The Twelve Hunters

The prince of the kingdom of the East was called to his father's deathbed to hear his last word: 'Promise me that you will marry the queen of the Kingdom of the North. 'The prince felt his heart freeze, for he was already in love with the princess of the Kingdom of the South, but he did not dare to go against his father, and he made the promise. When he failed to return to his true love, she decided to go and see for herself what had happened to him. She chose eleven handmaidens and bade them dress up as hunters. She, too, disguised herself and, with her companions, she went to the Kingdom of the East, where her loved one was now the ruler. The prince took the hunters into his service, not realising that they were maidens; nor did he recognise his beloved. But when the royal wedding was proclaimed, the princess of the Kingdom off the South was so pained that she swooned. The prince rushed to help her and then recognised on her finger the ring which he had given her as a token of his love.

Then the king realised that he loved her too much to be able to keep his promise to his father to marry the queen of the Kingdom of the North, and, when she saw how happy the two lovers were together, went back home and left them to their joy.

Hurashima and the Dragon

Hurashima was a young Japanese fisherman who was brave and generous. One day he came across some boys who had caught a turtle and were tormenting it. Feeling sorry for it, Hurashima used what little money he had to buy it from them and set if free in the sea.

Some time later, when he was out fishing, he heard his name being called. It was the turtle, who asked Hurashima to climb onto its back so that it might take him to meet the powerful dragon, the Lord of the Seas, who wished to show Hurashima its gratitude. So he climbed onto the turtle's back and was taken a fantastic castle on the seabed.

The dragon received and invited him with full ceremony and invited hi to remain as its guest. Hurashima accepted, and for a while he was able to enjoy all the delights imaginable; but then he grew homesick and asked to return.

Back on dry land, Hurashima found everything changed. His house and loved ones were no longer there. He came to the realisation that he had been away for many years. Then, all of a sudden, Hurashima felt himself growing older and older. Only then did he understand that, by returning, he had given up the dragon's most precious gift, eternal youth.

The Sick Camel

A camel who lived all alone on the edge of an oasis fell ill and all his relatives and friends went to visit him there.

Because the journey was a long one, they each stayed for a while to rest up and eat the grass that was growing around the oasis. The camel was pleased to be visited, but when he felt better and roused himself to go and look for something to eat, he discovered that his friends and relatives had eaten everything. What could he do? There was no choice but to set off...and look for another oasis.

The Magic Barrel and the Bewitched Sword

Ivan the cossack had saved the life of a sorceress. In reward, she gave him a magic barrel. If you twisted the lid one way, a castle appeared; if you twisted it the other way, the castle would disappear.

Now, Ivan did not really know what to do with the barrel and he looked forward to the day when he could trade if for something more useful.

One evening he was approached by an old man who asked him for a meal. Ivan caused the castle to appear, generously invited the old man in, and then let him eat his fill from the food-laden table they found ready. The old man was very taken with the castle and offered to exchange his own sword for it.

'Now what do I want with a sword?' refused Ivan, 'I have my sabre.'

'But this is a magic sword,' insisted the old man. 'Raise your arm and the sword will do everything by itself.'

To prove it, the old man raised his arm and the sword flew out of its scabbard and began hacking at some bushes nearby. Ivan was very impressed and agreed to the exchange. When Ivan returned home, he found his city beseiged by enemies. He raised his arm and all by itself the sword destroyed the attackers. Ivan was put in command of the army and given his daughter in marriage - all because he saved the life of a sorcerss.

The Betrothed

The little spinning top fell madly in love with the ball which lived with him in the toy chest. He asked the ball to marry him.

'We are made for each other,' said the top, 'you can leap and I can dance. Together we are the perfect couple.'

But the ball was vain and thought that the spinning to was too unimportant to be her husband, so she turned hi down.

'I fly so high up into the sky,' she explained, 'that I have become engaged to a swallow. He's the one I'll marry,'

One day the ball vanished and the spinning top thought she must have gone off to get married. He never forgot her and continued to yearn for her.

Some time later, the spinning top was pushed too hard and it spun off far away and got lost. Fate brought it to a little stream beside a country path, and there he found his old love again. The ball was very badly worn as it had been exposed to the elements for so long, but the spinning top recognised her at once and asked her to marry him again. The ball, who had not thought of the swallow for a long time, was happy to accept this time, even though the spinning top was also very scratched and marked by now.

The Oak Tree and the Spring

Poseidon, who according to the ancient Greeks was the god of the sea, was not satisfied with his immense kingdom and wished to extend his dominion onto dry land as well.

He decided first to attack Athens, which at that time was the most important city in the world. As a beginning to his campaign, he attacked the hill on which the city stood.

So powerful was the sea that the hill was pierced from one side to the other and out of this tunnel came a salt water spring.

But the city was under the protection of Athena, the famous goddess of wisdom. She thought long and hard about how to reconquer it. The sea god had placed a salt water spring beneath the city as a sign of his power. Athena wanted to place a sign there not only of strength but of immortality. She thought for a long time and then created a new tree and planted its seed next to the spring.

In this way there grew up the huge oak tree, which still stands on the highest part of Athens, while Poseidon's spring of water dried up a long, long time ago.

The Hunting Dog and the Guard Dog

A man had two dogs and he trained one as a hunter and one as a guard dog; but whenever the hunting dog caught some game, the tastiest morsels were always given to the guard dog.

One day the hunter protested to the guard dog: It's not fair. I work at hunting all day long and you get your food without doing anything.'

'That must be the way the master wants it,' replied the guard dog.

'Obviously it is more important for him to reward the dog who protects his home that the one who goes out hunting.'

The Never-Ending Story

There was a little flax plant which was very happy with its little blue flowers and the gentle caress of the rain; but one day the farmworkers pulled it out of the ground, and then it was put through a series of machines which twisted and pulled it in every possible way.

But the flax did not complain because it was grateful full all the good things there had been in its life. However, its life was not yet over; in fact, when it finally came off the end of a loom, it had become a magnificent cloth, and the praise of everyone cause for satisfaction.

Then the cloth was attacked by scissors and by a needle, which caused it great discomfort, but they transformed it into a most elegant blouse; and the flax kept on telling itself how lucky it had been in its life, in spite of everything it had been through.

But even yet, life with its pleasures and pain was not over; when the blouse became nothing more than a rag, it was thrown away and ended up being turned into paper. Then the paper was put through the cylinders of the printing machine and then turned into a book; and when at the very end the book was burned, it became smoke and rose up into the sky.

The Artist and His Rival

A famous artist was commissioned by the ruler of a powerful city of point frescoes on the walls of his palace. Scaffolding was put in place and the artist began to paint. The next morning he discovered that his painting had been scrawled on and covered with splashes of paint.

The artist was furious, thinking that one of his rivals had done it. To find the culprit, the prince ordered the guards to hide in the room, so they could surprise the vandol, if he returned, and teach him a lesson. The guilty party was caught in the fact, and turned out to be the prince's pet monkey. It had watched the artist at work and tried to imitate him.

The monkey was put back in its cage until the painting was finished, When it was realesed and saw the painting, the monkey pulled a face, as if to say, 'I could hace done it better.'

'Now you really are behaving like a true painter,' laughed the prince. 'It is well-known that artists do not have the gift of modesty, and they all think their own work is a masterpiece and other artists' work is rubbish.'

Aldebaran and the Celestial Camels

Aldebaran, the most luminous stat in the constellation of Taurus, fell in love with Electra, the most beautiful star of the Pleiades, and he went to ask for her hand in marriage. He bore gifts of a herd of camels, but on the way he was attacked by another aspirant for her hand, Alcyon.

The fight between them is not yet over. Even now, on clam nights, it is possible to see pale blue Electra followed by red Alcyon and then by Aldebaran with his big herd of celestial camels, making up the constellation of the Hyades.

The Thirsty Ant

An ant was scurrying desperately around, looking for something to drink, but it could find nothing. It had become convinced that it was going to die of thirst when a drop of water fell from above and saved its life. In truth, it was a tear, and it was filled with all the magical virtues which are born from suffering; after that the and discovered that it was able suddenly to understand and speak perfectly the language of men.

One day the ant went into a grain store and there, sitting on the floor, was a little girl, crying. 'Why are you so sad?' asked the ant.

'I've been imprisoned by an ogre. He will only set me free when I have made three heaps of grain, barley and rye, out of this huge mountain of seed where they are all mixed together.'

'That will take a month!' exclaimed the ant, looking at the huge pile of seed in the corner.

'If I haven't finished by tomorrow, the ogre will eat me for his supper,' the girl cried.

'Please do not sweep. We'll help you.'

And the ant fetched all his companions and they set to work. The next morning the ogre found that the task was done.

Thus it was that a tear saved a little girl's life.

Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky

A long time ago, the Sun and the Moon were a married couple who lived on the Earth, and were great friends of the Sea. One day, they invited the Sea to visit them but the Sea hesitated, thinking that there might not be enough room in their house. But they reassured him.

So the Sea went along, with the fish and all the members of his family. Immediately the water began to rise, so that the Sun and the Moon, to avoid being drowned, had to climb up onto the roof, and then eventually into the sky, where they have remained ever since.

The Snake Princess

A intrepid cossack once saw some woods burning and tired to put out the fire, but there was nothing the could do. To his horror, amidst the flames he saw a young girl crying out to him to help her. He did not know what to do, as the flames were so fierce.

'Stretch your spear out to me through the flames,' she said. When he did this, the young girl suddenly changed into snake, wrapped herself round the spear, and so the cossack was able to save her. The magical snake then ordered him to take it to a castle. As they arrived, the snake turned back into a woman.

'You must wait here for me for seven years,' she said to the cossack. Then she vanished instantly from before his eyes. Although there was nobody in the castle, it was bewitched. It was enough for the cossack to express a wish, and dinner, or anything else he wished for, would appear. For the faithful cossack the seven years passed quickly; eventually the snake returned to the castle. And then, transformed again into a beautiful princess, she explained to the cossack that she had been bewitched, but his courage and faithfulness had broken the evil spell on her. And so, of course, the cossack and the princess went off to her father, who gladly gave his daughter in marriage to our hero.

The Lovelorn Lion and the Peasant

A lion was unfortunate enough to fall in love with the beautiful daughter of a peasant, and he went to her father to ask for her hand in marriage. The peasant was worried about his daughter's future, but didn't have the courage to refuse the lion openly.

'My daughter,' he pretended, 'is allergic to teeth and claws. Come back after you have had them removed, and you can marry her,'

The lovelorn lion promptly had his teeth and claws removed, but when he came back, he was absolutely harmless and the peasant beat him with a stick and chased him away.

Pen and Inkwell

On the desk of a famous poet there was an inkwell. During the night, when things come alive, it was very full of itself.

'It's incredible,' it said. 'how many beautiful things come out of me. A few drops of my ink are enough to fill an entire page, and then how many wonderful and moving things can be read in it.'

But its vanity began to annoy the pen. 'You don't understand, you fat fool, that you are just the supplier of the raw material. It is I who make use of your ink and write down on paper what I have in me. There is no doubt that it is the pen that does the writing.'

The poet came home from a concert and the music had inspired him.

'How stupid would the bow and violin be,' he wrote on a sheet of paper, 'if they boasted that they alone were making the music. So often men are just as stupid, when we boast of doing something, forgetting that we are all instruments in the hands of God.'

But still he inkwell and the pen, which had been used to write these words, learned no lesson from them.

The Emperor's New Clothes

There was once a tailor who boasted that he could make wonderful clothes: only intelligent and sensitive people could see them, to all others they were invisible. The emperor heard of this and thought that such a suit would be very becoming. He called the tailor before him and ordered him to make a suit for him.

The tailor asked for thread and a great deal of money, and began his work; or rather he presented to work, because there was nothing on the loom. However, each courtier, who was sent by the emperor to check on the work, returned full of enthusiasm.'What wounderful cloth! What lovely work! Whan an oriiginal design!'Actually they had seen nothing, but they were lying in case they were thought to be stupid or insensitive. In the end, the emperor also pretended to be enthusiastic about the suit, even though he could not see it either.

He decided to wear it for a big parade, and as he passed through the crowd, all the people exclaimed: 'What a wonderful suit of clothes.'Until a little boy shouted: 'Hey, look, the emperor's got no clothes on.' And the crowd also shouted then, 'He's got no clothes on.' The only thing then for the embarassed emperor to do was to run back to the palace as fast as his legs would carry him.

The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf

Three little pigs decided to go each their own way in search of their fortune.

The first thing each of them did, as soon as they found a suitable place, was to start building a house.

The first little pig was very lazy, so he quickly built himself a house of straw.

But then the big bad wolf came along and with a puff he blew it clean away.

The first little pig could only avoid being eaten by running away to the second little big's house.

This one was a bit wiser and had built his house out of wood and twigs, but when the big bad wolf arrived, he blew it down also with just one puff.

The two little pigs fled as fast as they could to the third little pig's house.

The third little pig was hard working and clever, and he had built his house out of bricks.

Along came the wolf, and though he huffed and puffed he could not blow the house down.

So the angry wolf climbed onto the roof so that he could come down the chimney.

But the three little pigs put a huge pot of water on the fire to boil: and when the wolf came down the chimney, he got so badly burnt that he scampered straight back up and ran off as fast as his legs could carry him.

The Pride of Icarus

Daedalus, one of the greatest inventors of ancient times, was asked by the king of Crete to build a maze where he could imprison the Minotaur, a monster half-man and half-bull, so than it could never get out again. The ingenious architect did as he was asked, but some time later he helped Theseus, a famous hero, to kill the minster. As a punishment, the king of Crete ordered Daedalus to be imprisoned himself in the labyrinth, with his young son, Icarus.

'Don't worry,' the father encouraged the boy. 'I know already how we can get out of this prison!,

Daedalus made a huge pair of wings and he stuck them with was onto his son's shoulders. The wings could be moved up and down by moving the arms. Then Daedalus made another pair of wings for himself.

The wings worked wonderfully. The two men took off, and with a few armostrokes they managed to climb high enough to get over the walls of the labyrinth. But then the young boy, out of pride, wanted to fly higher and higher, until the heat from the sun melted the wax and his wings fell off. Then Icarus plunged to the ground and died. Daedalus, full of sadness, carried on flying until he reached safety.

The Eagle and the Crow

A crow saw an eagle drop down from the sky on to a lamb, catch it with its claws, and fly straight back with it to its nest.

The crow thought he would like to do the same.

But the lamb was much too heavy for him, and what was worse, the crow's little claws got caught in the lamb's thick fur, so the bird was trapped there.

The Shepherd saw the crow, caught it and put it in a case.

So the one who thought to imitate an eagle ended up being laughed at by everyone.

The Wolf and the Lamb

A wolf spied a lamb who was drinking out of a stream, and began to look for an excuse to attack it and eat it.

'You are making my part of the stream dirty,' accused the wolf.

'How can that be?' said the lamb.

'You are further upstream than me, and the water flows down, not up.'

'Aren't you the lamb who insulted my father last year?' asked the wolf.

'I wasn't even born last year,' came the reply.

'Enough of all this talk,' snarled the wolf. 'I am not going to miss a chance of eating you just because you are good at excuses.'

The Husband Who looked After the House

A farmer's wife became fed up with being criticised by her husband about how she ran the house, so one day she challenged him. 'Tomorrow I'll go out and work in the fields, and you can take care of the work in the house, if you think you can do it better than me!' The next day the husband did his best to do things right. He began to make the butter, but his efforts soon made him thirsty and he went down to the cellar to drink some win. He opened the barrel, but then he heard the pig come into the house and knock over the butter dish. He rushed back upstairs to stop the animal from causing more trouble, but he forgot to put the cork in the wine barrel again.

He kept getting in to trouble all morning long. At lunchtime, when he put the stew on to boil, he remembered that he had not taken the cow out pasture yet; but there was no time anymore. He decided to take it onto the roof, so it could eat the grass that grew among the tiles. It was very difficult to get the cow onto the roof. In the end he succeeded, and, to make sure that the animal did not fall off, he tied it there with a rope.

Then he remembered the stew over the fire. To get back to the kitchen as fast as possible, so that the stew did not burn, he lowered himself down the chimney. For safety, he tied the other end of the rope to his foot. But the cow fell off the roof just then, and the man was yanked back up the chimney and got stuck there.

When his wife came home from the fields, the first thing she saw was the cow dangling from the rope, so she cut it loose. On the other end the man dropped down.....into the fireplace. When the woman entered the house, she found the floor covered in the butter, the cellar flooded with wine, and her husband upside down with his head in the stew!

She returned to her housework. From then on, of course, he never grumbled at her again.

The Princess and the Pea

One day a young stranger arrived at the palace, claiming she was a princess.

The queen had a room made ready for her, but, to put her to the test, she had a pea put in the bed and over it she put twenty mattresses and twenty feather down covers.

In the morning, when the young girl woke up, she was aching all over and covered in bruises because of that pea. Such a delicate and sensitive skin confirmed her claim to be a princess, and the queen considered her to be a suitable bride for the young prince and heir.

The Apple Tree and the Dandelion

It was spring and the apple tree put out its bright little flowers. They were so lovely that even the princess was much impressed.

She cut off some branches and arranged them in a valuable vase in the palace hallway.

The apple branch was very proud of this tribute to its beauty. Through the windows it could see the flowers in the garden and the meadow, and it pitied them greatly for their insignificance, especially the humble dandelion, because with one puff children could blow away their seeds, leaving them naked and defenceless.

He pitied them because their destiny was no different from his. At the same time, he was proud of his own shapeliness, his beauty, and his rich vase in the hall. It did not occur to him that the sun shone on the poor dandelion just as brightly as it did on him.

One day, however, the princess brought in a dandelion to paint, and put it in the same vase as the flowering apple branch. Beside the delicate beauty of the meadow flower, destined to be blown away by the wind, the white flowers of the apple grew a bit red, with shame.

The Two Mules and the Robbers

Two mules were on the same path. The first, who worked for a miller, was loaded with oats.

The other was owned by a banker and was carrying a chest full of golden coins.

Because of this it trotted along very proudly, full of itself.

But on hearing the clinking, some robbers realised that it was carrying a treasure.

As they stole it, they beat the mule badly with sticks.

'You see,' explained the first mule, 'Being rich and important has its drawbacks.'

Pandora's Box

A long, time ago, almost at the beginning of time, the ancient gods met and decided to create a masterpiece.

They created an absolutely perfect young girl. Each of them gave to Pandora (which is what they called their marvellous creation) the most precious gift they could bestow; beauty, intelligence, wisdom and skill in all things.

Finally she was taken to Jupiter, the king of the gods, so that he too could give her a gift, before sending her down to earth, Jupiter, who did not approve of the gifts of the other gods, gave Pandora a very ordinary box with a lid. 'You must never open it under any circumstances,' he warned.

But Pandora could not resist the temptation of finding out what was in the box and one day she opened it.

To her, horror, out came all the evils that have since afflicted mankind: old age, sickness, jealousy, selfishness, greed..... before Pandora could close the lid on them they had already spread all around the world.

But, luckily, hope remained in the box, and with hope mankind manages to survive all these ills.

The Clever Violinist

One day a violinist decided to play some music as he was walking through the woods. But this attracted a large fierce bear.

'How well you play,' he said to the man, to gain his confidence. 'Could you teach me to play as well?'

'Of course,' answered the violinist, not fooled at all. 'As long as you do what I tell you. Put your paws in the crack in this tree.'

The bear did as he was told and the musician was quick to jam his paws in the crack with a large stone. The bear was stuck tight.

The next time the violinist played, he attracted a lion, and the same scene was repeated. This time the beast was caught in a trap and ended up hanging by its tail from a tree. Then it was the turn of a tiger, which was captured by a similar trick.

When the three wild beast managed to free themselves, they chased after the violinist, seeking revenge; but they found him in the company of a new friend: a huge woodsman with a giant axe, who chased the animals away,

And so the clever violinist crossed the forest in safety.

The Soap Bubble

The king was suddenly afflicted by a very serious illness and was never the same from that day forth. Nothing amused him any more; everything bored him and he began to yawn so much that all his countries began to yawn as well. He knew there was smoothing he wanted, but he could not say what it was, which meant that nobody could give it to him.

His ministers invited doctors and learned men from all over the world to solve the problem. They brought the king ever more games, puzzles and distractions. But it was all in vain.

One day, however, an old woman arrived at the place. 'I have that which the king requires,' she said, 'but first I must have my weight in gold.'

A bargain was struck, but then nobody could believe their eyes. No matter how much gold was put on the scales it never seemed to equal the weight of the old woman. The treasurer was becoming desperate, when the old woman finally give a happy laugh. Then she said, 'The king really wants to see the translucent beauty of a simple soap bubble. I can give him his desire.' And the old woman dipped a straw in soapy water and began to blow the most beautiful bubbles.

Immediately the king felt happy again and full of energy, and with that the whole court, indeed the whole kingdom, also felt a great deal better.

The Dragon of the Lake

Hidesato was a valiant samurai warrior. One day he set off in search of adventure and found that the bridge over the lake was blocked by a sleeping serpent, as large as a tree.

Fearless, Hidesato leapt over serpent and made to go on his way, but the snake changed into a majestic looking man, the King of the Lake.

The King explained that he had transformed himself into a serpent to help him find the warrior who would be brave enough to confront the terrible dragon that was threatening his kingdom and his people. Hidesato was the warrior he had been looking for. So the two men journeyed to the King of the Lake's realm, making their way through a lake where the waters parted so that they did not get wet. The night the monstrous dragon came down out of the mountains to the side of the lake. Its eyes were like pools of fire. Valiant Hidesato stood waiting ready for it with his bow. When the warrior's arrow struck the dragon, the fires in its eyes were extinguished. Then Hidesato's sword pierced the dragon's flaming tongue. With a howl of pain and humiliation, the dragon turned and fled, and was never seen again.

As a reward, the King of the Lake gave Hidesato treasure enough to last any man for a thousand years.

The Caliph and the Clown

The Caliph of Baghdad hired an intelligent and high spirited man as his court jester, and was much amused by his clever, witty comments. The clown was so well loved by his master that everyone at court showed him great respect. And so the Caliph was much surprised one day when he heard his beloved clown crying out in distress from the throne room. The Caliph hurried there and was astonished to find the guards beating the clown badly.

'Leave him alone at once!' he ordered. 'Why are you beating him?''We found him sitting on your throne, O Majesty!' the captain of the guards explained.

'Out of my sight!' commanded the Caliph. 'For sure the jester did not do it with intention of offending me.'

The clown, however, continued to weep and wail even after the guards had left.

'Stop it!' said the irritated Caliph. 'You're still in one piece, aren't you?'

'I m not crying for myself, my lord; I weep for you,' the clown explained. 'For me?' exclaimed the Caliph in surprise.

'Certainly! If I get beaten so badly for having been only a few minutes on the throne, how many beatings must you have suffered in all years that you have been there?'

The Singer and the Dolphin

Arion was one of the most famous singers in the ancient world. On one occasion he won an important festival in Sicily, and as his prize he received so many jewels and golden cups that he was obliged to hire a ship to carry them all home to Corinth.

Unfortunately, this huge treasure made the sailors very jealous, and in order to have it for themselves, they attacked the singer and were about to throw him overboard.

Arion did not put up a struggle; instead he asked only that he be allowed to sing one last song. His wish was granted and the sailors were so enchanted by his voice that they were hardly aware of what happened next. At the first notes of his song, a dolphin swam alongside, attracted by the beautiful music. Immediately Arion jumped overboard onto the dolphin's back and was carried back across the sea.

When the ship finally reached port in Corinth, the wicked sailors began to tell everyone that there had been a storm, during which the famous singer had been lost at sea. They were struck dumb with amazement, however, when Arion arrived with a company of soldiers to arrest them.

In memory of this event, a statue, of a young man on the back of a dolphin, was erected in the port of Corinth. This statue is still there today.

How Hans the Giant Became a Woodsman

Hens the giant decided to work as a woodcutter. On his first day, however, he was not even interested in trying to make a good impression. In the morning, when his colleagues came to wake him to start working in the woods, he just stayed in bed. When he finally did decide to get up, the first thing he did was to make chick-pea soup, and the he ate the entire source of his enormous strength! Then off he went into the woods, pulled up the two biggest trees he could find, and loaded them onto his cart.

On the way back, Hans found the path blocked by a barrier of fallen trees. But it only took a moment for him to decide what to do: he simply lifted his cart, the two trees, and the horse, high above his head, and set them down on the other side.

The owner of the woodyard was delighted to see Hans back before anybody else, with two huge trees. Hans, however, did not spend any time chatting. He went back to the bed.

When the rest of the woodsmen arrived back, they went at once to complain to the owner. 'Hans is still in bed!' they said. 'True,' said the owner. 'but while he's there he still manages to get a little work done.' And he pointed to the two enormous tree trunks in the woodyard.