I had set off to get water to heal my father’s eyes. He had one laughing eye and one weeping eye, and the only way to the weeping eye laugh was to bathe it in water from the spring of the Fairy of the Dawn. My two older brothers had gone on the adventure, but...
I’m thinner than my wife, and not as strong, and she used to beat me black and blue. But the day came when I could no longer endure the abuse. On that day, I was out in the fields, and I caught a crane in my net. The crane spoke and said, “If you let me go free,...
When I was only two years old, my mother took me with her into the woods to gather branches for the fire. It was spring-time and I can still remember the delight I took in the flowers that carpeted the forest. Then all of sudden, two men sprang out of the thicket, and...
When I received my dismissal, my captain said I might go where I liked. I had no money, so I went to my brothers and asked them to take me in until war broke out again. “What can we do with you?” they said. “You are no use to us. Go make your own...
Another party of men had dared to hunt on the sacred mountain! I did what I had done before. I lured them into a feasting tent and gave them poisoned wine. Then I dragged their bodies to the ravine and threw them into the lake. As I was strolling through the forest, I...
My five older brothers could not help themselves. When they took the throne, they were compelled to hunt in the forests of the forbidden mountain. Nobody who goes there ever returns. Now I am king, I have that same compulsion, in spite of all the reasonable arguments...
I found the entrance to the old well, and I went down a flight of stairs that descended into darkness. They were broad, white slabs of alabaster, gleaming in the shadows. Even the sound of my bare feet on the stone echoed in that lonely place, and when one of my water...
I put up a sign proclaiming that if any man can find my daughter within eight days, he will have her for his wife. If he fails, I will have his head. Needless to say, I have quite a collection of heads. No one will ever find my daughter. I’ve hidden her in my...
No matter where I go or how hard I try to please my employers, Destiny always finds me. Just when I’ve put everything in order, she flies in, tears up the house, and leaves everything in pieces. I run away in shame. Now I work for a lady who has asked me to...
Catherine had come of age. She was sitting in her room in her father’s well-appointed house when I flew in with my wheel of fortune. “Catherine,” I said. “Which would you rather have? A happy youth or a happy old age?” After some...
