Children's Literature: A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training ClassesCurry, Charles Madison
General
Children's Literature: A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes
Curry, Charles Madison
Children -- Books and reading; Children's literature -- Study and teaching
"Well, wife," replied he, "it is a grand thing to be pope; and now you
must be content, for you can be nothing greater."
"I will consider of that," said the wife. Then they went to bed: but
Dame Alice could not sleep all night for thinking what she should be
next. At last morning came, and the sun rose. "Ha!" thought she as she
looked at it through the window, "cannot I prevent the sun rising?" At
this she was very angry, and she wakened her husband and said, "Husband,
go to the fish and tell him I want to be lord of the sun and moon." The
fisherman was half asleep, but the thought frightened him so much that
he started and fell out of bed. "Alas, wife!" said he, "cannot you be
content to be pope?"
"No," said she, "I am very uneasy, and cannot bear to see the sun and
moon rise without my leave. Go to the fish directly."
Then the man went trembling for fear; and as he was going down to the
shore a dreadful storm arose, so that the trees and the rocks shook; and
the heavens became black, and the lightning played, and the thunder
rolled; and you might have seen in the sea great black waves like
mountains with a white crown of foam upon them; and the fisherman said,
"O man of the sea!
Come listen to me,
For Alice my wife,
The plague of my life,
Hath sent me to beg a boon of thee!"
"What does she want now?" said the fish.
"Ah!" said he, "she wants to be lord of the sun and moon." "Go home,"
said the fish, "to your ditch again!" And there they live to this very
day.
177
The Grimm version of "The Sleeping Beauty" is,
by all odds, the finest one. Its perfect
economy in the use of story materials has
always been admired. Perrault's version drags
in an unnecessary ogre and spoils a good story
by not knowing when to stop. The Grimm title is
"Dornröschen," and the more literal
translation, "Brier Rose," is the one generally
used as the English title, rather than the one
given by Taylor, whose translation follows.
Tennyson has a very beautiful poetic rendering
of this story in his "Day-Dream."
ROSE-BUD
Once upon a time there lived a king and queen who had no children; and
this they lamented very much. But one day as the queen was walking by
the side of the river, a little fish lifted its head out of the water
and said, "Your wish shall be fulfilled, and you shall soon have a
daughter."
What the little fish had foretold soon came to pass; and the queen had a
little girl that was so very beautiful that the king could not cease
looking on it for joy, and determined to hold a great feast. So he
invited not only his relations, friends, and neighbors, but also all the
fairies, that they might be kind and good to his little daughter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account