Thomas Hickathrift had been named after his father, but he was not like him at all. He was, in fact, very lazy and ate enough for half a dozen men. By the time he was ten years old, he was eight feet tall and his fame began to spread across the countryside as a marvellously […]
In Cumberland lived a nobleman with three sons, two of whom were clever, but the third one, called Foolish Jack, was sent to mind the sheep. The King of Canterbury had a beautiful and witty daughter, and he proclaimed that she would marry the man who could answer three of her questions. Jack went along
Once, there lived a wise man in a village of just thirty families. The wise man taught all that was good and noble. As a result, the village became crime-free. However, the village headman was unhappy. Earlier, when crimes occurred, he used to punish people, collect fines, etc. But it was all over now. So,
A hard-working woodcutter lived near a forest with his wife. Every morning, he went into the forest to cut trees and would sell the chopped wood in the village. One morning, when he swung his axe at a large old oak tree, he heard a sound as if someone cried out in pain. “Oh, stop!”
In the village of Swaffham in Norfolk lived a poor pedlar. He had a hut near the ruins of the church. Every day he would go around selling his wares, with his dog following him. At night he would return, tired out, to sleep. One night he dreamt of London, its famous Tower and Bridge
Long ago, there lived a rich merchant. He was very wise and honest. One day, he died and left all he had earned for his son. The rich merchant, due to his kind deeds, became a divine being in heaven. Now, the son was a scoundrel. He squandered away all the wealth in gambling and
An old nobleman lived in a large mansion, where he mourned for the death of his beloved daughter so much that his beard grew long. It got caught in the cracks on the floor and his tears cut a groove so that it became a stream! He had a grand-daughter, but he didn’t wish to
On the edge of a lonely marsh beside a hill-side was a small cottage in which lived a widow and her six-year-old son. The place was lonely for there were no neighbours for miles around and at night there were strange noises, for in the marsh lived elves and fairies. The widow made up the
Once upon a time, a girl had a husband she never saw, for he would come only at night and would allow no light. Her friends told her he must be some monster or have some deformity, so she ought to find out the truth. One night when he came home, she lit a lamp.
Once, a king saw some terrible dream. He was very upset after this and could not sleep. The next day, he called his royal priest and told him about his dream. The priest told him that the dream was a bad omen. It meant something was about to happen to the king or the kingdom.
Once, a king was very lazy. He never worked and spent his entire time resting and sleeping. He never looked into the welfare of the people. The people of his kingdom grew restless because of this. Now, the king had a wise minister. He knew that it would be useless to tell the king to
Once upon a time, there was a girl whose mother died and her father married again, bringing home a stepmother who really didn’t like her stepdaughter. Her stepdaughter was pretty and this made the woman dislike her so much that she finally decided to get rid of her. She told the girl that she needed
A king was famous for his wickedness. He tortured his people and used power to control them. The people of his kingdom were very unhappy. One day, as he lay fast asleep, a spirit came to him. It said, “O king! How can you sleep peacefully when the people of your kingdom are unhappy? Your
Jack was quite fed up of his father’s cruelty, so he ran away from home. Running blindly, he knocked down an old woman, and apologised. “Young fellow, you can apologise by working for me!” said the woman. Jack agreed, for he was tired and hungry. When he had served her for a year, she gave
Once, fishermen set traps for fish in rivers. One day, in a certain river, many fish got caught in a trap. A snake, seeing the fish trapped in the net, went into the trap himself with the aim of eating the fish. But he was in for a surprise as the fish got united and