The Nixy Lake
: Fairy Tales From The German ForestsIn one of the wildest and most romantic parts of Germany, there is a
high mountain which is as renowned for the strange stories that are told
about it, as for its many natural peculiarities. It is flat on the top,
falling off precipitously on every side. In recent times a high tower
has been built on the very edge of the rock. Curious to say, the ground
on the summit of this mountain is a bog or morass; flat slabs of stone
without sinking in unawares. There is a bronze ring on a balcony
surrounding the tower, with darts pointing in different directions,
showing where London, Paris, and St Petersburg, for instance, are
situated. I need hardly say that these towns are not visible, but that
if a straight line could be drawn from this spot, it would reach them.
Not far below the summit there is a mysterious-looking lake, which it is
strange indeed to find at so high a level. A huge cliff formed of
boulders of rock rises on the one side of the lake; it falls like a
great wall straight into the water; only daring little ferns and plants
have a foothold on it; the lake is inaccessible from this direction. A
narrow pathway winding in and out edged with water-reeds leads by it on
the other side. This lake is said to be so deep that it is unfathomable;
it is dark brown in colour, bitter and brackish to the taste. No fish
can live in it. Learned men, called geologists, who study the crust of
the earth, have decided that this region is not volcanic in origin as it
would appear at first sight, but that the lake is fed by water from the
morass.
This mountain is constantly visited by sudden violent atmospheric
disturbances, great winds and heavy thunderstorms, that spring up at a
moment's notice, striking terror into the hearts of any travellers who
may be caught in them.
Now several centuries ago, before the time of railways and steamboats, a
mighty king of the water-sprites lived in this lake with his three
beautiful daughters, the famed nixies of the lake.
The King was a majestic old man with long white beard and hair; his eyes
were black and sinister, and when he drew his eyebrows together in a
straight line over his eyes, his frown was terrible to behold. The
thunderstorms which devastated the country round, were attributed to
him. In his fits of rage, the village folk declared, he would hurl
stones and thunderbolts down from the mountain, heedless of what or whom
he might destroy.
The day would be fine, the sky blue, and in a moment a storm wind would
arise, clouds would cover the heavens, and lightning shoot forth; how
could this be accounted for by natural agency?
The nixies were much to be pitied, if the truth were known, for their
father was a stern old tyrant, and interfered constantly with their
harmless amusements, also prohibiting their leaving the lake to frolic
at midnight with the wood-spirits, whom he considered as beneath them in
rank.
On a warm day in the lovely month of June (which is the favourite month
of all the year for the water-nixies, for then the white and yellow
water lilies are in flower, and the yellow irises shine among the
water-reeds) the three sisters were swimming lazily to and fro, plunging
under the water like seals, to reappear like seals on the look-out for
something to happen. But nothing ever did happen but one of their
father's tempers, and of these they were tired enough as you may
imagine. They had not fishes' tails like their cousins the mermaids, but
slender limbs of dazzling whiteness. Their hair resembled beautiful
seaweed as they dived under the water, or when it spread out like a fan
on the surface.
The eldest, Clothilde, was dark; she was beautiful, but haughty, and
looked as if she had inherited her father's temper.
The youngest was very fair; she had the golden hair of a fairy, her eyes
were blue, but meaningless; there was little sense in their depths. Her
name was Elfrida.
The second sister, Lenore, was of a different type, and might have been
mistaken for a mortal maiden. Her hair was neither dark nor fair,
neither red nor brown, it was of a pale hazel colour and fell in
straight masses nearly to her feet. Her eyes were of a deep grey fringed
with dark lashes; they had a mysterious and pathetic look--a look caused
by longing after something indefinite and yet desired, or by a
prescience perhaps of coming disaster.
Lenore rose to the surface of the water. "Sisters," she called,
"sisters, listen to me," and she swam towards the shade of the rock, and
seated herself on a stony seat, half in half out of the water. "I can
bear the monotony of our existence no longer. I tire of this life of
ceaseless dancing, swimming, drifting. I want to visit the homes of men
who live in the village that lies below us at the foot of the mountain,
to hear stories of the world from which we are shut out, to share as far
as it is possible for us in the simple and homely amusements of
mortals."
"I am willing to go with you," said Clothilde, frowning discontentedly.
"I am tired too of this melancholy lake; the eternal nothingness of our
life oppresses me too." She tore a water-lily to pieces as she spoke.
"O do not do that!" said Lenore, almost as if in pain, "the flowers can
feel too!"
"What if they can!" said Clothilde scornfully; for the cruelty of the
nixies coursed through her veins.
"And you Elfrida," said Lenore, turning to her fairer sister, "will you
come with us?"
"Ah!" said Elfrida, "I prefer to stay here among the water-lilies. I
have no aspirations, I could live here for ever sleeping through the
winter months, dreaming through the summer ones, yet if you go, I will
go too; for we three have never been separated, and I should be afraid
if I were left alone with my father." As she spoke she placed a
water-lily in her golden hair; the sunbeams struck through the fir-trees
by the lake and fell on her, till she looked like some wonderful fairy
princess, too exquisite to be real.
A young man happened to be passing the lake just at this moment; he
caught the entrancing picture as if it were a vision from Heaven; his
brain reeled, his breath failed him, he would have fallen in a swoon;
but then he met Lenore's eyes, grave, calm, and searching. A wild
longing and deep melancholy seized on him. He rushed towards the lake,
and clutched hold of the branches of a young willow, only just in time
to prevent himself from falling into those treacherous depths.
With a weird cry and their white arms raised over their heads, the
nixies disappeared in the lake. The young man gazed as one bewitched;
crossed himself in fear; and gazed again. All was silent: no living
creature stirred; only the sunbeams fell athwart the lake, and little
cascades of water fell over the surface of the rock.
"I have seen the nixies of the pool," thought the young man, who was the
son of a rich peasant farmer in the village. "Surely that means that I
shall die ere long. I should not fear death," he continued, "if I were
to die in battle in honourable and open conflict; but to die young,
stricken by some awful and unaccountable fate, that would be terrible."
As he turned homewards, a wind arose that nearly hurled him into the
lake; so violent was the gust, and a storm burst forth, the like of
which he had never experienced before. Branches were torn from the
trees, and hurled in his path; the lightning was continuous and nearly
blinded him. Glancing fearfully back at the lake, the waters seemed to
have arisen in great waves, and he thought he saw the nixy King himself
raging and roaring like a wild creature, casting the storm winds forth
from their fortresses in the rocks, holding the lightning like fireworks
in his long fingers, and hurling it across the land. Terrified,
half-stunned by the thunder, and stupefied by the hail and rain, he at
last reached home, where his mother awaited him in great anxiety.
However he soon had off his wet, torn clothes, and casting himself on
his bed fell into a profound slumber. He slept for nearly a night and a
day, and when he awoke his adventures seemed to him a wild dream, and
like a dream were half-forgotten although they exerted a subtle
influence on his waking thoughts that he was unaware of.
Meanwhile the nixies, and especially Lenore, had been anxious as to his
fate. Not until she had sent their dwarf messenger into the village to
make inquiries as to his welfare, could she be at rest. Her wish to
visit the homes of men became a passion, a burning desire that could not
be quenched. She called on her dread father; three times she cried out
to him, and her sisters echoed the call. Then he arose from the depths,
majestic and so terrible to behold that Lenore almost lost the courage
to address him. But he listened to her request in silence, brooding,
while great ravens whirled and swooped in the sky above their heads.
Then he spoke:
"It is decreed that no one can alter the path of fate, or avoid the doom
that is written in the stars. The hour has come: I have foreseen this
day; go, my daughters, go. But remember there is one condition which you
must strictly obey. One night in the week you may be absent from the
lake; but as the hour strikes twelve, you must be back again in these
waters. I shall send a messenger to fetch you, the dwarf Hunold, beware
lest you keep him waiting! If you disobey, destruction will overtake
you, and your home will know you no more." He sank gloomily into the
lake; the day was oppressive; no rain fell and the evening brought no
relief. Strange and uneasy were the dreams of many that night in the
little village.
Some young people returning late from a social gathering, reported that
they had seen a bright, uncanny light in the sky, like a fire, or some
said like a golden hand, at midnight over the ill-omened mountain.
In those days when it was so difficult to travel from place to place,
the villagers were obliged to depend on themselves for amusement and
entertainment. In the villages round about the mountain it was the
custom for the young people to meet together at each other's houses on
Saturday evenings. Those who had rooms large enough, took it in turns to
invite all the rest; the girls brought their spinning-wheels, and the
room where they met was called the spinning-room. The girls were busy
and merry at the same time. Stories were told, and songs were sung, the
young men smoked and drank wine, and not infrequently the
spinning-wheels were cleared away and there was dancing. Strangers were
welcome; for the peasants were renowned for their hospitality; but
seldom did it happen that travellers passed that way; some young fellow
perhaps might drop in who was wandering about for a year or so before
settling down to the work of his life as the German custom is; but
tourists were few when roads were bad and money scarce.
One lovely summer's evening at the end of June the full moon was shining
in the sky, the latticed windows of the peasant's house where the young
folk were assembled, were wide open; the air was laden with the scent of
the white lilies and roses that grew in the garden at the back of the
cottage. There was no light as yet but that of the moon in the parlour;
the spinning-wheels too were silent; for stories were being told; one
more marvellous than the other, of ghosts and goblins, of dwarfs and
mountain-spirits, and naturally enough awful tales of the neighbouring
nixy King, and of his three daughters who lived in the enchanted lake.
Hermann, the young man who had been overtaken by the thunderstorm, was
present this evening; he was silent and glum, though the most charming
village maidens chaffed him and tried to captivate him, and the peasant
girls in this part of Germany are renowned for their beauty and their
grace. The melancholy which was not so much part of his natural
disposition as due to the adventures of that evening, fell on him again
like a dark cloud oppressing his brain. The girls who had been listening
to the stories, were by this time worked up to a state of feeling which
can only be described by the words creepy, or eerie. Most of them
experienced that unaccountable sensation which Germans call Gaensehaut
(goose-flesh). So that a sudden knock at the door caused them to cry out
in fear and clutch hold of their sweethearts. The knock was repeated
three times before anyone summoned up courage to open the door. Then the
assembled company fell back in astonishment as three beautiful young
girls entered the room, each holding a spinning-wheel under her arm.
They walked erect like princesses, everyone was sure they must be of
high rank. They wore dresses of some shimmering material such as the
village folk had never seen before, and necklaces of pearls, silken hose
and silver shoes.
Hermann's heart beat to bursting as he beheld them: where had he seen
them before? Surely they were the nixies of the magic pool, and his doom
had fallen upon him. Never, never, had he been able to forget Lenore's
eyes. Their mournful beauty haunted his dreams. He met them now, as his
breath came and went in great gasps; and there was a flash of
recognition between them. "What heavenly beauty, what a noble air she
has," he thought, hardly regarding her sisters who were strictly
speaking far more beautiful.
The three nixies, for of course it was they, put forth all their
fascinating arts to ingratiate themselves with the young people
assembled there.
"You are pleased to see us, are you not?" they said. "We have heard of
the fame of your spinning-evenings, and have come from a far country to
take part in them. You shall see how we can spin."
"Very gratifying for us, I am sure," murmured the officiating president
of the club.
"Now do not let us disturb you, you were telling stories I believe as
we entered," said Lenore, who, being the most human, took the lead in
the conversation.
But no one dared to open his mouth, even those who had been the most
eager to narrate wild tales before, seemed stricken with dumbness now.
"You could tell us a story, I believe," she said, turning to Hermann,
who could only shake his head. "Then I must tell one myself," she said
with a little sigh. She poured forth an extraordinary story to which the
peasants listened open-mouthed, the tale of a terrible doom that
overtook a faithless lover.
"A mortal man," she said, "had made love to a beautiful nixy, and won
her affection in return. But because she was not human, he did not think
of marrying her, but became engaged to a village maiden who was good and
sweet, if not so beautiful as the nixy. But the nixy had her revenge.
She swam under the bridge where the little river ran through the fields,
and one day as the two were walking in the dewy meadows, she caused the
waters to rise suddenly in a great flood, and tore her lover away from
his human bride down with her in the stream, choking him under the water
till he was dead. Then she sat with his head on her lap, and stroked his
beautiful dark curls, and wept until she dissolved in tears, and became
part of the water, which has been slightly salt from that day. The
village maiden was married to a rich old peasant not long afterwards; so
much for human fidelity," said Lenore, fixing her sad eyes on Hermann.
"He well-deserved his fate," said Hermann, "who chose the lesser when he
might have had the greater love."
"I think the nixy was a mean, wicked thing," said a young girl, almost a
child, called Brigitte, with soft, dark eyes, and a sweet expression on
her face. "She could not really have cared for her lover, or she would
have wanted him to be happy with the village girl, as she knew she could
not marry him herself."
"Never," said Hermann, excitedly, whose blood was coursing like fire in
his veins, "better death in the arms of the beloved, than a contented
life with lower aims!"
The men laughed.
"Now who would have thought that Hermann was so romantic!" they said.
"And he has the fattest pigs and the biggest casks of wine in the
village!"
Songs were proposed; everyone joined in; the voices of the nixies were
heard above all, clear and beautiful as a bell. They began with one of
the best-known songs in the German language which is always sung on
especially jovial occasions, it begins:
"I cannot tell why or wherefore
A legend of olden times
Deep in my heart is singing,
In mournful rhythmic rhymes."
After several songs had been sung in unison, Hermann begged the young
man who was the host that evening to ask the beautiful strangers to sing
a song alone and of their own choosing, he longed to hear their voices,
unspoilt by those of others.
The nixy maidens readily complied: was not singing their most natural
mode of expressing themselves? They sang these verses to a weird,
haunting melody:
"The wild-fowl are calling: come back to the lake!
O nixies come back, or your proud hearts must break;
The moonbeams are glancing, the fairies are dancing,
Come back.
The grey mists are rising! Beware, O beware!
For though you are slender and though you are fair,
Your treacherous waters, O nixy king's daughters,
Can slay.
Beware the king's anger--O tempt not your fate,
The white water-lilies your coming still wait;
Wide open each flower until the twelfth hour--
Beware!"
The old pendulum clock on the wall struck eleven. How fast the time had
flown! The three beautiful maidens rose up hastily and departed, wishing
a courteous "good night" and "good luck to you" to the company.
As Hermann opened the door for them, he saw a little dwarf with a
lighted lantern waiting for them outside the door, and much as he wished
to accompany them home, he did not dare to do so.
When they had left the room, a storm of conjecture burst forth; at last
everyone agreed that they must be the nixies of the lake.
"We did not like the look of their eyes; they were so cold and
treacherous," said some of the girls who were jealous of a beauty that
they felt they could never attain to.
"You are ill-natured things, not fit to sweep the floor for such
exquisite creatures," said Hermann angrily; and the whole company began
to jeer and to laugh at him, saying:
"Hermann has fallen in love with the nixies. Many a wet kiss will he
have from them--ha--ha!--but cold water will be his bridal bed, and
death the groomsman--ha, ha!"
"Do not be so cruel," said kind little Brigitte, who had blamed the nixy
in the story. "See how pale Hermann looks, he will faint in another
minute; he has never been strong since he was out in that awful storm."
Hermann could bear the conversation no longer; hastily saying good night
he went home with wild thoughts in his head, and, alas! wild,
ungovernable love in his heart.
For the next few weeks on Saturday evenings the same thing happened.
There was the usual social gathering, no one was absent; the little room
could hardly hold the thronging guests. Then there was the eagerly
looked for knock at the door, and the three lovely maidens entered and
shared so naturally in what was going on that the young people gradually
lost somewhat of their awe of them. Who could spin so fast and so finely
as the three strangers; who could sing such entrancing songs; who could
tell more wonderful stories!
Hermann generally managed to sit by Lenore, and to hold her hand, and he
knew his love was returned.
Naturally the exquisite Elfrida, and the stately Clothilde had their
admirers as well.
"Soon they will have taken all our sweethearts away from us, the nasty
creatures," whispered some of the village girls under their breath, "and
they cannot marry all the lads in the country round. The men are
bewitched, that is certain--no good can come of it. Most of the men
realise it, however, and will come back to us in time; all except
Hermann. He is so far gone that it is quite hopeless to try and
influence him."
"I am sorry for Lenore," said little Brigitte, "I would do anything I
could to help her; she looks so very unhappy!"
On the night of the 9th of September the spinning evening was to be at
Hermann's house, which was a splendid building in its way, like a great
wooden castle. He was feverish with excitement. He bought and gathered
all the flowers he could get together, and decked the house as for a
wedding-feast. His mother could not bake cakes that were fine enough to
suit his taste; the furniture seemed to him clumsy and old-fashioned. He
would gladly have strewn rose-leaves, instead of rushes, on the floor
for his lady-love to tread on. All the time a voice was telling him to
desist: that such love could never be hallowed; that his bride was but a
myth, a dream that would vanish away. His mother was terribly troubled
about him, and feared that the boy had lost his wits in the
thunderstorm.
"You shall see my bride to-night, mother," he said. "Ah, there is no one
like her!"
But the old woman trembled and shook and crossed herself, she knew not
why. She felt a presentiment of coming evil.
"She shall not escape from me so soon to-night," thought Hermann to
himself. "I know what I will do: I shall put the clock an hour back, so
that when it is really twelve o'clock, they will think it is only
eleven. One hour, one blessed hour more in her company, snatched in
defiance of fate!"
Never had Hermann been more charming as a host than he was to-night. He
bade his guests heartily welcome and shook them warmly by the hand.
True, he was somewhat distracted and gave strange answers to questions
that were put to him. His eyes were constantly on the door. It opened at
last, and the three entered; they looked lovelier than ever; they had on
golden shoes and wore golden girdles. Their dresses were white edged
with pale green like water-lilies with a green calyx. There was to be no
spinning to-night. Hermann had provided for music and dancing; he became
giddy and his senses failed him almost at the thought of dancing with
the lovely Lenore.
Ah what light little feet! They hardly seemed to touch the ground as
they flew round; but the time too sped by with great rushing wings,
though Hermann had striven to check its headlong course. They paid no
heed to the dwarf and his constant warning taps on the door; the three
sisters were too engrossed in the delights of the dance. But suddenly
Lenore glanced at the clock; it pointed to eleven.
"A few moments more, my beloved," she said, "and then we must part. But
why are you so pale?" she asked of Hermann, whose heart was beating fast
enough to suffocate him; for he was afraid now of the consequences of
his deed.
"Lenore," he said chokingly, "it is midnight; I hope I have not done
wrong. I put back the clock. I wanted to keep you all longer at my
house."
Lenore turned deadly pale, then she told her sisters of the fatal trick
that Hermann had played on them, and they too turned white as the chalk
on the walls; well they knew their father and what his revenge might be!
Murmuring a sad farewell Lenore gazed for the last time in Hermann's
eyes, and then the dark night swallowed her up for ever.
The dwarf's lantern could be seen from time to time among the forest
trees like a will-o'-the-wisp; then that too vanished.
The dancing and feasting went on for some time; but Hermann's heart was
sick within him; he had no spirit left for the revelry. An indescribable
feeling of terror and anxiety possessed him. The clock struck twelve;
the guests dispersed. They had hardly left the house when a terrific
storm broke forth, appalling in its awful violence; the house shook,
trees were uprooted, lightning blazed continually. The tempest was
nothing, however, compared to that in Hermann's breast; he could not
rest or sleep; fearful visions assailed him: he seemed to hear his
beloved Lenore calling him, or begging for mercy from her cruel father.
Towards morning the storm had somewhat abated though it was by no means
over. Hermann rushed out of the house, taking a wild pleasure in
battling with the fierce elements. Up and up with a certain step he went
towards that lake where all his anguish had begun, and yet where all his
hopes and desires were centred. As he approached the lake through the
fir-wood, the sky over the great cliff was rosy in the early dawn, the
birds were singing, the harebells raised their dew-drenched heads and
looked at him. No motion--no sound--the lake was cruel it seemed to him
in its indifference to his grief. "Lenore," he cried, "Lenore!"
Then the waters of the lake stirred and three waves arose, each one
greater than the last, and in the third was the nixy king with a cruel
expression on his face.
"Ah, call for Lenore," he said mockingly, "but you will never see her
again!--Behold, the doom of the disobedient daughters is fulfilled." As
he spoke the lake stirred again, the waters whirled round, three
exquisite rose-leaves rose from the depths of the lake and floated on
the surface of the water. "Never again will you or any mortal man behold
the nixies of the pool; they are changed into rose-leaves; this was
their punishment," he said, "a poetical punishment--ha, ha!" and he
vanished with a tremendous clap of thunder.
More than half-mad Hermann stumbled home; for weeks he lingered between
life and death.
The kind little Brigitte would have liked to have taken care of him, and
would have made him a good wife; but because of his consuming love for
Lenore, he slowly pined away, until one day he was found lying dead
beside the fatal lake.
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If some absurd presumption show-- In seeking everything to know, To serve but for a single use May also be without excuse. Upon a table, once, together lay A Muff, Umbrella, and a Fan. In dialect such as, in a former day,... The Mule
A MULE, frolicsome from lack of work and from too much corn, galloped about in a very extravagant manner, and said to himself: "My father surely was a high-mettled racer, and I am his own child in speed and spirit." On the next day, being driven a ... The Mules and the Robbers
TWO MULES well-laden with packs were trudging along. One carried panniers filled with money, the other sacks weighted with grain. The Mule carrying the treasure walked with head erect, as if conscious of the value of his burden, and tossed up and d... The Muley Cow
Nimble Deer was a famous jumper. And so was the Muley Cow. In Farmer Green's herd there was no other that could match her. Living as he did in the pasture, Billy Woodchuck had often seen and admired the Muley Cow as she jumped the fence in order... The Mushroom And The Goose
A Goose that was once cackling with great pride thought that a Mushroom was gazing at it, and said, "You contemptible thing, why do you stare at me like that? You can never hope to meet me on terms of equality, can you?" "Certainly, madam," sai... The Musical Trust
By D. K. Stevens There was once a man who could execute "Old Zip Coon" on a yellow flute, And several other tunes to boot, But he couldn't make a penny with his tootle-ti-toot Tootle-ootle-ootl... The Mutiny
BY A. DE LAMARTINE (ADAPTED) When Columbus left the Canaries to pass with his three small ships into the unknown seas, the eruptions of Teneriffe illuminated the heavens and were reflected in the sea. This cast terror into the minds of his seamen... The Nail
BY THE BROTHERS GRIMM A merchant had done good business at the fair; he had sold his wares, and filled his bag with gold and silver. Then he set out at once on his journey home, for he wished to be in his own house before night. At noon ... The Naughty Little Sick Snowbird
Daddy had been encouraging Jack and Evelyn to feed the little birds that came outside the window. So one evening when it was time for their story he told them about the Christmas a little snowbird had had the year before. "He was a very self... The Necklace Of Tears
By Mrs. Egerton Eastwick. ONCE, many years ago, there lived in Ombrelande a most beautiful Princess. Now, Ombrelande is a country which still exists, and in which many strange things still happen, although it is not to be found in any map of th... The Nettle Spinner
I ONCE upon a time there lived at Quesnoy, in Flanders, a great lord whose name was Burchard, but whom the country people called Burchard the Wolf. Now Burchard had such a wicked, cruel heart, that it was whispered how he used to harness his peas... The New Hat-rack
The night of Jimmy Rabbit's party arrived at last. The time was an hour after sunset. The place was Farmer Green's back pasture. And Jimmy Rabbit was waiting eagerly. He had told Nimble Deer to come early, before the other guests, because Nimble w... The Nightingale
In China, as I daresay you know, the Emperor is a Chinaman, and all his courtiers are also Chinamen. The story I am going to tell you happened many years ago, but it is worth while for you to listen to it, before it is forgotten. The Emperor's P... The Nightingale And Glow-worm
The prudent nymph, whose cheeks disclose The lily and the blushing rose, From public view her charms will skreen, And rarely in the crowd be seen: This simple truth shall keep her wise, "The fairest fruits attract the flies." ... The Nightingale And The Sparrow
A Nightingale her voice one day was tuning In notes to match an organ's sonorous swell; When by her cage a chattering Sparrow roaming Stopped--his surprise at her attempt to tell. "I marvel much, that such strange pains you t... The Nightingale In The Mosque
There was once a Sultan who was so pious and devout that he spent many hours every day in prayer. For the glory of Allah, he thought to himself, I ought to build the most beautiful mosque in the world. So he called together the finest artisan... The Nine Pea-hens And The Golden Apples
Once upon a time there stood before the palace of an emperor a golden apple tree, which blossomed and bore fruit each night. But every morning the fruit was gone, and the boughs were bare of blossom, without anyone being able to discover who was th... The Nixy
From the German. Kletke. There was once upon a time a miller who was very well off, and had as much money and as many goods as he knew what to do with. But sorrow comes in the night, and the miller all of a sudden became so poor that at last h... The Nixy Lake
In one of the wildest and most romantic parts of Germany, there is a high mountain which is as renowned for the strange stories that are told about it, as for its many natural peculiarities. It is flat on the top, falling off precipitously on ever... The Nodding Tiger
Just outside the walls of a Chinese city there lived a young woodcutter named T'ang and his old mother, a woman of seventy. They were very poor and had a tiny one-room shanty, built of mud and grass, which they rented from a neighbour. Every da... The Norka
ONCE upon a time there lived a King and Queen. They had three sons, two of them with their wits about them, but the third a simpleton. Now the King had a deer park in which were quantities of wild animals of different kinds. Into that park there use... The North Star Or The Home Star
<div> <img src="/images/i144.png" alt="The North Star or Home Star" title="The North Star or Home Star" height="440" width="600" /> The North Star or Home Star </div> <hr /> <p>If you are going to be a Woodcrafter, you must begin by knowing the Nort... The North Wind and the Sun
THE NORTH WIND and the Sun disputed as to which was the most powerful, and agreed that he should be declared the victor who could first strip a wayfaring man of his clothes. The North Wind first tried his power and blew with all his might, but the ... The North Wind And The Sun
The North Wind and the Sun had a discussion as to which was the stronger, and had the more power, and finally agreed that the first to compel a traveler to remove his cloak should be the winner in the contest between them. The North Wind began, by... The North Wind Doth Blow
"The north wind doth blow, and we shall have snow, And what will the robin do then, poor thing? He'll sit in the barn and keep himself warm, And hide his head under his wing, poor thing." But never a word of plaint will be... The Norwegian Law
In many respects the laws of marriage and divorce in Norway resemble those of Denmark. There are, of course, historical and political reasons for the resemblance. MARRIAGE.--The law of Norway fixes 20 years as the minimum marriageable age for a... The Nunda Eater Of People
Once upon a time there lived a sultan who loved his garden dearly, and planted it with trees and flowers and fruits from all parts of the world. He went to see them three times every day: first at seven o'clock, when he got up, then at three, and ... The Nurse
Ide the samurai was wedded to a fair wife and had an only child, a boy called Fugiwaka. Ide was a mighty man of war, and as often as not he was away from home upon the business of his liege lord. So the child Fugiwaka was reared by his mother a... The Nutcracker Dwarf
BY COUNT FRANZ POCCI (TRANSLATED) Two boys gathered some hazelnuts in the woods. They sat down under a tree and tried to eat them, but they did not have their knives, and could not bite open the nuts with their teeth. "Oh," they complained, "if... The Oak And The Reed
ADAPTED FROM THE FRENCH OF LA FONTAINE One day the Oak said to the Reed: "Nature has been indeed unkind to you. She has made you so weak that even the tiniest bird that flies bends you to earth beneath her little weight. The gentlest breeze that... The Oak and the Reeds
A VERY LARGE OAK was uprooted by the wind and thrown across a stream. It fell among some Reeds, which it thus addressed: "I wonder how you, who are so light and weak, are not entirely crushed by these strong winds." They replied, "You fight and ... The Oak and the Woodcutters
THE WOODCUTTER cut down a Mountain Oak and split it in pieces, making wedges of its own branches for dividing the trunk. The Oak said with a sigh, "I do not care about the blows of the axe aimed at my roots, but I do grieve at being torn in pieces ... The Oaks and Jupiter
THE OAKS presented a complaint to Jupiter, saying, "We bear for no purpose the burden of life, as of all the trees that grow we are the most continually in peril of the axe." Jupiter made answer: "You have only to thank yourselves for the misfortu... The Ogre
There lived, once upon a time, in the land of Marigliano, a poor woman called Masella, who had six pretty daughters, all as upright as young fir-trees, and an only son called Antonio, who was so simple as to be almost an idiot. Hardly a day pass... The Ogress And The Cook
One summer afternoon, a young girl sat upon the door-stone of her cottage home, awaiting the return of her father from the mill. Her day's work was neatly done, and the tiny house, both within and without, was as tidy as hands could make it; holly... The Oil-merchant's Ass
Once on a time, an Ass,-- An Oilman's hack,-- Bearing upon his back A huge skin filled with oil, With foot o'er-worn by toil, Into his stable sought to pass; But, stumbling, struck his nose The cruellest of blows Up... The Old Dame
One child, called the Old Dame, sits on the floor, and the rest, joining hands, form a circle round her, and dancing, sing the following lines: Children. To Beccles! to Beccles! To buy a bunch of nettles! Pra... The Old Hag's Long Leather Bag
Once on a time, long, long ago, there was a widow woman who had three daughters. When their father died, their mother thought they never would want, for he had left her a long leather bag filled with gold and silver. But he was not long dead, when... The Old Horse
In our village there was an old, old man, Pimen Timofeich. He was ninety years old. He was living at the house of his grandson, doing no work. His back was bent: he walked with a cane and moved his feet slowly. He had no teeth at all, and his fa... The Old Hound
A HOUND, who in the days of his youth and strength had never yielded to any beast of the forest, encountered in his old age a boar in the chase. He seized him boldly by the ear, but could not retain his hold because of the decay of his teeth, so th... The Old House
A VERY old house once stood in a street with several others that were quite new and clean. One could read the date of its erection, which had been carved on one of the beams and surrounded by scrolls formed of tulips and hop tendrils; by this date... The Old King
Walter had been playing with his kite in the garden. Somehow or other it would never mount properly, unless his father was there to help him. It was apt to fly up a little way, and then to fall into a bush or fence, and there to perch like a big b... The Old Lion
A LION, worn out with years and powerless from disease, lay on the ground at the point of death. A Boar rushed upon him, and avenged with a stroke of his tusks a long-remembered injury. Shortly afterwards the Bull with his horns gored him as if he ... The Old Man and Death
AN OLD MAN was employed in cutting wood in the forest, and, in carrying the faggots to the city for sale one day, became very wearied with his long journey. He sat down by the wayside, and throwing down his load, besought "Death" to come. "Death" ... The Old Man And His Grandson
There was once a very old man, whose eyes had become dim, his ears dull of hearing, his knees trembled, and when he sat at table he could hardly hold the spoon, and spilt the broth upon the table-cloth or let it run out of his mouth. His son and his... The Old Poplar
For five years our garden was neglected. I hired labourers with axes and shovels, and myself began to work with them in the garden. We cut out and chopped out all the dry branches and wild shoots, and the superfluous trees and bushes. The poplars ... The Old Street Lamp
DID you ever hear the story of the old street lamp? It is not remarkably interesting, but for once you may as well listen to it. It was a most respectable old lamp, which had seen many, many years of service and now was to retire with a pension.... The Old Witch
BY THE BROTHERS GRIMM (TRANSLATED) There was once a little girl who was very willful and who never obeyed when her elders spoke to her; so how could she be happy? One day she said to her parents: "I have heard so much of the old witch that I wi... The Old Woman And Her Pig
An old woman was sweeping her house, and she found a little crooked sixpence. "What," said she, "shall I do with this little sixpence? I will go to market, and buy a little pig." As she was coming home, she came to a stile, but the piggy wouldn't ... The Old Woman And Her Pig
An old woman was sweeping her house, and she found a little crooked sixpence. "What," said she, "shall I do with this little sixpence? I will go to market, and buy a little pig." So she bought a little pig; but as she was coming home, she came t... The Old Woman And The Fish
There was once upon a time an old woman who lived in a miserable cottage on the brow of a hill overlooking the town. Her husband had been dead for many years, and her children were in service round about the parish, so she felt rather lonely and d... The Old Woman And The Old Man
Once upon a time there was an old man and an old woman, who had not a single child in their old age, and it was very hard for them, because they had no help, not even to light the fire; when they came home from working in the fields, they were oblige... The Old Woman and the Physician
AN OLD WOMAN having lost the use of her eyes, called in a Physician to heal them, and made this bargain with him in the presence of witnesses: that if he should cure her blindness, he should receive from her a sum of money; but if her infirmity re... The Old Woman And The Tramp
There was once a tramp who went plodding his way through a forest. The distance between the houses was so great that he had little hope of finding a shelter before the night set in. But all of a sudden he saw some lights between the trees. He then...