I'm just a simple private but I've found the king's ring. He's promised a large sum for money for it and I plan to return it. But how? If I report it to regimental headquarters, the matter will have to go all the way up the ranks. It will go from the sergeant to the...
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Girl Who Wears a Wreath
After a hard day's work chopping wood in the forest with my father, we got home, and then my father said, "Oh, no, I left my axe in the forest!" He asked my stepmother if she would send her daughter out. She hadn't worked all day in the cold and the heavy rain,...
Gopani-Kufa the King
One day when I was hunting, I came upon a strange sight. A python had wrapped himself around an antelope, and the antelope had stabbed the python. He had pinned him to a tree. The python couldn't move, and the antelope couldn't get his horn out of the tree. Each of...
Maiden Who Loves Animals
When I came to the hut in the woods, I was very upset because I had not found my father. I had gone out to bring him food, and now he would have nothing to eat. The windows of the cottage were lit up, so I knocked on the door, and a rough voice cried, "Come in." I...
Soldier Who Grows a Huge Turnip
The king thought I had a green thumb because I presented him with the largest turnip anyone had ever seen. It was as big as the wagon I put it in when I brought it to the castle. I told him that I’m really not favored by Lady Fortune in any way. I’m a poor soldier who...
Gift Horse
If ever there was a gift horse, it's me. I'm waiting in a castle for Ferdinand, who has just celebrated his fourteenth birthday. Imagine his surprise when he sees a white horse standing in a castle, a castle to which he alone has the keys. Imagine his surprise when he...
Nurse with A Brass Pot
In the beginning (you wouldn't know it now, because I am very rich) I was very poor. One day, when I had only a handful of flour left in the larder, and no money to buy any more, nor any hope of earning anything, I carried my little brass pot down to the river. I...
Thankful Wazir
One can never know what good will come of bad and so I give thanks for everything. When the king cut off his finger, I suggested that it might improve his hearing. When he lost his temper and sent me to prison, I thanked him. Of course, I had no idea what went on with...
Little King Loc Meets a Human Girl
Abeille, the human girl, was carried to me by the gnomes on a litter made of moss and twigs. She had wounded her foot. She was very big, and very beautiful, and I was willing to grant her every wish. What did she want? A pair of shoes, she said. I struck the earth...
Ciccu with his Figs
When I brought my basket of figs to the king, I rang the castle bell with a trembling heart. You see, I had given half my figs to an old man I met on the road. When he was finished helping himself, he covered the basket and told me not to be anxious. The basket would...
Retired Sweeping Girl
All my life, I've done the same thing. I've swept the house, and I've left the sweepings on the heap outside. Then, a few days ago, I found a letter on the heap. It was an invitation from the fairies to attend the christening of one of their own. You can’t ignore an...
Naked Elves
We came to the cobbler's house and found his last pieces of leather, cut exquisitely. We were inspired! So we stitched, sewed, and hammered them into a pair of perfect shoes. The next night, there were two sets of shoes to finish, and the work doubled, and after that,...
Brave Little Tailor
How did I become successful? Well, let me tell you. One day, while working, I killed seven flies in one blow. It was the biggest accomplishment of my life! I stitched the words, Seven At a Blow on my girdle and set off to let the world know. Since then, I've slain two...
Surrendering King
I gave him every impossible task I could think of, and he accomplished every one. How did he do it? I'll be damned if I know how he made a flying ship, or how he fetched healing water from the ends of the earth. How did he eat and drink so much? How did he survive a...
Tree of Life
The ravens know where I am. The Sun and the Moon know where I am. But humans do not know where to look for me. Once a young man set off to find me so that he could bring one of my golden apples to the princess he loved. He wandered through three kingdoms, but he could...
Wish-Fulfilling Flounder
A great storm was raging. The wind blew so hard that the fisherman who stood on the shore could hardly keep his feet underneath him. Houses and trees were toppling over, and the very mountains trembled. Rocks rolled into the sea under a pitch black sky that thundered...
Little Hazel Tree
When I was just a twig, I brushed against a man's hat, and his hat fell off. He got off his horse, came to the tree, broke me, and put me in his pocket. He carried me to his home and gave me to his daughter, who planted me by her mother's grave. She visited me three...
Mother Holle
She's becoming homesick, sweet girl, though the conditions up there on the surface are no better than the ones down here. Everything in time. She has served me well, and I have enjoyed her company. I take her hand and I lead her to a large, open door. She stands on...