The Tsar kept me under lock and key for years, and do you know why? Because I am a wizard of a man, yes indeed! A mere peasant made me of copper, with iron hands and a steel head. I am virtually indestructible. One day a boy walked past my prison grate. I recognized...
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...
I got restless living in my ditch near the town of Osaka on the seacoast. I decided I wanted to visit Kyoto where the great Mikado had his palace. So one fine morning I set off. The journey was more tiring than I expected. I had gone halfway to the city when I arrived...
The old man ordered us to fly after the fugitives who were escaping the underworld. The young couple were crossing a great plain and we could see them clearly, running hand in hand with a red light flashing around them. Suddenly though, we couldn’t see them. They...
I came along, riding my horse and singing a merry song when all of a sudden I heard a voice say: “Welcome! You’ve come at just the right time.” I looked around but couldn’t figure out where the voice was coming from. “Who’s calling me?” I said. “Lift your head. I’m up...
When my son told me that he had been staying in an enchanted castle, I wanted to know all the details, of course! The castle was inside a mountain, and everything in the castle had been covered in black. The chairs, tables, benches, and also the three princesses who...
Little brat! How dare she wear RED shoes to her mother’s funeral! What insolence! And they’re not even properly made. I never liked her mother, either. She let that child run around the streets with practically nothing on. Who knows what her mother did to get so sick,...
I am a crossroads in a great forest. Both my footpaths lead to the capital. One will take seven days and the other will take two days, but there are no signs to tell you which is which. How does one prepare? A shoemaker and a tailor paused to discuss the matter. The...
“I am mighty Mercurius! Whoever releases me, him I must strangle!” Idiot! Why did I say that to the fellow? I do not seem to be able to curb my own bravado. Then, to make it worse, I had to prove myself! “Ha! You don’t believe that a genius...
I just sold a load of wood to the town doctor, and after he’d counted his money, I noticed how well he ate and drank, sitting there at his table. I asked him how he got to be a doctor, and if I could be a doctor, too. He said, “Oh yes, that is soon...
