Category: Folk tales

In the days of King Arthur there lived a famous magician called Merlin. One day, when he was travelling the country disguised as a beggar, he stopped at the cottage of a poor ploughman to ask for food. The ploughman…

Once upon a time there was an Austrian emperor who made it a rule to interview every one of his soldiers once a year. During the interviews he invariably asked three questions — ‘How old are you?’, ‘How long have…

The young prince of Denmark was once the happiest young man in the country, but a great trouble came into his life. His father died suddenly in a mysterious way, so that Hamlet became very sad and upset. Hamlet was…

A Folktale of the North-American Indians Long, long ago, in the time when only a few people lived on the earth, there was a tribe of fishermen. In summer they travelled far to the North where they found good fish…

Beowulf, an old English poem composed some time between the end of the 7th and the beginning of the 8th century, is considered the oldest epic in Anglo-Saxon literature. Beowulf, the dauntless and daring hero, killed three monsters in order…

There is a town in England called Gotham, and many merry stories are told of the queer people who used to live there. One day, news was brought to Gotham that the king was coming that way, and that he…

A great many songs were made up about Robin Hood, and these songs were sung in the cottages and huts all over the land for hundreds of years afterward. Here is a little story that is told in one of…

One day while Osmo, the Bear, was prowling about the woods he caught a Grouse.“Pretty good!” he thought to himself.“Wouldn’t the other animals be surprised if they knew old Osmo had caught a Grouse!” He was so proud of his…

The crane is a large bird. It has a long slim neck and long legs. Its body is not very big, but it is as tall as a seven-year-old boy. It lives near ponds, and eats frogs and small fish.…