The Town Musicians of Breman

A certain man had a donkey, which had carried the corn-sacks to the mill loyally for many a long year; but his strength was going, and he was growing more and more unfit for work. Then his master began to wonder if it was worth his while keeping this old donkey much longer.

The donkey, seeing that no good wind was blowing, ran away and set out on the road to Bremen. “There,” he thought, “I can surely be town-musician.”

When he had walked some distance, he found a dog lying on the road, gasping like one who had run till he was tired. “What are you gasping so for, you big fellow?” asked the donkey.

“Ah,” replied the dog, “as I am old, and daily grow weaker, and no longer can hunt, my master wanted to kill me, so I ran away, but now how am I to earn my bread?”

“I tell you what,” said the donkey, “I am going to Bremen, and shall be a town-musician there; go with me and work also as a musician. I will play the lute, and you shall beat the kettledrum.”

The dog agreed, and on they went. Before long they came to a cat, sitting on the path, with a face like three rainy days! “Now then, old fluff and claws, what gone all wrong with you?” asked the donkey.

“Who can be merry when his neck is in danger?” answered the cat. “Because I am now getting old, and my teeth are worn to stumps, and I prefer to sit by the fire and spin, rather than hunt about after mice, my mistress wanted to drown me, so I ran away. But now good advice is scarce. Where am I to go?”

“Go with us to Bremen. You understand night-music, you can be a town-musician.”The cat thought well of it, and went with them. After this the three runaways came to a farm-yard, where the cockerel was sitting upon the gate, cock-a-doodle-doing with all his might. “Your cock-a-doodle-do goes through and through my skull” said the donkey. “What is the matter?”

` Guests are coming for Sunday and the housewife has no pity,’ said the cockerel, ‘ And has told the cook that she intends to eat me in the soup to-morrow, and this evening I am to have my head cut off. Now I am cock-a-doodle-doing at full pitch while I can.”

“Ah you red-headed bird” said the donkey, “you had better come away with us. We are going to Bremen; you can find something better than death everywhere: you have a good voice, and if we make music together it must have some quality!”

The cockerel agreed to this plan, and all four went on together. They could not, however, reach the city of Bremen in one day, and in the evening they came to a forest where they meant to pass the night. The donkey and the dog laid themselves down under a large tree, the cat and the cockerel settled themselves in the branches; but the cockerel flew right to the top, where he was most safe. Before he went to sleep, he called out to his companions that there must be a house not far off, for he saw a light. The donkey said, “If so, we had better get up and go on, for the shelter here is bad.” The dog thought that a few bones with some meat on would do him good too!

So they moved further on, and soon saw the light shine brighter and grow larger, until they came to a well-lit robber’s house. The donkey, as the biggest, went to the window and looked in. “What do you see, my grey-horse?” asked the cockerel. “What do I see?” answered the donkey; “a table covered with good things to eat and drink, and robbers sitting at it enjoying themselves.” “That would be the sort of thing for us,” said the cockerel. “Yes, yes; ah, how I wish we were there!” said the donkey.

Then the animals put their heads together and schemed how to best win an invitation to come inside and join the robbers at the table.

“Come, come my friends,,” said the donkey, “We are musicians, so let us sing for our supper.”

And so they began to perform their music together: the donkey brayed, the dog barked, the cat mewed, and the cockerel cock-a-doodle-doed; then they burst through the window into the room, so that the glass clattered! At this horrible din, the robbers sprang up, thinking no otherwise than that a ghost had come in, and fled in a great fright out into the forest. The four companions now sat down at the table, well content with what was left, and ate as if they were going to fast for a month.

As soon as the four musicians had done, they put out the light, and each found a sleeping-place according to his nature and to what suited him. The donkey laid himself down upon some straw in the yard, the dog behind the door, the cat upon the hearth near the warm ashes, and the cockrel perched himself upon a beam of the roof; and being tired from their long walk, they soon went to sleep.

When it was past midnight, and the robbers saw from afar that the light was no longer burning in their house, and all appeared quiet, the captain said, “We ought not to have let ourselves be frightened out of our wits;” and ordered one of them to go and examine the house.

The messenger finding all still, went into the kitchen to light a candle, and, taking the glistening fiery eyes of the cat for burning coals, he held the candle to them to light it. But the cat did not understand what he meant to do, and flew in his face, spitting and scratching. He was dreadfully frightened, and ran to the back-door, but the dog, who lay there sprang up and bit his leg; and as he ran across the yard by the straw-heap, the donkey gave him a smart kick with its hind foot. The cockerel, too, who had been awakened by the noise, and had become lively, cried down from the beam, “cock-a-doodle-doo!”

Then the robber ran back as fast as he could to his captain, and said, “Ah, there is a horrible witch sitting in the house, who spat on me and scratched my face with her long claws; and by the door stands a man with a knife, who stabbed me in the leg; and in the yard there lies a black monster, who beat me with a wooden club; and above, upon the roof, sits the judge, who called out, `Bring the rogue here to me!’ so I got away as well as I could.”

After this the robbers did not trust themselves in the house again; but it suited the four musicians of Bremen so well that they did not care to leave it any more.

The Elves and the shoemaker.

A shoemaker, by no fault of his own, became so poor that at last he had nothing left but enough leather for one pair of shoes.

So in the evening, he cut the leather into the shape of the shoes, and he left his work on the table to finish in the morning. He lay down quietly in his bed, and before he fell asleep he asked God to help him.

In the morning, just as he was about to sit down to work, he saw the two shoes standing quite finished on his table.

He was astounded, and did not know what to make of it.

He took the shoes in his hands to look at them more closely and he saw that they were so neatly made that there was not one bad stitch in them. It just as if they were intended as a masterpiece.

Soon after, a customer came in to the shop, and as the shoes pleased him so well, he paid more than the usual price. Now the shoe maker had enough money to buy leather for two pairs of shoes.

That night, he cut out the leather. Next morning he was about to set to work with fresh hope for the future when he saw that the shoes were already made.

There was no shortage of customers who wanted the shoes. The shoemaker soon had enough to buy leather for four pairs of shoes.

The following morning he found the four pairs made; and so it went on. Any leather that he cut out in in the evening was finished by the morning,

Soon he was no longer poor, and he even became quite rich.

Now one evening not long before Christmas, the man finished cutting out the leather as usual. But this time he said to his wife, “Let’s stay up to-night to see who it is that lends us this helping hand?”

The woman liked the idea, and lighted a candle, and then they hid themselves in a corner of the room, behind some clothes which were hanging up there, and watched.

When it was midnight, two little elves came into the room, both without any clothes on, and sat down by the shoemaker’s table. They took all the work which was cut out before them and began to stitch, and sew, and hammer so skillfully and so quickly with their little fingers that the shoemaker could not turn away his eyes for astonishment.

They did not stop until all was done, and stood finished on the table, and then theyran quickly away.

Next morning the woman said, “The little men have made us rich, and we really must show that we are grateful for it. They run about so, and have nothing on, and must be cold. I’ll tell you what I’ll do: I will make them little shirts, and coats, and vests, and trousers, and knit both of them a pair of stockings, and you can help too - make them two little pairs of shoes.”

The man said, “I shall be very glad to do it;” and one night, when everything was ready, they laid their presents all together on the table instead of the cut-out work. Then hid themselves to see what the little men would do.

At midnight they came bounding in, and wanted to get to work at once, but as they did not find any leather cut out, but only the pretty little articles of clothing, they were at first puzzled, and then delighted. They dressed themselves very quickly, putting the pretty clothes on, and singing,

“Now we are boys so fine to see,Why should we longer cobblers be?”

Then they danced and skipped and leapt over chairs and benches. At last they danced out of doors. From that time one they came no more, but as long as the shoemaker lived all went well with him, and all his business prospered.

Rumpelstiltskin

Once there was a miller who was poor, but who had a beautiful daughter. Now it happened that he had an audience with the King, and in order to make himself appear as a person of importance he said to him, “I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold.” The King said to the miller, “That is an art which pleases me well; if your daughter is as clever as you say, bring her to-morrow to my palace, and I will try what she can do.”

And when the girl was brought to him he took her into a room which was quite full of straw, gave her a spinning-wheel and a reel, and said, “Now set to work, and if by to-morrow morning early you have not spun this straw into gold during the night, you must die.” Thereupon he himselflocked up the room, and left her in it alone. So there sat the poormiller’s daughter, and for the life of her could not tell what to do;she had no idea how straw could be spun into gold, and she grew moreand more miserable, until at last she began to weep.

But all at once the door opened, and in came a little man, and said,“Good evening, Mistress Miller; why are you crying so?” “Alas!” answeredthe girl, “I have to spin straw into gold, and I do not know how todo it.” “What will you give me,” said the manikin, “if I do it foryou?” “My necklace,” said the girl. The little man took the necklace,seated himself in front of the wheel, and “whirr, whirr, whirr,” threeturns, and the reel was full; then he put another on, and whirr, whirr,whirr, three times round, and the second was full too.

And so it wenton until the morning, when all the straw was spun, and all the reelswere full of gold. By daybreak the King was already there, and when hesaw the gold he was astonished and delighted, but his heart became onlymore greedy. He had the miller’s daughter taken into another room fullof straw, which was much larger, and commanded her to spin that also inone night if she valued her life. The girl knew not how to help herself,and was crying, when the door again opened, and the little man appeared,

and said, “What will you give me if I spin that straw into gold foryou?” “The ring on my finger,” answered the girl. The little man tookthe ring, again began to turn the wheel, and by morning had spun allthe straw into glittering gold.

The King rejoiced beyond measure at the sight, but still he had notgold enough; and he had the miller’s daughter taken into a still largerroom full of straw, and said, “You must spin this, too, in the courseof this night; but if you succeed, you shall be my wife.” “Even if shebe a miller’s daughter,” thought he, “I could not find a richer wife inthe whole world.”

When the girl was alone the manikin came again for the third time,and said, “What will you give me if I spin the straw for you this timealso?” “I have nothing left that I could give,” answered the girl. “Thenpromise me, if you should become Queen, your first child.” “Who knowswhether that will ever happen?” thought the miller’s daughter; and, notknowing how else to help herself in this strait, she promised the manikinwhat he wanted, and for that he once more span the straw into gold.

And when the King came in the morning, and found all as he had wished,he took her in marriage, and the pretty miller’s daughter became a Queen.

A year after, she had a beautiful child, and she never gave a thought tothe manikin. But suddenly he came into her room, and said, “Now give mewhat you promised.” The Queen was horror-struck, and offered the manikin

all the riches of the kingdom if he would leave her the child. But themanikin said, “No, something that is living is dearer to me than all thetreasures in the world.” Then the Queen began to weep and cry, so thatthe manikin pitied her. “I will give you three days’ time,” said he,“if by that time you find out my name, then shall you keep your child.”

So the Queen thought the whole night of all the names that she had everheard, and she sent a messenger over the country to inquire, far andwide, for any other names that there might be. When the manikin came the

next day, she began with Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar, and said all thenames she knew, one after another; but to every one the little man said,“That is not my name.” On the second day she had inquiries made in theneighborhood as to the names of the people there, and she repeated to the

manikin the most uncommon and curious. “Perhaps your name is Shortribs, orSheepshanks, or Laceleg?” but he always answered, “That is not my name.”

On the third day the messenger came back again, and said, “I have not been able to find a single new name, but as I came to a high mountain at theend of the forest, where the fox and the hare bid each other good night,there I saw a little house, and before the house a fire was burning,and round about the fire quite a ridiculous little man was jumping:he hopped upon one leg, and shouted—

“To-day I bake, to-morrow brew,The next I’ll have the young Queen’s child.Ha! glad am I that no one knewThat Rumpelstiltskin I am styled.”

You may think how glad the Queen was when she heard the name! And whensoon afterwards the little man came in, and asked, “Now, Mistress Queen,what is my name?” at first she said, “Is your name Conrad?” “No.” “Isyour name Harry?” “No.”

“Perhaps your name is Rumpelstiltskin?”

“The devil has told you that! the devil has told you that!” cried thelittle man, and in his anger he plunged his right foot so deep into theearth that his whole leg went in; and then in rage he pulled at his leftleg so hard with both hands that he tore himself in two.

The Frog Prince

In olden times, when if you made a wish, it would always come true, there lived a king whose daughters were all beautiful, but the youngest was so beautiful that the sun itself, which has seen so much, was astonished whenever it shone in her face. Close by the King’s castle lay a great dark forest, and under an old lime-tree in the forest was a well, and when the day was very warm, the King’s child went out into the forest and sat down by the side of the cool fountain, and when she was dull she took a golden ball, and threw it up on high and caught it, and this ball was her favorite plaything.

Now it so happened that on one occasion the princess’s golden ball did not fall into the little hand which she was holding up for it, but on to the ground beyond, and rolled straight into the water. The King’s daughterfollowed it with her eyes, but it vanished, and the well was deep, so deep that the bottom could not be seen. On this she began to cry, and cried louder and louder, and could not be comforted. And as she was complaining some one said to her, “What troubles you, King’s daughter? You weep so that even a stone would show pity.” She looked round to the side from whence the voice came, and saw a frog stretching forth its thick, uglyhead from the water. “Ah! old water-splasher, is it you?” said she; “I am weeping for my golden ball, which has fallen into the well.”

Be quiet, and do not weep,” answered the frog, “I can help thee, butwhat wilt you give me if I bring thy plaything up again?” “Whateveryou will have, dear frog,” said she–”My clothes, my pearls and jewels,and even the golden crown which I am wearing.”

The frog answered, “I do not care for thy clothes, thy pearls andjewels, or thy golden crown, but if you will love me and let me bethy companion and play-fellow, and sit by thee at thy little table,and eat off thy little golden plate, and drink out of thy little cup,and sleep in thy little bed—if thou wilt promise me this I will godown below, and bring thee thy golden ball up again.”

“Oh yes,” said she, “I promise thee all you wish, you will butbring me my ball back again.” She, however, thought, “How the sillyfrog does talk! He lives in the water with the other frogs, and croaks,and can be no companion to any human being!”

But the frog when he had received this promise, put his head into thewater and sank down, and in a short while came swimmming up again withthe ball in his mouth, and threw it on the grass. The King’s daughterwas delighted to see her pretty plaything once more, and picked it up,and ran away with it. “Wait, wait,” said the frog. “Take me with thee. Ican’t run as thou canst.” But what did it avail him to scream his croak,croak, after her, as loudly as he could? She did not listen to it, but ran home and soon forgot the poor frog, who was forced to go back intohis well again.

The next day when she had seated herself at table with the King and allthe courtiers, and was eating from her little golden plate, somethingcame creeping splish splash, splish splash, up the marble staircase, andwhen it had got to the top, it knocked at the door and cried, “Princess,youngest princess, open the door for me.” She ran to see who was outside,but when she opened the door, there sat the frog in front of it. Thenshe slammed the door to, in great haste, sat down to dinner again, andwas quite frightened. The King saw plainly that her heart was beatingviolently, and said, “My child, what art thou so afraid of? Is thereperchance a giant outside who wants to carry thee away?” “Ah, no,”replied she. “It is no giant but a disgusting frog.”

“What does a frog want with you?” “Ah, dear father, yesterday as I wasin the forest sitting by the well, playing, my golden ball fell into thewater. And because I cried so, the frog brought it out again for me,and because he so insisted, I promised him he should be my companion,but I never thought he would be able to come out of his water! And nowhe is outside there, and wants to come in to me.”

In the meantime it knocked a second time, and cried, “Princess! youngest princess!Open the door for me!
Dost thou not know what thou saidst to me

Yesterday by the cool waters of the fountain? Princess, youngest princess!Open the door for me!”

Then said the King, “That which you have promised, you must do. Goand let him in.” She went and opened the door, and the frog hopped inand followed her, step by step, to her chair. There he sat and cried,“Lift me up beside you.” She delayed, until at last the King commandedher to do it. When the frog was once on the chair he wanted to be on thetable, and when he was on the table he said, “Now, push your little goldenplate nearer to me that we may eat together.” She did this, but it waseasy to see that she did not do it willingly. The frog enjoyed what heate, but almost every mouthful she took choked her. At length he said,“I have eaten and am satisfied; now I am tired, carry me into thy littleroom and make thy little silken bed ready, and we will both lie downand go to sleep.”

The King’s daughter began to cry, for she was afraid of the coldfrog which she did not like to touch, and which was now to sleepin her pretty, clean little bed. But the King grew angry and said,“He who helped thee when thou wert in trouble ought not afterwards tobe despised by thee.” So she took hold of the frog with two fingers,carried him upstairs, and put him in a corner. But when she was in bedhe crept to her and said, “I am tired, I want to sleep as well as thou,lift me up or I will tell thy father.” Then she was terribly angry,and took him up and threw him with all her might against the wall. “Now,you will be quiet, you horrible little frog,” said she. But when he fell down he was

no frog but a King’s son with beautiful kind eyes. He by her father’swill was now her dear companion and husband. Then he told her how he hadbeen bewitched by a wicked witch, and how no one could have delivered himfrom the well but herself, and that to-morrow they would go together intohis kingdom. Then they went to sleep, and next morning when the sun awoke

them, a carriage came driving up with eight white horses, which had whiteostrich feathers on their heads, and were harnessed with golden chains,and behind stood the young King’s servant Faithful Henry. Faithful Henryhad been so unhappy when his master was changed into a frog, that hehad caused three iron bands to be laid round his heart, in case it shouldburst with grief and sadness. The carriage was to conduct the young Kinginto his Kingdom. Faithful Henry helped them both in, and placed himselfbehind again, and was full of joy because of this wonderful end to their troubles. . And when

they had driven a part of the way the King’s son heard a cracking behindhim as if something had broken. So he turned round and cried, “Henry,the carriage is breaking.”

“No, master, it is not the carriage. It is a band from my heart, whichwas put there in my great pain when you were a frog and imprisoned inthe well.” Again and once again while they were on their way somethingcracked, and each time the King’s son thought the carriage was breaking;but it was only the bands which were springing from the heart of faithfulHenry because his master was set free and was happy.

Old Sultan

A farmer once had a faithful dog called Sultan, who had grown old, and lost all his teeth, so that he could no longer bite. One day the farmer was standing with his wife before the house-door, and said, “To-morrow I intend to shoot Old Sultan, he is no longer of any use.”

His wife, who felt pity for the faithful beast, answered, “He has served us so long, and been so faithful, that we might well keep him.”

“Eh! what?” said the man. “You are not very sharp. He has not a tooth left in his mouth, and no thief is afraid of him; now he may be off. If he has served us, he has had good feeding for it.”

The poor dog, who was lying stretched out in the sun not far off, had heard everything, and was sorry that the morrow was to be his last day. He had a good friend, the wolf, and he crept out in the evening into the forest to him, and complained of the fate that awaited him. “Listen well,” said the wolf, ” and Don’t be sad. I will help you out of your trouble. I have thought of something. To-morrow, early in the morning, your master is going with his wife to make hay, and they will take their little child with them, for no one will be left behind in the house. As usual, during work-time, they will lay the child under the hedge in the shade; you lie there too, just as if you wished to guard it. Then I will come out of the wood, and carry off the child. You must rush swiftly after me. I will let it fall, and you will take it back to its parents, who will think that you have saved it, and will be far too grateful to do you any harm; quite the opposite; you will dear to their hearts, and they will never let you lack for anything again.”

The plan pleased the dog, and it was carried out just as it was arranged. The father screamed when he saw the Wolf running across the field with his child, but when Old Sultan brought it back, then he was full of joy, and stroked him and said, “Not a hair of yours shall be hurt, you shall eat my bread free as long as you live.” And to his wife he said, “Go home at once and make Old Sultan some soggy bread that he will not have to bite, and bring the pillow out of my bed, I will give it to him to lie upon.”

From that time on, Old Sultan was as well off as he could wish to be.

Soon afterwards the wolf visited him, and was pleased that everything had succeeded so well. “But, listen well,” said he, “you will just wink an eye when I carry off one of your master’s fat sheep.”“Do not reckon upon that,” answered the dog; “I will remain true to my master; I cannot agree to that.” The wolf, who thought that this could not be spoken in earnest, came creeping about in the night and was going to take away the sheep. But faithful old Sultan barked, and the farmer chased after the wolf with a big stick. The wolf had to pack off, but he cried out to the dog, “Wait a bit, you scoundrel, you shall pay for this.”

The next morning the wolf sent the wild boar to challenge the dog to come out into the forest so that they might settle the affair. Old Sultan could find no one to stand by him but a cat with only three legs, and as they went out together the poor cat limped along, and at the same time stretched out her tail into the air with pain.

The wolf and his friend were already on the spot appointed, but when they saw their enemy coming they thought that he was bringing a sabre with him, for they mistook the outstretched tail of the cat for one. And when the poor beast hopped on its three legs, they could only think every time that it was picking up a stone to throw at them. So they were both afraid; the wild boar crept into the under-wood and the wolf jumped up a tree.

The dog and the cat, when they came up, wondered that there was no one to be seen. The wild boar, however, had not been able to hide himself altogether; and one of his ears was still to be seen. Whilst the cat was looking carefully about, the boar moved his ear; the cat, who thought it was a mouse moving there, jumped upon it and bit it hard. The boar made a fearful noise and ran away, crying out, “The guilty one is up in the tree !” The dog and cat looked up and saw the wolf, who was ashamed of having proved himself to be so afraid, and made friends with the dog.

Who Did Patrick's Homework?

Patrick never did homework. "Too boring," he said. He played baseball and basketball and Nintendo instead. His teachers told him, "Patrick! Do your homework or you won't learn a thing." And it's true, sometimes he did feel like a ding-a-ling.

But what could he do? He hated homework.

Then on St. Patrick's Day his cat was playing with a little doll and he grabbed it away. To his surprise it wasn't a doll at all, but a man of the tiniest size. He had a little wool shirt with old fashioned britches and a high tall hat much like a witch's. He yelled, "Save me! Don't give me back to that cat. I'll grant you a wish, I promise you that."

Patrick couldn't believe how lucky he was! Here was the answer to all of his problems. So he said, "Only if you do all my homework 'til the end of the semester, that's 35 days. If you do a good enough job, I could even get A's."

The little man's face wrinkled like a dishcloth thrown in the hamper. He kicked his legs and doubled his fists and he grimaced and scowled and pursed his lips, "Oh, am I cursed! But I'll do it."

And true to his word, that little elf began to do Patrick's homework. Except there was one glitch. The elf didn't always know what to do and he needed help. "Help me! Help me!" he'd say. And Patrick would have to help -- in whatever way.

"I don't know this word," the elf squeeked while reading Patrick's homework. "Get me a dictionary. No, what's even better. Look up the word and sound it out by each letter."

When it came to math, Patrick was out of luck. "What are times tables?" the elf shrieked. "We elves never need that. And addition and subtraction and division and fractions? Here, sit down beside me, you simply must guide me."

Elves know nothing of human history, to them it's a mystery. So the little elf, already a shouter, just got louder "Go to the library, I need books. More and more books. And you can help me read them too."

As a matter of fact every day in every way that little elf was a nag! Patrick was working harder than ever and was it a drag! He was staying up nights, had never felt so weary, was going to school with his eyes puffed and bleary.

Finally the last day of school arrived and the elf was free to go. As for homework, there was no more, so he quietly and slyly slipped out the back door.

Patrick got his A's; his classmates were amazed; his teachers smiled and were full of praise. And his parents? They wondered what had happened to Patrick. He was now the model kid. Cleaned his room, did his chores, was cheerful, never rude, like he had developed a whole new attitude.

You see, in the end Patrick still thought he'd made that tiny man do all his homework. But I'll share a secret, just between you and me. It wasn't the elf; Patrick had done it himself!

Ollie's Jar

Ollie is an eel. He likes his home in a jar. When he comes out he swims over his jar. He swims under his jar. He swims through his jar.

He swims around his jar. When he is done, he swims back into his jar. Now there are two eels, Ollie and Izzy.

When Ollie and Izzy come out they can swim over, under, through, around, and back into their jar together.

Pirate's Treasure

"Ten steps from the porch and twenty steps from the rose bushes," growled Bluebeard in Jimmy's dream one night. "There be treasure there! Aawrgh." So the next day Jimmy began to dig. He dug until the hole was deep and the dirt pile was high.

He kept digging. The hole got deeper and the dirt pile got higher. He dug until the hole was deepest and the dirt pile was at its highest. He sighed. "I'm too tired. I can't dig anymore." Then he spied something, but it was only one of Woofy's bones. Instead of treasure, all Jimmy had was a dog bone, a hole, and a big pile of dirt to fill it in with. He thought "That pirate lied to me!"

But when Jimmy's mother saw what he had done, she clasped her hands and smiled a smile from here to Sunday. "Oh, thank you, Jimmy. I always wanted a rhododendron bush planted just there. Here's $5.00 for digging that hole."

The Wiener Dog Magnet

Once there wsa a little monkey named Kiki Mrie. After cleaning her room sixteen times, she took her allowance to the magnet store. There were many magnets to choose from, She picked the wiener dog, and paid one nickel.



And she loved the wiener dog magnet very much. She took it everywhere she would go, and showed it all of her favorite places. But as she got clos to the river, where real wiener dogs live, something strange started to hppen. Real wiener dogs were sticking to her magnet. She tried to walk on, hoping they would just fall off or something.






But they didn't. Finally the dogs were so heavy she couldn't even carry them any more. She wished she had picked a different magnet. Suddenly, she heard a loud noise! There, in the river, were two alligators trapped in the rapids! Kiki Marie had an idea.


She gathered all her strength (mostly from eating broccoli), and hurled the wiener dogs across the rover. Dut to the magnetism, they formed a magnetic wiener dog bridge. And the alligators collapsed in safety. The Kings of All Alligators presented Kiki Marie with a blue ribbon for saving the day. And she, and all of the wiener dogs, slept very soundy thay right.

The Life of a Pig -- An Indian Folk Tale

One day, a guru foresaw in a flash of vision what he would be in his next life. So he called his favorite disciple and asked him what he would do for his guru in return for all he had received. The disciple said he would do whatever his guru asked him to do.

Having received this promise, the guru said, "Then this is what I'd like you to do for me. I've just learned that when I die, which will be very soon, I'm going to be reborn as a pig. Do you see that sow eating garbage there in the yard? I'm going to be reborn as the fourth piglet of its next litter. You'll recognize me by a mark on my brow. When that sow has littered, find the fourth piglet with a mark on its brow and, with one stroke of your knife, slaughter it. I'll then be released from a pig's life. Will you do this for me?"

The disciple was sad to hear all this, but he agreed to do as he had promised.

Soon after this conversation, the guru did die. And the sow did have a litter of four little pigs. One day, the disciple sharpened his knife and picked out the fourth little pig, which did indeed have a mark on its brow. Just as he was about to bring down his knife to slit its throat, the little pig suddenly spoke. "Stop! Don't kill me!" it screamed.

Before the disciple could recover from the shock of hearing the little pig speak in a human voice, it said, "Don't kill me. I want to live on as a pig. When I asked you to kill me, I didn't know what a pig's life would be like. It's great! Just let me go."

The Fox and the Pheasants

One moonlight evening as Master Fox was taking his usual stroll in the woods, he saw a number of Pheasants perched quite out of his reach on a limb of a tall, old tree.

The sly Fox soon found a bright patch of moonlight, where the Pheasants could see him clearly; there he raised himself up on his hind legs, and began a wild dance. First he whirled 'round and 'round like a top, then he hopped up and down, cutting all sorts of strange capers.

The Pheasants stared giddily. They hardly dared blink for fear of losing him out of their sight a single instant.

Now the Fox made as if to climb a tree, now he fell over and lay still, playing dead, and the next instant he was hopping on all fours, his back in the air, and his bushy tail shaking so that it seemed to throw out silver sparks in the moonlight.

By this time the poor birds' heads were in a whirl. And when the Fox began his performance all over again, so dazed did they become, that they lost their hold on the limb, and fell down one by one to the Fox.

The Conference of the Mice

Once upon a time . . . there was a large tabby cat which, from the minute she arrived at the farm, spread terror among the mice that lived in the cellar. Nobody dared go outside for fear of falling into the clutches of the awful cat.

The fast-shrinking mouse colony decided to hold a conference to seek a way of stopping themselves from becoming extinct. Taking advantage of the cat's absence one day, mice of all ages streamed into the conference room. And certain that they could solve the matter, each one put forward a suggestion, but none of the ideas were really practical.

"Let's build an outsize trap," one mouse suggested. When this idea was turned down, another said: "What about poisoning her?" But nobody knew of a poison that would kill cats. One young widow, whose husband had fallen prey to the ferocious cat, angrily proposed: "Let's cut her claws and teeth, so she can do no more harm." But the conference did not approve of the widow's idea.

At last, one of the mice, wiser than the rest, scrambled to the top of the lantern that shone over the meeting. Waving a bell, he called for silence: "We'll tie this bell to the cat's tail, so we'll always know where she is! We'll have time to escape, and the slow and weaker mice will hear her coming and be able to hide!"

A round of hearty applause met the wise mouse's words, and everyone congratulated him on his original idea.

"...We'll tie it so tightly that it will never come off!"

". . . She'll never be able to sneak quietly up on us again! Why, the other day, she suddenly loomed up right in front of me! Just imagine..."

However, the wise mouse rang the bell again for silence "We must decide who is going to tie the bell on the cat's tail," he said. There was not a sound in the room except for a faint murmur: "I can't, because. . " "Not me!" "I'd do it willingly,but . . ." "Neither can I . . ." "Not me!" "Not me!"

Nobody was brave enough to come forward to put the plan into action, and the conference of the mice ended without any decision being made. It's often very easy to have bright ideas, but putting them into practice is a more difficult matter…….

A Trick

It was late in the night, everybody was asleep except for my brother and me. We decided to play a trick on our parents.

We crept into our parents' bedroom. I took a large sheet of construction paper and drew a morning scene and hanged it on the window. Meanwhile, my brother advanced the time on the alarm clock to just ten minutes before seven. We went back to our bedroom and waited.

Soon the alarm clock rang. My parents jumped out of bed. My father went to the bathroom to brush his teeth while my mother came over to our room to wake us. She was surprised when she found us awake and laughing.

My parents were angry and scolded us for playing a trick on them at such a late hour and for waking them up. Nowadays they locked their bedroom door when they go to bed.

The Little Red Hen

Once upon a time, there was a little red hen. who lived on a farm. She was friends with a lazy dog, a sleepy cat , and a noisy yellow duck. One day the little red hen found some seeds on the ground.

The little red hen had an idea. She would plant the seeds. The little red hen asked her friends,

"Who will help me plant the seeds ?" "Not I," barked the lazy dog ."Not I," purred the sleepy cat ."Not I," quacked the noisy yellow duck.

"Then I will," said the little red hen . So the little red hen planted the seeds all by herself. When the seeds had grown, the little red hen asked her friends, "Who will help me cut the wheat ?" "Not I," barked the lazy dog ?"

"Not I," barked the lazy dog "Not I," quacked the noisy yellow duck. "Then I will," said the little red hen . So the little red hen cut the wheat all by herself. When all the wheat was cut, the little red hen asked her friends, "Who will help me take the wheat to the mill to be ground into flour ?"

"Not I," barked the lazy dog ."Not I," purred the sleepy cat ."Not I," quacked the noisy yellow duck. "Then I will," said the little red hen . So the little red hen brought the wheat to the mill all by herself, ground the wheat into flour and carried the heavy sack of flour back to the farm . The tired little red hen asked her friends, "Who will help me bake the bread ?" "Not I," barked the lazy dog.

"Not I," purred the sleepy cat "Not I," quacked the noisy yellow duck.

"Then I will," said the little red hen. So the little red hen baked the bread all by herself. When the bread was finished, the tired little red hen asked her friends, "Who will help me eat the bread ?" "I will," barked the lazy dog. "I will," purred the sleepy cat ."I will," quacked the noisy yellow duck.

"No!" said the little red hen. "I will." And the little red hen ate the bread all by herself.

The Donkey And The Field Mouse

One day a donkey was eating from inside his stall, when a little field mouse caught his eye, and the donkey said, "Why not rest and visit for awhile?"

Then the mouse stopped, and looked at the donkey and said, "You're an old one aren't you, donkey? What have you done with yourself? Staying in this old stall, that seems forever, not getting out in these fields, out yonder. Be like me, and see the finer things in life."

The wise old donkey smiled, and said, "You are a curious little one, but I do have a tale to tell, that you'll never forget, so sit on the floor, and I will tell you more."

"For I was a young colt at the time, as my owner had me tied to a tree, when these chaps come along, and started unloosening me. I remember my owner was upset, and asked, "why are you setting my colt free?" Then I heard them say, "For our Lord has need of it," as they took me along their way."

"When I heard Lord, I thought this must be important, not really knowing what to expect. So they brought me to "their Lord", but I didn't expect such a simple gent, as people started gathering, shouting "Blessed is the King." I thought how can a simple man like this be a King; for He was poorly dressed, not wearing a robe, not even a crown, made of gold. I remember the chaps that brought me, laid their clothes upon my back, then they placed "their King" firmly on me, while singing praises to this man."

"I heard them say that we were riding into Jerusalem that day,so I was prepared to make the journey, thinking I was special in some sort of way. As we were walking, all these people started laying palm branches on the ground before us, an amazing site, I must say. And just before we reached Jerusalem; I heard this man weeping bitterly, saying words, that sounded as if He really cared for this city that He sees."

"But our journey had ended, and a tiring one, I must admit, but this is what the King wanted, and I didn't mind doing this for Him. And to this day, I remember when He stepped down, He came around and looked at me, as if to say a final fairwell, with eyes so kind and with great humility."

"After that I never saw Him again, although I heard rumors that He had died, and His name was Jesus; something about a cross, and how this King was crucified."

"So mouse, let me ask you this? Have you ever met a King, like I did? Probably not, so just be on your way." Then the mouse shrugged, and looked confused; as he scurried to the open fields, feeling sorry for the old donkey, and wondering if he was telling the whole truth.

THE RIFCOG

It was a cold dark night my mum and dad were out at a dinner party. My grandpa was asleep that's nothing unusual for him to do at his age . There was knocking at are door, I wasn't shore if I should wake up my grandpa or answer the door I remembered that my aunty was supposed to visit so it was probably her.

I walked over to the front door and twisted the handle then the door opened and there stood the outline of a huge monster with what seemed like six red eyes .

I thought it was going to reach out and grab me but instead. it stepped forwards, out of the shadows and patted me on the head. It was then that I realised it was aunt RIFCOG.

She walked straight past me without even saying hello. My aunt walked up to my grandpa and slapped him on the head he snorted and wriggled. My aunt huffed and said "just the same as last time,snoring his head off". My aunt Stuck out her hands and her nails grew longer and sharper her eyes glowed with anger, her teeth became bright white and longer than usual, her skin sprouted with green hair. My aunt's body changed into a blobby shape and lastly her eyes duplicated until she had six eyes.

My aunt was no longer an aunt; she was a "RIFCOG", a beast that lives in a tree trunk in the forest near where my aunty lives. I always wondered why my aunt is always down by the Forest .

There is only one thing to get this evil spirit out of my aunt I have to get some light into its face. I grabbed a torch and shone it in to my aunt's face. The slime melted of my aunt's body her eyes became normal again her teeth became normal again the hair fell of and then my aunt fell to the floor. Just then my parents rang the door bell and my grandpa woke up.

THE PARTRIDGE AND THE CROW

A CROW flying across a road saw a Partridge strutting along the ground.

"What a beautiful gait that Partridge has!" said the Crow. "I must try to see if I can walk like him."

She alighted behind the Partridge and tried for a long time to learn to strut. At last the Partridge turned around and asked the Crow what she was about.

"Do not be angry with me," replied the Crow. "I have never before seen a bird who walks as beautifully as you can, and I am trying to learn to walk like you."

"Foolish bird!" responded the Partridge. "You are a Crow, and should walk like a Crow. You would look silly indeed if you were to strut like a partridge."

But the Crow went on trying to learn to strut, until finally she had forgotten her own gait, and she never learned that of the Partridge.

THE TORTOISE AND THE GEESE

A TORTOISE and two Geese lived together in a pond for many years. At last there came a drought and dried up the pond. Then the Geese said to one another,—

"We must seek a new home quickly, for we cannot live without water. Let us say farewell to the Tortoise and start at once."

When the Tortoise heard that they were going, he trembled with fear, and besought them by their friendship not to desert him.

"Alas," the Geese replied, there is no help for it. If we stay here, we shall all three die, and we cannot take you with us, for you cannot fly."

Still the Tortoise begged so hard not to be left behind that the Geese finally said,—

"Dear Friend, if you will promise not to speak a word on the journey, we will take you with us. But know beforehand, that if you open your mouth to say one single word, you will be in instant danger of losing your life."

"Have no fear," replied the Tortoise, "but that I will be silent until you give me leave to speak again. I would rather never open my mouth again than be left to die alone here in the dried-up pond."

So the Geese brought a stout stick and bade the Tortoise grasp it firmly in the middle by his mouth. Then they took hold of either end and flew off with him. They had gone several miles in safety, when their course lay over a village. As the country people saw this curious sight of a Tortoise being carried by two Geese, they began to laugh and cry out,—

"Oh, did you ever see such a funny sight in all your life!" And they laughed loud and long.

The Tortoise grew more and more indignant. At last he could stand their jeering no longer. "You stupid . . . " he snapped, but before he could say more he had fallen to the ground and was dashed to pieces.