The story-teller told the ruler the stories of Sidi Kur, the Bakshi and the Younger Chan, the peaceful wanderer. The two Chan brothers lived not far from the house of seven magicians in the far-off land of India. The elder brother became the magicians’ apprentice for seven years, but they wouldn’t teach the secret of […]
Sindbad was an old man in the Middle East when he narrated his adventures to the visitors to his house. He told them how he wasted the great deal of wealth that he inherited and became so poor that he finally set sail on a merchant ship going to the East Indies through the Persian
Nausherwan had been one of the wisest and most famous Kings of Persia. His tomb was a place of pilgrimage because it gave the pilgrim great lessons in how to live a good and just life. Caliph Harun-al-Rashid went there on a pilgrimage with five of his ministers. He touched the golden curtain at the
One of Abdullah’s camels was lost. He set off to look for it across the desert. A long, tiring ride over the sands brought him to a strange sight. High walls rose around a city and rooftops and pavilions could be seen over them. Hoping to find someone in the city surrounded with fort-like walls,
Once upon a time in Persia, there lived a merchant who suffered huge business losses and became extremely poor. One day, on their way to the market, the merchant and his son saw a man selling the camel. The merchant’s son went up to the camel dealer and asked the price of the camel. The
Belinda looked after a flock of geese for Mrs Bundy, the old woman who lived in a cottage at the edge of a dense forest.One day, Prince William and his attendants, going to hunt, saw the pretty girl and wondered who she was. He stopped for a drink of water. The Prince soon began to
Loretta had spent the holidays with her school friend, Fanny. Fanny had no parents and lived on a farm with her Aunt Winnie and Uncle Hugh. They had a son, Tom, who had finished school and helped his father on the farm.Loretta was the King’s daughter and she had grown up in the luxury of
The tiara had been stolen. There was a furore in the palace. The King and the Queen were looking disturbed. The maids were crying. The attendants and the footmen looked anxious. The cook was having hysterics in the kitchen. The butler sat in the pantry holding his head.The soldiers had been asked to search through
It was a beautiful creature. The white unicorn stood in the snow-covered meadow. Princess Helena looked at it longingly. ‘It would be wonderful if I could ride on this unicorn!’ she thought.Surprisingly, the unicorn looked up at her as if it had heard her thought. It trotted up to her and stood waiting. She put
It was sad that no one ever believed Princess Veracity. She enjoyed telling tall stories.“Last night, a witch came and turned me into a milkmaid,” she announced one day, “I have been to a farm early morning and had to milk three cows there.”Another time she said she had flown to an island and bought
The gnomes had been at work. They had been digging up the garden and the place was a mess. Henry, the gardener, was fed up of chasing them. They would run into the hedges and bushes, and hide. He could hear them laughing and chuckling but it was very difficult to get them out.Henry would
Far away where winters are long and snow covers the ground, there was a palace of ice. There in it lived the beautiful Princess Cristobal. She had a silver carriage in which she travelled over her land.Many princes had tried to win her hand in marriage, but none of them had succeeded, for the palace
Whenever it rained, Princess Caroline had to stay indoors. She had to do needlework and read books and learn all about nouns and verbs. It was terribly boring. One day, Caroline threw a tantrum and the Queen came running to find out why the Princess was lying on the carpet and screaming! “She wants to
“Who will marry the Princess Lucinda?” asked the Queen, looking sadly at the King.He shook his head, at a complete loss for an answer.“I have tried everything, and failed. I have even removed all the mirrors from the palace so that she may not feel bad.”The King looked sadly at his daughter who sat at
The fairies of the mountain were rushing around arranging a secret party. It was the birthday of the Fairy Princess, Esme. They wished to give her a surprise.All the little animals on the mountain had been invited and the trees, bushes, and even the boulders had been decorated. Music was being organised by the birds