Like Proverbs and Parables, they deal with first principles under the simplest forms. They convey knowledge of the world, shrewd lessons of virtue and vice, of common sense and sense of humour, of the seemly and the absurd, of pleasure and pain, success and failure, in narratives where the plot moves briskly and dramatically from a beginning to an end. They treat, not of the corner of a nursery or a playground, but of the world at large, and life in perspective; of forces visible and invisible; of Life, Death, and Immortality. For causes obvious to the student of early myths, they foster sympathy with nature, and no class of child-literature has done so much to inculcate the love of animals. They cultivate the Imagination, that great gift which time and experience lead one more and more to value--handmaid of Faith, of Hope, and, perhaps most of all, of Charity! It is true that some of the old fairy tales do not teach the high and useful lessons that most of them do; and that they unquestionably deal now and again with phases of grown-up life, and with crimes and catastrophes, that seem unsuitable for nursery entertainment. As to the latter question, it must be remembered that the brevity of the narrative--whether it be a love story or a robber story--deprives it of all harm; a point which writers of modern fairy tales do not always realize for their guidance. The writer of the following tales has endeavoured to bear this principle in mind, and it is hoped that the morals--and it is of the essence of fairy tales to have a moral--of all of them are beyond reproach. For the rest they are committed to the indulgence of the gentle reader. Hans Anderssen, perhaps the greatest writer of modern fairy tales, was content to say: "FAIRY TALE NEVER DIES." J.H.E. CONTENTS. PAGE GOOD LUCK IS BETTER THAN GOLD THE HILLMAN AND THE HOUSEWIFE THE NECK, A LEGEND OF A LAKE THE NIX IN MISCHIEF THE COBBLER AND THE GHOSTS THE LAIRD AND THE MAN OF PEACE THE OGRE COURTING THE MAGICIANS' GIFTS THE WIDOWS AND THE STRANGERS KIND WILLIAM AND THE WATER SPRITE MURDOCH'S RATH THE LITTLE DARNER THE FIDDLER IN THE FAIRY RING "I WON'T" THE MAGIC JAR THE FIRST WIFE'S WEDDING-RING THE MAGICIAN TURNED MISCHIEF-MAKER KNAVE AND FOOL UNDER THE SUN GOOD LUCK IS BETTER THAN GOLD. There was once upon a time a child who had Good Luck for his godfather. "I am not Fortune," said Good Luck to the parents; "I have no gifts to bestow, but whenever he needs help I will be at hand." "Nothing could be better," said the old couple. They were delighted. But what pleases the father often fails to satisfy the son: moreover, every man thinks that he deserves just a little more than he has got, and does not reckon it to the purpose if his father had less.