Once upon a time there was an old King who had only one daughter. He was very anxious that his daughter should marry, but while she was more beautiful than words can tell, she was so proud and rude that no man who came to woo her was good enough for her. She sent away one after another and even made fun of them to their faces.
From the story “KING HAWKSBEAK.”
Once Upon a Time.
Edited by Katharine Lee Bates.
Illustrated by Margaret Evans Price.
Rand McNally & Company: Chicago & New York. 1921.
THE SHIRT-COLLAR.
“Mistress widow!” cried the shirt-collar, “little mistress widow, I am getting very warm! I am turning quite another being, all my creases are coming out; you are burning a hole in me! Ugh! I propose to you!”
Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen.
Henry Altemus Company: Philadelphia. Ca 1920.
THE PRINCESS AND THE RAGGED BALLAD-SINGER
When the old King saw that his daughter only made fun of all her fine suitors, he was very angry. “By my beard,” he swore, “the first beggar who comes to the door shall be her husband!”
Only a few days later a strolling ballad-singer took his stand under one of the castle windows and sang his best in hope of alms. When the King heard him, he said: “Let the fellow come up here.” So the beggar was brought in, ragged, stooping, with wild hair, and whiskers that almost hid his face. He sang to the King and the Princess all the ballads he knew and then held out his torn hat for coppers, or perhaps a bit of silver.
The King said: “Your song has pleased me so much that I will give you instead of money this daughter of mine for your wife.”
The Princess cried out in disgust and dismay. But the King said: “I have sworn by my beard that you, too proud for royal suitors, should marry the first beggar who came to the door. That oath cannot be broken.”
This king could be very stern when he chose, and the tears of his daughter did not move him. The court chaplain was called in and the Princess and the beggar were married then and there.
And then, although his daughter clung to his knees, the King shook her off. “Now you are a beggar-woman, and beggar-women do not live in palaces. Go hence with your husband.”
Illustration from From The Story “King Hawksbeak”
Once Upon a Time.
Edited by Katharine Lee Bates.
Illustrated by Margaret Evans Price.
Rand McNally & Company: Chicago & New York. 1921.
“Jack Sprat and his Wife.”
Jack Sprat could eat no fat,
His wife could eat no lean;
And so betwixt them both, you see,
They licked the platter clean.
Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes.
McLoughlin Brothers: New York. Ca 1900.
Elephant's Picture Book 