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Selected stories

1 King Thrushbeard A king had a daughter who was beautiful beyond measure, but so proud and overbearing that none of ...
2 Lumawig on Earth One day when Lumawig, the Great Spirit, looked down from his place in the sky he saw two sisters gat...
3 The Story of Ivan and the Daughter of the Sun There were once upon a time four brethren, and three of them remained at home, while the fourth we...
4 The Story of Susa, the Impetuous When Izanagi, the Lord who Invites, turned his back upon the unclean place, and bade farewell to Y...
5 Meamei the seven sisters Wurrunnah had had a long day's hunting, and he came back to the camp tired and hungry. He asked h...
6 Hans in Luck Hans had served his master seven years, and at last said to him— "Master, my time is up; I should l...
7 Coinnach Oer Coinnach Oer, which means Dun Kenneth, was a celebrated man in his generation.  He has been called ...
8 Story of Ivan, the Peasant-s Son In a certain village there lived a poor peasant with his wife, who for three years had no children...
9 The Story of Ali Colia, Merchant of Bagdad In the reign of Haroun-al-Raschid, there lived in Bagdad a merchant named Ali Cogia, who, having n...
10 The Singing Bird of Heaven Ama Terassu, the Glorious, the Light of High Heaven, commanded, saying, “His Augustness, my August...
11 The Wood Maiden- The Story of Betushka and the Golden Birch Leaves Betushka was a little girl. Her mother was a poor widow with nothing but a tumble-down cottage and...
12 The pastor-s nurse - French (In French) Mon père était très jeune encore quand il est entré au saint ministère et qu'il fut nommé pasteur à...
13 Why the Tiger and the Stag Fear Each Other Once upon a time there was a large handsome stag with great branching horns. One day he said to him...
14 The fairy of the Dell In olden times fairies were sent to oppose the evil-doings of witches, and to destroy their power. ...
15 The gods and the wolf Among the Æsir, or gods, is reckoned one named Loki or Loptur. By many he is called the reviler of ...
16 The story of the False Prince There was once an honest journeyman tailor, by name Labakan, who learned his trade with an excell...
17 Legends of Rubezahl, or Number-Nip Once upon a time a glazier who was travelling across the mountains, feeling very tired from the he...
18 Faithful John There was once an old King, who, having fallen sick, thought to himself, "This is very likely my d...
19 The Arch Rogue There once lived, years ago, a man known only by the name of the Arch Rogue. By dint of skill in t...
20 The Mysterious Buddhist Robe The short visit which the Emperor Li Shih-ming paid to the Land of Shadows had produced a profoun...
21 The Flying Lion “Once upon a time,” remarked Outa, thoughtfully, “Oom Leeuw used to fly.” “O-o-o-oh!” said the chil...
22 The Matsuyama Mirror A long, long time ago there lived in a quiet spot a young man and his wife. They had one child, a ...
23 Lord Tarbat-s Relations Sir,—I heard very much, but believed very little of the second sight; yet its being assumed by seve...
24 The spirit of the steppes In ancient days there lived a king and queen; the former was old but the latter young. Althoug...
25 The Old Dog There was once a man who had a dog. While the dog was young he was made much of, but when he grew ...
26 Good Luck to the Lucky One; Or, Shall I Fall Down In a certain town there lived a wealthy Brâhmiṇ. He wished to build a house—pretty large and spacio...
27 Why the stork loves Holland Above all countries in Europe, this bird, wise in the head and long in the legs, loves Holland. Fl...
28 Raja Rasalu Once there lived a great Raja, whose name was Salabhan, and he had a Queen, by name Lona, who, thou...
29 The Good Wife and the Bad Husband In a remote village there lived a man and his wife, who was a stupid little woman and believed ever...
30 The Alligator’s Fruit Two women went to gather some wild fruit from a vine which belonged to the alligator. “You must be ...
31 The Three Enchanted Princes Once upon a time the King of Green-Bank had three daughters, who were perfect jewels, with whom th...
32 The Seven Pigeons In a deserted part of the rock-bound Cantabrian coast, a poor fisherman, named Pedro, discovered ...
33 Good Will Grow Out of Good In a certain town there reigned a king named Patnîpriya, to whose court, a poor old Brâhmiṇ, named...
34 Robert and the fairies Robert Roberts was a carpenter who worked hard and well; but he could never keep his tongue still. ...
35 The Queen of Heaven The Queen of Heaven, who is also known as the Holy Mother, was in mortal life a maiden of Fukien,...
36 The elves and their antics The elves are the little white creatures that live between heaven and earth. They are not in the cl...
37 The Sparrow and the Bush A sparrow once flew down upon a bush and said, “Little bush, give good little sparrow a swing.”––“...
38 The Red Ettin There was once a widow that lived on a small bit of ground, which she rented from a farmer. And she...
39 Why the Ratel is so Keen on Honey The children were accompanying Old Hendrik from the tobacco lands to the mealie lands farther out,...
40 The Magic Egg There was once upon a time a lark who was the Tsar among the birds, and he took unto himself as hi...
41 The Golden Ball Once upon a time there lived two lasses, who were sisters, and as they came from the fair they saw ...
42 (I) The sovereign of the mineral kingdom Once upon a time, and a long long time ago it was, there lived a widow who had a very pretty daug...
43 The Story of a Monkey One day when a monkey was climbing a tree in the forest in which he lived, he ran a thorn into his t...
44 Bougoodoogahdah the rain bird Bougoodoogahdah was all old woman who lived alone with her four hundred dingoes. From living so l...
45 The Golden Slipper There was once upon a time an old man and an old woman, and the old man had a daughter, and the ol...
46 The witch-s granddaughter In a green valley between two mountain-slopes lay a little village crowned by the Castle of Eppenh...
47 The sun;Or, the three golden hairs of the old man Vsévède Can this be a true story? It is said that once there was a king who was exceedingly fond of huntin...
48 Holiday adventures O it was so hot, so hot; the earth was well-nigh parched up, and moreover the use of water was res...
49 White Feather and the Six Giants There was an old man living in the depth of a forest, with his grandson, whom he had taken in charg...
50 The Spirits of the Yellow River The spirits of the Yellow River are called Dai Wang—Great King. For many hundreds of years past th...
51 The Sleeping Beauty In times past there lived a king and queen, who said to each other every day of their lives, "Woul...
52 King Mu of Dschou In the days of King Mu of Dschou a magician came out of the uttermost West, who could walk throug...
53 The Serpent It always happens that he who is over-curious in prying into the affairs of other people, strikes ...
54 Gareth and Lynette Gareth was a little prince. His home was an old grey castle, and there were great mountains all ro...
55 The Cock who caused a Fight between two Towns Ekpo and Etim were half-brothers, that is to say they had the same mother, but different fathers. T...
56 Fair, Brown, and Trembling King Hugh Curucha lived in Tir Conal, and he had three daughters, whose names were Fair, Brown, and...
57 Goolahwilleel the topknot pigeons Young Goolahwilleeel used to go out hunting every day. His mother and sisters always expected tha...
58 The white hare and the crocodiles Long, long ago, when all the animals could talk, there lived in the province of Inaba in Japan, a ...
59 Gooloo the magpie, and the Wahroogah Gooloo was a very old woman, and a very wicked old woman too, as this story will tell. During all...
60 How Rabbit Deceived Fox Long ago in Indian days in Canada, when Rabbit worked for Glooskap as his forest guide, he was a gr...
61 Of the Pretty Girl and the Seven Jealous Women There was once a very beautiful girl called Akim. She was a native of Ibibio, and the name was give...
62 A Chapter of Fish Sometimes in spring, when the big river flooded its banks and made lakes of the meadows, and the li...
63 The Bird-man When the Son of the Chan had done as formerly, spoken the threatening words, and carried off Ssidi,...
64 The strange builder Once upon a time, when the gods were building their abodes, a certain builder came and offered to e...
65 Man-s First Grief After Raven had gone, Man and his son went down to the sea to try some of the ways they had been ta...
66 The Little Bull-Calf Centuries of years ago, when almost all this part of the country was wilderness, there was a li...
67 The legend of the wooden shoe In years long gone, too many for the almanac to tell of, or for clocks and watches to measure, mill...
68 The Guest An old hag lived in a house with her grandson. She was a very bad woman who thought of nothing but ...
69 Santa Klaas and Black Pete Who is Santa Klaas? How did he get his name? Where does he live? Did you ever see him? These are qu...
70 Third Voyage After a very short time the pleasant easy life I led made me quite forget the perils of my two voy...
71 Story of the most wonderful and noble Self-Playing Harp In a certain country there lived a king named Filon, whose wife Chaltura had an only son, named A...
72 The ass in the lion-s skin At the same time, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares, the future Buddha was born one of a pe...
73 The Ape Sun Wu Kung Far, far away to the East, in the midst of the Great Sea there is an island called the Mountain of ...
74 The Children of the Limokon In the very early days before there were any people on the earth, the limokon (a kind of dove) were ...
75 The Story Of The Three Bears Once upon a time there were three Bears, who lived together in a house of their own, in a wood. One...
76 The Hobyahs Once there was an old man and woman and a little girl, and they all lived in a house made of he...
77 Domingo’s Cat Once upon a time there was a man who was very poor. He was so poor that he had to sell one t...
78 Peruonto A good deed is never lost. He who sows courtesy reaps benefit; and he who gathers kindness gathers...
79 Jack Hannaford There was an old soldier who had been long in the wars—so long, that he was quite out-at-elbows, an...
80 The Judgment of Shemyaka Two brothers once lived upon a little plot of ground—one rich, the other poor. The poor brother we...
81 The white snake A long time ago there lived a King whose wisdom was noised abroad in all the country. Nothing rema...
82 Clever Grethel There was once a cook called Grethel, who wore shoes with red heels, and when she went out in them...
83 The Lassie and her godmother Once on a time a poor couple lived far, far away in a great wood. The wife was brought to bed, and...
84 The Three Golden Hairs- The Story of a Charcoal-Burner-s Son Who Married a Princess There was once a king who took great delight in hunting. One day he followed a stag a great distan...
85 The Bird with the Golden Gizzard- The Story of Two Brothers There was once a poor man who had a large family. He was so poor that he had nothing to feed the c...
86 The Peony Lantern In Yedo there dwelt a samurai called Hagiwara. He was a samurai of the hatamoto, which is of all t...
87 The flying carpet, the invisible cap, the gold-giving ring and the smiting club In a cottage near the high-road, and close to the shores of a large lake, there once lived a widow...
88 The dwarfs- banquet (Norway) There lived in Norway, not far from the city of Drontheim, a powerful man who was blessed with all ...
89 Fishsave There was once upon a time a little baby whose father was Japanese ambassador to the court of Chi...
90 The broad man, the tall man and the man with eyes of flame In those days the king of a certain country had a daughter, who was not only exceedingly beautiful...
91 The wolf and the seven little goats There was once an old goat who had seven little ones, and was as fond of them as ever mother was o...
92 Roistering Dirck Van Dara In the days when most of New York stood below Grand Street, a roistering fellow used to make the ro...
93 Käthchen and the Kobold Half-way up the long steep hill that leads from Soden to Königstein, a rough road branches off to ...
94 The Devil-s Match- The Story of a Farmer Who Remembered What His Grandmother Told Him Once upon a time there was a poor farmer who lived in a wretched tumble-down cottage beyond the vi...
95 The Creation In the beginning there were no people on the earth. Lumawig, the Great Spirit, came down from the sk...
96 Who was the Thief “Yes, my baasjes, so was Oom Jakhals: he always made as if he forgot all about what he had done, an...
97 Crosby, the Patriot Spy It was at the Jay house, in Westchester, New York, that Enoch Crosby met Washington and offered his...
98 The easter hare It is curious how little children of one country know about the lives and interests of the children...
99 Pippo Ingratitude is a nail, which, driven into the tree of courtesy, causes it to wither. It is a broke...
100 The Weary Watcher Before the opening of the great bridge sent commerce rattling up Washington Street in Brooklyn that...