In a village lived a young couple who were soon going to have a baby. Their cottage overlooked a wonderful garden surrounded by a wall. It had lovely flowers and fresh vegetables, but they never dared to enter it because it belonged to a witch.One day, the woman saw some fresh rapunzel growing in the […]
A poor woodcutter lived in a forest with his little son, Hansel, and his daughter, Gretel. His wife died when the children were very small, and the woodcutter married again. His new wife did not like Hansel and Gretel at all. She was waiting to get rid of them.One day when the woodcutter came to
Once upon a time, a King and a Queen lived very happily. The Queen was going to have a baby. As she sat sewing near a window framed with ebony one winter day, she pricked her finger with the needle. The blood fell on the snow that lay on the window sill.“How beautiful the colours
Long ago, a king had twelve beautiful daughters whom he loved dearly, but he was very worried about them. Every morning, their shoes were found worn out completely as if the princesses had danced all night wearing them. The King consulted all his ministers and advisors, but no one could think of anything that could
A long time ago, a Mama Goat had seven little kids. She loved them and protected them from all possible danger.One day, she had to go out to get some food, so she called the kids and warned them to be careful and alert. “There’s a big bad wolf around,” she explained, “He has a
A beautiful baby-girl was born to a Queen in a country long ago. The King and the Queen were so very happy that they had a great celebration and invited everyone in the kingdom to bless the baby. There were thirteen fairies in the kingdom, but the King and the Queen forgot to invite one
A woodcutter and his wife lived in a cottage beside a wood, and prayed they might have a child. “Even a little one as big as my thumb would be wonderful,” said his wife.And they did have a tiny son, as big as her thumb. They named him Thomas and loved him dearly. He grew
On a warm summer morning, a little tailor sat, stitching a jacket. He heard a woman selling jam along the road and thought it would be good to buy some. She was hoping for a large sale, but after sniffing all the jars, he bought one jar of jam. She went off grumbling and the
The miller’s donkey had grown old and found it more and more difficult to carry the heavy load that his master put on his back. He heard his master grumbling to the neighbours about the donkey becoming a useless burden. This worried him a lot. Before his master could find a way to get rid
A blacksmith was skilled in making very strong and fine armour. One day, some courtiers of Emperor Akbar had an altercation with the blacksmith. The courtiers wanted to take revenge. Therefore, they poisoned the ears of the Emperor against the blacksmith.One day, the blacksmith came to the court with a newly made fine armour. The
A rich man’s charming wife died leaving him a little daughter. When she knew she would not live for long, she had called her daughter and told her to obey her father and to be good and pious. “I’ll be looking down at you,” she promised. The little girl was very sad when her mother
An old shoemaker lived with his wife in a village. He had become so poor that there was barely enough food for both of them. He had a little leather left just enough to make one more pair of shoes. That night, he sat down in his little workshop and cut the leather for a
One day, a courtier entered the court with a glass jar in his hands.“What is there in that jar?” asked the Emperor.“Your Majesty! It is a mixture of sand and sugar,” replied the courtier.“What for?” asked Akbar again.“Excuse me, Your Majesty!” said the courtier, “We want to test Birbal’s intelligence. We want him to separate
Once upon a time, a King had a beautiful daughter. She played every day in the palace garden with her golden ball that she liked very much. She enjoyed playing and watching the sunlight glinting on it.One day as the princess was throwing it up and catching it, the ball bounced right out of her
The little girl lived with her mother in a cottage on the edge of the forest. She always wore her red velvet cloak with a hood, a gift from her beloved grandmother. So, everyone called her Little Red Riding Hood.One day, she was going to visit her grandmother who was sick, so her mother gave