Once a weaver was busy making a blanket. A saint came and told the weaver that he wanted to stay there in order to see how he made a blanket. The weaver allowed and turned back to his work. The saint, secretly, pulled out several tufts of his long hair and mixed them with the […]
Once there was a king of Granada. He decided to get married. The news spread throughout the kingdom. The king had a magic mirror into which if any woman, not being thoroughly good, would look, the blemishes on her character would appear in the form of many spots on its surface. So, it was decided
Once there was a girl who went in the forest and lost her way. She arrived at a hill and saw a door and went in. There was a table covered with tasty food. There was a bed in which lay a great snake. The snake said to the girl, “Sit down, if you choose.
Once there were a rooster and a hen who were very good friends. They were more like brother and sister. The rooster was careless and often did foolish things while the hen was sincere and always advised the rooster not to do so. One day, they went to a garden and saw green gooseberries. The
Once there was a lady who had an ugly daughter named Holena. She also had a beautiful step-daughter named Marushka. The lady and Holena behaved in evil manner with Marushka. Once during January, Holena sent Marushka to bring her violets. Marushka wandered in the cold and saw twelve men sitting. They were the Twelve Months.
Once there was a widow who had two daughters. The eldest resembled her mother as both were disagreeable and proud. The youngest resembled her father as both were courteous, sweet and beautiful. Mother loved her elder daughter and disliked the younger. She made her work hard a lot. One day, the younger daughter gave water
Once a man and his wife exchanged their work. The wife went out with the mowers and the man began churning the butter. He felt thirsty, so he turned on the tap. A pig came into the kitchen and knocked the churn over. He began churning again. But he had to draw water from the
Once in Friesland, a baby-girl was born in a family. The couple was glad but the grandmother was angry and wished to kill her. So, the parents gave the baby to a woman who took her to her home. The father secretly made her a cradle. The parents came often to see her. There was
Kaddy was a lady farmer. One day, she went to the forest to gather sticks for her fire. While she was gathering the sticks, she found a piece of gold and was overjoyed. She took it home but she never told anyone that she had found a gold piece for she always pretended to be
Once there lived a woman with her son Francisco. He was a handsome boy. He went fishing daily. Once he went fishing at night. After being tired, he slept in his boat. A water-nymph saw the handsome youth and was attracted towards him. She gently drew him to her palace. Francisco’s mother was grief-stricken. She
One day, a man saw some mermen and mermaids dancing and several seal-skins strewed beside them on the ground. At his approach, they took their seal-skins and plunged into the sea. But one skin still lay there which he carried with him. On returning to the shore he met a beautiful maiden. She was the
Once there was a president who was very unjust to his people. One day, he angrily said that he wished to have horns so that he might frighten his people. Soon, his wish was granted and two sharp horns began to grow on his head. While trimming the president’s hair, his barber discovered this but
Once there was a sultan who had three little sons. One day a magician offered to teach reading and writing to his sons. He asked for one of his sons as his fees. The sultan agreed. In a short time, the magician turned them into great scholars. The sultan took his two sons that he
Once a king’s barber fell in love with a princess who was equally fond of him. But the king did not like it. So, the couple left the palace and went to the forest. On their way, the couple exchanged their clothes and went to the king of Leon. The princess offered her services to
Once a flea, a grasshopper and a toy-goose got into an argument. They wanted to see which one of them could jump the highest. So, they decided to have a competition and invited the whole world to see the frolic. “Well, I will give my daughter to the one who jumps the highest,” said the