The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing A Wolf found great difficulty in getting any sheep for its dinner, since the Shepherd and his dogs kept a careful watch over the sheep. But one day the Wolf found the skin of a sheep lying in a field, so the Wolf put the skin on over its fur, and strolled down among the sheep. A Lamb followed the Wolf, thinking it was a real sheep, and so, leading the Lamb away, the Wolf ate it up! Yum, yum! And for some time, he succeeded in deceiving the Sheep, Shepherd, and...

The Nurse and the Wolf "Be quiet now," said an old Nurse to a bawling child sitting on her lap. "If you make that noise again I will throw you to the Wolf!" Now, a Wolf was passing close under the window and heard the Nurse’s words. So, he crouched down by the side of the house and waited. "I am in good luck to-day," he thought. "That baby is sure to cry soon, and I’ll have a tasty, fat, baby for my supper." So, he waited, and he waited, till at last the child began to cry, and the Wolf...

The Goose That Laid Golden Eggs One day a farmer went to the nest of his Goose and found she’d laid an egg that was all yellow and shiny. When he picked it up it was as heavy as lead! He was going to throw it away because he thought someone had played a trick on him, but then he thought about it a little more, and took it home - in case it might have any value. Soon, the farmer found, to his delight, that it was an egg of pure gold! Every morning the same thing occurred, and he soon became...

THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER Once upon a time, when magical little people still involved themselves in the lives of ordinary people, there was a poor shoemaker. He was a good man and once had been very good at his job, but as he got older his hands began to shake and his eyesight got poorer, it was difficult for him to make shoes to the high standards he was known for when he was young. Business was bad and the poor shoemaker and his wife had very little to eat. One night the shoemaker and...

The Belly and the Parts of the Body One fine day it occurred to the various parts of the Body that they were doing all the work and the Belly was getting all the food. So, they held a meeting, and after a long discussion, decided to stop working until the Belly consented to take its proper share of the work. So, for a day or two, the Hands refused to lift the food, the Mouth refused to take it in, and the Teeth had no work to do. But after a day or two the parts of the body began to find...

THE THREE LITTLE PIGS Three little pigs left their parent’s home and went out into the great, big, world to seek their fortune. One was called, Fun pig, another was called, Care-free pig, and the third was called, Practical pig. Fun and Care-free were nice little pigs but they liked enjoying themselves more than using their heads and thinking. Practical liked having fun, but only after he had done all his work, and he never did anything without thinking it through and planning it...

The Cockerel and the Pearl A cockerel was once strutting up and down the farmyard among the hens when suddenly he spied something shining in the straw. "Ho! ho!" he said, "I’ll have that!" And soon rooted it out from beneath the straw. What did it turn out to be but a pearl that, by some chance, had been lost in the yard! The cockerel was very disappointed. "Pearls may be precious to humans," said Master Cockerel, "but I would rather have a single crumb of bread than a whole bag of pearls -...

The Lion and the Statue A Man and a Lion were discussing who was the stronger, Humans, or Lions. The Man claimed that Humans were stronger than lions because of their greater intelligence. "Come with me," he said, "and I will prove that I’m right." So, he took Lion into the public gardens and showed him a statue of Hercules overcoming a Lion with his great strength. "This proves nothing," said the Lion, "a man made this statue to glorify humans. If a lion could make statues, then he would...

The Hares and the Frogs The Hares were so persecuted by the other beasts, they did not know what to do. As soon as they saw a single animal approach them, off they’d to run in fear. One day they saw a herd of wild horses stampeding about, and in quite a panic  all the Hares scuttled off to a lake nearby, determined to drown themselves rather than live in such a continual state of fear. But just as they got near the bank of the lake, a group of Frogs, frightened by the Hares scuttled off, and...

The Fox and the Grapes One hot summer's day, a Fox was strolling through a vineyard till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine which was entwined over a high branch. "Just the thing to quench my thirst," he said. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch of grapes. Turning around again, with a one, two, three! He jumped up, but with no greater success. Again, and again he tried to reach the delicious looking grapes, but at last he had to...

The Dog and the Wolf A skinny Wolf, almost dead with hunger, happened to meet a Dog who was passing by. "Ah, Cousin," said the Dog. "I knew how it would be; your irregular life will soon be the ruin of you. Why do you not work steadily as I do, and get your food regularly given to you?" "I would have no objection," said the Wolf, "if I could only get a place that would give me a job." "I will easily arrange that for you," said the Dog; "come with me to my master and you shall share my...

Once upon a time there was a young prince - fussy, he was, very picky, in fact, you might go so far as to call him a bit spoilt, and you’d be right - he was. One day he went to his mother, the queen, and said, “mother, it’s so tiresome being single - boring - I think it’s time I settled down and, you know, got married.” “Oh, excellent, my son!” Said the queen, who was wondering when he’d grow up and face his responsibilities. “Erm - do you have anyone in mind?” She asked. “No, not really,...

The Swallow and the Other Birds It happened that a Countryman was sowing some hemp seeds in a field, where a Swallow and some other birds were hopping about picking up their food. "Beware of that man," said the Swallow. "Why, what is he doing?" said the others. "That is hemp seed he is sowing; be careful to pick up every one of the seeds, or else you will be sorry." The birds ignored the Swallow's words, and by and by, the hemp grew up and was made into string, and of the string, nets were...

The Bat, the Birds, and the Beasts A great conflict was about to come off between the Birds and the Beasts. When the two armies were collected together the Bat wasn’t sure which to join. The Birds that passed his perch said: "Come with us"; but he said: "I am a Beast." Later on, some Beasts who were passing underneath him looked up and said: "Come with us"; but he said: "I am a Bird." Luckily at the last moment peace was made, and no battle took place, so the Bat came to the Birds and wished...

Androcles and the Lion A slave named Androcles once escaped from his master and fled to the forest. As he was wandering about, he came upon a Lion lying down, moaning and groaning. At first he turned to run away, but finding that the Lion did not pursue him, he turned back and went up to him. As he came near, the Lion put out his paw, which was all swollen and bleeding, and Androcles found that a huge thorn had got into it and was causing all the pain. He pulled out the thorn and bound up...

The Frog and the Ox "Oh Father," said a little Frog to the big one sitting by the side of a pool, "I have seen such a terrible monster! It was as big as a mountain, with horns on its head, and a long tail, and it had hoofs divided in two." "Tush, child, tush," said the old Frog, "that was only Farmer White's Ox. It isn't so big either; he may be a little bit taller than I, but I could easily make myself quite as broad; just you see." So, he blew himself out, and blew himself out, and blew...

PART FOUR Once home the wicked Queen asked the magic mirror, “magic mirror upon the wall, who NOW is the fairest one of all?" at last it answered, “You are the fairest now of all.” Then her evil, envious heart found peace, as much as any evil, envious heart can. The dwarfs, when they came home in the evening, found Snow-white lying on the ground, there came no breath out of her mouth, the poor child was dead, and remained dead. They laid her on a bier, and all seven of them sat around it,...

PART THREE When the wicked woman got home she went to her mirror and said, “magic mirror upon the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" The mirror answered as before, “Queen, thou art of beauty rare, but Snow-White living in the glen with the seven little men is a thousand times more fair." When she heard that she was so shocked that all the blood left her heart, for she knew that Snow-white must still be living. “But this time,” she said, “I will do something that will be her ruin.” And by...

PART TWO When it was quite dark, the masters of the house came home. They were seven dwarfs, who worked all day digging underground among the mountains for gold and precious stones. When they had lighted their seven candles, and it was bright in the little house, they saw that someone had been there, things were not as they’d been left in the morning. Then one of them looked at his bed and saw Snow-white lying there asleep. “Look!” He said. The others came running up, crying out in their...

SNOW-WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS PART ONE It was the middle of winter, and snowflakes were falling like feathers from the sky. A Queen sat at her window, working at her embroidery. As she worked, gazing at times out on the snow, she accidentally pricked her finger, and there fell from it three drops of blood on the snow. When she saw how bright and red it looked, she said to herself, “Oh I wish I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the ebony wood of this embroidery...

The Fox and the Crow A Fox once saw a Crow fly off with a piece of cheese in its beak and settle on a branch of a tree. "That's for me!" said Master Reynard, and he walked up to the foot of the tree. "Good-day, Mistress Crow," he cried. "How well you are looking to-day: how glossy your feathers; how bright your eye. I feel sure your voice must surpass that of other birds, just as your figure does; let me hear but one song from you that I may greet you as the Queen of Birds." The Crow lifted...

The Lion and the Mouse Once when a Lion was asleep a little Mouse began running up and down upon him; this soon wakened the Lion, who placed his huge paw upon him, and opened his big jaws to swallow him. "Pardon, O King," cried the little Mouse: "forgive me this time, I shall never forget it: who knows, but I may be able to do you a turn one of these days?" The Lion was so tickled at the idea of the Mouse being able to help him, that he lifted up his paw and let him go. Some time after, the...

Man and the Serpent A Countryman's son by accident trod upon a Serpent's tail, which turned and bit him so that he died. The father in a rage got his axe, and pursuing the Serpent, cut off part of its tail. So the Serpent in revenge began biting several of the Farmer's cattle and caused him severe loss. Well, the Farmer thought it best to make it up with the Serpent, and brought food and honey to the mouth of its lair, and said to it: "Let's forget and forgive; perhaps you were right to...

The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse Now you must know that a Town Mouse once upon a time went on a visit to his cousin in the country. He was rough and ready, this cousin, but he loved his town friend and made him heartily welcome. Beans and bacon, cheese and bread, were all he had to offer, but he offered them freely. The Town Mouse rather turned up his long nose at this country fare, and said: "I cannot understand, Cousin, how you can put up with such poor food as this, but of course you...

PART THREE So sad the king was dead, (ha, ha!) but the queen was expecting his baby, she brought a beautiful child into the world, and she never gave a thought to the goblin who had helped her and saved her life. But one day there he was, in her room, and he said, "Now give me your first-born, as you promised." The queen was horror-struck and offered the goblin all the riches of the kingdom if he would leave her the child. But the goblin said, "Don’t bother me with that rubbish, I don’t...