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Read Ebook: The Book of Stories for the Story-teller by Coe Fanny E
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Ebook has 1824 lines and 59099 words, and 37 pages
R. NESBIT BAIN
In a certain forest there once lived a fox, and near to the fox lived a man who had a cat that had been a good mouser in its youth, but was now old and half blind.
The man didn't want Puss any longer, but not liking to kill it he took it out into the forest and lost it there. Then the fox came up and said: "Why, Mr Shaggy Matthew, how d'ye do? What brings you here?"
"Alas!" said Pussy, "my master loved me as long as I could bite, but now that I can bite no longer and have left off catching mice--and I used to catch them finely once--he doesn't like to kill me, but he has left me in the wood, where I must perish miserably."
"No, dear Pussy!" said the fox; "you leave it to me, and I'll help you to get your daily bread."
"You are very good, dear little sister foxey!" said the cat, and the fox built him a little shed with a garden round it to walk in.
The hare was frightened and ran away, and told the bear, the wolf and the wild boar all about it.
"Never mind," said the bear. "I tell you what, we'll all four give a banquet, and invite the fox and the cat, and do for the pair of them. Now, look here! I'll steal the man's mead; and you, Mr Wolf, steal his fat-pot; and you, Mr Wildboar, root up his fruit-trees; and you, Mr Bunny, go and invite the fox and the cat to dinner."
So they made everything ready as the bear had said, and the hare ran off to invite the guests. He came beneath the window and said: "We invite your little ladyship Foxey-Woxey, together with Mr Shaggy Matthew, to dinner," and back he ran again.
"But you should have told them to bring their spoons with them," said the bear.
"Oh, what a head I've got!--if I didn't quite forget!" cried the hare, and back he went again, ran beneath the window and cried: "Mind you bring your spoons!"
"Very well," said the fox.
"What!" said the bear, who was hiding behind the beeches with the other beasts, "here have we four been getting together all we could, and this pig-faced cat calls it too little! What a monstrous cat he must be to have such an appetite!"
So they were all four very frightened, and the bear ran up a tree, and the others hid where they could.
But the cat remained in the midst of all the good things and ate away at the bacon, and the little fox gobbled up the honey, and they ate and ate till they couldn't eat any more, and then they both went home licking their paws.
CAROLYN SHERWIN BAILEY
Once upon a time there lived a little old man and a little old woman in a house all made of hemp stalks. And they had a little dog named Turpie who always barked when anyone came near the house.
"Tear down the hemp stalks. Eat up the little old man, and carry away the little old woman," cried the Hobyahs.
Then little dog Turpie ran out, barking loudly, and he frightened the Hobyahs so that they ran away home again.
But the little old man woke from his dreams, and he said:
"Little dog Turpie barks so loudly that I can neither slumber nor sleep. In the morning I will take off his tail."
So when morning came, the little old man took off little Turpie's tail to cure him of barking.
"Tear down the hemp stalks. Eat up the little old man, and carry away the little old woman."
Then the little dog Turpie ran out again, barking so loudly that he frightened the Hobyahs, and they ran away home again.
But the little old man tossed in his sleep, and he said:
"Little dog Turpie barks so loudly that I can neither slumber nor sleep. In the morning I will take off his legs."
So when morning came, the little old man took off Turpie's legs to cure him of barking.
The third night the Hobyahs came again, skipping along on the tips of their toes, and they called out:
"Tear down the hemp stalks. Eat up the little old man, and carry away the little old woman."
The little dog Turpie barked very loudly, and he frightened the Hobyahs so that they ran away home again.
But the little old man heard Turpie, and he sat up in bed, and he said:
"Little dog Turpie barks so loudly that I can neither slumber nor sleep. In the morning I will take off his head."
So when morning came, the little old man took off Turpie's head, and then Turpie could not bark any more.
That night the Hobyahs came again, skipping along on the tips of their toes, and they called out:
"Tear down the hemp stalks. Eat up the little old man, and carry off the little old woman."
Now, since little dog Turpie could not bark any more, there was no one to frighten the Hobyahs away. They tore down the hemp stalks, they took the little old woman away in their bag, but the little old man they could not get, for he hid himself away under the bed.
Then the Hobyahs hung the bag which held the little old woman up in their house, and they poked it with their fingers, and they cried:
"Look you! Look you!"
But when daylight came, they went to sleep, for Hobyahs, you know, sleep all day.
The little old man was very sorry when he found that the little old woman was gone. He knew then what a good little dog Turpie had been to guard the house at night, so he fetched Turpie's tail, and his legs, and his head, and gave them back to him again.
Then Turpie went sniffing and snuffing along to find the little old woman, and soon came to the Hobyahs' house. He heard the little old woman crying in the bag, and he saw that the Hobyahs were all fast asleep. So he went inside.
Then he cut open the bag with his sharp teeth, and the little old woman hopped out and ran home; but Turpie got inside the bag to hide. When night came, the Hobyahs woke up, and they went to the bag, and they poked it with their fingers, crying:
"Look you! Look you!"
But out of the bag jumped little dog Turpie, and he ate every one of the Hobyahs. And that is why there are not any Hobyahs now.
FANNY E. COE
Once upon a time the Sun, the Moon, and the Wind went to dine with their uncle and aunt, the Thunder and the Lightning. They said good-bye to their mother, the Evening Star, crossed the great dark arching sky, and came to the deep cave where live Thunder and Lightning.
Here a wonderful feast was spread, and all sat down to enjoy it.
Now the Sun and the Wind were very greedy. They bent their heads low over their plates and they ate and ate of every dish that was passed to them. They thought of nothing but themselves and the good food before them.
But the Moon remembered her mother at home. Of every delicious dish she saved a portion for the Star.
At last the evening was over and they returned to their home.
"Well, my children, what have you brought to me?" asked their mother, the Star.
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