Under Grandma's Tree

Hercules and the Wagoner

Little Ida's Flowers

Rapunzel

The Bear Who Married a Woman

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

The Conceited Stag

The Emperor's New Clothes

The Foolhardy Frogs & The Stork

The Frog and The Scorpion

The Greedy Dog

The Gunny Wolf

The Life of a Pig

The Princess and the Pea

The Ram In The Chile Patch

The Stolen Bairn and The Sidh

The Tortoise and The Hare

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

The Wolf and The Crane

Tired of Being a Little Girl

There once was a man and a woman who wished very much to have a child. Near their cottage was a beautiful garden which belonged to a Witch. One day the wife looked over the garden wall and saw a bed full of the finest lettuce, and she longed so to have some to eat, that she gave her husband no peace till he climbed over the wall and brought her some. She made a salad, and ate it with great enjoyment.

In a few days she began to long for more lettuce, and she again made her husband climb over the wall to fetch her some. He had no sooner seized a handful than he saw the Witch standing beside him.

"How dare you come into my garden?" she exclaimed fiercely. "You have stolen my lettuces, and now you must pay for them. Promise that, if you have a child, you will give it to me."

The husband, in great fear, gave his promise. Soon after, a little daughter was born, and the Witch came and took her away. She named her Rapunzel, and put her in a high tower in the forest. The tower had no stairs, and no door, and only one small window. When the Witch visited Rapunzel, se stood beneath the window, and cried:

"Rapunzel, let down your golden hair
That I may climb it like a stair."

Rapunzel had the most beautiful long hair, and when she heard the voice of the Witch, she let it hang over the window still right down to the ground, to such a length that the Witch could draw herself up as if it had been a ladder.

When Rapunzel was grown into a beautiful maiden, it happened one day that the King's son was passing the tower and heard her singing. Her voice was so sweet that he longed to see her. The next day he came again to listen, and the next. Then he heard the Witch call to Rapunzel beneath the window, and saw her climb up by the maiden's long hair. The following night, when it was dark, he placed himself beneath the window, and said:

"Rapunzel, let down your golden hair
That I may climb it like a stair."

Immediately the hair fell down, and he quickly climbed up and entered the tower.

Rapunzel was dreadfully frightened when she saw the Prince, for she had never seen a man before; but she soon lost all fear. After a time he asked her if she would marry him, and she consented, for he was a tall and handsome Prince, and she thought, "He will love me better than the old Witch."

"I will bring you a strong silk cord," said the Prince, "and you shall weave a ladder by which you will be able to descend from the tower. Then I will carry you to my father's castle, and we will be married."

Now the Witch had watched very carefully over Rapunzel and she soon found out about the Prince's visits. She was very angry, and seized poor Rapunzel's golden hair and cut it off. Then she dragged her to a lonely place in the depths of the forest, and left her there.

At sunset the Prince came to the tower, and cried:

"Rapunzel, let down your golden hair
That I may climb it like a stair."

The Witch let the hair down, and the Prince climbed up to the window. What was hair horror to see, instead of Rapunzel, a hideous old Witch! "Ah!" she cried with a sneer, "you have come to carry off your bride! Rapunzel has gone away, and you will never see her again."

On hearing this, the Prince was so overcome with grief that he sprang out of the window and fell among the thorn-trees beneath. The thorns stuck into his eyes and blinded him, and he wandered away into the wood, lamenting and calling the name of his lost bride.

For a whole year he wandered so, till at last he came to the lonely place where the Witch had left Rapunzel. He heard her singing, and followed the sound until, on coming near, he was clasped in her arms. When she saw that he was blind she began to weep bitterly, and two of her tears fell on his eyes and healed them. Then they traveled back to his father's kingdom, and soon afterwards they were married, and lived in peace and happiness for the rest of their lives.