akorn - Mighty Old Tales Retold

On one of the Danish islands, where old thingsteads, the judgment seats of our forefathers, loom up in the cornfields and mighty trees raise their heads above the beech forests, there lies a little town of low houses with red roofs.

There was sorrow in the house; there was sorrow in every heart, for the youngest child, a four-year-old boy, the joy and future hope of his parents, was dead.

Anne Lisbeth's complexion was like peaches and cream; her eyes were bright, her teeth shiny white; she was young, gay, and beautiful to look upon; her steps were light and her mind was even lighter.

When the wind sweeps over the grass, the blades of grass ripple like the water of a lake; and when it sweeps over the cornfield the ears of corn curl into waves like those on a lake; this is the dance of the Wind.

"In this world things go up and down and down and up!" said Ole, the tower keeper.

You have probably heard of the girl who trod on a loaf so as not to soil her pretty shoes, and what misfortunes this brought upon her.

There was a large party for children at the house of the merchant; rich people's children and important people's children were all there.

Once there was a man who wrote some new rhymes for the A-B-C Book -- two lines for each letter, just as in the old A-B-C Book. He believed the old rhymes were too antiquated, that something new was needed, and he thought well indeed of his own rhymes.

You know the story of Holge Danske, so we won't repeat it, but will ask you if you remember how "Holger Danske conquered the great land of India, eastward at the end of the world, to the tree called 'the Tree of the Sun,'" as Christen Pedersen says. Do you know Christen Pedersen? It makes no difference if you don't.

A prize was offered -- or rather two prizes, a large one and a small one -- for the greatest speed shown, not just in one race, but by one who had been racing for the whole year.