else composed the Story
of Jason and the Fleece of Gold, and the enchantress Medea, out of a
set of wandering popular tales, which are still told among Samoyeds and
Samoans, Hindoos and Japanese.

All this has been known to the wise and learned for centuries, and
especially since the brothers Grimm wrote in the early years of the
Nineteenth Century. But children remain unaware of the facts, and so do
their dear mothers; whence the Editor infers that they do not read his
prefaces, and are not members of the Folk Lore Society, or students of
Herr Kohler and M. Cosquin, and M. Henri Guidoz and Professor Child,
and Mr. Max Muller. Though these explanations are not attended to by
the Editor's customers, he makes them once more, for the relief of his
conscience. Many tales in this book are translated, or adapted, from
those told by mothers and nurses in Hungary; others are familiar to
Russian nurseries; the Servians are responsible for some; a rather
peculiarly fanciful set of stories are adapted from the Roumanians;
others are from the Baltic shores; others from sunny Sicily; a few are
from Finland, and Iceland, and Japan, and Tunis, and Portugal. No doubt
many children will like to look out these places on the map, and study
their mountains, rivers, soil, products, and fiscal policies, in the
geography books. The peoples who tell the stories differ in colour;
language, religion, and almost everything else; but they all love a
nursery tale. The stories have mainly been adapted or translated by Mrs.
Lang, a few by Miss Lang and Miss Blackley.

Contents

Lovely Ilonka
Lucky Luck
The Hairy Man
To your Good Health!
The Story of the Seven Simons
The Language of Beasts
The Boy who could keep a Secret
The Prince and the Dragon
Little Wildrose
Tiidu the Piper
Paperarello
The Gifts of the Magician
The Strong Prince
The Treasure Seeker
The Cottager and his Cat
The Prince who would seek Immortality
The Stone-cutter
The Gold-bearded Man
Tritill, Litill, and the Birds
The Three Robes
The Six Hungry Beasts
How the Beggar Boy turned into Count Piro
The Rogue and the Herdsman
Eisenkopf
The Death of Abu Nowas and of his Wife
Motikatika
Niels and the Giants
Shepherd Paul
How the wicked Tanuki was punished
The Crab and the Monkey
The Horse Gullfaxi and the Sword Gunn