Category: North America

October 23, 2022

HOW A FISH SWAM IN THE AIR AND A HARE IN THE WATER. (The Violet Fairy Book, 1889) by ANDREW LANG

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...

August 12, 2022

Why Brother Bear Has no Tail (Nights with Uncle Remus) by Joel Chandler Harris

“I ‘clar’ ter gracious, honey,” Uncle Remus exclaimed one night, as the little boy ran in, “you sholy ain’t chaw’d yo’ vittles. Hit ain’t bin no time, skacely, sence de supper-bell rung, en ef...

April 30, 2022

Walpurgis Night and Beltane

May 1st is truly a unique day, as the horror of the mysterious witches’ magic of Walpurgis Night (= the night from April 30th to May 1st) is followed on the gray morning by...

April 30, 2022

THE MAYPOLE OF MERRY MOUNT – (TWICE-TOLD TALES By NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE)

There is an admirable foundation for a philosophic romance in the curious history of the early settlement of Mount Wollaston, or Merry Mount. In the slight sketch here attempted the facts recorded on the...

June 23, 2021

THE RED SWAN (The Indian Fairy Book, 1869) BY CORNELIUS MATHEWS

Three brothers were left destitute, by the death of their parents, at an early age. The eldest was not yet able to provide fully for their support, but he did all that he could...

February 5, 2021

THE SQUIRE (REYNARD THE FOX, 1920) by JOHN MASEFIELD

An old bear in a scarlet peltCame next, old Squire Harridew,His eyebrows gave a man the grueSo bushy and so fierce they were;He had a bitter tongue to swear.A fierce, hot, hard, old, stupid...