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ᐈ Fairy Tale Tree https://en.derevo-kazok.org/ Read 【Fairy Tales】 online in English on the website ⏩ en.derevo-kazok.org ⭐ Free ✔️ More than 3000 popular Fairy Tales! Sun, 25 Sep 2022 15:55:14 +0300 en-ru MaxSite CMS (http://max-3000.com/) Copyright 2024, https://en.derevo-kazok.org/ <![CDATA[The Catskill Witch (North American Folk Tale)]]> https://en.derevo-kazok.org/page/the-catskill-witch-north-american-folk-tale https://en.derevo-kazok.org/page/the-catskill-witch-north-american-folk-tale Sun, 25 Sep 2022 15:55:14 +0300 The Catskill Witch (North American Folk Tale)

When the Dutch gave the name of Katzbergs to the mountains west of the Hudson, by reason of the wild-cats and panthers that ranged there, they obliterated the beautiful Indian Ontiora, “mountains of the sky.” In one tradition of the red men these hills were bones of a monster that fed on human beings until the Great Spirit turned it into stone as it was floundering toward the ocean to bathe. The two lakes near the summit were its eyes. These peaks were the home of an Indian witch, who adjusted the weather for the Hudson Valley with the certainty of a signal service bureau. It was she who let out the day and night in blessed alternation, holding back the one when the other was at large, for fear of conflict. Old moons she cut into stars as soon as she had hung new ones in the sky, and she was often seen perched on Round Top and North Mountain, spinning clouds and flinging them to the winds.

Woe betide the valley residents if they showed irreverence, for then the clouds were black and heavy, and through them she poured floods of rain and launched the lightnings, causing disastrous freshets in the streams and blasting the wigwams of the mockers. In a frolic humor she would take the form of a bear or deer and lead the Indian hunters anything but a merry dance, exposing them to tire and peril, and vanishing or assuming some terrible shape when they had overtaken her. Sometimes she would lead them to the cloves and would leap into the air with a mocking “Ho, ho!” just as they stopped with a shudder at the brink of an abyss.

The Catskill Witch (North American Folk Tale) - 2

Garden Rock was a spot where she was often found, and at its foot a lake once spread. This was held in such awe that an Indian would never wittingly pursue his quarry there; but once a hunter lost his way and emerged from the forest at the edge of the pond. Seeing a number of gourds in crotches of the trees he took one, but fearing the spirit he turned to leave so quickly that he stumbled and it fell. As it broke, a spring welled from it in such volume that the unhappy man was gulfed in its waters, swept to the edge of Kaaterskill clove and dashed on the rocks two hundred and sixty feet below. Nor did the water ever cease to run, and in these times the stream born of the witch”s revenge is known as Catskill Creek.

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<![CDATA[The Frog Prince (Grimm's fairy tale)]]> https://en.derevo-kazok.org/page/the-frog-prince-grimms-tales https://en.derevo-kazok.org/page/the-frog-prince-grimms-tales Thu, 20 May 2021 03:00:00 +0300 The Frog Prince (Grimm's tales)In olden times when wishing still worked, there lived a king whose daughters were all beautiful. But the youngest was so beautiful the sun itself was astonished whenever it shone on her face.

Close by the king”s castle lay a great dark forest. Under an old lime tree in the forest was a well. When the day was very warm, the king”s youngest child went and sat down by the side of the cool fountain. And when she was bored, she took a golden ball and threw it up high and caught it. This ball was her favorite plaything.

On one occasion, the princess”s golden ball did not fall into the little hand she was holding up for it. It landed on the ground beyond and rolled straight into the water.

The king”s daughter followed it with her eyes, but the ball vanished. The well was deep, so deep that the bottom could not be seen. She began to cry, and then she cried louder and louder.

“What ails you, king”s daughter?” someone said to her. “You weep so that even a stone would show pity.” The princess looked round to the side from where the voice came and saw a frog. He stretched forth his big, ugly head from the water.

“Ah! Old water splasher, is it you?” the princess said. “I am weeping for my golden ball, which has fallen into the well.”

“Be quiet and do not weep. I can help you. But what will you give me, if I bring your plaything up again?”

“Whatever you will have, dear frog,” the princess said. “My clothes, my pearls and jewels, or even the golden crown I am wearing.”

“I do not care for your clothes, your pearls and jewels, nor for your golden crown. If you will love me and let me be your companion, and sit by you at your table, and eat off your little golden plate, and drink from your little cup, and sleep in your little bed, I will go down below and bring your golden ball up again.”

“Oh, yes,” the princess said. “I promise you all you wish.” But she thought, How the silly frog does talk! All he does is sit in the water with the other frogs and croak. He can be no companion to any human being!

When the frog had received the promise, he put his head in the water and sank down. In a short while he came swimming up again with the ball in his mouth. He threw it on the ground. The king”s daughter was delighted to see her plaything once more. She picked it up and ran away with it.

“Wait, wait!” said the frog. “Take me with you. I can”t run.” She did not listen, but ran home. She soon forgot the poor frog, who was forced to go back into his well.

The next day, the princess was seated at the table with the king and the nobles. She was eating from her little golden plate. Something came creeping splish splash, splish splash, up the marble staircase. When it got up to the top, it knocked at the door. It cried, “Princess, youngest Princess, open the door for me.”

The princess ran to see who was outside. When she opened the door, there sat the frog. She slammed the door closed and sat down to dinner again, but she was quite frightened.

“My child, what are you so afraid of?” the king said. “Is there a giant outside who wants to carry you away?”

“It is no giant, but a disgusting frog,” the princess replied.

“What does the frog want with you?”

“Dear Father, yesterday I was in the forest sitting by the well and playing. My golden ball fell into the water. The frog brought it out again for me. Because he insisted, I promised him he would be my companion. I never thought he would be able to come out of his water!”

The frog knocked a second time and cried:

“Princess! Youngest princess!

Open the door for me!

Do you not know what you said to me

Yesterday by the cool waters of the well?

Princess, youngest princess!

Open the door for me!”

Then said the king, “That which you have promised, you must perform. Go let him in.”

The princess opened the door. The frog hopped in and followed her to her chair. There he sat and cried, “Lift me up beside you!” The princess delayed until the king commanded her to do it. Once the frog was on the chair, he wanted to be on the table.

When he was on the table, he said, “Push your little golden plate nearer to me that we may eat together.” She did, but it was easy to see she did not do it willingly. The frog enjoyed what he ate. But almost every mouthful she took choked her.

At length the frog said, “I have eaten and am satisfi ed. Now I am tired. Carry me into your little room and make your little silken bed ready. We will lie down and go to sleep.”

The king”s daughter began to cry. She was afraid of the cold frog that was now to sleep in her pretty, clean bed. But the king grew angry.

“He who helped you in your trouble should not afterward be despised by you,” he said.

So, she took hold of the frog with two fi ngers, carried him upstairs, and put him in a corner. But when she was in bed, he crept up to her.

He said, “I am tired and want to sleep as well as you. Lift me up or I will tell your father.”

The princess was terribly angry. She threw him with all her might against the wall. “Now will you be quiet, horrid frog,” she said.

But when he fell down, he was no frog but a king”s son with kind and beautiful eyes. He told her he had been cursed by a wicked witch. No one could have delivered him but herself. By her father”s will, he was now her dear companion and husband. Tomorrow they would go together into his kingdom. Then they went to sleep.

The next morning a carriage came driving up with eight white horses. They had ostrich feathers on their heads and were harnessed with golden chains. Behind stood the young prince”s servant, Faithful Henry.

Faithful Henry had been so unhappy when his master was turned into a frog. He had three iron bands laid around his heart. The bands were to keep his heart from bursting with grief and sadness.

The carriage was to conduct the king”s son into his kingdom. Faithful Henry helped them both in and placed himself behind. He was of joy because of this deliverance. When they had driven a part of the way, the king heard a cracking behind him. He turned round and cried, “Henry, the carriage is breaking.”

“No, master, it is not the carriage. It is the band from my heart. It was put there in my great pain when you were a frog and imprisoned in the well.”

Again and once again something cracked. Each time the prince thought the carriage was breaking.

But it was only the bands springing from the heart of the Faithful Henry because his master was set free and happy.

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<![CDATA[sleeping Beauty (Grimm's fairy tale)]]> https://en.derevo-kazok.org/page/sleeping-beauty-grimms-tales https://en.derevo-kazok.org/page/sleeping-beauty-grimms-tales Wed, 08 Jul 2020 03:00:00 +0300 Sleeping Beauty (Grimm”s tales)A long time ago there were a king and queen who said every day, “If only we had a child!” They did not have one. But once when the queen was swimming, a frog crept out of the water on to the land. It said to her, “Your wish shall be fulfi lled. You shall have a daughter before a year has gone.”

What the frog said came true. The queen had a pretty little girl. The king could not contain his joy and ordered a great feast.

He invited not only his kin and friends, but also the Wise Women. He hoped they might be kind and generous toward the child. There were thirteen of the Wise Women in his kingdom. But as he only had twelve golden plates for them, one of them had to be left at home.

The feast was splendid. The Wise Women bestowed their magic gifts upon the baby. One gave virtue, another beauty, a third riches, and so on. The princess soon had everything one can wish for.

When eleven of the Wise Women had made their promises, the thirteenth entered. She wished to avenge herself for not being invited. She cried out, “The king”s daughter shall prick herself with a spindle in her fi fteenth year and fall dead.” Without saying a word more, she left the room.

The guests were all shocked. The twelfth Wise Woman came forward. She could not undo the evil sentence, but only soften it. She said, “The princess shall not fall into death, but a deep sleep of a hundred years.”

The king ordered that every spindle in the whole kingdom be burned.

The gifts of the Wise Women were amply fulfi lled in the young girl. She was so beautiful, modest, good-natured, and wise that everyone who saw her loved her.

On the very day she turned fi fteen years old, the king and queen were not at home. The maiden was left in the palace alone. She went around to all sorts of places and looked into rooms as she pleased. At last she came to an old tower.

She climbed up the narrow, winding staircase and reached a little door. A rusty key was in the lock. When she turned it, the door sprang open. There in a little room sat an old woman with a spindle, busily spinning her yarn.

“Good day, old mother,” said the king”s daughter. “What are you doing there?”

“I am spinning,” said the old woman and nodded her head.

“What sort of thing is that, that rattles round so merrily?” The girl took the spindle and wanted to spin, too. But the magic was fulfi lled and she pricked her fi nger with it. That very moment, she fell down upon the bed there in the room and lay in a deep sleep.

This sleep spread over the whole palace. The king and queen, who had just come home, began to sleep. The whole court slept with them. The horses went to sleep in the stable, the dogs in the yard, the pigeons upon the roof, even the fi re on the hearth became quiet and slept.

The cook was just going to pull the hair of the kitchen boy because he had forgotten something. The cook let go and went to sleep. The wind blew but not a leaf on the trees fell.

Round about the castle a hedge of thorns began to grow. Every year it became higher. At last it grew so that nothing of the castle could be seen, not even the fl ag upon the roof. But the story of the beautiful sleeping Briarrose went about the country.

From time to time, kings” sons came and tried to get through the thorny hedge into the castle. But they found it impossible. The thorns held fast together, as if they had hands. The youths were caught in them, could not get loose, and died a miserable death.

After long, long years, a king”s son came again to that country. He heard an old man talking about the thorn-hedge and the castle behind it. He heard, too, of the beautiful Briarrose and the many kings” sons who had already come.

The youth said, “I am not afraid. I will go and see the beautiful Briar-rose.” The good old man tried to change his mind, but he would not listen.

By this time, the hundred years had just passed. The day had come when Briar-rose was to wake again. When the king”s son came near the thorn-hedge, it was nothing but large, beautiful fl owers. They parted from each other and let him pass unhurt. Then they closed again behind him like a hedge.

In the castle yard, he saw the horses and the spotted hounds lying asleep. On the roof sat the pigeons with their heads under their wings. When he entered the house, the flies were asleep upon the wall. The cook in the kitchen was still holding out his hand to seize the boy.

He went on farther. In the great hall he saw the whole of the court lying asleep. Up by the throne lay the king and queen. All was so quiet a breath could be heard.

At last he came to the tower and opened the door into the little room where Briar-rose was sleeping. There she lay, so beautiful he could not turn his eyes away. He stooped down and gave her a kiss. As soon as he kissed her, Briarrose opened her eyes and looked at him sweetly.

Then they went down together. The king, queen, and court awoke and looked at each other in amazement. The horses in the courtyard stood up and shook themselves. The hounds jumped up and wagged their tails. The pigeons pulled their heads from under their wings and fl ew into the open country.

The flies on the wall crept again. The fire in the kitchen burned up and flickered. The cook gave the boy a box on the ear and the maid fi nished plucking the fowl. Then the marriage of the king”s son and Briar-rose was celebrated with splendor. And they lived contented to the end of their days.

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