My youngest son wanted to sail a ship to foreign lands but he was an idle boy who spent most of his time in alehouses and taverns. He kept begging me to go, insisting that he would earn his living by his wits. “You’ll spend everything on drink and come...
My father wanted me to flatter him by telling him how much I loved him. I said, “I look upon you as salt in my food.” That didn’t go over too well! He got really angry and banished me. Since I had no skills, I dressed myself in rags and went looking...
I met John after he had returned from the war. I was mending my net in my hut when I heard him come up to the house and sit on the steps. I invited him in, poured him some wine, and cooked him some fried fish. He told me how he’d nearly been beaten to death in a...
I wanted a child, and when the child didn’t come, I lamented, day and night. “I am like a field on which nothing grows!” I cried. At last, my wish was granted, but what did I give birth to? Not a human child, but a donkey! Then I wept in earnest. I told my husband to...
No, no! Whatever you do, don’t let him in! I bolted the doors of hell and ran as quickly as I could to the highest devil. I said, “There’s a fellow outside with a magic knapsack who wants to come in, but don’t let him in, because if you do,...
I let an orphan boy run beside my wagon on my way into the city. He was very pleased that he didn’t have to pay for his passage. He trotted alongside the horses and talked my ear off, eager to see London. He had heard that the streets were paved with gold, and...
I waited three years for the fruit to ripen. Now I’ve come to pluck my little apple. The girl stands in the barn, in the center of a chalk circle. I can’t get at her. She’s too clean. “Don’t let her wash,” I tell her father....
I was taught to be true-hearted and to speak the truth. Why is it that my father is so offended by me now? He came home after years of fighting his neighbors and seemed to be looking for another fight. I couldn’t please him. I couldn’t give him the answers...
In all my life, I have never met such a deliciously haughty princess. She is beautiful beyond measure, and so, of course, no suitor will ever measure up. We were lined up before her, in a row, while she, like a general, inspected the ranks. This was one too fat....
I meet my twelve friends in an underground palace, and we dine together at a long table. Then we raise a glass, and we each make a toast to the health of our mothers and fathers. When I raise my glass, I make a different kind of toast. A health to my dearest lady....
