One Hundred Favorite Folktales / Edition 1

by Vladimir Petrov, Stith Thompson

Overview

Amongst the one hundred folktales are such familiar tales as The Three Billy-Goats Gruff, Haensel and Gretel, Sleeping Beuaty, and some perhaps not so familiar, The Magic Bird, The Goose Girl, and The Pancake.

"If you can buy only one fairytale book a year, buy this. Why? Because the chooser knows more about the folktales of all countries than anyone else in the world, and the choice is the flower of the flock." —New York Times Book Review

"Just relax and enjoy these delightful tales from all over the world—or better yet, read them aloud to some of your favorite children." —Quartet

"Should remain the standard tale anthology in English for years to come." —Folklore Forum

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253201720
Publisher:	Indiana University Press (IPS)
Publication date:	03/09/2009
Pages:	460
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.93(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Read an Excerpt

One Hundred Favorite Folktales

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By Stith Thompson

Indiana University Press

Copyright © 1968 Indiana University Press
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-253-20172-0

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CHAPTER 1

One

The Three Billy-Goats Gruff

Norwegian

Once on a time there were three billy-goats who were to go up to the hillside to make themselves fat, and the name of all three was "Gruff."

On the way up was a bridge over a burn they had to cross; and under the bridge lived a great ugly Troll, with eyes as big as saucers and a nose as long as a poker.

So first of all came the youngest billy-goat Gruff to cross the bridge.

"Trip, trap; trip, trap!" went the bridge.

"Who's that tripping over my bridge?" roared the Troll.

"Oh, it is only I, the tiniest billy-goat Gruff; and I'm going up to the hillside to make myself fat," said the billy-goat, with such a small voice.

"Now, I'm coming to gobble you up," said the Troll.

"Oh no, pray don't take me. I'm too little, that I am," said the billy-goat; "wait a bit till the second billy-goat Gruff comes, he's much bigger."

"Well, be off with you," said the Troll.

A little while after came the second billy-goat Gruff to cross the bridge.

"Trip, trap! trip, trap! trip, trap!" went the bridge.

"Who's that tripping over my bridge?" roared the Troll.

"Oh, it's the second billy-goat Gruff, and I'm going up to the hillside to make myself fat," said the billy-goat, who hadn't such a small voice.

"Now, I'm coming to gobble you up," said the Troll.

"Oh no, don't take me; wait a little till the big billy-goat Gruff comes, he's much bigger."

"Very well, be off with you," said the Troll.

But just then up came the big billy-goat Gruff.

"TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP!" went the bridge, for the billy-goat was so heavy that the bridge creaked and groaned under him.

"WHO'S THAT tramping over my bridge?" roared the Troll.

"IT'S I! THE BIG BILLY-GOAT GRUFF," said the billy-goat, who had an ugly hoarse voice of his own.

"Now, I'm coming to gobble you up," roared the Troll.

"Well, come along! I've got two spears,
And I'll poke your eyeballs out at yours ears;
I've got besides two curling-stones,
And I'll crush you to bits, body and bones."

That was what the big billy-goat said; and so he flew at the Troll and poked his eyes out with his horns, and crushed him to bits, body and bones, and tossed him out into the burn, and after that he went up to the hillside. There the billy-goats got so fat they were scarce able to walk home again; and if the fat hasn't fallen off them, why, they're still fat; and so —

Snip, snap, snout,
This tale's told out.

Two

The Ingrates

Italian

There was once a man who went into the forest to gather wood, and saw a snake crushed under a large stone. He raised the stone a little with the handle of his axe and the snake crawled out. When it was at liberty it said to the man: "I am going to eat you." The man answered: "Softly; first let us hear the judgment of some one, and if I am condemned, then you shall eat me."

The first one they met was a horse as thin as a stick, tied to an oak tree. He had eaten the leaves as far as he could reach, for he was famished. The snake said to him: "Is it right for me to eat this man who has saved my life?" The nag answered: "More than right. Just look at me! I was one of the finest horses. I have carried my master so many years, and what have I gained? Now that I am so badly off that I can no longer work they have tied me to this oak, and after I have eaten these few leaves I shall die of hunger. Eat the man, then; for he who does good is ill rewarded, and he who does evil must be well rewarded. Eat him, for you will be doing a good day's work."

They afterwards happened to find a mulberry tree, all holes, for it was eaten by old age; and the snake asked it if it was right to eat the man who had saved its life. "Yes," the tree answered at once, "for I have given my master so many leaves that he has raised from them the finest silkworms in the world; now that I can no longer stand upright, he has said that he is going to throw me into the fire. Eat him, then, for you will do well."

Afterwards they met the fox. The man took her aside and begged her to pronounce in his favor. The fox said: "The better to render judgment I must see just how the matter has happened." They all returned to the spot and arranged matters as they were at first; but as soon as the man saw the snake under the stone he cried out: "Where you are, there I will leave you." And there the snake remained.

The fox wished in payment a bag of hens, and the man promised them to her for the next morning. The fox went there in the morning, and when the man saw her he put some dogs in the bag, and told the fox not to eat the hens close by, for fear the mistress of the house would hear it. So the fox did not open the bag until she had reached a distant valley; then the dogs came out and ate her. And so it is in the world; for who does good is ill rewarded and who does evil is well rewarded.

Three

John The Bear

French

Once upon a time there was a woodcutter and his wife. One day when she was taking soup to her husband she found herself caught by a branch in the midst of the woods. While she tried to get loose a bear rushed upon her and carried her into his den. Some time afterward the woman, who was pregnant, gave birth to a son who was half bear and half human. He was called John the Bear.

The bear took care of the mother and child. Each day he brought them food; he brought them apples and other wild fruits and everything suitable he could find.

When the child was four years old his mother told him to try to lift the stone before the entrance to the cave where the bear kept them, but the child was not yet strong enough. When he was seven, his mother said to him: "The bear is not your father. Try to lift the stone so that we can escape." "I will lift it," answered the child. The next morning, after the bear had left, he did lift the stone and escaped with his mother. At midnight they arrived at the woodcutter's house; the mother knocked on the door. "Open," she cried, "it is I, your wife." The husband got up and opened the door; he was astonished to see the wife he had thought dead. She said to him: "I had a frightful adventure; I was carried oif by a bear. Here is the child which I carried then."

They sent the little boy to school. He was very naughty and had extraordinary strength. One day he gave one of his comrades such a blow with his fist that all the pupils were thrown to the other end of the bench. Then John the Bear threw the master, who had scolded him, through the window. After this feat he was expelled from school and his father said to him: "It is time for you to serve your apprenticeship." John, then fifteen, entered the service of a blacksmith, but his work was bad. At the end of three days he asked for his pay and then went to another blacksmith. He remained three weeks and had begun to learn the trade when the idea of leaving came to him. He left and entered the shop of a third blacksmith; there he became very skillful, and his master valued him highly.

One day John the Bear asked the blacksmith for iron to forge a cane. "Take what you need," his master said to him. John took all the iron he found in the shop and made himself a cane which weighed five hundred pounds. "I need still more iron," he said, "to make a ring for my cane." "Take all that you can find in the house," said the master; but there wasn't any more.

John the Bear then told the blacksmith goodbye and left with his cane. On his journey he met John of the Mill, who was playing quoits with a millstone. "Oh, oh," said John the Bear, "you are stronger than I. Will you come with me?" "Willingly," answered John of the Mill. A little farther they saw another young man who was holding up a mountain; he was named Hold-up-Mountain. "What are you doing there?" John the Bear asked him. "I am holding up this mountain; without me it would crumble." "Let us see," said John the Bear. The other had no sooner drawn back than the mountain fell down. "You are stronger than I," said John the Bear. "Will you come with me?" "I will indeed." When they arrived in a wood, they met another young man who was twisting an oak to tie his bundle of wood: he was called Oak-Twister. "Comrade," said John the Bear, "will you come with me?" "Gladly," answered Oak-Twister.

After walking two days and two nights through the woods, the four companions saw a beautiful castle. They entered it, and when they found in one of the rooms a table laden with fine food, they seated themselves and ate with good appetites. They drew lots as to who should remain in the castle while the others went hunting; he was to sound a bell to give his companions the signal for dinner.

John of the Mill was the first to guard the lodging. He was about to pour the soup on the bread when suddenly he saw a giant enter. "What are you doing here, boy?" the giant said to him. Then he knocked down John of the Mill and left. John of the Mill was covered with bruises and did not have the strength to ring the bell.

As his companions found the time long, they returned to the castle. "What has happened?" they asked John of the Mill. "I haven't been well; I believe that it is the smoke from the kitchen which has disagreed with me." "Is it only that?" said John the Bear; "that wouldn't make you very sick."

The following day Oak-Twister remained at the castle. As he was pouring the soup on the bread the giant arrived. "What are you doing here, boy?" he said to Oak-Twister, and after striking him down, he went away. John the Bear, having returned with his companions, said to Oak-Twister: "Why didn't you ring the bell?" "It's because," answered the other, "the smoke had made me ill." "Is that all?" said John the Bear. "Tomorrow it will be my turn."

The following day, just as John the Bear was about to ring the bell, the giant arrived. "What are you doing, boy?" he said to the young man and was about to throw himself upon him, but John the Bear did not give him time; he grasped his cane and split the giant in two. When his comrades returned to the castle, he scolded them for hiding their adventure. "I might have been killed," he said, "but I pardon you."

John the Bear then started to look about the castle. When he rapped with his cane upon the floor, it sounded hollow; he wanted to know why and discovered a great hole. His companions rushed forward. With the help of a rope they let down John of the Mill; he held in his hand a small bell. "When I ring it," he said, "pull me up." While he was going down he heard below him frightful howling; halfway down, he cried out that if he were not pulled up he would die. Then Hold-up-Mountain was lowered; also frightened at the shrieks which he heard, he soon rang the bell to be pulled back. Oak-Twister did the same.

John the Bear then descended with his cane. He reached the bottom without hearing anything and saw before him a fairy. "Have you no fear of the giant?" she asked him. "I have killed him," answered John the Bear. "You have done well," said the fairy. "Now you see this castle: there are devils in two rooms, eleven in the first and a dozen in the second; in another room you will find three beautiful princesses who are sisters." John the Bear entered the castle, which was even more beautiful than the other: there were magnificent gardens, trees loaded with golden fruit, meadows sprinkled with a thousand bright flowers.

When he reached one of the rooms, John the Bear knocked two or three times with his cane upon the gate which closed it, and made it fly into a thousand pieces; then he struck each of the little devils with his cane and killed them all. The gate to the other room was stronger; but John managed to break it and kill eleven devils. The twelfth asked mercy and begged to be allowed to live. "You will die like the others," said John the Bear, and he killed him.

Then he entered the room of the princesses. The youngest, who was also the most beautiful, gave him a little ball ornamented with pearls, diamonds, and emeralds. John the Bear went with her to the place where he had descended. He gave the signal and had them draw up the princess, whom John of the Mill quickly took away. John the Bear went to look for the second princess, who also gave him a little ball ornamented with pearls, emeralds, and diamonds. He had her drawn up like the first, and Hold-up-Mountain took her for himself. John the Bear returned to the third princess; he received from her the same gift, and had her pulled up like her sisters; Oak-Twister took her for himself. John the Bear then wished to return to the top himself; but his companions cut the rope. He fell to the bottom and broke his leg. Fortunately, he had a pot of ointment which the fairy had given him. With it he rubbed his knee, and there were no longer signs of the wound.

He was wondering what to do, when the fairy again appeared to him and said: "If you wish to leave here, take this path which leads to the castle above; but do not look at the little light which will be behind you; otherwise the light will go out and you will no longer see your way."

John the Bear followed the advice of the fairy. Arriving at the top, he saw his comrades making up their bundles in order to depart with the princesses. "Away from here, rascals!" he cried, "or I will kill you! It was I who overcame the giant, I am master here." And he chased them away.

The princesses wished to take him to the king, their father, but he refused. "Perhaps some day," he said to them, "I shall enter into your country; then I shall come to see you." He put the three balls into his pocket and let the princesses leave. Once they had returned to the home of their father they no longer thought of him.

John the Bear began his travels again and came into the country of the king, father of the three princesses. He became a workman in the shop of a blacksmith; as he was very skillful, the shop soon became well known.

One day the king had the blacksmith brought to him and he said: "You must make me three small balls, for which this is the model. I will furnish everything and I will give you one million francs for your trouble; but if in the time allowed the balls are not ready, you shall die." The blacksmith told this to John the Bear, who answered that he would make it his business.

But as the time drew near, John the Bear had not worked any. He was at the table with his master. "The balls will not be ready," said the blacksmith. "Master, go now and bring out a jug." While he was in the cellar, John the Bear knocked on the anvil, then drew from his pocket the balls the princesses had given him. The job was done.

The blacksmith hastened to take the balls to the king. "Are they as you wished?" he said. "They are even more beautiful," answered the king. He counted out to the blacksmith the million promised, and went to show the balls to his daughters. They said to each other: "They are the balls which we gave to the young man who freed us." They told their father about this. He soon sent guards to find John the Bear; but John did not want to be bothered. The king sent other guards to tell him that if he did not come, he would die. Then John the Bear made his decision.

The king saluted him, and after many compliments and many thanks, he told him to choose as a wife the one of his three daughters who pleased him the most. John the Bear took the youngest, who was also the most beautiful. The marriage was celebrated three months later. As to the companions of John the Bear, they were burned in a great fire.

Four

The Giant Who Had No Heart In His Body

Norwegian

Once on a time there was a king who had seven sons, and he loved them so much that he could never bear to be parted from them all; at least one must always be with him. Now, when they were grown up, six were to set off to woo, but as for the youngest, his father kept him at home, and the others were to bring back a princess for him to the palace. So the king gave the six the finest clothes you ever set eyes on, so fine that the light gleamed from them a long way off, and each had his horse, which cost many, many hundred dollars, and so they set off. Now, when they had been to many palaces, and seen many princesses, at last they came to a king who had six daughters; such lovely king's daughters they had never seen, and so they fell to wooing them, each one, and when they had got them for sweethearts, they set off home again, but they quite forgot that they were to bring back with them a sweetheart for Boots, their brother, who had stayed at home, for they were over head and ears in love with their own sweethearts.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from One Hundred Favorite Folktales by Stith Thompson. Copyright © 1968 Indiana University Press. Excerpted by permission of Indiana University Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Foreword

1. The Three Billy-Goats Gruff
2. The Ingrates
3. John the Bear
4. The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body
5. The Castle of No Return
6. The Danced-Out Shoes
7. The Maiden in the Tower
8. How the Devil Married Three Sisters
9. The White Cat
10. The Little Gardener with Golden Hair
11. Anpu and Bata
12. The Doctor and His Pupil
13. A Tale of a Boy Who Set Out to Learn Fear
14. Hansel and Gretel
15. Boots and the Troll
16. The Master-Smith
17. The Child Sold to the Devil
18. Godfather Death
19. Little Red Riding-Hood
20. Maid Lena
21. The Three Princesses of Whiteland
22. The Frog Princess
23. The White Bride and the Black Bride
24. The Three Citrons
25. Sleeping Beauty
26. East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon
27. King Bean
28. King Lindorm
29. The Frog King
30. Sister Alionushka, Brother Ivanushka
31. The Six Swans
32. The Rich Man and His Son-in-Law
33. The Animal Wife
34. Friends in Life and Death
35. The Two Step-Sisters
36. Tom Tit Tot
37. The Three Aunts
38. The Hunchback's Gift
39. The Princess Who Was Rescued from Slavery
40. The Hearth-Cat
41. Katie Woodencloak
42. One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes
43. The Self-Propelled Carriage
44. Faithful John
45. The Princess on the Glass Hill
46. The Servant Who Took the Place of His Master
47. The Goose-Girl
48. Lord Peter
49. The Gold Bird
50. The Well at the World's End
51. The Goldfish
52. The Grateful Animals and the Talisman
53. The Ass That Lays Money
54. Two Out of the Sack
55. Horns
56. The Magic Bird
57. The King's Hares
58. The Lamb with the Golden Fleece
59. The Blue Belt
60. True and Untrue
61. The Louse Skin
62. The Young Giant
63. The Miller's Four Sons
64. The Speedy Messenger
65. The Language of Animals
66. The Three Languages
67. The Lazy Boy
68. Tom Thumb
69. The Armless Maiden
70. The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird
71. Snow-White
72. The Juniper
73. The Poor and the Rich
74. The Greater Sinner
75. The Singing Bone
76. The Princess Who Wanted to Solve Riddles
77. The Princess in the Earth Cave
78. The Clever Peasant Girl
79. The King Who Wanted a Beautiful Wife
80. The Crumb in the Beard
81. The Three Words of Advice
82. The King and the Bishop
83. Intelligence and Luck
84. The Treasure Chamber of Rhampsinitus
85. The Anger Bargain
86. Polyphemus, the Cyclops
87. Gudbrand on the Hillside
88. Clever Elsie and Her Companions
89. The Master Thief
90. Shemiaka the Judge
91. Little Claus and Big Claus
92. The Man from Paradise
93. The Just Reward
94. The Brave Little Tailor
95. Crab
96. Salt
97. Peter Ox
98. What Should I Have Said?"
99. "Is He Fat?"
100. The Pancake

Notes and Sources