Abandoned.
From the story “HANSEL AND GRETHEL.”
Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
Translated from the German By Margaret Hunt.
Illustrated By John B. Gruelle.
Cupples and Leon Company: New York. Ca 1914.
“Think of your own shoe.”
After the dancing had gone on for some time, the princess told the wizard that another young man had come to seek her hand, and asked what she should think of next morning when he came up to the palace to guess her thoughts.
“Listen! I will tell you,” replied the wizard. “Choose something very easy and simple, and he will be less likely to think of it. Think of your own shoe; he will never guess that. Then you can have his head cut off. But, mind! don’t forget to bring me his eyes to-morrow night. I will have either them or your own. Remember our bargain!”
.
From the story “The Traveling Companions.”
Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales.
By William Woodburn.
Illustrated by Gordon Robinson.
W. & R. Chambers, Limited: London & Edinburgh. 1917.
PUTRI BALAN BEGAN TO LAUGH
When the moon is round and full, if you look very carefully at the golden disk you can see in shadowy outline the profile of a beautiful lady. She is leaning forward as if looking down upon our earth, and there is a little smile upon her sweet lips. This fair dame is Putri Balan, the Princess of the Moon, and she smiles because she remembers how once upon a time she cheated old Mr. Owl, her tiresome lover.
From the Story “THE OWL AND THE MOON.”
The Curious Book of Birds.
Written by Abbie Farwell Brown.
Illustrations by E. Boyd Smith.
Houghton, Mifflin & Company: Boston & New York. 1903.
SUCH A GORGEOUS COAT!
“O Father!” he panted, “I am late. But I was so busy! Pray forgive me and permit me to have a pretty coat like the others.”
“You are late indeed,” said the Father reproachfully, “and all the coloring has been done. You should have come when I bade you. Do you not know that it is the prompt bird who fares best? My rainbow color-box has been generously used, and I have but little of each tint left. Yet I will paint you with the colors that I have, and if the result be ill you have only yourself to blame.”
“The Father smiled gently as He took up the brush which He had laid down, and dipped it in the first color which came to hand. This He used until there was no more, when He began with another shade, and so continued until the Goldfinch was completely colored from head to foot. Such a gorgeous coat! His forehead and throat were of the most brilliant crimson. His cap and sailor collar were black. His back was brown and yellow, his breast white, his wings golden set off with velvet black, and his tail was black with white-tipped feathers. Certainly there was no danger of his being mistaken for any other bird.
When the Goldfinch looked down into a pool and saw the reflection of his gorgeous coat, he burst out into a song of joy. “I like it, oh I like it!” he warbled, and his song was very sweet. “Oh, I am glad that I was late, indeed I am, dear Father!”
But the kind Father sighed and shook His head as He put away the brush, exclaiming, “Poor little Goldfinch! You are indeed a beautiful bird. But I fear that the gorgeous coat which you wear, and which is the best that I could give you, because you came so late, will cause you more sorrow than joy. Because of it you will be chased and captured and kept in captivity; and your life will be spent in mourning for the days when you were a plain gray bird.”
The Curious Book of Birds.
Written by Abbie Farwell Brown.
Illustrations by E. Boyd Smith.
Houghton, Mifflin & Company: Boston & New York. 1903.