and lizards and hawks and crows and serpents, like the little Australian blacks. The tale of “What the Rose did to the Cypress,” is translated out of a Persian manuscript by Mrs. Beveridge. “Pivi and Kabo” is translated by the Editor from a French version; “Asmund and Signy” by Miss Blackley; the Indian stories by Major Campbell, and all the rest are told by Mrs. Lang, who does not give them exactly as they are told by all sorts of outlandish natives, but makes them up in the hope white people will like them, skipping the pieces which they will not like. That is how this Fairy Book was made up for your entertainment. CONTENTS Preface What the Rose did to the Cypress Footnotes Ball-carrier and the Bad One How Ball-carrier Finished His Task The Bunyip Father Grumbler The Story of the Yara The Cunning Hare The Turtle and His Bride How Geirald The Coward Was Punished Hábogi How the Little Brother Set Free His Big Brothers The Sacred Milk of Koumongoé The Wicked Wolverine The Husband of the Rat’s Daughter The Mermaid and the Boy Pivi and Kabo The Elf Maiden How Some Wild Animals Became Tame Ones Fortune and the Wood-Cutter The Enchanted Head The Sister of the Sun The Prince and the Three Fates The Fox and the Lapp Kisa the Cat The Lion and the Cat Which was the Foolishest? Asmund and Signy Rübezahl Story Of The King Who Would Be Stronger Than Fate Story of Wali Dâd the Simple-Hearted Tale of a Tortoise and of a Mischievous Monkey The Knights of the Fish The Brown Fairy Book What the Rose did to the Cypress[1] Once upon a time a great king of the East, named Saman-lalposh,[2] had three brave and clever sons—Tahmasp, Qamas, and Almas-ruh-baksh.[3] One day, when the king was sitting in his hall of audience, his eldest son, Prince Tahmasp, came before him, and after greeting his father with due respect, said: “O my royal father! I am tired of the town; if you will give me leave, I will take my servants to-morrow and will go into the country and hunt on the hill-skirts; and when I have taken some game I will come back, at evening-prayer time.” His father consented, and sent with him some of his own trusted servants, and also hawks, and falcons, hunting dogs, cheetahs and leopards.