A wonderful prince had come to the Sea King's palace and my father went out to welcome him. He was known as Prince Fire Fade, Child of the Heaven’s Sun Height. The king led him into the palace and I soon fell in love with the august prince who had come from the sky....
Story Themes Results
Your Search Results
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 Riding through a Winter Wonderland
On the happiest day of my life, I was riding through the falling snow on a sleigh that was lit by the setting sun. Rushing along through the fir trees in the steaming breath of the horses, I felt like a great white swan, feather-light and wing-borne. “Oh joy and...
Underworld Maiden
In the house where I live, I serve an old grey-bearded man. I am not allowed to speak. Only the old man can speak, and his grandmother, whose snoring can be heard throughout the countryside. But the rest of us must remain silent. Not even the oxen are allowed to...
Queen Who Goes to Fairyland
I loved my husband but I couldn't conceive a child. We never talked about it, but when we watched other people play with their children, we couldn't hide our sadness. Then one day I went into the park near the castle, and sat alone by a waterfall. I didn't want my...
Seeker of the Silent Princess
I was the son of a pasha in Turkey, and an only child. I played with a golden ball that I would throw against the walls of the summer house and catch when it dropped. One day, I saw an old woman coming to draw water from the well, and I threw my ball at her pitcher....
Dorani’s Invisible Husband
The gardener asked me why I was looking so sad, and I told him the reason. "My wife Dorani is as lovely as the stars, but she won't speak to me. Every night she leaves me, and goes back to her father's house." The old gardener gave me six small packets of powder and...
Snowflake
My mother and father wanted a child so much that they made me out of snow, and I came to life. They called me Snowflake. Spring has arrived. The fields are full of flowers. Nightingales sing in the trees, and my friends are playing outside and shouting with glee. The...
Snow Man
I take pride in being cool and collected. I'm a Snow Man, after all. But something at the very core of me cracks. It's always cracking, and I find myself longing for something that is not at all becoming of a Snow Man—the hot stove! I look through the window of the...
Water Lily
My sisters and I spun gold flax for an old woman who made us work from dawn to dusk. We had never seen a man. The old woman warned us that the sheen would go out of our flax and terrible things would happen if we ever laid eyes on a man. Well, I did lay eyes on a man....
Old Woodcutter
I’m an old man and my beard is long and white but I still have the strength to chop Yule logs. So far, the work has kept me outside the Hall of the Dead. One night a young man came by. He was holding an ham and heading into the Hall. He greeted me and I asked him...
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...
Prince with a Mirror
When I was fifteen, I woke up one day and found a mirror had been placed in my room. It was not large, and it had a black frame. When I looked into it, I did not see my own reflection. Instead, I saw the face of a girl as lovely as the dawn. She, like me, was coming...
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...