Horace Elisha Scudder

“ The king came to meet her, his eyes red with weeping.
The good fairy was very wise and saw that the princess would not know what to do if she awoke all alone in the castle, in a hundred years. So this is what she did.
She touched with her wand every one in the castle except the king and the queen. She touched the maids of honor, the gentlemen, the officers, the stewards, cooks, boys, guards, porters, pages, footmen. She touched the horses in the stable, the grooms, the great mastiff in the court-yard, and the tiny lapdog of the princess that was on the bed beside her. ”

“ So her two sisters gave her the name of Cinderella or the cinder-maid. But Cinderella was really much more beautiful than they; and she surely was more sweet and gentle.
Now the king’s son gave a ball, and he invited all the rich and the grand. Cinderella’s two sisters were fine ladies; they were to go to the ball. Perhaps they would even dance with the prince. So they had new gowns made, and they looked over all their finery.
Here was fresh work for poor Cinderella. She must starch their ruffles and iron their linen. All day long they talked of nothing but their fine clothes. ”

“ But now he could not squeeze through the drain. This was just what Tom had thought of, and the little chap set up a great shout.
“Will you be quiet?” said the wolf. “You will wake everybody in the house.”
“What is that to me?” said the little man. “You have had your frolic; now I have a mind to be merry myself.” And he began again to sing and shout as loud as he could.
The woodman and his wife were awakened by the noise, and peeped through a crack into the kitchen. When they saw a wolf there, they were in a great fright. The woodman ran for his axe, and gave his wife a scythe. ”

“ But when the dishes were set down, the smell of the dinner brought a great company of rats, and these rats helped themselves without fear.
The master of the ship was amazed, and asked the nobles if it was not very unpleasant to have this swarm of rats.
“Oh,” said they, “very much so. The king would give half his wealth to be rid of them. They not only come to the table, but they make free with his chamber and even his bed.”
“Well,” said the captain, thinking at once of Dick’s cat, “I have an English beast on board my ship which will quickly clear the palace of all the rats.” ”

“ Look, and you shall see me become a lion at once.” When Puss saw a lion before him he was in a great fright, and got as far away as he could. There he stayed till the lion became a monster again.
“That was dreadful!” said Puss. “I was nearly dead with fear. But it must be much harder to make yourself small. They do say that you can turn into a mouse, but I do not believe it.”
“Not believe it!” cried the monster. “You shall see!” So he made himself at once into a mouse, and began running over the floor. In a twinkling Puss pounced upon him and gave him one shake. ”

“ The fairy disappeared and Jack set out. He walked all day, and when the sun set, he came to the Giant’s house. He went up to it and saw a plain woman by the door. This was the Giant’s wife. Jack spoke to her and asked her if she would give him something to eat and a place where he could sleep.
“What!” she said. “Do you not know? My husband is a Giant. He is away now, but he will be back soon. Sometimes he walks fifty miles in a day to see if he can find a man or a boy. He eats people. He will eat you if he finds you here.” ”

“ The Wolf was soon at the old woman’s house, and knocked at the door—tap, tap!
“Who is there?”
“Your grandchild, Little Red-Riding-Hood,” replied the Wolf, changing his voice. “I have brought you a cake and a pot of butter from mother.” The good grandmother, who was ill in bed, called out:—
“Pull the string, and the latch will go up.” The Wolf pulled the string, and the latch went up. The door opened, and he jumped in, and fell upon the old woman, and ate her up in less than no time, for he had not tasted food for three days. He then shut the door, and got into the grandmother’s bed. ”

“ The merchant begged and begged his daughter to leave him, and to go back to her home. But she was firm, and when the morning came, she made him leave her.
“Surely,” he thought, “Beast will not hurt Beauty.”
Beauty wept, but she was a brave girl, and soon she dried her eyes, and began to walk through the palace. She came to a door, and over it was written Beauty’s Room. She opened the door, and found herself in a fine chamber, with books, music and a harp, and many beautiful things. ”

“ I tried to cast myself into the mouth of the dragon, for I no longer cared to live. But the fairy held me back, and said she had another punishment for me. She touched me with her wand, and I became at once a White Cat.
“She brought me to this palace, and gave me a troop of cats to wait on me. They were lords and ladies who had been turned into cats. The Hands were the hands of servants who could not be seen. Here I was to stay a cat until a prince should come who looked exactly like my lover, and who should cut off my head and my tail. ”

“ Mr. Fitzwarren, the merchant, took pity on him. He brought him into the house, and bade the servants look after him. He gave him a place under the cook, and this was the beginning of Dick’s fortune. But Dick had a hard time of it. The servants made sport of him. The ill-natured cook said:—
“Do you know what you are to do? You are to come under me. So look sharp. Clean the spits and the pans, make the fires, wind up the roasting-jack, and do nimbly all the dirty work I set you about, or else I will break your head with my ladle, and kick you about like a foot-ball.” ”

“ The princess sat in the corner of the carriage, and thought the Marquis no mean fellow.
At last they drew near the castle of the one who really owned all the fields they had passed through. Puss asked about him, and found he was a monster who made every one about him very much afraid. Puss sent in word that he should like to pay his respects, and the monster bade him come in.
“I have been told,” said Puss, “that you can change yourself into any kind of animal. They say you can even make yourself a lion.” ”

“ Beauty could not help being glad to have her sisters want her. She said she would stay one week more; but she was not quite easy in her mind.
On the night of the tenth day the sisters gave her a feast, in order to make her forget the Beast. But at night Beauty dreamed she saw poor Beast lying half dead on the grass in the palace garden. ”

“ At that the Country Mouse forgot his hunger, and with a sigh, said to the other:—
“Please yourself, my good friend; eat all you want and get rich,—and be in a fright the whole time. As for me, I am a poor fellow, I know, who have only barley and wheat. But I am content to live on those, and have nothing to frighten me.”
Those who have the plain things of life are often better off than the rich. ”

“ Now it happened that the merchant all at once lost his great wealth. Nothing was left but one small house in the country, and there the poor man told his children they must now go, and earn their daily bread. ”

“ THE CAT, THE MONKEY, AND THE CHESTNUTS A Cat and a Monkey were sitting one day by the hearth, watching some chestnuts which their master had laid down to roast. The chestnuts had begun to burst with the heat, and the Monkey said to the Cat:—
“It is plain that your paws were made to pull out those chestnuts. Your paws are, indeed, exactly like our master’s hands.” ”

“ She meant to go and die in her father’s stead.
“No, no!” cried the three brothers. “We will go and seek this Beast, and either he or we must die!”
“It is all in vain,” said the father. “You do not know the Beast. He is more mighty than you can think. No! you must stay and care for your sisters. At the end of three months I shall go back and die.” The merchant then went to his room, and there he found the chest of gold. ”

“ One Swallow does not make a summer.
JACK AND THE BEAN-STALK I. THE BEANS ARE PLANTED In the days of King Alfred a poor woman lived in a country village in England. She had an only son, Jack, who was a good-natured, idle boy. She was too easy with him. She never set him at work, and soon there was nothing left them but their cow. Then the mother began to weep and to think that she had brought up her boy very ill.
“Cruel boy!” she said. “You have at last made me a beggar. I have not money enough to buy a bit of bread. We cannot starve. We must sell the cow, and then what shall we do?” ”

“ Because I have two eyes, like other people, my sisters and my mother cannot bear me. They knock me about and they give me shabby clothes. They feed me only with the food left over from their table. To-day they have given me so little that I am very hungry.”
The wise woman said:—
“Little Two Eyes, dry your eyes, and I will tell you what to do. Only say to your goat: ‘Little goat, bleat; little table, rise,’ and a table will stand before you, covered with food. Eat as much as you like. When you have had all you want, only say: ‘Little goat, bleat ”

“ The King could not possibly find any fault with the dog, but he could not bear to give up his crown yet. So he thanked his sons for their trouble, and asked them to try once more. He wished them to be gone a year, and at the end of that time to bring him a fine piece of cambric. It must be fine enough to be drawn through the eye of a small needle.
The three princes thought this very hard, but they set off as before. The two eldest took different roads. The youngest mounted his wooden horse, and quickly came to the palace of the White Cat. ”

“ The Ass was the tallest of the company, so he marched up to the window and peeped in.
“Well, Ass,” said the Cock, “what do you see?”
“What do I see? Why, I see a table spread with all sorts of good things, and men sitting round it, making merry.”
“That would be a fine place for us to live in,” said the Cock.
“Yes,” said the Ass, “if we only could get in.” So they all talked the matter over, and at last hit upon a plan. The Ass stood on his hind-legs, with his fore-feet resting on the window-sill; the Dog got upon his back; the Cat scrambled up to the Dog’s shoulders ”

“ The last stroke of twelve died away, as Cinderella darted down the steps of the palace. In a twinkling the gay lady was gone; only a shabby cinder-maid was running down the steps. The splendid coach and six, driver and footman,—all were gone; only a pumpkin lay on the ground, and a rat, six mice, and six lizards scampered off.
Cinderella reached home, quite out of breath. She had saved nothing of all her finery but one little glass slipper. The prince had its mate, but he had lost the princess. He asked the soldiers at the palace gate if they had not seen her drive away. No ”