akorn - Mighty Old Tales Retold

In olden days, when Grandfather was just a little boy and wore red trousers, a red jacket, a sash around his waste, and a feather in his cap -- for that's the way little boys dressed in his childhood when they wore their best clothes -- so many things were different from nowadays.

The drummer's wife went to church and saw the new altar with painted pictures and carved angels. The angels were very beautiful, both those painted on cloth, in all their colors and glory, and those carved in wood, painted and gilded.

Father and mother and all the brothers and sisters had gone to the theater; only little Anna and her grandfather were left at home.

On a hill there stood a windmill stately to look at and very proud of itself.

There was a man who once had known a great many new fairy tales, but he had forgotten them, he said. The fairy tale that used to come visit him of its own accord no longer came and knocked at his door; and why didn't it come any more?

It is wintertime, and the earth is covered with a layer of snow, as smooth as if it were marble cut from a mountain.

There was a proud Teapot -- proud of being made of porcelain, proud of its long spout and handle. 

It was wintertime; the air was cold, the wind sharp, but indoors all was snug and well. Indoors lay the flower; it lay in its bulb, under earth and snow.

The New Century's Goddess -- whom our great-grandchildren or perhaps a still later generation will know, but we shall not -- when and how does she reveal herself? What does she look like? What is the theme of her song? Whose heartstrings will she touch? To what heights will she lift her century?

There was once a shilling; it came out bright and shiny from the mint, and sprang up, shouting, "Hurrah! Now I'm going out into the wide world!" And into the wide world it went.