Category: Folk tales

Long ago in Japan, a village stood beside the sea. When the water was calm, the village children played in the gentle waves, shouting and laughing. But sometimes the sea was angry, and waves came tearing up the beach to…

Many years ago, in the time of King John, there was an Abbot of Canterbury. The Abbot was famous for having a large and rich house. People said that it was finer than even the King’s house and when King…

Once there lived an old man and his wife. They were a gentle couple, who were happy together except for one thing — they had no children. For years they had hoped for a child of their own, but fate…

A long time ago, there was a rich old man who loved wine and good food above everything else. And he had a servant who loved drinking and eating as much as his master did.Each time the rich old man…

An African Myth A very long time ago there was no light anywhere in the world. It was hard for the animals to see. They bumped into trees. They fell into holes. In the dark they even stumbled over each…

About twenty centuries ago there ruled a great king with tremendous powers over his subjects. Their life and death were in his hands. There was one duty, however, that he had to perform every year, which he did not like…

An Arab prince had heard that in a certain town there was a judge who was very clever in discovering the truth. The prince wished to test the ability of the judge personally, and so he disguised himself as a…

Many centuries ago, in a far off country, there lived a king who had some rather strange ideas. At least, these ideas seem strange to us today although, in the period of history in which this king lived, they were,…

Alfred was a very famous English King who was born in 849 and who died in 899. He is usually referred to as “Alfred the Great” because of all the wonderful things he did while he was King. He started…

Once a farmer was put in prison. Even though this farmer was in prison, he wasn’t a bad man. He hadn’t done anything wrong. At this time the King’s men were collecting money. The king needed money so that he…