Right in the middle of Japan, high up among the mountains, an old man lived in his little house. He was very proud of it, and never tired of admiring the whiteness of his straw mats, and the pretty papered walls, which in warm weather always slid back, so that the smell of the trees [...]

In a certain town there lived a judge who was married but had no children. One day he was standing lost in thought before his house, when an old man passed by. ‘What is the matter, sir, said he, ‘you look troubled?’ ‘Oh, leave me alone, my good man!’ ‘But what is it?’ persisted the [...]

Fifty years ago there lived a king who was very anxious to get married; but, as he was quite determined that his wife should be as beautiful as the sun, the thing was not so easy as it seemed, for no maiden came up to his standard. Then he commanded a trusty servant to search [...]

Once upon a time there was a man and his wife who had seven boys. The children lived in the open air and grew big and strong, and the six eldest spent part of every day hunting wild beasts. The youngest did not care so much about sport, and he often stayed with his mother. [...]

Once upon a time, there lived a very sweet, pretty girl. Each day she would sit by her vase of roses and watch them. She paid attention to every little detail that changed. She noticed every petal begin to fade and droop, but one. She noticed the roses starting to die, but one. Each day [...]

Once upon a time an old man and his wife lived together in a little village. They might have been happy if only the old woman had had the sense to hold her tongue at proper times. But anything which might happen indoors, or any bit of news which her husband might bring in when [...]

There once were three little pigs. The time came for them to leave home and seek their fortunes. The first pig decided to build his house out of straw. He was too lazy to use anything else. His Mother warned him. But he didn’t listen. He was too busy looking at his appearance in the [...]

Once upon a time there was a king who had three daughters; they were all beautiful, but the youngest was the fairest of the three. Now it happened that one day their father had to set out for a tour in a distant part of his kingdom. Before he left, his youngest daughter made him [...]

There was once a little boy, whose father and mother, when they were dying, left him to the care of a guardian. But the guardian whom they chose turned out to be a wicked man, and spent all the money, so the boy determined to go away and strike out a path for himself. So [...]

Once upon a time there was an old man who lived in a little hut in the middle of a forest. His wife was dead, and he had only one son, whom he loved dearly. Near their hut was a group of birch trees, in which some black-game had made their nests, and the youth [...]