151 Tales From Europe

A rich nobleman of Rome was curious about Russia and set off on his horse one winter to explore the place. He had heard a lot about the heavy snow and frost that occurred in winter in the north of Europe, but was quite sure that he could manage to reach there without any trouble.

Thomas Hickathrift had been named after his father, but he was not like him at all. He was, in fact, very lazy and ate enough for half a dozen men. By the time he was ten years old, he was eight feet tall and his fame began to spread across the countryside as a marvellously

In Cumberland lived a nobleman with three sons, two of whom were clever, but the third one, called Foolish Jack, was sent to mind the sheep. The King of Canterbury had a beautiful and witty daughter, and he proclaimed that she would marry the man who could answer three of her questions. Jack went along

A hard-working woodcutter lived near a forest with his wife. Every morning, he went into the forest to cut trees and would sell the chopped wood in the village. One morning, when he swung his axe at a large old oak tree, he heard a sound as if someone cried out in pain. “Oh, stop!”

In the village of Swaffham in Norfolk lived a poor pedlar. He had a hut near the ruins of the church. Every day he would go around selling his wares, with his dog following him. At night he would return, tired out, to sleep. One night he dreamt of London, its famous Tower and Bridge

An old nobleman lived in a large mansion, where he mourned for the death of his beloved daughter so much that his beard grew long. It got caught in the cracks on the floor and his tears cut a groove so that it became a stream! He had a grand-daughter, but he didn’t wish to

On the edge of a lonely marsh beside a hill-side was a small cottage in which lived a widow and her six-year-old son. The place was lonely for there were no neighbours for miles around and at night there were strange noises, for in the marsh lived elves and fairies. The widow made up the

Once upon a time, a girl had a husband she never saw, for he would come only at night and would allow no light. Her friends told her he must be some monster or have some deformity, so she ought to find out the truth. One night when he came home, she lit a lamp.

Once upon a time, there was a girl whose mother died and her father married again, bringing home a stepmother who really didn’t like her stepdaughter. Her stepdaughter was pretty and this made the woman dislike her so much that she finally decided to get rid of her. She told the girl that she needed

Jack was quite fed up of his father’s cruelty, so he ran away from home. Running blindly, he knocked down an old woman, and apologised. “Young fellow, you can apologise by working for me!” said the woman. Jack agreed, for he was tired and hungry. When he had served her for a year, she gave

Once upon a time, a King and a Queen lived happily at Bamborough Castle with their son, Childe Wynd, and daughter, Margaret. Childe Wynd went to seek his fortune in the world. Sometime later, the Queen died. The King was sad but he met a beautiful lady while out hunting and married her. When he

A King had a daughter, Anne, who was pretty, and his Queen had another daughter, Kate, who was clever. The girls loved each other very much though the Queen felt rather envious of Anne’s beauty. She wished to make Anne look plain and wondered what to do about it. Then, she consulted the hen-wife who

A poor man and his wife had a lot of children and couldn’t feed them. So, they abandoned three of their girls in a forest, hoping they would look after themselves. As night fell, the girls were tired and hungry. They found a house and knocked at the door. The woman who opened it said,

A rich nobleman had three daughters. One day, he asked each of them to show how much they loved him. “I love you as much as I love my life,” said the eldest. “I love you more than the whole world!” said the second. Both the answers pleased their father. Then the youngest said, “I

Jack Hannaford was an old soldier who had just been discharged from the army. He did not know how he was going to find any work, nor did he have much money. He reached a farmhouse, not knowing that a foolish couple lived there. The farmer had gone to the market, giving ten pounds to