When I was out hunting a boar one day, I ran down a hill in my sandals and caught a thorn in my foot. The thorn festered and my foot became so swollen and sore than I couldn't put any weight on it. I heard about an illustrious physician, and I summoned him to my...
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Honest Little Jack
I left home with a sore heart. I would have stayed with my mother after my father died, but she didn't want me. She said there wasn't enough work for me to do in the house. My brothers Martin and Michael took everything she had in her larder, but they didn't want me...
Maiden in the Dark
The drummer has taken my linen shift! My sisters have flown from the lake, and I am stranded here. I have to follow him. But I’m naked! I’ll keep myself hidden, but what else can I do? Without my linen I have no wings to fly back to the castle. I follow him home and...
Subjugated Queen
Oh, I was so afraid, don't you see? Once my husband died, I had no protection at all, and so, when I was caught by the robber chief, what could I do but obey his commands? "Make me king and kill your son or I will kill you," he said. "How can I kill my son?" I cried....
Dorani Who Goes Home at Night
The weight of my hair had become unbearable, and so one day, I cut off a lock, wrapped it in a leaf, and threw it into the river. It was found by a prince who asked me to marry him. I consented but I made him promise to allow me to go home every night. He did, and we...
Grethari the Orphaned Prince
After we fought the shark, Geirlaug sprinkled some white powder over us, and the next thing I knew we were outside the palace of my parents. I hadn't been there since I was a tiny child, but I remembered the surroundings. Geirlaug told me not to drink anything until I...
Troll’s Daughter
The young man swims down to me in my glass palace at the bottom of the sea. My father, who is a powerful troll, has trapped me here. He has made everybody dependent on him—all the kings in the country are in his debt, and all the creatures of the forest rely on him...
Tiny in the Big World
The marsh, the river, the meadow, the whole world was too big for me! When winter came I wandered into a cornfield that had been harvested. Only the dry, bare stubble stuck out of the frozen ground, and the stalks were like a forest to me. I was so cold I thought for...
Elf Maiden’s Husband
My elf wife and I were happy, but every now and then she would disappear. I asked her one day, "What can I do to keep you from vanishing into the other world?" "Dear husband, I am bound to go, even against my will, and there is only one way to stop me. Drive a nail...
Aladdin
One day when I was playing in the streets, a stranger came up to me. He asked me if I was the son of Mustapha the tailor. "I am, sir," I said, "but he died a long time ago." The man put his arms around me and told me he was my uncle. "Go tell your mother I'm coming,"...
Little Green Frog
He is SO irritating! I tell him what to do and he does more than he is instructed. I tell him, go to the stable, get the horse, and lead him out of there. What does he do? He goes to the stable, gets the horse, and decides to put on a saddle. Not what I said! He's...
Labyrinth of Despair
Woe to those who pass the dragons at my gate and come into this desolate wood! Here, human hands reach out of the ground, and miserable people roam the cypress wood. They have cords tied around their necks, and when they meet, they become attached and fall to the...
Well-Spoken Ogre
I came into my castle and right away, I could smell human flesh. What had ill fate brought me? I looked through all the rooms and found nobody. I called out, "Do not be afraid, I will do you no harm." No answer. Silence. "Come out, I tell you," I said. "Your life is...
Roebuck Brother Who Must Be Hunted
I can't resist the bugle-horn. When the hunters call, I feel as if I'm jumping out of my skin. My sister must let me out of the house, and I must run. The king chases me through the wood, all day long, and I try to escape him. Yesterday, however, the game changed. The...