Folk Tales
These stories from around the world can be used as reading assignments for ESL students and to generate class discussions and exchanging folk tales from students’ native countries. They may also serve as the basis for playlets or skits that students can create and perform.
The Fisherman
Once there was a fisherman who lived with his wife in a small hut not far from a river. They were very poor but had enough food to keep them alive and had the necessities of life. The fisherman woke up early every morning and took his nets to the river and spent all day trying to catch fish. The fish that he caught was the main food for the husband and wife and when there were more fish than they could eat, the fisherman traded them for other foods and goods.
They lived in this way for a long time, but the fisherman’s wife was never satisfied. She always wanted more and complained every day to her husband about their poor life. The husband was happy to get away from his complaining wife and spend his time fishing on the peaceful river.
One day when the fisherman opened his net, he found a very unusual fish. The fisherman had never before seen a fish like it. It was large and beautiful with colors of silver, blue and gold. When the fisherman put out his hand to take the fish out of the net, to his amazement the fish began to speak to him. It said, “Please Mr. Fisherman, throw me back into the water.” The fisherman was so surprised that he didn’t do anything for a minute. Then, because he was a kind man, he did as the fish wished and threw it back into the water. When the fish touched the water, it called back to the fisherman, “Thank you, sir,” and the fisherman felt very happy to see the fish swim off.
When he got home that night and told his wife about the special fish he had caught, she was very angry with him. “That was certainly a magical fish,” she said. “You should have made the fish grant you a wish before you threw it back into the water. You wasted a great opportunity. You have to go back and catch the fish again and make it give you a wish. Make the fish give us a better house.” She scolded him all night and the fisherman was happy to leave the house early in the morning with his nets.
He went to the same place by the river where he caught the special fish and threw out his nets. Much to his surprise, when he brought in the net, he found the special fish again, and again the fish asked to be thrown back into the river. The fisherman was embarrassed to ask the fish for a wish, but he was afraid to go back home and see his wife without asking. He picked up the fish and said, “I am sorry but my wife wants me to ask you for a wish before I release you.” The fish said, “Yes, I can give you a wish. What would you like?” The fisherman answered that he would like his house to be bigger and better. The fish replied, “After you throw me into the river, go home and you will find that your house is bigger and better.” So the fisherman threw the fish into the river, collected his nets, and started out for his house.
The fisherman was greatly surprised when he arrived to see a large cottage where his small hut used to be. When he went inside, he found his wife cooking a big meal with all kinds of wonderful foods. The fisherman was not only happy because of his good fortune but because his wife was finally satisfied and had stopped complaining. But after three days, his wife started to complain again. She said that he had wasted a good opportunity to become rich and live in a fine mansion and had only asked the fish for a small favor. She complained and complained until the fisherman said he would go back and try to catch the magic fish again.
The fisherman returned to the special place where he had caught the fish before and threw out his net. Once again, to his delight, the magic fish was caught in his net. Before the fish could speak, the fisherman said, “I am sorry, fish, but my wife has ordered me to ask you for a mansion and lots of money.” The fish once again said that after he was thrown back into the water, the fisherman’s wish would be granted.
This time, when the fisherman returned to his house, he found a fine mansion where the cottage had stood. When he entered, he found many maids and servants rushing around cleaning and preparing a great feast. His wife, dressed in an expensive gown, was resting on a large sofa and she finally seemed satisfied with their change of fortune. The fisherman thought that finally he could relax in his home without his wife complaining. But after three days, his wife once again began to scold him. “You foolish man,” she said. “Why did you release the fish without making him give us a really good wish? You should have asked him to make us king and queen. Now go back and catch the fish again and don’t let him go until he grants this wish.”
The fisherman was very unhappy but did as his wife asked. Once again he threw out his nets and caught the fish and told it what his wife wanted. The fish suddenly jumped out of the man’s hand and flew back into the water. As he swam off, he turned around and said, “There is no end to people’s greed. Go back home and you will find what you deserve.”
When the fisherman got back to his house, he found the fine mansion gone and in its place was the same small hut made of sticks and mud that he had before he caught the magic fish. He went inside to find his wife dressed in rags crying about all the riches she had lost. And this is the way the fisherman and his wife lived the rest of their lives, for he never again caught the magic fish.
(This text is based on a German folk tale in the Brothers Grimm collection.)
The Boy and the North Wind
There was once an old woman who had one son. She told her son to go to the shop and get a bowl of flour so she could bake some bread. As the boy was coming back from the shop with a bowl full of flour, the strong North Wind blew and removed all the flour from the bowl. The boy returned to the store and paid for another bowl of flour. As he walked to his house, once again the North Wind started to blow and took away all the flour. So once again, he went back to the store and gave his last coin for one more bowl of flour. This time, he had almost reached the door of his house when once again the North Wind came and robbed him of the flour.
The boy was very hungry and had been looking forward to eating the delicious bread his mother was going to make. Now he had no more money to buy another bowl of flour and without flour he would have no bread. He was very sad and then he became angry with the North Wind for taking away the flour. He decided to go to the North Wind and complain and try to get the flour back. And that is what he did.
He walked and he walked and he walked until he came to the great cave of the North Wind. He entered the cave and greeted the North Wind by saying, “Good afternoon, Mr. Wind.” And because he was a polite boy, he added, “Thank you for coming to see me this morning.” The North Wind was very happy to have a visitor and answered in turn, “Hello to you, young man, and thank you for coming to see me this afternoon. What can I do for you?”
The boy explained that the North Wind had taken away three bowls of flour from him that morning and now he was very hungry and wanted to get them back. The North Wind said, “I am very sorry but I don’t have the flour. However, I will give you something better than flour.” And the North Wind gave the boy a wonderful tablecloth. “When you spread the tablecloth on a table and say, ‘Tablecloth, serve my meal,’ all kinds of wonderful food will magically appear.” The boy was delighted with the tablecloth and thanked the North Wind for the wonderful gift.
The boy started walking home, thinking about how pleased his mother would be with the magic tablecloth. But he became very tired and decided to stop at an inn for the evening and continue his trip the next day. At the inn, the boy demonstrated his magic tablecloth to the innkeeper who was not an honest person. That night while the boy slept, the innkeeper came quietly into his room and took the magic tablecloth. In its place, he put another cloth which looked exactly the same but which could not magically produce food.
The next day, the boy arrived at his house and told his mother about his adventure. He told her all about the wonderful tablecloth that the North Wind had given him. But when he spread the tablecloth on the table and said, “Tablecloth, serve my meal,” nothing happened. The boy was disappointed and decided to go back to the North Wind.
So the next day, the boy walked back to the cave of the North Wind and once again gave his greetings. The North Wind was surprised to see the boy again so soon and asked him, “Well, what brings you back here today?” The boy explained that when he tried to use the tablecloth, nothing happened. The North Wind said that he was sorry and would give him something else that was even better than the tablecloth. And the North Wind gave the boy a small brown chicken. “When you say, ‘Chicken, lay an egg,’ it will lay a small egg of real gold.” Once again the boy thanked the North Wind and started on his way home.
The boy again became very tired on his way home and decided to stop at the same inn. When he got there he showed the innkeeper his chicken and caused it to lay a golden egg. When the boy was asleep in his room later that night, the dishonest innkeeper quietly came in and took the magic chicken. In its place, he left another chicken that looked exactly the same but which laid only ordinary eggs.
When the boy got home and told his mother about the magic chicken, she was very excited. But when the boy said, “Chicken, lay an egg,” it did nothing. The boy decided to go back once again to the North Wind.
“Hello, my young friend,” said the North Wind when the boy entered the cave. “What can I do for you today?” The boy explained that the chicken would not lay golden eggs or even regular eggs. “I see,” said the North Wind. “I am afraid that I have nothing else to give you except this stick. But it’s not an ordinary stick. When you say, ‘Stick, start beating,’ it will keep on beating until you say, ‘Stick, stop beating.’” As usual, the boy thanked the North Wind and started the long trip home.Again he was tired and stayed at the same inn. This time the boy did not show his magic stick to the innkeeper. But the dishonest innkeeper noticed the stick and guessed that it had magic powers. He decided to steal it while the boy was asleep. But this time the boy only pretended to sleep and when the innkeeper came into his room and was about to take the stick, the boy jumped up and said, “Stick, start beating.” The stick started beating the innkeeper and chased him all around the room until the innkeeper cried, “Make it stop and I will give you back your tablecloth and chicken.” So the boy said, “Stick, stop beating,” and it did. The innkeeper gave the boy his tablecloth and chicken.
That night, the boy and his mother enjoyed a delicious meal produced by the tablecloth and then enjoyed watching the chicken lay many golden eggs. And the innkeeper never stole another thing from any of his guests.
(This text is based on a Norwegian folk tale.)
The Emperor’s New Clothes
There was once a king — actually he preferred to call himself “emperor” — who was very vain about how he looked. He spent more than one hour every day combing his hair. He wore only the most expensive and most fashionable clothing and he never wore the same clothing twice. He spent more money on clothing in one week than any honest worker earned in a whole year.
Two strangers were passing through the country that this vain emperor ruled and they heard many stories about how crazy he was about clothing. These men were not honest and they began to think about how they might make some money from this emperor who was so concerned about fine clothes. After thinking and talking about the problem for a while, they came up with an idea that they both liked.
The two men started telling people that they were tailors and had the finest cloth in the world. They said that their cloth was fit only for the clothing of truly great people. The cloth was more expensive than silver or gold, but whoever wore it would stand out as a remarkable person. Furthermore, the cloth had a very special quality. Only intelligent people could see it. Foolish people and those who were not very intelligent were not able to see the cloth at all.
The two men stayed in their room and pretended to make clothes from their wonderful cloth. They measured and cut and sewed, or at least pretended to do so. People passing by their window could see them busily working but nobody was quite sure about what they were doing.
Soon the stories about the strangers’ cloth came to the emperor’s ears and he was very interested. He certainly wanted to own clothing made of the most expensive material, as is fitting for an emperor. He was also excited about being able to show off his intelligence by wearing clothing of material that only intelligent people could see. The emperor decided to send his top advisor to the two men to learn more about their wonderful cloth.
The advisor came to the strangers’ room and told them of the emperor’s interest in their cloth. The strangers pretended to roll out the material and show it to the advisor, while they described the colors and texture of the cloth to him. The advisor was very embarrassed because he could not see the cloth. “I must not be intelligent enough,” he thought, “to see this cloth,” but he didn’t dare say that to the two men. He pretended to see everything they showed him and complimented every piece of imaginary cloth they held up for his inspection. When he returned to the emperor, he said that the cloth was the most beautiful and wonderful he had ever seen. Then he described the cloth exactly as the two men had described it to him.
The emperor decided that he must have some clothing from this wonderful cloth at once. He sent a messenger to the two men, telling them to come immediately to his palace and to bring along everything they needed to fit the emperor for a suit of clothing. The fake tailors had been waiting for just such an invitation from the emperor and were ready.
When the two fake tailors arrived at the emperor’s palace, they greeted him in a very flattering way and complimented his appearance and his fine taste. The emperor was well pleased with what they said and asked them if they would agree to make a new suit of clothes for him from the wonderful cloth that his advisor had seen. The two men readily agreed and started taking many measurements and writing down many numbers in a small notebook they carried. After a while, they finished their work and prepared to leave. They promised the emperor that his suit would be finished before the week was through.
Every day, the two fake tailors sat in their room and pretended to work. People passing their window could see them measuring and cutting and sewing, but they could not see exactly what the two men were doing. For the whole week, the emperor thought about nothing except his new clothing. He planned a great parade to show off his new clothes and busied himself preparing for it. When his advisors came to him to discuss financial or military matters, he waved them away. Nothing was as important to him as his new clothes, which now fully occupied his mind.
At the end of one week, the fake tailors returned to the emperor’s palace with the suit they had made. “Isn’t it wonderful?” asked one of the fake tailors, pretending to hold up a jacket. Let’s see how everything fits.” With that, the two fake tailors helped take off the emperor’s clothes and dress him in his new suit.
The fake tailors busied themselves adjusting the make-believe suit and exclaiming how excellently everything fit and how wonderful the emperor looked in his new clothes. The emperor didn’t say anything because he couldn’t see the suit, but was afraid to say so. If he admitted that he couldn’t see the suit, he would be admitting that he was not intelligent. The fake tailors asked him, “How do you like the suit? What do you think of the material? How does it feel?” The emperor answered, “It is wonderful. It is the best suit I’ve ever worn.”
When the emperor walked out of his dressing room, all his followers looked at him in surprise because they could not see his clothes. But they clapped their hands and pretended that his new suit was wonderful. The emperor stepped into an open coach and led a parade around the city. Everyone watched as the emperor rode by and even though nobody could see his clothes, they all pretended that they could. One small boy in the crowd, however, spoke out and said, “Look, the emperor isn’t wearing any clothes.” Soon other people began to repeat the boy’s words and started to laugh at the emperor. After a while, the emperor realized that everyone was laughing at him. He felt embarrassed and tried to hide himself from view.
(This text is based on a story by Hans Christian Anderson.)
The Real Princess
A king and queen had a son and they loved him very much. Because he was their only child, they gave him everything he ever asked for and spoiled him terribly. If he needed new clothes, they would spare no expense and get him only the finest clothes that could be bought. If he wanted a horse, they would search through the whole kingdom to find the very best horse for him.
The young prince grew very used to the special treatment he got and began to feel that nothing was good enough for him. When he was old enough to get married, his attitude caused a great problem for him and his parents. He couldn’t find anyone that he thought was good enough to be his bride. All of the young women from his kingdom and neighboring kingdoms came to visit the young prince in the hope of becoming his wife, but the prince wasn’t satisfied with any of them.
The king and queen decided to send their son on a trip around the world so that he would have more opportunities to meet more young women and to find one he was satisfied with. They made arrangements for him to stay at the palaces of kings and queens in faraway countries and expected that he would meet a princess that he was willing to marry.
The prince traveled around the world and met many beautiful princesses, but he was not satisfied with any of them. None of them seemed like a real princess to him, a princess worthy of being his wife. At the end of a year, he returned to his parents and they were disappointed and upset that he returned alone. They began to fear that he would never marry and have children of his own and that would be the end of their glorious dynasty.
One night there was a terrible storm in the kingdom. The heavens opened and poured down rain. The wind blew and the thunder and lightening frightened everyone so much that they all locked themselves inside their houses. The palace of the king and queen was locked up tight to keep the storm out. But through the noise of the storm, the king and queen heard someone knocking at their door and they ordered the servants to see who could possibly be visiting them in such terrible weather.
The doors were opened and everyone was surprised to see a young girl at the door. She explained that she was a princess who was traveling with a large company of servants when they were separated by the storm. She saw the lights of the palace and made her way there.
They invited the stranger in and gave her dry clothes to wear and invited her to sit down to dinner with them. She was a pretty girl and the king and queen were happy to see that their son, the prince, looked at her with interest. After dinner the prince told his parents, in private, that the stranger was indeed the most beautiful woman he had ever met and that if only he could be sure that she was really a princess, he would marry her.
The king and the queen and the prince discussed the matter for some time and finally came up with a plan to test whether the girl was a real princess. They placed a small pea in the bed that was being prepared for the girl to sleep on. Then they placed another mattress and heavy blanket on top of it. They then placed another mattress and blanket and another. They continued to do this until there were twenty mattresses and twenty blankets piled on top of one another. They then told the girl to go to sleep on the bed, which almost touched the high ceiling of the room.
In the morning, the king, the queen and the prince eagerly asked the girl if she slept well. “Oh no,” she replied, “I couldn’t sleep at all the whole night. There was a rock or something in the bed which disturbed me so that I wasn’t able to fall asleep.”
The king and queen and prince knew that only a true princess would be sensitive enough to be bothered by the small pea under all the mattresses. They were delighted that she had passed the test. The prince asked the girl to marry him and she agreed, as long as she would have a new bed that was not so uncomfortable. In a few weeks there was a big wedding party in the kingdom and the prince began his long life together with the girl that had proved she was a real princess.
(This text is based on a story by Hans Christian Anderson.)
The Excellent Student
There was once a young student who didn’t like to study. He liked to hunt and to fish and to have a good time with his friends, but he didn’t like to read or study for his exams. He was smart enough, but he was lazy. He would rather do things that were fun and easy than work hard on his studies. Because of his bad study habits, he was in danger of failing his exams.
One afternoon, when he should have been in his room studying, he went to the forest to hunt. As he looked all around for animals, he saw a beautiful girl hiding behind a tree. He walked toward the girl so he could talk to her, but she ran away from him. He followed her and she ran more quickly. As fast as he ran, she always managed to get away from him. He followed her through winding paths and up steep rocks but he could not catch up to her. She always stayed just a little ahead of him. As she ran, she called out to him, “If you followed your studies with as much energy as you are following me, you would be an excellent student.”
The girl continued to run and the student continued to follow her. Finally, he called out to her, “Please don’t run away from me. Or at least tell me where I can meet you some other time.” The girl stopped and turned around to face him. He was amazed at how beautiful she was. She said to the student, “If you want to find me again, look for me in your books.” The student didn’t understand what she meant and looked confused and disappointed. “Here,” said the girl, putting a small silver mirror in the student’s hand, “is something of mine. You can use it to see me again. But you will only see my face in the mirror through your books.” Then, suddenly, the girl disappeared.
As the boy returned to his home, he looked at the mirror many times, but he didn’t see anything. Then, when he got back to his room, he put the mirror on his desk. Then he took a great big book from a shelf and put it on top of the mirror. He tried to look at the mirror through the book, but of course, he could not see anything “through” the book. The girl must have meant something else when she said he could see her again only through his books. The student opened the book and started to read. He read and read and became very interested in the book. Before he knew it, several hours had passed and he had read many pages of the book. When he picked the book up to put it back on the shelf, he saw the silver mirror. He picked it up and looked at it, and in it he saw the face of the beautiful girl.
The next day, as soon as he awoke, the student looked at the mirror but saw nothing in it. During the day, he studied very hard and read many pages in his books, and when he finished, he looked at the mirror again. The face of the beautiful girl smiled back at him. The boy started to study hard every day. He read many books and worked very hard at his studies. When his friends called on him to go hunting or fishing or to have a party, he always said, “No, I have to study.” The boy studied so well that he became an excellent student. Every day, after he finished his studies, he looked at the mirror and was rewarded by the smiling face of the beautiful girl.
Many weeks went by in this way and the student surprised his teachers with how much he knew and how seriously he studied. Then, one day, when his friends called on him to go fishing, he decided that he deserved a rest from his studies. So he went with his friends and spent the whole day at the river having a good time with his friends. Many hours later he went back home. When he picked up the mirror and looked at it, he saw the beautiful girl. But she was crying.
The boy understood that he must work on his studies every day, and he did so. Not one day went by without the boy reading and studying his books. At the end of every day, he looked at the mirror and found the beautiful girl smiling at him. When the end of the year came and the boy took his big examination, he received the highest grade. When he graduated from school, he won many honors and awards.After graduation, the boy returned to his room and took out the silver mirror. He saw the smiling face of the beautiful girl, and then, suddenly, the girl herself stood in front of him, smiling. The boy held out his hand and touched the hand of the girl, and found that she was real. The girl bowed her head and spoke very politely to the boy. “I am afraid to be standing here before such a smart and learned scholar,” she said, and her face reddened. The boy looked at her and said, “Any success I have had is because of you.”
The student and the beautiful girl soon married. He got a very high position and always did his work carefully and well. He was never lazy again. He worked hard and as a result had the greatest reward. Every day when he came back to his home, he saw the smiling face of his beautiful wife.
(This text is based on a Chinese Folk Tale.)
The Girl at the Bridge
This is a true story, or at least the person who told it to me swore that it was true. He said that the young man in the story was a friend of his. When I told this story to another friend, he said that he had heard the same story from a friend of his who swore that it was true and happened to him. In fact, every time I tell this story, the person tells me that he knows the person to whom it happened and it was his friend or neighbor or relative. Maybe, after you read this story, you will say that you heard it before and know the person to whom it happened. Whether it is true or not, it is a good story. Sometime, when you are driving down a quiet road by yourself on a, dark, rainy May night, you may think of this story.
A young man was driving through a small town on a dark and rainy Saturday night in May. It was late and there were no other cars on the road. The rain made it hard to see the road, so he drove slowly. He knew that there had been many accidents on this particular road and he tried to be careful. He felt tired and was trying to keep himself from falling asleep. Just as he was coming to a bridge over a small river, he saw something white on the side of the road. He went even slower and saw that it was a person, a young girl in a white dress.
He stopped the car and got out. He went up to the girl and saw that she was very pretty but that her face was quite pale and almost as white as her dress. He asked her if he could give her a ride and she nodded her head. He opened the back door and she got in. He saw that her dress was completely wet from the rain. He got back into the driver’s seat and then turned around and asked her where she was going. She said, “I’m going home. I need to get home. My mother will be worried about me. Please take me home.” Then she told him an address and didn’t say anything else, so he turned to the front again and began to drive.
Neither of them said anything for a while and the car continued moving through the rainy night. Then the man heard a sound coming from the back of the car. At first, he didn’t know what it was, but then he realized that the girl was crying. “Are you OK?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the road. “What happened to you? Why were you standing on the road in the rain?” At first, the girl was silent, and then slowly, she began to speak.
“I was at a party,” she said. “It was our high school prom. There were a lot of people and my boyfriend was there, too. We started to argue about something and I got very angry with him. I told him that I was going home. He wanted to drive me home but I was too angry and didn’t want to ride with him. I told him I didn’t want a ride and walked out. I started to walk home and then it began to rain. I thought I could get a ride or catch a bus, but there were no cars on the road until you came by.” Then she was quiet again.
Soon they reached the address that the girl had given. It was late at night and none of the lights were on in the house. The young man drove into the driveway and got out of the car. He walked around to the back and opened the door so the girl could get out. But she wasn’t there. He got into the back seat and felt that the seat was still wet from her dress, but he could find no trace of the girl. He looked all around and still didn’t see her. Finally, he walked over to the front door of the house and rang the bell.
After a few minutes, an old lady came to the door. She opened the door just a little way and asked the young man what he wanted. “I’m sorry to bother you,” he said, “but did a young girl just come into the house? I gave her a ride to this address, but when we got here, she disappeared and I thought she might have already come in.”
The old woman opened the door wider and told the young man to come in. When he went in, he looked around, expecting to see the girl, but she was not there. The old woman told him to sit down and walked out of the room. She came back a minute later and handed the young man a photo and asked, “Is this the girl that was in your car?” When the young man said it was, the old woman said, “That was my daughter that you gave a ride to.”
“Where is she?” asked the young man.
“She died ten years ago,” answered the old woman. “She was at the high school prom and argued with her boyfriend. She left by herself and started to walk home. The night was dark and rainy, just like tonight. Just before the little bridge over the river, a truck came down the road. It was going too fast and when it tried to stop, it skidded on the wet road. My daughter was killed. That was ten years ago. Every year, on a dark, rainy night like the night she died, her ghost finds a car to bring her here. She is still trying to get home.”
(This text is based on a North Carolina legend.)
The Little Match Girl
It was a cold winter day and the sun was starting to set. Shops were closing and people were starting to hurry to their warm homes. People rushed around bundled up in their warm clothing, carrying packages wrapped in colorful paper and ribbons and bows. Soon they would be together with their family members enjoying a big holiday feast. And after they had eaten their fill, they would sit by their fireplaces in front of a roaring fire with a big cup of hot chocolate. The snow was falling gently and sounds of laughter and holiday joy could be heard in the streets. All around, the happy sounds of holiday greetings filled the air.
Only one small figure on a quiet street corner did not enjoy the general happiness and excitement. It was a small girl. She was not dressed in a warm coat like the other people on the street and she did not have a warm sweater or scarf or gloves. She was dressed only in a few torn and ragged pieces of cloth. She did not have warm, fur-lined boots to keep her feet warm and dry. She stood in the snow without shoes and even without socks. In her two skinny arms was a little tray with a few boxes of matches on it. She was a little beggar girl trying to sell her matches for a few pennies to buy some pieces of bread for her poor family.
Earlier in the day she had been wearing a pair of worn house slippers. But she had lost them while crossing the street. A streetcar had suddenly come around the corner and almost ran her over. Hurrying to get out of the way, she didn’t even think about her slippers which had gotten stuck in the half-melted snow. When she went back to get them, she could not find them. Maybe they had become attached to the rolling wheels of a vehicle and were carried far away, or maybe they had been pushed so far under the dirty snow that she could not see them.
“Matches, matches, please buy my matches,” she called in a weak voice that no one seemed to hear. In fact, no one seemed to see her at all. They hurried past her, talking in loud voices, as if she weren’t there at all. Nobody saw her, nobody heard her, and nobody bought her matches. For hours she had walked up and down the cold streets without selling a single match. Now she was afraid to go back home without even a single penny to give her father. She imagined how angry her father would be if she returned without any money. She could almost see his big, red, angry face and hear the terrible words he would shout at her.
So she walked along the streets that were now becoming empty. Most of the people had already arrived at their homes. She passed houses with windows brightly lit and sometimes smelled the wonderful aromas of chickens roasting and bread baking. Still she walked on, her bare feet aching from the freezing snow. Every time she was tempted to return home, the picture of her mean father came to her mind and she kept on walking.
Finally, tired from all her walking and almost frozen from the cold, she sat down in the snow beside the brick wall of an old factory building. Unable to stand the cold anymore, she did something that she knew she must never do — she struck one of her matches to get a little warmth. She knew what her father would do to her if he knew she was using one of the precious matches she was supposed to sell. Once again, the picture of his face jumped in front of her eyes. But as the match burst into flame, a wonderful thing happened. The mean, angry face of her father changed somehow into the soft and loving face of her mother – her mother who had died two years before. The little flame from the match warmed the little girl’s whole body. But then the flame went out and she was as cold as she was before.
The girl quickly took another match and rubbed it against the brick wall. Once again she felt the wonderful warmth. The little flame warmed her like a great fire in a great fireplace. Once again the dear image of her dead mother came to her eyes. And once again, after a short time, the match burned out and the warmth and her mother’s face faded away
Now the little girl picked up a whole handful of matches and rubbed them against the wall. This time the flame that burned was brighter than any light the girl had ever seen. A delicious warmth ran through her whole body and the face of her mother was so clear that the girl felt her mother was really sitting beside her, singing softly to her. The girl put her arms around her mother and begged her not to leave her again. “If you have to go,” she cried, “at least, take me with you.” And the girl’s mother seemed to be singing, “Come, come with me, my child.”
Some sparks flew up from the burning matches and the girl raised her face to the sky to watch the rising sparks. In the dark sky, the sparks seemed to become stars. Then one of the stars seemed to fall back to the earth. She remembered how her mother always used to say that when you see a falling star, it means that someone has died and a soul has gone to heaven. The flame burned out, but the little girl no longer felt cold.
In the morning someone would find the frozen body of a little girl curled up beside an old brick wall. He would see her skinny arms and legs and the little rags of clothing that she wore. He would see the burned up matches in her little hand and understand what had happened. But what he wouldn’t understand at all was the happy and peaceful smile that seemed to make the girl’s face glow.
(This text is based on a story by Hans Christian Anderson.)
Tom Tam Tot
A woman prepared five pies and put them in the oven. Because she had to go away for a little while, she asked her daughter to take the pies out of the oven when they were done and to put them on the shelf to cool. The daughter did as her mother asked, but after the pies cooled, she decided to taste one. It was so good that she ate more and more of it until the whole pie was finished. But she was still hungry, so she started to eat another pie. In a little while, she had eaten all five pies.
When her mother returned home, she asked what happened to the pies and the daughter said that she had eaten them all. The mother could hardly believe her ears and walked around mumbling, “I can’t believe my daughter ate five pies in one day.” She had to go to the store to buy more flour to bake more pies and as she walked down the street, she continued to mutter to herself, without realizing it, “I can’t believe my daughter ate five pies in one day.”
A man walking down the street happened to hear her and was very curious. He asked her what she was saying. The woman, embarrassed about the truth said, “Oh, I was just saying that my daughter made five baskets of thread in one day. She can spin faster than anyone else in the world.” The man was very impressed and said that the daughter must be an amazing woman and that he wanted to marry her. The man was wealthy and had an important position so the woman agreed.
After they had been married for some time, the husband said to his wife, “Your mother said that you were able to spin five baskets of thread in one day. Tomorrow I will lock you in a room with a spinning wheel for one week and each day you must spin five baskets as your mother said. If you are not able to do it, I will send you off to be a slave.”
The next day, her husband locked 
her in a room that had only a spinning wheel and many bales of cotton that needed to be spun. The girl was very frightened because she was not able to spin even one ball of thread in a week. She started to work and did the best she could, but she didn’t have much to show by the end of the day.
She sat down in a corner of the room and started to cry. She cried and cried because she did not want to be sold off as a slave. Suddenly, she heard a voice say, “Why are you crying?”
She looked up and saw a very strange, little creature. He seemed to be part man and part animal. She looked at him in astonishment and he asked again “Why are you crying?” She explained that she had to spin five baskets of thread each day that week, and the little creature said, “Hah, that is no problem. I can do that for you.”
Immediately he wiggled his tail and in less than five minutes he had spun all the cotton in the room into thread and easily filled five baskets. The girl was amazed and kissed the little creature on top of his head. “Oh, how can I thank you?” she asked.
The creature looked at the girl and said, “I will come back every day this week and spin thread for you. And each day I will give you three chances to guess my name. If you guess correctly, my work will just be a favor and you do not have to pay me. But if you do not guess my name, at the end of the week I will take you to my home and you will be my wife. Now, take your three guesses.”
The girl was very frightened but she had no choice and quickly guessed three names. After each guess, the creature laughed and said no. After her third guess, he winked and said, “Goodbye,” and was gone in an instant.
The girl was alone in the room thinking of her new problem when the door opened and her husband appeared with a tray of food. He looked around and saw that all the cotton had been spun. He smiled warmly and said, I see that what your mother said was true.” Then he kissed her and left.
The next day, the room was filled with cotton once gain and once gain at the end of the day, the little creature appeared and spun it all. The girl again made her three guesses but did not guess correctly. The creature laughed and left with a wink. Her husband came later with food and sat and talked with her for a while.
Every day was the same routine. On the sixth day she was becoming very nervous because she had no way of guessing the creature’s name. When her husband brought her food that night, he saw that she did not look happy and sat down to talk to her to cheer her up. He said to her, “A funny thing happened in the garden today. As I was walking along I heard a strange voice say, ‘Hot is cold and cold is hot, no one knows my name is Tom Tam Tot.’ I looked around but didn’t see anyone. Now isn’t that funny?” His wife, realizing that it was the information she needed, started to smile and her husband was happy that he had cheered her up.
On the seventh day, after spinning the thread, the creature asked the girl to make her last three guesses. “Jack,” she guessed and the creature laughed. “Zoobidoo?” she tried, and he laughed again. “How about Tom Tam Tot?” As soon as she said the name, she heard a cry and the creature was gone. After that, the girl’s problems were over because her husband never asked her to spin even one ball of thread and she never saw Tom Tam Tot again.
(This text is based on an English folk tale, Joseph Jacobs collection.)
Clever Manka
There was once a poor farmer who didn’t have his own land but worked on the fields of others who paid him for his labor by giving him fruits or grain or animals. Once he was hired to plow the fields of a rich man and was promised a cow as payment. But after he had done the work, the rich man refused to pay him. The farmer’s daughter, Manka, told him he must take the man to court and he did so.
The judge was a young man who was intelligent but not very experienced. After he heard the stories of both men, he could not decide on a judgment and said to the men, “I will ask you some questions and whoever gives the better answers will win the case. The questions are: What is the fastest thing in the world? What is the sweetest thing in the world? What is the richest thing in the world? Come back tomorrow and give me your answers.”
The farmer went home and told Manka what had happened and she advised her father about how to answer. On the next day, the two men stood before the judge and the rich man said, “The fastest thing in the world is my horse, because nothing ever passes me when I ride. The sweetest thing in the world is the honey produced by the bees in my orchard. And the richest thing in the world is the place where I keep my money.” The rich man smiled and sat down, confident that his answers would win the case for him.
Then the farmer said, “I think that the fastest thing in the world is thought because it can travel a long distance in no time. The sweetest thing in the world is sleep after a long day’s work. And the richest thing in the world is the earth which gives us all our food.”
After hearing the answers of both men, the judge quickly decided in favor of the poor farmer. Afterwards, he said to the man, “Who gave you those wise answers to my questions.” The farmer told him proudly that it was his daughter Manka who was the wisest person he knew. The judge, interested in seeing how clever the girl really was, gave the farmer ten eggs and told him, “Ask your daughter to have these eggs hatched by tomorrow and bring the chicks to me.”
When the farmer told his daughter what happened and gave her the eggs, she laughed and said, “Give the judge a handful of corn and tell him to plant it and harvest the corn tomorrow and then you will give him the ten chicks and they will have food to eat.”
The next day, the farmer did what his daughter advised and the judge was amused by the clever response. Then he said to the farmer, “Your daughter is a very clever girl and I think I would like to meet her. Tell her that she must come to me but that she must come neither by day nor night, neither walking nor riding, neither dressed nor undressed.”
When Manka heard the message, she laughed again. That night she went to bed early and woke up very early just as the night was ending but before the new day had begun. She did not get dressed but went out in her nightgown. She put one foot in the stirrup of her horse’s saddle and kept the other on the ground and made her way to judge’s house. The judge was delighted to see how clever Manka had managed to follow his difficult instructions. The judge was so impressed with Manka that he asked to marry her and she agreed.
They lived very happily together and Manka would often visit the courthouse where her husband usually made very fair and just decisions. One day, while she was in the courtroom, her husband heard an argument between two men. One had been walking with a goat when it suddenly ran off and jumped into the wagon of another man who happened to be passing. The judge, who was tired that day and not thinking clearly, said, “The goat belongs to the man whose cart it was in.” Manka was disappointed by her husband’s bad decision and secretly met the man who lost the case outside of the courtroom and gave him some advice.
Following Manka’s advice, the man set a fishing net on the road in front of the courthouse just as the judge was leaving. The judge went over to the man and asked why he had a fishing net in the middle of the road. The man replied, “I have as much chance to catch fish in the middle of the road as a wagon does to give birth to a goat.” The judge recognized the fair criticism of his decision and agreed to change it. When he asked the man where he got his clever idea, the man admitted that Manka had advised him.
The judge was angry with Manka for criticizing him and decided to send her back to her father’s house. He told her that she could take with her the one thing that she loved the most. Manka agreed but insisted that they have dinner first so they could part on friendly terms. Manka made a delicious meal and served it with a strong wine. After eating, the judge fell into a deep sleep and Manka carried him out to the carriage which was ready to take her to her father’s house.
After they arrived, the judge woke up and looked around, wondering where he was. Manka said they were at her father’s house. “What am I doing here?” he asked. Manka replied, “You told me I could bring the thing that I loved most and I did — I brought you.” The judge could not help being delighted by his wife’s cleverness and sweetness and they quickly made up. He realized that he would never be able to outsmart his clever wife and knew that he was very lucky to have such a smart wife who was able to correct him when he was wrong. They went back home and never had another argument again.
(This text is based on a Czech folk tale.)