精选外国寓言童话集

The City Mouse and the Country Mouse


Once there were two mice. They were friends. One mouse lived
in the country; the other mouse lived in the city. After many years the Country mouse saw the City mouse; he said, "Do come and see
me at my house in the country." So the City mouse went. The City mouse said, "This food is not good, and your house is not good. Why do you live in a hole in the field? You should come and live
in the city. You would live in a nice house made of stone. You would have nice food to eat. You must come and see me at my house in the city."
The Country mouse went to the house of the City mouse. It was
a very good house. Nice food was set ready for them to eat. But just as they began to eat they heard a great noise. The City mouse cried, " Run! Run! The cat is coming!" They ran away quickly and hid.
　　After some time they came out. When they came out, the Country mouse said, "I do not like living in the city. I like living in
my hole in the field. For it is nicer to be poor and happy, than
to be rich and afraid."

Little Red Coat


　　There was a little girl. She lived with her mother in a hut near" the forest.
　　One day the mother got some red cloth; she took her needle and she made a red coat for the little girl.
　　She put the coat on the little girl, and said, "I shall call you Little Red Coat." So the little girl was called "Little Red Coat" by her mother.
One day Little Red Coat said, "I want to show my red coat to
Grandmother."
　　Grandmother lived in a hut. The way to the hut was through the forest.
　　The girl's mother said, " You shall show Grandmother your red coat, and you shall take some eggs to her. You shall put on your little red coat and go through the forest to her house."
Then the girl's mother put some eggs in a cloth, and gave them
to the little girl, and said, "Take these eggs to Grandmother. You will go through the forest. Grandmother's house is far from here.
Do not wait on your way through the forest. If you wait, the night
will come. At night there is a wolf in the forest; he eats little girls and boys."
Little Red Coat said, "I will not wait on my way through the
forest."
　　Then Little Red Coat went out. She went on her way through the forest. As she went, she saw many flowers by the way. She said,
"I will take some flowers to Grandmother." Then she went this way
and that way getting flowers for her Grandmother. She waited getting the flowers. Night was coming and she was far from her Grandmother's house. When she saw that night was coming, she ran.
As she ran she saw a wolf, with big red eyes, standing near
a tree.
The wolf said, " Why do you run, Little Red Coat?"
"Night is coming," said Little Red Coat, "that is why I run." The wolf said, " Where are you running, Little Red Coat?"
She said, "I am running to Grandmother."
"What are you taking to your Grandmother?" said the wolf.
'I am taking some eggs," said Little Red Coat. "I will show you the way," said the wolf.
"No, no, no!" said Little Red Coat. "Do lot show me the way;
I know the way."
Then the wolf ran away through the trees.
　　The wolf came to Grandmother's house, and said, "Are you in, Grandmother?"
　　
"Who is that?" said Grandmother.
　　"I am Little Red Coat," said the wolf, "and I have got some eggs for you."
"Come in, Little Red Coat," said Grandmother.
　　Then the wolf went in, and ate up poor Grandmother. Then he took Grandmother's clothes and put them on, and he got into Grandmother's bed.
　　Little Red Coat came to the hut. She said, "Are you in, Grandmother?"
The wolf said, "ho is that?"
　　She said, "It is Little Red Coat. I have got some eggs and some flowers for you."
"Come in, Little. Red Coat," said the wolf. Little Red Coat went in.
The wolf said, "Come near and show me what is in that cloth." "Eggs, Grandmother," said Little Red Coat.
The wolf said, "What is that in your hand?" "Flowers," said Little Red Coat.
"come near, and show me your flowers, Little Red Coat," said
the wolf.
Then Little Red Coat went near to the bed and sat down.
Then she said, " What big ears you have got, Grandmother."
" have got big ears to hear you with," said the wolf.
What big eyes you have got, Grand- mother," said Little Red
Coat.
"I have got big eyes to see you with," said the wolf.
What a big mouth you have got, Grand- mother," said Little Red
Coat.
"I have got a big mouth to eat you with!" said the wolf. And
he jumped out of the bed and ran to catch Little Red Coat. She ran
to the door, and out into the forest. The wolf ran. Little Red Coat ran.
Then she heard a shot. There was a man waiting near a tree.
He had shot the wolf. The wolf was dead. Little Red Coat saw that the man was her father. Her father heard that the wolf was in the forest, and he came to help Little Red Coat.

The Cat and the Bell


　　There were many mice in a house. The man of the house got a cat. The cat killed many of the mice.
　　Then the oldest mouse said, " All mice must come to my hole tonight, and we will think what we can do about this cat.'
All the mice came. Many mice spoke, but none knew what to do.
At last a young mouse stood up and said, "We must put a bell on the cat. Then, when the cat comes near, we shall hear the bell and run away and hide. So the cat will not catch any more mice.'
Then the old mouse asked, " Who will put the bell on the cat?" No mouse answered.
He waited; but still no one answered.
　　At last he said, "It is not hard to say things; but it is harder to do them."
　　
Blue Beard


Ⅰ
　　Once there was a very rich man. He lived in a beautiful house, and had a beautiful garden. The rich man had a blue beard: so he was called "Blue Beard."
　　Near the rich man's house there lived a poor woman. She had three sons, and two beautiful girls. The name of one of the girls was Ann; the name of the other was Fatima. Blue Beard wanted to marry one of the girls; but the girls did not want to marry Blue Beard.
　　Ann and Fatima did not want to marry the rich man because his beard was blue. Blue Beard had married many wives, but his wives had gone away. No one knew where his other wives had gone. The girls did not want to marry Blue Beard and become his wife, because no one knew where his other wives had gone. So their mother said to Blue Beard, "My girls do not want to marry you."
Then Blue Beard said, " Come and live in my house for some days."
So they went and lived in Blue Beard's house. It was a very beautiful house, and Blue Beard was good to them in many ways.
Fatima said, "His beard is blue, but he is not a bad man. He
is very good in some ways. So I will marry him."
　　So Fatima married Blue Beard and went to live in the beautiful house.
Some days went by. Then Blue Beard said, "I shall go on a
journey.' Then he gave Fatima the keys of all the rooms in the house.
He said, "This is the key of that little room; do not open the door
of it. ?Say that you will not open the door of the little room!" Fatima said, "I will not open the door of that little room." Then Blue Beard went away.
When Blue Beard was away, all Fatima's friends came to see her.
She showed them the rooms, and what a beautiful house it was; but she did not open the door of the little room.
The friends went away. Then Fatima said, "Shall I open the door
of that little room now? Why did he say, "Do not open it'? I want to see what is in the little room."
Ⅱ
　　Fatima took the key; she went to the door of the little room, and opened it. In the room she saw all Blue Beard's other wives. They were dead!
　　The key fell from her hand. When she took it up there was a red mark on it.
　　She shut the door. Then she took the key to her room. She said, "Blue Beard will see the mark on the key; he will know that I have
　　
opened the door of the little room, and he will kill me, as he killed all the other wives." She rubbed the key with a cloth, but the mark did not go away. She washed the key in hot water, but the mark was not washed away. She rubbed the key on a stone, but she could not rub the mark away.
　　Blue Beard came back. He called Fatima, and said, "Give me my keys." Fatima gave him the other keys; but she did not give him the key of the little room. He said, "Where is the key of the little room?" She said, "I will bring it." She went and brought it; and
he saw the red mark. He said, "You have opened the door of the tittle room. Now you shall die."
She fell at his feet:" Give me some hours to live," she said. He said, "I will give you one hour."
　　Fatima had three brothers. Her brothers had said, "We shall come and see you today;' but they had not come. She said, "If my brothers come in this hour they will save me."
　　Her sister Ann was in the house. She called to her, "Sister Ann, Sister Ann, go to the window and see if my brothers are coming." Sister Ann went to the window; she said, "I see no one coming."
Fatima waited a little; then she cried, " Sister Ann, Sister
Ann, do you see anyone coming?"
Sister Ann said, "I do not see anyone; no one is coming." Blue Beard called, "Fatima!"
Fatima said, "Sister Ann, Sister Ann, is anyone coming?"
"I see a little dust," said Sister Ann, "very far away." Blue Beard called, "Fatima, come down."
"Sister Ann, Sister Ann," Said Fatima, "is there anyone in the
dust?"
"I see men in the dust," said Sister Ann.
　　Blue Beard called, "An hour has gone by. Come down, Fatima, and I shall kill you."
" Sister Ann, Sister Ann, are three men in the dust?"
　　Blue Beard called, "An hour has gone by. If you do not come down, I shall come up."
"I see three men," said Sister Ann. "They are my brothers!" said Fatima.
　　Fatima said, " Sister Ann, Sister Ann, call to them to come and save me."
Blue Beard called. "I am coming up," he said. "Sister Ann, call to them, Sister Ann!"
Blue Beard came to the door.
The door opened: Blue Beard caught Fatima's arm.
The three brothers came in, and killed Blue Beard. So Fatima was saved.

The Old Cat


　　An old woman had a cat. The cat was very old she could not run quickly, and she could not bite, because she was so old. One day the old cat saw a mouse; she jumped and caught the mouse. But she could not bite it; so the mouse got out of her mouth and ran away, because the cat could not bite it.
　　Then the old woman became very angry because the cat had not killed the mouse. She began to hit the cat. The cat said, "Do not hit your old servant. I have worked for you for many years, and
I would work for you still, but I am too old. Do not be unkind to the old, but remember what good work the old did when they were young."

The Sleeping Princess


I
Once there was a King and a Queen. For many years they had wanted
a child, and no child had come to them.
　　Then the Queen had a child. It was a girl. The King was very glad.
　　You know what a fairy is. Many fairies lived near the King's house. When the Queen's child came, the King went to all the fairies and said, "The Queen has a child. Do come to the house and see our new little girl." All the fairies said, "We are very glad: we will come today ."
　　One of the fairies had gone away on a journey: she had been very far away. She had not come back when the Queen's child came. When she came back, one of the fairies said to her, "The Queen has
a child, and the King came to us and said, "Come and see our new little girl. ""
But this fairy was a bad fairy; the bad fairy said, "The King
went to all of you: why did he not come to me? I shall go and see the King's child; but I shall give her some bad thing."
All the good fairies went to the King's house, and saw the
little girl; and they all gave her some good thing. One said, "I
give her this good thing: she shall have riches." One fairy said,
"I give her this good thing; she shall become a brave woman." One said, "I give her this good thing: she shall become a good woman." All gave some good thing.
Then there came the bad fairy. She said, "The King went to all
the fairies but he did not come to me, so I shall give the child some bad thing. She will have riches; she will become brave; she will become good. But, when she is a woman, she will prick her hand with a needle, and die." The poor Queen did not know what to do. The King said to the good fairies, "
The poor girl shall not die. Can you not help me? Say that she
shall not die!" The good fairies said, " We cannot help you. What the bad fairy has said will come. Your child will prick her hand with a needle; but she shall not die. She shall sleep for many years. Then a king's son shall come and kiss her. And she will awake.
He shall wake her with a kiss." Then the fairies went away.
　　The King sent for all his men and all the Queen's women, and said, "Go and bring me all the needles that are in the house." They brought all the needles that they could find, and the King
took them, and threw them into a river far away.
Then he said, "See that no needle comes into this house. See

that no man and no woman brings a needle near my child. I shall kill them if they do."
Ⅱ
The little child grew up in the King's house. She became a
Princess. The Princess wanted to see all that she could. She wanted
to know what the men were doing in the garden. She wanted to know the names of all the flowers and of all the trees. She said to the men in the King's garden, "What is the name of this flower? What
is the name of this tree?" In the house she wanted to see all that there was to see.
　　She wanted to know how many rooms there were in the King's house, and who lived in all the rooms. So she went into one room, and then into an- other room, and then into another. She went into big rooms and little rooms, and very little rooms. Then she said, "I have been to all the rooms in the house." But there was one room where she had not gone.
　　As she went on, she came to a new room. It was a little room very far away from all the other rooms. The door of the room was shut. The Princess wanted to go in- and see what was in this room. She called, "Open the door!" But no one came. She called once. She called twice; then the door was opened. The Princess went into the room: and there she saw a very old woman.
The old woman was sitting near a table. On the table there Was
some cloth. The old woman had some cloth in one hand, and in the other hand she had a needle.
The Princess said, "What are you doing?"
"I am making something," said the old woman. "What are you making?" said the Princess.
"I am making some clothes," said the old woman.
“What is that in your hand?" said the Princess. "That is the cloth," said the old woman.
"No!" said the Princess. "What is that in your other hand?"
"That?" said the old woman. "That is a needle."
The Princess said, "Give me the 'needle'; I want to see it.
I have not seen a needle. I do not know what a needle is."
　　The old woman said, "Have you not seen a needle? How can that be? You have seen many needles! Needles are seen in all houses."
The old woman gave the needle to the Princess.
　　"Give me the cloth," said the Princess: 'I want to make clothes." Then the old woman gave the Princess the cloth.
　　The Princess pricked the cloth with the needle —but she pricked her hand. And she fell asleep!
Then all the men and the women in the house fell asleep. The
King fell asleep at his table, and the Queen sitting near him fell

asleep.
　　The man in the garden fell asleep with his are in his hand. The man standing at the door of the house fell asleep where he stood. All were asleep.
　　A fairy came to the Princess. She took her and put her on a bed. Then the fairy said to the trees and to the flowers in the garden, " Grow!" The flowers grew up, and the trees grew big. There was a wall of trees and flowers. So no one could go into the house.
　　In the house the Princess slept; and the King slept, and all his men; and the Queen, and her women, slept.
Ⅲ
　　Many wanted to go into the house of the Sleeping Princess; but they could not go through the trees. So no one came.
　　Years went by, and the Princess slept. Many years went by, and men did not know what the house was and who was in it. The trees grew up; you could not see the house through the trees. Men went
by the trees and did not know that there was a house there.
　　One day a King rode into the forest. His son was with him. The King and his men went far in front, and the King's son could not find them. He rode on, and he came to a wall of trees and flowers.
He said, "My father has gone through those trees: I will go through
them and find him."
　　As he came to the wall of trees, it opened, and he went through. Then he saw a garden; but all the flowers had grown here and there
as they wanted.
　　He came to a house. The door was open, a man was standing by the door asleep. the King's son said, "What a lazy man, he sleeps standing!" He went into the house. Men sat at the table, with food
in their hands, asleep.
　　A little boy had been reading a story: he had fallen asleep with his head on his arms. A woman had been putting on her shoes; she was asleep with one shoe on and one shoe in her hand. An old man sat with pen and paper, asleep; and the dust of years was on his paper. Near him a woman was asleep with her little child asleep
in her arms.
　　The King's son went from one room to another. He saw the old King asleep at his table, and near him the Queen asleep with her head in her hands. Then he came to a room where there was sunlight and flowers. The window was open and roses had grown in through the window into the room. Golden light came through the window and fell upon a bed. The Princess was on the bed. Her eyes were shut. She was asleep.
　　The King's son kissed her. She awoke. Then all the house awoke. The man awoke at the door. The men awoke and ate the food in their
　　
hands. The woman awoke and put on her shoe. The boy awoke and read his story. The King awoke at his table. The Queen rubbed her eyes, and said, "What were you saying, my King. I fell asleep."
The Princess was married by the King's son, and they became
King and Queen.

The Man and the Apples


　　A man was going to the house of some rich person. As he went along the road, he saw a box of good apples at the side of the road.
He said, "I do not want to eat those apples; for the rich man will give me much food; he will give me very nice food to eat." Then
he took the apples and threw them away into the dust.
He went on and came to a river. The river had become very big;
so he could not go over it. He waited for some time; then he said,
"I cannot go to the rich man's house today, for I cannot get over the river."
He began to go home. He had eaten no food that day. He began
to want food. He came to the apples, and he was glad to take them out of the dust and eat them.
　　Do not throw good things away; you may be glad to have them at some other time.
　　
“Mr. Fox is Dead”


　　Mr. Rabbit was a very bad little beast; he was always doing things that made other persons angry and they wanted to catch him. But it was very hard to catch Mr. Rabbit.
　　One day Mr. Wolf said to Mr. Fox, "We will catch Mr. Rabbit and eat him tonight. You go to your home and get into bed. I shall say that you are dead. Then Mr. Rabbit will come near you to look
at you, and you will jump up and catch him."
Mr. Fox ran home and got into bed. Mr. Wolf went to Mr. Rabbit'
house. He stood at the door and called, "Mr. Rabbit, Mr. Rabbit." "What is it?" said Mr. Rabbit.
"Have you heard about poor Mr. Fox? It is so sad!"
No," said Mr. Rabbit, "I have not heard anything about Mr. Fox." "He is dead!" said Mr. Wolf.
Mr. Wolf went away. Mr. Rabbit went to Mr.
　　Fox's house to see what he could see. He looked in through the window, and there he saw Mr. Fox on the bed with his eyes shut, looking like a dead fox. Mr. Rabbit thought, "I must see if he is dead or not For if he is not dead, he will catch me when I go near
to him."
　　Mr. Rabbit went into Mr. Fox's house; he looked at Mr. Fox and said, "Mr. Wolf says that Mr. Fox is dead but he does not look like
a dead fox. You can always know if a fox is dead, for dead foxes
always open their mouths.
Mr. Fox heard this, and he thought, "I will show him that I
am dead." So he opened his mouth.
　　When Mr. Rabbit saw Mr. Fox open his mouth he knew that Mr. Fox was not dead. Mr. Rabbit jumped up and ran out of the house
as quickly as he could.

Snow-white


Ⅰ
　　Once there was a Queen. She was sitting at the window. There was snow outside in the garden—snow on the hill and in the lane, snow on the huts and on the trees: all things were white with snow.
　　She had some cloth in her hand and a needle. The cloth in her hand was as white as the snow.
The Queen was making a coat for a little child. She said, "I
want my child to be white as this cloth, white as the snow. And
I shall call her Snow-white."
　　Some days after that the Queen had a child. The child was white as snow. The Queen called her Snow-white.
　　But the Queen was very ill, and after some days she died. Snow-white lived, and was a very happy and beautiful child.
One year after that, the King married another Queen. The new
Queen was very beautiful; but she was not a good woman.
A wizard had given this Queen a glass. The glass could speak.
It was on the wall in the Queen's room. Every day the Queen looked
in the glass to see how beautiful she was. As she looked in the glass, she asked:
" Tell me, glass upon the wall,
Who is most beautiful of all?" And the glass spoke and said:
"The Queen is most beautiful of all."
　　Years went by. Snow-white grew up and be- came a little girl. Every day the Queen looked in the glass and said,
"Tell me, glass upon the wall,
Who is most beautiful of all?"
And every day the glass spoke and said, "The Queen is most beautiful of all."
Years went by, and Snow-white grew up and became a woman. Every
year she became more and more beautiful.
　　Then one day, when Snow-white was a woman, the Queen looked in the glass and said,
"Tell me, glass upon the wall, Who is most beautiful of all?" And the glass said,
"Snow-white is most beautiful of all."
　　When the Queen heard this, she was very angry. She said, "Snow-white is not more beautiful than I am. There is no one who
is more beautiful than I am."
Then the Queen sat on her bed and cried.

After one hour the Queen went out of her room. She called one
of the servants, and said, " Take Snow-white into the forest and kill her."
　　The servant took Snow-white to the forest, but he did not kill her, because she was so beautiful and so good.
　　The man took Snow-white into the forest, but he did not kill her. He said, "I shall not kill you; but do not go to the King's house, because the Queen is angry and she will see you. If the Queen sees you, she will make some other man kill you. Wait here in the forest; some friends will help you."
Then he went away.
　　Poor Snow-white sat at the foot of a tree and cried. Then she saw that night was coming. She said, " I will not cry. I will find some house where I can sleep tonight. I cannot wait here: the bears will eat me."
　　She went far into the forest. Then she saw a little but. She opened the door of the hut, and went in.
Ⅱ
In the hut she saw seven little beds. There was a table and
on the table there were seven little loaves and seven little glasses. She ate one of the loaves. Then she said, "I want some water to drink." So she drank some water out of one of the glasses. Then
she fell asleep on one of the seven little beds.
The hut was the home of seven Little Men.
　　When it was night, the seven Little Men came to the hut. Each Little Man had a big beard, and a little blue coat. Each Little Man came into the hut, and took his little lamp. Then each Little Man sat down, and ate his little loaf, and drank his little glass
of water.
But one Little Man said,
"Someone has eaten my little loaf." And another Little Man said,
"Someone has drunk my little glass of water."
Then the seven Little Men went to bed, but one Little Man said, "Someone is sleeping on my little bed."
　　All the seven Little Men came to look at Snow-white as she slept on the Little Man's bed. They said,
"She is very beautiful." "She is very beautiful." "She is very beautiful." "She is very beautiful." "She is very beautiful." "She is very beautiful." "She is very beautiful."

　　Snow-white awoke, and saw the seven Little Men with their big beards standing near her bed. She was afraid .
　　The Little Men said, "Do not be afraid. We are your friends. Tell us how you came here."
　　Snow-white said, "I will tell you." Then she told them her story.
　　They said, "Do not be afraid. Live here with us. But see that the door is shut when we are not in the house with you. Do not go out. If you go out, the bad Queen will find you. Then she will know that you are not dead, and will tell someone to kill you."
　　So Snow-white lived in 'the hut with the seven Little Men. After some days Snow-white went into the garden. One of the Queen's servants was going through the forest, and he saw her. He went and told the Queen, "Snow-white is in a hut in the forest." The Queen was very angry when she heard that snow-white was not
dead.
　　The Queen took an apple. She made a hole in the red side of the apple, and put some powder into the hole. Then she put on old clothes and went to the hut. She called, "Is any one there?"
Snow-white opened the door, and came out to her. The Queen said,
"I have some pretty apples. Eat one of my pretty apples." Snow-white took the apple and said, "Is it good?" The Queen said, "See, I will eat this white side of the apple; you eat the red side. Then you will know that it is good."
Snow-white ate the red side of the apple. When the powder was
in her mouth she fell down dead.
　　The Queen went back to her house. She went into her room. She looked into the glass and said,
"Tell me, glass upon the wall,
　　　　Who is most beautiful of all?" The glass siad,
"The Queen is most beautiful of all."
Then the Queen knew that Snow-white was dead.
　　The Little Men came back to the hut. When they saw that Snow-white was dead, the poor Little Men cried. Then they put Snow-white in a box made of glass. They took the glass box to a hill and put it there, and said, "Everyone who goes by will see how beautiful she was."
　　Then each Little Man put one white flower on the box, and they went away.
　　Just as they were going away, a Prince came by. He saw the glass box and said, "What is that?" Then he saw Snow-white in the box.
He said, ." She was very beautiful: but do not put her there. There
is a hall in the garden of my father's house. It is all made of

white stone. We will take the glass box and put it in the hall of beautiful white stone."
The Little Men said, "Take her."
Then the Prince told his servants to take up the box. They took
up the box. Just then one of the servants fell down. The box fell, and Snow-white fell with the box. The bit of apple fell out of her mouth: she awoke, and sat up, and said, "Where am I?"
　　The Prince said "You are with me. I never saw anyone as beautiful as you. Come with me and be my Queen."
The Prince married Snow-white, and she became his Queen.
　　A man went and told this to the bad Queen. When she heard it she was so angry that she fell down dead.
Snow-white lived and was very happy ever after. And the Little
Men came to see her every year.

Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Wolf


　　One day Mr. Rabbit was walking near the hill; he heard someone crying out, " Help! Help!" He looked this way and that way, and
he saw poor Mr. Wolf. A great stone had fallen on Mr. Wolf's back, and he could not get up. He cried, "Mr. Rabbit, take this great stone from my back or I shall die."
　　Mr. Rabbit worked very hard and got the stone from Mr. Wolf's back. Then Mr. Wolf jumped up and caught Mr. Rabbit in his mouth. "If you kill me," cried Mr. Rabbit, "I will never. help you
again as long as I live."
　　"You will not live," said Mr. Wolf, "because I shall have killed you."
　　"No nice person kills a person who has helped him," said Mr. Rabbit; "it is not just. You ask Mrs. Duck: she is very fat and she knows everything. She will say that no nice person would do
a thing like that."
I will ask her," said Mr. Wolf, "and if she does not say what
I want, I shall eat her too."
So Mr. Wolf and Mr. Rabbit went to Mrs. Duck. Mr. Wolf said,
"I caught Mr. Rabbit when he was sitting down near the hill. So
I say that I should eat him. Now say what you think."
"I took a great big stone from his back," said Mr. Rabbit; "So
I say that he should not eat me, be- cause I helped him. Now say what you think. "What stone'?" said Mrs. Duck.
"A stone near the hill," said Mr. Rabbit.
　　"I must see it," said Mrs. Duck. "How can I say what I think if I have not seen the stone?"
So Mr. Wolf and Mr. Rabbit and Mrs. Duck went to see the stone.
"Now, put the stone just as it was," said Mrs. Duck. So they put th stone back where it was.
"No," said Mrs. Duck, "that is not just as it was. You said
that the stone was on Mr. Wolf's back."
So they put the stone on Mr. Wolf's back.
　　"Now," said Mr. Wolf, "you see just how it was. What do you say about it?"
　　Mr. Rabbit and Mrs. Duck said, "We say that we are going home. And you may ask some other person to take the stone from your back. You look very nice like that; stay just as you are!"
　　
The Bird,, the Mouse, and the Loaf


I
　　Once there was a Bird, a Mouse, and a Loaf. They lived in a little house. The house was near a for- est. There was a garden
at the front of the house full of pretty flowers. There were flowers
in the window, and a little tree on each side of the door.
　　The Bird, the Mouse, and the Loaf did all the work of the house. Each day the bird went to the forest and brought wood. The mouse brought water from the river and made the house clean. The loaf was the cook; she cooked the food and made bread.
They were all very happy.
One day the bird was going to the forest to get wood. He saw
a friend in the lane: it was another bird; the name of the other bird was Mr. Magpie.
　　Mr. Magpie said, "I am very glad to see you. I have not seen you for many days. Are you happy?"
The bird said, "I am very happy. I live in a pretty house. I
am now going to get the wood from the forest. "
I did not know that you had become a servant' said Mr. Magpie.
　　"I am not a servant," said the bird; "I live with friends. Mr. Mouse and Mrs. Loaf live with me in the house. "
"And do you do all the work of the house?" asked Mr. Magpie.
　　"No," said the bird, "Mrs. Loaf is the cook; she cooks the food and makes bread. I bring the wood from the forest; and Mr. Mouse does all the other things."
You do more work than the others," said Mr. Magpie. " It is
not just that you should do more than the others do."
"The house is not far from the forest," said the bird.
"But on some days you have to go twice," said Mr. Magpie. "That is so," said the bird; and he was angry that he should
have to do more work than the others.
　　When Mr. Bird was bringing the wood from the forest, Mr. Mouse brought water from the river, put the water in the pot, put water
on all the flowers, set the table ready for food, cleaned the rooms, cleaned the windows, cleaned all the pots and tins, and cleaned everything.
　　Mrs. Loaf got the food, made it ready, put the pot on the fire, made the water hot, and cooked the food.
　　Mr. Bird came into the house. He threw down the wood and sat down at the table. He did not speak to Mr. Mouse or Mrs. Loaf.
　　Mrs. Loaf said, "Poor Mr. Bird is ill—or he is angry. What has made you angry, Mr. Bird?"
　　
Mr. Bird said nothing .
Mrs. Loaf brought the food and set it on the table.
　　This is very good bread," said Mr. Mouse; 'Mrs. Loaf makes very good bread."
Mr. Bird did not speak.
　　"There is much work to do in the garden," said Mr. Mouse. "Will you help me in the garden, Mr. Bird?" 'I will not help you in the garden," said Mr. Bird, "or do any other work. I do too much work.
I work all day. I do all the work in the house." Mrs. Loaf said,
" Mr. Mouse cleans the house,
and I cook the food; you do not do more work than we do."
　　Mr. Bird said, "That is not work. You sit in the house and do little things, but I go far away to the forest and get all these big bits of wood, and bring them here."
　　Mrs. Loaf said, "After this I will go to the forest and get the wood, and Mr. Mouse shall cook the food. You shall clean the house. Then you will not do too much work. I shall be glad to go
to the forest: I have never been there."
Ⅱ
　　So, on the day after that, Mrs. Loaf went out to bring wood from the forest; Mr. Mouse went to cook the food; and Mr. Bird went
to get water from the river.
　　Mr. Bird took the pot with his foot, and went out to get the water. He came to the river, and put the pot in the water. When the pot was full of water, he took it with one foot; but the pot was too big. Then he took it with the other foot, but the pot fell. Then he got another pot, and brought the water.
Mr. Mouse went to cook the food. He put the pot on the fire,
but he put his foot in the fire. The fire burned his foot, and he cried. But he made the food ready. Mr. Bird came back from the river. Mr. Mouse was angry because he had burned his foot; Mr. Bird was angry because the pot had fallen. And Mrs. Loat had not come back from the forest.
　　Mr. Mouse said, "Shall we wait for Mrs. Loaf? Or shall we eat our food now?"
"We will wait a little," said Mr. Bird.
　　They waited for an hour; Mrs. Loaf did not come. Then Mr. Bird said, "I will go to the forest and get the wood, and tell Mrs. Loaf
to come home."
So Mr. Bird went down the lane to the forest. He saw some bits
of wood in the lane, but he could not see Mrs. Loaf. She was not
in the forest; she was not in the lane. Then he saw a wolf sitting near the bits of wood.
Mr. Bird asked, "Mr. Wolf, have you seen Mrs. Loaf today?"

Mr. Wolf said, "That is Mrs. Loaf's wood." "But where is Mrs. Loaf?" asked Mr. Bird. "She was here," said Mr. Wolf.
"Where is she now?" asked Mr. Bird. "She is here now " said Mr. Wolf.
"I do not see her," said Mr. Bird.
"She is inside me," said Mr. Wolf, "I have eaten her up." "Then you are a bad wolf" said Mr. Bird. "Mrs. Loaf was a very
good cook--and now you have eaten her!"
　　"Mrs. Loaf should not go to the forest," said the wolf. "Loaves should stay in the house. Go away, or I shall eat you too."
　　Mr. Bird took the wood and went home: he was crying. Mr. Mouse cried too when he heard that Mrs. Loaf was dead.
　　Then Mr. Mouse said, "I cannot eat today. But will you have your food now? I will go and get it ready."
　　The pot was a big pot; Mr. Mouse was a little mouse. He could not take the pot down from the fire: he fell into the pot and was killed.
Mr. Bird went to get ready the table. He set all ready, and
then he waited. He waited, and waited. Then he called, "Mr. Mouse, Mr. Mouse; do come and have something to eat."
"Mr. Mouse," he called, " if the food is not ready, we will
eat bread." But he heard nothing.
Then he went into the other room. He could not see Mr. Mouse.
He went to the pot on the fire, and there he saw that poor Mr. Mouse was dead.
A bit of burning wood fell out of the fire. "The house is on
fire!" said Mr. Bird. " It will all be burned!" He ran to the river
to bring water to put out the fire. But he fell into the river, and was killed too.
And the house was burned.
　　That is what comes if you do not do your own work, but want to do the work for others.
We should each do our own work, and then we shall all be happy.

Mrs. Duck and Mr. Rabbit


　　Mr. Rabbit said to Mrs. Duck, "Come and work with me and you will get more money than you have ever had before." Mrs. Duck said,
"I will come."
　　So Mrs. Duck worked with Mr. Rabbit. After some time Mrs. Duck said to Mr. Rabbit, "I want to buy some things; please give me some
of the money which we have got."
　　Mr. Rabbit said, "Things have gone very badly. I have no money to give you now."
　　Mrs. Duck knew that this was not so; she knew that Mr. Rabbit has the money, but that he did not want to give it to Mrs. Duck. But Mrs. Duck said nothing. She went away; and she thought and thought. She did not go to sleep at night, but stayed awake thinking.
She was thinking how she could get the money from Mr. Rabbit.
　　One day Mrs. Duck came to Mr. Rabbit and 'd, "I do not want that money now; I have found a sal great big hole near the river; the hole is full of gold. It is full to the top; I never saw so much gold. It is more than I can take away; will you help me to take it away?"
Mr. Rabbit said, "Yes, I shall be glad to help you.
　　So Mr. Rabbit and Mrs. Duck went down the road to the river. When they came to the side of the river, Mrs. Duck said, "it is
on the other side of the river." ' How shall I get over the water?"
asked Mr. Rabbit. " Sit on my back," said Mrs. Duck, "and I will take you over."
So Mr. Rabbit sat on Mrs. Duck's back, and Mrs. Duck went into
the water. When Mrs. Duck was far from the side, she said, "Now
I shall go down into the water, and you will fall from my back into the water."
"But I shall be killed!" said Mr. Rabbit.
"Yes," answered Mrs. Duck, "so you will. But you did not give
me my money for the work which I did with you."
　　"I hid the money in a pot in my house. Take me home and I will give it to you," said Mr. Rabbit.
　　Mrs. Duck said, "I will take you home, and we will go to your house at once, and you shall give it to me.
So Mr. Rabbit gave Mrs. Duck the money.
Mr. Rabbit was afraid of Mrs. Duck after that

The Golden Touch


I
Once there was a King. His name was Midas.
Midas loved gold. He did not want to buy things with his gold.
He wanted to have the gold; he wanted to look at the gold every day.
　　There was a house made of stone. He put every bit of gold in this house. There were many boxes in the house. He put the gold
in the boxes. Midas went to the stone house every day. He opened every box and looked at the gold. He put his hands in the gold:
he took the gold up in his hands.
　　"Gold! Gold!" he said, "Oh, I love gold. I do love gold. I do not want to buy things with my gold. I want to have my gold. I love gold!"
　　Midas had a beautiful garden. There were many beautiful flowers and trees in it. And there were beautiful birds in the trees. Midas loved flowers and birds and trees. But he loved gold more than flowers or birds or trees. He said, "I can buy flowers and gardens with my gold. I do love gold!"
Midas had one child-a beautiful little girl. The little girl
loved the garden and the birds and the flowers; and Midas loved his child. Men said, " Midas loves his beautiful little girl. He loves his beautiful garden and his beautiful flowers. But he loves gold more than his child; he loves gold more than beauty."
There was a god called Dionysius. Dionysius was the god of
Flowers and of Gardens.
　　Dionysius lived on a great hill with the other gods, but he sometimes came down to see men's flowers and gardens.
When Dionysius came into a garden all the flowers opened. He
went to all the gardens, opening the flowers and making everything beautiful. One day Dionysius came to the garden of Kino, Midas.
The little girl was in the garden. She saw Dionysius. "Who are
you?" She cried. "What are you doing in my father's garden?"
　　"I am Dionysius," said the God. "I have come to open the flowers and make your garden beautiful."
Then the little girl was very glad. She was glad to see
Dionysius.
　　The little girl took the hand of Dionysius. She said, " Come with me. I will help you to open the flowers. Show me how to open the flowers in my garden. "
　　Then Dionysius went with the little girl and showed her how to open the flowers.
At noon the little girl went into the house.

The day was hot.
　　Dionysius sat down at the foot of a tree. He fell asleep. Dionysius was sleeping at the foot of a tree in the King's garden.
He slept; the King's servants came to the garden.
Then one of the servants saw Dionysius sleeping at the foot
of a tree. He said, "Who is this man? He has come to take the flowers! But the day was hot, and he fell asleep, and we should catch him." Then he went and called another servant. Then all the other servants came to the place. They caught Diortysius. They took him
to the King.
They said to the King, "This is the man whom we found sleeping
in the garden. He came to take your flowers."
　　Then King Midas asked, "Why did you come to take my flowers? Why did you not ask me for some flowers? I give flowers to all who ask for them. I have given flowers to many poor men."
Dionysius did not answer.
"Do you love flowers?" asked the King.
　　"Yes," answered Dionysius. "I love flowers; but I have not taken any of your flowers."
" Have you any children?" asked Midas. " Do you want to take
any flowers to your children?"
" The flowers are my children," answered Dionysius.
　　Then King Midas said, "This man may go, and he may take any flowers he wants."
Dionysius said, "O King! you are a good man. You have been good
to me. You love flowers, and you love your child. I am a God. I will give you any- thing that you ask. Ask me for anything and I will give it to you."
"Can I ask for an thin " said Midas.
"Yes. Do you want more flowers? — or more children?"
　　"Flowers are beautiful," said Midas; 'but gold is more beautiful. I want more gold. I want to change things into gold.
If I put my hand on anything, it shall be changed into gold. Give
me that."
　　Then Dionysius said, "You may have what you ask. If you put your hand on anything, it shall be changed into gold."
Ⅱ
　　Midas sat down at a table to write. He touched the table, and the table was changed into gold. It be- came a golden table. He took his pen. As he touched the pen, it was changed into gold. He wrote; and, as he touched the paper, it was changed into gold. He went to the door and opened it; and the door was changed into gold.
He took his hat; as he touched it, the hat was changed into gold.
He went into the gar- den to see the flowers. He saw a beautiful

rose. He put out his hand to take it. As he touched it, the rose was changed into gold. He put his hand on a tree and the tree was changed into gold.
Midas wanted to eat.
He went into the hall. He called a servant. "Bring me food," he said.
　　The servant brought food. Midas put out his hand to take the food. As he touched the food, it was changed into gold. He could not eat the food.
"Bring me more food," said Midas.
　　The servant brought more food. Midas touched it, and it was changed into gold. He could not eat it.
　　Midas drank some water. The water was changed into gold. He could not drink it.
　　" How shall I eat? How shall I drink?" said Midas. "If I cannot eat and drink, I shall die!"
He stood up. He had eaten nothing. He had drunk nothing.
　　"I will go into the garden," he said, "I will go and make more golden flowers."
Then the little girl came into the hall.
　　"Oh, father!" she cried, "our beautiful roses have been killed. Who has killed our roses?"
Midas said, "The roses have been changed to gold, my child,
gold is more beautiful than flowers." The little girl cried.
"Do not cry my child," said Midas. "Come, we will change some
more flowers to gold. We will change all the flowers to gold." "Oh, father! give me back my flowers," cried the little girl.
"Go back to the garden. Change the flowers back."
"Do not cry, little girl," said Midas. He took her in his arms.
He put his hand on her head. "Do not cry, my child. Do not cry any more. I will change the gold back into flowers."
She did not cry any more.
　　"Father loves you," said Midas. "I love you as much as I love gold. Soon you will be a big girl. When you are a big girl, you will love gold as much as I do."
She was not crying.
　　She said nothing. She could not say anything. As soon as Midas touched her, she was changed into gold.
Midas looked at his child. He saw what he had done. As soon
as he saw what he had done he cried out, "Help! Help! Oh, what have
I done! I have killed my little girl. Help!"
　　The servants came running into the hall. They saw what Midas had done. They saw the little girl. She was made of gold.
　　
　　"We will go away from here. The King is a magician!" they cried. "He changes everything to gold. He has killed his child and changed her to gold. He 'II kill us and change us to gold. We will not work for him any more." Then they ran away.
　　There was no one in the King's house. Midas sat there, with his dead child.
　　He went out and changed more things to gold. He made all the ducks and hens gold, and the donkey in the field was golden. Then
he went and looked at the cows. He touched one cow and it was changed
to gold. "I will make them all golden. I will have nice golden cows." He changed all the cows to gold.
　　"I shall get no milk," he said. "But the milk becomes gold as soon as I touch it. I do not want any milk."
Soon he came back. He looked at his little girl. He looked up at the sky.
The sun was going down, changing the sky to gold. Gold! gold!
—all gold.
Then Midas went out into the garden and cried.
　　Dionysius came to Midas as he sat crying in the garden. He stood before him.
"Are you happy now, 0 King?" said the God.
　　"No," said the King. "I was happy before. I was happy before you came. But now I am very unhappy."
"But you have much gold now. Why are you not happy? No one has
as much gold as you have now. You said that nothing was as beautiful as gold."
"I do not want it!" cried Midas. "I do not want gold. I want
my little girl back. Give me back my little girl! Give me back my flowers. Take away all this gold and give me back the things which
I love."
　　"Go to the river," said Dionysius. "Jump into the water, and you will be as before. Put water on all the things which you have changed to gold, and they 'II be as before."
Then Dionysius went away. He went up into the sky.
Midas ran down to the river. He jumped into the water. Then
he came out of the water. He put his hand on a stone. The stone was not changed to gold.
　　Then he brought a pot. He filled the pot with water. He ran with the pot full of water, and came to the hall. He threw the water
on his little girl. She changed. She opened her eyes. "Oh!" she cried, "was I asleep?"
She ran into the garden.
　　" Father," she cried, " you did not change the flowers back. They are all dead and golden. Every flower is dead. Come! Come and
　　
give me back my flowers. And, oh! look at the golden cows!"
　　"Come with me," said Midas, "and we will bring back the flowers."
　　Then Midas and his little girl ran into the garden with pots full of water from the river. As they ran, they changed everything back. They changed the flowers and the trees and the birds, and the hens and the ducks and the cows. Then they ran into the house and they changed the tables and doors and pen and paper. And they changed Midas' hat.
　　"Do you not love gold any more?" asked the little girl, as they sat in the hall and ate.
　　"No," said Midas. "I love the trees and the flowers and the birds--and you."
　　
Mr. Rabbit Kills a Wolf