151 Tales From Europe

On the edge of the village lived the good woman who was the village nurse. She helped everyone who was sick or having babies. One night, she heard someone knocking violently at her door. She opened it and saw a tall man, wearing a large cloak, standing outside. “Please come immediately,” he said, “My wife […]

One day, Paracelsus was walking along when he heard a voice calling out for help. He looked around and found that the voice came from inside a fir tree. Going closer, he saw that it seemed to have a hole in its trunk, sealed with a lid that had three crosses on it. It was

When it was time for Hans to go home after seven years of service, he asked his master for wages. His master gave him a huge piece of silver, almost as big as his head! He carried it in a sack but was getting rather tired, when he saw a man on horseback. He exchanged

Everyone knew that the hill-men were terrified of thunder. The sound of it frightened them. And when they heard drums beating, it sounded so much like thunder that they were frightened of drums too! If anyone played a drum where they lived, they would get up and go away. A farmer had a hill-man for

A peasant had three sons. He took two of them to work while the third stayed home to help his mother. When the parents died, they told their sons to share everything. But the elder brothers gave the youngest lad just a large trough in which he used to knead flour for his mother. He

An old man, who had been a warrior, had become a monk. He and his brave son, Conrad, came to live in a forest to protect the people of the countryside from all evils. One day, when Conrad went to cut wood, a huge white wolf leapt out at him. Unable to take out his

A farmer went to his fields every day past a large stone-cross. He stopped there daily to offer a prayer before he went on his way. One morning, he saw a little black insect on the cross, scurrying up and down, looking very troubled. It seemed to be in some kind of agony. ‘It seems

There lived a hunter whose wife was a terrible shrew. She yelled and screamed, and talked non-stop, till he was driven out of the house to get some peace! When he went hunting, he took his two dogs also with him. One day, when he went out with his gun and his dogs, he could

Mirabella was the daughter of King of the Silver Isles who, unfortunately, died. Her mother married again and had a son, Gliglu, whom she wished to be the King. She disliked Mirabella, so she sent her into the forest, hoping the wolves would eat her up! Mirabella, not knowing her mother’s wickedness, missed her. She

Princess Altamira was very ugly, but her father, the King of Alcantara, and his flattering courtiers praised her so much that she believed she was beautiful. The King had invited Prince Alanbam to marry the Princess. To welcome him, the whole city was decorated, bands played martial music, crowds gathered in the streets. The court

In Tuy lived Juan Rivas, a clever and good student, but he was extremely poor. Often his friends helped him, so he continued studying, but there came a time when he ran out of all money for his studies and his food. He had to find a way to get enough money to pay back

Once upon a time, there were three brothers whose only possession was a pear tree. They took turns guarding it, two going out to work, while the third stayed home to guard the tree. One day, an Angel decided to meet the brothers and came to the house disguised as a beggar, pleading for a

A rich farmer had three sons, the eldest being very bossy and rude and the second one blindly following him. They bullied the youngest, Janko, who was a good-hearted, honest fellow. Their father had one eye that always wept. The two elder ones couldn’t find the secret of the weeping eye, but Janko learnt that

Long ago, a King had three sons. The eldest went hunting, but never returned. His attendants said he had gone towards the Old Mill, chasing a hare and vanished. The next day, the King sent his second son and he, too, vanished the same way. Then, he sent his youngest son who saw the hare,

Danilo’s dying father told his son to marry a sensible, hard-working girl from the village and not to go looking for the Peerless Beauty. Danilo became so curious that he wished to find this Beauty and marry her! Everyone in the village told him to forget the idea and marry one of the village girls,