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Tales of Laughter: A third fairy book
Tales of Laughter: A third fairy book
Tales of Laughter: A third fairy book
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Tales of Laughter: A third fairy book

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This work is a fascinating collection of classic fairy tales for children. It contains numerous joyful fairy tales from all over the world. One cannot deny the educational value of fairy tales in their healthy stimulation of the child's creative and imaginative development. With that in mind, these stories are presented in a way that will keep the children curious and engaged.

The editors and sisters, Nora and Kate Smith, picked stories that have an abundance of glamor that opens a magic window in the world of Fairyland. They did not limit themselves to renowned sources only. They went far, read and analyzed many books of fairy literature, filtering all the material till they made a plentiful selection that includes the best tales ever been written.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherGood Press
Release dateMay 20, 2021
ISBN4057664633842
Tales of Laughter: A third fairy book

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    Tales of Laughter - Good Press

    Various

    Tales of Laughter

    A third fairy book

    Published by Good Press, 2022

    goodpress@okpublishing.info

    EAN 4057664633842

    Table of Contents

    The Rats and their Son-in-Law

    The Mouse and the Sausage

    The Three Wishes

    The Fox and the Goose

    If Heaven Will It

    The Booby

    The Months

    The Stone in the Cock’s Head

    The Fox and the Cat

    The Straw Ox

    The Cat, the Cock, and the Fox

    The Fox and the Dove

    The Fox and the Hedgehog

    The Disappointed Bear

    Young Neverfull

    Hudden and Dudden and Donald O’Neary

    The Tail

    Jack and the King who was a Gentleman

    Hans in Luck

    The Family Servants

    The Flail which came from the Clouds

    The Sole’s Mouth

    The Three Brothers

    The Wren and the Bear

    The Musicians of Bremen

    The Fox and the Cat

    The Golden Key

    Doctor Know-All

    The Fair Catherine and Pif-Paf Poltrie

    The Wolf and the Fox

    Discreet Hans

    King Thrush-beard

    The Three Luck-Children

    The Three Sluggards

    The Fisherman and his Wife

    The Nose-tree

    The Adventures of Chanticleer and Partlet

    I. HOW THEY WENT TO THE HILLS TO EAT NUTS

    II. THE VISIT TO MR. KORBES

    III. THE DEATH OF PARTLET

    The Golden Goose

    The Young Giant

    The Sweet Soup

    Seven at one Blow

    The Cat and the Mouse in Partnership

    Old Sultan

    The Nail

    The Fox and the Horse

    The Giant and the Tailor

    The Spider and the Flea

    The Little Shepherd Boy

    The Seven Swabians

    The Shreds

    The Wolf and the Seven Kids

    The Elves and the Shoemaker

    King Wren

    Why the Bear has a Stumpy Tail

    Three Ways to Build a House

    How to Tell a True Princess

    The Five Servants

    The Hare and the Fox

    The Story of Zirac

    Johnny-Cake

    The Wee, Wee Mannie

    Sir Gammer Vans

    Tom Tit Tot

    The Old Woman and her Pig

    The Story of the Three Little Pigs

    The Three Sillies

    The Cat and the Mouse

    Hereafterthis

    Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse

    The Magpie’s Nest

    Scrapefoot

    The Wise Men of Gotham

    OF BUYING OF SHEEP

    OF HEDGING A CUCKOO

    OF SENDING CHEESES

    OF DROWNING EELS

    OF SENDING RENT

    OF COUNTING

    Henny-Penny

    A Son of Adam

    The Happy Family

    The Blind Man, the Deaf Man, and the Donkey

    The Alligator and the Jackal

    Why the Fish Laughed

    The Selfish Sparrow and the Houseless Crows

    The Lambikin

    The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

    The Greedy Cat

    Well Done: Ill Paid

    Reynard and Chanticleer

    Father Bruin in the Corner

    Why the Sea is Salt

    Gudbrand on the Hillside

    The Pancake

    The Death of Chanticleer

    Reynard Wants to Taste Horse-flesh

    Bruin and Reynard Partners

    Pork and Honey

    How Reynard Outwitted Bruin

    Nanny Who Wouldn’t Go Home to Supper

    The Box With Something Pretty In It

    The Farmer and the Troll

    One’s Own Children Always Prettiest

    The Princess Whom Nobody Could Silence

    The Money-box

    The Darning-Needle

    Master of All Masters

    Belling the Cat

    The Magpie and her Children

    The Cock, the Cuckoo, and the Black-cock

    The Race Between Hare and Hedgehog

    Bruno’s Story

    The Bluebottle Who Went Courting

    How Two Beetles Took Lodgings

    Little Tuppen

    The Story of the Four Little Children Who Went Round the World

    The History of the Seven Families of the Lake Pipple-Popple

    CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY

    CHAPTER II THE SEVEN FAMILIES

    CHAPTER III THE HABITS OF THE SEVEN FAMILIES

    CHAPTER IV THE CHILDREN OF THE SEVEN FAMILIES ARE SENT AWAY

    CHAPTER V THE HISTORY OF THE SEVEN YOUNG PARROTS

    CHAPTER VI THE HISTORY OF THE SEVEN YOUNG STORKS

    CHAPTER VII THE HISTORY OF THE SEVEN YOUNG GEESE

    CHAPTER VIII THE HISTORY OF THE SEVEN YOUNG OWLS

    CHAPTER IX THE HISTORY OF THE SEVEN YOUNG GUINEA-PIGS

    CHAPTER X THE HISTORY OF THE SEVEN YOUNG CATS

    CHAPTER XI THE HISTORY OF THE SEVEN YOUNG FISHES

    CHAPTER XII OF WHAT OCCURRED SUBSEQUENTLY

    CHAPTER XIII OF WHAT BECAME OF THE PARENTS OF THE FORTY-NINE CHILDREN

    CHAPTER XIV CONCLUSION

    Wee Robin’s Yule-Song

    The Giant’s Shoes

    The Farmer and the Money-Lender

    How the Sun, the Moon, and the Wind Went Out to Dinner

    Singh Rajah and the Cunning Little Jackals

    Harisarman

    It Is Quite True

    Manabozho and his Toe

    The Most Frugal of Men

    The Moon-Cake

    The Ladle that Fell from the Moon

    The Young Head of the Family

    A Dreadful Boar

    The Old Man and the Devils

    The Wonderful Tea-Kettle

    The Wonderful Mallet

    The Tongue-Cut Sparrow

    Battle of the Monkey and the Crab

    The Cub’s Triumph

    The Silly Jelly-Fish

    Chin-Chin Kobakama

    The Old Woman who Lost her Dumplings

    The Three Goats

    The Fox Turned Shepherd

    The Seven Boys and the Monster

    The Story of Little Black Mingo

    The Cock and the Crested Hen

    The Old Woman and the Fish

    The Lad and the Fox

    The Old Woman and the Tramp

    The Rats and their Son-in-Law

    Table of Contents

    There once lived in Japan a rat and his wife, folk of noble race, who had one beautiful daughter. They were exceedingly proud of her charms, and dreamed, as parents will, of the grand marriage she was sure to make in time. Proud of his pure rodent blood, the father saw no son-in-law more to be desired than a young rat of ancient lineage, whose attentions to his daughter were very marked. This match, however, brilliant as it was, seemed not to the mother’s taste. Like many people who think themselves made out of special clay, she had a very poor opinion of her own kind, and was ambitious for an alliance with the highest circles. Ad astra! (To the stars!) was her motto, she always said, and really, when one has a daughter of incomparable beauty, one may well hope for an equally incomparable son-in-law.

    Address yourself to the sun at once, then, cried the impatient father one day; there is nothing above him, surely.

    Quite so; I had already thought of it, she answered, and since you, too, are in sympathy with the idea, we will make our call to-morrow.

    So, on the following morning the proud father and the haughty mother-rat went together to present their lovely daughter to the orb of day.

    Lord Sun, said the mother, let me present our only daughter, who is so beautiful that there is nothing like her in the whole world. Naturally we desire a son-in-law as wonderful as she, and, as you see, we have come to you first of all.

    Really, said the sun, I am extremely flattered by your proposal, but you do me too much honor; there is some one greater than I; it is the cloud. Look, if you do not believe. ... And at that moment the cloud arrived, and with one waft of his folds extinguished the sun with all his golden rays.

    Very well; let us speak to the cloud, then, said the mother-rat, not in the least disconcerted.

    Immensely honored, I am sure, replied the cloud in his turn, but you are again mistaken; there is some one greater than I; it is the wind. You shall see.

    At the same moment along came the wind, and with one blow swept the cloud out of sight, after which, overturning father, mother, and daughter, he tumbled with them, pell-mell, at the foot of an old wall.

    Quick, quick, cried the mother-rat, struggling to her feet, and let us repeat our compliments to the wind.

    You’d better address yourself to the wall, growled the wind roughly. You see very well he is greater than I, for he stops me and makes me draw back.

    No sooner had she heard these words than mother-rat faced about and presented her daughter to the wall. Ah, but now the fair rat-maiden imitated the wind; she drew back also. He whom she really adored in her heart of hearts was the fascinating young rat who had paid his court to her so well. However, to please her mother, she had consented to wed the sun, in spite of his blinding rays, or the cloud, in spite of his sulky look, even the wind, in spite of his brusque manner; but an old, broken wall!... No! death would be better a thousand times.

    Fortunately the wall excused himself, like all the rest. Certainly, he said, I can stop the wind, who can sweep away the cloud, who can cover up the sun, but there is some one greater than I: it is the rat, who can pass through my body, and can even, if he chooses, reduce me to powder with his teeth. Believe me, you need seek no better son-in-law; greater than the rat, there is nothing in the world.

    Do you hear that, wife, do you hear it? cried father-rat in triumph. Didn’t I always say so?

    Quite true! you always did, returned the mother-rat in wonder, and suddenly glowed with pride in her ancient name and lineage.

    So they all three went home, very happy and contented, and on the morrow the lovely rat-maiden married her faithful rat-lover.

    The Mouse and the Sausage

    Table of Contents

    Once upon a time a little mouse and a little sausage, who loved each other like sisters, decided to live together, and made their arrangements in such a way that every day one would go to walk in the fields, or make purchases in town, while the other remained at home to keep the house.

    One day, when the little sausage had prepared cabbage for dinner, the little mouse, who had come back from town with a fine appetite, enjoyed it so greatly that she exclaimed: How delicious the cabbage is to-day, my dear!

    Ah! answered the little sausage, that is because I popped myself into the pot while it was cooking.

    On the next day, as it was her turn to prepare the meals, the little mouse said to herself: Now I will do as much for my friend as she did for me; we will have lentils for dinner, and I will jump into the pot while they are boiling, and she let the action follow the word, without reflecting that a simple sausage can do some things which are out of the reach of even the wisest mouse.

    When the sausage came home, she found the house lonely and silent. She called again and again, My little mouse! Mouse of my heart! but no one answered. Then she went to look at the lentils boiling on the stove, and, alas! found within the pot her good little friend, who had perished at the post of duty.

    Poor mousie, with the best intentions in the world, had stayed too long at her cookery, and when she desired to climb out of the pot, had no longer the strength to do so.

    And the poor sausage could never be consoled! That is why to-day, when you put one in the pan or on the gridiron, you will hear her weep and sigh, M-my p-poor m-mouse! Ah, m-my p-poor m-mouse!

    The Three Wishes

    Table of Contents

    Many years ago there was an old married man, who, although poor, had worked very diligently all his life on his little piece of ground. One winter’s night, as this old man was seated with his wife in front of their comfortable hearth in social chat, instead of giving thanks to God for the benefits they enjoyed, they spent the time in enumerating the good things possessed by their neighbors, and in wishing that they belonged to them.

    Instead of my little hut, which is on bad soil, and only fit to house a donkey in, I would like to have the farm of old Polainas! exclaimed the old man.

    And I, added his wife, who was annoyed that he did not aspire higher, instead of that, would like to have our neighbor’s house, which is nearly new.

    And I, continued her husband, instead of our old donkey, which can scarcely carry an empty sack, would like to have Polainas’s mule!

    And I, exclaimed the wife, would like to have such a fat porker as our neighbor has to kill! Some people seem only to wish for a thing in order to get it. How I should like to see my wishes accomplished!

    Scarcely had she uttered these words, than they beheld a most beautiful little woman standing in front of the fire. She was so small that her height could not have been more than eighteen inches, while she wore a crown like a queen’s upon her head. Her tunic and veil were almost transparent, and seemed made of white smoke, while the sparks from the fire crackled and jumped like fireworks about her, and sparkled around her as glittering spangles.

    In her hand she bore a little golden scepter, the end of which was formed by a gleaming ruby.

    I am the Fairy Fortunata, said she to them; I was passing by here, and I have heard your complaints. I have so much anxiety to accomplish your desires that I come to promise you the realization of three wishes: one to you, she said to the wife; the other to you, to the husband, and the third must be mutual and agreeable to the desire of you both. This last I will agree to in person to-morrow, when I will return at this time; and until then I leave you to think of what it shall be.

    When she had said these words, the beautiful fairy sprang through the flames and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

    The delight of the worthy couple may be imagined, and the number of wishes, numerous as suitors at the door of a minister, which presented themselves to their minds. Their desires were so many that, not knowing which to select, they determined to defer the definite decision to the following day. After having had all the night to think the matter over, they began to discuss entirely different things, and in a little while their conversation recurred to their wealthy neighbors.

    I was at their house to-day, said the husband; they were making black puddings. Ah, such black puddings! It would have done you good to see them!

    I would like to have one of them here, replied the wife, to roast on the ashes for supper.

    Scarcely had she uttered the words than there appeared upon the ashes the most delicious-looking black pudding that could possibly be imagined.

    The woman remained staring at it with open mouth and eyes starting out of her head. But her husband jumped up in despair, and after striding up and down the room, tearing his hair in desperation, said: Through your gluttony, you greedy woman, we have lost one of the wishes! Good Heavens, what a woman this is! More stupid than a goose! It makes me desperate; I detest you and the black pudding, too, and I wish it were stuck on to your nose!

    No sooner had he spoken than there was the black pudding hanging from the place indicated!

    Then was the old man struck with horror and his wife with desperation!

    You see what you have done, evil tongue! exclaimed she, as she made useless exertions to tear the appendage from her nose; if I employed my wish badly, at least it was to my own disadvantage, and not to the injury of any one else; but the sin carries its punishment with it, for I will not have any other wish, nor desire anything else than that the black pudding be taken off my nose.

    Wife, for Heaven’s sake! What of the new house?

    Nothing!

    Wife, for Heaven’s sake, think of the farm!

    It does not matter.

    My dear, let us wish for a fortune, and then we will have a golden case for the black pudding.

    I will not hear of it.

    Then you would have us left just as we were before?

    That is all that I wish for.

    And for all that the man could say, nothing could alter his wife’s determination, who grew more and more enraged with her double nose, and could scarcely keep off the dog and the cat, who both wished to make free with it.

    When, on the following night, the fairy appeared and asked them what was their last wish, they said to her: We see how blind and foolish it is of men to fancy that the realization of their wishes will make them happy.

    Nor is happiness in the accomplishment of our wishes, but rather in the not having any. He is rich who possesses what he wants; but happy is he who wishes for nothing.

    The Fox and the Goose

    Table of Contents

    A fox and a goose were very great friends. The goose, which, as you know, is a very honest and industrious bird, said to the fox:

    Friend fox, I have a little bit of property here, and if you like to join with me, we will cultivate it between us.

    That would greatly please me, answered the fox.

    Then it will be necessary to till it together when the season arrives, said the goose.

    Very well, replied the fox.

    A little afterward, when they met, the goose said:

    It is time to sow the seed.

    That is your business, said the fox. I have nothing to do with that.

    Some months passed, when the goose said to the fox:

    Friend, the grass is choking the wheat; it is necessary to weed the field.

    Very well, answered the fox, you see to that; it is not my business.

    A short time passed by, when the goose said to the fox:

    Friend, the wheat is ripe, and must be reaped.

    All right, replied the fox, you attend to that; it is not my business.

    Then the goose, for all her good nature, began to be distrustful, and told her friend the greyhound what had passed.

    The greyhound, who was very shrewd, saw at once that the fox was going to play off one of his tricks upon the goose’s good nature, and said to her:

    Reap the wheat; put it in the barn, and hide me in a sheaf of corn, without leaving more than one eye uncovered, so that I may see all that may happen.

    The goose did as the greyhound had said, and after a time the fox arrived, and when he saw the barn filled with splendid wheat already thrashed, he was very delighted, and, dancing about, sang:

    "Lió, lió,

    The straw and wheat are mine!

    Lió, lió,

    The straw and wheat are mine!"

    As he said this, he approached the sheaf in which the greyhound was concealed, and on seeing the eye among the straw, cried:

    Ah, there’s a grape!

    But it is not ripe, replied the greyhound, as he leaped out of his hiding place, and killed the fox.

    If Heaven Will It

    Table of Contents

    Once upon a time a Galician was returning to his home after having spent some time in Seville. When he was close to his abode, he met some one who inquired where he was going.

    To my native place, replied the Galician.

    If Heaven will it, answered the former.

    Whether Heaven will it or no, added the Galician to himself, already seeing his village from afar, and being only separated from its outskirts by a river.

    Scarcely had he muttered the words ere he fell into the water and was changed into a frog.

    In this condition the poor man lived for three years, being in continual danger from his spiteful foes, bad boys, leeches, and storks. At the end of three years another Galician returning home happened to pass by there, and a wayfarer chancing to ask him whither he was going, replied:

    To my native place.

    If Heaven will it, croaked a frog that poked its head up out of the water.

    And when it had said this, the frog, which was the first Galician of the tale, suddenly found itself once more a man.

    He went on his way gayer than Easter, and having met with another traveler, who asked him whither he went, he answered him:

    To my own place, if Heaven will it; to see my wife, if Heaven will it; to see my children, if Heaven will it; to see my cow, if Heaven will it; to sow my land, if Heaven will it; so that I may get a good harvest from it, if Heaven will it.

    And as he religiously added to everything, If Heaven will it, he was allowed to see his wishes accomplished. He found his wife and children well; his cow became the mother of a fine calf; he sowed his field, and reaped a good harvest, and all because Heaven willed it.

    The Booby

    Table of Contents

    An ignorant man who associates with clever people has always been more praised than a wise man who keeps the company of fools, for as much profit and fame as a man gains from the former, so much wealth and honor one may lose by the fault of the latter, and as the proof of the pudding is in the eating, you will know from the story that I am going to tell you whether my proposition is true.

    There was once a man who was as rich as the sea, but as there never can be any perfect happiness in this world, he had a son so idle and good-for-nothing that he could not tell a carob from a cucumber. So, being unable any longer to put up with his folly, he gave him a good handful of crowns, and sent him to travel to the Levant, for he well knew that seeing various countries and mixing with divers people works genius, sharpens the judgment, and makes men expert.

    Moscione (for that was the name of the son) got on horseback and began his journey toward Venice, the arsenal of the wonders of the world, to embark on board some vessel bound for Cairo, and when he had traveled a good day’s journey he met with a person who was standing fixed at the foot of a poplar, to whom he said: What is your name, my lad, whence are you, and what is your trade? And the lad replied: My name is Lightning, I am from Arrowland, and I can run like the wind. I should like to see a proof of it, said Moscione, and Lightning answered, Wait a moment, and you will see whether it is dust or flour.

    When they had stood waiting a little while a doe came bounding over the plain, and Lightning, letting her pass on some way, to give himself a handicap, darted after her so rapidly and light of foot that he would have gone over plains covered with flour without leaving the mark of his shoe, and in four bounds he came up with her. Moscione, amazed at this exploit, asked if he would come and live with him, and promised to pay him a salary.

    So Lightning consented, and they went on their way together, but they had not journeyed many miles when they met another youth, to whom Moscione said: What is your name, comrade, what country are you from, and what’s your trade? My name, replied the lad, is Hare’s-ear, I am from Vale Curious, and when I put my ear to the ground I hear all that is passing in the world without stirring from the spot. I perceive the monopolies and the agreements of tradespeople to raise the prices of all things, the ill-offices of courtiers, the appointments of lawyers, the plots of robbers, the reports of spies, the complaints of servants, the gossiping of old women, and the oaths of service, so that neither Lucian’s cocks nor Francois’s lantern discovered so much as my ears can.

    If that be true, said Moscione, tell me what they are saying at my home.

    So the lad put his ear to the ground, and replied: An old man is talking to his wife and saying, ‘Praised be Sol in Lea, I have got rid from my side of that fellow, Moscione, that nail in my heart, with his face of old-fashioned crockery. By traveling through the world he will at least become a man, and no longer be such a stupid donkey, such a simpleton, such a lose-the-day fellow, such a——‘

    Stop, stop! cried Moscione. You told the truth, and I believe you, so come along with me, for you have found the road to good luck.

    Well and good, said the youth. So they all went on together and traveled ten miles farther, when they met another man, to whom Moscione said: My brave fellow, where were you born and what can you do in the world? And the man answered: My name is Shoot-straight, I am from Castle Aim-well, and I can shoot with a crossbow so point-blank as to hit a crab-apple in the middle.

    I should like to see a proof, said Moscione, so the lad charged his crossbow, took aim, and made a pea leap from the top of the stone window. Moscione took him also, like the others, into his company, and they traveled on another day’s journey, until they came to some people who were building a large pier in the scorching heat of the sun, and who might well say, Boy, put water to the wind, for my heart is burning. So Moscione had compassion on them and said, My masters, how is it you have the heart to stand in this furnace, which is bound to roast a buffalo? And one of them answered: Ah! we are as cool as roses, for we have a young man here who blows upon us from behind in such a manner that it seems as if the west wind were blowing. Let me see him, I pray, cried Moscione, and so the mason called the lad, and Moscione said to him: Tell me, by the life of your father, what is your name, what country are you from, and what is your profession? And the lad replied: My name is Blowblast, I am from Windy Land, and I can make all the winds with my mouth. If you wish a zephyr, I will breathe one that will send you into transports. If you wish for a squall, I will blow down houses.

    Seeing is believing, said Moscione, whereupon Blowblast breathed at first quite gently, so that it seemed to be the wind that blows in Posilippo toward evening; then, turning suddenly to some trees, he sent forth such a furious blast that it uprooted a row of oaks.

    When Moscione saw this he took him for a companion, and, traveling on as far again, he met another lad, to whom he said: What is your name, if I may make so bold? Whence are you, if one may ask, and what is your trade, if it is a fair question? And the lad answered, My name is Strongback, I am from Valentino, and I have such strength that I take a mountain on my back, and it seems to me a mere feather. If that be the case, said Moscione, you deserve to be a king of the custom house, and you should be chosen for the standard-bearer on the first of May, but I should like to see a proof of what you say. Then Strongback began to load himself with masses of rock, stumps of trees, and so many other weights that a thousand large wagons could not have carried them, so, when Moscione saw the feat, he persuaded the lad to join them.

    So they traveled on till they came to Fairflower, the king of which place had a daughter who ran like the wind and could pass over the waving corn without bending an ear, and the king had issued a proclamation that whoever should overtake her in running should have her to wife, but whoever was left behind should lose his head.

    Moscione arrived in this country and heard the proclamation. He went straight to the king and offered to run with the daughter, making the wise agreement either to win the race or leave his noddle there. But in the morning he sent to inform the king that he was taken ill, and, being unable to run himself, he would send another man in his place. Come who will, said Ciennetella (for that was the king’s daughter), I care not a fig; it is all one to me.

    So when the great square was filled with people come to see the race, insomuch that the men swarmed like ants, and the windows and roofs were all as full as an egg, Lightning came out and took his stand at the top of the square waiting for the signal, and lo, forth came Ciennetella, dressed in a little gown tucked half-way up to her knees, and a neat and pretty little shoe with a single sole. Then they placed themselves shoulder to shoulder, and, as soon as the Tarantará and the Too-too of the trumpets was heard, off they darted, running at such a rate that their hair touched their shoulders, and in truth they seemed just like foxes with the greyhounds after them, horses broken loose from the stable, dogs with kettles tied to their tails, or jackasses with furze bushes behind them. But Lightning (as he was by name and nature) left the princess more than a hand’s breadth behind him, and came first to the goal. Then you should have heard the buzzing and shouting and cries and the uproar, the whistling and clapping of all the people calling out, Hurrah, long live the stranger! whereat Ciennetella’s face turned as red as a schoolboy’s who is going to be whipped, and she stood lost with shame and confusion at seeing herself vanquished. But as there were to be two heats to the race, she fell to planning her revenge for this affront, and, going home, she put a charm in her ring with such a power that if any one had it on his finger, his legs would toddle so that he would not be able to walk, much less to run, and she sent it as a present to Lightning, begging him to wear it on his finger for love of her.

    Hare’s-ear, who heard this trick plotted between the father and daughter, said nothing, and wanted to see the upshot of the affair, and when, at the trumpeting of the birds, they returned to the field, at the usual signal they fell to plying their heels. But if Ciennetella was like another Atalanta, Lightning had become like a shoulder-slipped ass and a foundered horse, for he could not stir a step, but Shoot-straight, who saw his coming danger, and heard from Hare’s-ear how matters stood, laid hold on his crossbow and shot the arrow so exactly that it hit Lightning’s finger, and out shot the stone from the ring in which the virtue of the charm lay, whereupon his legs that had been tied were set free, and with four good leaps he passed Ciennetella and won the race. The king, seeing the palm thus carried off by this figure of a blockhead, by a simpleton, the triumph of a fool, bethought himself seriously whether or not he should give him his daughter, and taking counsel with the wiseacres of his court, they replied that Ciennetella was not a mouthful for the tooth of such a miserable dog and lose-the-day bird, so that, without breaking his word, he might commute the terms of his daughter with a gift of crowns, which would be more to the taste of a poor beggar like Moscione than all the women in the world.

    This advice pleased the king, and he asked Moscione how much money he would take to consider a wife who had been promised. Then Moscione, after consulting the others, said: I will take as much gold and silver as one of my comrades can carry on his back. The king consented, whereupon they brought Strongback, and on him began to lay bales of ducats, large purses full of crowns, pails of copper money, and kettles full of chains and rings, but the more they loaded him the firmer he stood, just like a tower, so that the treasurer, the bankers, the usurers, and the money dealers of the city did not suffice, and the king sent to all of the great people in every direction to borrow their silver candlesticks, basins, jugs, plates, brasses, and baskets, and yet there was not enough to make up a full load. At length Moscione and his companions went away, however, not laden, but tired and satisfied.

    When the counselors saw what heaps of stores these four miserable fellows were carrying off, they said to the king that it was a great piece of nonsense to load them with all the sinews of his kingdom, and that it would be well to send people after them to lessen the load of that Atlas who was carrying on his shoulders a world of treasure. The king gave ear to this advice, and immediately despatched a party of armed men, foot and horse, to overtake Moscione and his friends, but Hare’s-ear, who had heard this counsel, informed his comrades, and while the dust was rising to the sky from the tramping of those who were coming to unload the rich cargo, Blowblast, seeing that things were come to a bad pass, began to blow at such a rate that he not only made the enemies fall flat on the ground, but he sent them flying more than a mile distant, as a north wind does those people who pass through his country. So, without meeting any more hindrances, Moscione arrived at his father’s house, where he shared the booty with his companions, since the saying goes, A good deed deserves a good meed. So he sent them away content and happy, but he stayed with his father, rich beyond measure, giving no lie to the saying, Heaven sends biscuits to him who has no teeth.

    The Months

    Table of Contents

    It is a saying worthy to be written in letters as big as those on a catafalque, that silence never harmed any one, and let it not be imagined that those slanderers who never speak well of others, but are always cutting and stinging and pinching and biting, ever gain anything by their malice; for when the bags come to be shaken out, it has always been seen, and is so still, that while the good word gains love and profit, slander brings enmity and ruin, and when you shall have heard how this happens, you will see I speak with reason.

    Once upon a time there were two brothers, Cianne, who was as rich as a lord, and Lise, who had barely enough to live upon; but poor as one was in fortune, so pitiful was the other in mind, for he would not have given his brother a farthing were it to save his life; so that poor Lise in despair left his country, and set out to wander over the world. And he wandered on and on, till one wet and cold evening he came to an inn, where he found twelve youths seated around a fire, who, when they saw poor Lise benumbed with cold, partly from the severe season and partly from his ragged clothes, invited him to sit down by the fire.

    Lise accepted the invitation, for he needed it greatly, and began to warm himself, and as he was doing so, one of the young men, whose face was such a picture of moroseness as to make you die of affright, said to him: What think you, countryman, of this weather?

    What do I think of it? replied Lise. I think that all the months of the year perform their duty; but we, who know not what we would have, wish to give less praise to Heaven, and, wanting to have things our own way, we do not fish deeply enough to the bottom to find out whether what comes into our fancy be good or evil, useful or hurtful. In winter when it rains, we want the sun in Leo, and in the month of August the clouds to discharge themselves; not reflecting that were this the case, the seasons would be turned topsy-turvy, the seed sown would be lost, the crops would be destroyed, the bodies of men would faint away, and nature would go head over heels. Therefore, let us leave Heaven to its own course; for it has made the tree to mitigate with wood the severity of winter, and leaves to soften the heat of summer.

    You speak like Solomon! said the youth; but you cannot deny that this month of March, in which we now are, is very impertinent to send all this frost and rain, snow and hail, wind and storm, these fogs and tempests and other troubles, that make one’s life a burden.

    You tell only the ill of this poor month, replied Lise, but do not speak of the benefits it yields to us; for, by bringing forward the spring, it commences the production of things, helps along the cause with the sun, and leads him to the house of the rain.

    The youth was greatly pleased at what Lise said, for he was in truth no other than March himself, who had arrived at that inn with his eleven brothers, and to reward Lise’s goodness, who had not found anything evil to say of a month so sad that the shepherds do not like to mention it, he gave him a beautiful little casket, saying, Take this, and if you want anything, only ask for it, and, opening this box, you will see it before you. Lise thanked the youth, with many expressions of respect, and laying the little box under his head by way of a pillow, he went to sleep.

    As soon, however, as the sun, with the pencil of his rays, had retouched the dark shadows of the night, Lise took leave of the youth and set out on his way. But he had hardly proceeded fifty steps from the inn, when, opening the casket, he said: Ah, my friend, I wish I had a litter lined with cloth, and with a little fire inside, that I might travel warm and comfortable through the snow! No sooner had he uttered the words, than there appeared a litter, with bearers, who, lifting him up, placed him in it; whereupon he told them to carry him home.

    When the hour was come for food, Lise opened the little box and said: I wish for something to eat. And instantly there appeared a profusion of the choicest food; such a banquet that ten crowned kings might have feasted on it.

    One evening, having come to a wood, which did not give admittance to the sun, because he came through suspected places,[1] Lise opened the little casket and said: I should like to rest tonight on this beautiful spot, where the river is making counterpoint on the stones as accompaniment to the canto-fermo of the cool breezes. And instantly there appeared, under an oilcloth tent, a couch of fine scarlet, with down mattresses, covered with a Spanish counterpane and sheets as light as a feather. Then he asked for something to eat, and in a trice there was set out a sideboard covered with silver and gold fit for a prince, and under another tent a table spread with viands, the savory smell of which extended a hundred miles.

    1.Alluding to the quarantine which ships were subject to in coming from the East.

    When he had eaten enough, he laid himself down to sleep, and as soon as the cock, who is the spy of the sun, announced to his master that the shades of night were worn and wearied, and it was now time for him, like a skilful general, to fall upon the rear and make a slaughter of them, Lise opened his little box and said: I wish to have a handsome dress, for today I shall see my brother, and I should like to make his mouth water. No sooner said than done; immediately a princely dress of the richest black velvet appeared, with edgings of red camlet, and a lining of yellow cloth embroidered all over, which looked like a field of flowers; so, dressing himself, Lise got into the litter, and soon reached his brother’s house.

    When Cianne saw his brother arrive with all his splendor and luxury, he wished to know what good fortune had befallen him. Then Lise told him of the youths whom he had met at the inn, and of the present they had made him, but he kept to himself the conversation of the youths.

    Cianne was all impatience to get away from his brother, and told him to go and

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