A long time ago there were a king and queen who said every day, "Ah, if only we

had a child," but they never had one.

But it happened that once when the queen was bathing, a frog crept out of the water
on to the land, and said to her, "Your wish shall be fulfilled, before a year has gone
by, you shall have a daughter."
What the frog had said came true, and the queen had a little girl who was so pretty
that the king could not contain himself for joy, and ordered a great feast. He invited
not only his kindred, friends and acquaintances, but also the wise women, in order
that they might be kind and well disposed towards the child. There were thirteen of
them in his kingdom, but, as he had only twelve golden plates for them to eat out of,
one of them had to be left at home.
The feast was held with all manner of splendor and when it came to an end the
wise women bestowed their magic gifts upon the baby - one gave virtue, another
beauty, a third riches, and so on with everything in the world that one can wish for.
When eleven of them had made their promises, suddenly the thirteenth came in.
She wished to avenge herself for not having been invited, and without greeting, or
even looking at anyone, she cried with a loud voice, "The king's daughter shall in her
fifteenth year prick herself with a spindle, and fall down dead." And, without saying a
word more, she turned round and left the room.
They were all shocked, but the twelfth, whose good wish still remained unspoken,
came forward, and as she could not undo the evil sentence, but only soften it, she
said, it shall not be death, but a deep sleep of a hundred years, into which the
princess shall fall.
The king, who would fain keep his dear child from the misfortune, gave orders that
every spindle in the whole kingdom should be burnt. Meanwhile the gifts of the wise
women were plenteously fulfilled on the young girl, for she was so beautiful, modest,
good-natured, and wise, that everyone who saw her was bound to love her.
It happened that on the very day when she was fifteen years old, the king and
queen were not at home, and the maiden was left in the palace quite alone. So she
went round into all sorts of places, looked into rooms and bed-chambers just as she
liked, and at last came to an old tower. She climbed up the narrow winding staircase,
and reached a little door. A rusty key was in the lock, and when she turned it the
door sprang open, and there in a little room sat an old woman with a spindle, busily
spinning her flax.
"Good day, old mother," said the king's daughter, "what are you doing there?"
"I am spinning," said the old woman, and nodded her head.
"What sort of thing is that, that rattles round so merrily," said the girl, and she took
the spindle and wanted to spin too. But scarcely had she touched the spindle when
the magic decree was fulfilled, and she pricked her finger with it.
And, in the very moment when she felt the prick, she fell down upon the bed that
stood there, and lay in a deep sleep. And this sleep extended over the whole palace,
the king and queen who had just come home, and had entered the great hall, began
to go to sleep, and the whole of the court with them. The horses, too, went to sleep
in the stable, the dogs in the yard, the pigeons upon the roof, the flies on the wall,
even the fire that was flaming on the hearth became quiet and slept, the roast meat
left off frizzling, and the cook, who was just going to pull the hair of the scullery boy,
because he had forgotten something, let him go, and went to sleep. And the wind
fell, and on the trees before the castle not a leaf moved again.
But round about the castle there began to grow a hedge of thorns, which every
year became higher, and at last grew close up round the castle and all over it, so

Cinderella
Once upon a time... there lived an unhappy young girl.
Unhappy she was, for her mother was dead, her father had
married another woman, a widow with two daughters, and
her stepmother didn't like her one little bit. All the nice things,
kind thoughts and loving touches were for her own
daughters. And not just the kind thoughts and love, but also
dresses, shoes, shawls, delicious food, comfy beds, as well
as every home comfort. All this was laid on for her
daughters. But, for the poor unhappy girl, there was nothing
at all. No dresses, only her stepsisters' hand-me-downs. No
lovely dishes, nothing but scraps. No nice rests and comfort.
For she had to work hard all day, and only when evening
came was she allowed to sit for a while by the fire, near the
cinders. That is how she got her nickname, for everybody
called her Cinderella. Cinderella used to spend long hours all
alone talking to the cat. The cat said,
"Miaow", which really meant, "Cheer up! You have
something neither of your stepsisters have and that is
beauty."
It was quite true. Cinderella, even dressed in rags with a
dusty gray face from the cinders, was a lovely girl. While her
stepsisters, no matter how splendid and elegant their
clothes, were still clumsy, lumpy and ugly and always would
be.
One day, beautiful new dresses arrived at the house. A
ball was to be held at Court and the stepsisters were getting
ready to go to it. Cinderella, didn't even dare ask, "What
about me?" for she knew very well what the answer to that
would be:
"You? My dear girl, you're staying at home to wash the
dishes, scrub the floors and turn down the beds for your
stepsisters. They will come home tired and very sleepy."
Cinderella sighed at the cat.
"Oh dear, I'm so unhappy!" and the cat murmured
"Miaow".
Suddenly something amazing happened. In the kitchen,
where Cinderella was sitting all by herself, there was a burst
of light and a fairy appeared.
"Don't be alarmed, Cinderella," said the fairy. "The wind
blew me your sighs. I know you would love to go to the ball.

And so you shall!"

"How can I, dressed in rags?" Cinderella replied. "The
servants will turn me away!" The fairy smiled. With a flick of
her magic wand... Cinderella found herself wearing the most
beautiful dress, the loveliest ever seen in the realm.
"Now that we have settled the matter of the dress," said
the fairy, "we'll need to get you a coach. A real lady would
never go to a ball on foot!"
"Quick! Get me a pumpkin!" she ordered.
"Oh of course," said Cinderella, rushing away. Then the
fairy turned to the cat.
"You, bring me seven mice!"
"Seven mice!" said the cat. "I didn't know fairies ate mice
too!"
"They're not for eating, silly! Do as you are told!... and,
remember they must be alive!"
Cinderella soon returned with a fine pumpkin and the cat
with seven mice he had caught in the cellar.
"Good!" exclaimed the fairy. With a flick of her magic
wand... wonder of wonders! The pumpkin turned into a
sparkling coach and the mice became six white horses, while
the seventh mouse turned into a coachman, in a smart
uniform and carrying a whip. Cinderella could hardly believe
her eyes.
"I shall present you at Court. You will soon see that the
Prince, in whose honor the ball is being held, will be
enchanted by your loveliness. But remember! You must
leave the ball at midnight and come home. For that is when
the spell ends. Your coach will turn back into a pumpkin, the
horses will become mice again and the coachman will turn
back into a mouse... and you will be dressed again in rags
and wearing clogs instead of these dainty little slippers! Do
you understand?" Cinderella smiled and said,
"Yes, I understand!"
When Cinderella entered the ballroom at the palace, a
hush fell. Everyone stopped in mid-sentence to admire her
elegance, her beauty and grace.

"Who can that be?" people asked each other. The two
stepsisters also wondered who the newcomer was, for never
in a month of Sundays, would they ever have guessed that
the beautiful girl was really poor Cinderella who talked to the
cat!
When the prince set eyes on Cinderella, he was struck by
her beauty. Walking over to her, he bowed deeply and asked
her to dance. And to the great disappointment of all the
young ladies, he danced with Cinderella all evening.
"Who are you, fair maiden?" the Prince kept asking her.
But Cinderella only replied:
"What does it matter who I am! You will never see me
again anyway."
"Oh, but I shall, I'm quite certain!" he replied.
Cinderella had a wonderful time at the ball... But, all of a
sudden, she heard the sound of a clock: the first stroke of
midnight! She remembered what the fairy had said, and
without a word of goodbye she slipped from the Prince's
arms and ran down the steps. As she ran she lost one of her
slippers, but not for a moment did she dream of stopping to
pick it up! If the last stroke of midnight were to sound... oh...
what a disaster that would be! Out she fled and vanished into
the night.
The Prince, who was now madly in love with her, picked
up her slipper and said to his ministers,
"Go and search everywhere for the girl whose foot this
slipper fits. I will never be content until I find her!" So the
ministers tried the slipper on the foot of all the girls... and on
Cinderella's foot as well... Surprise! The slipper fitted
perfectly.
"That awful untidy girl simply cannot have been at the
ball," snapped the stepmother. "Tell the Prince he ought to
marry one of my two daughters! Can't you see how ugly
Cinderella is! Can't you see?"
Suddenly she broke off, for the fairy had appeared.
"That's enough!" she exclaimed, raising her magic wand.
In a flash, Cinderella appeared in a splendid dress, shining
with youth and beauty. Her stepmother and stepsisters

gaped at her in amazement, and the ministers said,

"Come with us, fair maiden! The Prince awaits to present
you with his engagement ring!" So Cinderella joyfully went
with them, and lived happily ever after with her Prince. And
as for the cat, he just said "Miaow"!
The End

The Ugly Duckling

Once upon a time down on an old farm, lived a duck family, and
Mother Duck had been sitting on a clutch of new eggs. One nice
morning, the eggs hatched and out popped six chirpy ducklings. But
one egg was bigger than the rest, and it didn't hatch. Mother Duck
couldn't recall laying that seventh egg. How did it get there? TOCK!
TOCK! The little prisoner was pecking inside his shell.
"Did I count the eggs wrongly?" Mother Duck wondered. But before
she had time to think about it, the last egg finally hatched. A strange
looking duckling with gray feathers that should have been yellow
gazed at a worried mother. The ducklings grew quickly, but Mother
Duck had a secret worry.
"I can't understand how this ugly duckling can be one of mine!" she
said to herself, shaking her head as she looked at her last born. Well,
the gray duckling certainly wasn't pretty, and since he ate far more
than his brothers, he was outgrowing them. As the days went by, the
poor ugly duckling became more and more unhappy. His brothers
didn't want to play with him, he was so
clumsy, and all the farmyard folks simply laughed at him. He felt sad
and lonely, while Mother Duck did her best to console him.
"Poor little ugly duckling!" she would say. "Why are you so different
from the others?" And the ugly duckling felt worse than ever. He
secretly wept at night. He felt nobody wanted him.
"Nobody loves me, they all tease me! Why am I different from my
brothers?"
Then one day, at sunrise, he ran away from the farmyard. He
stopped at a pond and began to question all the other birds. "Do you

know of any ducklings with gray feathers like mine?" But everyone
shook their heads in scorn.
"We don't know anyone as ugly as you." The ugly duckling did not
lose heart, however, and kept on making inquiries. He went to
another pond, where a pair of large geese gave him the same answer
to his question. What's more, they warned him: "Don't stay here! Go
away! It's dangerous. There are men with guns around here!" The
duckling was sorry he had ever left the farmyard.
Then one day, his travels took him near an old countrywoman's
cottage. Thinking he was a stray goose, she caught him.
"I'll put this in a hutch. I hope it's a female and lays plenty of eggs!"
said the old woman, whose eyesight was poor. But the ugly duckling
laid not a single egg. The hen kept frightening him.
"Just wait! If you don't lay eggs, the old woman will wring your neck
and pop you into the pot!" And the cat chipped in: "Hee! Hee! I hope
the woman cooks you, then I can gnaw at your bones!" The poor ugly
duckling was so scared that he lost his appetite, though the old
woman kept stuffing him with food and grumbling: "If you won't lay
eggs, at least hurry up and get plump!"
"Oh, dear me!" moaned the now terrified duckling. "I'll die of fright
first! And I did so hope someone would love me!"
Then one night, finding the hutch door ajar, he escaped. Once
again he was all alone. He fled as far away as he could, and at dawn,
he found himself in a thick bed of reeds. "If nobody wants me, I'll hid
here forever." There was plenty a food, and the duckling began to feel
a little happier, though he was lonely. One day at sunrise, he saw a
flight of beautiful birds wing overhead. White, with long slender necks,
yellow beaks and large wings, they were migrating south.
"If only I could look like them, just for a day!" said the duckling,
admiringly. Winter came and the water in the reed bed froze. The
poor duckling left home to seek food in the snow. He dropped
exhausted to the ground, but a farmer found him and put him in his
big jacket pocket.
"I'll take him home to my children. They'll look after him. Poor thing,
he's frozen!" The duckling was showered with kindly care at the
farmer's house. In this way, the ugly duckling was able to survive the
bitterly cold winter.
However, by springtime, he had grown so big that the farmer
decided: "I'll set him free by the pond!" That was when the duckling
saw himself mirrored in the water.

"Goodness! How I've changed! I hardly recognize myself!" The flight

of swans winged north again and glided on to the pond. When the
duckling saw them, he realized he was one of their kind, and soon
made friends.
"We're swans like you!" they said, warmly. "Where have you been
hiding?"
"It's a long story," replied the young swan, still astounded. Now, he
swam majestically with his fellow swans. One day, he heard children
on the river bank exclaim: "Look at that young swan! He's the finest of
them all!"
And he almost burst with happiness

Summary