After my husband died, I was very poor, and I had only one child, my little boy Hassebu. When it was time for him to learn to read, I sent him to school. He did not learn to read in school, and so he was put into a shop to learn how to make clothes. But he did not...
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Flute of O’Yoné
One night the sweet child O’Yoné stole into the bamboo grove behind the garden. Weeping, she told her story to the forest. Her mother had died and her father had remarried a beautiful woman with a cruel, jealous heart. O’Yoné knew she would to kill her at her first...
Queen Trapped in a Mountain
Koschei the Deathless is not mortal and I doubt that he can be killed. But Prince Ivan is stronger than any mortal I have ever met. He came to my house in the mountain where I was trapped and he picked up Koschei's sword. It weighs two thousand pounds! Not only did he...
Hyacinthia Who is Trapped in the Underworld
I am one of thirty young women who have been trapped underground by my father who is a powerful magician. He allows us to surface and play in the water as ducks, but then we must put on our white robes and return through the portal of the willow tree that stands by...
Ancient Oak
I am hundreds of years old, and so gnarled and twisted that you will think I am monstrous. I am not a monster, but there is a demon under my tree roots. He is trapped in a bottle, and whenever someone approaches, he starts crying, "Let me out! Let me out!" He'll...
Raven Princess
My mother has turned me into a raven, and though I have told a young man how to set me free, he can't resist the temptation to eat and drink. For three days, he has failed to stay awake. He has lost his chances now, and so I have left him with several gifts. I have...
Court Physician
"Here comes the Satin Surgeon! Look at the Satin Surgeon! Long live the Satin Surgeon!" You would think it was Christ coming into town on his mule for all the fuss the people made when he arrived. This "Satin Surgeon" claims to be able to heal the emperor's illness. I...
Desert Tower Princess
I do not know what came over me, but when the emperor appeared at court, I loved him instantly. He was my eldest sister's suitor, so of course, I hid my feelings. But the emperor did not. He made it very clear that he preferred me. My father (who has an unnatural...
The Physician from Far Away
I was called to court to examine the king who had gone blind as a result of a bad illness. After carefully studying his case, I concluded that he had only one remaining hope. "Somewhere in the Great Sea there exists a Golden-Headed Fish," I told the king's son. "If...
Princess Coming Out of Isolation
When the green knight stopped coming to the castle, I became frantic. What happened to my love? Surely he did not give his heart to another. Yet, what could I know, isolated on that lonely island? It was the only place where I could live safely, out of the reach of my...
Peter the Hermit
The queen found me in my forest hut. She and her two little sons came to live with me, and, before long, she found my blood-stained shirts. I knew she would. She scrubbed them until they were white again and hung them out to dry. Now she wants to know why I come home...
Gerda’s Red Shoes
Gerda had lost her friend Kay. He had disappeared. "Kay is dead and gone," she said to the sun. But the sun said, "I don't believe it." The sparrows didn't believe it, either. That's when Gerda came to get us, her brand-new red shoes. She put us on her feet, walked us...
Invisible Prince
When I was born and my future was foretold, my parents were so upset by my life of perilous adventures that a Fairy comforted them by giving me a little pebble. Whenever I put the pebble in my mouth, I would become invisible. I met many ordeals and escaped the worst...
Prunella’s Mother
I had a daughter, but she disappeared. She was only seven! I was waiting for her to come back from school, and she never came home. My sweet little girl, Prunella, that's what I called her because she always came home with a plum she had picked from a tree.... She'll...
Golden Ball
I was so happy when the princess tossed me in the air. Me, the very image of the bright sun! Now I'm sinking down into the murky waters of the well. Where is the bottom? There doesn't seem to be any bottom. It's cold down here, and getting blacker by the moment. How...
Kisa the Cat
I belong to the queen, and I sit proudly by her side when she drives out in her fine glass coach. She tells me that I am happier than she is, because I have a kitten and she has no one to love but me. I happen to know a fairy who dwells in the forest, and I'll go and...
Seal Woman
He has taken my pelt so I must marry him or freeze to death. I will go to that cold place. I will raise the children and assume the role of a domesticated person. But I will return to the wild one day. And the wild will return to me. The Seal Woman in Sealskin, from...
A Village Storyteller
I love to tell the story of the gnome Rubezahl. He did everything he could to win the affection of a princess, but he could not force her to stay with him. With all his power and magic, the king of the gnomes could not change the heart of a woman. He was left in the...
Imprisoned Maiden
I have been imprisoned in a castle that stands on a steep mountain. It is bolted by iron bars and chains, so imagine my surprise when all of a sudden a young man strode into my room. "How on earth did you get in here?" I asked. The youth replied that he was my...
Forest Witch
I have tried to teach many boys how to acquire the gifts of the good spirits, but none of them will fast long enough to do any great good in the world. This boy, however, is different! He fasted thirty days, and then he told me that he still had not fasted long...
Prunella
A witch stole me when I was seven years old. She wanted a servant, and now she is looking for an excuse to get rid of me. "Take this basket," she said the other day. "Go to the well, and bring it back to me filled with water. If you don’t I will kill you." Of course...
Poor Miller
I used to have more money than I knew what to do with. But sorrow comes like a thief in the night, and all of a sudden, I lost everything. I couldn't even call the mill my own. One morning when I went down to the pond, a nixy rose out of water. She called me by name...
Buried Maiden
My brother and I hosted a stranger who came to our door one night. We offered him food and an evening’s rest. He came to my room in the middle of the night and demanded my hand in marriage. I wouldn’t allow him into my bed, and that is when I learned that he was a...
Prince Rainbow
The princess who is passing by the fountain is well-named "Fairer-than-a-Fairy." A fairy could never surpass her tender mortal beauty. She is surprised when I speak to her. I tell her that I am the son of a powerful king, and that the wicked old fairy Lagree...
Fluffy Ball
I'm a fluffy ball containing nine kinds of poison (mixed with salt and witchcraft) which means I'll pack a deadly punch. The poor girl who is fleeing with her lover won't know what's hit her. I'll knock her off her high horse and into the river. When she comes to,...
Metal-Haired Princess
He found the three of us doing what we do every day. We comb our hair. Mine is golden, and every strand that falls to the floor rings out like a pure metal. No one had ever heard the ring of my hair until the handsome youth came into my copper room. I told him that...
Frisk the Dog
The princess isn't interested in me or my master, even though he's very handsome and I'm very frisky! She's only interested in retrieving a ring from the river. The prince can't fathom how to find the ring in the swift current, but I tell him not to despair. He's too...
Black Girl
From the time I was little, I did not accept my mother's instruction. She was always trying to force me to obey her will. I pretended to agree with her. I did everything she told me to do. I learned all her magic tricks, and then I used them to disappear. She still...
Dick Whittington
I was very little when my father and mother died; so little, indeed, that I never knew them, nor the place where I was born. I strolled around the country, ragged as a colt, until I met with a wagoner who was going to London. He gave me leave to walk beside his wagon...
Great Gloomy Wood
In the darkest part of my interior, where the trees are thickest, a witch lives in a stone hut. She has outgrown it. She can hardly fit into it. She has to lie down with her head at the door and her feet in the corners. She has no friends. Not even her cat and her dog...
Tom Thumb’s Mother
My husband thinks that we should leave our little boys in the forest when they're out tying fagots tomorrow. I can't do it! Yet, we're so desperately poor. Not one of them is old enough to earn a living. The youngest is puny, and he hardly ever speaks a word. When he...
Hopeful Ferryman
When did I begin to ferry the dead over the wide river? I cannot remember. It was such a long time ago. Back and forth, back and forth.... It is all I know, except for a growing longing to be free, which is making my job a hellish suffering. Today, I ferried a young...
Golden Trumpet
I hang on the gate of a castle that stands on the top of a high mountain. I bear the inscription: Whoever can this trumpet blow Shall cause the giant's overthrow. I have been quiet for a long time. Who could possibly climb up here? If you were successful, you would...
Dove of Peace
When the dwarves put the princess in the crystal coffin, the forest fell silent, and it has been silent ever since. First, the Owl came and watched over her. Then the Raven came and watched. When the Raven's time ended, I came and settled on the shoulder of the dwarf...
Lady of the Black Bull
When the Black Bull came and carried me away, I was terrified. He did me no harm, though. At the end of the day, he landed me in a bonny big castle. The next morning, the good people of the castle gave me an apple. They told me not to break into it unless I found...
Old Toad
When the princess told us that she had set out to find her long-lost prince, we toads rejoiced. We had been waiting a long time for her to arrive! We gave her supplies for the long journey ahead. May she be reunited with her long-lost prince, and may the kings...
Apple Queen
I became pregnant, not by my husband, but by an apple that an old woman gave me. After eating it, I threw the rind out the window. It was eaten by a horse who gave birth to a foal. My son and his speaking horse have grown up together, and who knows? Together they...
Princess Rosalie
I have been snatched by the Lord of the Air and imprisoned in a huge, unfamiliar palace. He is demanding that I marry him, but I will not, no matter how much he storms around. He has left in a fury. What is this? A pen is rising over the desk, and hovering. Now it is...