One day all the beasts of the forest came to one place. All the big beasts came, and all the little beasts came. There were horses and cows and rabbits and foxes and ducks and mice and birds, and all the other living things. They were very afraid. For a great big wolf had come to the forest; and the great big wolf had said,
"I shall kill you all if you do not give me food three times every day."
"What shall we do?" said Mrs. Duck: "what shall we do?"
*Whatever shall we do?" said Mr. Fox.
*What shall we do?" said all the beasts.
* I know what we must do," said Mr. Rabbit, looking very big;
'we must kill this Mr. Wolf. ---And I shall do it." Then he walked away along the road to Mr. Wolf's house. All the beasts looked at him.
　　" What is he going to do?" said Mrs. Duck. "What is he going to do?"
As Mr. Rabbit went along the road he saw a big hole in a field.
The hole was full of water.
Then Mr. Rabbit went on and came to a river. He jumped into
through some dust; then he jumped into
in the dust. So he looked a very poor,

red

with water and dust.

b e to Mr. Wolf's house. "Who are you? "said


"Please, I am your food for today."
　　" You! You ugly little beast! Tell them to send me a big fat cow, or a horse, or a hundred fat ducks."
"Please," said Mr. Rabbit, "the other wolf wants all the good
food. So we have sent him all the cows and the horses and ducks.
We must give them to him, because he is bigger and braver than you are."
　　"Oh, is he?" cried Mr. Wolf. "We shall soon see if he is! Come with me and show me where he lives."
　　Then Mr. Rabbit led Mr. Wolf to the hole in the field. "He is down there," said Mr. Rabbit. "Do not go near him or he will kill you." Mr. Wolf went to the side of the hole and looked down; he saw his own angry face in the water. He thought that it was the face of another wolf looking up at him. He jumped down into the hole, to kill the other wolf. When he had jumped down into the hole,
he fell into the water; and he could not get out.
　　Mr. Rabbit went back to the other beasts. "It is not hard to kill a wolf, he said, "if you know how to do it."
　　
Jack and the Bean Plant


I
　　Once there was a poor woman. She had one son, whose name was Jack. Jack had no father; a giant had killed him. Jack's mother had one cow, whose milk they sold. They had no money but the money which they got for the milk.
　　One day the cow gave no more milk. So they had no milk which they could sell; and they had no money with which to get food. Then the woman said, "Which shall we sell, the house or the cow? — We will sell the cow, and we will get a field with the money which
we get for the cow." She called Jack and said to him, "Take the cow and sell her. She is a very good cow: do not take too little money for her."
So Jack took the cow and went down the lane, leading the cow.
As he went down the lane Jack saw a man. The man stood and waited;
and when Jack came near he said, "That is a good cow: whose cow is it?"
Jack said, "It is my mother's cow."
　　"Where are you going with the cow?" asked the man. "I am taking the cow to sell her," said Jack.
The man said, "Will you sell the cow to me?"
"What will you give me for her?" asked Jack.
　　"I will give you some beans," said the man. "I do not want beans," said Jack. "I want money."
"I have no money," said the man, "but I have some very good
beans."
Jack said, "If I get beans, I can sell the beans for money."
So he asked, "How many beans will you give me for the cow?"
　　The man showed six beans in his hand. He said, See, I have these six beans: they are very good beans." He put them in Jack's hand.
Jack had never seen beans like those. They were very beautiful;
they looked like gold. He said, "I will sell you the cow for these beans. Give me the beans, and take the cow."
　　So the man gave Jack the beans, and took the cow. Jack went home with the six beans in his hand.
　　Jack's mother was working in the garden. She looked up and said, "You have come back very soon. Why have you come back so soon?"
The went into the house.
"I have sold the cow," said Jack.
"Did you get much money for her?" asked his mother.
　　"I did not sell the cow for money," said Jack; 'but I got some very good things for her. See."
And Jack showed his mother the beans.

"What are these?" said his mother. "Beans," said Jack.
"What beans?" said his mother. "Beans," said Jack.
"What beans?" said his mother.
"The beans which I got for the cow," said Jack.
　　"Beans!" she cried, "Beans! Six little beans for my beautiful cow?"
　　She was very angry. "I never heard anything like it!" she cried. "You have taken six little beans for my beautiful cow! We shall get no money for these beans. We have no money at all, and we have
no food at all to eat. Soon you will see what you have done: be- cause you will have nothing at all to eat tonight; and there will
be no food on the next day, or on the next day after that."
　　She threw the beans out of the window. "That is what I do with your good-for-nothing beans," she cried. "Go to bed, you good- for-nothing boy."
Jack went to bed. He was sad because he had made his mother
angry. And he was sad because he had got no food to eat; and he was sad because the
beautiful cow was gone.? He cried a little. But he soon fell
asleep.
　　Next day, when Jack awoke, he said, "I will find those golden beans. My mother threw them into the garden."
He went to the window and looked out into the garden.
The six beans had grown into a big plant; the plant had grown
up and up. The top of the plant had grown far up into the sky. Jack could not see the top.
He said, "I will go up to the top of the plant; I want to see
what there is in the sky."
　　So Jack went up the bean plant. He went up and up; he looked down and saw the tops of the trees and the red tops of the houses.
He saw his mother's house; it looked very little because he was
so far up in the sky. But he had not come to the top of the bean plant.
　　He went up and up; and then he came to the sky at the top. He was up in the sky.
Ⅱ
In front of Jack was a road. Jack went along the road and came
to a big house. He had no food when he went to 6ed, and he had no food when he awoke; so he wanted some food to eat. He said, "I think they will give me some food at this big house." So he went to the door of the house and called.
A very big old woman opened the door. Jack thought, " She does

not look like a very good woman.
"What do you want?" said the old woman. "I want some food," said Jack.
　　.come with me," said the old woman, "and I will give you something to eat."
　　Jack thought, "She wants to catch me; but I will go with her and see what there is in the house."
　　So he went with the old woman into the house. She gave him some bread to eat and some milk to drink. Then she put him in a little room, and said, "My man is a giant. He is coming just now. If you
go out of that little room, he will kill you."
The giant came into the house. He was very big. He had the body
of a dead cow in one hand and a tree in the other hand.? He came into the room; he looked this way and that way; then he said,
"Fee, Fi, Fo, Foy!
I smell the smell of a little boy! Be he alive, or be he dead,
I will eat his body with my bread!"
The glant's wife said, "There is a little boy in that room.
I do not want him to hear what I say. Do not eat him today; he is not fat now: but after two or three days he will be fat, and then
I will cook him for you.
　　Then the giant sat down at the table; his wife brought food and set it on the table, and the giant ate it. When he had eaten
he said, "Bring me my money." She brought two boxes full of gold,
and put them on the table near him. He opened one of the boxes and looked to see how much old there was in it. Then he shut his eyes, and very soon the giant was asleep. The giant's wife soon fell asleep too.
When the giant and his wife were asleep, Jack opened the door
of the little room and came out. As he went by the giant's table
he took one of the boxes of gold. Then he went out of the door and ran along the road. He come to the top of the bean plant. Then he threw the box down. Then he went down the tree. The box had fallen
at the foot of the bean plant. He took it and went into the house.
　　His mother was working at the table. He put the box down on the table, and opened it, and said, "See, mother, this is one of the things that my beans have brought us. And they will soon bring other things too."
　　Six days went by. Then Jack thought, "I will go up the bean plant again."
　　On the next morning he got out of bed; he went up the bean plant again. He came again to the road; he went along it and came to the big house. He called, and again the giant's wife opened the door.
　　
When she saw him she said, "Come in, little boy, come into the house."
　　But Jack was afraid; he thought, "No, I will not go in with her, for she wants to catch me: she will put me in that little room, and she will shut the door so that I cannot go out. Then, when I
am fat, she will cook me for the giant." So he ran away and hid.
　　Jack waited near the giant's house. Soon he saw the wife of the giant go out into the garden, for it was morning and she had work to do in the garden. When he saw the giant's wife go into the garden, Jack opened the door of the house and went in. There was
a big box in the room. Jack hid in the box.
After an hour, the giant's wife came into the room and began
to cook the giant's food. Jack wanted to get out of the box, for the morning was hot and the box was not large. But just then the giant came into the room.
The giant looked this way and that way; then he said, "Fee, Fi, Fo, Foy!
I smell the smell of a little boy!
Be he alive, or be he dead,
I will eat his body with my bread!"
　　The giant's wife said, "A little boy came to the house. I wanted to catch him for you, but he ran away.
"I smell the smell of a little boy," said the giant, and he
looked here and there; but he could not find Jack. He looked in the little room, but Jack was not there. Then the giant's wife put the food on the table, and the giant began to eat.
When the giant had eaten, he said, "Bring the hen that lays
the golden eggs." The giant's wife brought the hen and put it on the table.
The giant said, "Begin."
And the hen laid a golden egg.
　　The giant said, " Lay again!" and the hen laid another golden egg.
　　Then the giant and his wife began to steep. Soon the giant laid his head on the table and fell asleep, and his wife was soon asleep too.
　　Jack came out of the box. The hen was on the table. As Jack went by the table he took the hen, and ran out of the house.
　　But the hen began to cry out, " Giant! Giant! Run! Run! A little boy is running away with me!"
　　The giant awoke and began to run after Jack. Jack ran and soon came to the top of the bean plant. He went down it.
The giant was big and could not go down so quickly. Jack came
to his mother's garden. He called his mother and said, "Quick! Quick!

Bring an axe !" His mother ran quickly and brought an axe.
　　The giant was coming down the bean plant Jack's mother bravely hit at the foot of the plant with the axe: all the plant came down. The giant fell with it. He fell into the garden and was killed.
　　Jack's mother saw the giant, and she said sadly, "That is the giant who killed your father."
Jack and his mother were rich, and lived happily ever after.

Mr. Sparrow and Mr. Fox


Mr. Sparrow was a little bird. He was not a nice little bird
— not at all nice; for he was always telling stories about one person to another person.
　　One day, as Mr. Sparrow sat in a tree, he saw Mr. Rabbit coming through the forest. Mr. Rabbit came near to the tree, and Mr. Sparrow heard him speaking; Mr. Rabbit was saying, "I shall do something which will make Mr. Fox so angry! Ha! Ha! Ha! He will
be so angry!"
　　Then Mr. Sparrow cried out to Mr. Rabbit, "No, you will not! For I shall go and tell Mr. Fox what you have said."
　　Mr. Rabbit thought, "Now I do not know what to do. I do not know what I shall do, if that ugly little Mr. Sparrow tells Mr. Fox what I said."
　　But Mr. Sparrow went away quickly and told Mr. Fox what Mr. Rabbit had said. Mr. Rabbit thought and thought; at last he said,
"I know what I shall say!"
　　In a little time Mr. Fox came running along the lane. Mr. Rabbit called out to him, "Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox!"
"What?" said Mr. Fox.
"Do not come near me," said Mr. Rabbit. "Why?" said Mr. Fox.
"Because you will kill me and set my house on fire."
"Why do you say that?" asked Mr. Fox.
　　"Because I was told so," said Mr. Rabbit; "I was told that you said, "I shall kill Mr. Rabbit and set his house on fire. "
"Who told you that?" asked Mr. Fox.
"It was Mr. Sparrow."
"It was; was it!" said Mr. Fox.
　　On the next day Mr. Fox saw Mr. Sparrow in the forest. Mr. Sparrow called out to Mr. Fox.
"What do you want?" said Mr. Fox.
"I have something to tell you," said Mr. Sparrow. "You have; have you!" said Mr. Fox.
"Yes, I have," said Mr. Sparrow.
　　"Stand on my head, little Mr. Sparrow, for one of my ears is bad, and I do not hear with the other," Said Mr. Fox.
So Mr. Sparrow jumped on to Mr. Fox's head.
　　"Stand in my mouth," said Mr. Fox; 'then I shall hear you nicely."
　　Mr. Sparrow stood in Mr. Fox's mouth. Mr. Fox shut his mouth and ate Mr. Sparrow. "Now go and tell stories about me!" said Mr. Fox.
　　
Dick and His Cat


I
　　Once there was a boy called Dick. He was very poor: his father and mother were dead and. he had no friends to help him.
One day he-heard some men speaking: one man said, "I shall go
to London, for London is a very big city, and its streets are covered with gold. Everyone in London is very rich."
Then Dick said, "I shall go to London and become rich."
Some days after that, Dick saw a cart at the side of the road.
He said to the man who was on the cart, "Where are you going to?" The man said, "I am going to London." Will you take me to London with you?" asked Dick. The man said, "I will." So Dick got on the cart, and went to London.
When Dick came to London he saw that the streets were not made
of gold; they were made of stones like other streets. But there were very many houses. All along the sides of the streets there were houses, hundreds and hundreds of houses, houses on this side, houses on that side, hundreds of houses everywhere. Dick got down; and the man and the cart went away.
Dick stood in the street: he had no house to go to, no food
to eat, and no friends.
　　Then snow began to fall. The snow fell more quickly. Soon there was snow over everything. The streets and the houses were covered with snow. Soon they were all white; they looked beautiful. But
it was very cold, Poor Dick was covered with snow; he was so cold
that he thought that he would die.
　　Night was coming on. There was a light in the window of a house. Dick went to it and stood near the door- then he sat down on the stone. Just then the door opened and a servant looked out; she saw Dick sitting there. " Go away, you good-for-nothing boy!" she cried. "What are you doing there?" Dick was so cold that he could not even stand up. The servant became angry: "Go away!" she cried again. Then she got a pot of cold water and threw it over Dick. Poor Dick
was too cold even to cry.
　　Now, that was the house of a very rich man, named Mr. Warren. Mr. Warren had one child, named Alice. Alice was standing near the door and she saw the servant-woman throw the water over Dick. Alice was very angry at this. She said, "The poor boy will die of cold. You bad woman!" Then she took Dick's hand. "Come in, poor boy," she said; and she brought him into the house. She gave him food and a bed to sleep in, and Dick stayed in the house that night.
In the morning Mr. Warren saw Dick, and said, "You shall stay
in my house and help the cook, You shall begin today." So Dick stayed

and helped the cook.
　　Now the cook was a bad woman. She was not kind to Dick. She always made him do all her work; she always gave him bad food to eat; she was always calling him bad names, and when she was angry she even hit him on the face. Dick had a little room at the top
of the house. It was a very little room; and it was a very bad room, for it was always full of mice. There were hundreds of mice. The mice would eat Dick's food. The mice would even run over his face when he was in bed.
　　So Dick was not happy in Mr. Warren's house. But he would not say anything to Mr. Warren or to Alice, for he loved Alice, and
he did not want her to know that he was not happy.
One day Dick saw a small boy in the street. The boy had a cat
in his arms. Dick asked, "Where are you taking that cat?" The boy said, "I am going to throw the cat in the river and kill her." Now Dick loved cats, so he said, " Do not kill her; give her to me." Dick had one small bit of money; he gave that to the small boy for his cat.
That night Dick took the cat to his room when he went to bed.
He had a small bit of bread to eat. He put it on the table; then
a mouse came and began to eat the bread. The cat jumped, caught the mouse and killed it. She killed many mice, and all the other mice ran away.
After that there were no more mice in Dick's room.
　　Alice saw that Dick was unhappy, and she knew that the cook was unkind to him. So she told her father, Mr. Warren, that the cook was unkind to Dick. Mr. Warren said, " The cook is not a nice woman; she is fat and ugly, and she looks unkind. Dick is a nice boy. He does his work nicely, and his face and hands are always nice and clean. Dick shall work for me."
Ⅱ
　　Mr. Warren sent for Dick and said 'You shall come and work for me."
Mr. Warren worked in a big ugly house by the side of the river.
He had many ships. He sent the ships far away to other countries. The ships took things from England to other countries, and brought things from other countries to England. There were many men working for Mr. Warren: there were men writing for him in the big house; there were men taking things out of the ships, and men putting things on to other ships. There were men who worked on the ships, cleaning them and making them ready to go to sea again.
　　Dick still lived in the little room, and his cat was still with him, but in the day he worked in the big house by the side of the river.
　　
One day Mr. Warren was sending a ship away to another country.
He asked all his servants, " Have you anything which you want to send on my ship? It will be sold in some far country, and I will give you the money." Then Mr. Warren asked Dick; but poor Dick had nothing to send.
　　Alice said, "I will give Dick something to send on our ship." But Mr. Warren said, "No, he must send something of his own."
Dick said, "I have nothing but my cat."
"Why do you not send your cat?" asked Alice.
　　"I love my cat," said Dick; "but I must send her, for I have no other thing to send."
So Dick brought his cat, and put her on the ship.
　　Dick went back to his room. He was very sad, for he was alone now. He slept alone in his little room; he had not even his cat
to speak to. The cat had gone; the mice were beginning to come back
to the room; and Dick could not sleep because of the mice. The cook was still unkind to him, and she did not give him nice food.
One night Dick said, "I cannot stay here. I shall go away to
some other country." He put on his clothes, and went down. He opened the door of the house, and went out alone into the street. He walked along the street. He walked all night. The street led out into the country. It became a small road. There were no houses in the country, but trees and fields. When morning was near he sat down on a stone
at the side of the road. He could not go on.
　　As he sat there the sun came up into the sky. As the sun came up, the bells of London began to ring. They rang out from far away through the sky, calling the new day. As they rang, Dick thought that they said, "Come again! Come again!"
"They are ringing to me," he thought, "they are calling me back
to London. They are saying 'Come back. You will not always be poor and unhappy and alone. Wait, and your day will come. "
Dick stood up: "I will go back," he said, "—and wait." He went
back again to the city.
　　The ship went far over the sea and came to an unknown country where they had never been before.
The King of that country asked the men from the ship to come
to his house. "Come," he said, "and show me all the things which you have brought." So they went to the King's house taking beautiful cloth, jewels, rings, hats, shoes, axes, bells, boxes, lamps, and many other things. The King looked at all the things and said, "I
do not want any of those things. Bring me what I want, and I will fill your ship with gold."
　　Then the King told his servants to bring food. They brought food and set it on the table before the men. As soon as they set
　　
the food on the table, hundreds of mice came out of holes in the wall. The men had never seen so many mice before. The mice jumped
on the table and ate up all the food before they could take it. The mice ate up the food before their eyes.
　　The King said, " That is what I want: I want something to kill these mice. They eat the food before our eyes. They run over the food before we can eat it. They make holes in our clothes. They run over our faces as soon as we get into bed. They bite the children.
We cannot kill them: they are so small and they run away before
we can catch them. Give me something that will kill the mice and
I will fill your ship with gold."
　　"Have you no cats in this country?" asked one of the men from the ship.
"What is a 'cat'?" said the King.
Then the man ran quickly and brought Dick's cat from the ship.
As soon as the man came into the King's hall the cat jumped from his arms; she killed a mouse with one foot, and caught another in ther mouth. She killed so many mice that the other mice quickly ran away.
The King jumped up and cried, "Good! Good! I never saw a cat
before. Give me the cat and I will fill you ship with gold. I never saw so beautiful a thing before."
So the King took Dick's cat, and he gave the men much gold for
the cat: he filled their ship with gold.
　　The ship came back to London. Mr. Warren went on to the ship, and saw all the gold which they had got. He said, " What did you sell for so much gold?" The men said, "It was the cat."
Then Mr. Warren sent for Dick. He said, "You have become very
rich. You have more money than I have. Do you want to go away from us now?"
Dick loved Alice. He said, "No, I want to stay and work with
you."
　　Mr. Warren said, "You shall not stay as my servant, but as my friend."
So Dick stayed with Mr. Warren. After some years he married
Alice, for he loved her very much. He became very rich, and he was
a very good man. He and his wife lived together very happily for many, many years.

The Goat-Calf


　　Once a Leopard and a Jackal came to a village. The Leopard caught a goat, and the Jackal caught a cow.
　　They brought the goat and the cow back. The Leopard put the goat in his field, and the Jackal put the cow in his field.
　　The Leopard was angry because he had a goat, but the Jackal had a cow. He went at night to the Jack's field and looked at the cow. He saw that the cow had a calf This made him very angry: he took the calf away and put it in the field with his goat.
　　Next day the Leopard saw the Jackal in the field. The Jackal said, "Ha! I have a beautiful cow, but you have a little goat."
The Leopard said, "Ah! But my goat has a calf."
　　"How can a goat have a calf'?" said the Jackal. "That cannot be! A cow can have a calf, but a goat cannot have a calf, so that calf is mine: it is my calf."
"Come and see my goat and her calf," said the Leopard.
　　The Jackal looked at the calf and said, "The call is standing near the goat, but the goat is not its mother. If a calf is standing near a horse, do you say that the horse is the calf's mother? No!-So that is my calf."
We will go and ask the Donkey," said the Leopard. "We will hear
what he says."
So they told their quarrel to the Donkey. The Donkey was afraid
of the Leopard. So he said, " When I was young, cows had calves, but other beasts did not have calves. But many things have changed: there are many new things now. Every day I see or hear some new thing. So now goats may have calves. It may be."
The Jackal said, "That Donkey knows nothing! And he is afraid
of you. We will ask the Dog."
So they went to the Dog and told him their quarrel.
　　The Dog was afraid of the Leopard; so he said, "All goats are not the same. There are goats which are owned by men, and there are goats which are owned by leopards. Goats which are owned by men cannot have calves, but goats which are owned by leopards may have calves. That is what I think."
The Jackal said, " That Dog does not want to quarrel with you,
so he said what you want. We will ask the Cat. She is very old, and remembers everything."
So they went and told their quarrel to the Very Old Cat.
　　The Very Old Cat said, " In the old times, the King of All the Beasts said, "Cows will have calves; lions will have little lions; leopards will have little leopards. Every beast will have his own kind of young." But now people do many new things and do not live
　　
in the old ways as they did when I was young. Go away! I want to sleep."
"Now you have heard!" said the Leopard. "You have heard the
Donkey, and the Dog and the Cat; and they all say that the calf is mine."
　　" We have not heard the Monkey," said the Jackal. "He sits on the top of a big stone where you cannot jump up at him, so he is safe and will not be afraid of you. And he knows everything."
　　So they came to the Monkey. He was sitting on the top of a very big stone. Many beasts were standing near, because they all brought their quarrels to the Monkey Who Knew Everything.
　　He was eating his food. The Leopard and the Jackal told him their quarrel. The Monkey went on eating.
　　"What do you say?" said the Leopard. "Is it my calf Can a goat have a calf?"
The Monkey took up a little stone and rubbed it.
"What are you doing?" said the Leopard. "Why do you not answer?"
　　"I have just eaten," said the Monkey. "Now I must have some music."
The Monkey rubbed the stone.
"What are you doing?" said the Leopard.
"I am making music," answered the Monkey.
　　" I cannot hear any music!" said the Leopard. "No music can come from a stone!"
"If a calf can come from a goat, then music can come from a
stone," said the Monkey.
　　Then all the beasts said, " Ha! Ha! Ha! The Monkey knows everything. When music comes from a stone, the Leopard may have that calf."
So the Jackal took the calf and went home.
　　"Bah!" cried the Leopard. "These beasts! They all know nothing!"
　　
Beauty and the Beast


I
　　Once there was an old man. He had three young and beautiful children: they were girls. The youngest girl was the most beautiful. She was called 'Beauty', because she was so beautiful. Beauty was
a very nice girl: she was kind to everyone; she worked very hard. Whenever there was hard work to do in the house Beauty did it, for her sisters did not like hard work. Everyone liked Beauty, because she was so good and so kind; they did not like her sisters, because they were hard and unkind.
　　Now, the old man was very rich: he had many ships. He sent all his ships to sea. They were going to take cloth and many nice things
to other countries to sell them there and bring back much money. But all the ships were lost at sea. The old man waited and waited, but none of his ships came back. He waited for one year and still
no ships came. Then he said, "Now I know that I have lost my ships.
I am not a rich man any more. All my riches have been lost on those ships."
Then the old man called his three children and said, "My ships
are lost, and all my riches have been lost on the ships. We cannot live in this big house any more. We must go and live in a small hut in the country. We shall not have servants any more, but we must do our own work."
The sisters said, " It will be very hard for us to lose our
nice house, and to live in a little hut." But Beauty said, "It will
be nice to live in the country. I will do all the hard work, and we shall all be very happy."
So they went and lived in a small hut in the country. Beauty
did all the hard work, for she loved her father and wanted to make him happy. Her sisters did no work: they did not love their father; they did not love anyone. They did not like hard work. They were angry because they could not live in a big house and have servants.
After about a year a man came and told the old man about one
of his ships. He said, "You did not lose all your ships: one of your ships was not lost. The ship has come back." The old man said,
"I will go to the city and see about it."
　　Then the old father called his children and said to each of the three sisters, "What shall I bring to you when I come back from the city?"
One sister answered, "Please bring me some jewels."
　　The other sister said, " Please bring me some beautiful clothes."
Then he said to Beauty, "What shall I bring to you?"

She answered, "Please bring me a rose."
"But that is a very small thing," said her father. "A rose will please me most," she answered.
So he went to the city.
The ship was his smallest ship, and it had brought very little;
so he had little money to buy things for his children; but he said,
"I must get them what they asked." He bought jewels for one sister, and he bought beautiful clothes for the other. Then he went to a man who had a garden: he said to the man, " I want to buy some roses." The man said, "You cannot buy roses in this month. There are no roses in my garden now. Wait about three months, and the garden will be full of roses." But the old man said, "I want a rose now." "You cannot get roses this month," said the other man.
Then the old man set out on his way home. The road went through
a big forest. After about two hours rain began to fall, and it was hard to find the way. Then night came, and he lost his way in the forest. He did not know where he was going.
After some time he saw a light very far away; and he thought,
"If I go to the light, I shall come to some house where I can get food and a bed." He went on for some time, and then he saw a big house. He went to the door of the house, and called. He called many times, but there was no answer. Then he opened the door and went in.
Inside the house he saw a great hall. In the hall there was
a great table, and on the table food was set ready for one person.
He thought, "This must be the house of some great person. In a little time he will come.
He waited for some time, but no one came. He walked about the
house from one room to another. He saw no one: there was not a person in the house. 2He called, but no one came.
Then he said, "I will not wait any more." He sat down and ate
the food. Then he found a room with a bed in it all ready. He got into the bed and fell asleep.
　　He awoke in the morning, and got out of bed. He looked for his clothes. Some person had taken away his clothes in the night. Where his old clothes had been, there were very nice new clothes set ready for him. He put on the clothes: then he went into the hall. Food was set ready for him; he ate it. Then he went out, and walked about
in the garden.
　　Now, as he walked about the garden, he saw a tree covered with roses. He thought, "Here are some roses for Beauty: she asked me
to bring her a rose." So he took a rose in his hand. Just as he took the rose, a great beast jumped out of the trees and stood before him.

　　The Beast said, "I have given you food to eat; I have given you a bed to sleep on; I have given you new clothes to put on. What have you done for me? ... You have taken a rose from my rose-tree! You shall die for this."
　　"Please give me time!" cried the poor man. "I took it to give to Beauty."
"Who is 'Beauty'?" said the Beast.
　　" She is my youngest child," said the old man 'She loves me very much. If you kill me, she will be so sad that she will die too."
" The girl may die in place of you," said the Beast. "You may
go away now for one month; after one month you must come back to this place, or Beauty may come in your place."
　　"You could not kill her!" said the old man; 'she is too good and too beautiful!"
　　"Bring her to this place after one month," said the Beast. "Go now -- and you may take your rose." The Beast went back into the trees. Beauty's father went sadly home.
Ⅱ
　　At last the old man came home. He gave to the three girls the things which he had brought. He gave the jewels to one; the beautiful clothes to the other; and, last, he gave Beauty her rose.
The two sisters were very pleased; but Beauty saw that her
father was not happy. Every day he looked more and more sad. At last she went to him and said, "Father, for a long time you have looked sad, and you look sadder every day. Why do you look so sad?" For a Ion time he did not tell her. But she asked him again,
and at last he said, "This is the last month I have to live." He
told her about the great house and the Beast, and what the Beast had said—'After one month you must come, or Beauty must come in place of you."
Beauty said, "I will go with you. If you do not take me with
you, I shall go alone."
At last the time came. The old man made ready his horse.
　　He got up on the horse, and Beauty got up with him; and they set out.
　　They rode through the forest. The way was long. It was night when at last they came to the great house. There were little lights set in the trees of the garden, and all the house was full of lights.
In the hall beautiful food was set ready for them, and flowers were
on the table. They sat down and ate. No one came to them.
They went to bed.
　　In the morning Beauty awoke and found that some person had set many beautiful dresses at the side of her bed for her. She did not
　　
know which dress to take, for all the dresses were so beautiful. After some time she dressed herself. Then they went into the garden. The old man took Beauty and showed her the rose-tree where he had seen the Beast.
　　As they waited there, they heard a great noise, and the Beast stood before them. Beauty was afraid: then she looked into the Beast's eyes, and she saw that they were very kind eyes. She thought, "He must be a kind Beast: he will not kill me."
　　I The Beast said, "I am very pleased to see you, Beauty. " Then he said to her father, "Please go away, Beauty shall stay in this place with me alone." The old man looked at Beauty. " Shall
I go?" he asked. "Yes," said Beauty. "Yes, go away, for I have seen his eyes, and I think he is a kind Beast."
　　So her father went away. The Beast went back into the trees. Beauty was there alone.
　　Beauty went into the house. She went from one place to another, and looked into all the rooms. The doors opened for her as she came, but she could not see who had opened them. Each room was full of beautiful things all set ready for her.
When she had seen all the rooms, she went into the hall and
sat down. "I want a book to read," she said. "Can I have a book?" She could not see anyone near her, but someone answered, " Yes."
At once someone placed a book on the table at her side. Her name
was written in the book: Beauty
with love from
The Beast
　　When night came she sat in the hall. She was reading her book. Just then she heard a great noise, and she saw that Beast standing before her.
The Beast said, "Is this a nice place?"
"Yes," she said.
"Did you like the dresses?" "Yes, thank you," She said. "Is that a nice book?"
"Yes, thank you," she said. "Do you like living here?" "Yes, thank you," she said.
Then, after a little time, he said, "Will you marry me?" She cried and ran away.
　　He said, "Do not run away. Say 'Yes' or 'No." ?Will you marry me?"
"No, thank you," she said.
The Beast looked sad; and went away.

　　Each night, as she sat in the hall, the Beast came to her and said the same things. Each time he asked her to marry him, and she said, " No," Then he looked sad and went away. It made her sad too.
　　Beauty stayed in the place for a month. Then she thought, "My father will think that I am dead. I must go and see him."
　　So she said to the Beast that night, "I want to go and see my father."
　　"Yes, you may go," said the Beast, "but please come back after one month."
"Thank you," she said. "I will come back after one month."
　　On the next morning she found a horse. ready for her at the door. She got on the horse and rode to her father's house. He was very pleased to see her. She stayed there many days and she was very happy.
　　One month went by, but she did not remember the Beast. Two months went by, and still she did not remember him. At last, when three months had gone by, she remembered, and said, "I must go back
to the Beast. I said that I would go back after one month, but I
did not remember. I must go now, quickly." She took the horse and rode away.
She rode all night. "Poor Beast," she said, as she went through
the forest, "he will think that I have not remembered him. He was so nice to me. Poor Beast!"
As morning came into the sky she saw the great house. The door
was open. She ran quickly into the hall; she went into one room after another, but she could not find the Beast. She called, but
no one answered. She went into the garden and looked for him: she
came to the rose-tree and there she found him. He was at the foot
of the tree. She thought he was dead: his eyes were shut. She went
to his side: "Poor Beast!" she said, and kissed him. He opened his eyes: "I thought that you would never come back, and I knew that you would never marry me."
But Beauty knew that she would always love the poor Beast. She
said, "I will marry you, Beast. You are ugly, but you are a very kind Beast."
　　There was a great noise, and in the place where the Beast had been there stood a beautiful Prince. He said, "A bad fairy changed
me into a Beast. The fairy said, " You may change back into a man when a beautiful girl says that she will marry you." I changed back into a man."
　　The Prince married Beauty, and they were very happy. Beauty's father came and lived near the great house. But the two sister went away and lived in another country.
Beauty sometimes said, "You are very beautiful, my Prince; but

I did like my nice ugly Beast!"

The Donkey Who Sinned


Once a Lion and a Leopard and a Dog and a Donkey were sitting
in a field. The sun was hot; there was no rain; there was no water
in the river; the fields were dusty, and there was no food.
　　The Lion said, "Why is everything so bad? Why is there no rain? Why is there no food? There is no food because one of us has sinned, and God is angry with us."
The Leopard said, "Yes, one of us has sinned." The Dog said, "One of us has sinned."
　　Then the Donkey said, "We will each tell our sins. Then God will not be angry and will send rain."
　　So the Lion began, "I have sinned a great sin. I found a poor man's cow near a village. I killed it and ate it."
　　The others were afraid of the Lion, so they said, "No! No! That was not a sin."
　　Then the Leopard said, "I have sinned a great sin. I found an old woman with goat on the hill. I jumped out, and the old woman ran away, and I killed the old woman's goat."
The others said, " A little girl had a cat. She loved it very
much. I quarrelled with the cat and killed it."
The others said, "Oh, no, that was not a sin."
Then the three other beasts looked at the Donkey.
The Donkey said, "The man was going with me to the village.
He stood and spoke to a friend. Then I ate a little grass from the side of the road."
The other beasts said, "Oh! Oh! Oh! That was a sin. That was
a great sin. Now we know why God is angry with us and there is no rain." Then they all jumped at him and killed him.

The White Duck


　　The little white duck was sleeping under a tree in a wood. There were some nuts on the tree. While Mrs. Duck was sleeping, one of the nuts fell off the tree and hit her on the head. Mrs Duck woke
up very afraid.
　　"Oh!" she said. "Somebody is shooting at me. I must go and tell the King."
　　So Mrs Duck went out of the wood and began to walk along a road. As she was walking, she met Mrs Hen.
"Where are you going?" asked Mrs Hen.
"I am going to the King. A bad man has shot me with a gun." "I can run faster than you," said Mrs Hen.
"I will run and tell the King."
So Mrs Hen ran along the road, leaving Mrs Duck behind her. On the way Mrs Hen met Mrs Cat.
　　"What is the matter, Mrs Hen?" said Mrs Cat. "Why are you running along the road?"
"I am going to the King. Some bad men have come into our country
and are shooting all the people," said Mrs Hen.
　　"Oh! Let me go first. I can run faster than you," said Mrs Cat. "I will run quickly and tell the King."
So Mrs Cat ran along the road, leaving Mrs Hen behind her.
　　While Mrs Cat was running along, she came to Mr Dog, who was lying by the side of the road. Mr Dog did not like Mrs Cat, He jumped up.
"Stop!" he cried.
　　"Don't stop me," said Mrs Cat. "Something very bad has happened."
"What has happened?" said Mr Dog.
　　" A hundred soldiers have come into our country, They are shooting all the people," answered Mrs Cat.
"Oh! That is very bad," said Mr Dog. "You stay here. I can run
faster than you. I will run and tell the King."
　　So Mr Dog began running along the road, leaving Mrs Cat behind him.
　　On the way, Mr Dog met Mr Horse, who was eating grass by the side of the road.
" What is the matter, Mr Dog? Why are you running so fast?"
asked Mr Horse.
　　"I am running to tell the King that a big army has come into our country. A thousand soldiers are killing !ill our people." "That is very bad," said Mr Horse. "The King must be told quickly. I can run faster than you. You stay here while I run and
　　
tell the King."
　　So Mr Horse began running along the road, leaving Mr Dog behind him.
　　King Lion was sleeping in his beautiful garden. The sound of running feet woke him. He looked up, and there was Mr Horse standing
in front of him.
"What is the matter?" said King Lion.
Mr Horse was very tired. He was so tired that he could not speak. "Go and drink some water, and then come back and tell me," said
the King.
　　So Mr. Horse went to drink some water. When he came back he could speak. He touched the ground before the King with his head. Then he said, " 0 King, thousands of bad soldiers have come into our country and are killing all our people."
"Ring the bells," said King Lion, "and call my soldiers."
　　Then the bells were rung, and all the King's soldiers, elephants, foxes, bears, and wolves marched into the garden. Six pigeons flew above their heads.
"Quick march!" cried the King.
Then all the soldiers marched out of the garden. King Lion and
Mr Horse marched in front of them. Above their heads flew the six pigeons.
"Can you see anything?" cried King Lion to the pigeons over
his head.
"Only a dog coming this way," answered one of the pigeons.
" Did you see the bad soldiers killing our people?" said King
Lion to Mr Horse.
"No," answered Mr Horse. "It was Mr Dog who told me." When they came to Mr Dog, the King cried, "Stop."
Then they all stopped.
"Come here, Mr Dog," said the King. "Where are the bad people?"
Mr Dog pointed with his foot. "There," he said. "Did you see them yourself' asked the King.
"No, I didn't see them myself," answered Mr. Dog. Quick march!" cried the King.
　　They all began to march again. The King, Mr Horse, Mr Dog marched in front, followed by the elephants, the bears, the wolves, and the foxes. The pigeons flew over their heads.
"Can you see anything?" cried the King to the pigeons.
　　"Only a cat lying by the side of the road," answered one of the pigeons.
" Did you see the bad soldiers killing our people?" said King
Lion to Mr Dog.
"No, I didn't see them myself. But I know it is true, because