THE
YELLOW FAIRY BOOK
Edited by
ANDREW LANG
CONTENTS:
The Cat and the Mouse in Partnership. . . . . . . . . 1
The Six Swans. . . . . . . . 4
The Dragon of the North. . . 9
Story of the Emperor’s New Clothes . . . . . . . . . .21
The Golden Crab. . . . . . .26
The Iron Stove . . . . . . .32
The Dragon and his Grand- mother. . . . . . . . . . .38
The Donkey Cabbage . . . . .42
The Little Green Frog. . . .50
The Seven-headed Serpent . .60
The Grateful Beasts. . . . .64
The Giants and the Herd-boy.75
The Invisible Prince . . . .78
The Crow . . . . . . . . . .92
How Six Men travelled through the Wide World. . .95
The Wizard King. . . . . . 100
The Nixy . . . . . . . . . 108
The Glass Mountain . . . . 114
Alphege, or the Green Monkey. . . . . . . . . . 119
Fairer-than-a-Fairy. . . . 126
The Three Brothers . . . . 134
The Boy and the Wolves, or the Broken Promise. . . . 138
The Glass Axe. . . . . . . 141
The Dead Wife. . . . . . . 149
In the Land of Souls . . . 152
The White Duck . . . . . . 155
The Witch and her Servants 161
The Magic Ring . . . . . . 178
The Flower Queen’s Daughter. . . . . . . . . 192
The Flying Ship. . . . . . 198
The Snow-daughter and the Fire-son. . . . . . . . . 206
The Story of King Frost. . 209
The Death of the Sun-hero. 213
The Witch. . . . . . . . . 216
The Hazel-nut Child. . . . 222
The Story of Big Klaus and Little Klaus. . . . . . . 225
Prince Ring. . . . . . . . 237
The Swineherd. . . . . . . 249
How to tell a True Princess254
The Blue Mountains . . . . 256
The Tinder-box . . . . . . 265
The Witch in the Stone Boat274
Thumbelina . . . . . . . . 279
The Nightingale. . . . . . 291
Hermod and Hadvor. . . . . 301
The Steadfast Tin-soldier. 308
Blockhead Hans . . . . . . 313
A Story about a Darning needle. . . . . . . . . . 319
THE CAT AND THE MOUSE IN PARTNERSHIP
A CAT had made acquaintance with a mouse, and had spoken so much of the great love and friendship she felt for her, that at last the Mouse consented to live in the same house with her, and to go shares in the housekeeping. `But we must provide for the winter or else we shall suffer hunger,’ said the Cat. `You, little Mouse, cannot venture everywhere in case you run at last into a trap.’ This good counsel was followed, and a little pot of fat was bought. But they did not know where to put it. At length, after long consultation, the Cat said, `I know of no place where it could be better put than in the church. No one will trouble to take it away from there. We will hide it in a corner, and we won’t touch it till we are in want.’ So the little pot was placed in safety; but it was not long before the Cat had a great longing for it, and said to the Mouse, `I wanted to tell you, little Mouse, that my cousin has a little son, white with brown spots, and she wants me to be godmother to it. Let me go out to-day, and do you take care of the house alone.’
`Yes, go certainly,’ replied the Mouse, `and when you eat anything good, think of me; I should very much like a drop of the red christening wine.’
But it was all untrue. The Cat had no cousin, and had not been asked to be godmother. She went straight to the church, slunk to the little pot of fat, began to lick it, and licked the top off. Then she took a walk on the roofs of the town, looked at the view, stretched herself out in the sun, and licked her lips whenever she thought of the little pot of fat. As soon as it was evening she went home again.
`Ah, here you are again!’ said the Mouse; `you must certainly have had an enjoyable day.’
`It went off very well,’ answered the Cat.
`What was the child’s name?’ asked the Mouse.
`Top Off,’ said the Cat drily.
`Topoff!’ echoed the Mouse, `it is indeed a wonderful and curious name. Is it in your family?’
`What is there odd about it?’ said the Cat. `It is not worse than Breadthief, as your godchild is called.’
Not long after this another great longing came over the Cat. She said to the Mouse, `You must again be kind enough to look after the house alone, for I have been asked a second time to stand godmother, and as this child has a white ring round its neck, I cannot refuse.’
The kind Mouse agreed, but the Cat slunk under the town wall to the church, and ate up half of the pot of fat. `Nothing tastes better,’ said she, `than what one eats by oneself,’ and she was very much pleased with her day’s work. When she came home the Mouse asked, `What was this child called?’
`Half Gone,’ answered the Cat.
`Halfgone! what a name! I have never heard it in my life. I don’t believe it is in the calendar.’
Soon the Cat’s mouth began to water once more after her licking business. `All good things in threes,’ she said to the Mouse; `I have again to stand godmother. The child is quite black, and has very white paws, but not a single white hair on its body. This only happens once in two years, so you will let me go out?’
`Topoff! Halfgone!’ repeated the Mouse, `they are such curious names; they make me very thoughtful.’
`Oh, you sit at home in your dark grey coat and your long tail,’ said the Cat, `and you get fanciful. That comes of not going out in the day.’
The Mouse had a good cleaning out while the Cat was gone, and made the house tidy; but the greedy Cat ate the fat every bit up. `When it is all gone one can be at rest,’ she said to herself, and at night she came home sleek and satisfied. The Mouse asked at once after the third child’s name.
`It won’t please you any better,’ said the Cat, `he was called Clean Gone.
`Cleangone!’ repeated the Mouse. `I do not believe that name has been printed any more than the others. Cleangone! What can it mean?’ She shook her head, curled herself up, and went to sleep.
From this time on no one asked the Cat to stand godmother; but when the winter came and there was nothing to be got outside, the Mouse remembered their provision and said, `Come, Cat, we will go to our pot of fat which we have stored away; it will taste very good.’
`Yes, indeed,’ answered the Cat; ‘ it will taste as good to you as if you stretched your thin tongue out of the window.’
They started off, and when they reached it they found the pot in its place, but quite empty!
`Ah,’ said the Mouse,’ `now I know what has happened! It has all come out! You are a true friend to me! You have eaten it all when you stood godmother; first the top off, then half of it gone, then—-‘
`Will you be quiet!’ screamed the Cat. `Another word and I will eat you up.’
`Cleangone’ was already on the poor Mouse’s tongue, and scarcely was it out than the Cat made a spring at her, seized and swallowed her.
You see that is the way of the world.
THE SIX SWANS
A KING was once hunting in a great wood, and he hunted the game so eagerly that none of his courtiers could follow him. When evening came on he stood still and looked round him, and he saw that he had quite lost himself. He sought a way out, but could find none. Then he saw an old woman with a shaking head coming towards him; but she was a witch.
`Good woman,’ he said to her, `can you not show me the way out of the wood?’
`Oh, certainly, Sir King,’ she replied, `I can quite well do that, but on one condition, which if you do not fulfil you will never get out of the wood, and will die of hunger.’