Cinderella

ONCE there was a gentleman who married, for his second wife, the proudest and most haughty woman that was ever seen. She had been married before, and already had two daughters who were exactly like her in all things.

Little match girl

It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. Evening came on, the last evening of the year. In the cold and gloom a poor little girl, bareheaded and barefoot, was walking through the streets...

Little Red Riding Hood

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in a village near the forest.  Whenever she went out, the little girl wore a red riding cloak, so everyone in the village called her Little Red Riding Hood...

Sleeping Beauty

In times past there lived a king and queen, who said to each other every day of their lives, "Would that we had a child!" and yet they had none. But it happened once that when the queen was bathing, there came a frog out of the water...

Aladdin and the magic lamp

Once upon a time, a young man’s father died. Aladdin, as that was the young man’s name, took his father’s place in running the family store with his mother. One day, a stranger walked into the store...

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Once upon a time, a princess named Snow White lived in a castle with her father, the King, and her stepmother, the Queen.  Her father had always said to his daughter that she must be fair to everyone at court...

The Frog Prince

Once upon a time there was a Princess.  Many a suitor came to the palace to win her hand in marriage, but it seemed to the Princess that each one of them looked at her without really seeing her at all...

The Fisherman and the Golden Fish

There was once a fisherman who lived with his wife in a pigsty, close by the seaside. The fisherman used to go out all day long a-fishing; and one day, as he sat on the shore with his rod, looking at the sparkling waves and watching his line...

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

In a town in Persia there dwelled two brothers, one named Cassim, the other Ali Baba. Cassim was married to a rich wife and lived in plenty; while Ali Baba had to maintain his wife and children by cutting wood in a neighbouring forest and selling it in the town.

Hansel and Gretel

ONCE upon a time there dwelled on the outskirts of a large forest a poor woodcutter with his wife and two children; the boy was called Hansel, and the girl Gretel.

Rapunzel

There were once a man and a woman who had long wished for a child – but without any luck. At last, the woman hoped that God was about to grant her desire.

Six Swans

A king was once hunting in a great wood, and he hunted the game so eagerly that none of his courtiers could follow him. When evening came on he stood still and looked around him, and he saw that he had quite lost himself.