Some Indians believe that the Thunder Bird is the agent of storm; that the flashes of his eyes cause lightning and the flapping of his cloud-vast wings make thunder. Not so the Passamaquoddies, for they hold that Katahdin’s spirit children are Thunders, and in this way an Indian found them: He had been seeking game […]
Continue ReadingThe Serpent-Tsarevich and His Two Wives
There was once a Tsaritsa who had no child, and greatly desired one, so the soothsayers said to her, “Bid them catch thee a pike, bid them boil its head and nothing but its head, eat it, and thou shalt see what will happen.” So she did so. She ate the pike’s head and went […]
Continue ReadingStory of the Most Noble Self-Playing Harp
In a certain country there lived a king named Filon, whose wife Chaltura had an only son, named Astrach, who from his earliest years had a strong desire to render himself famous by knightly deeds. When he arrived at mature age, Astrach began to think of marrying, and he asked his father in what kingdom […]
Continue ReadingThe Fox and the Monkey
A Fox and a Monkey were on the road together, and fell into a dispute as to which of the two was the better born. They kept it up for some time, till they came to a place where the road passed through a cemetery full of monuments, when the Monkey stopped and looked about […]
Continue ReadingThe Battle of the Birds
There was to be a great battle between all the creatures of the earth and the birds of the air. News of it went abroad, and the son of the king of Tethertown said that when the battle was fought he would be there to see it, and would bring back word who was to […]
Continue ReadingGoat-Face
All the ill-deeds that a man commits have some colour of excuse—either contempt which provokes, need which compels, love which blinds, or anger which breaks the neck. But ingratitude is a thing that has no excuse, true or false, upon which it can fix; and it is therefore the worst of vices, since it dries […]
Continue ReadingThe Lion and the Three Bulls
Three Bulls were grazing in a meadow, and were watched by a Lion, who longed to capture and devour them, but who felt that he was no match for the three so long as they kept together. So he began by false whispers and malicious hints to foment jealousies and distrust among them. This stratagem […]
Continue ReadingGreen Corn, Yellow Corn, and the Dancing Fox
Once upon a time a young fox lived with his grandmother near Nambe. He went out for a walk one day. Very soon he came to a fence where some choke cherries were growing: “I shall adorn myself with these like an Indian,” thought young Mr. Fox, “and go over to Picuris to see those […]
Continue ReadingThe Seven Pigeons
In a deserted part of the rock-bound Cantabrian coast, a poor fisherman, named Pedro, discovered a lovely maiden, magnificently dressed, combing her long jet-black hair with a golden comb studded with diamonds. It was still early morning, and the sun had not attained its greatest power; and as the tide was at its lowest, an […]
Continue ReadingThe Good Ferryman and the Water Nymphs
There was once an old man, very poor, with three sons. They lived chiefly by ferrying people over a river; but he had had nothing but ill-luck all his life. And to crown all, on the night he died, there was a great storm, and in it the crazy old ferry-boat, on which his sons […]
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