Translator: Emily J. Harding There was once a married pair who loved each other tenderly. The husband would not have given up his wife for all the riches in the world, while her first thought was how best to please him. So they were very happy, and lived like two grains in one ear of […]

Translator: Emily J. Harding There were once two young people who loved each other dearly. The young man was called Jean, the girl, Annette. In her sweetness she was like unto a dove, in her strength and bravery she resembled an eagle. Her father was a rich farmer, and owned a large estate, but Jean’s […]

Translator: Emily J. Harding There was once a king so wise and clever that he understood the language of all animals. You shall hear how he gained this power. One day an old woman came to the palace and said, “I wish to speak to his majesty, for I have something of great importance to […]

Translator: Emily J. Harding Once upon a time, and a long long time ago it was, there lived a widow who had a very pretty daughter. The mother, good honest woman, was quite content with her station in life. But with the daughter it was otherwise; she, like a spoilt beauty, looked contemptuously upon her […]

Translator: Emily J. Harding Can this be a true story? It is said that once there was a king who was exceedingly fond of hunting the wild beasts in his forests. One day he followed a stag so far and so long that he lost his way. Alone and overtaken by night, he was glad […]

Translator: Emily J. Harding There was once a widow who had two daughters, Helen, her own child by her dead husband, and Marouckla, his daughter by his first wife. She loved Helen, but hated the poor orphan, because she was far prettier than her own daughter. Marouckla did not think about her good looks, and […]

Translator: Emily J. Harding There was once a king who had an only son, called Prince Slugobyl. Now this young prince loved nothing better than travelling; so fond of it was he that when he was twenty years old he gave his father no rest until he allowed him to go on a long journey, […]

Translator: Emily J. Harding It was in those days when cats wore shoes, when frogs croaked in grandmothers’ chairs, when donkeys clanked their spurs on the pavements like brave knights, and when hares chased dogs. So you see it must have been a very very long time ago. In those days the king of a […]

Translator: Emily J. Harding In a cottage near the high-road, and close to the shores of a large lake, there once lived a widow, poor and old. She was very very poor, but her mother’s heart was rich in pride in her son, who was the joy of her life. He was a handsome lad […]

Translator: Emily J. Harding In a far distant land there reigned a king, and he had an only daughter who was so very beautiful that no one in the whole kingdom could be compared to her. She was known as Princess Pietnotka, and the fame of her beauty spread far and wide. There were many […]

Translator: Emily J. Harding Once upon a time there lived a very rich widow, with whom lived three children–a handsome stepson; his sister, who was marvellously beautiful; and her own daughter, passably good-looking. All three children lived under the same roof, but, as is often the case where there are step-parents, they were treated very […]

Translator: Emily J. Harding A certain king had a beautiful garden which contained a number of very rare trees, but the most rare of all was an apple tree. It stood in the middle of the garden, and produced one golden apple every day. In the morning the blossom unfolded, during the day you might […]

Translator: Emily J. Harding Once upon a time, ever so many years ago, there lived a little old man and a little old woman. Very old indeed were they, for they had lived nearly a hundred years. But they took neither joy nor pleasure in anything, and this because they had no children. They were […]

Translator: Emily J. Harding There once lived a king and queen who had an only daughter. And the beauty of this princess surpassed everything seen or heard of. Her forehead was brilliant as the moon, her lips like the rose, her complexion had the delicacy of the lily, and her breath the sweetness of jessamine. […]

Translator: Emily J. Harding In ancient days there lived a king and queen; the former was old but the latter young. Although they loved one another dearly they were very unhappy, for God had not given them any children. They fretted and grieved about this so deeply that the queen became ill with melancholy. The […]

The Story of the Plentiful Tablecloth, the Avenging Wand, the Sash that becomes a lake, and the terrible helmet Translator: Emily J. Harding Now it once happened that one of the king’s herdsmen had three sons. Two of these lads were supposed to be very sharp-witted, while the youngest was thought to be very stupid […]

Translator: Emily J. Harding Once upon a time there was a poor woman who had an only daughter, named Helen, a very lazy girl. One day when she had refused to do a single thing, her mother took her down to the banks of a stream and began to strike her fingers with a flat […]