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    Grimm's Fairy Tales - Illustrated by Mabel Lucie Attwell
    Grimm's Fairy Tales - Illustrated by Mabel Lucie Attwell
    Grimm's Fairy Tales - Illustrated by Mabel Lucie Attwell
    Ebook200 pages4 hours

    Grimm's Fairy Tales - Illustrated by Mabel Lucie Attwell

    By Brothers Grimm and Mabel Lucie Attwell

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    About this ebook

    This wonderful book contains 18 classic Brothers Grimm tales decorated profusely by the adored Mabel Lucie Atwell. There are many black and white line drawings and colour plates picturing her classic cherub like children and fairy creatures. Pook Press are working to republish these classic works in affordable, high quality, colour editions, using the original text and artwork so these works can delight another generation of children.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateApr 16, 2013
    ISBN9781473384248
    Grimm's Fairy Tales - Illustrated by Mabel Lucie Attwell
    Author

    Brothers Grimm

    Wilhelm Grimm and his brother Jacob are famous for their classical collection of folk songs and folktales, especially for Children’s and Household Tales, generally known as Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

    Read more from Brothers Grimm

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    Reviews for Grimm's Fairy Tales - Illustrated by Mabel Lucie Attwell

    4/5

    1,067 ratings53 reviews

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    • 5/5
      The original versions not Disneyfied. Lots of deaths. Tricksters. Fools. Kindness rewarded. Cleverness rewarded. Some have morals. Some are just for fun to laugh at the foolishness.
    • 5/5
      Timeless stories, in all their bloody glory. :) My favorite is Rumpelstiltskin, when he rips himself in half. :D
    • 4/5
      There are alot of good fairy tales, but alot depends on the editor or the edition, and going for "The Complete" isn't always the best choice. Repeating a story simply because it was told in the past isn't always a good idea-- it's a bit like turning on the TV and watching something simply because it's being aired. After a certain point, editing is required, whether you admit it or not, after all, there are infinite possible variations to every story, some of which have even made it into writing. So calling any collection "The Complete" is an illusion, and a damaging one, I think. If they simply mean that it's a translation of the "original"-- in terms of the written word-- Brothers Grimm collection of the 1810s, they could simply indicate that in some way. Perhaps-- 'Grimm's Fairy Tales-- Children's and Household Tales', or something like that. I suppose that even of this type of translation there are different versions, and the edition I have (Arthur Rackham as [mediocre] illustrator), doesn't have an introduction (which can be good as well as bad), and doesn't really explain the name-jokes when they come up-- "Fair Katrinelje and Pif-Paf-Poltrie"..... I mean, if you're not going to do something like that well, then maybe you shouldn't include it at all.... should you stuff it in there, just because you have this illusion that there can ever be a "complete" book of fairy tales? In the end this is to me more like a mine from which good stories can be picked, rather than a really good version in itself; my favorite collection of Grimm's Fairy Tales at this point is a google book's version with Edna Henry Lee Turpin as editor, from about a hundred years ago, although there are probably also other good versions, actually meant to be read by, I don't know, children and householders. (I don't want to get into specifics, but if you glance at the list of stories, even, you'll find at least one that clearly you wouldn't read to people of today.... which is why it only makes sense to edit it, as any story-teller modifies what he or she receives from the past....) In the end, the *average* quality of *all* these stories is simply that-- average. It could be better, although it could be worse, too. That's my take. (8/10)
    • 3/5
      It's hard to read and repetitive. Every story is a variation of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, or Sleeping Beauty. There's lots of long paragraphs, little dialogue, and the narrative does little to evoke imagination. Everything happens in sets of threes, and I know nothing is going to happen the first two times, so I would just skip to the third.Every story is the same. Someone goes out into the world to seek fortune, marry someone, or defeat evil. He/she collects some magic artifacts. Something happens based on wordplay or puns. Then he's told not to do something, and inevitably, he does it. Because where would the plot be if anyone actually followed directions? Otherwise we wouldn't have "Gremlins". Go see the Disney versions.
    • 4/5
      Wow, disney is WAY off on how the original Cinderella went!! I like this book, but the brothers Grimm were a little morbid!
    • 5/5
      I have a confession to make: I find it more convenient to acquire the collected works of an author long after they're dead. That gives the experts plenty of time to wage their wars on authenticity, and translators the time to properly translate all the ancient idioms into today's slang, and so forth.Now, I don't wish any authors dead, as I'd rather they generate as much work as possible before I finish collecting it, but I just love it when I can get a copy of EVERY JOT AND TITTLE BY AUTHOR A, so I don't have to have too many books on my shelf.Because of this quirk, The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales is a wonder for me. Within this work, I discovered a very interesting thing that the Disney generation would probably miss: The fairy tales were not intended solely for children (and at times, probably weren't suitable for children), but were instead intended for the people. The children's stories, however, are not fairy tales, per se, but are more religious morality tales featuring Jesus or the Apostles.If you've been raised on Disney and colorful picture books, then reading the collected, uncut works may be a shock to you. They're pretty gruesome. And everybody had lice.But, within its pages, we have all the great tales: Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding-Hood, and so forth. And unless you're a Grimm scholar, there will probably be a story in there that you've never heard of before.I would probably not recommend this book for your children. Other people's children, maybe, but not yours, unless you don't want to molly-coddle them until they're 36. But, don't give it to your children expecting it to be the brightly-colored, sanitized version of all your favorite fairy tales. It is, instead, the grim (was that pun intended?) tales as originally written, and well worth the read.
    • 2/5
      Interesting reading, but hard to get through. These are the fairy tales I heard of as an adult, but never knew as a vhild. Some of these are NOT for children.
    • 5/5
      It was interesting to read the original (and darker) versions of some of the fairy tales that Disney has sanitized for American children. I love Grimm fairy tales, and they are even better in their original German. Each one is not only entertaining, but teaches a great life lesson. If you have a dark sense of humor or just plain like morbid stories, Grimm fairy fales are as good as they get.
    • 5/5
      This is a reread for me, as I read a volume of these when I was nine or ten. What always resonates for me is the violence that was in these stories and how lessons were always to be learned for the reader/listener. Stories of comeuppance and knowing ones’ place in society are in many of the tales, but so are stories of “happily ever after.” For me, it’s the sheer volume of stories that is intriguing. It’s easy to pick a favorite story for however one might be feeling at the time and get a lift or feeling of vengeful satisfaction in the misfortunes of the bad characters that remind us of terrible bosses or the guy who cut us off in traffic.
    • 5/5
      Classic book of many traditional fairy tales and more. I would use this for upper level elementary students when discussing how the same story can be told in different ways.This is really a great read for third grade on up.
    • 4/5
      Finally finished. I have lots of thoughts about these tales and their common motifs. Pretty much, if you have a stepmother, she's wicked and dabbles in witchcraft. Trials and events happen in threes. There's always a dress of the sun, a dress of the moon, and a dress of the stars that a beautiful maiden will exchange with a false bride so that she may sleep in the same chamber as her beloved, but the false bride will give the groom a sleeping potion so that he won't hear the beautiful maiden's story and remember who she is. Luckily the servants will inform the prince and all will be made well. The cleverest son is usually the one deemed stupid or daft. If you can slip from the skin of an animal, a form you are required to take by day, and someone steals the skin and burns it, then you are free from your curse and will remain human. And on and on. I learned many ways to cheat the devil, so that's handy. It was enjoyable to read the original, darker versions of the tales Disney "cleaned up" and to read the tales no one ever mentions, like "Allerleirauh" which in the German means "of many different kinds of fur." "The Bremen Town Musicians" and "The Master Thief" are two of my faves.
    • 5/5
      I loved these stories! (Even with all the gruesome parts.) Very imaginative, albeit a bit repetitive if you read them all to close together. Still, in doses they're good bedtime reading to put oneself to sleep.
    • 3/5
      This fairytale was about a brother and sister named, Hansel and Gretel, who are lured into the woods by their evil stepmom. They can't find their way back home and come upon a gingerbread candy house. They begin to eat the house and then get invited in by a witch who tried to fatten them up to eat them in a stew. They trick the witch, kill her, and then find their way home to their father with riches. The theme of this story could be triumph and perseverance. This story is kind of scary to teach as a lesson but I think it is a great book to have in the classroom for special story days to read about fairytales and the different types of them.
    • 5/5
      Ever since I was a little girl, fairy tales have always made a way into my heart. I will never forget staying up late reading stories about Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and The Little Mermaid. The more I read these fairytales the more I wanted. Then I found my way to the fae. Another realm of stories I fell into. Then I learned about The Brother’s Grimm. I was immediately consumed with learning about all these stories and fascinated that even existed. I wanted the beginning. I wanted the truth of how and where this stories began. So I began searching for the perfect book to open that door. I found it in my local indie bookstore. I ask if they have a collection of the “real” Grimm’s brothers stories. They said yes and brought me this beauty…Can I talk about how BEAUTIFUL this book is? Cause it truly is. Leatherbound, eerie and smelling wonderfully (yes I sniffed the book). It has gold pages laced with the real stories of Cinderella, Rapunzel, etc. I have it sitting by my bedside in which I read a story each night. And each story has brought me so much satisfaction.The stories themselves aren’t anything new. Most of us all heard of the Grimm’s stories either by movies (Disney has turned many Grimm’s stories into movies) or tv shows. I personally love reading the real thing. I feel like I stepped into a whole other world when I open this book. And maybe there is hope that something, maybe something strange will happen…you know, just like in stories. (WINK, WINK)If you are a fairytale lover like me and enjoy reading, go pick up this beauty. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I adore this book. I’m not even half-way through it (as I’m reading it slowly) but it is truly a wonderful collections of stories. I will warn you that these stories don’t all have happy endings. These stories were meant for children as lessons for life. Some end in happy endings while others not so much. With each story, I think about the life lesson that the Brothers Grimm are portraying. The way the capture it so beautifully in just a mere couples of pages always leaves me in awe.
    • 5/5
      Timeless stories, in all their bloody glory. :) My favorite is Rumpelstiltskin, when he rips himself in half. :D
    • 4/5
      It is always interesting to read non-Disney-fied versions of fairy tales. This collection has a good number of the more popular tales compiled by the Brothers Grimm.
    • 4/5
      Enormous breadth, and much crueller in the original telling (and the best children's literature often has a streak of cruelty viz Roald Dahl). Maybe there are too many stories in the volume - sometimes they can be repetitive. On a secondary note and interesting window into the folk traditions of early modern Germany.
    • 4/5
      One of the best collections. The real versions of all the classic fairy tales that Disney censored. The gore and twists give them more of a realistic perspective and are more alluring. Definitely a book I plan to pass down for generations.
    • 5/5
      Diese und weitere Rezensionen findet ihr auf meinem Blog Anima Libri - Buchseele

      Märchen, Märchen, Märchen… Ich sollte dringend mal die Kategorie/Genre-Darstellung auf dem Blog reparieren und passend einrichten, sodass man einen besseren Überblick über all die wunderschönen Märchenbücher bekommt, die ich in letzter Zeit so rezensiert habe…

      Da wären „Grimms Märchen“ von Phillip Pullman, „Die Märchen der Brüder Grimm“ und „Die Märchen von Hans Christian Andersen“ aus dem Taschen Verlag, „Grimms Märchen ohne Worte“ von Frank Flöthmann und „1001 Nacht – Tausendundeine Nacht“ oder auch Hörbücher wie „Es war einmal und wenn sie nicht“ oder „Es war einmal: Autoren auf Grimms Spuren“.

      Zugegebenermaßen, meine Märchensammlung ist derzeit auffällig Grimm-lastig und mit diesem Buch kommt noch eine weitere Ausgabe der Grimmschen Märchen hinzu: Die „Kinder- und Hausmärchen“ der Brüder Grimm aus der Reclam Bibliothek sieht nicht nur wirklich gut aus, sie ist auch tatsächlich einmal eine vollständige Ausgabe aller dieser Märchen.

      Ja, ich besitze bereits eine vollständige Ausgabe der Grimmschen Märchen, eine wunderschöne dreibändige Ausgabe, die allerdings auch schon ein paar Jährchen auf dem Buckel hat und sich nur bedingt zum „einfach mal drinrumlesen“ eignet. Daher habe ich mich wirklich gefreut, als ich diese Ausgabe gefunden habe, denn die wurde wirklich sehr gekonnt zusammengestellt und besonders der Punkt „weitgehend an der originalen Sprachlichkeit orientiert“ hat es mir angetan.

      So sind die Märchen in dieser Sammlung zwar z.B. grammatikalisch auf dem neusten Stand und auch sprachlich nicht mehr im „Originalzustand“ aber sehr nah dran. So kommt der ursprüngliche „Zauber“ der Grimmschen Märchen nach wie vor rüber, während sich die Märchen trotzdem etwas angenehmer und flüssiger lesen lassen als in der Originalversion.

      Alles in allem ist „Kinder- und Hausmärchen“ der Brüder Grimm aus der Reclam Bibliothek eine Ausgabe dieser Märchensammlung, mit der man kaum etwas falsch machen kann. Die Umsetzung ist sehr gut gelungen und inhaltlich bin ich ja sowieso ein riesiger Fan dieser Märchen. Von daher definitiv eine dicke, dicke Empfehlung für dieses Buch.
    • 3/5
      I really liked this book because it is a classic book filled with original stories that are well-known and still popular today. The language is descriptive and clear. The writ ing is engaging, organized, and paced well. Every story is entertaining and captivating. The stories are still famous today and have left such a huge impression on people. There are no illustrations in the book besides small little drawings through out the book. I find this really interesting because the characters in this book have grown to become such famous and well-known characters that this book has clearly done such a great job developing each character through the stories. The characters are believable and well-developed. Some of the stories are fantasy based but the characters are still realistic. The plot is organized and each story is full of suspense, conflict, and resolution. This book is filled with several different stories like Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow-White, Hänsel and Gretel, Little Red-Cap (Little Red Riding Hood), and Briar-Rose (Sleeping Beauty) and 200 more characters. The big idea in this book is fantasy, love, and imagination.
    • 4/5
      This a is great little story that shows you can never receive something without expecting to have to give something in return.
    • 4/5
      I've read a few Grimm's Fairy Tales over the years, while growing up, etc. But I'm glad I finally made the time to read the complete, original collection.These fairy tales are very short, and best read in small doses. I read one or two tales every day. It was interesting to see the original version of popular classics like Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, etc, and how much has been changed over the years.I had heard that these tales were darker than the modern versions, and they are, just a little bit. I would not recommend reading these to VERY young children - they might find some parts a little scary. For instance, sometimes young people get eaten, killed, and occasionally a head is chopped off. Generally speaking, things work out for the best in the end, though, and there is usually a lesson to be learned. Older children should have no problem reading this.I would recommend this book if you have any interest in fairy tales, modern or ancient.
    • 5/5
      Classic stories. It is interesting how these stories have been altered through the years. Another reminder that life isn't always a "happy ending."
    • 2/5
      I loved these stories but they are definitely not intended for children. They were also more than a bi moralistic especially for Europe during the times of the Enlightenment
    • 5/5
      Summary:The book I own is from 1945 and I could not find the specific book on here. This is a collection of the fairy tales collected and printed by the brothers Grimm. All of the classic tales such as Briar Rose (sleeping Beauty) and Cinderella are in the book as well as some unknown to me like Fundevogel. Many of the stories start with 'Once upon a time' and contain someone good, someone bad and a quest or lesson to be learned. The book is bound with burgundy material and has wonderful color prints on the front and throughout the book.
    • 4/5
      Indeholder "Katten og musen", "Eventyret om en, der drog ud for at lære frygt at kende", "Den tro Johannes", "De tolv brødre", "Pak", "De tre små mænd i skoven", "De tre spindersker", "Hans og Grete", "Fiskeren og hans kone", "Den tapre lille skrædder", "Askepot", "Gåden", "Mor Hulda", "Rødhætte", "De Bremer stadsmusikanter", "Djævelens tre guldhår", "Lusen og loppen", "Den kloge Hans", "Den kloge Else", "Bord dæk dig", "Tommeliden", "Tornerose", "Kong Drosselskæg", "Snehvide", "Ranselen, hatten og hornet", "Rumleskaft", "Guldfuglen", "Hunden og spurven", "Kongen af det gyldne bjerg", "Det lille æsel", "Ferdinand Tro og Ferdinand Utro", "Jernovnen", "Enøje, Toøje og Treøje", "De seks tjenere", "Jernhans", "På rejse", "Historien om en roe", "Den stærke Hans", "Bonden i himlen", "De to brødre", "Den lille bonde", "Guldgåsen", "Historien om seks, der kommer gennem verden", "Nelliken", "Den kloge Grete", "Bedstefaderen og sønnesønnen", "Bror Lystig", "Lykkehans", "Den fattige og den rige mand", "Den kloge bondepige", "Djævelens snavsede bror", "Bjørneskindsmanden", "De klge folk", "Den fattige møllerdreng og katten", "De to vandringsmænd", "Det blå lys", "Kongesønnen, der ikke var bange for noget", "De tre håndværkssvende", "Salatæslet", "Levetiden", "Bonden og djævelen", "Alfernes gave", "Haren og pindsvinet", "Ten, skytte og synål", "Marsvinet"."Katten og musen" handler om ???"Eventyret om en, der drog ud for at lære frygt at kende" handler om ???"Den tro Johannes" handler om ???"De tolv brødre" handler om ???"Pak" handler om ???"De tre små mænd i skoven" handler om ???"De tre spindersker" handler om ???"Hans og Grete" handler om ???"Fiskeren og hans kone" handler om ???"Den tapre lille skrædder" handler om ???"Askepot" handler om ???"Gåden" handler om ???"Mor Hulda" handler om ???"Rødhætte" handler om ???"De Bremer stadsmusikanter" handler om ???"Djævelens tre guldhår" handler om ???"Lusen og loppen" handler om ???"Den kloge Hans" handler om ???"Den kloge Else" handler om ???"Bord dæk dig" handler om ???"Tommeliden" handler om ???"Tornerose" handler om ???"Kong Drosselskæg" handler om ???"Snehvide" handler om ???"Ranselen, hatten og hornet" handler om ???"Rumleskaft" handler om ???"Guldfuglen" handler om ???"Hunden og spurven" handler om ???"Kongen af det gyldne bjerg" handler om ???"Det lille æsel" handler om ???"Ferdinand Tro og Ferdinand Utro" handler om ???"Jernovnen" handler om ???"Enøje, Toøje og Treøje" handler om ???"De seks tjenere" handler om ???"Jernhans" handler om ???"På rejse" handler om ???"Historien om en roe" handler om ???"Den stærke Hans" handler om ???"Bonden i himlen" handler om ???"De to brødre" handler om ???"Den lille bonde" handler om ???"Guldgåsen" handler om ???"Historien om seks, der kommer gennem verden" handler om ???"Nelliken" handler om ???"Den kloge Grete" handler om ???"Bedstefaderen og sønnesønnen" handler om ???"Bror Lystig" handler om ???"Lykkehans" handler om ???"Den fattige og den rige mand" handler om ???"Den kloge bondepige" handler om ???"Djævelens snavsede bror" handler om ???"Bjørneskindsmanden" handler om ???"De klge folk" handler om ???"Den fattige møllerdreng og katten" handler om ???"De to vandringsmænd" handler om ???"Det blå lys" handler om ???"Kongesønnen, der ikke var bange for noget" handler om ???"De tre håndværkssvende" handler om ???"Salatæslet" handler om ???"Levetiden" handler om ???"Bonden og djævelen" handler om ???"Alfernes gave" handler om ???"Haren og pindsvinet" handler om ???"Ten, skytte og synål" handler om ???"Marsvinet" handler om ???
    • 5/5
      What a great thing to reread all these old tales again, most of them as if for the first time! I'd forgotten how much simpler and purer many of these are than their Disney versions (although I do appreciate those also) such as Rumpelstiltskin and how explicitly Christian many of them are such as Our Lady's Child, my favorite, from which Tomie Depaola's classic "Clown of God" obviously draws from. I think the translation is one of the most readable I've seen, keeping a touch of old world flavor without sounding too foreign to modern ears. Great collection.
    • 5/5
      Good folk tales but not for children!
    • 5/5
      With love from Mummy and Daddy Xmas 1959, I was three and the words and pictures have never left me. A rock on which the rest of my life was built. The book records a moment in time and place, defined by stories, marked on every page by the history of the world, cousin to other stories in other places all over the world and full of the expectancy of the ever changing future.
    • 5/5
      The brothers Grimm. Required reading for all children. Required reading auf deutsch for anyone who is studying German.

    Book preview

    Grimm's Fairy Tales - Illustrated by Mabel Lucie Attwell - Brothers Grimm

    THE BROTHERS GRIMM AND THEIR STORIES

    TRULY we owe a world of gratitude to the Brothers Grimm.

    Boys should take off their hats and girls should make curtseys to the memory of these two scholars who have added so greatly to the pleasure of our lives.

    What would be the history of literature to-day without such tales as Little Snow-White, Tom Thumb and Little Red Cap? and surely the story of the ragged Cinderella is more universally known than even that of the great Napoleon. The adventures of the little maiden and her glass slipper must have been told hundreds upon thousands of times, while she has been the subject of plays and pantomimes, and her portrait has been painted by the greatest of artists.

    Jacob Grimm was born on January 4, 1785, and his brother Wilhelm on February 24, 1786, both at Hanau. Their lives were devoted to literature, and they were the leaders of a number of distinguished scholars who made a scientific study of the German language. The Brothers Grimm held many high literary appointments, and produced numerous notable works, amongst them Kinder- und Haus-Märchen. These delightful stories, so full of vivid imagination, the Brothers Grimm collected in some instances from old MSS., but in most cases from the lips of the peasantry, for they had never been put into writing, but were, from generation to generation, handed down as Folk-lore. And now, thanks to Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, they will continue to be handed down in all civilised parts of the world as long as books are printed.

    EDRIC VREDENBURG.

    THE STEP-SISTERS AND THE DWARFS

    LONG ago there lived a man who unhappily lost his wife, a very good one, and, at the same time, also a woman lost her husband. This man and woman each had a daughter who were acquainted one with the other.

    One day these two girls went out walking together, and on their return to the woman’s cottage she told the man’s daughter that she would like to marry her father, and that if she did so his daughter should have milk to wash in, and wine to drink, but that her own child should only have water to wash in, and water to drink.

    The man’s daughter, when she went home, repeated to her father what the woman had been saying, upon which he remarked, Marriage is a serious matter, it may turn out well, or it may be unfortunate, and not being able to come to a decision as to how to act for the best, he took off one of his boots which had a big hole in the sole, and handing it to his daughter told her to carry it into the passage and hang it on to a nail, then to pour water into it, and should the water remain in the boot he would marry again, but if it ran out at the hole he would not do so.

    The girl took the boot as her father desired, and the water closed up the hole so that it did not run through. When she went to her father saying what had happened, he came himself to make sure such was the case, but finding it so, he visited the widow and wooed her, and shortly afterwards the wedding took place.

    When the girls came to open their doors the day after the marriage, outside that of the man’s daughter stood milk and wine, but at the woman’s daughter’s door stood water only. The morning after that, however, water only was found outside the doors of both the girls, and on the morning following, for the woman’s daughter was placed wine to drink and milk to wash in, and for the man’s daughter water only, and this happened always afterwards, for the woman was cruelly unkind to her step-daughter, and did all she could to make her unhappy, being jealous because her own daughter was ugly and disagreeable, while the other was possessed of great beauty both of body and mind.

    On a winter’s day when the earth was white with snow, and everything was like a stone, it was freezing so hard, the woman called the maiden to her, and said, I have a great longing to eat strawberries, take this basket into the wood, and gather me some, do not return until it is quite full. Then she gave the man’s daughter a dress of paper, which she had made on purpose, and told her to put it on.

    But the man’s daughter said:

    Strawberries do not grow in the winter, everything is frozen hard, and the ground is covered with snow; how can I fill this basket? And why should I put on a paper dress? the bitter wind will blow through it, and in the wood the thorns will tear it to shreds.

    Do you dare to gainsay me? cried the step-mother. Go directly, and don’t let me see you again until the basket is filled, and giving her a dry piece of bread, saying it would be enough to last her the day, she thought to herself, she will surely freeze and die of cold and hunger, and I shall never again set eyes on her.

    Then the maiden did as she was ordered, she put on the paper dress, and, taking the basket, set forth. Everywhere was a thick coating of snow, no sign of anything green was visible, neither on the hill nor in the dale.

    On coming into the wood the girl saw a little hut, and out of it three dwarfs were peeping.

    After bidding them good-morning, she tapped gently at their door. They invited her in; entering she sat down on a stool near the fire, so that she could get warm and eat her breakfast.

    The dwarfs seeing her piece of bread, demanded Give some to us.

    With pleasure, replied the girl dividing it into two portions and giving them one.

    Then they enquired, How will such a flimsy dress do for you in the wintry woods?

    Alas! I cannot say, she answered. I must pluck a basketful of strawberries, without them I may not go back to my home.

    Having now finished her piece of bread, the dwarfs handed her a broom, telling her to sweep away the snow from their back door.

    When she had gone out to do this, they consulted together saying, She shared her bread with us, and is so amiable and good; what shall we give her?

    I will make her daily become more beautiful, said the first.

    Golden coins shall fall from her lips whenever she utters a word, said the second.

    She shall be the bride of a king, said the third.

    Meanwhile the poor girl had been sweeping away the snow at the back of the hut, as the dwarfs had told her to do. And what did she find, do you think? Why, strawberries, deliciously ripe, and looking very tempting amongst the snow.

    Greatly delighted she filled her basket as quickly as she could. Then shaking hands with the dwarfs, with many thanks, she ran off home, anxious to please her step-mother by showing her what she had so strongly desired to have.

    As soon as she went into the cottage, and said Good-evening, from her lips dropped a golden coin, and while she was recounting what had occurred in the wood, at every word she uttered a golden coin fell, until they lay all over the floor.

    Just see how wasteful she is, throwing away gold like that, exclaimed the step-sister, but in truth she was jealous, and nothing would do but that she, too, should go to the wood in search of strawberries.

    No! indeed, dear child, you would freeze, her mother told her, but the girl insisted upon going, until at last her mother consented. Then she made her a cosy fur dress, and put it upon her, and cake and bread and butter she provided for her to take.

    When the girl set out she went straight to the dwarfs’ hut. She saw them all peeping out, but did not wish them good-day. She went clumsily into their room, and seating herself on the stool by their fire, took out her cake and began to eat.

    Give some to us, cried the three dwarfs!

    How can you have any when there is not sufficient for me? she answered.

    As soon as she had finished eating, the dwarfs showed her a broom, saying, Take it, and sweep away the snow from our back door.

    Do it yourselves. I’m not here to wait upon you, she replied. Then after staying awhile, as they did not appear to intend bestowing any gift upon her she left the hut.

    As soon as she had gone the three dwarfs held a consultation as to what should be done to her.

    She shall grow uglier day by day, announced the first.

    Whenever she speaks a toad shall come from her mouth, was the decision of the second.

    She shall come to a miserable end, said the third.

    In the meantime the girl was hunting around for strawberries, but not discovering any, in a very bad temper she went home.

    No sooner did she open her mouth to tell her mother what had happened, than a toad fell to the ground, and at each word she uttered another fell, so that every one was filled with horror.

    All this put the step-mother into a furious passion, and seeing her husband’s daughter’s beauty day by day increasing, she constantly meditated how she could do her harm.

    One day she put upon the girl’s arm some yarn, and, giving her a hatchet, ordered her to go to the river, which was still frozen, and after making a hole in the ice, to rinse the yarn.

    Obediently the maiden went to the riverside, but while she was breaking the ice there drove past a handsome carriage. In it sat the King, who commanded the coachman to stop, while he thus addressed the girl.

    Who are you, my child, and what are you doing?

    I am a poor girl, rinsing yarn, was the reply. The King felt pity for her, and perceiving how beautiful she was, he asked her if she would go away with him.

    To this she willingly consented, for she could not but be glad to

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