Boys and Girls Bookshelf (Vol 2 of 17): Folk-Lore, Fables, And Fairy TalesVarious
General
Boys and Girls Bookshelf (Vol 2 of 17): Folk-Lore, Fables, And Fairy Tales
Various
Children's literature
When he snatched one of them out of the nest, it gave a loud squeak, and
Jack was so frightened that he lost his footing, dropped it, and slipped
down himself. Luckily, he was not hurt, nor the "thing" either. It was
creeping about like an old baby, and had on a little frock and pinafore.
THE FAIRY BABY'S LUNCH
"It's a fairy!" exclaimed Jack, "and this must be a fairies' nest."
The young Fairy climbed up the side of the hollow and scrambled again
into her nest, and Jack followed. Upon which all the nestlings popped up
their heads, and showing their pretty white teeth pointed at the slice
of cake.
"It's a small piece, and I may not have anything more to eat for a long
time," said Jack; "but your mouths are very small, so you shall each
have a piece."
The young fairies were a long time munching the cake, and before they
had finished it began to be rather dark, because a thunder-storm was
coming up. The wind rose and made the old tree rock, and creak, and
tremble. The little Fairies were so frightened that they got out of the
nest and crept into Jack's pockets.
After the storm was over, Jack pulled one of the Fairies out of his
waistcoat pocket and said to her: "It is time for supper. Where are we
going to get it?" Then in the light of the moon he looked at her very
attentively. "When I first saw you in the nest," said he, "you had a
pinafore on, and now you have a smart little apron with lace around it."
"That is because I am much older now," said the Fairy. "We never take
such a long time to grow up as you do. Put me into your pocket again,
and whistle as loudly as you can."
THE GREAT WHITE BIRD
So Jack whistled loudly; and suddenly without hearing anything, he felt
something take hold of his legs and give him a jerk which hoisted him on
to its back, where he sat astride. It was a large white bird, and
presently he found that they were rising up through the trees and out
into the moonlight, with Jack on the bird's back and all the fairies in
his pockets.
"And so we are going to Fairy-land," exclaimed Jack; "how delightful!"
As the evening grew dark the great white bird began to light up. She did
it in this way. First, one of her eyes began to beam with a beautiful
green light, and then when it was as bright as a lamp, the other eye
began to shine, and the light of that eye was red. So they sailed
through the darkness, Jack reminding the bird once in a while that he
was very hungry.
TO THE FAIR CITY
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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