The Best English Fairy Tales / Лучшие английские сказки

The cook woke up early to feed the cows and took a large bundle of hay[25 - bundle of hay – вязанка сена], with the little man in the middle of it. He still slept on, and woke up only when he was in the mouth of the cow.

“It is very dark,” said he; “they forgot to build windows in this room to let the sun in.”

He was already in the cow’s stomach, and more and more hay was always coming down. And he didn’t have enough space, it became smaller and smaller. At last he cried out as loud as he could, “Don’t bring me any more hay! Don’t bring me any more hay!”

The cook heard someone speak. She was sure it was the same voice that she had heard in the night. She was so frightened that she ran off as fast as she could to her master, and said,

“Sir, sir, the cow is talking!”

But the master said, “Woman, you’re mad!”

However, he went with her into the cow-house, to see what was the matter.

At the moment they came in, Tom cried out, “Don’t bring me any more hay!”

The master was very frightened. And thinking the cow went mad he told his man to kill her. So the cow was killed, and thrown out upon a dunghill.

Tom tried to get out from the cow’s stomach, but that at that moment a hungry wolf jumped out, and swallowed up the whole stomach, with Tom in it and ran away.

Tom cried out, “My good friend, I can show you where you can eat well.”

“Where’s that?” said the wolf.

“In the house of a woodman,” said Tom, describing his father’s house. “You can get into the kitchen and then into the pantry. There you will find cakes, ham, beef, cold chicken, pig, apple-dumplings[26 - apple-dumplings – яблоки, запеченные в тесте], and everything that your heart can wish.”

The wolf did not want to be asked twice[27 - The wolf did not want to be asked twice – Волка не надо было просить дважды.]. So that very night he went to the house and got into the kitchen, and then into the pantry[28 - pantry – кладовая для продуктов]. He ate and drank there a lot to the moment when he could not move.

This was just what Tom wanted. He began to cry and shout, making all the noise he could.

“Quiet!” said the wolf, “you’ll wake everybody up in the house.”

“What’s that to me?” said the little man; “you have eaten well, now I want be merry myself”; and he began, singing and shouting as loud as he could.

The woodman and his wife woke up and came closer to the pantry. They saw a wolf was there, and the woodman ran for his axe, and gave his wife a big knife.

“Stay behind,” said the woodman, “and when I have knocked him on the head you must rip him up with the knife.”

Tom heard all this, and cried out, “Father, father! I am here, the wolf has swallowed me.”

And his father said, “Heaven be praised! We have found our dear child again”. The woodman hit the wolf on the head, and killed him on the spot. They cut his body, and set Tom free.

“Ah!” said the father, “what fears we have had for you![29 - what fears we have had for you! – Мы так боялись за тебя]”

“Yes, father,” answered he, “I have travelled all over the world, I think, in one way or other, since we parted; and now I am very glad to come home and get fresh air again.”

“Why, where have you been?” said his father.

“I have been in a mouse-hole, and in a snail-shell, and down a cow’s stomach, and in the wolf’s belly. And now here I am again, safe and sound[30 - safe and sound – целый и невредимый].”

“Well,” said they, “You came back and we will not sell you again for all the riches in the world.”

Then they hugged and kissed their dear little son. They gave him a lot to eat and drink, because he was very hungry. So Master Thumb stayed at home with his father and mother. He was a traveler, and had done and seen so many fine things, and liked telling the whole story. He always agreed that, after all, there’s no place like HOME!

The Nightingale and yhe Rose

O. Wilde

“She said that she would dance with me if I brought her red roses,” cried the young Student; “but in all my garden there is no red rose.”

From her nest in the oak tree the Nightingale heard him. She looked out through the leaves, and wondered.

“No red rose in all my garden!” he cried, and his beautiful eyes filled with tears. “I have read all the books, and I know all the secrets of philosophy. But it is only the red rose that matters.”

“He is a true lover,” said the Nightingale. “Every night I sing songs about love and lovers and now I can see one of them. His hair is dark, and his lips are red, his face is pale.”

“The Prince gives a ball tomorrow night,” said the young Student, “and my love will be there. If I bring her a red rose she will dance with me. If I bring her a red rose, I will hold her in my arms. But there is no red rose in my garden, so I will sit lonely, and she will pass me by. And my heart will break.”

“He is the true lover,” said the Nightingale. “What is joy to me, to him is pain. Surely Love is a wonderful thing. It is dearer than fine opals.”

“The musicians will play their instruments,” said the young Student, “and my love will dance to the sound of the harp and the violin. But no, she will not dance, because I have no red rose to give her”; and he closed his eyes with his hands and cried and cried.

“Why is he crying?” asked a little Green Lizard.

“Why, indeed?” said a Butterfly.

“Why, indeed?” whispered a Daisy.

“He is crying for a red rose,” said the Nightingale.

“For a red rose?” they cried; “how very ridiculous!”

But the Nightingale understood the secret of the Student’s sadness. She sat in the oak-tree, and thought about the mystery of Love.

Suddenly she spread her wings, and flew to the garden.

There was a beautiful Rose-tree, and when she saw it she flew over to it.

“Give me a red rose,” she cried, “and I will sing you my sweetest song.”

But the Tree shook its head.

“My roses are white,” it answered; “as white as the snow upon the mountain. But go to my brother who grows near the river, and maybe he will give you what you want.”

So the Nightingale flew over to the Rose-tree.

“Give me a red rose,” she cried, “and I will sing you my sweetest song.”

But the Tree shook its head.