The Arrogant Swans 

In a faraway kingdom, there was a river. This river was home to many golden swans. The
swans spent most of their time on the banks of the river. Every six months, the swans would
leave a golden feather as a fee for using the lake. The soldiers of the kingdom would collect the
feathers and deposit them in the royal treasury. 

One day, a homeless bird saw the river. “The water in this river seems so cool and soothing. I
will make my home here," thought the bird. 

As soon as the bird settled down near the river, the golden swans noticed her. They came
shouting. “This river belongs to us. We pay a golden feather to the King to use this river. You
can not live here." 

“I am homeless, brothers. I too will pay the rent. Please give me shelter," the bird pleaded.
“How will you pay the rent? You do not have golden feathers," said the swans laughing. They
further added, “Stop dreaming and leave once." The humble bird pleaded many times. But the
arrogant swans drove the bird away. 

“I will teach them a lesson!" decided the humiliated bird. 

She went to the King and said, “O King! The swans in your river are impolite and unkind. I
begged for shelter but they said that they had purchased the river with golden feathers." 

The King was angry with the arrogant swans for having insulted the homeless bird. He ordered
his soldiers to bring the arrogant swans to his court. In no time, all the golden swans were
brought to the King’s court. 

“Do you think the royal treasury depends upon your golden feathers? You can not decide who
lives by the river. Leave the river at once or you all will be beheaded!" shouted the King. 
The swans shivered with fear on hearing the King. They flew away never to return. The bird
built her home near the river and lived there happily forever. The bird gave shelter to all other
birds in the river. 

The Princess and the Pea

Once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she would have to be
a real princess. He travelled all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he
wanted. There were princesses enough, but it was difficult to find out whether they were real
ones. There was always something about them that was not as it should be. So he came home
again and was sad, for he would have liked very much to have a real princess.

     One evening a terrible storm came on; there was thunder and lightning, and the rain poured
down in torrents. Suddenly a knocking was heard at the city gate, and the old king went to
open it.

     It was a princess standing out there in front of the gate. But, good gracious! what a sight the
rain and the wind had made her look. The water ran down from her hair and clothes; it ran
down into the toes of her shoes and out again at the heels. And yet she said that she was a real
princess.

     Well, we'll soon find that out, thought the old queen. But she said nothing, went into the
bed-room, took all the bedding off the bedstead, and laid a pea on the bottom; then she took
twenty mattresses and laid them on the pea, and then twenty eider-down beds on top of the
mattresses.

     On this the princess had to lie all night. In the morning she was asked how she had slept.

     "Oh, very badly!" said she. "I have scarcely closed my eyes all night. Heaven only knows
what was in the bed, but I was lying on something hard, so that I am black and blue all over my
body. It's horrible!"

     Now they knew that she was a real princess because she had felt the pea right through the
twenty mattresses and the twenty eider-down beds.

Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that.

     So the prince took her for his wife, for now he knew that he had a real princess; and the pea
was put in the museum, where it may still be seen, if no one has stolen it.

     There, that is a true story.

A moral is the lesson that a story teaches you. The Princess and the Pea is a fairytale that
warns the reader about the dangers of jumping to conclusions without all the facts. This is
shown through the illustration of the old queen who does not believe the sopping wet girl at the
gate could be a princess.

The Story of Pocahontas and John Smith

In the spring of 1607, three ships landed on the shore of what is now America. 
About 100 men – no women were asked to come – stepped onto the sand to start
a new life. 
The men built 20 cabins and a fort to go around them all.  They called their new
town Jamestown.   But they were not the only ones living on that land.
Up and down the coast and for miles into the woods lived tribes of Native
Americans.  Today, the area is called Virginia.  Back then, it was called the
Powhatan Confederacy.  Over 30 tribes in the Powhatan Confederacy were ruled
by one chief.  His name was Powhatan. 
Chief Powhatan’s scouts told him that new men had landed on the shore.  They
told him the men had built a fort.  They also told him the new men spoke in
words no one had heard before.  They wore clothes no one had seen before. 
Powhatan knew all that.  What he did not know – and what he wanted to know
most of all - was, where did they come from?  Why were they here? And what
would it be like to be their Chief?
But they were not the only ones living on that land.
His scouts told him some other news, too, that was most odd.  No crops had been
planted around the fort.  No canoes were anywhere near the fort, and the men
did not even stand by the river to fish.  The men did not go into the woods to
hunt, either. Said Powhatan, “These men do not know how to plant, ride a canoe,
fish or hunt.  It will be easier than I thought to be their Chief.
We will bring food to them – corn, beans and squash. Without us, they will
starve.  And I, Powhatan, who rules 30 tribes, will rule over them, too!”  “Father
let me come with you!” said Powhatan’s daughter Pocahontas.  No one had seen
her slip into the longhouse. “I want to see the fort, too.”  “Surely not!” said her
father.  “You have work to do here.  When you are done, you may play with your
sisters.”
“I, Pohawtan, who rules 30 tribes, will rule over them, too!”
 “I play with them every day!” said Pocahontas.  “Father, please! I’ll be good!”
Powhatan smiled.  “Ah, my princess,” he said.  “How can I say no to that
face?” At last, an adventure for Pocahontas!  She felt sure that if she had to sew
beads onto one more moccasin, or fill one more basket with berries, she would
burst! So Chief Powhatan, with scouts carrying baskets of corn, beans and
squash, and with Pocahontas beside them, all went over to the fort.
When they got there, they set down the baskets.  And stepped back. In a minute,
men burst out of the fort with big smiles on their faces.  You can be sure there
was much joy! Pocahontas saw something else that made her smile, too.  Four
boys a bit older than she came out with the other men.  She waved to the boys. 
They waved back!  When the grown-ups were trying to talk to each other with
their arms and hands, she said to them, “Want to play?”  
 

Men burst out of the fort with big smiles on their faces.
 

They did not understand her words.  But soon they were showing her how to play
tag and stickball.  And she was showing them how to do cartwheels. After a
while, Powhatan called, “Pocahontas! It’s time to go.”  Every four or five days
after that, Pocahontas came back with the others to the fort. Each time,
Powhatan’s scouts carried corn, squash, and beans.  Sometimes for a special
treat, maple sugar, too. Pocahontas learned the names of her new friends –
James, Nathaniel, Richard and Samuel. And they learned hers.  She also learned
the name of their leader, John Smith.
As the days got shorter, the rain stopped coming. The corn in the fields dried up. 
The squash and the beans on the vine dried up.  Berries on the bushes dried
up. “We cannot take food to the fort anymore,” said Powhatan.  “We need to save
all we have so our people will make it through the winter.  We must go to the fort
and tell them.”
 
 “We cannot take food to the fort anymore,” said Powhatan.
 

When the men in the fort heard the news, they got angry.  They marched into
their cabins.  They came out with guns, and shot the guns into the sky. Powhatan
got angry, too.  He said, “I warn you, white men!  Do not go anywhere near our
village!  If you do, you will be sorry!”  The men of Jamestown could not
understand what Powhatan was saying.  But they could tell from his face that
they were not friends anymore.
Soon after that, John Smith was going through the woods looking for food.  He
was close to the village of Powhatan.  Too close.  Powhatan’s brother and some of
the tribe saw him pass.  In a flash, they jumped out at him.  They held John
Smith down and took him back to Powhatan’s village. “Now it will be done, once
and for all,” said Powhatan.  “I will be Chief to all the people in the fort.”
 

“Do not go anywhere near our village!  If you do, you will be sorry!”
 

That winter, John Smith could not leave the village.  Still, Powhatan made him
feel at home.  Pocahontas, who knew him from before, spent time with him.  Day
after day, they would teach each other the words that each other’s people spoke. 
As the snow melted, the people of Powhatan’s village started to get ready for a
festival.  Powhatan called John Smith into his longhouse.  “The festival will soon
be here,” he said. “What festival?” said John Smith.  Now he could better
understand what Powhatan was saying. “The festival to mark the time when your
people join my people.  When I become your Chief.” “That will never happen!”
shouted John Smith. Powhatan did not know the words the young man was
saying.  But the Chief could tell that John Smith was angry.  “Your people have
no choice!” said Powhatan. “If you will not join my tribe, you must die!”
 

“That will never happen!” shouted John Smith.

 

No one saw Pocahontas slip into the longhouse.  Powhatan said: “Put his head on
the rock!” Two strong braves grabbed John Smith and pushed his head down on
a rock.  Powhatan lifted a large rock above him, ready to strike. “No!” the girl
cried out.  All of a sudden, Pocahontas rushed up and bent over John Smith,
placing her own head over his.  Powhatan held the rock high in the
air. “Pocahontas!” he cried out.  “Move away!” “I will not move!” she said,
turning her head to the side.  “Let him be.  Let all of them be!” Powhatan held up
the rock.  Then, he lowered his arms.  “My daughter,” he said in a soft voice.
“You are right.  No good can come from hurting these people.”
After that, Powhatan set John Smith free.  Powhatan’s tribes brought food again
to the men in the fort, this time smoked meat and fish.  In return, the men in the
fort gave them glass beads and copper.  They traded what they could, and each
was the better for it.

Beauty and the Beast Story Fairy Tale

  Once upon a time there was a very rich man who lived with his three daughters.
The two older daughters laughed at anyone who did not dress as well as they did.
If the two of them were not resting at home, they were out shopping for as many
fine dresses and hats as they could carry home.  
The youngest daughter, Beauty, loved to read.  “Your nose is always in a book,"
her two older sisters said.  They laughed.  "No one will want you! Look at your
hair.  You look like a servant girl!”  Beauty did not know why they were so mean.
But she said nothing.
One day, the father got some bad news.  He had spent all of his money on a ship
that he sent out to sea for trade.  Now he learned the ship was gone!  Everything
on it was lost.  All at once, the rich father became as poor as poor could be.  
The family could no longer stay in their big house.  The fine house, its fine tables
and chairs, and all of their fine things, had to be sold.  
One day, the father got some very bad news.
 
All the father had left was a little hut, deep in the woods.  So that is where he and
his three daughters had to move.  Living in the hut in the woods was hard work.
Each day a fire had to be started, meals cooked, the place cleaned up, the garden
tended, and things needed fixing when they broke.  Now that the family was
poor, you might think the two older sisters would help out.  Think again.  
“She looks like such a mess,” they said, turning up their noses at Beauty.  “She
might as well serve us.”  And so Beauty did all the hard work.  The sisters slept
late, took naps, and showed up for meals.
“She looks such a mess,” they said, turning up their noses.
 

Then – good news! – the father’s ship came to shore!  

“My daughters!” said the happy father. “I am going to town.  Tell me what fine
gift I can bring back for you.”
“Bring me the best dress from the best shop in town,” said the oldest sister.
“I want one just like it,” said the middle sister.
“And you, Beauty?” he said.
“All I want, Father,” she said, “is a rose.”
“Can you believe her?” said the eldest sister.
“What a fool!” said the middle sister.  And they both laughed.
“Girls!” said the father.  “If that is what Beauty wants, that is what I will bring for
her.”
 

“All I want, Father,” said she, “is a rose."

 

The father was on his way home when he thought, “Oh my!  I forgot all about the
rose for Beauty!”  All at once, the sky turned black.  “Dear, me! A storm is
coming!”
A moment later, heavy dark rains fell down hard from the sky.  Soaking wet, the
father saw a blink of light far away.  He went closer to the light.  Maybe it was a
place he could stay for the night.  When he got up close, he saw that it was a large
palace with candles in all its windows.  Very odd, but the front door was open. 
So, the father stepped inside.  
“Hello?” he said.  No answer.  
There, before him, was a great feast on a long table.  
“Hello?” he said again.  Still no answer.  He dared not touch any food on the
table.  The father sat down in front of the fire to warm himself.  He waited.  But
no one came. 
“I suppose it would be all right if I stayed the night,” said the father.  "And maybe
just one bite." He took a quick bite from the feast.  Then he found a bedroom and
fell fast asleep.
 “Hello?” he said.  No answer.
 

The next morning the table was laid again, but this time with breakfast.  Again -
most odd! - no one was there.  “I suppose I should leave now,” said the father.  
On the way out, he passed a rose garden.  “Ah, I was to bring Beauty a rose!" he
remembered.  "I will take just one.”  And he picked a rose for Beauty.
Just then, a loud stomp came up from behind.
Roared a voice - “You took my rose!”
The father spun around.  There before him was an awful, huge monster.  “I… I’m
sorry!” he said.  “I didn’t know.”  
"How could you not know?" roared the Beast. “You will pay for this! You will
die!”  
The father fell on his knees.  “Please!” he begged.  “Do not kill me! I only picked
the rose for one of my daughters.”
 

“You will pay for this!” the Beast yelled.  “You will die!”
 

"You have daughters?” said the Beast. “Well.  If one of them will come stay here
in your place, I will let you go free.  She must stay here forever.  In three months,
if none of them will come in your place, you must return yourself and take your
punishment.”  
When the father got home, Beauty could tell something was wrong.  “What is it,
Father?” she said.  
“Oh, nothing,” he said.  But she knew that was not true.
At last, the father told his girls what the Beast had said.  “This all happened
because I asked you to bring home a rose for me!” said Beauty.  “I will go there in
your place.  Or else, you will die there.”
“No, I cannot allow that!” said the father.  “I am old.  I do not have much more
time to live.  You are young.  You must not do this for me!”
But Beauty would not change her mind.  And so two days later, the father took
Beauty to the castle where the Beast lived.
“I will go there in your place.  Or else, you will die there."
 

“This is your daughter?” said the Beast, looking at Beauty.  

“Yes, I am,” she said.  “I will stay here for my father.  And that means he is free to
go.  That is what you said.”
“Yes,” said the Beast.
At the Beast's palace, the days were long.  There was no one for Beauty to talk to,
and no books to read.  Every night at nine, the Beast would come for dinner.  She
would say nothing.  After all, it is not easy to be a prisoner, even if you are at a
palace.  The Beast would only grunt.
Then one time at dinner the Beast made a little joke, and she smiled.  Another
time, he said something clever, and she looked him in the eye.  After that, he
would ask her about her day, and she would tell him.  
 

The days were long and there was no one for Beauty to talk to.
 

One day, Beauty came to a part of the palace she had not seen before.  Over a
door was a sign, “Beauty’s Room.”  The door was open.  Inside the room were
shelves of books from the floor to the ceiling.  There was a piano, and a cabinet of
fine dresses just her size.
Now there was much to talk about at dinner!  The Beast was glad that Beauty
found the room and liked her surprise.  One night, at the end of dinner, Beast
said, “Beauty, I love you.  Will you marry me?”
Beauty did not know what to say.  “Beast, I have come to like it better here," she
said.  "Talking to you can be the best part of the day. But please understand.  I
don't want you to marry you.”
Many times, the Beast asked her the same question.  And each time Beauty
shook her head and said the same thing.  One night, the Beast said, “Beauty, if
you will not marry me, what can I do to make you happy?”
“If you must know,” she said, “it would be to see my father.  I miss him so
much!”
"Beast, I have come to like it better here," she said.  "Talking to you
can be the best part of the day. But please understand.  I don't want
to marry you."
 

The next night, the Beast gave Beauty two magical gifts - a mirror and a ring.  “If
you want to see your father,” he said, “just ask the magic mirror to take you to
him.  When you are ready to come back, turn the ring on your finger three times. 
Ask the mirror to bring you back here.  But please do not be gone for more than
one week.  For I will die of grief!”
Beauty was glad to agree.  When she got back to her room, she looked in the
magic mirror.  She asked the mirror to take her to him.  And there he was in bed
right before her.  Yet he looked so sick, it was as if he may die!  
 

“But do not be gone for more than one week.  Or I will die of grief!”
 
Such joy her father felt when he looked up and saw Beauty!  For much of what
made him sick was knowing that Beauty was stuck in the palace, all because of
him. Beauty stayed by her father’s bed for many hours.  She told him that things
were not quite so bad at the Beast's palace.  She had all the books she could want
to read.  She had music to play, and many fine dresses to wear. “The Beast is
really not so bad,” she said, “when you get to know him.  He can be good to talk
to.”
Beauty looked around.  “Where are my sisters?”  
“Married,” said her father.
“Did they marry good men?” she said.
“They had money,” said the father.  “But I do not know if your sisters are happy.”
For the eldest sister had married a handsome man who thought of no one but
himself.  And the middle sister had married a man who was very clever.  But he
used his sharp wit to hurt everyone around him, and most of all his wife.
Beauty looked around.  “Where are my sisters?” she said.
 

When the sisters came to the house and saw Beauty dressed so well and talking
about how kind and good the Beast was to her, they burned with anger.  Beauty
told them she must stay no more than one week. 
And the two sisters came up with a plan.  
The sisters petted Beauty and said such nice things to her they had never said
before.  When she told them she must go soon, they cried.  They said she must
not leave!  There was still so much left they wanted to do with her.  And what did
it matter anyway, just a few more days? So Beauty stayed.
One night she had a dream about the Beast.  In her dream, the Beast lay sick and
dying.  When Beauty woke up, she asked the magic mirror to show her the
Beast.  And there he was in the mirror, lying in the rose garden, looking so sick
he would die.  At once, she turned the magic ring three times.  “Take me back to
the Beast!” she said.  In a moment she was sitting next to the poor, sick Beast,
who could only gasp for air.
 

In her dream, the Beast lay sick and dying.

 

"You came back!” said the Beast in a thick voice.

“I am sorry that I am late!” said Beauty.  
“I could not bear it that you may not come back to me.  And now, I fear it is too
late.”  His eyes closed.
“No!” cried Beauty.  “Do not leave me!”  Just then, she knew in her heart what
was true.  “I love you!” she cried out.  “Please come back!  Come back and I will
be your wife. I will!”  Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Just then, the Beast opened his eyes.  “Beauty!” he said.  “You did it!”
In a flash, the Beast was changed to a handsome prince!  Beauty did not know
what to think.
“Ah, Beauty!” he said.  And the Beast told her his story.  Years ago when he was a
prince, an evil fairy had put a spell on him.  He must stay a beast forever, until a
maiden grew to love him when he still looked like a Beast.  Now she had been the
one to break the spell!
And so Beauty and her prince, formerly the Beast, were married.  And they lived
happily ever after.