Once upon a time there was a king who had a wife, whose name was Silver-tree, and a daughter, whose name was Gold-tree. On a certain day of the days, Gold-tree and Silver-tree went to a glen, where there was a well, and in it there was a trout.

Said Silver-tree, "Troutie, bonny little fellow, am not I the most beautiful queen in the world?"

"Oh! indeed you are not."

"Who then?"

"Why, Gold-tree, your daughter."

Silver-tree went home, blind with rage. She lay down on the bed, and vowed she would never be well until she could get the heart and the liver of Gold-tree, her daughter, to eat.

At nightfall the king came home, and it was told him that Silver- tree, his wife, was very ill. He went where she was, and asked her what was wrong with her.

"Oh! only a thing--which you may heal if you like."

"Oh! indeed there is nothing at all which I could do for you that I would not do."

"If I get the heart and the liver of Gold-tree, my daughter, to eat, I shall be well."

Now it happened about this time that the son of a great king had come from abroad to ask Gold-tree for marrying. The king now agreed to this, and they went abroad.

The king then went and sent his lads to the hunting-hill for a he- goat, and he gave its heart and its liver to his wife to eat; and she rose well and healthy.

A year after this Silver-tree went to the glen, where there was the well in which there was the trout.

"Troutie, bonny little fellow," said she, "am not I the most beautiful queen in the world?"

"Oh! indeed you are not."

"Who then?"

"Why, Gold-tree, your daughter."

"Oh! well, it is long since she was living. It is a year since I ate her heart and liver."

"Oh! indeed she is not dead. She is married to a great prince abroad."

Silver-tree went home, and begged the king to put the long-ship in order, and said, "I am going to see my dear Gold-tree, for it is so long since I saw her." The long-ship was put in order, and they went away.

It was Silver-tree herself that was at the helm, and she steered the ship so well that they were not long at all before they arrived.

The prince was out hunting on the hills. Gold-tree knew the long- ship of her father coming.

"Oh!" said she to the servants, "my mother is coming, and she will kill me."

"She shall not kill you at all; we will lock you in a room where she cannot get near you."

This is how it was done; and when Silver-tree came ashore, she began to cry out:

"Come to meet your own mother, when she comes to see you," Gold-tree said that she could not, that she was locked in the room, and that she could not get out of it.

"Will you not put out," said Silver-tree, "your little finger through the key-hole, so that your own mother may give a kiss to it?"

She put out her little finger, and Silver-tree went and put a poisoned stab in it, and Gold-tree fell dead.

When the prince came home, and found Gold-tree dead, he was in great sorrow, and when he saw how beautiful she was, he did not bury her at all, but he locked her in a room where nobody would get near her.

In the course of time he married again, and the whole house was under the hand of this wife but one room, and he himself always kept the key of that room. On a certain day of the days he forgot to take the key with him, and the second wife got into the room. What did she see there but the most beautiful woman that she ever saw.

She began to turn and try to wake her, and she noticed the poisoned stab in her finger. She took the stab out, and Gold-tree rose alive, as beautiful as she was ever.

At the fall of night the prince came home from the hunting-hill, looking very downcast.

"What gift," said his wife, "would you give me that I could make you laugh?"

"Oh! indeed, nothing could make me laugh, except Gold-tree were to come alive again."

"Well, you'll find her alive down there in the room."

When the prince saw Gold-tree alive he made great rejoicings, and he began to kiss her, and kiss her, and kiss her. Said the second wife, "Since she is the first one you had it is better for you to stick to her, and I will go away."

"Oh! indeed you shall not go away, but I shall have both of you."

At the end of the year, Silver-tree went to the glen, where there was the well, in which there was the trout.

"Troutie, bonny little fellow," said she, "am not I the most beautiful queen in the world?"

"Oh! indeed you are not."

"Who then?"

"Why, Gold-tree, your daughter."

"Oh! well, she is not alive. It is a year since I put the poisoned stab into her finger."

"Oh! indeed she is not dead at all, at all."

Silver-tree, went home, and begged the king to put the long-ship in order, for that she was going to see her dear Gold-tree, as it was so long since she saw her. The long-ship was put in order, and they went away. It was Silver-tree herself that was at the helm, and she steered the ship so well that they were not long at all before they arrived.

The prince was out hunting on the hills. Gold-tree knew her father's ship coming.

"Oh!" said she, "my mother is coming, and she will kill me."

"Not at all," said the second wife; "we will go down to meet her."

Silver-tree came ashore. "Come down, Gold-tree, love," said she, "for your own mother has come to you with a precious drink."

"It is a custom in this country," said the second wife, "that the person who offers a drink takes a draught out of it first."

Silver-tree put her mouth to it, and the second wife went and struck it so that some of it went down her throat, and she fell dead. They had only to carry her home a dead corpse and bury her.

The prince and his two wives were long alive after this, pleased and peaceful.

I left them there.

A sprightly tailor was employed by the great Macdonald, in his castle at Saddell, in order to make the laird a pair of trews, used in olden time. And trews being the vest and breeches united in one piece, and ornamented with fringes, were very comfortable, and suitable to be worn in walking or dancing. And Macdonald had said to the tailor, that if he would make the trews by night in the church, he would get a handsome reward. For it was thought that the old ruined church was haunted, and that fearsome things were to be seen there at night.

The tailor was well aware of this - but he was a sprightly man, and when the laird dared him to make the trews by night in the church, the tailor was not to be daunted, but took it in hand to gain the prize. So, when night came, away he went up the glen, about half a mile distance from the castle, till he came to the old church. Then he chose him a nice gravestone for a seat and he lighted his candle, and put on his thimble, and set to work at the trews - plying his needle nimbly, and thinking about the hire that the laird would have to give him.

For some time he got on pretty well, until he felt the floor all of a tremble under his feet - and looking about him, but keeping his fingers at work, he saw the appearance of a great human head rising up through the stone pavement of the church. And when the head had risen above the surface, there came from it a great, great voice. And the voice said, "Do you see this great head of mine?"

"I see that, but I'll sew this!" replied the sprightly tailor - and he stitched away at the trews.

Then the head rose higher up through the pavement, until its neck appeared. And when its neck was shown, the thundering voice came again and said, "Do you see this great neck of mine?"

"I see that, but I'll sew this!" said the sprightly tailor - and he stitched away at his trews.

Then the head and neck rose higher still, until the great shoulders and chest were shown above the ground. And again the mighty voice thundered, "Do you see this great chest of mine?"

And again the sprightly tailor replied, "I see that, but I'll sew this!" and stitched away at his trews.

And still it kept rising through the pavement, until it shook a great pair of arms in the tailor's face, and said, "Do you see these great arms of mine?"

"I see those, but I'll sew this!" answered the tailor - and he stitched hard at his trews, for he knew that he had no time to lose.

The sprightly tailor was taking the long stitches, when he saw it gradually rising and rising through the floor, until it lifted out a great leg, and stamping with it upon the pavement, said in a roaring voice, "Do you see this great leg of mine?"

"Aye, aye, I see that, but I'll sew this!" cried the tailor - and his fingers flew with the needle, and he took such long stitches, that he was just come to the end of the trews, when it was taking up its other leg. But before it could pull it out of the pavement, the sprightly tailor had finished his task - and, blowing out his candle, and springing from off his gravestone, he buckled up, and ran out of the church with the trews under his arm. Then the fearsome thing gave a loud roar, and stamped with both his feet upon the pavement, and out of the church he went after the sprightly tailor.

Down the glen they ran, faster than the stream when the flood rides it - but the tailor had got the start and a nimble pair of legs, and he did not choose to lose the laird's reward. And though the thing roared to him to stop, yet the sprightly tailor was not the man to be beholden to a monster. So he held his trews tight, and let no darkness grow under his feet, until he had reached Saddell Castle. He had no sooner got inside the gate, and shut it, than the apparition came up to it - and, enraged at losing his prize, struck the wall above the gate, and left there the mark of his five great fingers. Ye may see them plainly to this day, if ye'll only peer close enough.

But the sprightly tailor gained his reward - for Macdonald paid him handsomely for the trews, and never discovered that a few of the stitches were somewhat long.

PISI FABLE

Once upon a time, in California, in the West coast of America,
 there lived a family of sheep; the daddy was called Carnero and the mummy Oveja
 and they had a lot of little lambs, so many that they didn’t know exactly how many.

One day, the daddy, Carnero, thought that it would be a good idea to buy a computer
So that the little lambs would be able to play pacman.

When they took it home, the little lambs started playing and they loved it.
They called the computer Pisi and they liked it so much
they were always in a huge queue to play
 and, when one of them finished playing,
he went to the end of the queue to play again.

Also, they treated Pisi very badly,
they pressed the keys down very hard
 and they always played pacman,
Day by day, week by week, month by month.

Pisi was very bored and was becoming angry
 because the little lambs didn’t take any notice of their daddy and mummy.
They told them that they needed to press the keys more gently,
with sweetness and love and that they needed to let Pisi have a rest every now and then.

 

they called the little lambs for lunch but none came;
they called again, and, when none appeared,
they started to look for them.

Because they couldn’t find them,
they started to get worried and worried.

Suddenly, Oveja looked at Pisi and realized that it was working on its own;
Then, Carnero went closer to the screen
and saw how one of the pacmen ate a little lamb
and put it in a diskette.

In this way, he realized that in each diskette there was a little lamb,
so he took them all out of their diskettes
 and called a technician to mend Pisi.

The technician said that they had pressed the keys to hard
and that it had been too long working without stopping,
but that it wasn’t serious and he mended Pisi.

And from then on the little lambs treated Pisi  much more gently,
they played Sokoban, chess and lots of other games
And  on top of that they stopped for a while so that it rested.

And they all lived happy ever after and played pacman and now…

SLEEP!

LONG-LEGS AND SHORT-LEGS

Once upon a time, in the heart of Africa, in the Savannah,
there lived an ostrich called Avestruz,
and he had two little sons,
one had very long legs and the other one very short ones,
and they were called Long-Legs and Short-Legs.
Also, to look after their home, he had an ostrich called Uuz.

 

 

Every day, Daddy Av... would tell the little ostriches
that they had to tidy up all their toys,
because, if not, one day the little elephant Fante would come
and take them all to his house.

L...-Legs and Sh...-Legs didn’t believe it
and they were very lazy
and they didn’t take any notice of their Daddy.

Until one day, when everyone was sleeping,
little F..., who was very naughty,
came to see if there were any toys he could take home,
and, because he was so playful, he took all of them.

The next morning, when L...-Legs and Sh...-Legs woke up,
they looked for the toys, and, when they didn’t find them,
they ran to wake up their Daddy, Avestruz,
who had his head hidden in the sand
(Because that’s how ostriches sleep).

When they managed to wake him up,
they told him they couldn’t find the toys.
Avestruz answered them: I had warned you, but don’t worry,
I’ll go and speak with little F...
to ask him if he has them,
and then, because he is so proud,
I am going to tell him that I’ll race him,
and that if I win, he has to give them back.

And so they raced, to see who could go
to a tree that was in the distance,
 turned around and come back first.
And do you know who one? Avestruz.
And do you know why? Because even though little F... ran very fast,
Daddy A... was the ostrich with the longest legs of all the ostriches
and he was very strong and powerful.

 

 

And so, little F... gave them back all their toys
and also two little wooden elephants, one with very long legs
and the other with very short legs.

And the little ostriches, from that day on,
always tidied up all their toys before going to bed.

And everyone was happy, and they all ate worms and big eggs,

and now... SLEEP

THE FAIRY DOCTOR

By Caroline Sedgwick

Once upon a time, there was a little girl called ~~~Susana;
~and she was a very good girl ~and she was very pretty ~and she was very clever;
~and her mummy ~and daddy loved her ~~~very much.
~and one day, Susana, started limping, she couldn’t walk properly,
~and her leg hurt ~and her mummy ~and daddy were very worried,
because they didn’t know how it had happened,
or why it had happened or when it had happened.
So they decided to take her to ~~~ the fairy doctor.
So they got into the car ~and they drove out of the garage
~and they drove to the fairy doctor’s surgery
~and when they got there they sat in the waiting room for a while,
waiting for the fairy doctor to come out
~and when she came out she said “hello Susana ~and what’s the matter with you?”
~and Susana said “oh, doctor, my leg hurts, ~and I can’t walk properly”
~and the doctor said “well come into my office ~and lie down on the bed
~and we’ll see what we can do”. So Susana lay down on the bed
~and the fairy doctor started to feel her left leg (massage, massage, prod, prod)
~and she worked her way from the thigh right down to the foot ~and up again
~and then she said “no, that’s not the leg, it must be the other leg”
~and she went to the right leg
~and she worked her way from the thigh right down to the foot ~and up again
~and then she said “I know what the problem is, the problem is ~~~ the knee”
~and so she went fiddle, fiddle, fiddle, prod, prod, prod massage, massage, massage
~~~~~~ CLICK ~and Susana “doctor, doctor, my leg doesn’t hurt anymore”
~and the fairy doctor said “get down off the bed ~and walk across the room”
~and Susana walked across the room ~and she didn’t limp
~and she rushed over to the fairy doctor and she gave her a big kiss
~and she said “doctor, doctor, thank you for making my leg all better “
~and the magic doctor said “it was a pleasure, come back any time”.
~and Susana ~and her mummy ~and her daddy got back  in the car ~and they drove home
~and when they got home Susana had a lovely warm bath
~and got into her lovely warm pyjamas
~and she had some lovely warm supper
~and then, she practiced walking, ~and she walked from the telly to the sofa
~and from the computer to the dining room table
~and her leg didn’t hurt ~and she could walk properly
~and then she went to bed
~and she went straight to sleep because she was very tired
~and it had been a very long day
~and that’s the end of the story
~and they all lived happily ever after
~and now
~~~~~~- SLEEP!

THE SUN, THE CLOUDS AND THE STARS

By Caroline Sedgwick

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a country where it was always raining, raining and raining; downpours of rain all day, every day, for years and years and years. And there lived a little boy, in a little house on the mountain, with his Daddy and his dog.

He was nine years old and every day of his life, it had rained and rained, all day and all night.

Can you imagine it always raining and always being wet?

People were always telling him that, before he was born, there had been such a thing as a sun; this was a big, round, yellow thing, which gave warmth and light to everything and everybody and it always had a smile on its big, round, yellow face. And to see that smile on the sun, people would look at it and smile back at it.

The little boy could not seem to picture the idea of a big, round, yellow, smiling face, as he had never seen one. And he couldn't believe that people could look at it and smile, because in his little village, nobody smiled; they all looked sad.

One day, the people began to comment that the skies seemed a little lighter. It was still raining and the black clouds were still there, hanging in the skies, but it did seem lighter.

The following day, people began to comment more, that it seemed to have rained less. The next day, it only rained for half the day. The next, it only drizzled and trickled. The next day, it stopped raining.

The following day, there were white clouds and not black ones. Next, there were bits of blue sky. Until suddenly, there were no clouds at all and a big, round, yellow thing sat heavily in the sky, giving warmth and light to everybody. And the people looked up at this thing and they smiled to see it because it had a big, beaming smile on its face.

 And the little boy sat up in bed and saw a thing he had heard in stories: a big, round, yellow thing up in the sky, with a smile on its face. "That must be the sun!", exclaimed the little boy, smiling back. And he ran into the streets and saw that everyone else was smiling.

Once upon a time, in a little village near Brussels called Tervuren, there was a big park and in the middle of the park there was an enormous wood and in that wood, there was a dark and gloomy/sinister lake and in that lake there lived a Monster called M.

M had eaten all the other monsters who used to live in the lake and all the children who used to go near the side of the lake and so/for that reason, he had an enormous round tummy. It was so big that when the monster moved, it scraped along the bottom of the lake/ground and so that he could move better, he had to hold on to the branches of the trees around the lake and they were all broken and almost touching the water.

M the Monster was hungry; there was no more to eat; he had eaten all the monsters and the children didn't go near the side of the lake anymore because they were scared/afraid.

Until one day, near the lake, a group of children were playing football and one little boy kicked the ball so hard that it landed/stopped near one corner of the lake.

M, who was getting more and more hungry every day, looked at the round thing near the corner of the lake and thought: I could eat that. So he went to the corner, his tummy scraping along the ground and holding on to the branches of the trees and with one gulp/in one go/in one mouthful he swallowed the ball.

 

 

So the monsters and the children who were inside his tummy began to play a game of football and one monster kicked the ball so hard that it exploded/blew up. All the air inside the ball began to escape and the monster's tummy began to get bigger and bigger until it too exploded.

So all the monsters came out of the monster's tummy and all the children went running home to tell their parents "we're here at last" and to tell them everything that had happened.

M's tummy was not big and round anymore and it didn't touch the ground and he was thin.
He could walk without holding/grabbing on to the branches of the trees, but most of all he had friends.

There were more monsters in the lake and he could play with them.
So M thought "I'm not going to eat any more monsters or children.

And from that moment on, M only ate fruit from the trees near the lake
and when children went near the side of the lake, M gave them rides on his enormous tail.

And they all lived happily ever after

and now... SLEEP

Noriko Mizusaki

Once upon a time there was a country of mice. It was called Navy. In its north-west, there was a small village, called Pipin. It is on the events in Pipin village that I am going to tell you.
One time, in Pipin village, a happening was going about. That is, Popy the mouse had been missing since three days ago. Where wae he gone? The mice in the village got excited and tried to search every place for him, but none coud find him. But when they almost gave up, thinking he might have been dead, Popy happened to come back. All had nothing to do but only to watch, forgetting the rejoice of his returning. Then, Popy said to the mice that had gathered there.
"I saw a dragon. I saw him at the pond beyond that mountain."
said Popy the mouse to all. All means the mice in Pipin village in the country of Nabee, a country of mice.
" It is not true. You are a liar. It cannot be true."
said Tom the mouse.
" A dragon is a legendary animal. It cannot exist really."
said Miss P the mouse.
" That mount is far from here. To reach the pond beyond that mount it takes five days' walking
at least. Did you really walk to get there?"
said Hosao the mouse.
"I did not walk. I went there roller skating. It took only three days."
answered Popy.
"I really saw him. A dragon was rising up to the heaven."
Popy insisted upon, but no one believed it.
" It is a lie. You are a liar. Let him get in a blue house."
The blue house is a legendary house. They believed it was situated on the skirts of the village. They believed that when children were found in mischief, the mice in blue would come up from the blue house and take them there. So when children happened to do bad things, adults used to say, " Be a good one. Or the blue ones come to you from the blue house." But, no one in the viollage really see the house.
All threw bits of food at Pipin and shouted.
" A liar. A liar. Get away from here."
Hisao the mouse pulled Popy's tail.
Tom the mouse pulled Popy's whiskers.
" Get away from here! Get away from here!"
The bits of food covered all over his body.
Popy escaped from them and went to under a tree and wiped his whiskers and said to himself.
" Everybody doesn't believe me. I am saying a truth."
He didn't know who called an ambulance. But an ambulance came and three mice wearing in white got down from it. The fattest one said to Popy.
"We came to pick up you. Get on. We can take you to the hospital."
" Oh, no, no. Please don't. I am not ill."
Popy insisted, but in vain. The three mice far bigger than him tackled him and forced him into the car.
Popy weeped shaking his whiskers on the car.
"Nobody believes me."
But as he could not do anything, so he only watched the scenery outside flying away from him. About half an hour might have passed. The ambulance arrived at a big house.
"Get down. A hospital."
Said the fattest mouse. Popy descended from the car without any protests. One reason was that he was hungry.
" This is my fate. I can only pray to God."
He thought to himself.
"My God, please forsake me."
He prayed hard with all his might.
"Come here."
The fattest one led him into the house. It was a big, large house. After they walked on the long corridors and passed several rooms, the fattest mouse opened a door of a small room and said to Popy.
"Here. Enter it. And wait."
Popy entered. That was a room painted pink all over with only two small pink chairs on the corner. When the fat mouse saw Popy enter there, he shut the door and disappeared.
Popy stood there seeing around him. Then came in the room a tall mouse with a pair of spectacles wearing in pink and a middle-aged female mouse. Her gown was in pink, too. The mouse with a pair of spectacles was a doctor. The female one was a nurse. The doctor mouse sat down on one chair and gave his order to Popy.
"Take the seat."
After Popy unwillingly sat down on the chair, Doctor started his check.
"Since when did you started saying you saw a dragon?" .
Popy said to him.
"It is a truth. Truly I saw him."
"When?"
"Three days ago."
"What was the weather like that day?" asked Doctor.
"It was sunny. I saw the sun."
"It is a lie. It should have been misty. So you mistook something for a dragon. Something like a tree. You thought it as a dragon."
Said Doctor.
"No. It was clear. Clearly I saw with my eyes. It was a dragon."
Said Popy.
"You lie again. You are ill. You have a delusion. Hey!"
Said Doctor to Nurse standing beside him.
"Let him take medicine. And let this fellow confine in that yellow room."
Hearing it, Nurse mouse gave her order to Popy.
"Come after me. You see, You are ill. A delusion. You must not get outside from here. You will have a strange dream again."
"Nobody understands me."
Popy weeped.
"Mom and Dad! Help me! They made me mad!"
But in vain. Nurse dragged him along and opened the door of a small room at the end of the corridor. She thrust him into it and forced him to get in it. When Popy tumbled into the room, she slapped the door.
It was pink color all over, just like the other room. Only a bed in pink was on the corner. A small jar beside it was maybe supposed to use as a toilet. It had no windows. So he could not see outdside.
Popy weeped sadly.
Many days passed since then. It seemed that he stayed there for many years. Nurse mouse put three meals and medicine and a water pitch everyday without saying anything. The meal was poor and only porridge.
"Why should I be treated like this? Only I said the truth."
Popy thought so. Popy got thinnner because of the poor food. Maybe because of the medicine, black spots appeared all over on his body.
"Mom! Dad!"
Called Popy. But Popy's voice only resounded on the wall in vain.
One day, he thought.
"If I was confined in such a place and could not get out, I would rather die."
Popy's body was weakened because of malnutrition and a lack of physical exercise. So he lost the will to live. One morning, he tried to hang himself suspending a belt of his pants from the frame of his bed. It was at that time when he was going to the other world, all the room was given big shakes.
"An earthquake!"
Popy thought so. Popy stopped hanging himself and looked up at the ceiling. It was bigly shaked. And while Popy stood there in a surprise, suddenly the ceiling was split into halves. Then he saw. A big dragon was rising up to the sky. The earthquake was caused by the dragon. Soon the house was all broken into pieces and a wide field and forests and the blue sky were seen. On the rubbles many mice were standing. Among them, there were a doctor mouse and a nurse mouse. All of them looked up at the sky in a surprise.
"Look! A dragon indeed!"
A doctor mouse shouted at a nurse mouse.
"Look! A dragon is rising up to the sky!"
Truly, a dragon is going up higher and higher.
Popy did not stop watching the dragon.. . .