Lovely Fairy Tales: 14 books

Relationships with nearest and friends, nature and environment - that's what you can find in Japanese fairy tales. During reading Japanese fairy tales, children learn how to differ good from evil, to understand how important it is to be an honest person and take care of nearest and friends. In Japanese...

This is a story of one king, whose wife ceased to love him and enchanted him after he has mortally wounded her favorite slave who was her lover. Earlier the kingdom consisted of the isles, but the queen turned it to four small mountains and all the people in the kingdom to fishes. The queen made her...

Once three soldiers decided to run away from the army as their pays were too little. They hid themselves in a cornfield. But the army didn’t leave the place for two days and the soldiers were starving. Then appeared a dragon. He promised to take them far away and gave them a whip, which, when you...

Once upon a time there lived a stone-cutter, who went every day to a great rock in the side of a big mountain and cut out slabs for gravestones or for houses. He was a good stone-cutter and understood the kinds of stones which were suitable for different purposes. He was happy and satisfied. One mountain...

Once upon a time there lived an old, quite rich woman who had a small cottage near the forest. She never felt lonely, but she had a bad illness and thought that it would be nice to have someone to speak. At this moment, she heard of the death of a shepherd's family and a boy left alone. She adopted...

Long time ago there was a man who had a very clever son. One-day the son went out from parent's home to seek a job. And on the way he met a man, who asked him where he was going. He answered that he wants a job. The man took him into his service, and the entire boy's work was to dust his master's...

This is a story of one goldsmith, living in a village full of bad greedy people. The only person he could communicate to was a cowherd. But every evening the cowherd had to go for a walk with the goldsmith, even though he was very tired. Once he asked another cowherd, could he go to have a quarrel...

The Puck is a spirit of nature, which leads people astray. "A French Puck" is an English tale. One version of this tale you can find in Andrew Lang's Fairy Books. In the central area of France dwells a spirit, who plays tricks on people. Usually, the Puck performs its pranks about midnight,...

The story tells about how a group of young hunters from one tribe went to find food. The main character - one of the young men promised his beloved girl that he will bring to her family so much meat that it will be enough for three days. When they reached the lake, the boys began to fish. All of them...

"The Crab and the Monkey" is a Japanese tale. A crab finds rice and wants to eat it. A monkey offers the crab to exchange the rice for a persimmon seed. The crab agrees, but then it understands that it was deceived. After that, the crab plants the seed and a fruit tree grows. One day the...

The sea queen Otohime was very ill. The best doctors from every country under the sea tried to treat the queen, but their treatment was in vain. Everyone had almost given up hope, when one day the doctor, who was cleverer than the rest ones, has arrived and said that the only thing that would cure...

Once upon a time in a usual morning the king of a far country went for a walk in his own garden. Soon after he returned to his throne listen to envoy's message. But the envoy said nothing - he just advanced to the throne where the king was awaiting him, and stooping down, traced on the floor with...

Once upon a time there were three young and beautiful princesses, but the youngest was the most beautiful of them. About half a mile from the palace was a castle, which was almost a ruin but with the garden full of blooming flowers. And in this garden the youngest princess often used to walk. One...

Long time ago there were 3 houses, where lived a tailor, a carpenter and a smith. They were married and their wives were friends. Every Sunday they went together to church to have a regular gossip, on the way home they always stopped at a tavern to drink some brandy. Half a pint of brandy cost three...