
+very, very poor. Her
+clothes were patched and
+tattered. Little was ever
+given to her except the food she lived on
+from day to day, and now and then a piece
+of old worn-out clothing.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>But the child had a winning face and
+bright eyes. She had also a very loving disposition.
+She was always kind to the turkeys
+which she drove to and from the plains every
+day, giving to them the affection she longed
+for but which she herself never received from
+anyone. The turkeys loved their little mistress
+in return. They would come immediately
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>at her call and they would go willingly
+anywhere she wished to send them.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>One day as the little girl went along, driving
+her turkeys to the plains, she heard a great
+commotion in the village. She stopped to see
+the cause of the excitement and found it to
+be a herald who was proclaiming from the
+house top, “The great festival will take place
+in four days. Come youths and maidens.
+Come one, come all. Join in the Dance of
+the Sacred Bird!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Now this child had never been permitted
+to join in or even watch this great festivity of
+the people, and she longed with all her heart
+to see it.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“My dear turkeys, how I should love to
+watch this blessed festival, particularly the
+Dance of the Sacred Bird!” It was her custom
+to talk matters over with her turkeys, for
+they were the child’s only companions. She
+told them day after day of the wonderful
+festival that was to be, and how happy she
+would feel if she could join in the dance
+with the others. “But it is impossible, my
+beloved turkeys, ugly and ill-clad as I am,”
+she would say, when she saw the people of
+the village busy in cleaning their houses and
+preparing their clothes, laughing and talking
+as they made ready for the greatest holiday
+of the year.</p>
+<div  class='figcenter id001'>
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>
+<img src='images/c199.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>The poor child never dreamed that her
+turkeys understood every word she said to
+them. But they did, and more.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The fourth day came, and all the people of
+the village went to join in the festivities. All
+but one, and that one was the poor little
+turkey girl who wandered about alone with
+her beloved flock. Soon she sat down upon
+a stone to rest, for she was sad at the thought
+of all the merrymaking while she was alone
+on the plains.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Suddenly it seemed to the little girl that
+one of her big gobblers, making a fan of his
+tail, and skirts of his wings, strutted up to
+her and, stretching out his neck said, “Little
+Mother, we know what your thoughts and
+wishes are and we are truly sorry for you.
+We wish that you, like all the other people
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>of the village, might enjoy this holiday.
+Many times we have said to ourselves at
+night, after you had safely placed us in our
+house, that you are as worthy to enjoy these
+gayeties as anyone in the village. Little
+Mother, would you like to see this dance and
+even join in it and be merry with the rest?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The poor child was at first surprised, then it all
+seemed so very natural that her turkeys should
+talk to her as she had always done to them,
+that she looked up and said, “My dear Gobbler,
+how glad I am that we may speak together.
+But tell me what it all means.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Listen well, then, for I speak the speech
+of my people. If you will drive us in early
+this afternoon, when the dance is most gay
+and the people are happiest, we will help you
+to make yourself so pretty and so beautifully
+dressed that no man, woman, or child
+among all those assembled at the dance will
+know you. Are you willing to do as we
+turkeys say?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Oh, my dear turkeys, why should you
+tell me of things that you well know I long
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>to do but cannot by any possible means in the
+world?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Trust in us,” said the old gobbler. “When
+we begin to call and gobble and gobble and
+turn toward home, follow us and we will show
+you what we can do for you: Only let me
+tell you one thing. Much happiness and good
+fortune may come to you through the chance
+for pleasure which we turkeys are going to
+give you. But if, through your own great
+happiness, you forget us, who are your friends
+and who depend so much upon you, we shall
+think that our Little Mother, though so humble
+and poor, deserves her hard life. We shall
+think that, since good fortune came to her, she
+does unto others as others now do to her.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Come, then,” said the old gobbler, and the
+little girl followed him. All the turkeys of
+their own accord followed the old gobbler
+and their Little Mother homeward. They
+knew their places well and ran to them as
+soon as they could. When they had all gone
+into their home the old gobbler called out,
+“Come in.” The little girl went in. “Now
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>sit down and give me and my companions
+your articles of clothing one by one. You
+will see what we can do with them.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The little girl took off the ragged old shawl
+that covered her shoulders and laid it upon
+the ground in front of the old gobbler. He
+seized it in his beak and spread it out. Then
+he picked and picked at it and trod upon it,
+and, lowering his wings, strutted back and
+forth, back and forth over the old worn-out
+garment. Once more he took it in his beak
+and strutted and puffed and puffed and strutted,
+until he finally laid it at the feet of the little
+girl—a beautiful white cloak, all silk-embroidered.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then another gobbler came forward and
+took an article of the little girl’s clothing
+which he made over into a beautiful gown of
+golden cloth. Then another gobbler came,
+and another and another, until each garment
+the little girl had worn was new and more
+beautiful than any owned by the richest
+woman of the land.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The little girl began to dress herself in the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>beautiful clothes, but before she finished her
+turkeys circled around her, singing and singing
+and clucking and clucking, and brushing her
+with their wings until she was clean and her
+face was as smooth and bright as that of the
+fairest maiden in the village. Her hair was
+soft and wavy and her cheeks were full of
+dimples and her eyes danced with smiles, for
+now she knew how true were the words of her
+beloved turkeys. At last one old turkey
+came forward and said, “You shall have rich
+jewels, Little Mother; we turkeys have keen
+eyes and have picked up many valuable things
+in our wanderings. Wait a moment.” He
+spread out his wings and strutted off, but he
+soon returned with a beautiful necklace in his
+beak. “See, this is for you.” The little girl
+could scarcely believe her own eyes. “And
+this, too,” said another turkey, as he came up
+and laid a pair of earrings in her hand.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>With these beautiful things the Little
+Mother decorated herself and, after thanking
+her beloved turkeys again and again, she started
+to go. As she did so all the turkeys seemed to
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>call out in one voice: “Oh, Little Mother,
+we love you and we would bring you to good
+fortune. Leave our door open, for who knows
+whether you will remember your turkeys when
+your fortunes are changed. Perhaps you will
+grow ashamed that you have been our Little
+Mother. Remember us and do not tarry too
+long.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I will surely remember, O my turkeys,”
+and with that she was on her way to the great
+festival. Hastily she ran down the river path
+toward the village until she came to a long
+covered way that led into the great dance
+court. When she came just inside the court
+she could see the crowd of villagers making
+merry in the great dance. She drew nearer
+as if to join the others, when every eye at once
+seemed to catch sight of her beauty and the
+richness of her dress. “Who is this beautiful
+maiden?” they asked one another. “Where
+did she come from?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“She is the most beautiful maiden I have
+ever seen,” said a prince. “She shall lead the
+dance with me.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>With a smile and a toss of her hair over her
+eyes the little girl accepted the prince’s invitation
+and stepped forward into the circle.
+Her heart became light and her feet merry,
+and she danced and danced until the sun sank
+low in the west. But alas! so great was her
+own happiness that she thought little about
+her turkeys at home and her promise to
+them. “Why should I go away from all
+this pleasure, to my flock of gobbling turkeys?”
+she said to herself. “I will stay a
+little longer at least. Just before the sun
+sets I’ll run back to them. Then these people
+will never know who I am, and I shall like
+to hear them talk day after day and wonder
+who the little girl was who joined in their
+dance.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So the time sped on and another dance was
+called, and another, and never a moment did
+the little girl stop. At last she noticed that
+the sun had set. Then, suddenly breaking
+away, she ran out of the dance court down
+the long covered way, up the river path
+toward home, before any one could see where
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>she had gone or which path she had taken. All
+breathless, she arrived at the door of the turkeys’
+house and looked in. Not one turkey
+was there. The little girl called and called
+them. She ran into their house, she looked
+around, but not one of her beloved turkeys was
+to be seen. “Where are they?” she kept saying
+to herself, at the same time calling them
+with all the voice she had, “Come my turkeys,
+come, come.” But there was no answer.
+“I must trail them. Perhaps they have gone
+back to the plains.” She ran to the plains,
+then on to the valley, but her flock of turkeys
+was far, far away.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>After a long, long trail over the plains, up
+and down the valleys, she came within sound
+of their voices. “I hear them, I hear my
+turkeys.” Faster and faster ran the little girl
+until she caught sight of her beloved flock
+hurrying away toward the woods, round the
+mountain and on up the valley. She could
+hear them saying something over and over
+again. As she drew nearer she called and
+called to them, but it was all of no use.
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>They only quickened their steps and spread
+their wings to help them along. “She has
+forgotten us,” they kept saying. “She is not
+worthy of better things than those she has
+been accustomed to. Let us go to the mountains.
+Our Little Mother is not as good and
+true as we once thought her.” Then they
+spread their wings and fluttered away over the
+plains above and were soon lost from sight.
+The poor little turkey girl put her hands over
+her face, then she looked down at her dress.
+Alas! what did she see? Her old clothes,
+patched and tattered. She was a poor little
+turkey girl again. Sad at heart she looked
+toward the valley and gave one loud call,
+“Oh, my turkeys come back to me, come
+back.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Gobble, gobble, gobble,” she heard beside
+her. The poor little girl sat up, rubbed her
+eyes and looked about her. There were her
+beloved turkeys gathered around her calling
+“Gobble, gobble, gobble!” They wanted to
+go home, for the sun was ready to set and the
+village people were returning from the festival.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>“Oh, my beloved turkeys,” said the little
+girl, when she understood it all. “I would
+not part with you for all the fine dresses and
+festivals in the whole world. How glad I
+am it was only a dream!”</p>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id002'>
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>
+<img src='images/b211.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <h2 class='c008'>MEADOW FIDDLERS</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b c002'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>The red-legged locust. Oh, my, oh, my!</div>
+      <div class='line'>He plays all day. But why? But why?</div>
+      <div class='line'>You rub your legs with your dusty wings;</div>
+      <div class='line'>Your fiddle shrieks till the welkin rings;</div>
+      <div class='line'>On meadow green, through the livelong day,</div>
+      <div class='line'>You saw and eat till they’re bare and gray</div>
+      <div class='line'>Zee-e-e, zee-e-, zee-e-e!</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>The green katydid. Dear me, dear me!</div>
+      <div class='line'>The finest chap. Just see, just see;</div>
+      <div class='line'>You play so hard and you trill so long,</div>
+      <div class='line'>Your midget wife ne’er can sing a song,</div>
+      <div class='line'>Still you rub your wings in the drollest way</div>
+      <div class='line'>While dancing clover blossoms swing and sway</div>
+      <div class='line'>Zig, zig, z-i-g, zig, zig, z-i-g!</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>Cone-headed grasshopper, zip-zee, zip-zee,</div>
+      <div class='line'>The insects’ clown is he, is he!</div>
+      <div class='line'>From Maine o’er plains to the Rockies found,</div>
+      <div class='line'>With foolscap forehead and shrilling sound,</div>
+      <div class='line'>From bush and bramble your roundelay</div>
+      <div class='line'>Comes sharp and clear through the summer day,</div>
+      <div class='line'>Z-szip-zee. Z-szip, z-szip-zee!</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>The wee tree cricket. So free, so free!</div>
+      <div class='line'>Sings night and day! What glee, what glee!</div>
+      <div class='line'>Your high held wings make such presto fine</div>
+      <div class='line'>No human skill can compare with thine;</div>
+      <div class='line'>So fast, so shrill, and so wondrous gay,</div>
+      <div class='line'>Such tunes are joy to a dancing fay,</div>
+      <div class='line'>T-ree-ee, t-re-ee, t-re-ee! T-re-ee, t-re-ee, t-re-ee!</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>Sweet meadow fiddlers, zip, zee, zip, zee!</div>
+      <div class='line'>They fill the earth with glee, with glee!</div>
+      <div class='line'>We greet your coming with fond delight</div>
+      <div class='line'>And gayly hie in the sunshine bright,</div>
+      <div class='line'>Where bees and blossoms and birds all day</div>
+      <div class='line'>Wing, swing, and sing to your joyful lay.</div>
+      <div class='line'>Zip-zip-z-ee! zip-zip-z-ee!</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>CASTLE FORTUNE</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d213.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+One fine morning at sunrise,
+two strong young
+men were sauntering
+along through the fields.
+As they journeyed toward
+the east the gray morning
+mist cleared away in the
+distance, and there on a
+very high hill stood a beautiful castle with
+sparkling windows and glistening towers all
+bathed in the morning light.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Come,” said one of the youths eagerly,
+“let us go over to it!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“What!” exclaimed the other, who was
+a lazy fellow, “do you not know that it is
+miles away? I am sure I cannot walk so
+far.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Try,” said a sweet strange voice.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>On turning about they saw a lovely fairy
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>dressed in gauzy white, holding a golden
+wand in her hand. She was standing on a
+magic crystal ball which rolled along with
+her toward the distant castle. As she passed
+the travelers, she pointed with her wand
+toward the east smilingly, and said, “Follow
+me!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“That would be easy to do,” mumbled the
+lazy youth, “if one could roll along as you
+do with no effort.” He then threw himself
+down on the grass to rest.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>His companion, however, started off after
+the fairy as fast as he could run, and catching
+hold of her floating robe he cried, “Who
+are you?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I am Fortune,” she answered. “Yonder
+is my castle. Follow me there. Waste no
+time, and if you reach the castle before midnight
+I’ll receive you as a friend. But remember!
+If you come one moment after
+the last stroke of midnight, the door will be
+closed against you.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>With these words the fairy drew her robe
+about her and rolled swiftly on in the morning
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>breeze. And the crystal ball sparkled,
+sparkled in the sunlight.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The youth now hurried back to his companion
+and said breathlessly, “Yonder is the
+Castle of Fortune. Come! Let us go!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“What nonsense!” said the lazy youth.
+“With a good horse one might get there
+easily, but for my part I don’t intend to try to
+walk all that way.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Farewell, then,” said his friend, and away
+he started briskly with his eyes fixed steadily
+on the distant towers. The lazy youth sighed
+wearily and threw himself down on the soft
+grass. “If only good luck would show me
+an easy way to get there,” he murmured.
+“How beautiful the castle looks!” He then
+stretched himself out and fell fast asleep. In
+a little while he was awakened by something
+like a warm breeze blowing in his ear. He
+slowly rubbed his eyes and yawned aloud.
+Then he heard the neighing of a horse, and
+turning, he saw standing near a beautiful
+milk white steed all saddled and bridled!</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Good luck,” he cried. “Come here, my
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>fine friend. You and I will soon reach the
+castle.” Then he jumped into the saddle
+and started off at a fine gait.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>He soon passed his comrade and called out,
+“What do you think of my steed?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The other did not speak, but nodded cheerily
+and kept on at a steady pace.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>About midday the horse and rider reached
+the summit of a hill. In the distance the
+castle towers shone brightly against the clear
+blue sky. Presently the horse turned into a
+shady grove on the hillside and stopped.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“A very good idea!” exclaimed the lazy
+man. “‘Make haste slowly’ is good wisdom.
+This shady slope is a fine place to rest awhile,
+and my appetite is keen enough to enjoy the
+luncheon I have in my pocket.” So, jumping
+off, he found a cool shady nook and stretched
+himself out on the grass.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>After he had eaten his savory sandwich he
+felt so drowsy that he soon fell into a sound
+sleep. What a pleasant sleep he had! He
+dreamed he was in Castle Fortune resting on
+downy cushions. Every wish he had was
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>granted! Soft strains of music soothed him,
+while brilliant fireworks all crimson and gold
+were set off in his honor. This continued for
+some time, when suddenly the explosion of a
+beautiful Roman candle awoke him. He sat
+up rubbing his eyes. In the west the sun was
+sinking, and he could hear the song of a
+traveler in the valley below! “I must have
+been asleep a long while!” he murmured.
+“It is high time to be off. Ready, my steed!
+Where are you?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>He whistled and shouted again and again,
+but no steed came. An old bony gray donkey
+browsing on the hilltop was the only creature
+in sight. “Better a donkey than nothing,”
+the lazy man thought. So he walked slowly
+over to the place where the beast was grazing,
+and mounted him.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>After some urging, the donkey set off at a
+slow jog. The lazy man soon found that this
+kind of traveling was very uncomfortable.
+The donkey trudged slowly on. Soon it began
+to grow dark. In the distance he could
+see that the castle was being lighted up. How
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>beautiful it looked. He was becoming anxious.
+If only the donkey would move a little
+faster. But instead he seemed to be going
+slower and slower, slower and slower, until
+in the midst of a thick wood the beast stood
+still and refused to move. The rider coaxed
+and threatened and urged and kicked. It
+was of no use. The donkey refused to move.
+At last the lazy man was thoroughly aroused.
+He struck the beast a hard blow with his fist,
+screaming, “Get on, I say.” Up went the
+donkey’s heels and over his head into the
+briers and stones went the rider. What a
+plight to be in! He was bruised and sore
+and bewildered. He sat up and tried to collect
+his thoughts. Ah! There in the distance
+the lights were shining in Castle Fortune.
+Oh, for a soft comfortable couch on
+which to rest his aching bones. The stubborn
+old donkey! Where could he be?</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>He crept about in every direction, hoping
+to find his donkey, but after tearing his clothes
+and bruising himself he gave up the search.
+Suddenly his hand struck something that
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>felt a little like a saddle. It was mounted on
+something soft and slimy.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>He hesitated. Castle Fortune’s clock was
+striking. He counted the strokes. “Eleven
+o’clock!” he exclaimed in amazement. He
+threw himself into the queer saddle. “This
+is rather comfortable,” he exclaimed as he
+leaned against a high back. How slowly
+the creature moved. At last they reached a
+clearing, where a long straight road led directly
+to Castle Fortune with its beautiful
+towers and its windows ablaze with lights.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The sight of the castle filled him with
+longing. He turned his attention for a
+minute to the strange creature he was riding.
+Horror! He was mounted on a huge snail,
+quite as large as a calf. No wonder they had
+crept along at a snail’s pace.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>One! The great clock struck the first
+stroke of the midnight hour. He pushed
+both heels into his steed’s soft sides. In an
+instant the snail drew his head into the shell
+and rolled over on the ground.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Two! struck the great clock. Had the
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>lazy man taken to his heels he might even
+now have reached the castle before the last
+stroke of the great clock. But no! There
+he stood filled with regret and fear. “A
+beast! A beast!” he cried, “Oh, for any
+kind of a beast to carry me to the castle!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Three! What was moving near him?
+Was it the long lost steed? Without further
+thought he jumped into something like a low
+saddle. His heart leaped as he looked up!
+There in the open door of Castle Fortune
+stood his friend waving his cap and beckoning
+to him.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Four! chimed the great clock. The
+queer steed began to rouse himself.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Five! The creature moved slowly forward.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Six! What an awkward steed it was.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Seven! Which way were they going?</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Eight! What! Were they moving backward?
+Impossible! He would jump off and
+run.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Nine! To our rider’s great surprise he
+found he was held fast by the creature’s claws
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>which extended on all sides. Horror! He
+was riding on a giant crab!</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Ten! Backward they moved!</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Eleven! Farther and farther they were
+going away from the castle.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>TWELVE! The castle doors shut with a
+clang. Castle Fortune’s doors were closed
+forever to the lazy man.</p>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>A LITTLE DUTCH GARDEN</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id002'>
+<img src='images/b222.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b c002'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>I passed by a garden, a little Dutch garden,</div>
+      <div class='line'>Where useful and pretty things grew;</div>
+      <div class='line'>Heartsease and tomatoes, and pinks and potatoes,</div>
+      <div class='line'>And lilies and onions and rue.</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>I saw in that garden, that little Dutch garden,</div>
+      <div class='line'>A chubby Dutch man with a spade;</div>
+      <div class='line'>And a rosy Dutch frau with a shoe like a scow,</div>
+      <div class='line'>And a flaxen-haired little Dutch maid.</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>There grew in that garden, that little Dutch garden,</div>
+      <div class='line'>Blue flag flowers lovely and tall;</div>
+      <div class='line'>And early blush roses, and little pink posies,</div>
+      <div class='line'>And Gretchen was fairer than all.</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>My heart’s in that garden, that little Dutch garden,</div>
+      <div class='line'>It tumbled right in as I passed,</div>
+      <div class='line'>‘Mid ‘wildering mazes of spinach and daisies,</div>
+      <div class='line'>And Gretchen is holding it fast.</div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id001'>
+<img src='images/b223.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>
+  <h2 class='c008'>TRUE FRIENDSHIP</h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class='c009'>
+  <img class='drop-capi' src='images/d224.jpg' width='100' alt='' />
+</div><p class='drop-capi_8'>
+Down yonder by the
+thrashing floors, where
+the husbandmen thrash
+out their corn, some
+large black ants once established
+themselves and
+built their nests. They
+settled themselves in that
+place in order to be near good and wholesome
+food, such as wheat, barley, and maize,
+which they carried off whether the farmers
+liked it or not.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>These ants prospered and became so numerous
+that they formed themselves into a
+kingdom, and had their own king.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The king, who was an old ant, was very
+wise and courageous. As he was a real king,
+he wore a golden crown upon his head and
+held a golden scepter in his hand.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>His crown was a small piece of round gold
+wire, which fitted his head splendidly. His
+soldiers in one of their raids had found it in
+a country maiden’s casket. They took possession
+of it, and presented it to their sovereign.
+In the same way they had come across the
+scepter, which they saw one day on the
+thrashing floor, and appropriated in like
+manner. It was nothing more than a little
+gold watch key which had dropped off the
+chain of the village steward, but that was of
+no consequence, because as soon as the royal
+hand grasped it, it derived value from that
+circumstance alone.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The king had his own carriage. It was
+made out of a nutshell, and was drawn by
+two swift and well-harnessed beetles, who,
+like all royal horses, were well trained. The
+king generally drove out, because his majesty
+was now so aged that he had become quite
+white and feeble.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>So you see that he had every blessing, and
+his people loved him very much. But he
+was not happy for he was weary and no longer
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>found pleasure in anything. Perhaps this was
+because he had so much.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>One day there was a great tumult in the
+ant kingdom. A regiment of soldiers, which
+had gone out upon an excursion, returned
+after a brilliant victory, and brought back
+great spoils, and also four prisoners.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The king, from the balcony of his palace,
+with his crown on his head and his scepter in
+his hand, greeted his army as it marched before
+him in great order, saluting him with,
+“Long live the King!” Then he ordered
+that the four prisoners should be brought before
+him, that he might try them.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The first captive was a spider.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“What is your name?” asked the king.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Spider,” she answered humbly, and did
+homage with her two forelegs.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Where were you born?” said the king.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I was born in the mill’s dark cellar.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>After many other questions the king again
+said, “What art do you know?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I know how to weave,” said the spider.
+“No one can surpass me in weaving. I am
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>the very, very best weaver in the whole wide
+world.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Good!” said the king. “You shall
+weave some cloth for my palace, and if your
+work is satisfactory, I will set you free; if
+not, I shall hand you over to my soldiers to
+be cut to pieces. Shut her up in prison and
+let her begin at once.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>As the king decreed this, he lowered his
+scepter and struck it on the ground, when
+immediately soldiers dragged off the spider
+by her feet, and put her in a cell.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The second prisoner, which was a bee, was
+then brought forward. The king in like
+manner questioned her. She said her name
+was “Bee,” and did him obeisance. Upon
+his inquiring where she was born, she replied,
+“In a hive, which was a house built for a
+number of bees to live in.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Do you know any trade or profession?”
+inquired the king.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Certainly, your majesty, I know how to
+make a most delicious food. No one can
+excel me.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>“Good!” said the king. “You shall
+make all the sweetmeats that are required at
+the forthcoming festival, when the peasants
+spread their thrashing floors. If I am pleased
+with them, I shall release you; but if not, I
+shall order my soldiers to cut off your head.
+Shut her up in prison, and let her begin at
+once.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Again he knocked with his scepter, and
+the detachment of soldiers led the bee off to
+prison. Then the king said: “Bring in the
+two other prisoners together, that we may
+finish with them; for I have other business
+of the kingdom on hand.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>The third and fourth captives were brought
+in together. One was a grasshopper, and the
+other a cricket.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>When they were asked the customary questions
+as to their places of birth, the first replied,
+“At the roots of a bush of thyme.”
+And the other, “In the air!”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>Then the king proceeded with: “And
+what arts do you know?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“I know how to sing,” cried the cricket.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>“And I, how to dance,” said the grasshopper.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Splendid arts, truly, both the one and the
+other,” called out the king in a rage, and he
+knocked with his scepter so loudly that all
+his courtiers and soldiers, as well as the two
+prisoners, were frightened. “Since you know
+nothing, you are plainly of no use. I shall
+have you cut up, the pair of you.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“Please, your majesty,” said the cricket
+boldly, while the grasshopper trembled with
+fear, “can we do nothing? Do we know
+nothing? Because this lady and myself cannot
+weave like the spider or make sweetmeats
+like the bee? We are worthy people, and
+the whole world loves us. We amuse all the
+insects on both hill and plain; we make life
+in the long summer days when the sun is hot
+a little less wearisome; then I sing, and she
+dances, and for those who see and hear us
+time soon passes. Allow us the same privilege
+before your majesty, and you can then
+judge if we be deserving of freedom or
+death.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>The king was not hard-hearted, and after
+hearing this plea of the cricket, he said, “I
+grant your request. I have a little time in
+which to divert myself, and if you can succeed
+in giving me pleasure in a short space of
+time, I will give you both your liberty, and
+grant you each any favor that you may ask.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>He gave orders to release them. The
+cricket then began to sing with all the skill
+that she possessed, and the grasshopper danced
+at the same time. Neither the king nor any
+of his courtiers or soldiers had ever heard so
+sweet a voice, or seen so artistic a dance. His
+majesty was delighted; his old face beamed
+all over, and he struck merrily with his
+scepter, and shouted: “Well done! Bravo!
+I’ll free you—I’ll free you. I only request
+that whenever you have the time or the inclination,
+you will come and amuse me and
+my subjects a little. Labor is good, but
+life wants some few pleasures also. I told
+you that I would grant you any favor that
+you asked for. Ask now what you will.”
+Then the cricket said pleadingly, “Your
+<span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>majesty, I ask this favor—that the poor
+spider may be released.”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“You have a good heart,” answered the
+king; “be it so.” And he turned to the
+grasshopper. “And what favor do you ask,
+madam dancer?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“May it please your majesty to release the
+bee?”</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>“And you, too, have a good heart; your
+wish is granted.” And the king ordered the
+release of the prisoners.</p>
+
+<p class='c000'>They were immediately set free, and all
+the ants conducted them out of the ant hills,
+while the cricket, full of joy, sang along
+the road:</p>
+
+<div class='lg-container-b'>
+  <div class='linegroup'>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'>“Zi zi zi and zi zi zi,</div>
+      <div class='line'>May our lord the king live joyfully,</div>
+      <div class='line'>And all his people as well as he.”</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>Merry have we met,</div>
+      <div class='line'>And merry have we been;</div>
+      <div class='line'>Merry let us part,</div>
+      <div class='line'>And merry meet again.</div>
+    </div>
+    <div class='group'>
+      <div class='line in12'><span class='sc'>Old Rime.</span></div>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div  class='figleft id004'>
+<img src='images/b232a.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div  class='figright id004'>
+<img src='images/b232b.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div  class='figcenter id002'>
+<img src='images/b232c.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
+</div>
+
+<div class='pbb'>
+ <hr class='pb c003' />
+</div>
+<div class='tnotes'>
+
+<div class='chapter'>
+  <h2 class='c008'>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</h2>
+</div>
+ <ol class='ol_1 c002'>
+    <li>Silently corrected typographical errors.
+
+    </li>
+    <li>Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.
+    </li>
+  </ol>
+
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Merry Tales, by 
+Eleanor L. Skinner and Ada M. Skinner
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MERRY TALES ***
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+</pre>
+
+  </body>
+  <!-- created with ppgen.py 3.56k on 2016-12-18 19:47:18 GMT -->
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author	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-02-06 19:07:55 -0800
committer	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-02-06 19:07:55 -0800
commit	96e300b0ea65200fea504768e986542348960f3b (patch)
tree	571c06b4a67525d31b8256936b0237ed3d848e09