Soup From A Sausage Skewer
: Hans Andersens Fairy Tales"WE HAD such an excellent dinner yesterday," said an old lady-mouse to
another who had not been present at the feast. "I sat number twenty-one
below the mouse-king, which was not a bad place. Shall I tell you what
we had? Everything was excellent--moldy bread, tallow candle, and
sausage.
"Then, when we had finished that course, the same came on all over
again; it was as good as two feasts. We were very so
was as much joking and fun as if we had been all of one family circle.
Nothing was left but the sausage skewers, and this formed a subject of
conversation till at last some one used the expression, 'Soup from
sausage sticks'; or, as the people in the neighboring country call it,
'Soup from a sausage skewer.'
"Every one had heard the expression, but no one had ever tasted the
soup, much less prepared it. A capital toast was drunk to the inventor
of the soup, and some one said he ought to be made a relieving officer
to the poor. Was not that witty?
"Then the old mouse-king rose and promised that the young lady-mouse who
should learn how best to prepare this much-admired and savory soup
should be his queen, and a year and a day should be allowed for the
purpose."
"That was not at all a bad proposal," said the other mouse; "but how is
the soup made?"
"Ah, that is more than I can tell you. All the young lady-mice were
asking the same question. They wish very much to be the queen, but they
do not want to take the trouble to go out into the world to learn how to
make soup, which it is absolutely necessary to do first.
"It is not every one who would care to leave her family or her happy
corner by the fireside at home, even to be made queen. It is not always
easy in foreign lands to find bacon and cheese rind every day, and,
after all, it is not pleasant to endure hunger and perhaps be eaten
alive by the cat."
Probably some such thoughts as these discouraged the majority from going
out into the world to collect the required information. Only four mice
gave notice that they were ready to set out on the journey.
They were young and sprightly, but poor. Each of them wished to visit
one of the four divisions of the world, to see which of them would be
most favored by fortune. Each took a sausage skewer as a traveler's
staff and to remind her of the object of her journey.
They left home early in May, and none of them returned till the first of
May in the following year, and then only three of them. Nothing was seen
or heard of the fourth, although the day of decision was close at hand.
"Ah, yes, there is always some trouble mingled with the greatest
pleasure," said the mouse-king. But he gave orders that all the mice
within a circle of many miles should be invited at once.
They were to assemble in the kitchen, and the three travelers were to
stand in a row before them, and a sausage skewer covered with crape was
to stand in the place of the missing mouse. No one dared express an
opinion until the king spoke and desired one of them to proceed with her
story. And now we shall hear what she said.
WHAT THE FIRST LITTLE MOUSE SAW AND HEARD ON HER TRAVELS
"When I first went out into the world," said the little mouse, "I
fancied, as so many of my age do, that I already knew everything--but it
was not so. It takes years to acquire great knowledge.
"I went at once to sea, in a ship bound for the north. I had been told
that the ship's cook must know how to prepare every dish at sea, and it
is easy enough to do that with plenty of sides of bacon, and large tubs
of salt meat and musty flour. There I found plenty of delicate food but
no opportunity to learn how to make soup from a sausage skewer.
"We sailed on for many days and nights; the ship rocked fearfully, and
we did not escape without a wetting. As soon as we arrived at the port
to which the ship was bound, I left it and went on shore at a place far
towards the north. It is a wonderful thing to leave your own little
corner at home, to hide yourself in a ship where there are sure to be
some nice snug corners for shelter, then suddenly to find yourself
thousands of miles away in a foreign land.
"I saw large, pathless forests of pine and birch trees, which smelt so
strong that I sneezed and thought of sausage. There were great lakes
also, which looked as black as ink at a distance but were quite clear
when I came close to them. Large swans were floating upon them, and I
thought at first they were only foam, they lay so still; but when I saw
them walk and fly, I knew directly what they were. They belonged to the
goose species. One could see that by their walk, for no one can
successfully disguise his family descent.
"I kept with my own kind and associated with the forest and field mice,
who, however, knew very little--especially about what I wanted to know
and what had actually made me travel abroad.
"The idea that soup could be made from a sausage skewer was so startling
to them that it was repeated from one to another through the whole
forest. They declared that the problem would never be solved--that the
thing was an impossibility. How little I thought that in this place, on
the very first night, I should be initiated into the manner of its
preparation!
"It was the height of summer, which the mice told me was the reason that
the forest smelt so strong, and that the herbs were so fragrant, and
that the lakes with the white, swimming swans were so dark and yet so
clear.
"On the margin of the wood, near several houses, a pole as large as the
mainmast of a ship had been erected, and from the summit hung wreaths of
flowers and fluttering ribbons. It was the Maypole. Lads and lasses
danced round it and tried to outdo the violins of the musicians with
their singing. They were as gay as ever at sunset and in the moonlight,
but I took no part in the merrymaking. What has a little mouse to do
with a Maypole dance? I sat in the soft moss and held my sausage skewer
tight. The moon shone particularly bright on one spot where stood a
tree covered with very fine moss. I may almost venture to say that it
was as fine and soft as the fur of the mouse-king, but it was green,
which is a color very agreeable to the eye.
"All at once I saw the most charming little people marching towards me.
They did not reach higher than my knee, although they looked like human
beings but were better proportioned. They called themselves elves, and
wore clothes that were very delicate and fine, for they were made of the
leaves of flowers, trimmed with the wings of flies and gnats. The effect
was by no means bad.
"They seemed to be seeking something--I knew not what, till at last one
of them espied me. They came towards me, and the foremost pointed to my
sausage skewer, saying: 'There, that is just what we want. See, it is
pointed at the top; is it not capital?' The longer he looked at my
pilgrim's staff the more delighted he became.
"'I will lend it to you,' said I, 'but not to keep.'
"'Oh, no, we won't keep it!' they all cried. Then they seized the
skewer, which I gave up to them, and dancing with it to the tree
covered with delicate moss, set it up in the middle of the green. They
wanted a Maypole, and the one they now had seemed made especially for
them. This they decorated so beautifully that it was quite dazzling to
look at. Little spiders spun golden threads around it, and it was hung
with fluttering veils and flags, as delicately white as snow glittering
in the moonlight. Then they took colors from the butterfly's wing,
sprinkling them over the white drapery until it gleamed as if covered
with flowers and diamonds, and I could no longer recognize my sausage
skewer. Such a Maypole as this has never been seen in all the world.
"Then came a great company of real elves. Nothing could be finer than
their clothes. They invited me to be present at the feast, but I was to
keep at a certain distance because I was too large for them. Then began
music that sounded like a thousand glass bells, and was so full and
strong that I thought it must be the song of the swans. I fancied also
that I heard the voices of the cuckoo and the blackbird, and it seemed
at last as if the whole forest sent forth glorious melodies--the voices
of children, the tinkling of bells, and the songs of the birds. And all
this wonderful melody came from the elfin Maypole. My sausage peg was a
complete peal of bells. I could scarcely believe that so much could have
been produced from it, till I remembered into what hands it had fallen.
I was so much affected that I wept tears such as a little mouse can
weep, but they were tears of joy.
"The night was far too short for me; there are no long nights there in
summer, as we often have in this part of the world. When the morning
dawned and the gentle breeze rippled the glassy mirror of the forest
lake, all the delicate veils and flags fluttered away into thin air. The
waving garlands of the spider's web, the hanging bridges and galleries,
or whatever else they may be called, vanished away as if they had never
been. Six elves brought me back my sausage skewer and at the same time
asked me to make any request, which they would grant if it lay in their
power. So I begged them, if they could, to tell me how to make soup from
a sausage skewer.
"'How do we make it?' asked the chief of the elves, with a smile. 'Why,
you have just seen us. You scarcely knew your sausage skewer again, I am
sure.'
"'They think themselves very wise,' thought I to myself. Then I told
them all about it, and why I had traveled so far, and also what promise
had been made at home to the one who should discover the method of
preparing this soup.
"'What good will it do the mouse-king or our whole mighty kingdom,' I
asked, 'for me to have seen all these beautiful things? I cannot shake
the sausage peg and say, "Look, here is the skewer, and now the soup
will come." That would only produce a dish to be served when people were
keeping a fast.'
"Then the elf dipped his finger into the cup of a violet and said,
'Look, I will anoint your pilgrim's staff, so that when you return to
your home and enter the king's castle, you have only to touch the king
with your staff and violets will spring forth, even in the coldest
winter time. I think I have given you something worth carrying home, and
a little more than something.'"
Before the little mouse explained what this something more was, she
stretched her staff toward the king, and as it touched him the most
beautiful bunch of violets sprang forth and filled the place with their
perfume. The smell was so powerful that the mouse-king ordered the mice
who stood nearest the chimney to thrust their tails into the fire that
there might be a smell of burning, for the perfume of the violets was
overpowering and not the sort of scent that every one liked.
"But what was the something more, of which you spoke just now?" asked
the mouse-king.
"Why," answered the little mouse, "I think it is what they call
'effect.'" Thereupon she turned the staff round, and behold, not a
single flower was to be seen on it! She now held only the naked skewer,
and lifted it up as a conductor lifts his baton at a concert.
"Violets, the elf told me," continued the mouse, "are for the sight, the
smell, and the touch; so we have only to produce the effect of hearing
and tasting." Then, as the little mouse beat time with her staff, there
came sounds of music; not such music as was heard in the forest, at the
elfin feast, but such as is often heard in the kitchen--the sounds of
boiling and roasting. It came quite suddenly, like wind rushing through
the chimneys, and it seemed as if every pot and kettle were boiling
over.
The fire shovel clattered down on the brass fender, and then, quite as
suddenly, all was still,--nothing could be heard but the light, vapory
song of the teakettle, which was quite wonderful to hear, for no one
could rightly distinguish whether the kettle was just beginning to boil
or just going to stop. And the little pot steamed, and the great pot
simmered, but without any regard for each other; indeed, there seemed no
sense in the pots at all. As the little mouse waved her baton still more
wildly, the pots foamed and threw up bubbles and boiled over, while
again the wind roared and whistled through the chimney, and at last
there was such a terrible hubbub that the little mouse let her stick
fall.
"That is a strange sort of soup," said the mouse-king. "Shall we not now
hear about the preparation?"
"That is all," answered the little mouse, with a bow.
"That all!" said the mouse-king; "then we shall be glad to hear what
information the next may have to give us."
WHAT THE SECOND MOUSE HAD TO TELL
"I was born in the library, at a castle," said the second mouse. "Very
few members of our family ever had the good fortune to get into the
dining room, much less into the storeroom. To-day and while on my
journey are the only times I have ever seen a kitchen. We were often
obliged to suffer hunger in the library, but we gained a great deal of
knowledge. The rumor reached us of the royal prize offered to those who
should be able to make soup from a sausage skewer.
"Then my old grandmother sought out a manuscript,--which she herself
could not read, to be sure, but she had heard it read,--and in it were
written these words, 'Those who are poets can make soup of sausage
skewers.' She asked me if I was a poet. I told her I felt myself quite
innocent of any such pretensions. Then she said I must go out and make
myself a poet. I asked again what I should be required to do, for it
seemed to me quite as difficult as to find out how to make soup of a
sausage skewer. My grandmother had heard a great deal of reading in her
day, and she told me that three principal qualifications were
necessary--understanding, imagination, and feeling. 'If you can manage
to acquire these three, you will be a poet, and the sausage-skewer soup
will seem quite simple to you.'
"So I went forth into the world and turned my steps toward the west,
that I might become a poet. Understanding is the most important matter
of all. I was sure of that, for the other two qualifications are not
thought much of; so I went first to seek understanding. Where was I to
find it?
"'Go to the ant and learn wisdom,' said the great Jewish king. I learned
this from living in a library. So I went straight on till I came to the
first great ant hill. There I set myself to watch, that I might become
wise. The ants are a very respectable people; they are wisdom itself.
All they do is like the working of a sum in arithmetic, which comes
right. 'To work, and to lay eggs,' say they, 'and to provide for
posterity, is to live out your time properly.' This they truly do. They
are divided into clean and dirty ants, and their rank is indicated by a
number. The ant-queen is number ONE. Her opinion is the only correct one
on everything, and she seems to have in her the wisdom of the whole
world. This was just what I wished to acquire. She said a great deal
that was no doubt very clever--yet it sounded like nonsense to me. She
said the ant hill was the loftiest thing in the world, although close to
the mound stood a tall tree which no one could deny was loftier, much
loftier. Yet she made no mention of the tree.
"One evening an ant lost herself on this tree. She had crept up the
stem, not nearly to the top but higher than any ant had ever ventured,
and when at last she returned home she said that she had found something
in her travels much higher than the ant hill. The rest of the ants
considered this an insult to the whole community, and condemned her to
wear a muzzle and live in perpetual solitude.
"A short time afterwards another ant got on the tree and made the same
journey and the same discovery. But she spoke of it cautiously and
indefinitely, and as she was one of the superior ants and very much
respected, they believed her. And when she died they erected an
egg-shell as a monument to her memory, for they cultivated a great
respect for science.
"I saw," said the little mouse, "that the ants were always running to
and fro with their burdens on their backs. Once I saw one of them, who
had dropped her load, try very hard to raise it again, but she did not
succeed. Two others came up and tried with all their strength to help
her, till they nearly dropped their own burdens. Then they were obliged
to stop a moment, for every one must think of himself first. The
ant-queen remarked that their conduct that day showed that they
possessed kind hearts and good understanding. 'These two qualities,' she
continued, 'place us ants in the highest degree above all other
reasonable beings. Understanding must therefore stand out prominently
among us, and my wisdom is greatest.' So saying, she raised herself on
her two hind legs, that no one else might be mistaken for her. I could
not, therefore, have made a mistake, so I ate her up. We are to go to
the ants to learn wisdom, and I had secured the queen.
"I now turned and went nearer to the lofty tree already mentioned, which
was an oak. It had a tall trunk, with a wide-spreading top, and was very
old. I knew that a living being dwelt here, a dryad, as she is called,
who is born with the tree and dies with it. I had heard this in the
library, and here was just such a tree and in it an oak maiden. She
uttered a terrible scream when she caught sight of me so near to her.
Like women, she was very much afraid of mice, and she had more real
cause for fear than they have, for I might have gnawed through the tree
on which her life depended.
"I spoke to her in a friendly manner and begged her to take courage. At
last she took me up in her delicate hand, and I told her what had
brought me out into the world. She told me that perhaps on that very
evening she would be able to obtain for me one of the two treasures for
which I was seeking. She told me that Phantaesus, the genius of the
imagination, was her very dear friend; that he was as beautiful as the
god of love; that he rested many an hour with her under the leafy boughs
of the tree, which then rustled and waved more than ever. He called her
his dryad, she said, and the tree his tree, for the grand old oak with
its gnarled trunk was just to his taste. The root, which spread deep
into the earth, and the top, which rose high in the fresh air, knew the
value of the drifting snow, the keen wind, and the warm sunshine, as it
ought to be known. 'Yes,' continued the dryad, 'the birds sing up above
in the branches and talk to each other about the beautiful fields they
have visited in foreign lands. On one of the withered boughs a stork has
built his nest--it is beautifully arranged, and, besides, it is pleasant
to hear a little about the land of the pyramids. All this pleases
Phantaesus, but it is not enough for him. I am obliged to relate to him
of my life in the woods and to go back to my childhood, when I was
little and the tree so small and delicate that a stinging nettle could
overshadow it, and I have to tell everything that has happened since
then until now, when the tree is so large and strong. Sit you down now
under the green bindwood and pay attention. When Phantaesus comes I will
find an opportunity to lay hold of his wing and to pull out one of the
little feathers. That feather you shall have. A better was never given
to any poet, and it will be quite enough for you.'
"And when Phantaesus came the feather was plucked," said the little
mouse, "and I seized and put it in water and kept it there till it was
quite soft. It was very heavy and indigestible, but I managed to nibble
it up at last. It is not so easy to nibble oneself into a poet, there
are so many things to get through. Now, however, I had two of them,
understanding and imagination, and through these I knew that the third
was to be found in the library.
"A great man has said and written that there are novels whose sole and
only use appears to be to attempt to relieve mankind of overflowing
tears--a kind of sponge, in fact, for sucking up feelings and emotions.
I remembered a few of these books. They had always appeared tempting to
the appetite, for they had been much read and were so greasy that they
must have absorbed no end of emotions in themselves.
"I retraced my steps to the library and literally devoured a whole
novel--that is, properly speaking, the interior, or soft part of it. The
crust, or binding, I left. When I had digested not only this, but a
second, I felt a stirring within me. I then ate a small piece of a third
romance and felt myself a poet. I said it to myself and told others the
same. I had headache and backache and I cannot tell what aches besides.
I thought over all the stories that may be said to be connected with
sausage pegs; and all that has ever been written about skewers, and
sticks, and staves, and splinters came to my thoughts--the ant-queen
must have had a wonderfully clear understanding. I remembered the man
who placed in his mouth a white stick, by which he could make himself
and the stick invisible. I thought of sticks as hobbyhorses, staves of
music or rime, of breaking a stick over a man's back, and of Heaven
knows how many more phrases of the same sort, relating to sticks,
staves, and skewers. All my thoughts ran on skewers, sticks of wood, and
staves. As I am at last a poet and have worked terribly hard to make
myself one, I can of course make poetry on anything. I shall therefore
be able to wait upon you every day in the week with a poetical history
of a skewer. And that is my soup."
"In that case," said the mouse-king, "we will hear what the third mouse
has to say."
"Squeak, squeak," cried a little mouse at the kitchen door. It was the
fourth, and not the third, of the four who were contending for the
prize, the one whom the rest supposed to be dead. She shot in like an
arrow and overturned the sausage peg that had been covered with crape.
She had been running day and night, for although she had traveled in a
baggage train, by railway, yet she had arrived almost too late. She
pressed forward, looking very much ruffled.
She had lost her sausage skewer but not her voice, and she began to
speak at once, as if they waited only for her and would hear her
only--as if nothing else in the world were of the least consequence.
She spoke out so clearly and plainly, and she had come in so suddenly,
that no one had time to stop her or to say a word while she was
speaking. This is what she said.
WHAT THE FOURTH MOUSE, WHO SPOKE BEFORE THE THIRD, HAD TO TELL
"I started off at once to the largest town," said she, "but the name of
it has escaped me. I have a very bad memory for names. I was carried
from the railway, with some goods on which duties had not been paid, to
the jail, and on arriving I made my escape, running into the house of
the keeper. He was speaking of his prisoners, especially of one who had
uttered thoughtless words. These words had given rise to other words,
and at length they were written down and registered. 'The whole affair
is like making soup of sausage skewers,' said he, 'but the soup may cost
him his neck.'
"Now this raised in me an interest for the prisoner," continued the
little mouse, "and I watched my opportunity and slipped into his
apartment, for there is a mousehole to be found behind every closed
door.
"The prisoner, who had a great beard and large, sparkling eyes, looked
pale. There was a lamp burning, but the walls were so black that they
only looked the blacker for it. The prisoner scratched pictures and
verses with white chalk on the black walls, but I did not read the
verses. I think he found his confinement wearisome, so that I was a
welcome guest. He enticed me with bread crumbs, with whistling, and with
gentle words, and seemed so friendly towards me that by degrees I gained
confidence in him and we became friends. He divided his bread and water
with me and gave me cheese and sausage, and I began to love him.
Altogether, I must own that it was a very pleasant intimacy. He let me
run about on his hand, on his arm, into his sleeve, and even into his
beard. He called me his little friend, and I forgot for what I had come
out into the world; forgot my sausage skewer, which I had laid in a
crack in the floor, where it is still lying. I wished to stay with him
always, for I knew that if I went away, the poor prisoner would have no
one to be his friend, which is a sad thing.
"I stayed, but he did not. He spoke to me so mournfully for the last
time, gave me double as much bread and cheese as usual, and kissed his
hand to me. Then he went away and never came back. I know nothing more
of his history.
"The jailer took possession of me now. He said something about soup from
a sausage skewer, but I could not trust him. He took me in his hand,
certainly, but it was to place me in a cage like a treadmill. Oh, how
dreadful it was! I had to run round and round without getting any
farther, and only to make everybody laugh.
"The jailer's granddaughter was a charming little thing. She had merry
eyes, curly hair like the brightest gold, and such a smiling mouth.
"'You poor little mouse,' said she one day, as she peeped into my cage,
'I will set you free.' She then drew forth the iron fastening, and I
sprang out on the window-sill, and from thence to the roof. Free! free!
that was all I could think of, and not of the object of my journey.
"It grew dark, and as night was coming on I found a lodging in an old
tower, where dwelt a watchman and an owl. I had no confidence in either
of them, least of all in the owl, which is like a cat and has a great
failing, for she eats mice. One may, however, be mistaken sometimes, and
I was now, for this was a respectable and well-educated old owl, who
knew more than the watchman and even as much as I did myself. The young
owls made a great fuss about everything, but the only rough words she
would say to them were, 'You had better go and try to make some soup
from sausage skewers.' She was very indulgent and loving to her own
children. Her conduct gave me such confidence in her that from the crack
where I sat I called out 'Squeak.'
"This confidence pleased her so much that she assured me she would take
me under her own protection and that not a creature should do me harm.
The fact was, she wickedly meant to keep me in reserve for her own
eating in the winter, when food would be scarce. Yet she was a very
clever lady-owl. She explained to me that the watchman could only hoot
with the horn that hung loose at his side and that he was so terribly
proud of it that he imagined himself an owl in the tower, wanted to do
great things, but only succeeded in small--soup from a sausage skewer.
"Then I begged the owl to give me the recipe for this soup. 'Soup from a
sausage skewer,' said she, 'is only a proverb amongst mankind and may be
understood in many ways. Each believes his own way the best, and, after
all, the proverb signifies nothing.' 'Nothing!' I exclaimed. I was quite
struck. Truth is not always agreeable, but truth is above everything
else, as the old owl said. I thought over all this and saw quite plainly
that if truth was really so far above everything else, it must be much
more valuable than soup from a sausage skewer. So I hastened to get
away, that I might be in time and bring what was highest and best and
above everything--namely, the truth.
"The mice are enlightened people, and the mouse-king is above them all.
He is therefore capable of making me queen for the sake of truth."
"Your truth is a falsehood," said the mouse who had not yet spoken. "I
can prepare the soup, and I mean to do so."
HOW IT WAS PREPARED
"I did not travel," said the third mouse, "I stayed in this country;
that was the right way. One gains nothing by traveling. Everything can
be acquired here quite as easily, so I stayed at home. I have not
obtained what I know from supernatural beings; I have neither swallowed
it nor learned it from conversing with owls. I have gained it all from
my own reflections and thoughts. Will you now set the kettle on the
fire--so? Now pour the water in, quite full up to the brim; place it on
the fire; make up a good blaze; keep it burning, that the water may
boil, for it must boil over and over. There, now I throw in the skewer.
Will the mouse-king be pleased now to dip his tail into the boiling
water and stir it round with the tail? The longer the king stirs it the
stronger the soup will become. Nothing more is necessary, only to stir
it."
"Can no one else do this?" asked the king.
"No," said the mouse; "only in the tail of the mouse-king is this power
contained."
And the water boiled and bubbled, as the mouse-king stood close beside
the kettle. It seemed rather a dangerous performance, but he turned
round and put out his tail, as mice do in a dairy when they wish to skim
the cream from a pan of milk with their tails and afterwards lick it
off. But the mouse-king's tail had only just touched the hot steam when
he sprang away from the chimney in a great hurry, exclaiming:
"Oh, certainly, by all means, you must be my queen. We will let the soup
question rest till our golden wedding, fifty years hence, so that the
poor in my kingdom who are then to have plenty of food will have
something to look forward to for a long time, with great joy."
And very soon the wedding took place. Many of the mice, however, as they
were returning home, said that the soup could not be properly called
"soup from a sausage skewer," but "soup from a mouse's tail." They
acknowledged that some of the stories were very well told, but thought
that the whole might have been managed differently.
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Having forgotten my former perils, I built a ship at my own expense, loaded it with a rich cargo, and, taking with me other merchants, once more set sail. We were much driven about by a storm, and at length landed upon a desert island to search f... Sindbad The Sailor The First Voyage
My father died while I was young and left me a fortune. Having no one to restrain me, I fell into bad ways, by which I not only wasted my time, but injured my health, and destroyed my property. When I recovered, I collected together what was left ... Sindbad The Sailor The Second Voyage
Becoming weary of a quiet life in Balsora, and having bought trading goods, I again went to sea with some merchants. After touching at several places, we landed at an uninhabited island. We amused ourselves in different ways, but I, having taken ... Sindbad The Sailor The Seventh And Last Voyage
The Caliph Haroun Alrashid one day sent for me, and told me I must bear a present to the King of Serindib. I ventured to protest on account of my age, but I could not persuade him to give up his plan. I arrived at Serindib, and prayed an audience... Sindbad The Sailor The Sixth Voyage
At the expiration of another year, I prepared for a sixth voyage. This proved very long and unfortunate, for the pilot lost his course and knew not where to steer. At length he told us we must inevitably be dashed to pieces against a rock, which ... Sindbad The Sailor The Third Voyage
I soon resolved upon a third voyage, and once more took ship at Balsora. After we had been at sea a few weeks, we were overtaken by a dreadful storm, and were obliged to cast anchor near an island which the captain had endeavored to avoid; for he as... Sing A Song O' Sixpence
"Sing a song o' sixpence Pocket full of rye; Four-and-twenty blackbirds Baked in a pie. When the pie was opened The birds began to sing Was not this a dainty dish To set before the King? Th... Sing A Song Of Sixpence
Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye; Four-and-twenty blackbirds Baked in a pie; When the pie was opened The birds began to sing; Was not that a dainty dish To set before the King? ... Sir Patrick Spens
"The king sits in Dunfermline town, Drinking the blude-red wine; 'O whare will I get a skeely skipper, To sail this new ship o' mine?' * * * * * Half owre, half owre to Aberdour, 'Tis... Sir Philip Sidney
When Elizabeth was Queen of England it was a time of great deeds and great men. The queen was brave and clever herself, so she liked to have brave and clever people around her. Great soldiers, and writers, and statesmen went to her court; and when... Sixth Voyage
It must be a marvel to you how, after having five times met with shipwreck and unheard of perils, I could again tempt fortune and risk fresh trouble. I am even surprised myself when I look back, but evidently it was my fate to rove, and after a y... Skiddaw
"After we had passed these borders we arrived again safe in our own native soil, within the precincts of Cumberland, which, like the rest of the northern counties, hath a sharp piercing air; the soil is fertile for the most part both with corn and c... Slate Games
Entertaining puzzles or exercises upon the slate are generally great favorites with children. A great variety of them are current in the nursery, or rather were so some years ago. The story of the four rich men, the four poor men, and the pond, was ... Small Fire Department Rescues Birds
"The salamanders," said daddy, "are little creatures very much like lizards in looks, except their skin is not scaly as a lizard's. They have four legs and a tail, and are very nice, kind and gentle. "Well, these salamanders agreed that they ... Smoke Prints Of Leaves
<div> <img src="/images/i206.png" alt="Smoke Prints of Leaves" title="Smoke Prints of Leaves" height="400" width="283" /> Smoke Prints of Leaves </div> <p>Collect one or two leaves that have strongly marked ribs; elm and raspberry are good ones. Take a... Snow
In Yorkshire, when it begins to snow, the boys exclaim,-- Snow, snow faster, The cow's in the pasture. When the storm is concluding, or when they wish it to give over, they sing,-- Snow, snow, give over, The cow's in... Snow-white And Rose-red
A poor widow lived alone in a little cottage, in front of which was a garden, where stood two little rose-trees: one bore white roses, the other red. The widow had two children, who resembled the two rose-trees: one was called Snow-white, and the ... Snow-white And Rose-red
There was once a poor widow who lived in a lonely cottage. In front of the cottage was a garden wherein stood two rose-trees, one of which bore white and the other red roses. She had two children who were like the two rose-trees, and one was called ... Snow-white And Rose-red
A poor widow once lived in a little cottage with a garden in front of it, in which grew two rose trees, one bearing white roses and the other red. She had two children, who were just like the two rose trees; one was called Snow-white and the othe... Snow-white And Rose-red
BY THE BROTHERS GRIMM There was once a poor Widow, who lived alone in her hut with her two children, who were called Snow-White and Rose-Red, because they were like the flowers which bloomed on two rose-bushes which grew before the cottage. But... Snow-white And Rose-red
A poor widow lived alone in a little cottage, in front of which was a garden, where stood two little rose-trees: one bore white roses, the other red. The widow had two children who resembled the two rose-trees: one was called Snow-white, and the o... Snowdrop
It was the middle of winter, when the broad flakes of snow were falling around, that the queen of a country many thousand miles off sat working at her window. The frame of the window was made of fine black ebony, and as she sat looking out upon the ... Snowdrop
ONCE upon a time, in the middle of winter when the snow-flakes were falling like feathers on the earth, a Queen sat at a window framed in black ebony and sewed. And as she sewed and gazed out to the white landscape, she pricked her finger with the n... Snowflake
Slavonic story. Contes Populaires Slaves, traduits par Louis Leger. Paris: Leroux, Editeur. Once upon a time there lived a peasant called Ivan, and he had a wife whose name was Marie. They would have been quite happy except for one thing: they ... Snowflakes The Sixfold Gems Of Snowroba
<div> <img src="/images/i214.png" alt="Snowflakes" title="Snowflakes" height="400" width="297" /> Snowflakes </div> <p>You have heard of the lovely Snowroba, white calm beautiful Snowroba, the daughter of King Jackfrost the Winter King, whose sad hist... Snowwhite
There was once a queen who had no children, and it grieved her sorely. One winter's afternoon she was sitting by the window sewing when she pricked her finger, and three drops of blood fell on the snow. Then she thought to herself: "Ah, what wo... Solomon Grundy
Solomon Grundy, Born on a Monday, Christened on Tuesday, Married on Wednesday, Took ill on Thursday, Worse on Friday, Died on Saturday, Buried on Sunday: This is the end Of Solomon Grundy-- ... Solving A Problem
Jimmy Rabbit was going to give a party. Up and down Pleasant Valley and all about Blue Mountain the field and forest people were talking about it. Almost everybody had an invitation. There were only a few that weren't asked. Jimmy Rabbit didn't... Soma The Washerwoman
Once upon a time there was a town called Atpat. In it there lived a poor Brahman who had seven sons and seven daughters-in-law. He had also one daughter called Gunvanti and a wife called Dhanvanti. Whenever a mendicant Brahman came to this house, it... Some Things Jack And Tom Learned To Do As Boy Scouts
(FIRST AID, IT IS CALLED) When a person faints, lay him flat, loosen his collar and belt, and bathe the face in cool water. When a person is cut, and the wound is bleeding, put a clean cloth on the wound, and press on it with the fingers until ... Song Of The Fairy
BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Over hill, over dale, Through bush, through brier, Over park, over pale, Through flood, through fire, I do wander everywhere, Swifter than the moon's sphere; And I serve th... Song Of The Pear Tree
Out in the green, green orchard Standeth a fine pear tree; The fine pear tree has leaves, too. What on the tree may be? Why, there's a beautiful branch, Branch on the tree, Tree in the ground. ... Soria Moria Castle
THERE was once upon a time a couple of folks who had a son called Halvor. Ever since he had been a little boy he had been unwilling to do any work, and had just sat raking about among the ashes. His parents sent him away to learn several things, but... Soria Moria Castle
Once on a time there was a poor couple who had a son whose name was Halvor. Ever since he was a little boy he would turn his hand to nothing, but just sat there and groped about in the ashes. His father and mother often put him out to learn this t... Soup From A Sausage Skewer
"WE HAD such an excellent dinner yesterday," said an old lady-mouse to another who had not been present at the feast. "I sat number twenty-one below the mouse-king, which was not a bad place. Shall I tell you what we had? Everything was excellent-... Spain
Spain is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy, the powers of which are defined by the fundamental law of June 30, 1876. The legislative authority is exercised by the sovereign in conjunction with a parliamentary body called the Cortes, which i... Sparrow's Search For The Rain
Long ago, in a village near the sea, many Indian people were living. Among them was a very nice old warrior who had been given great power at his birth, and who, therefore, could do many wonderful deeds. There was nothing that was beyond his under... Spindle Shuttle And Needle
Once upon a time there lived a girl who lost her father and mother when she was quite a tiny child. Her godmother lived all alone in a little cottage at the far end of the village, and there she earned her living by spinning, weaving, and sewing... Springtime Or The Wedding Of Maka Ina And El Sol
<p>Oh, that was a stirring, glowing time! All the air, and the underwood seemed throbbed with pleasant murmuring voices. The streams were laughing, the deep pools smiling, as pussy-willows scattered catkins on them from above. The oak trees and the b... St Agnes' Night
"The women have several magical secrets handed down to them by tradition, as on St. Agnes' night, 21st January. Take a row of pins, and pull out every one, one after another, saying a Pater Noster, sticking a pin in your sleeve, and you will dream o... St George Of Merrie England
In the darksome depths of a thick forest lived Kalyb the fell enchantress. Terrible were her deeds, and few there were who had the hardihood to sound the brazen trumpet which hung over the iron gate that barred the way to the Abode of Witchcraft. ... St Saturday
BY HENRY JOHNSTONE Oh, Friday night's the queen of nights, because it ushers in The Feast of good St. Saturday, when studying is a sin, When studying is a sin, boys, and we may go to play Not only in the afternoon, but all the... Stan Bolovan
Once upon a time, something happened. If it hadn't happened, it wouldn't be told. At the edge of the village, where the peasants' oxen break through the hedges and the neighbors' hogs wallow in the ground under the fences, there once stood a house... Stan Bolovan
Once upon a time what happened did happen, and if it had not happened this story would never have been told. On the outskirts of a village just where the oxen were turned out to pasture, and the pigs roamed about burrowing with their noses among ... Stanton Drew
Stanton Drew, A mile from Pensford, Another from Chue. A Somersetshire proverb, mentioned by Stukeley, in the work above quoted, ii. 169. ... Starkad And Bale
Starkad, the hero of the legends, the bravest warrior in the army of the North, had fallen into disgrace with the king because of a certain princess, so he wandered up into Norland, and settled down at Rude in Tuna, where he was known as the Thral... Stompe Pilt
Not far from Baalsberg, near Filkestad in the Willandsharad, there is a hill in which a giant named Stompe Pilt once used to live. It happened one day that a goat-herd was driving his flock up the hill in which Stompe Pilt dwelt. "Who is ther... Story Of Sisyphus
Little White Cloud was the Ocean's daughter. The Ocean loved her, and wished always to keep her near him. One day, when her father was asleep, White Cloud went out to walk alone. The Sun saw her and said, "Come, White Cloud, I am your king, I ... Story Of The Emperor's New Clothes
Andersen. Many years ago there lived an Emperor who was so fond of new clothes that he spent all his money on them in order to be beautifully dressed. He did not care about his soldiers, he did not care about the theatre; he only liked to go ou... Story Of The King Who Would Be Stronger Than Fate
Once upon a time, far away in the east country, there lived a king who loved hunting so much that, when once there was a deer in sight, he was careless of his own safety. Indeed, he often became quite separated from his nobles and attendants, an... Story Of Wali Dad The Simple-hearted
Once upon a time there lived a poor old man whose name was Wali Dad Gunjay, or Wali Dad the Bald. He had no relations, but lived all by himself in a little mud hut some distance from any town, and made his living by cutting grass in the jungle, ... Stoutheart And His Black Cravat
<p>Do you know the bird that wears a black cravat, which he changes once a year? It is the English Sparrow, the commonest of all our birds. His hair is gray, but he must have been red-headed once, for just back of his ears there is still a band of re... Sunshine Stories
"I AM going to tell a story," said the Wind. "I beg your pardon," said the Rain, "but now it is my turn. Have you not been howling round the corner this long time, as hard as ever you could?" "Is this the gratitude you owe me?" said the Wind;... Superstition-rhymes
Although the spread of education has doubtlessly weakened in an extraordinary degree the hold which superstition formerly maintained on the mind of the public, yet vestiges of the more innocent portions of superstitious belief are still in conside... Swat The Fly
S is for Sunshine, keeps nature clean, And makes Mr. Fly feeble and lean. W is for Waste, where the fly breeds, The fouler, the better it suits his needs. A is for Anything dirty and vile,... Sweden
MARRIAGE.--Swedish law recognizes marriages which are to take effect in the future (sponsalia de futuro), and the existence of a betrothal that has been entered into in the presence of four witnesses and the woman's marriage guardian carries with ... Sweep And Little Sweep
I Once upon a time, in days long ago, there lived a Chimney Sweep and a little Crossing Sweeper. This Chimney Sweep was called "Sweep." He had a very black face, from the soot he swept down tall chimneys, but he had a kind heart and dearly love... Sweet And Low
By Alfred, Lord Tennyson Sweet and low, sweet and low, Wind of the Western Sea. Low, low, breathe and blow, Wind of the Western Sea! Over the rolling waters go, Come from the dying Moon, and blow, Blow ... Sweetheart Roland
There was once upon a time a woman who was a real witch and had two daughters, one ugly and wicked, and this one she loved because she was her own daughter, and one beautiful and good, and this one she hated, because she was her stepdaughter. The st... Switzerland
The marriage and divorce laws of the Swiss Republic are federal--that is, operating throughout all the cantons of the confederation. Prior to January 1, 1876, when the present federal law went into effect, the different cantons had individual laws... Sybilla Myrtillo And Furioso
A certain king had a beautiful golden-haired daughter named Sybilla, whose suitors came from every country, though with small success, since the princess had vowed to remain single until one proving to be the mightiest hero of the world should app... Sylvain And Jocosa
Once upon a time there lived in the same village two children, one called Sylvain and the other Jocosa, who were both remarkable for beauty and intelligence. It happened that their parents were not on terms of friendship with one another, on acc... Symbols
<p>If you have thought much about it, O Guide! you will surely find that, for decoration, it is better to use a beautiful symbol of anything, rather than a good photograph of it. For the symbol lets the imagination loose, and the other chains it to t... Tale Of A Tortoise And Of A Mischievous Monkey
Once upon a time there was a country where the rivers were larger, and the forests deeper, than anywhere else. Hardly any men came there, and the wild creatures had it all to themselves, and used to play all sorts of strange games with each othe... Tales Of The Trolls
I A peasant from Jursagard in the parish of Hanger had gone to the forest the day before Christmas, and started out for home late in the evening. He had just about reached the Klintaberg when he heard some one call out: "Tell the malt-swine to ... Tamamo The Fox Maiden
A pedlar journeyed with his pack upon the great high-road which leads to the city of Kioto. He found a child sitting all alone by the wayside. "Well, my little girl," he said, "and what make you all alone by the wayside?" "What do you," said ... Taper Tom
In a certain kingdom there was a very beautiful Princess, but she was so sad that no one could make her laugh; she would not even smile, though all in the court were gay and happy. For a long time her father tried hard to find something that wou... Tattercoats
In a great Palace by the sea there once dwelt a very rich old lord, who had neither wife nor children living, only one little granddaughter, whose face he had never seen in all her life. He hated her bitterly, because at her birth his favourite da... Ted's Foolish Wish
"I WISH I WAS AN OWL" SAID TEDDY, WITH A SCOWL, "CAUSE THEN I COULD SIT UP THE WHOLE NIGHT THROUGH." BUT SOME FAIRIES HEARD HIM SCOLD, AND HERE YOU MAY BEHOLD CHARLES FITCH LESTER ... Teeny Tiny
There was once upon a time a teeny-tiny woman who lived in a teeny-tiny house in a teeny-tiny village. Now, one day this teeny-tiny woman put on her teeny-tiny bonnet and went out of her teeny-tiny house to take a teeny-tiny walk. And when this teen...