52 FAIRY TALES 1. Cinderella Once upon a time, there was a pretty girl named Cinderella who lived with her wicked stepmother and two selfish stepsisters. They made her do all the housework from morning till night. One day an invitation came from the palace. The King wanted all the young ladies of the land to come to the royal ball. His son, the Prince, would choose his bride at the ball. Cinderella watched sadly as her stepsisters put on their finest gowns and left for the ball. Suddenly a kind fairy appeared. She changed some mice into horses and a pumpkin into a coach. Then she changed Cinderella’s ragged dress into a beautiful gown. On her feet she now wore a pair of glass shoes. “You must leave the palace before midnight when the magic will end,” the fairy warned Cinderella as she stepped into her coach. At the ball, Cinderella was so beautiful that the Prince danced with her all night. When the clock struck midnight, Cinderella rushed out of the ballroom. As she ran down the stairs, her glass shoe dropped. She had no time to pick it up. Anyway she sped in her coach. When the last bell of midnight rang, Cinderella was back in her old clothes again. The next day, the Prince sent out a search party. “I will marry the girl who owns the glass shoe,” he declared. When the search party reached Cinderella’s house, the stepsisters took turns trying to squeeze their big feet into the glass shoe. Just then, Cinderella came into the room and asked to try on the shoe. The glass shoes fitted her perfectly Cinderella was led to the palace right away where she and the Prince were soon married.
Trang 152 FAIRY TALES
1 Cinderella
Once upon a time, there was a pretty girl named Cinderella who lived with her wickedstepmother and two selfish stepsisters They made her do all the housework from morning tillnight
One day an invitation came from the palace The King wanted all the young ladies ofthe land to come to the royal ball His son, the Prince, would choose his bride at the ball
Cinderella watched sadly as her stepsisters put on their finest gowns and left for theball
Suddenly a kind fairy appeared She changed some mice into horses and a pumpkin into
a coach Then she changed Cinderella’s ragged dress into a beautiful gown On her feet shenow wore a pair of glass shoes
“You must leave the palace before midnight when the magic will end,” the fairy warnedCinderella as she stepped into her coach
At the ball, Cinderella was so beautiful that the Prince danced with her all night Whenthe clock struck midnight, Cinderella rushed out of the ballroom As she ran down the stairs,her glass shoe dropped She had no time to pick it up Anyway she sped in her coach When thelast bell of midnight rang, Cinderella was back in her old clothes again
The next day, the Prince sent out a search party “I will marry the girl who owns theglass shoe,” he declared
When the search party reached Cinderella’s house, the stepsisters took turns trying tosqueeze their big feet into the glass shoe
Just then, Cinderella came into the room and asked to try on the shoe The glass shoesfitted her perfectly!
Cinderella was led to the palace right away where she and the Prince were soonmarried
2 Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
There once was a poor boy named Aladdin One day a magician promised him a reward ofgold and jewels if he could do a special job Aladdin agreed
The magician led Aladdin into a cave He told the boy to crawl inside to get an old lamp
He gave him a ring in case of danger
Aladdin found the lamp but the magician would not let Aladdin out until he gave him thelamp The magician pushed a rock over the cave entrance to trap Aladdin inside
Aladdin remembered the ring and he rubbed it When the genie of the ring appeared,Aladdin asked to be taken back to his home In a flash he was there!
Aladdin had kept the lamp When he rubbed it, out came another genie! Aladdin wishedfor a palace and bags full of gold Later he fell in love with the King’s daughter, the princess.They were soon married
One day the magician learned that Aladdin had the magic lamp To steal the lamp, hepretended to be the lamp seller He went to Aladdin’s palace, calling, “Old lamps for newlamps!” The princess did not know that Aladdin’s lamp was magician, so she traded it for anew one!
The magician hurried away and called up the genie of the lamp “Send Aladdin’s palaceand the princess far away,” he ordered His evil wish was granted
Aladdin was shocked to find his palace and his wife missing! He asked the genie of thering to take him to the magic lamp
Aladdin soon found himself in the magician’s house While the magician slept, hegrabbed the magic lamp He quickly called upon the genie of the lamp to send the magician to afar-off land from which he could never return Next Aladdin asked for his wife and his palace
to be returned
The princess was overjoyed to see Aladdin, and from that day on they lived happily ever after
Trang 23 Little Red Ridding Hood
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived with her mother in the woods Thegirl was called Little Red Ridding Hood because she wore a cloak with a red hoodwhenever she went out
One day she decided to visit her grandmother who was ill “Remember, don’t stop totalk to strangers, and stay on the path!” her mother said
But before long, Little Red Ridding Hood stopped to pick some flowers Suddenly a bigwolf jumped out from behind her He asked her where she was going
“I…I…I’m going to visit my grandmother,” said Little Red Ridding Hood
The wolf took a shortcut to grandmother’s house He knocked on the door and said inLittle Red Ridding Hood’s voice, “Grandmother, I’ve brought you some treats!”
“Push the latch and come right in, dear!” said the old woman When she saw the wolf,she jumped out of bed and ran to hide in a cupboard
The wolf put on grandmother’s nightcap and glasses Soon, Little Red Ridding Hoodwas at the door
“Just push the latch and come right in, dear!” said the wolf, imitating the grandmother’svoice
Little Red Ridding Hood looked at her grandmother and said, “Grandmother, what bigeyes and ears you have!”
“All he better to see and hear you with!” said the wolf
“And what big teeth you have!” said the girl
“All the better to eat you with!” shouted the wolf as he leapt out of the bed Little RedRidding Hood screamed in fright Terrified by the wolf, she tried to escape from the house
A woodcutter who was working nearby heard the cries and came running With his axe, hechased the wolf away Then they let the old woman out of the cupboard They thanked thewoodcutter for saving their lives
Little Red Ridding Hood said, “I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to my mother’s advice I’llnever talk to stranger again!”
4 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Once upon a time, there was a young princess named Snow White She lived in a castlewith her father, the King, and her stepmother, the Queen As Snow White grew older, shebecame more and more beautiful – and the Queen grew more jealous!
Each day, the Queen would ask her magic mirror, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is thefairest one of all?” And each day the mirror told her, “You, my Queen, are the fairest in all theland.”
But then one day the mirror said, “Snow White is the fairest in all the land.”
The Queen was so angry that she decided to get rid of Snow White When Snow Whiteheard of the plan, she ran off to hide in the forest That night, she curled up at the base of a bigtree and fell asleep
The next morning, seven little dwarfs found her and invited her to stay at their cottage.Snow White cleaned the house and cooked the meals for the dwarfs Every day, when thedwarfs went off to work in the mine, they warned Snow White not to open the door to anystrangers
Soon the wicked Queen found out that Snow White was living in the forest She disguisedherself as an old lady and prepared a basket of poisoned apples
When the Queen got to the dwarfs’ cottage, Snow White felt sorry for the old woman andtook one of the apples
Snow White took one bite, and then fell to the ground When the dwarfs found SnowWhite, they were very upset They could not wake her up They put her in a glass case so thatthey would remember her
Many weeks later, a prince passed by the cottage When he saw Snow White, he fell deeply
in love with her He opened the glass case and gave her a kiss The spell was broken!
Trang 35 Sleeping beauty
Once upon a time, there was a King and a Queen who, after many years finally had a babygirl The King planned the biggest party the kingdom had ever seen
Three kind fairies were invited and they each gave the princess a special gift
The first fairy gave her the gift of beauty The second fairy gave her the gift of song
But before the third fairy could make her wish, a wicked fairy appeared She was angry fornot being invited She put a curse on the baby, saying, “When the Princess turns sixteen, shewill prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die!”
The King and the Queen were upset The third fairy spoke, “I cannot remove the curse, but
I will change it The Princess will not die, but she will fall asleep for a hundred years The kiss
of her true love will break the spell.”
The King at once ordered all the spinning wheels in the kingdom to be burned
The Princess grew up to be a beautiful young lady On the day of her sixteen birthday, shefound a secret staircase in the castle It led to a room where an old woman was at a spinningwheel The old woman was really the wicked fairy
The Princess went near the spinning wheel and, sure enough, she pricked her finger Shefell into a deep sleep The three fairies made everyone fall asleep, so that she would not bealone
Many, many years went by, and the castle became hidden by thorny vines and protected by
a dragon One day, a brave prince fought his way through He found the sleeping Princess atlast He gently kissed her and the spell was broken The Princess woke up, and so did everyone
in the castle
Soon there was another big celebration This time it was the royal wedding of the Princeand the Princess
6 Jack and the Beanstalk
Once upon a time, there was a boy name Jack who lived on a farm with his mother Theywere very poor and had little to eat Finally Jack’s mother had to send him to the market to sellthe family cow
On his way to the market, Jack met a strange, old man who offered him some magic beans
in exchange for the cow Jack was sure the colorful beans would bring good luck, so he agreed.When he got home, his mother was very angry “Magic beans?” she cried “You have beencheated, Jack! You gave him the cow for nothing!”
Then she threw the beans out of the window and sent Jack to bed without any supper.When he awoke the next morning, Jack was amazed to find a huge beanstalk had grown fromthe spot where his mother had thrown the beans
He began climbing the beanstalk …up, up, up …
At the top of the beanstalk, Jack saw a huge castle Inside there was a dining room thathad large piles of gold coins Then he saw a huge table with plates of delicious food Heclimbed up and began to eat
Just then Jack heard a loud rumbling sound He saw a giant who was snoring as heslept Jack jumped down from the table and ran for the door He grabbed some gold coins andquickly climbed back down the beanstalk
The next morning, Jack climbed up to the castle again This time, he grabbed the giant’sgoose that laid golden eggs, but the giant heard him and began to chase him
Jack scrambled down the beanstalk He shouted, “Mother, quick! Bring the axe!”
He chopped down the beanstalk and the giant fell to his death With the goose and thegold coins, Jack and his mother lived happily ever after
Trang 47 The Ugly Duckling
There was once a mother duck who sat on four eggs One by one they cracked open and outcame three fluffy yellow ducklings But from the last egg came a large grey duckling
The father duck did not like the grey duckling “I don’t want that ugly duckling in myfamily,” he said They pecked at him and chased him away
No one in the farmyard wanted to be friends with him, so he wadded off to a nearby pond
He felt lonely as he slept in the grass that night
The next day, some wild ducks found him They laughed at him, saying, and “Get awayfrom our pond, ugly duckling!”
The sad little duckling went on his way He came to a nice house where a hen and a catlived
“Can you lay eggs?” asked the hen
“Can you catch mice?” asked the cat
When he answered “no”, they told him that he was not allowed to stay
The ugly duckling felt miserable, so he hid in the forest from the other animals Wintercame and, luckily, a farmer found him before he froze
For a few weeks, the grey duckling thought that he was safe But then the farmer’s sonchased him and played cruel tricks on him As soon as he could, the duckling ran away again.Springtime came and he found himself a safe place by the river
Then one day, when the water was calm and clear, the duckling caught sight of himself Hewas so surprised to see his long white neck and big wings He flapped his wings and in no time
8 The Little Mermaid
Once upon a time, there was a magical kingdom of mermaids that lived under the sea Theking of the mermaids had six beautiful daughters The youngest of the mermaids loved to listen
to her grandmother’s tales of what life was like in the land of humans
When she was finally old enough, the little mermaid went with her sisters up to the surface
of the sea to follow the sailing ships They all loved to watch the ships and the strange legged creatures that lived on board
two-One day, a huge storm blew up It caused a ship to roll over and sink The little mermaidheard a voice calling for help It was a man who was drowning The little mermaid rescuedhim, and carried him to shore
Then she slipped back into the sea when she saw a young lady walking along the beachtoward her
“It’s the Prince!” said the lady At that moment he opened his eyes and sat up
The little mermaid had fallen in love with the Prince Each day she would go to the shorenear the castle hoping to see him
Finally she asked a powerful sea-witch to change her into a human
“You must give me your voice as payment,” said the sea-witch “But if the Prince does notmarry you, you will die!”
The little mermaid agreed She drank the sea-witch’s magic potion It made her feel a sharppain and then she fell asleep She awoke on the beach and found that she now had two legs!The Prince saw the beautiful stranger and brought her to the castle But he poor littlemermaid could not speak to him because she had lost her voice!
Then, when she found out that he was going to marry the girl he had seen on the beach, shewas heartbroken
The sea-witch said she could be a mermaid again, if she killed the Prince But she couldn’tkill the one she loved Instead, she threw herself into the sea and became whitewave
Trang 59 Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
Long ago there was a poor young man named Ali Baba One day, while in the country,
he saw a band of forty thieves ride up and stop near a rocky cliff
The chief of the thieves shouted, “Open Sesame!” A secret door opened The mencarried sacks and boxes inside Before they left the chief said, “Close Sesame!” The doorshut
Ali Baba ran to the cliff and said, “Open Sesame!” Inside was a huge treasure, but all hetook was a bag of gold
He borrowed a pot from his rich brother Cassim to divide up the coins Cassim wascurious, so he put honey in the pot Later he found a gold coin stuck inside He made AliBaba tell him all about the treasure Greedy Cassim then went to find the cave
But when he wanted to leave, he forgot the password! The thieves found him, and theycut him into pieces! Ali Baba brought back his brother’s dead body and paid a tailor to sew
it up for the funeral
The thieves were angry to find the dead body was gone The chief paid the old tailor topoint to Ali Baba’s house
Ali Baba’s new servant girl, Marjanna, saw the chief mark the door She put X’s on allthe doors When the thieves came to kill Ali Baba, they didn’t know which door was his!The chief pretended to be an oil seller He brought jars of oil to Ali Baba’s house, but ineach jar was a thief!
When Marjannna opened a jar to get some cooking oil, a voice inside asked, “Is ittime?” The girl said in a deep voice like the thief’s, “No! Not now!”
She realized that her master was in great danger She quickly boiled some oil andpoured it into each of the jars It killed the robbers instantly!
While Ali Baba ate with the chief, Marjanna offered to danced for them She hid a knife
in her veils and, as she danced, she killed the chief with it!
Marjanna showed Ali Baba all the dead thieves He realized that the clever girl hadsaved their lives
10.Pinocchio
There was once an old toy-maker named Geppetto One day he made a wooden puppet that looked just like a real boy
“I shall call you Pinocchio,” he said Then Geppetto made him some clothes and a cap
He was astonished when the puppet spoke and began to dance around the room!
Geppetto sent Pinocchio to school He sold his coat to buy him a book On his way to school, Pinocchio heard some music coming from a puppet show He sold his book to buy the ticket for the show Inside, he met some puppets He danced and sang with them The puppet-master was angry with Pinocchio for spoiling the show
Pinocchio said he was sorry, and he told the man his story The puppet-master
said,”Here are five gold coins for your father’s new coat.”
On his way home, Pinocchio met a cat and a fox who were thieves They told him he could grow more coins by burying his money in a magic garden and then take a nap
When Pinocchio woke up, all of his gold coins were gone He cried out for help A blue fairy came to see him, but he told her a lie He said he had lost Geppetto’s money Suddenlyhis nose grew longer! “Your nose grows if you tell a lie,” the fairy said
So Pinocchio told her the truth, and she fixed his nose Later, as he ran home by the seashore, a huge wave carried him out to sea Then a whale swallowed him whole! To his surprise, he found Geppetto inside the whale! He had been out in a boat looking for
Pinocchio
They managed to crawl out of the whale’s mouth while it slept Back home, Pinocchio was always good One night the fairy granted him his wish The next day, Pinocchio woke up to find that he was a real boy at last!
Trang 611.Gulliver’s Travels
Gulliver was a doctor who loved to travel on the sea Once while he was sailing on aship called Antelope, a great storm blew up The ship hit some rocks and was wrecked.Luckily, Gulliver was a strong swimmer and he made it to shore He was so tired he fellasleep on the sand
When he awoke, he found himself tied to the ground He could not move his head, norhis arms and legs
The he saw a dozen little men on his chest! Each was only six inches tall They tried tospeak to him, but sadly, Gulliver could not understand them
The king of the land soon arrived He sent his people off to get food The king’s menquickly built a high platform to reach Gulliver’s face Several cartloads of food arrived Awhole basket of bread or meat was only a mouthful for the giant! The people fed Gulliveruntil he was full
One night while Gulliver slept, several little men brought him to their city on a long flatcart pulled by a team of tiny horses Gulliver was taken to a large building that was to be hishouse But it was so small that he had to crawl to get into it He spent most of his time lyingflat on his back
The king’s blacksmiths made chains to keep Gulliver locked up Scholars taught himtheir language Soon Gulliver was able to ask the king to set him free
Gulliver was so gentle that many little people became his friends He began to feelhomesick One day, he saw a boat drifting on the sea and he swam out to get it
The king allowed Gulliver to repaired the boat and to leave the land of Lilliputian, as itwas called Dozens of workmen helped him fix the boat
When it was ready, the people gave Gulliver a grand set-off, with plenty of food andsome gold to bring to his country
She nibbled each piece until she was half her normal side Before long, she met a catsitting in a tree It smiled and pointed to little cottage nearby Alice walked to the cottage AMarch Hare was having tea with a Mad Hatter, while a tiny dormouse slept Alice found the teaparty too silly and left
She soon met two playing-card gardeners painting white roses red
Just then the Queen of Hearts arrived She looked angrily at the two men and shouted,
“Off with their heads!”
Then she ordered everyone into the castle There, the White Rabbit read out the names
of people who had stolen the Queen’s tarts
The Queen asked Alice about it Poor Alice did not know what to say Then suddenlyshe began to grow again Soon she was too big for the courtroom
The Queen grew impatient with her, and she shouted, “Off with her head!”
An army of playing-card soldiers came flying at Alice who cried as she swatted them
“Wake up, Alice dear!” said her sister She brushed away some leaves from Alice face.What a very strange dream she had had!
Trang 713.The Frog Prince
There was once a beautiful princess who had a golden ball
One day as she was playing with the ball, it dropped into a nearby pond and sank to thebottom The princess started to cry
Suddenly she heard a voice saying, “Why are you crying, dear Princess?”
She looked up and saw an ugly frog She told him about her ball
The frog said, “I can get it for you if you grant me my wish.”
“Do you want my jewels or my crown?” she asked
“No, dear Princess,” said the frog “I only ask that you let me eat with you and sleep inyour bed.”
The princess thought the frog was joking, so she said, “Yes, I promise.”
The frog dived into the water and soon came up with the golden ball The princess took
it and ran away
The frog called out “Wait, take me with you!” The princess did not even look back athim
That evening, when she was having dinner with her father, there was a knock at thedoor She opened the door and there was a frog!
She quickly shut the door but the King asked about the visitor She had to tell whathappened that day
“You must keep your promised,” said her father “Let him in.” The princess went to thedoor again and opened it The frog followed her to the table and ate from her place!
After that, she took him to her bed As she touched the pillowed, she suddenly changedinto a prince!
He said an evil witch had cast a spell on him, which only a kind princess could break bygranting him his wish
He asked her to marry him and they lived happily ever after
14.The Gingerbread Man
One day, an old woman decided to make a gingerbread man She used some currants forhis eyes and nose, and some sugar for his coat
She put the gingerbread man into the oven to bake When it was ready, she heard a littlevoice crying, "Let me out! Let me out1”
When she opened the oven door, out jumped the gingerbread man! He ran out of thehouse
The old woman ran after him shouting, "Stop! Stop, little ginger man!”
As he ran, he called back, “Run, run, as fast as you can! You can’t catch me, I’m thegingerbread man!”
He met a cow who said, “Stop! I’m sure you will taste better than my grass!”
He ran away from the cow and met a horse
The horse said, “You look very good to eat!” But even the speedy horse could not catchhim
The little gingerbread man proudly said, “No one can catch me! I’m the fastest of all!”Just then, a fox jumped out of the bushes “Stop, stop, little man!” said the fox “I want
to talk to you!”
But the gingerbread man kept running till he came to a river He could not cross it.The fox said, “Jump on my nose and I will take you across the river.” The gingerbreadman happily did just that
When they reached the other side, the fox tossed him into his mouth and gobbled himup!
Trang 815.The Little Tin Soldier
Many years ago, there was a boy who received a box of tin soldiers for his birthday.The soldiers stood tall and proud in their smart uniforms They all looked exactly alike, exceptfor one He was missing a leg!
The boy put the soldiers on the table near a toy castle The little one-legged soldier saw
a beautiful lady standing near the castle
The lady was made of paper and she had a shiny jewel in the middle of her dress Shewas a ballerina She stretched out her arms and stood gracefully on one leg
The tin soldier thought she had only one leg “That lady I the wife of me!” he thought.They stared shyly at each other all night long
The next day, the boy put the tin soldier on the window sill A gust of wind made thesoldier fall out onto the street The two boys found him and sent him sailing down a drain
The boat dropped into a canal As the tin soldier sank to the bottom, a fish swallow himup! Later, the fish was caught in a net Luckily, the boy’s mother bought that very same fish atthe market!
They were amazed to find the soldier inside the fish! The boy put the tin soldier back onthe table next to the castle And there, waiting for him, was the pretty ballerina They gazedhappily at each other
Later the boy’s naughty brother threw the soldier into the fire Then a puff of wind blewthe ballerina into the fire too Soon, all that was left of the two friends was her jewel stuck to aheart-shaped lump of tin!
16.The Little Match Girl
On a cold winter’s evening, a poor little girl was huddled on a street corner in a big city
It was snowing and the little girl was dressed in rags No one paid any attention to the sad,shivering girl
In the pocket of her dress she had some matches She had been walking through the cityall day calling out, “Matches for sale!” But no one had bought any from her all day No onegave her even a penny
Her hands were freezing, but she was scared to go home because she had not sold anymatches Her stepmother would be very angry
She found a spot out of the wind Then she had an idea – a match might warm her up.She lit one and held her hands around it She gazed into the warm flame
She imagined she was sitting in front of a blazing fireplace How it warmed her! Thenthe match went out and the fireplace vanished
Soon the stars were out Suddenly she saw a shooting star Her kind grandmother hadtold her that when a star falls, a soul goes to heaven
The little girl struck another match There, in its light, stood her dear grandmother “Oh,Grandmother, take me with you!” cried the little girl
At one she lit all of her matches With a kind smile, the grandmother took the girl in herarms Together they flew high, high up, where there was no cold, no hunger, and no suffering.They had gone to heaven
Trang 917 Goldilocks and the Three Bears
.
Once upon a time, three bears lived in a little house in the forest
One morning, Mama Bear made some porridge for breakfast She filled a bowl for each
of them – Papa Bear, Baby Bear, and herself As the porridge was too hot to eat, they went outfor a walk
While they were away, a little girl named Godilocks came to their house and saw theporridge She ate up the smallest bowl of porridge!
Next she went to sit down for a rest She tried sitting on Papa Bear’s chair and MamaBear’s chair They were too big for her
Then she sat on Baby Bear’s chair It was just the right size It was just the right size!She was too heavy for it and it broke into pieces
Godilocks went upstairs She tried the three beds and Baby Bear’s was just right
The three bears came back and found that someone had eaten up Baby Bear’s porridge.Then they found that someone had broken Baby Bear’s chair!
When they went upstairs, they found Godilocks fast asleep in Baby Bear’s bed!
Their voices woke up Godilocks She had a fright when she saw the three bears
She ran down the stairs and out of the house They never saw her again
18 The Shoemaker and the Elves
Once there was a shoemaker who was getting very old
One night, he felt so tired that he went off to bed before he could finish making a pair ofshoes
In the morning, he was surprised to find that the shoes had already been finished forhim
That night, he got ready his things for starting on a new pair of shoes for a richcustomer
The next morning, he was again surprised to find a brand new pair of shoes waiting forhim
The rich customer was very pleased with the shoes She said, “This is beautiful work! Ishall pay you twice the price you wanted to charge!”
That night, the shoemaker happily put out the things he needed to start on a third pair ofshoes
He did this every night, and each morning he found another pair of shiny new shoes onhis workbench
The shoemaker sold his beautiful new shoes at a higher price He soon saved a largeamount of money
The shoemaker told his wife about the strange and wonderful thing that was happening
“Let’s hide tonight and see what happens!” she said At midnight, they saw two elvescoming into their shop
They finished the new pair of shoes very quickly It was winter and the shoemaker’swife saw that the elves were poorly dressed
She made two little red wool jackets and laid them on the table The next night, theelves found the jackets and quickly put them on
They danced happily in their new jackets But they were never seen again!
Trang 1019 The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Hamelin was a beautiful town, but one day hundreds of rats suddenly came into thetown
They were noisy and fierce, and ate up what they whatever food they could find Soonthe people were worried as there was very little food left
The Mayor said there would be a big reward of a hundred gold coins for anyone whocould get rid of the rats
Many people could not stop the rats Then one day, a strange-looking man came Hesaid, “I am the Pied Piper I can get rid of your rats.”
The Mayor said, “Do that and the money is yours.” The Pied Piper started playing atune on his pipe
At once the rats came running out from everywhere towards him! They followed himinto the river The rats were drowned
The Pied Piper then went to collect his reward But the Mayor never planned to giveaway the hundred gold coins He said, “The rats have gone You can go too!”
The angry Pied Piper said, “You will be sorry for breaking for your promise.” Then hebegan to play on his pipe again
This time, all the children came running out to listen They laughed and sang anddanced as they followed him The Piper led the children out of the town Soon they came to amountain The children followed him into the cave After the last child went in, the cavedoor disappeared!
The people waited to their children to return, but they were never seen again
20 The Three Wishes
One day, a poor wood cutter was in the forest looking for a tree to chop down
He came to an old tree that had big holes in it AS he swung his axe, an elf jumped out
“Stop! Stop!” said the elf “Spare this tree and I’ll grant you three wishes!”
The woodcutter nodded his head and the elf disappeared
The woodcutter went home and told his wife about the elf and the three wishes
Then, feeling hungry, he asked,”Where’s my soup?”
“It’ll be ready soon,” his wife said With a sigh, she added, “I wish I had sausages to gowith supper!”
Suddenly a string of sausages appeared right out of the air!
“What a stupid thing to do!” shouted the woodcutter “You have wasted the first wish! Iwish those sausages would get stuck up your nose!” Sure enough the sausages flew towardshis wife
The sausages became stuck up the poor woman’s nose! She pulled at them, but theywould not come out The husband burst out laughing
Then he tried pulling hard to remove the sausages, but they would not come out
“There’s only one thing to do,” he said “I wish those sausages would leave your nose.”The sausages came out, and that night, the husband and wife at least had a good meal ofsausages