Best of Magical Tales

In the Austrian mountains, there lived three goldsmiths— Hans, Schwartz and Gluck. They were brothers. Hans and Schwartz were very selfish and unkind. They often played mean tricks on Gluck.One day, they found Gluck’s favourite pot. It was made of gold and had on it the face of a man with a beard. It was, […]

A farmer had a large barn on a mountain where he used to store hay. But every summer, on St. John’s Eve, he found that the hay had been eaten up and very little was left for him. He had three sons. The youngest was named Cinder-lad, for he was always covered with the ash

Once upon a time, in Greece, there lived a young girl named Arachne. She was very pretty, with golden hair and blue eyes. Every day, she sat outside her house and would spin the finest thread and weave the most delicate cloth, with bright colours and designs. Many people came to buy cloth from her.She

In Baghdad, there lived a merchant named Kalif who sold richly embroidered clothes that he had brought from Mosul or Shiraz in exchange for rose oil that he sold there.One day as he was travelling, he heard an animal roaring and the stamping of horses’ hooves! He ran forward and saw a richly dressed rider

A poor young woodcutter lived on the edge of a forest and looked after his old parents. His mother was a good-natured and hard-working woman but his father was a grumpy and selfish man. He was always telling his son to bring him a little wine, because rice and curry was not enough.One day, while

In a land far away, a King’s daughter was kidnapped by a wicked troll who carried her off to a mountain. The King promised half his kingdom to any man who could rescue her.In that kingdom a rich nobleman had twelve sons. The youngest one wanted to make his own fortune in the world. When

The King’s daughter declared that she would marry a man she herself chose. The King invited all the young men in the kingdom. She looked at each of the young men and walked past them till she came to the last one who was a poor widow’s son. She chose him. The King didn’t wish

Once upon a time, there lived a man and his wife with their pretty daughter. Unfortunately, the man’s wife died. The man married again. But the new stepmother hated the girl, for the girl was more beautiful than she. She kept thinking of ways to trouble her stepdaughter.One day, she gave her a sieve and

Long ago, a black hen had a marvellous brood of a dozen chicks. Only the smallest chick was different. He had one wing, one leg and one eye. In fact, he was only half a chick. So, they named him ‘Half-Chick.’ But he was the most active and adventurous little fellow in the brood.Everyone laughed

Fritz, Franz and Hans, who were poor charcoal-burners, lived in a cottage deep inside a forest with their mother. Fritz and Franz were very selfish and quite rude, unlike Hans who was cheerful, friendly and helpful.One night, when the family was having dinner, a huntsman came to their door, tired and hungry. Fritz and Franz

A woman had three sons who were farmers. She wished them to choose wise and hard-working wives. So, she gave them skeins of flax for their chosen wives to spin. The elder sons had selected their wives, so they gave the skeins to their brides. The youngest son had not yet chosen a wife.He sat

Horace Ventimore lived in a room that he had rented in London. He had been shopping that day and returned after buying an old sealed jar. The jar seemed to be really old and was thickly crusted over. It was not easy to open it.Horace kept the jar in his room and remembered it only

An old Red Indian Chieftain collected all the little boys one evening and they sat around the bonfire. He told them the stories about the Sun and the Moon, the trees and the animals. That day, he was telling them the story of the Star who found the Lily:Long ago, it was a happy time

A long time ago in India, there lived a poor oil-seller named Dena. He owed three hundred rupees to a money- lender named Lena. He simply didn’t have the money to repay Lena. So, one night, he ran away from home and fell asleep on a peepal tree that grew near a well.It so happened