There was once a young fellow whom fortune had blessed with a good mother, a clever head, and a strong body. But beyond this she had not much favoured him; and though able and willing to work, he had often little to do, and less to eat. But his mother had taught him to be […]

“Don’t Care”–so they say–fell into a goose-pond; and “I won’t” is apt to come to no better an end. At least, my grandmother tells me that was how the Miller had to quit his native town, and leave the tip of his nose behind him. It all came of his being allowed to say “I […]

A Fool and a Knave once set up house together; which shows what a fool the Fool was. The Knave was delighted with the agreement; and the Fool thought himself most fortunate to have met with a companion who would supply his lack of mother-wit. As neither of them liked work, the Knave proposed that […]

There was once a wicked magician who prospered, and did much evil for many years. But there came a day when Vengeance, disguised as a blind beggar, overtook him, and outwitted him, and stole his magic wand. With this he had been accustomed to turn those who offended him into any shape he pleased; and […]

CHAPTER I. A MEMORABLE NEW YEAR’S DAY. Dorothy to Eleanor, Dearest Eleanor, You have so often reminded me how rapidly the most startling facts pass from the memory of man, and I have so often thereupon promised to write down a full account of that mysterious affair in which I was providentially called upon to […]

There once lived a farmer who was so avaricious and miserly, and so hard and close in all his dealings that, as folks say, he would skin a flint. A Jew and a Yorkshireman had each tried to bargain with him, and both had had the worst of it. It is needless to say that […]

It was a Crick in the wall, a very small Crick too. But it is not always the biggest people who have the strongest affections. When the wind was in the east, it blew the Dust into the Crick, and when it set the other way, the Dust was blown out of it. The Crick […]

The councillor’s chimney smoked. It always did smoke when the wind was in the north. A Smut came down and settled on a brass knob of the fender, which the councillor’s housekeeper had polished that very morning. The shining surface reflected the Smut, and he seemed to himself to be two. “How large I am!” […]

Cousin Peregrine’s Wonder Stories: Waves of the Great South Seas (Founded on Fact.) “Very likely the man who drew it had been nearly drowned by one himself.” “Very likely nothing of the sort!” “How could he draw it if he hadn’t seen it?” “Why, they always do. Look at Uncle Alfred, he drew a splendid […]

Cousin Peregrine’s Wonder Stories: The Chinese Jugglers, and the Englishman’s Hands (Founded on Fact.) Cousin Peregrine had never been away quite so long before. He had been in the East, and the latter part of his absence from home had been spent not only in a foreign country, but in parts of it where Englishmen […]

This fanciful and high-sounding title was given by the great Swedish botanist, Linnaeus, to a race of plants which are in reality by no means distantly allied to a very humble family–the family of Rushes. The great race of Palms puzzled the learned Swede. He did not know where to put them in his system; […]

Cousin Peregrine’s Traveller’s Tales: Jack Of Pera (Founded on Fact.) “Cousin Peregrine, oughtn’t we to love our neighbour, whether he’s a nice neighbour or a nasty neighbour?” “Certainly, Maggie.” “But need we when he’s a nasty next-door neighbour?” asked Fred, in such rueful tones that Cousin Peregrine burst out laughing and said, “Who is your […]

“Now the bright morning star, day’s harbinger, Comes dancing from the East, and leads with her The flow’ry May, who from her green lap throws The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose.”–Milton. On the whole, perhaps, May is the most beautiful of the English months, especially the latter half of it; and yet I suppose […]

By little woods are here meant–not woods of small extent, but–woods in which the trees never grow big, woods that are to grown-up woods as children to grown-up people, woods that seem made on purpose for children, and dwarfs, and dolls, and fairies. These little woods have many names, varying with the trees of which […]

Tales of the Khoja.[1] (Adapted from the Turkish.) INTRODUCTION. “O my children!” said the story-teller, “do you indeed desire amusement by the words of my lips? Then shut your mouths, that the noise you make may be abated, and I may hear myself speak; and open your ears, that you may be entertained by the […]

In Memoriam. MARGARET, [Daughter of the Rev. Alexander John Scott, D.D.] (LORD NELSON’S CHAPLAIN, AND THE FRIEND IN WHOSE ARMS HE DIED AT TRAFALGAR), was Born June 3rd, 1809. In 1839 she was Married to the Rev. Alfred Gatty, OF ECCLESFIELD, YORKSHIRE, where she Died on October the 4th, 1873, aged 64. My mother became […]

(Freely adapted from the German.) WHAT PETER FOUND IN THE PAN–AN UGLY SMILE–THE WIDOW’S RECKONINGS–REST BY RUSHLIGHT. On a cold winter’s evening it is very cosy to sit by a warm hearth, where the fire crackles pleasantly, and the old saucepan, which Mother has set on the fire, sings monotonously to itself between-whiles. On such […]

(Freely adapted from the German.) Ever so long ago there lived a certain king, at whose court great rejoicings were held for the birth of a child. But this joy was soon turned to sorrow, when the young queen died, and left her infant daughter motherless. As the body of the young queen lay in […]

A DRAMATIC DIALOGUE. (From the French of Jean Mace.) Dramatis Personae. Peace. War. A French Grenadier. A German Hussar. A Scotch Highlander. A Cossack. A Russian Peasant Woman. A French Peasant Woman. A German Peasant Woman. An English Peasant Woman. Soldiers are lying on the ground. Peace is seated at the back, leaning her elbow […]

(From the German of R. Reinick.) A certain old knight had a little daughter called Gertrude; and when his brother died, leaving an only son, he took the boy into his castle, and treated him as his own son. The boy’s name was Walter. The two children lived together like brother and sister; they only […]