akorn - Mighty Old Tales Retold

The Fisherman and His Wife

There was once upon a time a fisherman who lived with his wife in a miserable pigsty close by the sea, and every day he went out fishing. And once he was sitting with his rod, looking at the clear water, his line suddenly went down, far down below, and when he drew it up again he brought out a large flounder. Then the flounder said to him, "Listen you fisherman..."

The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean

In a village swelt a poor old woman, who had gathered together a dish of beans and wanted to cook them. 

The White Snake

A long time ago there lived a king who was famed for his wisdom through all the land. Nothing was hidden from him, and it seemed as if the news of the most secret things was brought to him through the air. But he had a strange custom;

The Three Snake-Leaves

There was once upon a time a poor man, who could no longer support his only son. Then said the son, "Dear Father, things go so badly with us that I am a burden to you. I would rather go away and see how I can earn my bread."

Hansel and Gretel

Near a great forest dwelt a poor woodcutter with his wife and his two children. The boy was called Hansel and the girl Gretel. He had little to bite and to break, and when great scarcity fell on the land, he could no longer procure daily bread. 

The Three Spinners

There was once a girl who was idle and would not spin, and let her mother try as she might, she could not bring her to it. At last the mother was so overcome with anger and impatience, that she beat her, on which the girl began to weep loudly. Now at this very moment the Queen drove by...

The Three Little Men in the Wood

There was once a man whose wife died, and a woman whose husband died, and the man had a daughter, and the woman also had a daughter. The girls were acquainted with each other and went out walking together, and afterwards came to the woman in her house. Then she said to the man's daughter, "Listen, tell your father that I would like to marry him..."

Rapunzel

There was once a man and a woman who had long in vain wished for a child. At length the woman hoped that God was about to grant her desire.

Little Brother and Little Sister

Little brother took his little sister by the hand and said, "Since our mother died we have had no happiness; our stepmother beats us every day, and if we come near her she kicks us away with her foot. Our meals are the hard crusts of bread that are left over; and the little dog under the table is better off, for she often throws it a nice bit. May heaven pity us. If our mother only knew! Come, we will go forth together into the wide world."

The Pack of Ragamuffins

The cock once said to the hen, "It is now the time when our nuts are ripe, so let us go to the hill together and for once eat our fill before the squirrel takes them all away."