Boys and Girls Bookshelf (Vol 2 of 17) Folk-Lore, Fables, And Fairy Tales

So the schoolmaster also went home with a very sore back; and when the third brother, whose name was Taper Tom, because he sat in the ashes and made tapers out of fir, said he n...

"Oh, only so-so," said the man. "I can't boast of my luck, nor can I grumble at it either." And then he told them how it had gone with him from first to last.

"I remember nothing at all," said the Dwarf, "before the day I found myself going along with a crowd of all sorts of people to the great fair of the Liffey. We had to pass by th...

Of course, Jack was very glad to agree to do this. As soon as he was safely hidden away he heard a tremendous noise, and knew that the Giant had come home. The big fellow walked...

And the Wolf and his brother saw the house which the Sheep and the Pig and the Goose and the Hare and the Cock had builded, and they talked together of how warm and comfortable...

"I am a very easy master," said the Giant, "and that is all I expect you to do. But remember, I expect the work to be well done." Then, before he reached the door, he turned bac...

Beate stood there and stared at the water, hoping to see the bird come up again, but she waited and waited in vain. She was frightened, thinking it was drowned, when she saw it...

Well, the master's son he got well very soon, and they were to be married in a little time. It was to be a very grand wedding, and everyone was asked, far and near. And Cap o' R...

One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music. It sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought it must be the King's musicians passing by. It was...

Once upon a time there were three brothers who set out on a visit to Goose-cap, the wise one, who said that any one might come and see him, and get a wish--just one wish, no mor...

So, when the clock was on the hour of four (which, as every one knows, is the end of christenings and fairy gifts) the first godmother went up to the golden cradle.

With a glad cry the Indian boy stood up in his canoe, and the eagle hovered lower. Now the canoe tossed up on that great swelling wave that climbs to the cataract's edge, and th...

Then the Brahman, sad at heart, went farther afield till he saw a Buffalo turning a well-wheel; but he fared no better from it, for it answered: "You are a fool to expect gratit...

"Yes, it is true, dear child," replied the Fairy, "and few are the mortals to whom we give this lovely gift; what to you is now so full of music and of light, to others is but a...

Three Fishes lived in a pond. The first was wise, the second had a little sense, and the third was foolish. A fisherman saw the fish, and went home for his net in order that he...

A Shepherd Boy, who tended his sheep in a field near a village, used to make fun of his friends by crying out now and then, "A Wolf! a Wolf!" as if a Wolf were at the heels of h...

Looking at the white hand, what was his surprise to see upon the middle finger the ring he had given to the maiden he loved. Then he looked into her face and recognized her, and...

The sound was fearful and unnatural, but William was not easily put out. He looked back to his master, and his look made Mr. Lawley at once leave the bridge and follow him, thou...

But the lad screamed so loudly that the fox woke up and made off at once for the forest, so that the lad did not even get as much as a handful of his hair.

It was not long before he came to the city that was the capital. It was a fair day, and the city square was full of white canopies, lined with splendid flutings of pink. It was...

"Piff! paff!" resounded through the air; and the two ganders fell down dead in the swamp, and the water became blood-red. "Piff! paff!" it sounded again, and whole flocks of wil...

But she could find none, and in her disappointment hot tears fell. And they fell on the very spot where the roses had grown, and as soon as the warm drops moistened the earth, t...

"Pussy, I wouldn't tell a story to the king and queen for the world, but isn't it fun to see them take on so? If I really thought that papa was ill and likely to die, I would be...

"Could you not hold me more gently? You have seized my fine brown coat in such a manner that it is all torn and full of holes, meddling and interfering rubbish that you are!" Wi...

The Hares, oppressed with a sense of their own exceeding timidity, and weary of the perpetual alarm to which they were exposed, with one accord determined to put an end to thems...

Early in the morning the King came. He could hardly wait to learn whether the girl had done her difficult task. When he saw the room heaped with gold he fairly danced with joy,...

But the old enchanter does not sleep forever. Here in the forest of Broceliande, on a magic island, Merlin dwells with his nine bards, and only Vivian can come or go through the...

The King of the country had long been at war with one of his neighbors, but one morning he sent back a messenger to say that he had beaten his foeman at last, and that he was co...

"Only once in each year is it granted to us to visit our home. For eleven days we may stay here and fly over the great wood, from whence we can see the palace in which we were b...

So Bobby Coon climbed down out of the great hollow tree and started down the Lone Little Path through the wood as fast as he could go after Striped Chipmunk and Peter Rabbit, fo...

Now, there were in that court some very jealous men, who thought that Charming was altogether too great a favorite with the King. When they heard him say that he could have won...

In the ancient country of Orn there lived an old man who was called the Bee-man, because his whole time was spent in the company of bees. He lived in a small hut, which was noth...

But Lir was angry, and he left the plain where the Dedannan people were, taking leave of none, and doing Bove Derg no reverence. For jealousy filled the heart of Lir.

On this the raven took up Zirac in his bill and flew with him to the place where the poor goat was confined in the net. No sooner had he arrived than he at once commenced to gna...

The old woman was a wood-witch; her name was Buttertongue; and all her time was spent in making mead, which, being boiled with curious herbs and spells, had the power of making...

When the messengers of the King reported that the wine was all drunken, the King said: "Now are we put to it, for we cannot have this fellow wed the Princess." So he sent his me...

The others, taking warning from this, learned to think twice before they spoke, and one even went so far as to tell the Prince that, though it was quite true that no man could b...

The captain jumped for joy; he remembered poor Whittington and his cat, and told the King he had a creature on board the ship that would despatch all these vermin immediately. T...

"Lor'! Br'er Coon, you don't think I done that 'cause I was afraid, does you?" says he. "Why, I were no more afraid than you is this minute. What was there to be skeered at?" sa...

Full of joy, she entered the house, ran to her father's room, and fell on her knees by his bedside and kissed him. His illness had been much increased by fretting for poor Beaut...

Now the wicked old enchantress thought that all seven good fairies had spoken, so she stepped forth, her face distorted with hatred and envy, and said: "So I am not thought good...

By an accident, Andy shortly afterward was the means of driving a Mr. Furlong to Squire Egan's place instead of to Squire O'Grady's. Mr. Furlong was an agent from Dublin Castle,...

The Flower family numbered nine: Father and Mother Flower and seven children. Father Flower was an unappreciated poet, Mother Flower was very much like all mothers, and the seve...

All the while the pearly boat was drifting toward the youth and maiden; and, when it had touched the shore the Queen stepped out upon the land as lightly as if she had been made...

Too downhearted to stir, the swans slept that night within the ruined walls of their old home, but, when day broke, each could no longer bear the loneliness, and again they flew...

During the following day he refused all food and kept drawing his belt tighter and tighter around his waist every hour, till, by evening, he had reached the last notch. This met...

One afternoon of a cold winter's day, when the sun shone forth with chilly brightness, after a long storm, two children asked leave of their mother to run out and play in the ne...

"Well," said the biggest of the little ducks, "in spite of Doctor Peppercorn I can't help longing for the water. I don't believe it is going to hurt me; at any rate, here goes."...

"The little hare knew that the stranger was the eighty-first of the princes, and so for a time, he feared to follow his advice. But he was in such pain that he decided to go to...

On tops of dewy grass So nimbly do we pass, The young and tender stalk Ne'er bends when we do walk; Yet in the morning may be seen Where we the night before have been.

The next morning she started forward on her long journey round the world. She traveled quite pleasantly for a while, thinking of how cool and shady the desert path would now be...

I Fun and Thought for Little Folk II Folk-Lore, Fables, and Fairy Tales III Famous Tales and Nature Stories IV Things to Make and Things to Do V True Stories from Every Land VI...

And so the little son of Feather Woman and Morning Star was left all alone. And across his face was a great scar, which had been made there when he had been let down from Skylan...