下面是范文網(wǎng)小編整理的初一英語(yǔ)閱讀理解簡(jiǎn)單3篇 英語(yǔ)閱讀理解初一，以供參考。

初一英語(yǔ)閱讀理解簡(jiǎn)單1

　　1The Hen and the Little GirlIn a country home, a mother hen and her cute chicks were living happily. A little girl came to visit the country home, but was very bored. One night, the girl went into the chicken house. As soon as she went in, there was disorder. Here and there cries of the chickens could be heard. The father, who was inside, woke up. "What's going on? Why are you bothering the chickens?" "Because I'm bored." "You have to sleep now, go inside." The girl went into the chicken house, again, the next day. There was a racket again, as the chickens were frightened. The moon in the night sky was worried. This time, the little girl's father will not be forgiving. Finally, the sleeping father woke up. "Why are the chickens crying? By chance" The father was angry and came out to the yard. "What's wrong with you? Is it okay to bother animals that can't talk? You need to be punished." When the little girl saw her father's angry face, she began to cry. "It is true that I bothered the chickens, but I was bored yesterday. But today I went in to apologize to the chickens. I was going to hug the chickens." When the father heard what his daughter said, a smile quickly appeared on his face. "You are truly my daughter." The father praised his daughter. He was proud of his daughter that knew how to apologize. The moon in the sky gave a big laugh, too.2The Mermaid PrincessIn the deep, sea palace, there lived a mermaid princess. Whenever she sang a song with her beautiful voice, everyone envied her. However, the mermaid princess wanted to go to the outside world. "I would like to hear the beautiful sound of birds. "The king promised her. "When you turn 15 years old, you can go and see the life above the sea." "Oh, I can't wait! Finally, it was the mermaid princess' 15th birthday. She went up to the sea. The princess saw a great ship. And she saw a handsome prince standing on the ship. The princess fell in love with him at first sight. However, as thunder and lightning struck, the ship sank on its side. The prince lost his consciousness and fell deep into the sea. "Oh, no! The prince fell into the water. Let me hurry and save him." The princess saved the prince and laid him on the sand. The princess took care of him all night. When the prince opened his eyes, the mermaid princess hid from him. She thought he might get scared by her tail. Just then, a princess from a neighbor land came out to see the sea and she saw the prince. The princess watched from a far the prince who always came out to the sea at night. The princess was very sad. She wanted to become a human so that she could be with the prince. She asked the witch. "Okay, I will make you into a human, but you must give me your beautiful voice. If the prince marries someone else, you will become a water bubble. You must marry the prince." On the sand, she drank the medicine that the witch had given her. With the big sudden pain, she turned into a human. Just then, the prince who came out to the sea saw the princess. The prince took the princess who could not speak, to his palace. Although she could not speak, she was happy to be living near the prince. The prince was going to be married to a princess from a neighbor land. "I will be marrying the princess that saved my life." 'I am the one that saved your life.' But, her voice could not be heard. At night, the mermaid princess' older sisters came up to the sea. They gave the mermaid princess a knife and said, "If you stab the prince with this knife, you can be a mermaid again. If you don't, you will become a water bubble." On the night of the wedding, the mermaid princess was going to stab the sleeping prince with the knife. But, she could not kill the loving prince. "It's best that I just turn into a water bubble. "When morning came, the mermaid turned into a water bubble and went up to heaven.3The Naked King-1-Long, long time ago, there lived a very fancy king. The king changed his clothes 12 times a day. He really liked to show off to his subjects. "My clothes are the best in the world." One day, two tailors planned a trick. "Why don't we teach that stupid and extravagant king a lesson. He doesn't even worry about his starving people." "That's right! He thinks he's the best." The two men went to see the king. "Oh, the world's most marvelous king! We have brought the most beautiful cloth in the whole world." "However, not everyone is able to see the cloth. Those that tell lies and have bad hearts are not able to see this fine cloth." After the king heard those words, he became very interested. "Could there really be such a cloth? If I can make clothes out of those cloths, my clothes will be the best in the whole world. Hurry and show me the cloth." The king began to get more and more greedy. The tailors pretended that the cloth was real, as they showed it to the king. The king and the fine-spoken subjects could not see anything before them. But, none of them could show that they could not see it. The king and his fine-spoken subjects just looked at each other. Then, the tailor quickly spoke in a arrogant manner. "Well, is there no honest man here? How can you look at this beautiful cloth and not praise it." Among the subjects, one of them made a flattering comment out loud. "Wow! This is the first time that I have seen such a wonderful cloth." All the subjects tried to be the first to praise the cloth. Then, the king was amazed with the beauty of the cloth, too. The king gave the money and ordered them to make his clothes. For several days, the tailors pretended to be making the clothes. The king became worried and told one of his subjects to go and see how the clothes was coming along. The subject could not say how much the clothes had been completed. As hard as he looked, he could not see it. But, he could not say that he was unable to see it. Instead, he pretended to be amazed at how beautiful it was coming along. A few days later, the tailors came back with the King's clothes. "Here you are, try on this clothes." The king was not able to honestly say that he could not see the clothes. He, too, pretended to look over it. One man said, "Your majesty, lets go and show off this finest clothes in the world." The subjects all agreed at the same time. "Yes, that is a good idea." The king walked out to the street very proudly and walked with pride. All the people in the land came out to see the king's new clothes. They were all surprised, though. Just then, a little girl shouted out, "Our king is naked!" Then everyone said,"He's naked, he's naked!" The king now realized the truth. However, with only his undergarments on, he still walked in a dignified manner. Even though he was embarrassed, he could not stop walking. Why not? Because he was the king.4The Elf of the RoseThere once was a rose bush in full bloom in a big garden. An elf was living in the most beautiful rose in the garden, and she was so small that people could not see her. She had long blond hair to her toes and beautiful wings. One day, it got dark before she got home. She had been dancing and flying around so she didn't have time to get back to the rose bush. Suddenly, the weather got cold, evening dew started to fall, and a strong wind began to blow. She could not stay in the other flowers because they were all closed up. "What am I going to do now? It's too cold." She got scared because she had never stayed outside at night. There was a twinkling light from the other side of the garden. "It's too cold, and I am scared. Maybe I should spend tonight there." The elf flew to a pavilion on the other side of the garden in a hurry. But there were already two people in the pavilion. A beautiful young lady and a handsome man were praying that they would never be apart from each other. They were in love. "But we must go far away from each other soon." "Your brother is sending me away because he does not like our marriage. Oh my bride, please wait for me until I come back to you!" She sobbed and nodded her head. She pulled off a rose from the bush which was aside her and kissed it. Then she gave him the rose as a token of her love. At that moment, the rose opened up. The elf went into the rose secretly. At that moment, a horrible looking man entered the pavillion. He was the brother of the young lady. "What? You want to marry-2-my sister?" He drew his sword and cut the young man and buried him under a linden-tree. "He is gone forever now, and he will forget my sister. How dare the poor little boy want to marry my sister? It is common to die during a trip, so nobody will suspect me of murdering him." The brother brushed up his clothes and disappeared. The elf woke up and found she was in the middle of a dark forest. "Oh my! The forest is moving!" But it was not a forest. It was the hair of the young lady's brother. She shivered with fear and anger. When they got in the house, the young lady from the garden was crying. The man looked at his sister and gave her a chilly smile, and went to bed. "Oh my lover, my dear fiance, please come back safely." She sobbed sadly and fell asleep. The elf sat down quietly spreading her wings and told the young lady what she saw that day. "What I am trying to say now is not a dream. If you dig under the linden-tree in the garden, you will find your fiance. It is your brother who killed him." The beautiful young lady woke up. She secretly went out of her room and dug under the linden-tree as the elf had said. Her lover was lying in the ground, cold dead. She cried out sadly and killed herself right next to her fiance. After some time passed, a flower called, 'Jasmine' came into bloom at the place where the two lovers had died. The Jasmine had big white flowers on the branch and had a sweet smell. Incidentally, the young lady's brother was walking down the road and he pulled off a branch of the jasmine and put it near his bedside. When night fell, two bees with poison stingers came out of the jasmine flowers and bit the brother's ears and mouth, and then they vanished.5The Ugly DucklingA mother duck was brooding on her eggs near the margin of a pond. A flock of lovely baby ducks was soon born, making sweet peeping sounds when the eggs were broken. But one egg remained unbroken. "It is strange. Why has this egg not broken?" The mother duck continued her brooding. At last, the egg was broken and a baby duck was born. However that baby duck was very ugly compared to the other baby ducks. The mother duck was worried, but still she took the baby ducks near the water and taught them how to swim. The ugly duckling also swam with his brothers and sisters, moving his legs eagerly. "It is lucky though. That baby swims well." Still his brothers pecked at the ugly duckling with their bills. "How hideous this baby duck is. We don't want to see you. Go to a cat." His brothers gave a very hard time to the poor duckling. "Stop it, don't do that!" The mother duck sighed and said, "Ah! I wish that this baby could live happily at another place." The baby duck heard what his mother said and dropped tears of sorrow saying, "Mom, I will leave. Good-bye." The ugly duckling left his nest beyond the pond. When he entered the forest, other birds were frightened by the baby duck and ran away. "Why do they run away? Is it because I am so awful?" The baby duck became sadder and plodded along the field. Near the water beside the field, two wild ducks were playing around. "Yah, what is that ugly duck? Let's make fun of him." The two wild ducks flew up in the air and threw stones at the baby duck. "Bang! Bang!" At that time, a hunter shot his gun. The two wild ducks fell down dead to the ground. "Uh? What is this small bird?" The hunter took home the awkward little baby duck along with the two wild ducks. "Dad, what is this poor-looking bird?" "I took it with me in order to give it to you, my son. It was trembling with fear in the water." The children gave a hard time to the baby duck by pulling its wings and tail. "That hurts! Ow!" The baby duck spilled a jug of milk while running away from the cruel hands of the children. The dishes on the table were also broken. The angry hunter sent out the baby duck with a flourish of his broomstick. And so the after being cast out from the house of the hunter, the ugly duckling spent a long and cold winter alone. Finally spring came. The baby duck had a good stretch and flew up in the air vigorously. "Uh! I am flying!" Upon the lake, a flock of white and pretty swans were playing around while swimming. "They are indeed pretty birds." The baby duck became sad. "Those birds may not like me as I am so ugly." The baby duck tried to run away from the group of beautiful swans. "Hi! Where are you going? Come and play around with us!" The baby duck approached the swans hesitatingly. At that moment, the baby duck saw his own appearance reflected to the-3-lake. There was one more beautiful swan gliding gracefully across the water. The ugly duckling who overcame all suffering had finally become a beautiful swan. And so he lived happily ever after.6NightingaleA long time ago in China there lived an emperor. The emperor loved to read books. One day, in the book he was reading, it wrote, "The most beautiful precious treasure is the bird nightingale." The emperor had never seen or heard of nightingale. "What is nightingale?" No one has ever seen or heard of it. The emperor was very curious as to what nightingale was. "Bring nightingale to me at once". The servants were worried by the emperor's command. They looked here and there. One day a little girl said that she knew of nightingale. She said that the bird she had was nightingale. It was a small cute bird. At once nightingale was brought to the emperor. The emperor was very happy. "Ah ~ is this bird called nightingale?" For the first time in his life, he heard the beautiful voice and was impressed and deeply moved. "Please give me nightingale and I will reward you handsomely." So nightingale came to live in the palace. Everyday Nightingale sang for the emperor. Emperor was happy every time he heard Nightingale sing. He was so proud of Nightingale that he allowed the servants to hear it too. However, Nightingale was not happy. Nightingale felt trapped and had no freedom. One day the neighboring country sent a gift to the emperor. It was a nightingale doll made of jewels and gold. Every time the doll was wound up it sang beautifully. Furthermore, the emperor if wanted could hear it everyday. "It's really amazing. It's beauty is the finest in the world." The real Nightingale was sad. The real Nightingale decided to leave. It flew off into the forest of freedom. The Nightingale doll kept on singing. One day the doll broke. No body was able to fix it. The emperor was heart broken. The emperor became ill. He just laid there waiting to die. Just then, from the window, a beautiful song came flowing in. Everyone looked. Sitting by the window, Nightingale began singing. Shortly after, the emperor became better. Nightingale was happy. Soon, the emperor's face was filled with happiness once again.7The Wild SwansOnce upon a time in a kingdom far away, there were eleven Princes and a single Princess, by the name of Elisa. One day, their mother died of a disease. Eventually the King married again. The new Queen hated the twelve children. She said craftily, "Elisa is weak, and it would be good for her to go to the country for recuperation." The King was grateful to the Queen, as she seemed to care for the health of his daughter. Therefore, the Princess was sent off to the remotest corner of the country. The Queen then changed the eleven Princes into swans through her magic power, and sent them away from the royal palace. The Princes flew away crying sadly. "Oh! I feel good. It is my world now." After some time, the King missed Princess Elisa and sent for her. The Queen had Princess Elisa wear a dirty and worn-out dress. The King was very surprised to see the dirty Princess Elisa. "Elisa, how do you dress yourself?" Then the Queen said quickly, "Dear Lord, it seems that Princess Elisa has gone mad." The King was furious and sent the Princess away from him. "Ah! Where are my brothers?" The Princess asked a man passing by, "Have you ever seen eleven Princes?" The man said, "I have not seen eleven Princes but I have seen eleven swans. Strangely the swans wore golden crowns. You may find them near the river." Princess Elisa waited for her brothers near the river hoping to find them. At night, eleven swans swooped down to the ground and were turned into the form of Princes. "My brothers!" "Elisa!" They cried and embraced each other.-4-The brothers were trapped under the spell of the wicked Queen, and were forced to become swans and fly around to look for something to eat during the day. Elisa prayed earnestly, "Dear God, please release the magic curse from my brothers." In her dreams that night, a fairy appeared and said, "Make mantles for your brothers with hemp and have them wear the mantles. However, you should not speak at all until those mantles are made completely." The Princes thought that Elisa, who did not speak and merely kept knitting, had become strange. One day, a Prince from a neighboring kingdom saw the knitting Princess when he was out hunting. The Prince took Elisa to his palace saying to himself, "She is a really beautiful lady. I am going to make her happy." But Elisa did not say anything, and only kept knitting eagerly. At nightfall of the next day, the hemp was all used up. Elisa picked some more hemp near a grave but was caught by the Prince. The Prince said, "You dared to go to a grave at night? You must be a witch. Take this witch and burn her at the stake!" Princess Elisa was unable to say anything and was imprisoned. Princess Elisa continued knitting without taking rest even in the prison. Princess Elisa was finally knitting the eleventh mantle, while being carried on a cart going to the burning place. The villagers threw stones at her while shouting, "That witch is still knitting. Burn her at the stake!" At that precise moment, the eleven swans flew in. Princess Elisa threw the finished mantles to the swans. Only then, Princess Elisa opened her mouth. "I now can speak. I am not a witch." They donned the knitted hoods they were turned back into Princes. The Princess told the Prince what had happened up to that time. Thereafter, the Prince and Princess Elisa lived happily together in their kingdom.8The Unwise HansIn the countryside, there lived three brothers. The first and second brothers were very wise. But the third was not very wise. People called him unwise Hans. All three of the brothers wanted to marry the princess. The princess had said that she wanted to marry the wisest man on the land. "We only have one week." So in order to marry the princess, they hurried off on their way. The father of the three brothers gave horses to only two of the sons. The first brother got a brown horse and the second brother got a white horse. But, no horse was given to Hans. The unwise Hans left on a goat, instead of a horse. The older brothers laughed at Hans. Still, Hans left with his brothers. After sometime, Hans picked up a dead crow on the road. "Brothers, look at this." "What are you going to do with that?" "I'm going to give it to the princess." The brothers continued to laugh at Hans. As Hans was going along the road, besides the crow, he picked up an old wooden clog and good quality mud. The older brothers no longer paid attention to Hans' strange behavior and hurried off on their horses reaching the castle before Hans. In front of the castle there stood the princess and many people who wanted to marry her. However, all the people who went inside of the princess' room came out stuttering and muttering quietly to themselves. Finally the first brother went in. "You're not right. Please go." The first brother had forgotten everything that he had memorized. So, he could not say one word. Next the second brother went in. The princess told him to leave, as well. The second brother could not understand the princess’ question. Hans was the last person to go in. "The room is hot." "The rooster is being roasted." "Then roast my crow, as well, please." "What should we do? There is no plate." "Here it is." Hans showed the old wooden clog that he had hidden. The princess made a smile on her face. "Then where can we get the sauce?" Hans showed her the mud that he had picked up on the road, too. "Ha, Ha, Ha- this is really fun." The unwise Hans gave the princess the wisest answers. That's how the princess and the unwise Hans got married. The unwise Hans became the king of that land.9 Thumbelina-5-Once upon a time, there lived a woman who had no children. The woman went to a sorcerer and begged, "I want to raise a pretty baby." The sorcerer then gave her a flower seed. As soon as the seed was planted, a tulip blossomed forth. From the floral leaf, a lovely baby girl who was as short as a thumb was born. "Mother, how are you?" The baby girl who came out from the flower said hello to her mother with a beautiful voice. The woman was very happy and wanted to give her a pretty name. "A baby who is as short as a thumb...I will name her as Thumbelina." Thumbelina led a happy life sailing her ship across a pond filled with flowers. But one night, there appeared a horrible-looking toad when Thumbelina was asleep. "She is really a pretty girl. I am going to make her my bride." The toad carried the sleeping girl on his warty back and went to his pond. Thumbelina woke up in the morning, and was so surprised that she could do nothing but weep silently. She thought that she would rather die than become the wife of a toad. The fish who saw this unhappy event were sympathetic towards the poor girl, and said, "Thumbelina is pitiful. Let's help her." The fish cut the leaf of a lotus flower on which Thumbelina was riding, so that she could run away from the toad. She was roaming around the riverside riding on the leaf of a lotus flower. At that time, a beetle came flying about and spied the top of the head of Thumbelina. "Uh! She is a very pretty girl. Okay, I am going to make her my friend." The beetle grabbed Thumbelina and flew into the forest. "How about that? She is my friend. Isn't she very pretty?" The beetle bragged about her to his other beetle friends, but they all thought that she was an odd creature. "What? She only has two legs but has no wings like we do. It is really strange." With his friends making fun of him, the beetle began to dislike Thumbelina. He went away with his friends, leaving the girl alone in the branches. She spent many lonely days eating tree fruits and flowers. "Dear God, please send me to my mother." Thumbelina wandered around the forest shivering from cold and hunger. After some time, it began to snow. Thumbelina was looking for a place to take shelter when she finally saw a twinkling light. "I am Thumbelina. Please allow me to take a rest in your house." A field mouse woman greeted the girl warmly saying, "Oh my dear, please come in." The field mouse woman loved Thumbelina as if she were her own daughter. One day, a rich mole from a neighboring burrow came to the house for a holiday. He said, "She is a really pretty girl. It would be good if she became the wife of my son." The field mouse woman was very happy about what the rich mole said. But Thumbelina did not like that haughty fellow. Yet she was unable to reject what the field mouse woman wanted. Thumbelina was taking a walk sadly in an underground passage, which was actually the house of the mole. At that time, she found a swallow that had fallen on the ground. "Ah, poor swallow. Please gain your strength." Thumbelina nursed the swallow earnestly. Finally, spring came, and the swallow gained strength and was about to leave the underground passage. He said, "Dear Thumbelina, come with me to the flower country where there is nothing but sun and flowers." She agreed and rode on the back of the swallow to the flower land, where the Prince of the country greeted her saying, "Welcome, Thumbelina! I was waiting for you." There began a great party to welcome the happy girl. The Prince said, "Dear Thumbelina, would you please marry me and become the Queen of the flower country?" She said, "Yes, I will!" The Prince then gave his royal crown and wings to Thumbelina. To her bird companion she said, "Dear swallow, please deliver this news to my mother." Thereafter, the Prince and Thumbelina led a very happy life in the flower country.10The Terrible KingA long time ago, there lived a terrible king. The terrible king's wish was that all the people would shake in fear at the sound of his name. The terrible king made the lives of the people in the neighbor land horrible. "Here! Take everything!" The Terrible King The terrible king viciously took away all the belongings of the neighbor land. He even scared the poor women and children. The king was not even sorry to the children and women. The terrible king bothered the people of the neighbor land worse and worse everyday. The palace became more and more magnificent.-6-"Put up a statue in the church!" Now the terrible king was ordering the church to place a statue of himself there. However, the ministers could not do that." Your majesty may be great, but God is even greater." The terrible king was becoming angry. It was because he thought that he was the greatest in the whole world. Then the king was angry. "What! He is greater? Then I will defeat God." In a loud voice, the terrible king said that he would win against God. That's why he ordered that a magnificent ship be built in order to go to the heaven. He said he would ride the ship to go and defeat God. The terrible king rode the ship up to heaven. From the sky, an angel was sent. However, the terrible king shot over a thousand bullets at the angel. "Ahhhhhh" Being shot, the angel was bleeding. The blood dropped unto the terrible king's ship. The angel's blood was so heavy that the king's ship sank. The terrible king became angry, again. "Build a more stronger ship." The terrible king wanted a better ship, so he ordered all the workers in his kingdom to build it. "I will defeat God for sure!" The terrible king went up to heaven, once more. God sent mosquitoes to the terrible king. The terrible king just laughed at the mosquitoes. "Go and bring me the best carpet." The king made another command. He thought that if he wrapped the carpet around his body the mosquitoes would not be able to bite him. But one mosquito went inside of the carpet. Because of that one mosquito, the terrible king was rolling around screaming. The terrible king that couldn't even catch one mosquito was a laughingstock for his troops.11Last Dream for an Old Oak TreeOnce upon a time, there was a large oak tree in the forest. This oak tree was very old. One day during the hot summer, a mayfly flew by and alighted on a leaf of the oak tree. "Mayfly, you must be so sad." "Why?" "You get to live only one day." The oak tree felt sorry for the mayfly. Mayfly asked, "Don't you live for one day?" "No. I live much longer than you do." The mayfly nodded and asked, "Really? Then, are you happy now?" "Yes, I am very happy," replied the oak tree. Then the mayfly smiled and said, "I am very happy, too. Although I get to live only one day, it doesn't matter. You get to live much longer than I do, but we are both happy, aren't we?" The oak tree and the mayfly kept on talking to each other. Eventually, the mayfly leaned on the oak tree and fell asleep. "Mayfly!" The oak tree called the mayfly, but the mayfly did not respond. It had died. "Mayfly, have a happy dream." The oak tree blessed the mayfly for the last time. Many weeks then passed. Spring, summer and fall went by, and winter came. Finally, the long-awaited day of Christmas came. The oak tree wanted to rest now. The oak tree had a dream on Christmas day. In it, pretty flowers were abundant and butterflies were flying in a green forest. In this dream, the oak tree met the mayfly. The mayfly said, "Come play here. It is such a happy place." The oak tree was very pleased indeed to see the mayfly. While the oak tree was sleeping, its roots were cut. It was time for the oak tree to die. The oak tree went to a happy world, dreaming.12The Happy CoupleA long time ago, there was a happy prince and princess in a country. They took care of and loved each other very much, and their country was happy, too. Therefore they didn't envy anything else. There was one thing they worried about. They wanted to make sure they could live happily forever like this One day, one of the subjects found out the couple's worry and told them, "Prince, I heard that there is a magic charm, and it can protect you from any unfortunate event. If you always carry the magic charm with you, your fear and worry will disappear." "Is it true? Where can I find that charm?" The prince asked him joyfully. "There is an old man in the forest, and he knows about-7-everything. You can ask him." The couple visited the old man, and asked for help with their worries and fears. The old man nodded his head as if he knew everything and said, "Travel all around the world. Then, when you meet a very happy couple, ask them to cut a piece of their underwear. If you keep the piece of the underwear, your fear and worry will go away." The couple appreciated the old man's kindness and set out on the journey. The couple wandered around everywhere and heard about a happy knight and his wife of one town. They went to visit the knight. "Are you really happy like the rumor?" Then the knight answered. "Of course, we are, Prince. But our only worry and problem is that we didn't have any children." They had to find an absolutely happy couple, so they continued their journey. They visited a happy couple who were famous for their happiness in the next town. And they asked the couple if they were really happy. The couple answered. "Yes, we are very happy. But we have too many children. A mother with a large brood never has a peaceful day. We worry too much about our children." They could not get a magic charm this time too, and kept going on their trip. It was very hard to find the happiest couple in the world. One day, the prince couple met a shepherd and his wife in a big field. The shepherd was playing a flute and driving a herd of sheep, and his wife took their two children to him. As soon as the shepherd saw his family, he ran to them directly. He kissed and embraced each of them by turns. They sat in a circle and had lunch after the wife had prepared it. The prince couple watched for a while and approached them. "Excuse me. You look so happy!" The shepherd smiled and said, "Sure, any king or queen can never be happier than we are." The prince couple thought that they finally found what they were looking for. "I am sorry, but could you please cut a piece of your underwear for us?" The prince couple asked them very politely, but the shepherd couple felt confused and said, "Of course we would like to help you, but we don't wear any underwear." In the end, the couple set out on their journey again with nothing. Finally they came back to their home because they were so tired, and because they couldn't find the magic charm too. As soon as they came back to their country, they visited the old man. The prince told their story to the old man and asked him. "Why did you make us suffer from the long trip for a charm which doesn't even exist?" The old man smiled and said, "Well, do you really think your trip was a vain effort? Think about it carefully. While you were traveling around, you learned many things about how other people live, didn't you?" The prince thought to himself for a while and said, "Ah, now I understand. You mean that true happiness is up to yourself." The prince's wife smiled and nodded her head. The happy couple held their hands and looked in each other's eyes. The old man said as he watched them. "The true magic charm that you are searching for is in your mind. Keep it carefully from now on. Then, you'll never be unhappy with whatever comes your way."13The Cripple HansThere once was a rich feudal lord. He and his wife had a big farm. They wished everyone else would live as happily as they did. On one Christmas Eve, a beautifully decorated Christmas tree stood in their big hall, and firewood was burning vigorously. The couple invited all the poor children and their parents of the country to their house. Traditional Christmas meals were served to everyone, and people went back to their homes and talked about the dinner and the gifts. Kersten and Ole, who were working in a garden, received the gifts for their children and went back home. "Both masters are very kind, but that's because they are rich. They are enjoying themselves." "We have only four suits of clothes. Why didn't they give anything to Hans? Maybe it's because Hans is a cripple, so they forgot him." Hans was a very active and smart boy, but he had to stay in bed for five years because of his weak legs. "Oh, but I received a book for Hans" Hans was so happy because of the book. The thick fairy tale book had a lot to read and to think about deeply. Kersten and Ole were always complaining because they were always busy. "Some people have both happiness and wealth at the same time, but for other people, the only thing they have is poverty. Why do we have to suffer so much because of Adam and Eve? If we were Adam and Eve, we would not behave like them." "You would do same as they did. This book can tell you-8-why." "What did the book say?" Hans read a story to his parents loudly. 'One woodcutter couple always complained that their unhappiness began because of Adam and Eve. At that time, a King was riding a horse and heard them and said, "Come to my palace with me. You can live as luxuriously as I can. You have seven kinds of wonderful dishes and deserts at every meal." "Never touch the plate covered with a lid in the middle of the table. As soon as you touch the plate, your peaceful and luxurious life will be over." The woodcutter couple lived luxuriously after that, but soon they became curious what was on the plate under the lid. After a while, they uncovered the lid of the plate. "That's it. Now go back where you came from. Do not blame Adam and Eve any more. You have the same amount of curiosity as they did, and besides you cannot appreciate God's grace and gifts." Hans' parents were surprised by the story about the woodcutter couple, and they told Hans to read the same story every night. One night, Hans read his parents a story about a man who does not know both sadness and dissatisfaction. 'A long time ago, a King became ill, and there was only one cure the underwear of a man who never knew both sadness and dissatisfaction. His subjects visited every king and nobleman of the world searching for the cure, but they could not find it.' One day, a swineherd was sitting next to a ditch said, "I don't know anything about sadness and dissatisfaction. I have always have been living my life happily." "Give me your underwear. We will give you half of our kingdom in exchange for that." Even though the subjects tried to persuade him, the swineherd did not have underwear to give to the subject of the King. Hans' parents laughed loudly as if they had not laughed for a long time. "What are you so happy about? It's been a long time since I saw you smiling." "Hans read a story about a man who does not know about sadness and dissatisfaction. He is too poor to have any underwear. Try to imagine him! Everyone has his own burden to carry by himself. But if you listen to other people's stories, you will feel your burden of life is much lighter than before." "Where did you get this book?" "One year ago at the Christmas party, the mistress gave us as a gift. At that time, we wanted to have underwear as a gift rather than a book. But this book is like magic. It gives us the answers to what we always were curious about." After that day, the schoolmaster visited Hans, who always stays in his bed in the afternoons, gave him a lot of knowledge that children at school could learn. The schoolmaster got invited to the feudal lord's mansion and had a meal with them. In the middle of dinner, he told them the book that they had given to Hans was such a blessed gift for the family. The mistress gave some silver coins to the schoolmaster, and asked him to give them to Hans. Hans' parents were very happy to get the silver coins. "Crippled Hans brings us blessings." A few days later, the mistress herself visited Hans with a basket of delicious bread, fruit and juice, and a cage with a black bird. Hans was so happy for the gift, but his parents were not. "Rich people cannot think. If Hans cannot take care of the bird, we have to do the troublesome work. In the end, a cat will eat the bird anyway." A cat often visited the room, but it seemed that it was not interested in the black bird. One afternoon, when Hans was reading the book, the cat was staring at the bird in the cage above a dresser. The cat jumped up to the window frame next to the cage in a breath. Hans worried about the bird, and he tried to throw his fairy tale book at the cat, but it did not reach the cat. Hans wielded a bedcover, but it was a vain effort. The cat jumped up to the dresser and dropped the cage to the ground. At the same time, Hans suddenly leaped to his feet from his bed, picked up the cage and shooed the cat away. Hans saw himself holding the cage in his hand. He realized what happened to him and ran out to the road. "I can walk. Now I can walk!" On that day, Hans' family had a big party. The feudal lord and his wife were happy as if their own son could walk again. "You have a good mind, God bless you always." Hans went to a school in Copenhagen because he was so smart, and he could understand so well what he read. His parents were sad that they could not live with their son, but they were very happy whenever they got a letter with happy news from him. "What happened to Hans is proof that God does not forget poor children." "What happened to Hans is such a miracle. Is it like one of the stories which Hans used to tell us?" Hans' parents held each other's hands and looked at each other piously.14The Shadow-9-A scholar who used to live in a cold region took a trip to a place of tropical weather. He stayed in the house all day because it was too hot to go out. "Phew. It is so hot. I can't even go outside." At night, people came out from their houses to get fresh air. The scholar also went out of his house and looked around here and there. "There are a lot of people here. Now I feel better. But how come the house across the street is so quiet?" "Music flows from the house, and such beautiful flowers are in the house. There must be a pretty woman living in that house. "Then, one evening. "That house is quiet again. The only thing that moves in the house is my shadow." The scholar acted as if he was talking to his own shadow. Suddenly, his shadow on the house went into the inside the house. The scholar was shocked. Then, the next day. "How can I lose my own shadow? People will laugh at me. Phew. What am I going to do? I feel awful. What am I going to do now?" In a tropical region, everything grew really fast. Fortunately, the scholar's shadow grew a lot in a week. Then, one evening. Someone visited the scholar. "Who is it? Please come in." A well-dressed gentleman came into his house. "Excuse me, but have we meet before?" The gentleman answered. "Don't you recognize me? Well, I guess you've never imagined that I would show up in front of you with this kind of look. I have been enjoying my own life very much since I left you." "Then, you must be." "That's right! I am your shadow." "How amazing! How can this happen? And how are you doing?" "I will tell you everything. But promise me one thing before I tell my story. Don't you ever tell anyone that I used to be your shadow." "I promise!" "I went into the house across the street and met a Goddess. I learned a lot of things while I was staying there with her. Then, she allowed me to live my own life all by myself. Sometimes I gave severe punishments to bad people. People always welcomed me wherever I was. They just loved me." "Really? That's amazing! How can this happen?" "I've to go now. See you next time." A few years later, the shadow visited the scholar again. The scholar was writing a book, but he was so sad because no one read his book. He felt tired of writing. "You look very exhausted." "No one can understand my book." "You have to take a rest. Let's go to a spa. I will pay for the trip for you. Instead, you should be my shadow." "Oh god! Do I really have to be your shadow?" After long thinking about the shadow's suggestion, the scholar decided to go on the trip and be a shadow. There were lots of people in the spa, and a princess was one of them. The princess saw the shadow and thought, "He is so nice. I want to go out with him." She met the shadow. She liked him very much because he knew everything. The shadow pointed to the scholar and said, "He is my shadow. If you want to know about something, please ask him." "You look so smart." The princess decided to get married to the shadow. The shadow met the scholar and said, "I am going to marry the princess. You can come to the castle and live with us. But you have to be my shadow and have to live under my feet forever." "No, that doesn't make any sense. You are MY shadow." The shadow put the scholar in prison, and then he told the princess. "My shadow is out of his mind. He kept insisting that I am his shadow. There seems to be no chance of his recovery. I will help him to disappear quietly." "Yes, you need to help him." The princess and the shadow finally got married. But the scholar died in prison. <Whatever comes your way, don't forget to keep your self-esteem.15The Rotten Apples and the WifeThere was a poor farmer in the country. He had a wife with a warm heart. The only things they had were a small piece of rice field, a farm and a horse. One day, the farmer said to his wife. "We have to exchange the horse with other goods, tomorrow at the market." "Yes, we do. We don't need a horse because we have no chance of going far away." His wife agreed with him. The next day, the farmer went to the market riding on horseback. He found a good cow while he was looking around the market. 'Mm. That cow will be good. We will be able to drink fresh milk everyday.' The farmer smiled and went close to the cow. "If you want to sell this cow, how about exchanging your cow with my horse?" The owner of the cow took a look at the horse for a while. He felt strange because the horse was much more expensive than the cow. The horse looked healthy on the whole.- 10 -The owner of the cow laughed loudly and agreed to the deal. The farmer was very happy, too. 'Everything's okay. Now I have to go back to my house.' As he walked not a long distance with the cow, he saw a plump, soft-haired goat. Suddenly he wanted to have the goat. 'It would be much easier to raise a goat than a cow. And goat's milk tastes good.' "Hey, why don't we exchange your goat with my cow?" The owner of the goat thought that was a golden opportunity, after he heard the farmer. "Of course, I'll be glad to." This was how the farmer exchanged his cow with the goat. 'Today is my lucky day.' The farmer even hummed to himself. After a while, he saw a young man holding a goose tightly with his two hands. 'That goose looks very healthy. Its hair is rich. It would be nice if we could raise such a great goose in our depression.' The farmer wanted to have the goose, so he exchanged his goat with the goose. After a short time, he met a guy who was holding a cute hen in his arms. 'Cock-a-doodle-do, cock-a-doodle-do!' The hen's voice sounded very healthy. 'What a nice hen!' This time, he also wanted to have the hen. The farmer approached the guy and asked him to exchange his goose with the hen. Of course the owner of the hen agreed to his suggestion. It was already late afternoon when he exchanged his animals several times. 'Oh, I am hungry! I am going to have lunch in a restaurant.' The farmer held his hen and headed to a restaurant. A young man was carrying a heavy bag on his shoulder in front of the restaurant. "Look, young man. What's inside of that bag?" He looked at the bag and asked. "Oh, This? These are rotten apples. "The young man said. 'Rotten apples? We had only one apple from our apple trees last year. That's amazing that he has such a lot of apples. If we use those rotten apples as fertilizer, our trees will bear lots of apples, too.' The farmer exchanged his hen with the rotten apples. Then, he went into the restaurant and had lunch. And he told his story how he happened to exchange one thing and another, and finally he got the rotten apples. An rich old man listened to the farmer's story and said, "You are such a hopeless fellow. If you go back to your house, your wife will be mad at you." "No way. My wife has never been angry at me." "All right, if your wife will not be angry about your story today, I will give you a package of gold coins." After that, the farmer went back to his house with the old rich man. And he told his wife the whole story about how he came back with the rotten apples. Then, his wife said, "Oh, that's great. We will have as many apples as those rotten apples." The farmer's wife even smiled happily. In the end, the old rich man had to give them a package of gold coins. Therefore the farmer became very rich.16The AnemoneIt was winter with cold air and strong wind. A seed was still lying down in the bulb under the ground covered with snow. One day, it was raining, and the raindrops that soaked into the thick ground, touched the bulb and told stories of the world above the ground. Soon, the sunlight passed through, shone on the frozen ground and tickled the bulb "Welcome." A seed said. "I am not strong enough to open your door and walk in, but in summer, I can." The sunlight said. "When does summer come?" Whenever the sunlight came down, the flower asked the same question, but summer was still too far away. There was snow on the ground, and the well was frozen hard at night. "Oh, how much longer do I have to wait? I feel impatient. I want to go out. How glad I will be!" When the seed stretched in the bulb, the thin skin of the bulb was split. It was where the sunlight reached before. Green stems, a flower bud and leaves began to grow through the ground under the snow. There was still snow on the ground, but the flower could come out because the sunlight already passed through the ground. "Welcome, come on!" The sunlight shouted. The bud stuck out her head of the ground covered with snow and saw the bright world. As the sunlight touched and kissed the bud, it started to open. It was a flower white as snow with thin green stripes. The flower lowered her head with a pleasant look and with modesty. As soon as they saw the flower, the rays of sunlight said, "Oh, how beautiful you are! You are so full of life and pure. You are the first flower. Soon, snow will melt away, and the cold wind will stop. When we have control here, the whole world will turn green. And you will find your friends soon." It was such a big pleasure. The flower was so fragile and delicate that it seemed to- 11 -be easy to break her down, but she was dazzlingly beautiful and kept singing for the coming summer. But still it was far away from summer. The cloud hid the sun, and the strong wind blew hard. The cloud and the wind shouted to the flower. "You came out too early. We are still strong enough. It is not the right time to decorate yourself and walk around." "You will be broken. You will be frozen and dried to death. You were deceived by the temptation of the sun and bloomed too early. You are such a fool of summer which bloomed in winter." It got colder, and there was not a single ray of sunlight in the dark sky even though many days had passed. She could freeze and die. But her faith that summer would come soon grew stronger and stronger. Even when cold snowflakes came down heavily, and ice-cold winds blew hard, she just lowered her head, and stood there in her white dress. Then, children came out and shouted when they found the Anemone. "Wow, this is a fool of summer." It is not strange what they said. 'Anemone' means 'a fool of summer' in Danish. "She is so beautiful and elegant. This is the first flower of this year and also the only flower in this garden. "The children said. The Anemone was so happy that she did not even know that they had pulled her up. One girl picked up and kissed the flower. She brought it to her house and put it in a vase. Anemone had the illusion that summer came because the air was so fresh and warm. There was a custom that young people used to give and take their poems with the first Anemone of the year. The girl's boyfriend was staying in a big city for his studying. Inside of the envelope it was as dark as inside of the bulb. The letter set out for the journey in a mail bag, and the Anemone got to the final destination in the end after several times of being squeezed and squashed. The boy who received the letter was so happy, kissed the Anemone and put her in a drawer of his desk with the letter. There were many letters in the drawer, but only one letter had the Anemone. The Anemone was veut happy. She stayed in the drawer even after summer and long winter passed by. When summer came again, the boy took out the letter again. This time, he crumpled it harshly and threw it away on the floor of his room. The Anemone fell down to the floor from the impact. That's because the girl had another boyfriend. Even though the flower was dry and faded, she felt sad when she was treated that way. The next morning, the sunlight came through the window and shone on the faded the 'fool of summer'. Then, a maid came into the room and found the flower. She put it in one of the books in the desk. The flower stayed inside the book with poems again, but those poems were much greater and more valuable than before. Many years passed, and the book sometimes was taken out from the bookcase and read by someone. It was the book of a famous Danish poet. One day, a man was reading the book and shouted. "Oh, is this an anemone, a fool of summer? This poet was also a fool of summer who was ahead of his own age. Everybody used to laugh at him long ago, but he is the best poet of Denmark now. You look nice with this book!" The Anemone was put in the book again. She was happy and proud of herself about how she was kept in that book of the poet. He was also a fool of summer who was standing firmly in the middle of cold winter dreaming summer just like the Anemone.17The Feather Pen and the InkstandThere was an inkstand on the desk in a poet's room. Some strange sounds came out of the bottle. "How amazing! Anything can come out of that inkstand." The inkstand was proud of herself when she heard that. "Yes, I am unbelievable." The inkstand told this to a feather pen and other writing materials. "Sometimes, even I am amazed by what comes out of me. One drop of me is enough to fill half a piece of paper." The inkstand had no idea what was inside of her. But she thought she had everything. "Don't you think about yourself at all? If you had a chance to think abort who you really are, you would have found out that the only thing that you can do is drop ink." The feather pen said that he was the one who wrote on the paper. The inkstand and the feather pen had an argument. "You idiot, the poet can write his poems only because of me." The feather pen said that the only thing the inkstand can do is give him ink. They kept arguing.- 12 -"Inkstand! You don't know anything. People cannot write without a pen." "Without me, you are just a shabby little bird feather." The feather pen laughed at the inkstand. At that moment, the poet came back from a concert. He opened the inkstand to write a poem. He started to write about the fantastic violin performance of that night. "The sound of the violin was just magnificent. But people think it is easy to play the violin." The poet had a different opinion from those of other people. He wrote that the wonderful violin performance was because of the player's ability. Neither the inkstand nor the feather pen could recognize that their abilities were all precious until then. They are a gift from God.18The CandlesOnce, there were two candles. One candle was made from beeswax and the other was made from animals' fat. "I am much brighter than other candles, and I can last longer than all of us can. That's why I should stand on a silver candle holder." The beeswax candle was proud of herself and said. The candle made from animals' fat envied the beeswax candle. 'The beeswax candle must live a great and splendid life.' One day, there was a party in this house. "I will be great at the party." The Beeswax candle said arrogantly as if she was the hostess of the party. Then, a master came in. "I have to light up a candle." After saying this, he took the beeswax candle. "The party must be wonderful!" The animal fat candle was left behind and became lonelier. At that time, one little boy appeared with his torn basket at the kitchen door. In the basket, there were five or six potatoes and one apple. A mistress of the house gave them to this poor boy. "I will give you this candle, too." The mistress slipped the animal fat candle into the boy's hand. The little boy was very happy and went back to his house. 'Where am I going?' The candle finally arrived at a poor and small hut. Three children and a mother were living in that small room with a low-ceiling. The candle stood on an iron candlestick. "This is too much!" The candle grumbled to himself regretting for his miserable situation. 'The beeswax candle, went to the party, she must be standing on a great silver candle holder at this time.' The Candle made from animals' fat envied the beeswax candle very much. The mother prepared dinner by boiling potatoes and peeling the apple. The three children and the mother had dinner happily. The animal fat candle shone their table brightly. "This candle is very bright!" The boy said. "God bless this kind lady!" The mother prayed. It was a poor but peaceful and happy family. The animal fat candle felt happy as he enjoyed shining brightly for this family.19Little Ida's FlowersA long time ago, there was a kid named 'Ida'. She liked flowers very much. One day, her flowers were all faded away. "My flowers are all dry and dead. What happened to them?" Ida asked a man sitting right next to her. "The flowers went to a ball last night. That's why they are hanging their heads down." Ida felt strange to hear what he said. "How can flowers dance? I thought they could not dance." "Late at night, flowers dance and run around from place to place. That castle over there is the place of the party." He kept talking. "If you go to the castle, you can see the flowers. Go to your garden and tell the flowers quietly that they have a party tonight. Then, one flower will tell the news to the others." "How can the flowers speak?" Her curiosity grew bigger. "Flowers give and receive their messages through their body language. Have you seen the flowers shake their leaves when the wind blows?" "Wow, that's really interesting." Then, a legal expert with no sense of humor listened to the conversation between the man and Ida. "You tell those ueasonable and fake stories to a little kid? Tusk, tusk!" Ida brought the flowers to her room. "Take a rest before the party begins." Ida laid down the flowers and covered them with a blanket. After a while, the sound of a piano came out of her room. Ida went- 13 -into the room. The moonlight was bright, and the flowers were dancing to the melody. They danced with a teddy bear and the flowers asked the teddy bear. "We do not live very long. After dawn, we are all going to die. Would you bury us next to the grave of the canary? Then, we will wake up in summer again." At that moment, the door opened, and the very beautiful flowers came into the room dancing. Ida thought to herself, 'They are so beautiful! They must be from the castle. 'Two roses with crowns and other flowers exchanged greetings and danced. After a while, they said good-bye to each other. The next morning, Ida thought, "I have to make sure that the flowers are still laying down. Well, they are still there. Only they look more depressed than yesterday." Ida talked to her teddy bear. "Do you remember the message the flowers want you to give me?" The Teddy bear kept silent. "You are very bad. You even danced with those flowers, but you forgot the flowers' favor?" Ida came close to the dry flowers. "I will bury you in a pretty casket. Then, you will bloom in the summer beautifully, won't you?" Ida buried the flowers with her cousins. She dug a small grave and buried the flowers' casket in the ground.20The Little Match-GirlIt was a Christmas Eve with heavy snow. A little girl was selling matches on the street. "Matches, matches!" But no one looked at her. She had lost her parents a few days ago, and she was selling matches without a coat in the cold weather. She didn't even sell one box. The girl was so hungry that she couldn't even open her mouth. Then, a carriage came close to her. Trying to keep away from the carriage, she slipped and fell on the ice, and she lost her shoes. She had to walk on the snowy street with bare feet. Over a window, she saw a family gathered under a warm and bright light. They seemed so happy. The snow began to fall more heavily. "It's cold. "Her body was frozen hard. Even though she was hungry and felt pain in her feet, she couldn't go back home because she couldn't sell any matches. "Matches, you want some matches?" The people walking on the street looked very happy holding each other's arms. But no one bought the girl's matches. "Ho~ ho~!" She tried to warm up her hands and feet, but it only made her hungrier. "It's so cold. Why is it so cold today? I have to skip my meal today because I couldn't sell any of these matches." She lit a match to warm up her body. Even though it was a small light, it made her a little warmer. She felt as if she was sitting right next to a fireplace. "Oh, it's warm!" She kept lighting matches. Suddenly, a table full of delicious food came up in front of her. "Oh, it looks delicious." As she lit another match, a Christmas tree appeared. "How beautiful!" She lit the last match. Then, her grandmother appeared. "Sweetie, come to Heaven with me." The girl's grandmother held her tight in her arms and rose up to the sky. The next day, she was dead and found in the street. "Poor girl, Maybe she tried to warm herself with these matches. Tut, tut." People felt pity for the girl and buried her in the ground in the sunlight.21Big Klaus and Little KlausA long time ago, two farmers of the same name, "Klaus", lived in a town. One of the two had four horses, but the other had only one horse. So, people in the village called the first Klaus with four horses 'Big Klaus' and the second Klaus with one horse 'Little Klaus'. The two Klauses lent each other their horses to plow the soil. The little Klaus lent his one horse for six days to the big Klaus, but the big Klaus lent his four horses to the little Klaus just for one day.But the diligent and warm-hearted little Klaus did not complain. The little Klaus shouted to the horses courageously. "Come on, cheer up, my horses!" However, the big Klaus heard this sound and got angry. "Why are they yours? You have only one horse. If you call them yours again, I will kill your horse." But the little Klaus unconsciously repeated calling them 'my horses' while he was joyfully- 14 -working. The big Klaus killed the little Klaus' horse as he said he would. The little Klaus felt sad and removed the horse's skin. He carried it to the market to sell it. While he was heading to the market, it got dark. The little Klaus knocked on a door of a farmer's house near by. "Would you please let me stay in your house for tonight?" Then, the farmer's wife came out. "I can't let you sleep in my house, because my husband is not here." She said and closed the door. He crawled into the barn secretly. The little Klaus was surprised. He could look into the farmer's house through a small window. There were wine and roasted meat on the table, and the wife of the farmer and a priest were having dinner happily. In fact, the owner of the house hated the priest so much that the farmer's wife invited and served food to the priest secretly while her husband went out. But then, the farmer came back to his house suddenly. The surprised farmer's wife hid the priest in a box in a corner of the room, and she hid the food in the fireplace. When the farmer came into the barn to tie his horses, he found the little Klaus in his barn. "Who is it? What are you doing here?" "Sir, I was on my way to sell this horse skin in the market, but I had to spend the night in this barn because it was dark outside." "Then, you can stay in my house." He took the little Klaus into his house. The wife of the farmer served a cup of soup and pretended that nothing had happened. The little Klaus could not stop thinking about the delicious food that he saw before. 'I wish I could eat the delicious food.' He stepped on the bag with the horse's skin under his feet while he was thinking like this. "Peep!" "What was that?" The farmer asked about the sound. The little Klaus thought for a moment and said, "The little juggler in my bag asked us to look in the fireplace." The farmer looked into the fireplace and shouted out loudly, "Oh, it's strange! There is delicious food in the fireplace!" After having the delicious food and wine with the little Klaus, the farmer said, "I want to see a devil. Why don't you ask the juggler?" The little Klaus stepped on the bag again, and said, "He said there is one devil with the appearance of a priest in that box." The farmer was surprised when he opened the box as the small Klaus had told him to do. "Oh my! It is true that there is a devil with the appearance of a priest in the box!" The farmer asked the little Klaus for a favor earnestly. "Please give me your bag and the juggler in it. I will give you a package of gold coins for it." "If you really want it. Ok, I will." "Instead, take that box and the devil away for me." The little Klaus took the box away and left for his town. The little Klaus said loudly on purpose, "This box is too heavy. I will throw this box into a river." "Wait! I will give you a package of gold coins, so please let me out. "The priest in the box cried out in panic. "Well, okay. I will let you out." The little Klaus opened the cover of the box and took out the priest. The priest gave him a package filled with gold coins. When the little Klaus came back to town with packages of gold coins, the big Klaus was astonished. "How on earth did a stupid guy like you make so much money?" "I just sold my horse skin." The little Klaus said pretending that nothing had happened. As soon as the big Klaus heard the little Klaus, he killed his four horses and removed their skin. He went to the market to sell them, but no one wanted to buy his horse skin at an expensive price. The big Klaus was very angry when he found out that he was fooled and came back to town. "You lied to me, you are evil!" The big Klaus seized the little Klaus and pushed him into a bag, and he bound it up tightly. "I will throw you into a river." While the big Klaus was carrying the bag on his shoulder to a river, he found a church. "I have to pray for a moment." The big Klaus put the bag down in front of the church and went in. Then, a very old man fell over the bag when he was passing by the church with a number of cows. "Ouch, I am still young, but I have to go to Heaven now." The little Klaus shouted in surprise. The old man sighed with sadness when he heard the little Klaus. "Well, I am old enough to go to Heaven now, but I am still staying here." "If you untie this bag and stay here instead of me, you can go to Heaven." The little Klaus shouted. "Is it true? I will do it delightfully." The old man untied the bag, and got into it. Then, he asked the little Klaus to do him a favor. "Young man, please take care of my cows for me." The little Klaus bound up the bag tightly and went back to his house with the herd of cows. After a while, the big Klaus went out of the church and went to the river with the bag. He had no idea what was in the bag and- 15 -threw it into the river as hard as he could. The big Klaus felt happy and went back to his house, but he saw the little Klaus driving a herd of cattle. The big Klaus was astonished and said, "What? What happened?" The little Klaus smiled and answered. "Thank you for throwing me into the river very much. I got these cows from a young lady at the bottom of the river." As soon as the big Klaus heard the story, he asked the little Klaus to throw him into the river. "If I can't get cows, that will be your last day." They went to the river. The big Klaus went into a bag with rocks to reach the bottom of the river as fast as possible. "Okay. Throw me into the river now." The little Klaus bound the bag tightly and threw the bag into the river. The bag dived with a splash and sank down in the river. At last, the greedy and stupid big Klaus could never go back to his house.22Grand motherGrandmother is very old. Her face is crumpled, and her hair is white as snow. But her eyes are twinkling like two stars. When she looks at us with her generous and gentle face, we feel very happy. She tells us many good old stories. She has a lot of knowledge because she began her life even before my father and mother. Grandmother often reads a hymnbook with a sliver clamper in her spare time. A dry rose is put between the leaves of the book. The rose is not as beautiful as a rose in a glass vase, but she sometimes smiles and cries quietly when she looks at the rose. When her tears fall down on the dry rose, it comes to life again, and its' peaceful and beautiful scent fill the whole room. The walls turn into a green forest, and the sunlight of summer shines through thick leaves of the trees, she changes into a beautiful girl with rose-colored and full cheeks and curly blond hair. A tall and healthy young man sits beside her and gives a rose to the girl. Then, she smiles beautifully. The girl became a Grandmother and could not smile that beautifully, but she can smile graciously while she is recollecting her memories of the past. The handsome young man is gone, and the rose is dry and put between the leaves of the book. The girl became an old lady looking at the dry rose. The Grandmother is passed away now. She fell asleep leaning her head on a chair. Her breath became quiet, and her face was full of happiness and peace. It seemed as if a ray of sunlight was shining on her face. In a black casket, and in a white cloth, she was closing her eyes, but her wrinkles were gone so that she looked much younger. Her hair was shining, and she was smiling peacefully. The hymnbook with the dry rose was put beside her head. Then, she was buried. People planted a rose tree on her grave next to the fence of a church. Moonlight was shining on the grandmother's grave. She was not in her grave. However, the dead people know much more than the living. They know that if they suddenly come up in front of us, we should be very terrified. Dead people live a better life than we do. That's why they never come back. The leaves of the hymnbook, and the rose all returned to dust with her old memories. But the new roses come to bloom every year on her grave, nightingales sing beautiful songs, and an organ plays beautiful tunes. The memory of the grandmother looking young, and having soft and generous eyes will remain forever. Someday, we may meet our warm-hearted grandmother. Even though she now became a pile of dust, we will always remember grandmother as a young and beautiful lady when she kissed the red and fresh roses.23Ingel who Trod on the LoafOnce, there was a little baby girl. Her name was Ingel. Ingel's family was very poor, so her parents adopted her out to a rich family. Fortunately, the mistress loved and treated Ingel like her own daughter. Ingel grew up not only beautifully but also she had too much vanity. One year later after Ingel came to the house, the mistress called Ingel and spoke to her in a soft voice. "Ingel, go and visit your- 16 -own mother and father in your old house." "Yes, ma'am." Ingel prepared herself for the visit and left her house. She put on her best clothes and best shoes. She who had prettied beyond recognition wanted to boast herself. When Ingel reached the entrance to the village, a woman who bore firewood was taking a rest sitting on a rock by a roadside. She was Ingel's mother. 'I can't believe that woman with such a shabby outfit is my mother.' Ingel passed by the woman turning her head to another side and pretended as if she did not see her. A mud puddle came in sight after walking further. "Oh! How can I pass this? My shoes and dress will get dirty. Oh, I have a good idea." Ingel threw a big white loaf of bread in the middle of the puddle. It was a gift from the mistress to give her parents. She thought that she could pass the puddle by stepping on the bread, keeping her shoes clean. When she stepped one foot on the bread and lifted the other foot, the bread sank in the puddle. "Oh, help me!" Ingel was swamped by the puddle. After sinking for a long time, she arrived at the bottom of the deep swamp. There was an old evil lady in the swamp. When the old evil lady saw Ingel, she giggled creepily and said, "Welcome. A human like you is my favorite, ha, ha, ha." The old evil lady forced Ingel to help her in her work. The old evil lady worked for the destruction of mankind. She was making shoes, which if one wore them, one soon wanted to steal something. Hats, which when one put it on, one wanted to be cruel to other people, and vests which made one lie once one wore them. Ingel was hungry, but the old evil lady did not give food to Ingel at all. On the bottom of her shoe, some of the bread was still stuck on it. Ingel stretched out her hands and tried to grab the bread on the bottom of her shoe. But her body was hard as rock, and she could not reach there. It was painful, so she shed tears. "I was such a fool!" She thought she got punished because she pretended that she did not know her own mother and tried to step on the bread. She regretted her silly behavior for the first time. When her warm tears began to fall down to the bread under her shoe, the bread came off from it like magic. Ingel took the hard bread off and she lived barely by eating the bread little by little everyday. Ingel was determined to stop the old evil lady's work at any cost. At that time, a ray of light appeared from somewhere and shone through the dark swamp. "Oh!" When the light shone on Ingel's head, she turned into a bird and flew up to the sky in the twinkling of an eye. Even the old evil lady could not stop her. Ingel who became a bird now, flew in the sky happily and sang merry songs. Ingel flew around the house of her mother and father. She did not go anywhere but just stayed there.24The Shower and the BuckwheatA long time ago, there was a big field in a village. The Barely and wheat were planted in that field. The buckwheat was also in the field. The grains grew very well in summer with mild sunshine. "I am so beautiful. There is no comparison between me and barely or wheat. My flowers are as beautiful and white as those of apple trees!" The buckwheat boasted about herself. She paid no attention to any of the barely, wheat, trees or flowers of the riverside. Right at that moment, "Grrrrrr, Boom boom! Flash flash!" It thundered with a rumbling sound, the lightning flashed. "Pitter patter, pitter patter!" And it showered heavily. Heavy raindrops came down with frightening speed. "Oh, it's a shower!" "Lower your head, quickly!" Barely and wheat who were taking in the sun were astonished and shouted. Everyone lowered their heads, shut their buds and waited for the shower to pass by, but the buckwheat did not. "Hum, what a fuss! It's only a shower." Rather, she raised her head arrogantly. "Buckwheat, lower your head quickly." Barely was surprised to see Buckwheat was raising her head and said. "Why do I have to lower my head?" "Look at that heavy rain. You will get wounds from that beating rain all over your body. Besides, if your eyes are struck by the lightning, you'll be blind forever. God is inside of the lightning. We cannot look at him directly." Barely said impatiently. "Is he really in the lightning? Well, I will look at him directly!" Buckwheat leaned backwards much more arrogantly than before. 'Flash!' At that moment, a very big lightning flashed. It looked like the whole world was on fire. "Oh my God!" All the grains- 17 -shouted simultaneously and closed their eyes. After a while, the shower stopped, and the sun shone gloriously. A beautiful rainbow appeared from the opposite side of the mountain. The grains slowly and carefully raised their heads after crouching themselves. They raised their moistly wet bodies and looked at the beautiful rainbow. "Wow, what a beautiful rainbow!" "Yes, you're right. It is such a beautiful rainbow!" Rainbows after showers were always beautiful. Everyone felt cool and fresh, but buckwheat did not. "Boo-hoo!" She lowered her head and was sobbing at one side. Buckwheat did not lower her head, so she got a big scar on her face from the heavy rains. On top of that, because she lost her sight from the lightning, she could never look at a rainbow again.25The Old HouseThere was a very old house in a street. A boy liked this house very much. An old man was living in that house. The old man always looked out of the window. That's why they made a friendship with each other. The next Sunday morning, the boy visited the old house, and he talked to the old man. "I have two toy soldiers, and this is one of them. I will give you one, because you look so lonely. ""Little friend, thank you for giving me such a nice gift and visiting me." The old man welcomed the boy and said. The old man and the boy were so happy together. But the toy soldier started to complain. "I can't stand this house any more. I am too lonely and bored in this house." "Don't be sad. Instead, this house is beautiful, isn't it?" "I am sick and tired everyday in here."" You have to stay here because you were the gift for my friend. Don't you understand that?" "I will go to a battlefield." The toy soldier yelled. The toy soldier fell to the ground, but nobody could find him. "I will find where he is." But he couldn't find the toy soldier. It was too far away to be found. After dark the boy went back to his house. When the winter came, the old man died. A few days later after the old man's death, the old house was cleared away and a new house was built in that place. After many years, the little boy grew into a young man, and he married. He moved to the old man's house with a beautiful garden. "Ouch! What is this?" His wife shouted out in pain. There was something sharp on the ground. Can you guess what it was? It was the toy soldier that he and the old man had been searching for. "Let me see." The boy, now a grown-up, looked at the toy soldier carefully and smiled.26The TeapotThere was a teapot made of china, and she liked to boast about herself. She had one beautiful long mouth and a large grip on her front and rear, and she was particularly proud of them. But she hushed up about her ugly lid that was broken, cracked and glued loosely. Teacups, a cream pitcher and a sugar bowl teased the teapot about her broken and scarred lid all the time. Whenever she listened to their teasing while she was boasting about herself, she suddenly felt depressed. On all such occasions, she comforted herself by saying this, "Yes, I know what my weak point is. Everyone has not only his own weakness but also an excellent talent at the same time. The teacup has his grip, and the sugar bowl has his cover, but I have both. Besides, I have even a mouth that they don't have. Even if sugar bowl and cream pitcher stimulate people's appetite, I am the one who bestows favors on thirsty people. I am the Queen of a tea table!" One day, a very beautiful and elegant hand picked up the teapot. But by mistake, the hand dropped the teapot to the floor. Her mouth and grip, which the teapot used to be proud of, and her lid were all broken into pieces, and people made such a fuss as they cleaned up the hot boiling water. The teapot began to be treated as old and useless from that moment. She was shocked by the fact that everyone laughed at her instead of at the careless hand which dropped the teapot. The people gave her away to a beggar. "There's no hope for me." The teapot moaned and cried about her situation. Even though the teapot had never imagined before, her new and different life began. One day, the teapot got filled with soil. She- 18 -got another shock from it on that day, but someone planted a flower seed in her. The seed took root in the teapot and began to grow. The teapot felt the seed as her heart. She came to life and breathed. While her heart was beating energetically, the seed pushed out new buds, and they bloomed. The teapot could forget her past, troubles and worries as she watched the flowers. But the flowers did not even say thank you to the teapot. They seemed as if they didn't know that the teapot even existed. Whoever looked at the flowers were all impressed by their beauty. The teapot just felt happy by watching them. One day, someone moved the flowers from the teapot to a better flowerpot. The teapot was broken in two pieces and thrown away in the corner of a garden, but the teapot lived her life keeping her memories to herself.27The JumperA long time ago, there were a flea, a grasshopper and a paper doll. "I can jump higher than anyone else." The flea said arrogantly. "No, I can jump higher than you." The grasshopper shouted at the top of his voice. The dancing paper doll smiled without saying a word. The flea and the grasshopper decided to compete with each other for the highest jump. They invited other people to their game. Even the king came to see their contest. "The one who jumps the highest can marry my daughter." The king said. First, the flea introduced himself like a gentleman. "I am a Flea who lives with people. I can jump higher than anyone else in the world." The grasshopper with his green cape stepped to the front and greeted the people. "My family is very famous for high jumping. My brothers are all wearing green capes and we can sing beautiful songs as well." Then the grasshopper sang a song in front of the audience. The people enjoyed his song very much and clapped. Finally, the paper doll came to the front. He was so shy that he didn't say a word and just bowed. "Well, let's start the match!" The flea took a deep breath and leaped up high. But something strange happened. The flea was too small for the audience to watch how high he jumped. "What? Did he jump or not?" The flea jumped up and fluttered as high as he could, but no one could see him. The grasshopper was next. He put all of his strength in his hind legs and jumped up. When he came down, he landed on the king's face. "How dare you jump on my face!" The king felt unpleasant and got angry. "Put that rude grasshopper in jail!" The paper doll got ready for the last turn. The king said to the paper doll in a loud voice. "I can't see the flea jumping, and that rude grasshopper dared to land on my face. If you make a fool of me like your two friends, you shall no longer live!" The audience worried about the paper doll and said, "Can he jump high?" "I think maybe he can't. He will die." Then, the paper doll made up his mind and stepped to the front. The cool breeze blew gently. The paper doll rose up in the air with the breeze. "He jumped up really high!" People were impressed by the paper doll. When he landed on the ground safely, the king was pleased with the paper doll very much and allowed him to marry his princess as he promised.28The Young Thief and His MotherLong ago, there were a mother and a son living in a house. She worked hard everyday, but they were always poor. One day, her son stole his friend's bag. "Mom, what do you think of this bag?" His mother praised her son rather than scolding him. "It looks great!" The next time, he stole an overcoat. She praised him again when he stole it. A few years later, he grew up to be a young man. He stole jewelry and brought them to his mother. "How beautiful!" This time, she did not scold her son again. Then, because he was elated by his mother, he started to steal more expensive things. One day, the police caught him. Before putting him in jail, he begged the police to meet his mother. They took him to his mother. As soon as he saw his mother, he bit her earlobe. "Ouch! What's the matter with you?" She finally scolded him. Her son- 19 -answered. "If you had given me a scolding like that when I stole the first bag, I could not have become a thief." She collapsed as she looked at her son heading to prison. "If I only could turn back time, I would scold him severely." She regretted that she always praised him, whatever he did.29The Intimate CoupleThere once was a top and a small ball in a big toy box. The top said to the ball. "We are living in this small box together, so why don't you marry me?" But the ball with a beautiful leather jacket, ignored his proposal. The next day, the owner showed up. He painted the top with red and yellow colors and drove an iron nail into it. "Now, it looks perfect!" The owner spun the top round and round. When the top spun, he looked very nice. "Look at me! I look great huh? Now, would you marry me?" The top asked the ball again. "We will be a great couple. You can jump up and down, and I can dance." But the ball with the great leather jacket ignored him again. "I am wearing a wonderful and elegant leather jacket. There is no comparison between you and me." The ball was still cold. The top begged her to marry him. "But the master loves me very much. Please marry me." "No way. I am engaged to a swallow. Whenever I jump up in the air, he asks me to marry him, and I say yes." "Really? Well, then there is nothing I can do about it." The top was very disappointed. The next day, the owner brought the ball outside. The ball jumped very high and down. But this time, the ball didn’t come down after she jumped up. The owner searched everywhere, but he couldn't find the ball. The top sighed and said, "She must have followed the swallow. I hope she is happy with him." But the top could never forget her. A few years passed. The top was all painted with a golden color. When he spun powerfully with a buzz, he looked wonderful. One day, he spun so hard and fast that he flew away. The top landed on the roof. The roof was full of all sorts of things. "Oh, what is that crumpled thing over there?" The top went close to it. Even though she was worn-out, it was the ball with the leather jacket. "Hi!" The ball couldn't recognize the top because he looked so different than before. "It's me. Top." She recognized him and cried. "I didn't follow the swallow. Actually I liked you, but my pride didn't allow me to marry you." After that, the top and the ball got married and lived happily ever after.30The Beauty of a Shabby Little DandelionSpring has come for the flowers and trees, in the forest and fields. Spring has also come on the wild flowers under the fence and on a small apple tree. There were red bursting flower buds hanging on the fresh apple tree branches. The apple Tree Branches were proud of themselves knowing that they were very beautiful. A Countess admired the branches, so she broke one of them off, held it in her hand, and she went back to her splendid castle in her wonderful carriage. The Countess put the branch among the fresh and green beech trees, and she smiled with satisfaction. The apple Tree Branch held up his head and looked at many kinds of people who came in and out. They all showed different reactions to the Apple Tree Branch. All the people reacted differently when they saw the Apple Tree branch. Some were expressionless without a word, some overpraised the beauty of the Apple Tree Branch, and others gazed at him with a satisfied look. Seeing these various reactions from people, the Apple Tree Branch realized that people have as diverse personalities as plants and flowers do and that they are all different. The Apple Tree branch looked at the fields and a garden through the open window. There were shabby flowers and plants as well as beautiful ones in the garden. 'Those grasses are so pathetic. It's not their fault they have such ugly and squalid names. However, everything is different in this world.' The apple Tree Branch sympathized and looked at the little flowers blooming next to the fields and streams. At that time, the Sun kissed the Apple Tree Branch, a dandelion in the field, the abundant beautiful flowers, and the shabby flowers and said, "Yes, there is difference among everything, but throw away your prejudice and look ahead with a broad point- 20 -of view. What do you think the poorest plant is?" "A Dandelion. People do not use it even for a bouquet, and it is so common that people trample it down carelessly. It is not different from a weed at all." At that time, children ran across the field, rolled about on the lawn, and picked and kissed the dandelions. They made necklaces and garlands of them. They looked wonderful with the golden flowers and green stems. The seeds stuck to the stalks of the dandelions, and they were as beautiful as white feathers. When the children blew out with a puff, the seeds of the dandelions fluttered away as if they had wings. "Look at that! Now, do you understand how beautiful those flowers are, and how much pleasure they can give us?" The Sun said to the Apple Tree Branch. "They are only for children." The Apple Tree Branch answered. At that time, an old lady dug in the ground of the field and picked the roots of the dandelions. She will make tea, take it to the doctor who makes medicine, and earn money with the roots of the dandelions. "But, beauty is more valuable than those things. Only elected ones can join the Kingdom of Beauty. Not every plant can be the same, just as people can't be the same." The Apple Tree Branch said. Later some people came into the room. The Countess who brought the Apple Tree Branch to the castle was one of them. She brought a stalk of dandelion seeds much more carefully than when she brought the Apple Tree Branch. "Look at this. Isn't this beautiful? I will draw a picture of this dandelion with the apple tree branch. Everyone says that the apple tree branch is more beautiful, but this humble dandelion has a different kind of beauty. Even though the apple tree branch and the dandelion look different from each other, they are all beautiful." The Countess said filled with admiration. The Sun smiled and kissed the shabby dandelion and the Apple Tree Branch. The Apple Tree Branch blushed his own petals with shame.31The Happy FamilyThere was a butterbur leaf in a country of the south. A lot of butterbur trees with big leaves looked very nice. A snail was living on a back of a butterbur leaf. The snail ate the butterbur leaves and lived peacefully moving from one leaf or stem to another. Two snails were living on a back of the butterbur leaves. These two had never been out of the butterbur wood, but they knew that there was a different world out of the forest. Birds always felt impatient when they saw the snails. "Hey, why are you that lazy? Try to walk faster." When the birds complained, one snail said, "That's because we are not in a hurry." "Why don't you just stop crawling around here and go some other places?" "We have a roof and it's full of food here." "If you like staying here that much, do as you want." The short-tempered bird flew away to the sky. But the snails did not envy the bird that could fly everywhere freely. "Even she has wings, she has no house, it must be very uncomfortable." "If it rains or something scary comes up, how can she hide her head and legs?" The two snails her felt pity for the bird. They were just lonely because they were only two. One day, they found a little snail crying on the back of a butterbur leaf. "What a pity! What's happened?" "Hey little snail, where are you from?" The two snails asked the crying little snail. The little snail cried and said he was searching for his dad, mom and his brothers for a few days. "Oh dear! Stop crying. I will be your dad." "And I will be your mom. Come on!" The two snails took him to a big special butterbur leaf where they were always living. A few days later, the little young snail ate delicious food and recovered slowly. Even his mom and dad were surprised that the baby snail could crawl very quickly and play far away from the leaf. "Sweet heart, you don't need to crawl very fast. Always walk slowly." She showed him slow crawling. When it rained, funny sounds came from the splashing raindrop on the butterbur leaf. "Do you like it? It sounds like a drum, doesn't it?" The husband snail was proud of himself as if he made the sound. "Wow, it's funny." The baby snail was very happy. The baby snail is old enough to marry now. His Mom and Dad searched for his bride crawling from one butterbur leaf to another. A ladybug heard it and visited them. "I know a great one." Mom and dad snails were happy to hear that and asked. "Does she have a house?" "It's not just a house. She has her own- 21 -wonderful castle with 700 hallways. She is the queen ant." The ladybug told them proudly. "Thank you for your kindness, but our baby will be eaten by ants if he marries to the queen ant." The mom snail rejected the ladybug's kindness. After a while, a fly taught them there was a young woman snail right next to her. The snail family decided the woman snail would be the baby snail's bride. The night of the wedding, six fireflies shone beautiful bluish light on the ceremony. The snail family lived together happily and peacefully ever after.32A Piggy BankOnce there were lots of toys in a room. There was a saving box on the dresser, and it was a small piggy bank. The piggy bank was full of bronze, gold and silver coins. The piggy bank knew that he had many coins inside of him. That's why he was always proud of himself in front of his friends. "I have a lot of money. It is enough to buy all of you." The piggy bank always looked down from the top of the dresser and said this proudly. Then, the other toys looked up the piggy bank with envious eyes. One night, the beautiful moonlight poured into the room through a window. The toys in the room were so happy. "Ladies and gentlemen, let's play together on this beautiful night." A baby doll with a red velvet ribbon said. "Okay. Let's play a game." "After that, let's have a tea party." "Wow, it will be exciting!" All the toys shouted for joy. Everyone except the piggy bank joined the party. "That party must be boring." He held up his head to the ceiling and pretended that he was not interested in the party. He thought it would make him less valuable to join in such an unimportant party. "Hey, piggy bank! Come on and join us. Let's enjoy the party." "Come on." Everyone invited him to the party, but the piggy bank ignored their invitation. Therefore, the other toys enjoyed their party without the piggy bank. A rocking horse put on a knitting ball tail and danced. A rubber ball rolled over, and a toy car drove round everywhere in the room. Everyone seemed so happy. The piggy bank looked down at them playing and watched with an askance look. Then, the playing was over and the tea party began. The piggy bank couldn't stand not eating when he saw the food, and he came closer step by step to the edge of the dresser. He smelled delicious cookies. He suddenly stuck his head towards the toys gathered. "Clink!" The piggy bank fell down to the floor. When the piggy bank broke into pieces, the bronze, gold and silver coins inside of him scattered noisily. The other toys were surprised at the piggy bank's fall while they were enjoying the tea party. Everybody looked at the piggy bank with surprise. "Look at that poor piggy bank. He was always proud of himself." "It's so sad. He could not even enjoy the party." All the other toys felt sorry about the piggy bank.33The Shepherdess and the Chimney SweeperThere was a very old cupboard in a living room. Various patterns were carved on the cupboard, one of them in the middle, was a man with a strange look; he had goat's legs, a small horn on his head and a long beard on his chin. The children who used to come in and out the room called him 'Goat Leg Billy'. Goat Leg Billy was always looking down at a desk under a mirror. There was a lovely shepherdess made of china on the desk. The Shepherdess was holding a stick and wearing gold shoes and a skirt with red rose ornaments. She was also wearing a pretty golden hat. She was very beautiful. Right next to her, there was a Chimney Sweeper made of china with a cute and flushed face, and he was holding a ladder. They were engaged because both were close to each other, made of china and they matched each other very well as a good couple. There was another doll made of china, and this big old Chinese guy was three times bigger than the others. He could nod his head up and down, and he insisted that only he had the right to make decisions about the Shepherdess. One day, Goat Leg Billy asked him to be allowed to get married with the Shepherdess, the Chinese doll nodded his head and said yes. "Now you are going to get married. Your groom is made of mahogany, and his drawer is full of silver plates. Tonight, when the- 22 -old cupboard makes a creaking sound, you two have to get married." The old Chinese doll said this to the Shepherdess and fell asleep. The Shepherdess cried and looked at her beloved Chimney Sweeper. "I don't want to go to the dark cupboard. Let's go to the outside world with me!" "I can do whatever you want. Please leave here right now! I have a job, so I can take care of you." The Chimney Sweeper said. "Can we get down from the desk safely?" The Chimney Sweeper taught the Shepherdess how to walk with her china legs and they used a ladder to step down on the ground and looked up to the old cupboard. The patterns of the cupboard and Goat Leg Billy were shouting at them. "They are sneaking away! They are sneaking away!" The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweeper were astounded to hear their voices. The old Chinese doll already woke up and was shaking his body with anger. He fell down to the ground. "Oh, the old Chinese guy is coming after us." The Shepherdess plumped down to the ground with fear. "We have no choice but to go out and face the big outside world." "Are you sure that you want to go to the outside world with me? Do you know how really big the outside world is? We may never be able to come back here again." "Yes, I know." The Shepherdess said with no hesitation. "All right. I used to know way from the fireplace to the chimney. There is a hole connected to the outside world up there. We will use that hole to go out." The Chimney Sweeper said and took the Shepherdess to a gate in the fireplace. "It is very dark in here!" The Shepherdess bravely climbed up the dirty passage through the fireplace with the Chimney Sweeper. Even though it was steep and long, the Chimney Sweeper pulled and pushed her. When they finally reached the end of the chimney, they got tired and sat down. They could see the sky of twinkling stars over their heads and the huge outside world. The Shepherdess never imagined that the outside world would be this big. She started to cry because she was so shocked. "It's too big. I am not strong enough to face it. I want to go back to where I was staying, the table in front of the mirror. "The Chimney Sweeper tried to calm her down by telling her that the angry old Chinese guy and Goat Leg Billy were following them, but it did not work. They had to crawl down through the chimney and go back to the fireplace. From the dark fireplace, they looked up at the room. It was very quiet, and the old Chinese guy was lying down in the middle of the floor. He was broken into three pieces when he tried to chase them and fell down from the table. His back and head came off from his body. "Oh dear! That's because of us. What shall we do now?" The Shepherdess felt painful when she saw him. "He can be repaired and will be able to scold us as he used to. "Are you sure?" The Shepherdess was relieved and went back to the table where she was standing before. "All our efforts were in vain!" The Chimney Sweeper grumbled to himself. After that, the old Chinese guy could move his body again as she wished. He looked like new when he was fixed and nailed on his back. But he could not nod his head ever again. "So, will you let me marry her now?" Goat Leg Billy asked the old Chinese guy. The Chimney Sweeper and the Shepherdess waited for his answer nervously. At last the China lovers could stay together because the old Chinese guy could not nod his head any more, and he could not say "yes". They loved each other and lived happily ever after until they were broken into pieces.34The Swineherd PrinceLong ago, there was a handsome prince in a country. He loved a princess of his neighboring country, but she was haughty and stubborn. "I don't want to marry just a normal guy." The prince gave her a beautiful rose and a bird as a gift. "Will you marry me?" "You are asking me to marry you with these things?" She rejected his proposal. But the prince could not give her up. He tried to come up with a good idea for a long time. "That's right. I have to disguise myself as a swineherd." The prince, disguised as a swineherd, went to the princess' palace. The prince made a small and beautiful pot in front of the pigpen. The pot could even sing. One day, when the princess passed by the pigpen, the pot began to sing a beautiful song. She really wanted to have this pot. "How much is the singing pot?" "If you kiss me, I will give it to you for free."- 23 -She hesitated for a moment, but she really wanted to have it, and answered. "All right." She kissed the swineherd. At that moment, the king saw them kissing. "What are you doing?" The king was so angry that he expelled her and the swineherd from his palace. She was so sad. "If I got married to the prince, this would never happened. "She regretted that she ignored the prince. While she was walking with the swineherd, rain began to fall. The rain washed the dirty swineherd's face, and he turned into the beautiful prince. She fell in love with him at first sight and said, "Will you marry me?" But the prince said no. "No, I won't. I don't want to marry a woman who kissed a dirty swineherd because of a pot. "The prince said good-bye to the princess and went back home.35The FeatherIt was a cold and dark night when the sun set in the west. All of the chickens in the hen house sat on perches, closed their eyes and got ready to sleep. "Good night!" Everyone fell asleep after saying good night to each other. However, one hen was sitting up and pecking at her own feathers. This hen was quite famous for laying eggs everyday. In addition, she sometimes made other chickens laugh with jokes. As she pecked her feathers, one of her white feathers fell down to the ground suddenly. "Oh, one has come off! But I don't have to feel sorry for it. That means I lost as much weight as one feather." The Hen said as if it was nothing. All the other chickens were sleeping, so none of them could see it. There was an owl sitting on a branch next to the hen house. Owl's eyes have keen sight at night. The owl muttered to himself. "I heard it clearly. I heard what the hen said with my sharp ears." But the owl lost interest soon and told this story to a pigeon in his neighborhood. "Listen to me. Well, a Hen in the hen house pulled out one of her own feathers to look attractive. How can this happen? "Is it true? That's ridiculous." The pigeon burned to tell the story to her friends, so she told it to a barnyard duck in her neighborhood. "Hey, duck. I have some surprising news." "What's up?" "A hen pulled all her feathers out to look pretty." "What a stunning story!" The barnyard duck was shocked by the story. "That's unbelievable. If she pulled out all her feathers, she must have a cold and be running a fever." There was a swallow living under the eaves of the duck's house. The barnyard duck told the story to the swallow. The swallow was surprised, too. "What an unbelievable story this is. I can't keep quiet. I have to tell this story to everyone." The swallow flew to the sky full of bright moonlight. The next morning had broken. "Tweet tweet! Tweet tweet!" Early in the morning, sparrows were sitting down in front of the hen house and chattering. The Chickens felt strange and asked the sparrows. "Excuse me, dear sparrows. What happened?" "I have an unbelievable story to tell you. It's very unusual. Well, one hen pulled all her feathers out because she wanted to look attractive. But do you really think she will be beautiful after pulling all of her feathers out? So, the angry hen pulled out all the other hen's feathers. As a result, five chickens died at the same time." Then, one hen replied to the sparrow. "Oh, what a pity. How could that happen?" The hen that replied to the sparrow was the one who pulled out her feather last night. The small thing that she pulled her feather out became such huge and shocking news while passing through several of her animal friends. "Where did they say the hen was living? I want to meet her." "They said she is living right here." "Here? No way. This is not where she is living." "That's strange. Then, where is she living?" The sparrow shook her head. "Definitely not here. I am curious where she lives, too. How on earth can a hen do such a horrible thing?" At that moment, a gust of wind blew, and it carried the hen's feather, which she pulled ort last night, to somewhere else.36The Old Street LampThere once was an old street lamp standing on a remote corner of a town. The street lamp was worn out because he stayed up- 24 -all night for several years to shine in a dark street. That's why he had to be replaced by a new lamp. It was the last night that the street lamp shone over the side street. He was an old kerosene lamp. The old street lamp burned himself as hard as he could since he thought it was his last night. "I have seen a lot of things since I stood here." The old street lamp looked back upon what he had seen for a long time. There were pleasant memories, and also sad memories, with those he could hardly keep from tears. Suddenly the old street lamp sensed that there who were looking up at him. "Mr. Street Lamp, we heard that you will retire from your job." "Please hire me after you." "No, hire me." They were a head of a herring, a tree fragment and a firefly. The head of a herring glowed in the dark, and the tree fragment was bright in the dark when he was wet. The old street lamp looked down and said, "I am sorry say this, but you both are not bright enough to be a street light." The three were angry about it. "Hum! You, old useless street lamp! You don't have to care about which of us will replace you!" They said this and went back. The Next day, a janitor came to clear the old street lamp away. "Oh, I wish I can stay here." No one knew what the old lamp would become if he were broken to pieces. The old street lamp worried about this very much. There were a good old man and a woman. They were living around the old street lamp. They used to turn on and put out the old street lamp at night and dawn. The old street lamp happened to go to the old man and woman's house. The old man and woman did not want to live apart from the old street lamp which they used to take care of for a long time, so they asked the janitor to give them the old street lamp. "Whew, I am lucky." The old street lamp felt relieved. One day, one of their neighbors came and asked." What on earth is the use of this old lamp?" "We've been taking care of this lamp for a long time, so we don't want to throw it away." As the old street lamp was listening to their conversation, he felt his heart aching. "If they light me up, I can be quite helpful for them." The old woman cleaned the old lamp in her spare time. Then, the old lamp slowly became clean. The lamp felt better. "Ha ha, it looks much better." The old man smiled pleasantly. "Shall we light up this lamp tonight?" "Yes. Let's do that." The old woman bought a candle. That night, she lit up the clean old street lamp. "Great, I will try to brighten myself as hard as I can." The old street lamp shone all around him brightly. For the old man and woman who took care of him, he brightened his iron ornament glitteringly.37The Worthwhile JobThere were five brothers who wanted to do something important. They had their own certain jobs that they wanted to do. Each thought his job was the best. "I will be a great man. I want to make bricks." The oldest brother wanted to be a brick burner and make bricks. But the second laughed at him. "Making bricks is a laborer's worthless job." The second oldest brother wanted to be a bricklayer, and he thought the bricklayer was much more important than a brick burner. He wanted to have a much more valuable job than his older brother did. Then, the third brother laughed at his two brothers after he listened to their dream jobs. "Hum! They are all unimportant jobs. I will be a great architect and wear a rimless hat." His dream was to be an architect and to leave his name in posterity. The third oldest brother said he would build great buildings. He wanted to leave great buildings for the next generation after he died. After listening to his brothers, the forth said that he wanted to design better buildings than his third brother. "I will design more advanced buildings than you will build." He did not like normal materials. He wanted to have buildings made of rare materials so that he could have better buildings than his third brother did. "I will be a critic and will criticize my brothers' work. Isn't it the most valuable job?” The last promised to himself that he would never follow his brothers' paths. He wanted to correct his brothers' mistakes. As time went by, the oldest brother became a brick burner. The second brother became a bricklayer. The third one became an architect, and the forth became an architectural designer. They all passed away after they did what they really wanted to do. "The only one left is me."- 25 -The last one lived longer than any of his brothers, and he became a critic. "I did the most important job." The last still insisted that he had the most worthwhile job among his brothers. After he died, even though he could go to Heaven only with his brothers' help, he murmured to himself continuously in front of the Gate of Heaven. "I am the best." Whatever your job is, they are all of the same importance.38The Flying TrunkThere once was a rich merchant. He had a son who didn't want to do anything except play and waste money. The rich merchant died and left his money to his son, but he wasted it and soon, he had nothing left in his pocket. The Flying Trunk When he had no money, no one welcomed him. Even his closest friends avoided him. The son was so sad that he decided to move to another town. One of his friends gave him a big old trunk. But he had nothing to put in the trunk. The only things he had were a pair of wooden shoes and stripped pajama. When he had nothing more to put in the trunk, he put himself in. "Wow, what is wrong with this trunk?" The trunk was closed by itself and rose slowly up to the sky ."Where am I going?" He floated in the sky for a while, and when the trunk opened its zipper a little, he carefully looked down. He saw the round rooves of the towers. He arrived at the country where Trook people live. The trunk slowly landed next to a small pond in a forest. He hid the trunk and came out of the forest. He went place to place and found the tallest tower of the area. He asked about the tower to one of the people on the road. "Who lives in the tallest tower?" "A princess is living there, but she can only meet her king and queen." "Why?" "A fairy told them that the princess will be very miserable because of a young man." The son rode in the trunk and went to the princess' room. She was sleeping peacefully. The sleeping princess was very beautiful. She woke up from the noise that the son made. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" "I came here to send you a message from the God of the Trooks." He lied and pretended as if he was the messenger from the God.' The princess was happy and talked with him. He told a funny story to the king and queen when they came to see the princess. He said that he was 'the messenger of the God'. The king and queen were happy and they decided to make him the groom of the prince. "People say the princess has a partner to marry. He is a messenger from the God." The Trook people crowded into the streets and had a big party. They danced and enjoyed fireworks all night long. The son rode in the trunk and enjoyed the fireworks. When it was dawn, he hid the trunk again and went into the street. He wanted to know what people said about him. The Trook people were all saying, "Did you see those fireworks in the sky? He must be a messenger of the God." He was happy and went back to the pond. When he got back to the woods, his flying trunk was badly burned and only a pile of ashes was left. A small spark was in the trunk, and it had started the fire. Unfortunately, he could never fly again, and he could not be the son-in-law of the king.39The Great RoosterThere once were two roosters in a town. One was living in a henhouse, and the other was living on top of a high roof. One day, an eggplant and a cucumber in the field talked about the two roosters. "Which rooster do you think is better, between the one in the henhouse and the one on the roof top?" The cucumber asked first. "Of course, the one on the roof top is better!" The eggplant answered. "He sits on that high roof top and makes himself proud. Don't you think he is great when you see him?" "But the one on the roof top is made of iron. It just lets us know where the wind blows. If the wind does not blow, he can't even move by himself." "So, do you think the rooster on in the henhouse can climb up to that roof top?" "The one on the roof top is all alone with no children and no hens." "He is the greatest rooster even if he is all alone." The cucumber and eggplant kept arguing.- 26 -At that moment, a strong wind came and blew. Both the cucumber and the eggplant could not talk anymore. As it got dark, the wind grew stronger. With it came with rain, and a severe rainstorm started to fall. "Help me!" The cucumber and the eggplant trembled because of the storm. They hung on to their vines as hard as they could because they felt they would pull out. In the henhouse, all the chickens got together and were shivering. But the rooster on the top of the roof was very busy while he was showing the directions of the rainstorm. "Shriek, it's from the east. Shriek, it's from the south!" In the middle of the hard rainstorm - the tiles of the roof were falling down to the ground, and the branches of the trees were breaking into pieces-, he didn't seem to care how severe the rainstorm was. "Well, that's my rooster!" The eggplant trembled and said. But even before the eggplant finished saying this, the iron rooster on the roof top broke and fell on the ground with a big noise, 'boom!'. The rainstorm stopped and the next morning came. "Cock-a-doodle-do! Sun is shining!" The rooster of the henhouse, who was shivering all night long, came out of the house first and told everyone the morning had come.40The Pea BlossomFive grains of green peas were growing together side by side in a shell. The green pea grains grew little by little with warm sunshine. Because of the green shell, they thought the whole world also would be green. "Make some room for me. Why do we feel this shell is much smaller than before?" As they grew up, they felt cramped in the shell. Autumn was just around the corner, and the green shell turned yellowish. One boy came close and picked the green pea shell. "The shell will be opened!" "Which one of us will go the farthest?" The green pea grains murmured together nervously, and looked forward to the shell being opened. The boy grasped the shell tightly and spread his hand out. Then, the shell was opened, and the grains jumped and popped out of the shell. The first green pea fell down on a roof and became food for a pigeon. The second green pea did too. The third green pea fell into a sewer and lived in the mud. The fourth green pea remained in the boy's hand and was locked in the boy's treasure box. The youngest green pea jumped out as hard as he could and went the farthest. It landed in the corner of a windowsill of a house in a street. It was full of dust and moss. An ill girl and her mother lived in the house. They were so poor that her mother had to work all day. The ill girl had to stay in her bed all the time by herself. Small leaves and dust from here and there covered the youngest pea. In spring, a small bud began to come out of his body. One day, the ill girl saw the new bud on the windowsill of her attic. "Mom, look at this. There's small buds on the windowsill." Her mother came close to the window and looked at it carefully. "You're right. The small green pea pushed out new buds!" Her mother was also surprised at the new buds, and the girl's eyes were glittering with joy. "Mom, would you move my bed close to the window? I want to watch it growing and stretching out." "Sure, I will. Cheer up!" Her mother put some soil on the windowsill and she made a stick stand for the green pea. She helped the green pea stretch its roots and vines. The girl stretched her body to look out at the green pea's vines. She kept stretching her back, and in the end, she can get out of her bed and stand. Her cheeks became full of fresh red color. Then, one morning, the girl shouted out with joy. "Oh! The white flowers began to come out. Mom, come and look at this green pea flower." Her mother ran to her and embraced her daughter who was standing by herself. "That little grain of green pea helped my daughter to stand up and walk." Tears were standing in the mother's eyes. The two were standing with happy smiles next to the window of bright and warm sunshine.41The Snow QueenA long, long time ago, devils lived together in the same place. One day, the devils made a magic mirror. It changed beautiful faces to ugly faces and smiling faces to crying faces. "How will God look in this mirror?"- 27 -Evil went up to the clouds right away, but God was already aware of the devil's wicked plan. "Such monstrous creatures! How dare you try to put me to the test!" When God beat dazzling and bright light down on the mirror and devils, the mirror broke into pieces, and the devils became blind and fell down to hell. The broken pieces of the mirror fell down to the world of mortals. One of the pieces got into a boy's eyes. His name was Kai, and he was living in a small town. "Ouch, it hurts!" Kai was close to a girl named Gelda, but he began to behave very odd as if he never knew her before. Even when autumn passed into winter, Kai went through the whole season as a bad boy. One day, a white-horse carriage appeared in front of Kai. "Little boy with a cold heart, why don't we go to an Ice Castle where it is colder than your heart?" A beautiful woman inside the carriage asked the boy. "A cold Ice Castle? That will be great." When Kai boarded the carriage, the woman kissed him on his cheek. At that moment, Kai forgot everything. The woman was the Queen of Snow. The carriage soared into the north sky. Because Kai did not come back, Gelda searched everywhere in town, but she could not find him. Time went by, and when winter passed into spring, Gelda started on a journey to search for Kai. A small boat arrived at a big flower garden next to a riverside. "Oh, what a beautiful garden." There was a small hut in the middle of the garden, and there lived an old lady who could use magic. "Old lady, Have you seen Kai?" "Yes, I have. I will tell you where he is, so let's go inside my house." The old lady gave her delicious food and asked Gelda to live with her. Gelda was enchanted by her magic and lived with the old lady. Time went by, and winter came back again. Gelda suddenly was reminded of Kai when she was exposed to the cold wind. "I have to search for Kai, why am I here?" Gelda escaped while the old magician lady went out. Gelda met a crow, while walking north. The Crow said something to Gelda after it listened to her. "Maybe you are searching for a boy who is now the Prince of a Castle in a forest." Gelda could walk into the castle with the help of the crow. Gelda shouted when she stepped in to the Prince's room. "Kai, wake up! I came here to find you." "Who is so loud at midnight?" The prince woke up, but he was not Kai. "I am sorry, Prince. I thought you were my friend, Kai." The Prince listened to what Gelda said, and let her sleep in a comfortable bed. The next day, he gave a great carriage to Gelda and said, "With this carriage, you will find the boy named Kai easily." Gelda thanked him for his kindness and left for the north again. While traveling north, her carriage was taken away by bandits, but she saved her life with the help of the daughter of a bandit. And she heard from a pigeon that Kai had flown to Lapland in a carriage of the Queen of snow. She took a reindeer from the daughter of a bandit, and arrived at Lapland. There was a house in the middle of a field. Gelda warmed herself up in an old lady's house. The old lady knew about Kai. "Kai is living in the Castle of Snow, but you cannot step in the castle because there is a frightening ice monster in front of the gate." "Old lady, I have to save Kai." The old lady gave a yellow golden cross to Gelda and said, "When you are in danger, pray to God sincerely. Then he will save you." Gelda rode the reindeer and went to the Castle of Snow. The ice monster tried to attack Gelda, but she prayed to God holding her cross in her hand. Then, angels appeared, and made the monster motionless. Gelda found Kai playing with a cold piece of ice. "Kai, it's me, Gelda. I came here to search for you." But Kai just fingered the ice piece with an unemotional face. When Gelda hugged him and cried, her tears ran down to Kai's face. Then, the color in his face started to come back. "Gelda, why are we in such a place like this?" Kai looked around there. "Now you are yourself, but you cannot escape from here." The Queen of Snow said. "Let me go home." At that moment Kai shed tears, and the broken piece of the magic mirror came out of his eyes. "Ah, I cannot win the warm heart and tears of humans. Okay. Now you can go back home and live a happy life." As the Queen of Snow flourished her ice stick, the castle disappeared. Gelda told Kai all the stories about what had happened to her. Kai was grateful to Gelda. They got back home safely with the reindeer and lived happily ever after.42The Flint- 28 -A soldier was walking down a country road. He was coming back from a battle. He was wearing a knapsack on his back and a big sword on his waist. When he was walking down the road so tired, he found a witch. The witch was sitting right next to a big tree. The witch started to talk as soon as she saw the soldier. "Hey, soldier! Can you do me a favor? If you can, I will make you have a lot of money." "Are you serious?" "Look at this tree. The inside of this tree is empty." The witch pointed at a thick and old tree. "Get into that hole. I will tie your waist up with a rope. There are three rooms if you go down, and each room has a dog. The dogs will be quiet as soon as they see this apron. A box in the first room is full of bronze coins. In the second room, a box is full of silver coins, and a box in the third room is full of gold coins. Take as much as you want". "Then, what do you want me to do?" The soldier doubted her and asked. "Bring me a flint in a small box." "Why do you need such a small and unimportant flint?" "It is the flint from my grandmother, so I want to get it." The soldier tied a rope to his waist and put the apron on his knapsack. Then, he entered the tree hole and went down. Soon, he found a wide place with lights everywhere. The soldier came into the first room carefully. A black dog was sitting on a big box. It was rolling its eyes as big as oranges. "Good dog, sit on this apron." The soldier held the dog and put it on the apron. The black dog became very nice as the witch said. He put the coins in the box into his knapsack. The soldier went to the next room carefully. There was a white dog that was bigger than the black one, and it was sitting down on a big box. It was rolling its eyes that were bigger than apples. The soldier made the white dog sit on the apron and opened up the box. Lots of glittering silver coins were in the box. He took out the bronze coins from his knapsack and filled it with silver coins. In the third room, a big yellow dog was sitting on a box. It was rolling its eyes which were as big as watermelons. The soldier held the dog and put it on the apron. The box was full of dazzlingly shining gold coins and gold nuggets. The soldier took the silver coins out from his knapsack and filled his knapsack, hat and all his pockets with the gold coins and nuggets. The soldier put the tinder-box in his knapsack, came out of the room and pulled on the rope which was on his waist. The witch pulled the rope. The soldier stood by the witch under the tree. "Now, give me the flint." The witch asked the soldier, but he pretended as if he did not have her tinder-box. "I searched everywhere, but your grandmother's tinder box was not there." "What? You are a liar! There must be a box inside of this tree." The witch was very angry and furious. "Then, go and get the flint box by yourself." The soldier answered with a frightening voice. The witch ran away, because she was so scared by his sword on his waist. The soldier went to a big town and lived proudly like a rich man. He became poor again because he spent all his money on an expensive house, great clothes, delicious food, and for making friends and enjoying his new life. Because he had no money, he was driven out from the nice house and moved to an attic under the roof of a house. He couldn't even afford to buy a match at night. Suddenly, the flint came up in his mind. He tried to make sparks with the flint. "How can I help you, sir?" In this instance, the black dog came up. "Oh, yes. I need some money." The black dog disappeared and showed up again in a short time. The black dog held and carried a bag full of money. The soldier realized that if he hit the flint once, the black dog show up. Twice for the white dog, three times for the yellow dog. And they did whatever he wanted and asked for. The soldier became rich again, and his friends soon came and visited him . One day his friends talked about a princess. "I heard that they want to move the princess to a tall tower." "What for?" "A fairy told them that she would be in love with a poor soldier. That would never happen." "No one can see the princess except the king, the queen and the princess' maid." The soldier listened to the story with deep interest. He wanted to meet the beautiful princess desperately even if it was just once. After his friends all went back, he hit the flint twice. Then, the white dog showed up. "White dog, let me see the princess." Right after he said that the white dog brought the beautiful sleeping princess. He fell in love with her at first sight. He couldn't stand the days he did not meet her. He ordered the black, white and yellow dogs to bring the princess to him every night by turns. The king and the queen became aware of this fact that the princess disappeared every night. "What a shame! The princess is bewitched by something and goes out the castle every night." The queen said to the king with an anxious look. "Catch the man who bewitches the princess every night right away." The king gave the order with angry voice.- 29 -That night, the queen tied a small cloth pouch filled with wheat grains secretly on the princess' ankle. There was a small hole in the pouch so that the little grains came out as the princess moved. At last, the soldier was caught and taken to the palace of the king and the queen by the King's army. The soldier begged them for forgiveness and said, "I want to marry the princess." "What? How dare you say that you want to marry our daughter? Put him in jail quickly!" The soldier took the flint out of his pocket and hit it once, twice and three times. The black, white and yellow dogs showed up and drove the army away from the soldier. All of them were so scared and were busy running away . "Wow, I have never seen those dogs before. Look at those eyes. They are like flames." "They must be God's messengers!" After seeing the soldier, everyone said, "A new king came here!" The princess approached the soldier instantly. The dogs with big eyes were guarding the couple. "A new king is here! A new king came here!" People were happy looking at the soldier and the princess. In the end, the soldier became a king, and the princess became a queen.43A Silver Shilling's Journey"Wow, how exciting! I am coming out into the broad world!" A Silver Shilling that was just made a moment ago shouted for joy tinkling and jingling herself. Passing through children's warm and moist hands, stingy men's cold and sticky hands, and poor husbands' and wives' hands far and wide, the Silver Shilling's journey went on. One day, the Silver Shilling happened to enter into one wallet, but the owner didn't even know the Silver Shilling was in his wallet. The owner travels around the world very often. Incidentally, he found the Silver Shilling, and said, "What, it is a shilling from my country. You came this far with me, so let's travel together." So now, the Silver Shilling came to be with many foreign coins. Other coins were coming in and out of the wallet, but the Silver Shilling stayed. The Silver Shilling started to feel very important. The Silver Shilling stayed in the wallet for a long time, and she became curious about the outside world. She was looking out of the wallet while the wallet was opened, but then she fell down to the ground. She was no longer able to continue her journey with the owner. In the end, the Silver Shilling came to a new wallet with unfamiliar coins in an unfamiliar country. What she heard as soon as she came out of the new wallet with the other coins was shocking. "This is an imitation. It is forged." When she heard this, her body trembled. 'I was made of pure silver in the Mint Bureau. I am a silver shilling that can tinkle and jingle! Isn't the seal on my body real?' However, the Silver Shilling was abused as an imitation from that moment on. She was used only in the dark night because the Silver Shilling was a valueless imitation in that country when she would be discovered in the day. "Even if I am made of silver, and engraved with the King's portrait, it's no use. Oh, what bad luck!" Whenever she came out of wallets, the Silver Shilling started to be afraid of people's eyes. Then one day, a poor woman laborer got paid with the Silver Shilling. As she found out that no one accepted the Silver Shilling, she made a hole in the coin, tied a string to it and gave it to a child of her neighbor as a gift. The child smiled and kissed the Silver Shilling but peace did not last very long. The mother of the child wanted to test how lucky the Silver Shilling was, to see if the Silver Shilling was the true 'lucky amulet'. The mother put the Silver Shilling into vinegar, which turned it green, closed up the hole of the Silver Shilling, and rubbed it carelessly to make it look as if there was no hole, she waited until it got dark, and than she bought a lottery ticket in exchange for the Silver Shilling. There were so many people buying lottery tickets at the ticket box that no one recognized the hole in the Silver Shilling. The next morning, the Silver Shilling was proved as an imitation, and again, the Silver Shilling had to continue her journey deceiving other people. For one year and one day, the Silver Shilling wandered from one hand to another, and one wallet to another. For that time, the Silver Shilling lost her faith that she was a real coin. One day, she was in one traveler's hand and heard that- 30 -she was an imitation again. The traveler fingered the Silver Shilling and muttered to himself, "I got this coin as change." The traveler looked at the Silver Shilling carefully and said with a big bright smile. "What, this is a silver shilling from my country. Someone made a hole on this precious and real silver coin and tried to make it look like an imitation. That's interesting. I will keep this carefully and bring it home." This traveler was the owner who let the Silver Shilling travel around the world with other foreign coins before. When the Silver Shilling heard that she was a precious and real silver coin, she was very happy. The traveler wrapped the Silver Shilling up with soft and white paper and kept it carefully separate from other foreign coins. The Silver Shilling came back to her hometown where everybody knows that she was made of pure silver and that the engraving on her body was the portrait of the King. Even though there was a hole in her body, it was not important for the real Silver Shilling. The Silver Shilling's journey of pain and ordeal ended there teaching her 'the triumph of justice'.44The NeedleLong ago, there was a needle. She thought she was so delicate that she was appropriate only for embroidery. "Hold me tight. I am so tiny that you can't find me if I fall on the floor." The needle shouted at the fingers. "What an arrogant needle!" The thumb talked to the needle bluntly. "You know you can't embroider without me, so be careful!" The needle was still arrogant. The fingers brought the needle to the cook's shoes. His shoes were worn-out, and they needed to be sewed. "Yeck! Oh no! I don't want to sew this dirty pair of slippers. I will break because I am so delicate and sensitive." The needle broke in pieces. Once the needle broke, it was not useful any more. The fingers threw the needle into a dishpan. The needle cried out when she was swept away along with the dirty water. "I am too weak to live in this harsh and tough world." She arrived at a pile of garbage after floating around. Then, she found something sparkling among the garbage. "What is this? Are you a diamond?" But it was a piece of broken glass bottle. The piece of glass bottle and the needle thought they were very important. "I used to embroider, but the five finger brothers broke me into pieces like this." "I was very rich. I could have anything that I wanted like Juice, apple jam and even chocolate. Anything! But the evil five finger brothers broke me into pieces like this." They treated each other with respect as if they were real brothers. One day, the finger brothers showed up in the sewer. The kids were searching for a coin and were swinging their hands in the water. "Ouch!" One boy cried out in pain. He got his hand pricked by the needle. "What is this? A needle!" He pulled out the needle from his finger. He was very angry at the needle and threw her into the fireplace. "Ouch. This is too hot!" Her body slowly began to melt away. "Why do they keep torturing a weak and small needle like me?" The needle cried sadly. Then the fireplace heard the needle's crying and said, "Don't be sad, little needle. You have done your job very well. Anyone, who has completed his duty, is supposed to turn back into soil. You worked so hard your own body broke into pieces. That's good enough. Now, take a deep and peaceful rest." After she heard what the fireplace said, the needle closed her eyes quietly.45The Snowman That Hope to WalkThere was a snowman standing in the front yard of a big house. "It's too bright!" Snowman muttered to himself. "Be patient. The sun is going down." An old dog said sticking his head out of his house. Soon, night fell. Snowman asked, "What's that up in the sky?" "It's the Moon. Well, you don't know about the Moon because you were just born today." The Moon was beautifully radiant in the dark. The branches of trees with snow crystal flowers were swaying in the wind. "Oh, it's cold. Maybe it will get warm after the sun comes up." The old dog grumbled. "Do you like being warm?" The Snowman asked. "Yes. Look at that room in the bottom of the house. It's the master's room where I used to stay. There was a- 31 -time I was loved by the master when I was a little puppy. Children patted on my head and gave me delicious food, but I grew up too quickly." "I can see a light. That light makes my heart beat." "It's a fireplace. If you sit right next to the fireplace, you will feel warm and comfortable." "Why did you leave the house?" "I was kicked out because I bit the heel of a child." "Why?" "He took my food away and annoyed me." It was mild the next day. "I wish I could walk like you and go next to the fireplace." "No way. If you go close to the fireplace, you will melt away." "Melt away?" "Yes, you'll melt away soon, and then, you will evaporate and disappear. " The next day was also mild. Some snow melted away and vanished because of the sunlight. The snowman was getting smaller and smaller, too. Snowman did not say anything. Four days passed. The snow melted, so one of Snowman's eyes fell down to the ground. Snowman barely opened his mouth. "I wish I could walk far away." "Don't worry. The sun will help you." The old dog said. "How" "He will help you to become water and to flow far away along the stream I have seen several times that many of your brothers flowed away like that." It was noon. The Snowman crumbled down on the ground. The broomstick that used to be the Snowman's backbone, is now visible. Its other eye which was made by cloth, fell down to the ground too. "Snowman must have missed something warm and comfortable." The old dog muttered to himself sadly.46The Wise Old LadyA long time ago, there was a young man who wanted to be a writer. He wanted to get married and to live writing compositions, but he couldn't discover what he had to write. He couldn't come up with any good stories, and it seemed that everything was already written. "The men who were born one thousand years ago are very lucky. Even the men who were born one hundred years ago are much luckier than me. Up to then, there were still good subject matters to write about. It is natural that there are no more good subject matters." The young man said complaining. He became ill because he studied so hard and thought a lot about being a writer. None of the great doctors could cure him, but there was one person who might be able to cure him - a wise old lady. The Wise Old Lady worked as a gatekeeper unbolting the gate for carriages and horses of a ranch. She also had comprehensive knowledge of many subjects. The young man decided to go and visit her. Even though there were no trees or flowers around the wise old lady's house, there was a beehive right next to the doors, a small garden where potatoes were growing, and the fence was surrounded by hawthorn. 'How dreary this is!' He thought to himself. But here were the treasures he was searching for. "Write what you think. Even if they are crumbs of bread, they are still bread. I know why you came here. You want to be a writer, but you can not come up with a great story, can you?" "Yes, everything was already written as stories. Nowadays is different from the old days." The young man answered. "You're right. A long time ago, people burned wise women like me at the stake, and poets were poor. But nowadays is better than any time. You just can't see those things, because you have such narrow insight. I even doubt whether you can hear. If you have the ability to write, there are endless good subject matters. First, stop thinking about yourself, and try to understand a ray of sunlight." The young man put on the wise old lady's glasses and hearing aid, and he received and held one of the potatoes that the wise old lady gave to him from the potato patch. After a while, the potato started to talk about itself. After he heard the potato talking, the wise old lady let the young man look at the hawthorn. The hawthorn also told him a romantic story. The young man was impressed. But the wise old lady seemed to know already, and she took him to a place where there was a beehive. When the young man looked into the hive, it was full of vigor, the bees were all busy. To freshen the air of their own big factory, bees were flying in a row in every passageway, fanning their wings, working bees were carrying a lot of pollen from outside, and some were maiking honey and beeswax.- 32 -"Now let's go to a road and see some travelers." The wise old lady said to the young man tapping his shoulder. "There are too many people here. It is very hard to write the stories of all of them. We'd better go back." He said to her. "No, go straight into the middle of the crowd, look at them and try to understand what they say with your whole heart and soul. Then, you'll find tremendous things to write about. Oh, and give me back my glasses and hearing aid." The wise old lady told the young man. "Now, I can't see or hear anything!" The young man took off the glasses and hearing aid and said. "Then, you can never be a writer." The wise old lady shook her head. "Can't I ever be a writer?" "Imagination is not something you can learn and acquire. You should live in another way instead." The young man was sad about the fact that he could never be a writer, so the wise old lady gave him some advice. "Buy a mask and frown in front of poets. Even if you are impressed by the poem, try to frown. Then, you can make money." He became the one who severely criticizes poets following the wise old lady's advice. Even though he could not be a writer, he could live being involved in the literary world.47The Red ShoesThere once lived in a town a cute and pretty little girl whose name was 'Karen'. She had to wear a torn dress, even walked around with bare feet in summer, and wore heavy and crude wooden shoes in winter because she was so poor. Her feet were always full of scars and wounds. The Red Shoes "Karen, why do your feet hurt you so much? I will make shoes for you." An old lady who ran a shoe store made red shoes for Karen. Those shoes were made of old pieces of cloth, and she sewed them by hand. "Thank you, aunt." Karen was so happy for her new shoes which suited her, that she jumped up and down. But, Karen's mother passed away on that day. A noblewoman saw Karen following after her mother's funeral service. The lady got down from her carriage and talked to the minister. "I want to take her with me and look after her." "She is alone. If you take care of her, that will be a great blessing for the girl." Karen thought, 'These shoes brought me this luck.' However, the noblewoman burned her dirty red shoes, put fresh new clothes on her, let her read books and taught her how to do needlework. She now became a polite girl. But one day, the Queen and the Princess were passing through the town. Everyone in the town swarmed around the carriage. "How beautiful they are!" "It seems as if fairies came down from the sky." All the people praised the Queen and the Princess. But Karen could not take her eyes off of the from Princess' red, glittering and beautiful shoes. 'Is there anything more beautiful than the Princess' red shoes in this world?' She even pricked herself with the needle while she was thinking about the red shoes. Soon, she grew old enough to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. The noblewoman brought Karen to a shoe store to buy her new dresses and shoes for the ceremony. Seeing the shoes in a showcase, she almost shouted. "How come these shoes are in your showcase?" < The Sacrament of Confirmation: The first Christian ceremony when a child becomes an adult. > There laid the same red shoes as the Princess in the showcase. "These shoes were made specifically for a daughter of a count, but they did not fit on her feet. That's why they are in there." The noblewoman had bad sight now, so she did not know that they were red. The red shoes fit Karen's feet very well. Karen liked her new red shoes very much. When Karen appeared at the ceremony with her red shoes, the minister advised her to wear black shoes instead of the red shoes. On the next Sunday, there was the Communion Service, but Karen wore the red shoes and went to church again. As soon as Karen and the noblewoman got down from their carriage, an old soldier bowed politely and said, "Madam, I will clean the dust on your shoes." "Oh, thank you." As Karen showed her red shoes to the soldier, he said, "Such a beautiful pair of shoes. It will look great if you dance with these shoes." Then, he muttered to himself chanting a spell and touching Karen's shoes with his finger. "Red shoes! Never ever come off from this young lady's feet when she dances." The noblewoman threw some coins at him and entered the church with Karen.- 33 -When the Communion Service was over and they went out of the church, the old soldier shouted, "The young lady's red shoes are still beautiful!" Then, Karen started to dance even though she did not want to dance. She could do nothing to stop herself from dancing. "Miss Karen, Please stop dancing and step into the carriage." Even though he lifted her up and sat her on the carriage, she did not stop dancing. When the angry noblewoman took off Karen's shoes, she stopped dancing. As soon as they got home the lady threw the red shoes into a closet. Afterward, the noblewoman caught a bad disease. Karen cared for her earnestly. One day, an invitation came for a big ball of the town. 'If I put on those red shoes, I will dance very well. Yes, If I wear them once and put them in the closet, madam will never know.' Karen hesitated looking at the noblewoman in the bed and then the red shoes. In the end, she submitted to her desire and put the red shoes on. Then, her feet moved by themselves and started to run to the dance hall. "Oh, how do I stop?" Her feet moved on their way, and they passed by a square and came into a forest. When Karen passed by a church, an angel appeared and said, "Karen, you will dance with your favorite red shoes forever." "Angel, my feet hurt painfully. Please stop them from dancing." "Karen, you will find the houses of greedy and selfish children while you are dancing." "They will feel regret when they see you, you who began to dance because of greed." "Please forgive me. I was wrong." The angel disappeared, and Karen passed by the house she used to live in. The noblewoman had died, and her casket was coming out from her house. 'She was so good and kind to me.' Then there was the house of an executioner as Karen went through the town. "Mr. Executioner, I can not take off my shoes from my feet. Please cut them off." When he heard the story of Karen, he cut her feet off and made her a pair of crutches. Karen finally stopped dancing, and served for other people while she was staying in the church. One day, she prayed to God while she was reading the Bible, "God! I am a selfish sinner. Please save me." An angel came out in front of Karen and showed her how many people were praying for her. "You finally regret what you have done." Someone whispered through Karen's ears. "This is the grace of God." When Karen answered with modesty, her soul rose up to Heaven. Karen lived happily forever in Heaven.48The Beetle Who Went on His TravelsOnce upon a time, a King had a horse with golden horseshoes. That horse had slender legs, bright eyes and a mane covering above its neck like a veil. It was very beautiful. <Horseshoe: a curved piece of iron that is attached to the bottom of a horse's foot to protect it.> The horse rode through the gunpowder smoke and a rain of bullets carrying the King on its back in the battles. He beat off enemies by kicking his legs, and saved the King's life by crossing the dead bodies of his enemies. It was more valuable than anything else. That's why the horse got the golden horseshoes. A Beetle who listened to the news came out of his barn and went to the horseshoer. "I want to have golden horseshoes like the horse has. Why can't I be as good as the horse? People always bring it food and drinks and comb its hair. I am living in the King's barn, too." "But do you know how the horse got the golden horseshoes?" The horseshoer shouted at the Beetle. " I know I deserve better than I am treated now. I will go to the outside world and will have great success." The horseshoer yelled at the Beetle wanting him to go away. It was not clear how far the Beetle had flown, but the Beetle arrived in a beautiful garden full of roses and lavender fragrance. The Ladybugs of the garden said, "This is such a wonderful place. Isn't it beautiful?" "I used to live in a much better place than this. I don't understand what you said." Beetle said arrogantly. As the Beetle flew farther, a cabbage worm was crawling under the hay, and said, "What a beautiful world this is. There is the Sun with warm light. Someday, I will be born again with the beautiful wings of a butterfly." "You will you fly like a butterfly? I am on the way from the King's barn. Even the horse that used to put on my old and worn shoes does not dream such an empty hope. That horse is now wearing golden horseshoes. Will you fly with wings? I can fly- 34 -right now!" Beetle stretched his wings and flew away boastfully. After a short time, Beetle faced a sudden shower while he was sleeping in a wide lawn. Beetle swam to avoid the rain, but it sometimes fell down and turned him over because the Beetle was soaked in rain. After a long time, the rain abated a little. The Beetle took shelter on wet a linen wrinkled from the heavy rain. A day passed, and the sky was bright and clear. Two frogs were talking to each other delightfully on the linen. "What fantastic weather it is. Because this linen is wet from the rain, my hind legs are wet, and I feel like I am swimming." "You are right. The air is so fresh because of the good humidity." Then, the Beetle interrupted their conversation and said, "Have you ever been to the King's barn? That place is wet and warm. Its climate is perfect for me. Is there a manure pile where I can take a rest?" Because the frogs did not want to answer the Beetle's question, the Beetle moved to another place, and he met a couple of happy earwigs on a broken piece of flowerpot. "My son is in love. How pure he is." "My son just came out from his egg, but he can already can walk around." The Beetle received an invitation from the earwigs, and he visited their house. But when the young earwigs tried to pull his mustache, he left the place searching for a manure pile. After a while, he met many beetles in a stream. "Maybe you come from a manure pile." The oldest beetle asked him. "I am from the King's barn, a much more majestic place than a manure pile. I lived with golden horseshoes. But don't ask me any more. I am carrying out my secret duties." The Beetle got married to a pretty beetle, but he got tired and bored soon. He said that he would look for food, and then escaped. While he continued on his journey, he flew into a greenhouse and fell asleep with a happy dream. Suddenly, the children of a gardener came into the greenhouse, caught the Beetle, tied him up to a wooden shoe boat with a wool string and floated the boat on a lake, so the beetle could not fly away. At that moment, a fly came over and said, "I have to take a rest to get some sunlight here. You seem to enjoy yourself very much." "Don't you see that I am tied up with string over here?" "Oh, but I am not the one who tied you up." The fly said this and flew away. "Now I know what the world is like. I hate it so much. I am the only one who's truly right. But everything is over." When the Beetle was muttering to himself sadly, a boat came carrying girls. "A little bug is tied up to a wooden shoe. How sad!" The Beetle saved his life with the help of the girls, And he flew into a huge building through an open window. The place the Beetle landed was on the mane of the horse that the King loved. The Beetle seized the mane until he concentrated about himself. "I am sitting on the horse that the King likes the most. I am like the King! Did the horseshoer ask me how come this horse won the golden horseshoes once? Now I know. This horse won the golden horseshoes to take me on his back." The Beetle became happy as he thought this way. As sunlight spread across the King's barn, everything became bright and lively. "Travels always give you a broader point of view. Well, if you look around this world carefully, you will find out this place is not quite so bad." The Beetle muttered to himself happily bathing in the sun.49An Old Church BellThere once was a small town in Germany where acacia flowers were in full bloom, and apple and pear trees bore fruit in autumn. This town was beautiful but poor. On one day of late autumn, when the grape vine leaves were dried with a red color, it rained heavily, and there was a cold strong wind. It was not good news for the poor people in this town. As it got dark outside, the small old houses got darker. There was one small and shabby house with a very small window. The people in that house were very poor, but they were good and honest. When a solemn church bell tolled piously and peacefully, a boy came into the world. His mother was very happy, because the church bell seemed to deliver her happy news to the whole town. The boy grew up well, and his family moved to another town. On the day that the boy turned six, he visited his hometown with- 35 -his mother. The town was still poor though. There were new graves in the churchyard, and the old bell was laying on a lawn next some walls. That was the bell from the church bell tower. A new bell was hanging in the tower. The mother told her son that the old bell tolled for people of the town when they had baptism ceremonies, weddings and funerals, and it was always on people's minds whenever they were sad or happy. As she told him how the old bell had given her comfort when she was in pain giving birth to him, and how it had tolled happily to the town, he gazed at the bell with a warm heart. The old bell took a place in a part of the boy's memory. Soon, he grew up as a red-haired, freckled and tall young man. His eyes were as clear as a lake, and luckily, he could go to a military academy, where most of the students were aristocrats, without paying any tuition. The young man's name was Marebaha, that is, John Christoph Friedrich von Schiller. He became a political exile, and one of the greatest and immortal poets of Germany who wrote poems about the legendary warrior of Switzerland, 'Wilhelm Tell' and 'Die Jungfrau von Orleans'. What happened to the old church bell? The old bell was sold as a lump of metal and sent to Bayern in Germany. It was used as material to make a statue of a great heros who gave glory to the German people. The old church bell melted and flowed into the frame of the statue of Johann Christoph and became a part of its head and chest. This statue has generally been known to the public now, after one hundred years from the day Marbaha was born. The statue is still standing on Stuttgart Square.50The Bottle NeckOnce, there was a poor family. They were so poor that they had to live in an attic. They had an old birds cage, and it had a jar at the bottom. The jar didn't have a body but it had a mouth. It was standing upside down and was used as a water bucket for the bird. "Peep peep" The bird in the cage sang a song. Her voice was so pretty. "Bird, I wish I could sing like you." The jar envied the bird's voice. "A long time ago, I used to sing as you do." In the past, before she was broken, the nickname of the jar was 'skylark'. When people opened the mouth of the jar, they heard the 'pop' sound as a song. "But look, it was not just a song." The jar told her the story about how she came to the poor attic. She remembered when she went on a picnic with the old furrier family. It was the day of the ceremony when one pretty daughter of the furrier got engaged. "I still remember the day as vividly as yesterday." She told her about when she was put in the middle of flames. And she talked about when she fell on the ground and when she was trapped in the mud. The jar kept talking, but the bird kept singing. "Peep peep" "Don't you think my story is interesting?" The bird didn't answer and kept singing. The jar started to talk again. She talked about the story when she traveled around the world. She told how she came to the furrier's hands and also a love story of a couple. "I never stopped my journey." It was true that the jar never stopped its journey. She went to France and America. At last, the jar happened to come back to the house of the furrier's daughter. The jar wanted to be a really important water bucket for the poor furrier's daughter. But the jar couldn't recognize that the old lady was the furrier's pretty daughter. As times went by, she grew old. Maybe the jar could remember only the first time when she met the daughter.51The Flower Greet the SpringIt was a very cold winter. The seeds of the flowers were crouching in a room under the ground. The room was comfortably warm. The seeds were all sleeping peacefully. One day, it rained moistly. The raindrops sank into the ground and woke up the seeds. "Wake up. Spring is just around the- 36 -corner!" "Mm, mm..." The seeds moved their bodies slightly, but they did not want to wake up. Lovely spring was coming with big steps, and the sun was shining with a bright smile. The sunlight came through the underground and reached the place where the seeds were sleeping. "Ah, I feel itchy! I want to breathe in some fresh air." Finally, the seeds woke up and stretched. Spring rain came again, and it made the hard clod of soil moist and soft after it flowed into the ground. The hard clod of soil dissolved, and the sun patted the soil tenderly. "Ah, I can't just sit down here any more!" When the seed swayed all her body, a beard-looking root started to come out from her brown body. The white root turned to light green and stretched her root to the side where the sunlight was bright and warm. Finally, a new bud of the seed came out of the ground and reached out her shy face quietly. "Oh, how bright!" She blinked her eyes several times because it was too bright to open her eyes. Then, she closed her eyes tightly. "Pretty little baby, open your eyes slowly. You are going to be okay." The sun whispered with her soft voice to the seed sitting on top of a ginkgo tree. The spring breeze was blowing soft and fresh, and there was a joyful skylark's song. "Wow, what a cute little sprout you are!" The sprout became so happy, and she was no longer afraid of the bright sunshine. The sprout grew up well. The light green colored leaves grew darker and darker everyday. Soon, the new bud became a flower plant. And she bore a red flower bud. One day, the flower bud bloomed. It was a beautiful flower that looked just like the sun.52The FlaxA long time ago, there was a flower called 'Flax'. " I am so happy. No one is happier than me in the world." A leaf of grass said to the Flax. "You don't know anything about the world. Do you know how painful it is to live here?" "That's not true! I've never seen more beautiful flowers than me. I am so happy now." One day, people came and pulled up the Flax's stem. It hurt her badly, but she thought to herself, 'One good day, one bad day. It's okay. Just be brave!' But the people put her in water and broke her. "Well, that's all right. I used to be happy. I can get over this little pain.'" After tolerating all the pain, she became great linen. "I am lucky! I became very beautiful because I endured the suffering. I am so happy." A few days later, the linen was cut with scissors and pricked by needles. However, the linen endured the pain. After the pain, she became a great suit of clothes. "Look at me! I am a great suit of clothes. Finally I became a useful thing." A few years later, she was almost worn-out. She had to suffer the pain of being torn into pieces. Then, the Flax became a fine and white piece of paper. 'People write letters on my body. I am so lucky.' Next, she happened to be sent to a printing shop, and then, she was published as hundreds of books. 'I am going to live my life with everybody's respect and attention. I am very happy.' After a while, she was thrown away into a bathtub. 'After hard work all day long, I should take a rest. Maybe I will be sent to a better place in the future like the way I have been in the past.' One day, the paper was put into a fireplace. 'Ouch! This is too hot! But I have to put up with this for more happy days.' The Flax lived with a joyful and appreciating attitude towards her life.53The Butterfly's finding a BrideThere once was a butterfly flying gently. He was flying in the blue sky and was looking for his bride. 'Flower is the best bride for me!' The Butterfly thought, but there were too many flowers to choose only one. "I will be able to find a beautiful flower if I fly all around the world." The Butterfly started to fly around to find the flower to be his bride. First, he found a snowdrop. "What a pretty flower she is! But she's too small." The Butterfly flew to another place. He found a saffran this time. "Oh, she is beautiful. But she's too mature." The Butterfly flew around again. "Wow, she's amazing!" He found an anemone. "But she's too passionate." The Butterfly flew away.- 37 -Then he met a violet. "She is a very soft flower, but she is too tender to be my bride." Then he went to a tulip. "Hi, butterfly!" A red tulip nodded her head and greeted the butterfly. "Oh, hi!" Even though he replied to the red tulip, the Butterfly thought that the red tulip is too dazzling to be his bride. "What do I have to do now? I can't find my bride." This time, he met a daffodil. "That daffodil is too pure. She is too pure and she even looks lonely." The Butterfly did not like the daffodil as his bride. The Butterfly arrived at the place filled with apple tree flowers. "Tomorrow, the apple tree flower will fade along with the wind even if she is blooming today." The apple tree flower wasn't good enough to be the butterfly's bride, either. There was a pea flower. "Wow, she is very splendid!" Pea flowers were in elegant bloom with red and white colors. The Butterfly liked the pea flower because she was neither too lonely nor too dazzling. "Hi, Miss Pea flower?" Butterfly flew closer to her to ask to be his bride. Then, he caught sight of a messy flower hanging on a leaf with a withered bean chaff. He ran away in a hurry after seeing that. In this way, spring and summer passed. But the butterfly still could not find his bride. Autumn came. One day Butterfly smelled a strong scent while he was flying. There was a peppermint in the field. "That's great. Even though peppermint does not have any flowers, her leaves have a very strong scent. Peppermint's leaves are the same as flowers. I will make her my bride." Butterfly flew next to the peppermint and asked, "Miss Peppermint, would you please be my bride?" Then the peppermint said, "Mr. Butterfly, it is autumn now. You and I are too old. Don't tell me about 'being your bride' any more." In the end, Butterfly could not find any bride.54Children's PrattleOne day, some children got together and were talking to each other. They all lived in wealthy families. One girl spoke confidently, "My family is very rich. My parents studied a lot." One boy was listening to the girl and said, " 'If your name ends with '-sen', you will be miserable.' Well, I feel lucky I have no '-sen' at the end of my name." Then, the girl spoke again. "You're right. I have a friend whose name is 'Martsen', and his family is so poor." Another boy said holding up his head confidently, "My father is in a high position. Everybody is afraid of him." At that moment, one boy was listening to this conversation behind a door. He was poor, and his name ended with '-sen'. He could not mix with the children because he was so poor. 'This is so sad. I can never be a great man.' He envied all the children in the room. As time went by, the children all grew up. A millionaire was living in the town. A lot of people wanted to visit his house. "This is such a wonderful house. Whose house is this?" The owner of the house was the poor boy. The boy grew up to be a great sculptor. Even though he was not born rich, and his name ended with '-sen', the boy became a great man. The children in the room were all wrong.55The DaisyThere was a house where various kinds of flowers were blooming in the front yard. In every May, spring flowers came into bloom beautifully. Tulips, roses and peonies boasted their lovely figures. The Daisy A Daisy on a small part of the lawn close to the roadside and out side of the fence was also in bloom. She was very small. "Those flowers over there must be very happy. People come to look at them." The small daisy envied the tulips, roses and peonies in the front yard. Then suddenly, a tiny little skylark came over to the small daisy, and she danced around her and sang beautiful songs. "What a small pretty flower you are." The tiny little skylark stroked the daisy, and flew away to the wide and blue sky. Now, other flowers envied the small daisy.- 38 -The next morning, the Daisy heard the skylark's tearful voice. The Small Daisy looked up at a cage hanging in the window. The skylark was crying in the cage. The Daisy wanted to help the skylark, but she couldn't do anything. After a while, two boys came over the fence, and crouched down near the Daisy. "This lawn is good." Two boys poked at the lawn around the Daisy. They drew a circle around her and cut out the lawn. Small daisy came to stand in the middle of the sod. "Well done. Should I pull this little daisy out?" "No, let's keep it there. It's pretty." Two boys brought the lawn and laid it down in the cage. The skylark flapped her little wings and cried. But the small Daisy could not comfort her. "Water, I want to drink water. Everyone forgot to give it to me. Why is the air so impure and thick?" The skylark felt painful and pecked the lawn with her bill. Until that night, nobody gave her some water. The skylark nodded her head to the Daisy. "Good bye. You will dry up and die like me soon." The skylark was very thirsty and painful but she did not touch the Daisy. The Daisy was so sad. The skylark died laying her head next to the Daisy. The next day, the two boys came back. They made a grave for the skylark with tears in their eyes. The Daisy was thrown away with the lawn on the street. "It was not the grave which the skylark wanted to have." The Daisy said to herself.56Benu and GlenuThere were two islands called Benu and Glenu around Holstein Castle located next to the Zeeland coast. On these two islands, there were forests, ranches, fields, churches and towns. These two islands were located close to each other side by side. One night, there was a big rainstorm. The earth and sky were shaking and the ground seemed to crack, the church bells swayed and tolled by themselves, sea waves roared higher than ever before. The next morning, Benu completely disappeared as if it had never existed before. Even now, on quiet summer evenings, some fishermen say they saw the white church tower of Benu under the sea, and others say they heard the church bell. The legend, 'Benu is laying down deep under the sea waiting for Glenu', spread across the whole town, and when rainstorms rose up, the children of Glenu shivered and heard the sound of waves with fear. "Is Benu going to take Glenu away under the sea tonight?" The children used to be terrified with this thought and muttered prayers, and went to bed. But the next morning, Glenu was still there. Forests, fields full of fully ripened grains, and picturesque farmhouses are all still there. But Glenu was looking forward to the day. Even though it does not know how many days it has to wait, Glenu knows that someday it will disappear before anyone is aware of it. Suddenly one morning, the Glenu that was there had vanished. Even the day before yesterday, wild swans were swimming through the sea between Zeeland and Glenu, sailing boats were passing by smoothly, people were riding horse carriages which splashed water and went to Glenu, but one day Glenu vanished forever. When you travel far away from Holstein for 10 years and come back, forests may be surrounded by an open and green plain, and you may smell the hay. You may doubt your eyes looking at where you are and the houses that you've never seen before. Holstein castle will still be glittering its golden spire, but the castle will look as if it moved 1 mile to the inland. You will reach the shore crossing forests and fields, but there is no island in your sight but a boundless ocean, you will ask yourself this, "Did Benu finally take Glenu? One night, did the rainstorm that shakes the sky and earth really move Holstein castle 1 mile inland?" However, the rainstorms will never arise, and this will happen at noon in bright sunlight. It will be men who will build banks around Glenu, linking Glenu and Zeeland draining the sea. And then, they will turn the place into a rich plain As the legend says, even though Glenu will vanish, Zeeland will be broader. It is not Benu that will take Glenu away, but it is Zeeland that will hold Glenu with its long and wide bank.57The Toy Soldier- 39 -Some toy soldiers made of brass were standing on a shelf of a toy shop. One of them had only one leg. The Toy Soldier The shop had also a castle made of paper. A beautiful paper ballerina stood in front of the castle gate. The toy soldier with one-leg loved the ballerina. He wanted to dance with her, but he couldn't ask her because he only had one leg. One day, a little girl bought the ballerina and took her to her house. The toy soldier was so sad. That night, the wind blew very hard. The toy soldier fell down to the street because of the wind. Some naughty boys found the toy soldier. "Look at him! This toy soldier has only one leg. Let's throw him into the river." The boys threw him in the river. When the toy soldier was drifting down the river, a big fish came over and swallowed him in its mouth. After a while, the fish was caught by a fisherman's rod. He sold the fish to a woman. She cut the fish while preparing dinner after she came back home. She found the toy soldier inside of the fish. The woman was surprised. "Oh, what is this?" She gave him to her daughter. The girl took him to her room. At that moment, the toy soldier saw the beautiful paper ballerina. "Toy soldier, How did you come to this house?" They were so happy to meet again. The Ballerina said, "Frankly speaking, I like you. Stay here with me forever." The toy soldier was so happy when he heard that. But the naughty girl thought the toy soldier and the ballerina didn't make a good match. "Oh, I hate the ugly toy soldier!" She threw him in to the fireplace. Flames were all over his body. "Good-bye, Ballerina!" At that moment, the wind blew and took the paper ballerina to the fireplace, too. The toy soldier and the ballerina were burned together. The next morning, the woman found a heart-shaped piece of brass in the fireplace. It was the symbol of the toy soldier's and the ballerina's love.58The Birth Of Poetry And ArtWhen Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden, there was an incident when the flames of a blazing sword of an angel, who had sent them away, burned a birds' nest. The birds were all burned to death, but a new bird was born from one of the ruddily heated eggs. This means that the unique 'Phoenix' was born. The phoenix builds its nest in Arabia, and there is a myth that it set fire to its own nest once every 100 years. Among those ruddy eggs heated by the fire, a new Phoenix comes to be born again. The phoenix flies as fast as a ray of light, its feathers are of dazzling beauty, and the sound of its voice is very sweet. When a mother sits next to her baby's cradle and dandles the baby, the Phoenix comes down to the baby's pillow, and the glaring feathers of Phoenix make a halo around the baby's head. The phoenix flies around rooms of poor people, sprinkles sunshine, and carries the fragrance of violets into the rooms. The phoenix stays not only in Arabia but it flies around the far North Pole, broad field, above the rivers where the sunshine falls in coal mines and in our front yards where beautiful flowers bloom. On the carriage of the Greek tragic poet, Thespis, the Phoenix became a talkative crow, for the troubadours of Island it played the harp disguised as a swan, and on the shoulder of Shakespeare the phoenix whispered "eternity" as it was the Odin's crow. The phoenix sang beautiful songs, and people kissed its shining fallen feathers from its wings. Even though the Phoenix came from glorious Paradise, people may not see the Phoenix because they are busy with seeing sparrows. The bird of the Paradise! Born once every 100 years, dies in flames! When it was born under the tree of wisdom in the garden of the Paradise, God kissed the Phoenix and gave him a name. That was "Poetry and Art".- 40 -59A Princess and the Green PeaA long time ago, there was a prince of a country. When he grew old enough to marry, he decided to find a princess who was going to be his queen. So he started to travel all around the world. The prince visited many countries and searched for a beautiful and kind princess, but no princess seemed good enough to be his bride. "There is no great princess in this world." He was disappointed and went back to his country spiritlessly. One day, there was a frightening night of thunder, lightning, and very severe rainstorms. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door of the castle. "Who is it in the middle of this stormy night?" The king went out his room and opened the door by himself curiously. A girl in shabby clothes was standing in front of the door. Even though she looked tired from the severe rainstorm and the strong winds, she was beautiful and looked clever. She was soaking wet with rain. "I am a princess of your neighboring country, but I got lost. Could you please let me stay in your castle tonight." She asked him politely. The king was surprised to hear that the shabby girl was a princess, and he allowed her to stay in his castle out of pity. But the queen thought the girl was lying. 'Is the girl with those shabby clothes a princess? I am sure she is not a princess, but let her stay here with us tonight for the moment.' The queen thought to herself like this and went into a guest's room. She took all the sheets off the bed, and put a grain of a green pea on the bed. Then, she covered the bed with twenty layers of blankets and another twenty layers of soft bird feather blankets. The girl fell asleep in that bed. The next morning, the queen asked the girl, "Did you sleep well last night?" Then, she answered, "I appreciate your kindness, but there was something under the blankets. It hurt me so much I could hardly sleep last night." The queen was surprised at what she heard, and she thought that the girl must be a great princess. If the girl was so sensitive that she could not sleep well because of a green pea even under many blankets and soft bird feather blankets, she must be a noble princess. They found the noble princess accidentally. The prince was happy when he heard the story. The prince made the princess his wife. The green pea was displayed in a museum. If someone had not taken the pea away, maybe we could have seen the pea in the museum.60The AngelWhen a good kid dies, an angel with white wings comes down from the sky. The angel embraces the kid, and flies around everywhere showing him beautiful things. She takes him to places where there are beautiful flowers and angels sing. The kid feels so happy in the angel's arms. "Sweet Heart, what kind of flower do you want to plant in the garden of Heaven?" The angel asked the kid. "Well, what do I plant?" The kid and the angel searched for good flowers for the garden of Heaven. Under the angel and the boy, there was standing a delicate and beautiful rose bush. But a naughty boy was torturing the rose bush. "Angel, Let's plant the rose bush over there in the garden." The angel kissed the good kid's head. "Yes, you are right. Let's bring the bush and plant it in the garden." The angel held the rose bush and the kid in her arms and tried to go back to the garden of heaven. On the ground were piles of garbage and dust. Broken pieces of plates, an abandoned flowerpot and rootless wild flowers were all over the ground. The kid said, "Angel, let's take the wild flowers, too." The good kid embraced the wild flowers in his arms. Then, the angel talked to him sadly, "A little boy who is very sick is living in the basement. He has been staying in his bed because of his sickness, since he was a little baby. He can not see any sunlight and has to stay in his room." "Angel, let's meet the boy before we go back to Heaven." The baby asked her. "What's wrong?" "You'll see." The angel went to the small basement room with the kid, rose bush and the wild flower. The sick boy kept coughing in the dark- 41 -room alone. "Ah! I wish I could walk and run outside, and I want to see the beautiful flowers too." He seemed dizzy and went back to his bed leaning on the wall. "Angel, can I give him this rose bush and the wild flowers? These are the only things I have." He asked the angel. "Then, what are we going to plant in the garden of Heaven?" "There are lots of beautiful flowers in the garden. The garden will still be beautiful without this rose bush and the wild flowers." The angel was impressed by the kid's warm heart. "Ok, Let's give these flowers to him." The angel gave the sick boy bright sunlight and the cool breeze. And then she also planted the rose bush and the wild flowers. The sick boy cried for joy. The angel and the kid went back to Heaven. The angel told the story about what had happened to God. "What a nice kid! I will give you a present." He gave him a pretty pair of white wings on his back. After that, the good kid became an angel.61 The Swans' NestA long long time ago, there were swans. The swans flew to the plains. They were called 'Lombard'. Another group of swans flew to Byzantium, and they flocked to the Emperor's crown to protect it. The swans were just like a shield to guard the Emperor. One day, there was a scream from France. The swans flew to France with flames hanging on their wings. The French people prayed to God for help. "Oh, God. Please protect us." There was a Danish swan standing on the green plain next to the seashore with a crown on his head. The swan handed over his crown to England. At that time, some swans used to fly up to the sky. One of them made a beautiful song with a harp. The melody echoed around to far away. That's why the mountains of Norway are still beautiful. Another swan hit a marble rock very hard. The marble rock broke into pieces. Then, a Goddess of Beauty came out of it. And the other swan hung the people's ideas in the air with ropes. Those ropes connected one country to another so that people's knowledge and ideas could spread to the rest of the world through the ropes. God loves the swans' nest. The swans' nest never breaks apart even when giant birds fiercely attack it because the swans will fight back all together. After a long time passes, swans will fly up to the sky from their nest, and people will watch them fly. Their beautiful songs will echo around us continuously.62 The Thorny Road of HonorEvery country has great and respectable people. They teach us about battle, glory and failure in life. "Know yourself." Socrates, who we all know, was held in contempt by many people. But he wanted to know a lot of things. Even now, he is respected by people. "The future is in the dark." The prophet 'Homer' always worried about the future, so his hair all turned white. After a while, his eyes went blind. But he is always remembered as the greatest prophet of history. Great men have always been produced continuously. "Have mercy on me. Please give me a penny" The great poet Camoniz was a beggar when he was young. But he has a magnificent monument of his own. If no one had given him money, he would have died from hunger. There is another man to talk about. He stayed in prison for a long time. "I am not crazy!" He is the one who invented steam power, but he could not be recognized as a great man in his days. People said that he was crazy. The great inventor, Salomon Deco ended his life in a mental institution. "I have found a new continent." Famous Columbus found the new Continent, but he got arrested and died in chains. "Someday, you will find out about the new continent." He died in chains, but now he is very famous for his discovery of the American Continent. "The earth goes around the sun." Galileo knew the earth circles the sun, but he suffered from blindness and deafness. "Still, the earth goes around the sun." He told people the earth travels around the sun even though it got him in trouble.- 42 -Everything has a painful thorny path. Tolerate and stand firm no matter what comes your way. The mere pain of the moment will turn into glory.63The Old TombstonesThere once was a wealthy family in a small town. One day, all the family got together in their living room. They were talking about an old stone in the garden. The children loved to get on the stone. Some young ladies stopped them from getting on the stone because it was a tombstone a long time ago. The Old Tombstones "That tombstone was from a monastery." "Oh my! It is for Mr. and Mrs. Preven." They were the last people who were buried in the cemetery of the monastery. They were the oldest people in the town. People thought they were rich, but they lived simply. They were also nice people. The couple was always sitting on the bench in front of their house. And they always gave people warm greetings. Everyone in the town just loved them. The old couple treated poor people very well too. They gave them food and clothes. But the wife passed away earlier than the husband. The old man cried loudly out of sadness because life without his wife was so lonely. He was very happy when he got married. But now, his wife was dead, and he was too old. That is our life and destiny! Time is supposed to go by. After a little while, their tombs were moved to a different resting place. Their tombstone was sold to people. That's why Preven and Marda's tombstone is in the family's garden. Now, there is a road on the place where the old couple's graves were laying. But people forgot them a long time ago as everything is forgotten as time goes by. The tombstone glows under the moonlight.64The BellA church bell tolled and its echo reached the streets. The sound of the bell seemed to be from a forest. The Bell The people thought the bell sounded strange and went into the forest to find the bell. One day, the king said to his people, "Anyone who finds out where the sound of the bell comes from, I will give a high position." A lot of people went into the forest. No one could find out where it came from. Then, one man found where the sound came from. It came when a giant owl hit its body against a tree. But he didn't know which tree it was. He got a prize from the king, but nothing had changed. One day, a group of children went into the forest. They all wanted to find the sound of the bell. All the children went into the forest, but three children didn't. After a short while, some of them were exhausted. Many of them went back to the town. The rest of the children in the forest said, "We've been searching everywhere, but there is no 'bell'." At that moment, a bell sound came from deep in the forest. They went deeper into the woods. Then, they heard water flowing. "Hey! What do you think is that sound? The boys were all curious about the sound. "No, this is not the sound we heard." One of the boys answered. He was a prince. The rest of them all went back to town. The prince started to go into the forest all by himself from then on. But one day, a poor boy came up in front of him. "I'll go with you. But I can't walk as fast as you, because of my wooden shoes." The poor boy walked toward the forest. The prince walked as fast as the poor boy did. "I will find the bell in the end!" Around sunset, the forest became peaceful and quiet. The prince went deeper in to the woods. He climbed up a cliff. He got to the top of it before sunset. He looked down at the broad sea. It was very beautiful. Then, the tune of the forest came from somewhere. He also could hear the tune of the sea. He stretched his arms toward the sky, sea and forest. As soon as the poor boy held the prince's hand, the holy sound of the bell echoed all around.- 43 -65The Silent BookA long time ago, there was a farmhouse. A casket was under the tree in the garden. Since no one lived in the house, nobody felt sad. There was a thick book as well as a dead body inside of the casket. Many kinds of flowers and plants were put in the book. One day, a young traveler heard about the dead man's story from an old farmer. "He was a student from Sweden." "He could speak foreign languages and write poems. He was smart, but suddenly, he lost his talent. That's why he came to this ranch. He sat down and thought about something everyday. Sometimes he read, and cried. Before he died, he asked me a favor." "What did he ask you?" "To put a book in his casket. That poor boy has a sweet sleep forever in the casket now." The young traveler saw the dead student's face. "He looks so peaceful. Maybe he is happy now." "I don't know why his old pen pals don't come over here to see him." "Maybe they are all just busy." "He used to think for a long time reading the old letters. His friends are all gone, and he is alone now. What a pity!" "Anyway, what are those leaves in the book?" "I have no idea." The leaves were still in the book, but the friendship was gone. "There are white flowers." "The dead student pulled the flowers up for himself. His tears are still in the flower." "There are nettles, trumpet honeysuckle and even lilies! Wow, those are a lot of flowers!" "Every single flower has the student's memory. But now, it is just a memory of the past." Soon, a woodworker came to cover the casket. Dead men always keep silent leaving their secrets behind them.66A Cheerful TemperA long time ago, there was a young man named Billy. Billy inherited the warm and good characteristics of his father. "My father had such a good personality. He was the horse-keeper of a funeral carriage." "No matter how hard the work was, he always smiled. I got the habit of visiting the church cemetery from my father and of reading the newspaper, too." "He said reading the newspaper would help my studying a lot. Sometimes, I take a walk to the church cemetery by myself. I learned a lot from my father." One day, he saw a tombstone while he was walking down to the church cemetery. "The man who was buried right here was miserable before he died." "Even though he had a good job and made enough money for living, he got angry easily. Maybe he was too narrow- minded. For all of his entire life, he worried and got angry, then he was buried here." Billy went to another grave and saw another tombstone. "This man right here was happy before he died, I guess. He was from a good family of high class. He spent his life enjoying everyday." Billy got close to the other grave and saw its tombstone. "The man under this tombstone makes me sad. He spent all of his life hoping to come up with one extraordinary idea. One day, when he had the wonderful idea, he died from the shock. Maybe he is not resting peacefully even now." Next, he came to another grave and saw the tombstone. "A very stingy woman lies in this grave. She used to tell her neighbor that she was raising a cat, but she just made the noise of a cat 'Mew, mew'. Maybe she was the stingiest woman." He stopped in front of another tombstone and looked down. "In this grave, a young lady from a good family lies. She used to sing a song whenever she was at a party, but she sang the same song every time." He walked to the next grave. "There is a widow here. She always said good things with her mouth, but she said bad things in her mind. She used to visit from house to house and say bad things about her friends and neighbors." "Whoever was buried and stayed in their own caskets without moving a finger, then, they will be born again with good personalities. Some day, when the time to end my life comes, I will write down this on my tombstone, 'A Man with Good Personality'."67THE STRAW, CHARCOAL AND THE PEA- 44 -A long time ago there lived a poor grandmother. “Today, I will make a dish out of peas.” Grandmother prepared to light the oven furnace with firewood and straw. “Ouch, Ouch” “Oh my goodness.” As soon as the peas were poured into the pot, each one cried out. Just then, when the grandmother wasn’t looking one pea jumped out of the pot and rolled in front the straw. “Whew! I made it. But where am I?” The pea whispered to himself. Right about then, a lump of charcoal that was burning in the furnace made a small cry and flew out. “Gosh! This is hard” The charcoal squinted his eyes and wiped his sweat away. The straw first questioned the pea. “Pea, how did you get here?” “From grandmother’s pot, just as the fire was being lite up to cook me and my friends, I ran away” The pea proudly boasted. Next, the straw asked the charcoal. “How did you get here?” “With all my strength from the pot, I just barely got out.” Charcoal replied weakly. When the straw heard this, he poured out his heart too. “My fate is similar to yours too. All my brothers went into the fire, but luckily I slipped out through the fingers.” “Oh I see!” “Really?” The pea and the charcoal each said a word and nodded. Charcoal said in a worried voice. “What should we do now?” “Since, we all escaped luckily let us live together in this strange land.” In hearing pea, charcoal and straw thought for a moment. “What should we do?” “I think we should do what the pea said.” So, the pea, charcoal and the straw decided to leave that place. It hadn’t been long since they left when they came across a stream. “How can we cross the stream?” “There’s no stepping stone, if only there were some logs.? “We can’t go back, can’t there be a better way?” They stared at one another and worried. A little while later, the straw thought of a good idea. “Since my body is light and long, if I lie down and stretch myself across the stream you guys can cross.” “Will it be alright?” “We will have to see.” On the one hand, pea and charcoal couldn’t help in worrying. The straw laid across the stream. “Hurry! You must cross quickly. If you stay in one place too long, I could catch on fire.” Charcoal quickly began crossing over the straw. But, as charcoal was crossing, he looked down. “I'm scared! Oh what should I doΑ” Charcoal could no longer move. “Hurry up and cross!” Straw said with all his might. However, just at that moment, from the charcoal the straw caught on fire. “Oh no!” The straw broke in two and fell into the stream. “Ahh!” At the same time, charcoal fell into the water. Pea, who was watching this scene, couldn’t help laughing. “Ha Ha Ha” “Ha Ha Ha” The pea laughed so hard that he broke in two. “Oh no, I’m dying” Luckily just then, a tailor was crossing the bridge. “I will rest here for a while.” “Help me” the tailor heard a faint voice and found the split pea. The sympathetic tailor sewed the split pea back together, “You are lucky that I’m a tailor.” “I’m really fortunate.” As the tailor was finishing up sewing the pea, the pea said gratefully. The pea thanked the tailor. “Thank you very much.” “But, because the thread is black there will be a mark.” Just like the tailor said, since then there was a black mark down the middle of the pea.68The Frog PrinceA long time ago, in a far away land there lived a princess. The princess was the most prettiest, from the time she was a baby anyone who saw her admired her appearance. On one special day, "Princess, the neighboring country sent this gold ball to you. The King has sent this golden ball to you princess. This is the only gold ball in the world." The princess thought that she was the most beautiful person in the world. So she disliked anything that was ugly and only liked what looked pretty and tasted good. The princess who had no friends always played alone on the palace lawn with her ball. "If only I had a friend to play with this- 45 -ball, how nice it would be." Since she was so lonely she talked to herself. "Play ball with me." The princess looked over to where the voice came from. There was nobody there. "Who is it?" "Would you like to play ball with me?" The only thing that the princess discovered was a ugly frog who lived in the palace well. The most ugliest and dirtiest frog appeared in front of the princess. "The most beautiful princess, I will be happy to play with you." "My goodness, how can this ugly frog think of playing ball with me?" The princess went into the palace angrily. The frog was left alone once again. One day, while the princess was playing with her gold ball it fell into the well. Because the well was so dark, the gold ball couldn't be seen. So, the princess sat down with a thud and began to cry. Just then, the ugly frog appeared. "Why are you crying, princess?" "My gold ball fell into your well." "I will get your gold ball, if you let me stay and live by your side?" Even though she did not like the ugly frog, she wanted her gold ball back. With the help of the frog, the princess was able to get her ball back. "Princess, let me live with you." "Hyump! An ugly frog like you, I don't even want to see you." "But, you promised me." Still the frog kept following the princess. When the pr

初一英語(yǔ)閱讀理解簡(jiǎn)單2

　　初一閱讀理解訓(xùn)練 The day was like any other day in his life, Tom walked past the shop on the street comer. He stopped to look at the front row of shoes, and he felt happy to see that the pair of shoes he wanted very much were still there. Looking down, he felt sorry for himself. He really wanted to have them for his birthday. He sadly walked away and thought how to tell his mother about it. He knew she would give him anything he liked if she could. But he also knew very well she had little money. He decided not to go home at once, as he looked worried and his mother would notice (注意) it. So he went to the park and sat on the grass. Then he saw a boy in a wheel chair (輪椅) . He noticed that the boy moved the wheel with his hands. Tom looked at him carefully and was surprised to see the boy have no feet. He looked at his own feet. “It's much better to be without shoes than without feet, ” he thought. There was no reason (理由) for him to feel so sorry and sad. He sent away and smiled, thinking he was happier. 1．Tom passed the shop______. A．on foot B．by bus C．by bike D．in a car 2．Why did Tom stop in front of the shop? Because he wanted______. [ ] A．to buy the shoes B．to look at the shoes he liked C．to look at the shoes in the shop window D．to look at the shoes on the front row 3．The pair of shoes he liked was ______. [ ] A．too expensive B．quite cheap C．not there D．not sold yet 4．Tom went into the park because he______. [ ] A．was thinking how to tell his mother about it B．wanted to see the boy C．didn't want to make his mother worried D．he felt sad 5．From the story we can know that Tom______. [ ] A．liked new shoes very much B．loved his mother best C．didn't want to go to school D．didn't want to stay at home People sometimes like to read stories of dogs very much. They think that dogs are much cleverer than cats, sheep, cows or other animals in their homes. One of my close friends, Bob, has a very large police dog named Jack. Every Sunday afternoon, Bob and Jack have a walk in the park nearby. Jack likes these walks very much. One Sunday afternoon, I paid a visit to my friend. I stayed there for a long time and my friend and I had much more talk with each other than ever before. Soon it was time for them to take a walk in the park. We forgot that. Jack became worried about it. He walked around the room several times and then sat down in front of me and looked at me. But I still paid no attention (注意) to him. I went on talking with my friend. At last, Jack could not wait a

初一英語(yǔ)閱讀理解簡(jiǎn)單3

　　初一閱讀理解訓(xùn)練 The day was like any other day in his life, Tom walked past the shop on the street comer. He stopped to look at the front row of shoes, and he felt happy to see that the pair of shoes he wanted very much were still there. Looking down, he felt sorry for himself. He really wanted to have them for his birthday. He sadly walked away and thought how to tell his mother about it. He knew she would give him anything he liked if she could. But he also knew very well she had little money. He decided not to go home at once, as he looked worried and his mother would notice (注意) it. So he went to the park and sat on the grass. Then he saw a boy in a wheel chair (輪椅) . He noticed that the boy moved the wheel with his hands. Tom looked at him carefully and was surprised to see the boy have no feet. He looked at his own feet. “It's much better to be without shoes than without feet, ” he thought. There was no reason (理由) for him to feel so sorry and sad. He sent away and smiled, thinking he was happier. 1．Tom passed the shop______. A．on foot B．by bus C．by bike D．in a car 2．Why did Tom stop in front of the shop? Because he wanted______. [ ] A．to buy the shoes B．to look at the shoes he liked C．to look at the shoes in the shop window D．to look at the shoes on the front row 3．The pair of shoes he liked was ______. [ ] A．too expensive B．quite cheap C．not there D．not sold yet 4．Tom went into the park because he______. [ ] A．was thinking how to tell his mother about it B．wanted to see the boy C．didn't want to make his mother worried D．he felt sad 5．From the story we can know that Tom______. [ ] A．liked new shoes very much B．loved his mother best C．didn't want to go to school D．didn't want to stay at homePeople sometimes like to read stories of dogs very much. They think that dogs are much cleverer than cats, sheep, cows or other animals in their homes. One of my close friends, Bob, has a very large police dog named Jack. Every Sunday afternoon, Bob and Jack have a walk in the park nearby. Jack likes these walks very much. One Sundayafternoon, I paid a visit to my friend. I stayed there for a long time and my friend and I had much more talk with each other than ever before. Soon it was time for them to take a walk in the park. We forgot that. Jack became worried about it. He walked around the room several times and then sat down in front of me and looked at me. But I still paid no attention (注意) to him. I went on talking with my friend. At last, Jack could not wait any longer. He went out of the room and came back a few minutes later. He sat down in front of me again. But this time, he held my hat in his mouth. Suddenly, I understood what Jack meant and so did my friend. 1．How many people are there in this story?______. [ ] A．One B．Two C．Three D．Four 2．Jack______. [ ] A．is a close friend of mine B．enjoys long walks in the park every Sunday afternoon C．has many close friends D．enjoys talks in the room 3．Jack was worried because______. [ ] A．he wanted to eat something B．it was Sunday afternoon again C．he was not feeling well D．he wanted his master (主人) to take him for a walk 4．Jack took my hat in his mouth to show that______. [ ] A．I should leave the house at once B．he liked my hat very much C．he was hungry and he tried to eat it D．he wanted to have a rest 5．Which of the following is true?______. [ ] A．When Jack and I were talking, my friend didn't pay any attention to us B．When I was talking to my friend, Jack didn't pay any attention to us C．When my friend and I were talking, we didn't pay any attention to Jack D．When my friend was talking to Jack, I paid attention to them Peter was a small boy. He lived with his parents in a small house near some hills. The people there were all poor. One night it was very dry and windy. When everybody was asleep, Peter suddenly heard some noise. It came out from the kitchen (廚 房). He got up and walked to the kitchen. He found that the wood beside the stove (火爐) was burning . There was no water tap (水龍頭) in the house , so he could not put out (撲滅) the fire . He shouted loudly to wake up everyone in the house. Then he ran out of his house and knocked on the doors of many houses to wake the people up. They all left their houses quickly. At last the fire was put out by the firemen. Many houses were burnt. But nobody was burnt in the fire. 1．Peter lived with his______. [ ]A．sisters B．brothers C．uncles D．parents 2．One night he found that______ beside the stove was burning. [ ] A．the table B．the wood C．the door D．the window 3．______, so he could not put out the fire. [ ] A．Everybody was asleep B．He couldn't shout loudly C．The kitchen was very big D．there was no water tap in the house 4．Peter knocked on the doors of many houses______. [ ] A．to wake the people up B．to get some water C．to find his classmates D．to visit them 5．______hurt in the fire. [ ] A．People in other houses were B．Peter's parents were C．Nobody was D．Peter was“You're just in time, Joe. We're going to play cowboys（牛仔） and Indians, and you can be the Indians. ” One of my cousins（堂兄弟）said. “How many Indians?” I asked. “Oh, about a thousand. ” He answered, and before I could say no，I was pushed out into the night and became a thousand Indians. Two minutes later I was running in the fields with a group of cowboys behind. The shouts of “After them. Let's catch the killers!” and other such TV play language came into my ears as I ran round a corner and hurried into my Grandpa's car． “We've got him, boys. Let's go and catch him!” But no one wanted to come to get me. All of my cousins except one were always very friendly with. It was quiet outside. And I went out of the car to have a look. Just then I heard a shout , “Bring the rope（繩子）, and we can burn him. ” “Only Indians burn people. Cowboys.” I stopped just in time. I had almost said, “Cowboys hang（絞死）people. ”I was tied to a tree, and the cowboys were looking for some wood when my dear mother called, “We're leaving now. ” “Untie me.” I shouted. ”We're going. “Why did Bobby want matches （火柴） ?” Mum asked when we were in the car. “He was asking Dad whether he had any. ” “oh, he was just going t matches? MATCHES? Are you sure he wanted matches” Mother was quite sure, and I didn't say any more. 1．How many children played the Indians? [ ] A．One thousand B．One hundred C．One group D．One 2．Why did Joe's cousin say that Joe was just in time? Because______. [ ] A．there were not enough children four the game B．the game was just going to start C．none of his cousins wanted to be the Indians D．they were waiting for Joe 3．Joe didn't say “Cowbays hang people.” Because______. [ ] A．he was tied to a tree B．that would make things worse C．he was caught by the cowboys D．that would make the cowboys angry 4．Which of the following is TRUE? [ ] A．One of Joe's cousins was looking for matches. B．Dad didn't want to give the children any matches. C．Bobby wanted to get some matches from his father. D．Mum didn't think children should play with matches. 5．The name of the story should he“______.” [ ] A．Joe and his cousins B．Who knows what danger is waiting there C．Cowboys and Indians is a favourite children's game D．How cowboys and Indians fought in the past A very new, young officer was at a station. He was on his way to visit his mother in another town, and he wanted to telephone her to tell her the time of this train , so that she could meet him at the station in her car． He look in all his pockets, but round that he did not have the right money for the telephone, so he went outside and looked around for someone to help him. At last an old soldier came by, and the young officer stopped him and said, “Have you got change （零錢(qián)） for ten pence（便士）?” “Wait a moment, ” the old soldier answered. He began to put his hand in his pock- et, “I'll see whether I can help you. ” “Don't you know how to speak to an officer?” the young man said angrily. “Now let's start again. Have you got change for ten pence? ” “No, sir,” the old soldier answered quickly.1．The young officer and his mother lived______. [ ] A．in the same town B．in different places C．in another town D．in the other town 2．The young officer Wanted to telephone his mother to tell her______. [ ] A．that he was going to visit her B．where his train would leave for C．what time his train would arrive at the station D．that he was then at the station 3．He looked around for help because he______. [ ] A．had no money to make the phone call B．did not know where to make the phone call C．needed some change for the phone call D．wanted to get change from the old soldier 4．The young officer was angry because he thought the old soldier______. [ ] A．was polite to him B．was not polite to him C．didn't know how to speak to him D．didn't like to help him at all 5．Which of the following is not true? [ ] A．Both the young officer and the old soldier were angry. B．The young officer wanted his mother to meet him at the station. C．He wanted the old soldier to speak to him in a polite way. D．He didn't know the soldier before. 答案參考答案： ABDCB 2．BBDAC 3．DBDAC 4．DCBAB 5．BCCBA、No. 01 Mr Smith lives in the small village, but he works in an office in a big city. He goes to work by train every morning and comes ___1___ the same way. One morning while he was ___2___ his newspaper on the train, a man ___3___ him came up to him. Mr Smith had not met him before. The man said,“ ___4___ ” to him and then ___5___ to talk to him. The man said, “Your ___6___ isn’t interesting, is it? You got on the same train at the same station at the same time ___7___ morning and you always sit in the same seat and read the same newspaper.” When Mr Smith ___8___ this, he put his newspaper down, turned around and ___9___ to the man angrily, “How do you know all that about me?” “Because I’m ___10___ sitting in the same seat behind you,” the man answered. 1. A. family B. house C. village D. home 2. A. seeing B. look C. reading D. finding 3. A. before B. behind C. beside D. next to4. A. Sorry B. Thanks C. Hello D. Goodbye 5. A. refused B. stopped C. ordered D. began 6. A. life B. work C. office D. child 7. A. one B. every C. this D. yesterday 8. A. heard B. listened C. found D. felt 9. A. asked B. said C. told D. talked 10. A. never B. hardly C. always D. sometimes 本文是個(gè)幽默故事。講述一個(gè)人說(shuō)另一個(gè)人每天早上重復(fù)做同一件事，這樣生活單調(diào)，其實(shí) 自己也一樣。

　　1. D 表示回家是 come home 與前面的去上班 go to work 相對(duì)。

　　2. C 表示看書(shū)看報(bào)用 read。

　　3. B 由文末 I’m sitting in the same seat behind you 可知。

　　4. C 從下文可知是向他召呼問(wèn)好，所以是 say “Hello” to him。

　　5. D 打了召呼后自然就會(huì)開(kāi)始(began) 談起話來(lái)。

　　6. A 在同一時(shí)間、同一個(gè)車(chē)站、乘同一個(gè)火車(chē)，這是種單是調(diào)泛味的生活 (life)。而不是這 工作，也不是辦公，更不是指小孩。

　　7. B 指每天早上都是如此，才會(huì)說(shuō)單調(diào)泛味。

　　8. A 史密斯先生聽(tīng)到(heard) 這些話。

　　listen 指有意識(shí)在“聽(tīng)”， 強(qiáng)調(diào)動(dòng)作， 后接賓語(yǔ)時(shí)要加 to； hear 指聽(tīng)的結(jié)果“聽(tīng)到”。

　　9. B say to sb 對(duì)某人說(shuō)。雖然后面是一個(gè)問(wèn)句，但表示問(wèn)某人時(shí) ask 后不用 to，而直接說(shuō) ask sb。

　　10. C 因?yàn)閷?duì)史密斯先生如此了解，當(dāng)然是“總”總在他的后面了Mr Smith lives in the small village, but he works in an office in a big city. He goes to work by train every morning and comes ___1___ the same way. One morning while he was ___2___ his newspaper on the train, a man ___3___ him came up to him. Mr Smith had not met him before. The man said,“ ___4___ ” to him and then ___5___ to talk to him. The man said, “Your ___6___ isn’t interesting, is it? You got on the same train at the same station at the same time ___7___ morning and you always sit in the same seat and read the same newspaper.” When Mr Smith ___8___ this, he put his newspaper down, turned around and ___9___ to the man angrily, “How do you know all that about me?” “Because I’m ___10___ sitting in the same seat behind you,” the man answered. 1. A. family B. house C. village D. home 2. A. seeing B. look C. reading D. finding 3. A. before B. behind C. beside D. next to 4. A. Sorry B. Thanks C. Hello D. Goodbye 5. A. refused B. stopped C. ordered D. began 6. A. life B. work C. office D. child 7. A. one B. every C. this D. yesterday 8. A. heard B. listened C. found D. felt 9. A. asked B. said C. told D. talked 10. A. never B. hardly C. always D. sometimes Come and see the Indian elephants and the new tigers from America. The bears are waiting to meet you, and the monkeys from China are waiting to throw things to you. The lovely koalas（樹(shù) 袋熊)from Australia are waiting to laugh at you,and the giraffes from Zambia(贊比亞） are waiting to look down on you Tickets Grown-ups(成人） ：$:2.00 Children：Over 12:$1.00 Under12:Free Keep the zoo clean! Do not touch,give food to or go near the animals.Opening time: 10:00am-3:00pm(mon.-Fri.) 9:00am-4:00pm（Sat.and Sun) 1.（ c ）How many kinds of animals are talked about in this passage? A.Four B . Five C.Six D.Seven 2.( c )Now Mr Smith is in the zoo with his tow sons,one aged 14and the other aged 10.How much are the tickets altogether? A.$4.00 B.$2.00 C.$3.00 D.$1.00

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