An audacious fellow came in today and presented me with something he called "Russian salt." He wanted to trade it in the city. I'd never heard of such a thing as salt. It looked like nothing more than a pile of white sand. I sent him away but later when I sat down to...
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Misery
It is said that Misery loves company, and I do! That's the very reason I befriended a poor peasant. I made him sell everything he had, little by little, so that we could go out and get drunk. Now he's got nothing left to sell. Is he miserable? Not enough, to my...
Stan Who Gets His Wish
We were well off. We had the best milking cow in the village. We had trees as full of fruit as hives are full of bees. The corn in our fields grew high. Still, my wife was sad. She said there was no luck in our house, no luck at all, because we had no children. Until...
Bird Witch
I am what you might call a collector of birds. Yes, that's it. I have seven thousand cages in my castle, each containing a single bird—rare birds, all of them, rarer than you can possibly imagine. I eat them sometimes, and I keep them if they sing pretty songs. The...
Merchant’s Spendthrift Son
My father was so rich that he could have paved the whole street in silver, but he devised another way of spending his money. He invested it and turned shillings into florins. When he died, he couldn't take it with him, so his money went to me. I spent it all on my...
Pleasure Palace
I am a fine estate built of gold and precious stones, and only the richest, most fashionably dressed people may enter me. They dance to the music in my hall, and eat from my feasting tables. If you look through my brightly lit windows, you will see how happy they are....
Cormoran the Giant
I live in a gloomy cavern on the top of Saint Michael's Mount, off Cornwall. I'm eighteen feet high and nine feet round. My fierce and savage appearance terrifies everyone around me. When I go to the mainland for meat, I throw half a dozen oxen on my back and tie...
Dragon of the North
I have a voracious appetite, and it can't be satisfied. I'm eating all the living creatures on the planet, and I will not stop until I have consumed them all. I jump like a frog, so you won't know where I'm coming from. I have the body of an ox and the tail of a...
Well-Dressed Emperor
I do not care about my soldiers. I do not care about the arts or the theatre. What I do care about are clothes. I love nothing more than to go walking about and showing off my new clothes. I have a coat for every hour of the day, and if you go looking for me, you will...
All-Seeing Sun
When my darling girl comes to see me, she has already come a long way. She has consulted the Wind, the Moon, and the Stars. They have given her the means to walk through the heavens. She asks me if I have seen her beloved white wolf. Yes, I have seen him, I say...
Wild Ogress
What does Prince Ring mean, bringing me all this fancy stuff? Does he truly expect me to make my own wedding dress? I don't want to sew! I want meat, raw meat! I'm starving to death! Where is that good-for-nothing brother of mine? He's supposed to be here by now, and...
Wizard King
I don't like that my wife goes in secret to visit her fairy godmother. Wizard kings have a standing feud with fairy queens who insist on conducting themselves in secret. When I want something, I go out and get it. I turn myself into an eagle and soar over the country....
Mother Dragon
Does my appearance SHOCK you? Come now, approach my diamond throne. Which of my heads is more of a shock? One, two, or three? Is it our breath? Hah! Arr! Arr! Arr! Come on now, it can't be our VOICE. Don't you like the sound of cawing ravens? Approach, I say! What's...
Craving Mother
How I wanted to get pregnant! I didn't think I could, and then I conceived, thank God. Now, every day, I sit by the window and look out over the gardens at the back of the house. Our neighbor has a glorious garden, full of beautiful flowers and herbs. Nobody can get...
Fisherman’s Wife
So here we are, livin' in a pig-stye, and my husband comes home and tells me he caught a fish. Well, it's about time! Where is it? "Oh, I let him go," says he. "You did what? You haven't caught any fish for days! You mean to starve us?" "It was a Flounder," he says....
Lindworm
I was the firstborn prince, but from the moment of my birth, my mother denied my existence. I made my way to the hills and lived off the land. I ate mice, and then I ate rodents, and then I ate lambs, and then I ate children. When my brother set off to marry and take...
Aladdin’s Mother
My son has become so idle! If only his father were alive to give him some manly discipline! Instead, Aladdin has come home with a magic lamp and a genie who grants his every whim. Now I am certain he will never grow up! Aladdin's Mother, in Aladdin and the Wonderful...
Beauty’s Eldest Sister
Our family has gone from riches to rags. First, our mansion in town burned to the ground. We lost everything. Then my father, who was a prosperous merchant, lost all his ships at sea. You can't imagine the calamities! Shipwrecks, pirates, fires, and storms. We fell...
Hand-Mill
I can grind out anything you want: a light, a table cloth, a feast with beer, and all kinds of good things. I come from the Hall of the Dead, and the water that turns me will never freeze. A word of caution, though. Don't get me going if you don't know how to make me...
Fruit of the Fairy Trees
We belong to the fairy world, and no mortal has ever tasted our flesh. Now a queen has come along and she is determined to get at us. She tried to climb the garden wall, and when her ladders didn't reach, she went to see our mistress, the Old Fairy. Heaven knows what...
Tempted Queen
I had a passion for traveling and exploring, so when my daughter was only a few weeks old I went to visit a certain mountain about which I had heard many marvelous tales. I set out with a number of attendants, and on the way we passed by an old castle. It was said to...