 Domingo's Cat, a Brazilian folktale by Elsie Spicer-Hills. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Anna. Once upon a time there was a man who was very poor. He was so poor that he had to sell one thing after another to get food to keep from starving. After a while there was nothing left except a cat. He was very fond of his cat, and he said, ''O cat, let come what will, I will never part with you. I would rather starve.'' The cat replied, ''O good master Domingo, rest in peace. You will never starve as long as you have me. I'm going out into the world to make a fortune for us both.'' The cat went into the jungle and dug and dug. Every time he dug, he turned up silver pieces. The cat took a number of these home to his master so that he could purchase food. The rest of the pieces of silver the cat carried to the king. The next day the cat dug up pieces of gold and carried them to the king. The next day he carried pieces of diamonds. ''Where do you get these rich gifts?'' ''Who is sending me such wonderful presents?'' ''Ask the king.'' The cat replied, ''It is my master, Domingo.'' Now the king had a beautiful daughter. He thought that this man Domingo must be the richest man in the whole kingdom. He decided that his daughter should marry him at once. He made arrangements for the wedding through the cat. ''I haven't any clothes to wear at the wedding.'' Said Domingo when the cat told him that he was to marry the daughter of the king. ''Never mind about that. Just leave it to me.'' Replied the cat. The cat went to the king and said, ''Oh king, there has been a terrible fire in the tailor shop where they were making the wedding garments of my master Domingo.'' The tailor and all of his assistants were burnt to death, and the entire outfit of my master Domingo was destroyed. ''Hasn't your majesty something which you could lend him to wear at the wedding?'' The king sent the richest garments which his wardrobe folded. Domingo was clothed and in state ready for the wedding. ''I have no palace to reach to take my bride.'' Said Domingo to the cat. ''Never mind. I'll see about it at once.'' Replied the cat. The cat went into the forest to the great castle where the giant dwelt. He marched straight up to the big giant and said, ''Oh giant, I wish to borrow a castle from a master Domingo. We did not be so kind as to lend it to me a little while.'' The giant was very much insulted. ''No, indeed. I will not lend my castle to you or your master Domingo or anybody else.'' He shouted in his most terrible voice. ''Very well then.'' Replied the cat. He changed the giant to a piece of bacon in the twinkling of an eye and devoured him on the spot. The palace of the giant was a very wonderful palace. There was one room decked with silver and one room decked with gold and one room decked with diamonds. A beautiful river flowed by the garden gate. As Domingo and his bride sailed down the river to the garden gate in the royal barge, they saw the cat seen in the window singing. After that they never saw him again. He disappeared in the jungle and went to make some other poor man-rich. Perhaps he will come your way some day. Who knows? King Sabi. They say in Brazil. End of Domingo's Cat. Moral Alphabet by Hilaer Beloch. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recorded by Algi Puck. Moral Alphabet by Hilaer Beloch. A for Archibald. A stands for Archibald. He saw her eyes and got this lovely volume for a prize. The upper school had curbed and oiled their hair and all the parents of the boys were there. In words that ring like thunder through the hall, draw tears from some and loud applause from all. The pedagogue with pardonable joy bestows the gift upon the radiant boy. Except the noblest work produced as yet, says he, upon the English alphabet, next term I shall examine you to find if you have read it thoroughly, so am I. And while the boys and parents cheered so loud that out of doors a large and anxious crowd had gathered and was blocking up the street, the admirable child resumed his seat. Moral. Learn from this justly irritating youth to brush your hair and teeth and tell the truth. B for Bear. B stands for Bear. When bears are seen approaching in the distance, make up your mind at once between retreat and armed resistance. A gentleman remained to fight with what result for him? The bear with ill concealed delight devoured him, limb by limb. Another person turned and ran. He ran extremely hard. The bear was faster than the man and beat him by a yard. Moral. The size of action in the hour of need denotes the hero, but does not succeed. C for Cobra. C stands for Cobra. When the Cobra bites an Indian judge, the judge spends restless nights. Moral. This creature, though disgusting and appalling, conveys no kind of moral worth recalling. D for Dreadful. Dreadful dinoetherium. He will have to do his best for D. The early world observed with awe his bat, indebted like a saw. His look was gay. His voice was strong. His tail was neither short nor long. His trunk, or elongated nose, was not so large as some suppose. His teeth, as all the world allows, were graminivorous, like a cow. He therefore would have wished to pass long, peaceful nights upon the grass. For being mad, the brute preferred to roost in branches like a bird. We have good reason to suppose he did so from his claw-like toes. A creature heavier than a whale, as you see it once, could hardly fail to suffer badly when he slid and tumbled, as he always did. His fossil, therefore, comes to light all broken up, and serve him right. Moral. If you are born to walk the ground, remain there. Do not fool around. E for Egg. E stands for Egg. Moral. His verse is applicable to the young. Be terse. F for Family. F for a Family. Taking a walk in Arcadia Terrace, no doubt. The parents indulge in intelligent talk, while the children they gamble about. At quarter-past six they return to their team of a kind who would hardly be tempting to me. Though my appetite passes belief, there is jam, ginger beer, buttered toast, marmalade, with a cold leg of mutton and warm lemonade, and a large pigeon pie very skillfully made to consist almost wholly of beef. Moral. A respectable family taking the air is a subject on which I could dwell. It contains all the morals that ever there were, and it sets an example as well. G for New. G stands for New. Whose weapons of defence are long, sharp, curling horns, and common sense. To these he adds a name so short and strong that even hardy boars pronounce it wrong. How often on a bright autumnal day the pious people of Pretoria say, Cam, did you sense that? Then no more is heard, and the sounds of strong men struggling with a word, meanwhile, the distant noon with grateful eyes observes his opportunity and fly. Moral. Child, if you have a rummy kind of name, remember to be thankful for the say. H for Horseman. H was a horseman who rode to the meet and talked to the pads of the fox as his feet, which Ferdich subscribes with grounds for refusing to make him a master of howls. He gave way thereupon to so fearful a rage that he sought up his stable and went on the stage and had all the success that a man could desire in creating a part of the old English squirrel. Moral. In the learned professions a person should know the advantage of having two strings to his bow. I for Indian. I, the poor Indian, justly called the poor. He has to eat his dinner off the floor. Moral. The moral these delightful lines afford is, living cheaply is its own reward. J for James. J stands for James, who's thought it immaterial to pay his taxes, but he's not a local or imperial. In vain, the mother wept, the wife implored. James only yawned as though a trifle bored. The tax collector called again, but he was met with persiflage and repartee. When James was hauled before the learned judge, who lectured him, he loudly whispered, Fudge! The judge was startled from his usual calm. He struck the desk before him with his palm and poured in turns to make the boldest quail. J stands for James. It also stands for Jill. And therefore, on a dark and dreadful day, policeman came and took him all away. Moral. The fate of James is typical and shows how little mercy people can expect who will not pay their taxes, saving those to which they conscientiously object. K for Klondike. K for the Klondike a country of gold, where the winters are often excessively cold, where the lawn every morning is covered with rye and skating continues for years at a time. Do you think that a climate can conquer the grit of the suns of the west? Not a bit, not a bit. When the weather looks nippy, the bold pioneers put on two pairs of stockings and cover their ears, and roam through the drear hyperborean dales with a vast apparatus of buckets and pales, or wander through wild hyperborean glades with hoes, hammers, pig axes, matlocks, and spades. There are some who give rise to exuberant mirth by turning up nothing but bushels of earth, while those who have little cause excellent fun by tempting the pilfer from those who have none. At times the reward they will get for their pain is the strike very tempting oriferous there, or a shaft being sunk for some miles in the ground, not infrequently nuggets of value afoul. They bring us the gold when the labors are ended, and we, after thanking them prettily, spend it. Moral. Just you work for humanity. Never you mine if humanity seems to have left you behind. Elle for Lady. Elle was a lady, advancing an age who drove in her carriage in six with a couple of footmen, a coachman, and a page, who were all of them regular brinks. If the coach ran away, or was smashed by a drear, or got into collisions and blocks, the page with a courtesy rare for his years would leap to the ground within spiriting cheers while a footman allayed her legitimate fears, and a coachman sat tight on his box. At night, as he met round an excellent meal, they were taken in turn to observe what a lady indeed, what a presence to feel, what a woman to worship and serve. But perhaps the most poignant of all their delights was to stand in a rapturous dream when she spoke to them kindly on Saturday nights, and said they deserved her esteem. Moral. Now observe the reward of these dutiful lives. At the end of their loyal career, they each had a lodge at the end of the drives, and she left them a hundred a year. Remember from this to be properly vexed when the newspaper editors say that the tort of society shown in the text is rapidly passing away. M for millionaire. M was a millionaire who sat at table and ate like this as long as he was able. At half past twelve the waiters turned him out. He lived impoverished and died of gout. Moral. Disgusting exhibition. Have a care when later on you are a billionaire to rise from table feeling you could still take something more and not be really ill. N for Ned. N stands for Ned, Maria's younger brother who, walking one way, chose to gaze the other in Blandford Square, a crowded part of town, two people on a tandem knocked him down. We're at a motor car with a warning shout. Run on top and turn him inside out. The damages that he obtained from these maintained him all his life in cultured ease. Moral. The law protects you. Go your gentle way. The other man has always got to pay. O for Oxford. O stands for Oxford. Hail, salubrious seat of learning. Academical retreat. Home of my middle age. Malarial spot, which people call medieval, though it's not. The marshes in the neighbourhood can vie with Cambridge, but the town itself is dry and serves to make a kind of fold or pen, wherein to herd a lot of learned men. Were I to write but half of what they know, it would exhaust the space reserved for O. And as my book must not be over big, I turn it once to P, which stands for peak. Moral. Be taught by this to speak with moderation at places where, with decent application, one gets a good sound middle-class education. P for peak. P stands for peak, as I remarked before. A second cousin to the huge wild boar. The peaks are civilised, while huge wild boars lip savagely at random out of doors and in their coarsed contempt for dainty foods. Subsist on truffles, which they find in woods, not so the cultivated peak, who feels the need of several courses at his meal, but wrongly thinks it does not matter whether he takes them one by one or all together. Hence peaks devour from lack of self-respect, what epicures would certainly reject. Moral. Learn from the pig to take whatever fate or elder persons keep upon your plate. Q for quinine. Q for quinine, which children take with jam, a little bits of cake. Moral. How idiotic! Can quinine replace cold baths and sound hygiene? R for reviewer. R the reviewer. In reviewing my book, at which he had barely intended to look, but the very first lines upon A were enough to convince him the verses were excellent stuff, so he wrote without stopping for several days in terms of extreme but well merited praise. To quote but one passage. No person, says he, will be really content without purchasing three while a parent will send for a dozen or more and strew them about on the nursery floor. The versification might call for some strictures whereas not for its singular wit, while the pictures, though handling of line is a little defective, make up amply and verve what they lack in perspective. Moral. The habit of constantly telling the truth will lend an additional luster to youth. S for snail. S stands for snail, who, though he be the least, is not an uninstructive horned beast. His eyes are on his horns, and when you shout or tickle them, the horns go in and out. Had Providence seen proper to endow the furious unicorn or server cow with such a gift, the one would never now appear so commonplace on curds of arm. And what a fortune for our failing farms if circus managers with wealth untold would take the cows for half their weight in gold. Moral. Learn from the snail to take reproof with patience and not put out your horns on all occasions. T for tourist. T for the genius tourist who resides in Peckham, where he writes Italian guides. Moral. Learn from his information not to covet at slight mistakes in books on foreign travel. U is for upus tree. U for the upus tree that casts a blight on those that pull their sisters hair and to fight. But O the good they wander undismayed, and as the subtle artist has portrayed to spend the golden hours at play beneath its shade, a friend of mine, a botanist believes that good can even browse upon its leaves. I doubt it. Moral. Dear reader, if you chance to catch a sight of upus trees but take yourself to flight. V for volunteer. V for the unobtrusive volunteer who fills the armies of the world with fear. Moral. Seek with the volunteer to put aside the empty pomp of military pride. W for water beetle. My little victim, let me trouble you to fix your active mind on W. The water beetle here shall teach a sermon far beyond your reach. He flabbergasts the human race by gliding on the water's face with ease, celerity and grace. But if he ever stopped to think of how he did it, he would sink. Moral. Don't ask questions. X for nothing. No reasonable little child expects a grown-up man to make a rhyme on X. Moral. These verses teach a clever child to find excuse for doing all that he's inclined. Y for youth. Y stands for youth. It would have stood for yak, but that I wrote about him two years back. Youth is the pleasant springtime of our day. As Dante so militilously says, who always speaks of youth with proper praise, you have not got to youth, but when you do, you'll find what he and I have said is true. Moral. Youth's excellence should teach the modern wit first to be young and then to burst of it. Z for Zibu. Z for this Zibu. Who, like all Zibus, is held divine by scrupulous Hindus. Von Ketner writes Zibu, Worst Zibu. I split the difference and used the two. Moral. Idolatry, as you are well aware, is highly reprehensible. But there, we neither bother when we get to Z. Oh, interest in the alphabet is dead. End of a Moral Alphabet by Hillier Bello. Recording by Algy Pug Perth, Western Australia. For the Libervox Children's Short Story Collection. The man she is destined to marry. The king said to himself that this would not be very difficult, and he left the ferry determined to grind the cat's tail to powder, rather than not tread on it at all. You may imagine that it was not long before he went to see the princess, and Pus, as usual, marched in before him, arching his back. The king took a long step and quite thought he had the tail under his foot, but the cat turned round so sharply that he only trod on air, and so it went on for eight days till the king began to think that this fatal tail must be full of Quicksilver. It was never still for a moment. At last, however, he was lucky enough to come upon Pus fast asleep, and with his tail conveniently spread out, so the king, without losing a moment, set his foot upon it heavily. With one terrific yell, the cat sprang up and instantly changed into a tall man, who, fixing his angry eyes upon the king, said, You shall marry the princess because you have been able to break the enchantment, but I will have my revenge. You shall have a son who will never be happy until he finds out that his nose is too long, and if you ever tell anyone what I have just said to you, you shall vanish away instantly, and no one shall ever see you or hear of you again." Though the king was horribly afraid of the enchanter, he could not help laughing at his threat. Ha! if my son has such a long nose as that, he said to himself, he must always see it, or feel it, at least, if he is not blind or without hands. But as the enchanter had vanished, he did not waste any more time in thinking, but went to see the princess, who very soon consented to marry him. But after all they had not been married very long when the king died, and the queen had nothing left to care for but her little son, who was called Hyacinth. The little prince had large blue eyes, the prettiest eyes in the world, and a sweet little mouth, but alas his nose was so enormous that it covered half his face. The queen was inconsolable when she saw this great nose, but her ladies assured her that it was not really as large as it looked, that it was a Roman nose, and you had only to open any history to see that every hero has a large nose. The queen, who was devoted to her baby, was pleased with what they told her, and when she looked at Hyacinth again, his nose certainly did not seem to her quite so large. The prince was brought up with great care, and as soon as he could speak, they told him all sorts of dreadful stories about people who had short noses. No one was allowed to come near him whose nose did not more or less resemble his own, and the courtiers, to get into favor with the queen, took to pulling their baby's noses several times every day to make them grow long. But do what they would. They were nothing by comparison with the princes. When he grew sensible, he learned history, and whenever any great prince or beautiful princess was spoken of, his teachers took care to tell him that they had long noses. His room was hung with pictures, all of people with very large noses, and the prince grew up so convinced that a long nose was a great beauty that he would not on any account have had his own a single inch shorter. When his twentieth birthday was passed, the queen thought it was time that he should be married, so she commanded that the portraits of several princesses should be brought for him to see, and among the others was a picture of the dear little princess. Now she was the daughter of a great king, and would someday possess several kingdoms herself, but Prince Hyacinth had not a thought to spare for anything of that sort. He was so much struck with her beauty. The princess, whom he thought quite charming, had, however, a little saucy nose which, in her face, was the prettiest thing possible, but it was a cause of great embarrassment to the courtiers, who had got into such a habit of laughing at little noses that they sometimes found themselves laughing at hers before they had time to think. But this did not do at all before the prince, who quite failed to see the joke, and actually banished two of his courtiers, who had dared to mention, disrespectfully, the dear little princess's tiny nose. The others, taking warning from this, learned to think twice before they spoke, and one even went so far as to tell the prince that, though it was quite true that no man could be worth anything, unless he had a long nose, still a woman's beauty was a different thing, and he knew a learned man who understood Greek, and had read in some old manuscripts that the beautiful Cleopatra herself had a tip-tilted nose. The prince made him a splendid present as a reward for this good news, and it once sent ambassadors to ask the dear little princess in marriage. The king, her father, gave his consent, and Prince Hyacinth, who, in his anxiety to see the princess, had gone three leagues to meet her, was just advancing to kiss her hand, when, to the horror of all who stood by, the enchanter appeared as suddenly as a flash of lightning, and, snatching up the dear little princess, whirled her away out of their sight. The prince was left quite unconsolable, and declared that nothing should induce him to go back to his kingdom until he had found her again, and refusing to allow any of her courtiers to follow him, he mounted his horse and rode sadly away, letting the animal choose his own path. So it happened that he came presently to a great plain, across which he rode all day long without seeing a single house, and horse and rider were terribly hungry, when, as the night fell, the prince caught sight of a light which seemed to shine from a cavern. He rode up to it, and saw a little old woman who appeared to be at least a hundred years old. She put on her spectacles to look at Prince Hyacinth, but it was quite a long time before she could fix them securely, because her nose was so very short. The prince and the fairy, for that was who she was, then no sooner looked at one another that they went into fits of laughter and cried at the same moment, "'Oh, what a funny nose!' "'Not so funny as your own,' said Prince Hyacinth, to the fairy, "'but, madam, I beg you to leave the consideration of our noses, such as they are, and to be good enough to give me something to eat, for I am starving, and so is my poor horse.' "'With all my heart,' said the fairy, "'though your nose is so ridiculous, you are, nevertheless, the son of my best friend. I loved your father as if he had been my brother. Now he had a very handsome nose.' "'And pray, what does mine lack?' said the prince.' "'Oh, it doesn't lack anything,' replied the fairy. On the contrary, quite, there is only too much of it. But never mind, one may be a very worthy man, though his nose is too long. I was telling you that I was your father's friend. He often came to see me, in the old times, and you must know that I was very pretty in those days. At least he used to say so. I should like to tell you of a conversation we had the last time I ever saw him.' "'Indeed,' said the prince, "'when I have supped, it will give me the greatest pleasure to hear it. But consider, madam, I beg of you, that I have had nothing to eat today. The poor boy is right,' said the fairy. I was forgetting. Come in, then, and I will give you some supper. And while you are eating, I can tell you my story in a very few words, for you don't like endless tales myself.' Too long a tongue is worse than too long a nose, and I remember when I was young that I was so much admired for not being a great chatterer. They used to tell the queen, my mother, that it was so. For though you see what I am now, it was the daughter of a great king. Your father, I daresay, got something to eat when he was hungry,' interrupted the prince. "'Oh, certainly,' answered the fairy, "'and you also shall have supper directly. I only just wanted to tell you.' "'But I really cannot listen to anything until I have had something to eat,' cried the prince, who was getting quite angry. But then, remembering that he had better be polite, as he much needed the fairy's help, he added, "'I know that in the pleasure of listening to you I should quite forget my own hunger, but my horse, who cannot hear you, must really be fed.' The fairy was very much flattered by this compliment, and said, calling to her servants, "'You shall not wait another minute. You are so polite, and in spite of the enormous size of your nose, you are really very agreeable. Plague take the old lady. How she does go on about my nose.,' said the prince to himself, "'One would almost think that mine had taken all the extra length that hers lacks. If I were not so hungry I would soon have done with this chatter-brie who thinks she talks very little. How stupid people are not to see their own faults. That comes of being a princess. She has been spoiled by flatterers who have made her believe that she is quite a moderate talker.' Meanwhile the servants were putting his supper on the table, and the prince was much amused to hear the fairy, who asked them a thousand questions simply for the pleasure of hearing herself speak. Especially he noticed one maid, who, no matter what was being said, always contrived to praise her mistress's wisdom. "'Well,' he thought, as he ate his supper, "'I'm very glad I came here. This just shows me how sensible I have been in never listening to flatterers. They praise us to our faces without shame, and hide our faults or change them into virtues. For my part I never will be taken in by them. I know my own defects, I hope.' Poor Prince Hyacinth, he really believed what he said, and had an idea that the people who had praised his nose were laughing at him, just as the fairy's maid was laughing at her, for the prince had seen her laugh slightly when she could do so with her. However, he said nothing, and presently, when his hunger began to be appeased, the fairy said, "'My dear Prince, might I beg you to move a little more that way, for your nose casts such a shadow that I really cannot see what I have on my plate. Ah, thanks. Now, let us speak of your father. When I went to his court he was only a little boy, and I have never seen a place ever since. Tell me what goes on nowadays. Are the ladies as fond of amusement as ever? In my time one saw them at parties, theatres, balls, and promenades every day. Dear me, what a long nose you have. I cannot get used to it.' "'Really, madam,' said the prince, I wish you would leave off mentioning my nose. It cannot matter to you what it is like. And have no wish to have it shorter. One must take what is given one. Now you are angry with me, my poor hyacinth,' said the fairy, and I assure you that I didn't mean to vex you. On the contrary, I wish to do you a service. However, though I really cannot help your nose being a shock to me, I will try not to say anything about it. I will even try to think that you have an ordinary nose. To tell the truth, it would make the most reasonable ones. The prince, who was no longer hungry, grew so impatient that the fairy's continual remarks about his nose that at last he threw himself upon his horse and rode hastily away. But wherever he came in his journeyings he thought the people were mad, for they all talked of his nose and yet he could not bring himself to admit that it was too long he had been so used all his life to hear it called handsome. The old fairy, who wished to make him happy, at last hit upon a plan. She shut the dear little princess up in a palace of crystal, and put this palace down where the prince would not fail to find it. His joy at seeing the princess again was extreme, and he set to work with all his might to try to break her prison. But in spite of all his efforts he failed utterly. In despair he thought at least that he would try to get near enough the dear little princess, who on her part stretched out her hand that he might kiss it, but turn which way he might. He never could raise it to his lips, for his long nose always prevented it. For the first time he realized how long it really was, and exclaimed, well, it must be admitted that my nose is too long. In an instant the crystal prison flew into a thousand splinters, and the old fairy taking the dear little princess by the hand said to the prince, now, say if you are not very much obliged to me. Much good it was for me to talk to you about your nose. You would never have found out how extraordinary it was if it hadn't hindered you from doing what you wanted to. You see how self-love keeps us from knowing our own defects of mind and body. Our reason tries in vain to show them to us. We refuse to see them till we find them in the way of our interests. Prince Hyacinth, whose nose was now just like anyone else, did not fail to profit by the lesson he had received. He married the dear little princess, and they lived happily ever after. End of Prince Hyacinth and the Dear Little Princess. Old Mother Hubbard by McLaughlin Brothers Publishers. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Madeline Reitberg. Old Mother Hubbard and her dog. Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard to give her poor dog a bone. When she came there, the cupboard was bare, and so the poor dog had none. She went to the tavern for white wine and red. When she came back, the dog stood on his head. She brought him a cake, which she bought at the fair. When she came back, the dog sat in a chair. She went to the bakers to buy him some bread. But when she came back, poor doggy was dead. She went to the undertakers to buy him a coffin. When she came back, the dog was laughing. She took a clean dish to get him some tripe. When she came back, he was smoking his pipe. She went to the tailors to buy him a coat. When she came back, she went to the fruiterers to buy him some fruit. When she came back, he was playing the flute. She went to the barbers to buy him a wig. When she came back, he was dancing a jig. She went to the cobblers to buy him some shoes. When she came back, he was reading the news. She went to the hatters to buy him a hat. When she came back, he was feeding her cat. She went to the seamstress to buy him some linen. When she came back, the dog was spinning. She went to the hosers to buy him some hose. When she came back, he was dressed in his clothes. The dame made a curtsy, the dog made a bow. The dame said, your servant, the dog said, bow wow. End of Uncle Frank's series, Old Mother Hubbard, by McLaughlin Brothers Publishing. The Goblin's Christmas, by Elizabeth Anderson. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Read by Aubrey Kirkham. The Goblin's Christmas Once upon a time I visited Fairyland and spent a day in Goblin Town. The people there are very much like ourselves. Only they are very, very small and roguish. They play pranks on one another and have great fun. They are good-natured and jolly and rarely get angry. But if one does get angry, he quickly recovers his good nature and joins again in the sport. If a goblin should continue angry, he would take on some visible form. Perhaps he would become a toad or squirrel or some other little animal and would have to live here on the earth plane forevermore. But if he keeps good natured, he can come here and have his fun and not be seen by anyone except a seer or a very wise person. The Goblins are gracious to the wise people now, but they were not always so. A long, long time ago, on a Christmas Eve, the fairy folk were having great sport. All the little people of the unseen world had gathered together in the earth realm. There were brownies and gnomes and elves. Even some little cherubs had joined them. They were having a wild dance and a gay time when who should appear but Chris Kringle? Now the fairies did not know that he was a magician or seer and so they tried to make sport of him. But Chris, by his wonderful magic, changed them into the most beautiful toys. They became straight little jumping jacks and dolls in bright dresses and the dearest little rabbit with white, soft fur. And somewhere in the bottom of the sleigh one was turned into a cute little teddy bear. Then old Chris tucked all these toys into his roomy sleigh and shook the reins of his waiting steed. Go on, he said, thrive many, many a chimney to reach tonight. Now this is the tale of the Goblins' Christmas that the moonbeams told as they heard it from the fairy queen who declares that every word of it is perfectly true. The big bright moon hung high and round in a densely darkened sky. The tall pine swayed and mocked and groaned. The mountains grew so high that the man in the moon came out and said, Ho, spooks, for a merry dance. The winds blow hard, the caverns roar, while o'er the earth they plunge. A witch and a goblin led the sprites out from the sky they sprung. And down the milky way they slid and over a chasm swung. The streams around ran witches' broth. The fumes were strong and rank. These elfish creatures all were wroth while of the stuff they drank. The cunning moon looked on and laughed with a shrill and sneering jibe. Her soul grew fat to see them chaffed, this mad and elfish tribe. The big black cauldron boiled so high with food for these queer mites that it lit the world throughout the sky and down came all the sprites. Their mad career upset a star as through the air they flew. It cringed in fear and shot afar and fell where no one knew. Orion's sword was broken bits, corona's crown was gone. Capella seemed to lose her wits while all so longed for dong. And from the night there came a sound of sleigh bells ringing sweet. Out of the chaos came a man, Chris Kringle, for his Christmas treat. Ho, Chris! they cried. We'll have some fun, we'll bind the old man down. We'll tie him up and toss him o'er into our goblin town. They climbed the sleigh with shout and din to bind his hands and feet. A hundred strong they clambered in, our good old Chris to meet. He sat quite still with twinkly eyes, then seized his magic wand. He raised it up and waved it round. Stilled was this chattering band. Stiffly stark and still they stood, clad in elfish clothes. Some were wax and some were wood. One had crushed his nose. Play things rare, he said and smiled, for children rich and poor. Some all leave the crippled child, and some at the orphan's door. He shook his reins and called his steed to bear him swiftly on, for well it knew its master's need to hurry ere the dawn. From house to house they scampered down their sleigh bells ringing clear, through chimneys in the sleeping town good Chris and his reindeer. The windows rattled, the moonbeams tattled a tale so strange and queer. They told how at night in dire affright the moon had hidden fear, that he'd called in sport his elfish court of spooks and witches gay. Each elfin child by glee beguiled brought scores of others, they say. Then a man appeared with flowing beard and a sled with a reindeer fleet. They gathered about with din and shout to bind him hands and feet. Then the moon laughed loud at the gathering crowd while he held his sides in mirth, to see old Chris in a plight like this toiling over the earth. But alas for the moon he had laughed like a loon, for Chris is a hero of old. Yes, Chris is a seer with his small reindeer, he captured the goblins bold. And he changed them, they say, in a wonderful way, to toys for his Christmas cheer. The big dolls stare with a goblin air, the small ones cringe with fear. While the moon beams prattle, I hear a rattle of hoofs on the chimney side. Then out on the snow, I gaze below, Hurrah! it's Chris Kringle, I cried. Then sly as a mouse he entered the house and hung up his treasures so gay. Then out with a dash he sped like a flash into the night and away. End of The Goblin's Christmas by Elizabeth Anderson This recording is in the public domain. Read by Aubrey Kirkham Little Red Riding Hood by Raphael Tuck & Sons This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Taylor Arnett Little Red Riding Hood by Raphael Tuck & Sons This dear little girl of whom you've heard, One day her granny to see with flowers in hand and basket on arm, When carrying cakes for tea, but a lack, a lack, Before she had gone but a half a mile through the woods, A wicked old wolf with manners grand spoke to our Red Riding Hood. She told him that she was going to see her granny she loved so dear. Red Riding Hood visits her granny, who lived in a sweet little cottage, Which stood in a lane quite near. Then away he ran to the cottage, he had found granny had gone to town. So himself he dressed in all of her best, her cap and smart sundae gown. Red Riding Hood came to her granny's and was much surprised when there, To see grandmother working with hands all covered with hair. Why granny? How changed you are? And her face was so brown and ugly her ears were so long and clear. She made poor Red Riding Hood tremble and shake in her shoes for fear. How do you change dear granny? She faltered. Why you tea so large and white? She knew twas the wolf when he answered, The better my dear to bite. And the wolf would really have killed her but she jumped out of the bed and before he could manage to catch her had home to her mother she fled. And the wolf I'm glad to tell you soon after was firmly bound by a huntsman and two and sent to the zoo and there to this day may be found. End of Little Red Riding Hood Recording by Taylor Arnett The Foolish Wolf This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.com Reading by Balauna Times The Foolish Wolf by William Crook For the Children's Literary Collection A wolf and an ass were great friends and they spent most of their time playing at an original game of their own. The game was easy enough to learn. You could play it yourselves and it was this. First the ass used to run away from the wolf as hard as he could and the wolf used to follow and then the wolf would run as hard as he could from the ass and the ass would follow. One day as the wolf was running away full tilt from the ass a boy saw them. Ha ha ha said the boy what a coward that wolf is to run away from an ass. He thought you see that the wolf was afraid of being eaten by the ass. The wolf heard him and was very angry. He stopped short and said to the boy so you think I am a coward little boy you shall rue the word I'm brave enough to eat you as you shall find out this very night for I will come and carry you off from your home. If the wolf was no coward at least he was a foolish wolf to tell the boy if he meant to carry him off as I think you will agree with me. The boy went home to tell his mother Mother said he a wolf is coming tonight to carry me off. Oh never mind if he does said the boy's mother he won't hurt you. The boy did not feel quite so sure about that for he had seen sharp teeth in the mouth of the wolf so he chose out a big and sharp stone and put it in his pocket. Why he did not hide I can't tell you for he never told me but my private opinion is he was almost as foolish as the wolf. Well when night came the boy's mother went to bed and was soon snoring but the boy stayed up to wait for the wolf. About ten o'clock came a knock at the door come in said the boy the wolf opened the door and came in and says he now boy you must come along with me all right says the boy mother doesn't mind I have never been able to understand why his mother did not mind but perhaps he was a very naughty boy and she was glad to get rid of him if he did nothing but pulled his sister's hair and put spiders down their necks he was just as well out of the house I think so the boy got on the wolf's back and the wolf trotted off briskly to his den then the wolf thought to himself I have had my dinner and I don't want any boy tonight suppose I leave him for tomorrow and go for a spin with my friend the jackass so he left the boy in his den and off he went after the jackass what makes me think more than ever that he was a foolish wolf is that he never even tied the boy's legs together so when the wolf was gone the boy went out of the den and climbed up a tree in an hour or two back came the wolf ready for bed he looked in at the mouth of the den but no boy where on earth has that boy got to said he I left him here safe and sound it never occurred to this wolf that legs can walk and boys can climb trees the wolf felt very anxious and as many people do when their wits are puzzled he opened his mouth wide the boy saw him standing at the opening of the den with his mouth wide open so he pulled the sharp stone out of his pocket and threw it in the boy was a very good shot with the stone and the stone went straight into the wolf's inside and cut his inside so much that he died then the boy climbed down from the tree he was at home in time for breakfast I don't know whether his mother was pleased to see him or not but there he was and there he stayed and if he has not gone away he is there still end of The Foolish Wolf by William Crook as retold by W. H. Drouse The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde this is a Libra Box recording all Libra Box recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibraVox.org recording by Lisa Hirschbach The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde high above the city on a tall column stood the statue of The Happy Prince he was gilded all over with thin leaves of fine gold for his eyes he had two bright sapphires and a large red ruby glowed on his sword-hilt he was very much admired indeed he is as beautiful as a weather-cock remarked one of the town counsellors who wished to gain a reputation for having artistic taste only not quite so useful he added fearing lest people should think him unpractical which he really was not why can't you be like The Happy Prince asked a sensible mother of her little boy who was crying for the moon The Happy Prince never dreams of crying for anything I am glad there is someone in the world who is quite happy mothered a disappointed man as he gazed at the wonderful statue he looks just like an angel said the charity children as they came out of the cathedral in their bright scarlet cloaks and their clean white pinafores how do you know said the mathematical master you have never seen one all that we have in our dreams answered the children and the mathematical master frowned and looked very severe for he did not approve of children dreaming one night there flew over the city a little swallow his friends had gone away to Egypt six weeks before but he had stayed behind for he was in love with the most beautiful reed he had met her early in the spring crying down the river after a big yellow moth and had been so attracted by her slender waist that he had stopped to talk to her shall I love you said the swallow who liked to come to the point at once and the reed made him a low bow so he flew round and round her touching the water with his wings and making silver ripples this was his courtship lasted all through the summer it is a red attachment twittered the other swallows she has no money and far too many relations and indeed the river was quite full of reeds then when autumn came they all flew away after they had gone he felt lonely and began to tire of his lady love she has no conversation he said and I am afraid that she is a coquette for she is always flirting with the wind and certainly whenever the wind blew the reed made the most graceful curtsies I admit that she is domestic he continued but I love traveling and my wife consequently should love traveling also will you come away with me he said finally to her but the reed shook her head she was so attached to her home you have been trifling with me he cried I am off to the pyramids good boy and he flew away all day long he flew and at night time he arrived at the city where shall I put up he said I hope the town has made preparations then he saw the statue on the tall column I will put up there he cried it is a fine position with plenty of fresh air so he alighted just between the feet of the happy prince I have a golden bedroom he said softly to himself as he looked round and he prepared to go to sleep but just as he was putting his head under his wing a large drop of water fell on him what a curious thing he cried there is not a single cloud in the sky the stars are quite clear and bright and yet it is raining the climate in the north of Europe is really dreadful the reed used to like the rain but that was merely her selfishness then another drop fell what is the use of a statue if it cannot keep the rain off he said I must look for a good chimney pot and he determined to fly away but before he had opened his wings a third drop fell and he looked up and saw oh what did he see the eyes of the happy prince were filled with tears and tears were running down his golden cheeks his face was so beautiful in the moonlight that the little swallow was filled with pity who are you he said I am the happy prince why are you weeping then asked the swallow you have quite drenched me when I was alive and had a human heart answered the statue I did not know what tears were for I lived in the palace of Saint-Souci where sorrow is not allowed to enter in the day time I played with my companions in the garden and in the evening I led the dance in the great hall round the garden ran a very lofty wall but I never cared to ask what lay beyond it everything about me was so beautiful my courtiers called me the happy prince and happy indeed I was if pleasure be happiness so I lived and so I died and now that I am dead they have set me up here so high that I can see all the ugliness and all the misery of my city and though my heart is made of lead yet I cannot choose but weep what he is not solid gold said the swallow to himself he was too polite to make any personal remarks out loud far away continued the statue in a low musical voice far away in a little street there is a poor house one of the windows is open and through it I can see a woman seated at a table her face is thin and worn and she has coarse red hands all pricked by the needle for she is a seamstress she is embroidering passion flowers on a satin gown for the loveliest of the queen's maids of honor to wear at the next court ball in a bed in the corner of the room her little boy is lying ill he has a fever and is asking for oranges his mother has nothing to give him but river water so he is crying swallow, swallow little swallow will you not bring her the ruby out of my sword hilt my feet are fastened to this pedestal and I cannot move I am awaited for an Egypt said the swallow my friends are flying up and down the Nile and talking to the large lotus flowers soon they will go to sleep in the tomb of the great king the king is there himself in a painted coffin he is wrapped in yellow linen and embalmed with spices round his neck is a chain of pale green jade and his hands are like withered leaves swallow, swallow little swallow said the prince will you not stay with me for one night and be my messenger the boy is so thirsty and the mother so sad I don't think I like boys answered the swallow last summer when I was staying on the river there were two rude boys the miller's sons were always throwing stones at me they never hit me of course we swallows fly far too well for that and besides I come from a family famous for its agility but still it was a mark of disrespect but the happy prince looks so sad that the little swallow was sorry it is very cold here he said but I will stay with you for one night and be your messenger thank you little swallow said the prince so the swallow picked out the great ruby from the prince's sword and flew away with it in his beak over the roofs of the town he passed by the cathedral tower where the white marble angels were sculptured he passed by the palace and heard the sound of dancing beautiful girl came out on the balcony with her lover how wonderful the stars are he said to her and how wonderful is the power of love I hope my dress will be ready in time for the state ball she answered I have ordered passion flowers to be embroidered on it but the seamstresses are so lazy he passed over the river and saw the lanterns hanging to the mast of the ships he passed over the ghetto and saw the old shoes bargaining with each other and weighing out money in carp or scales at last he came to the poor house and looked in the boy was tossing feverishly on his bed and the mother had fallen asleep she was so tired in he hopped and laid the great ruby on the table beside the woman's thimble then he flew gently around the bed fanning the boy's forehead with his wings how cool I feel said the boy I must be getting better and he sank into a delicious slumber then the swallow flew back to the happy prince and told him what he had done it is curious he remarked but I feel quite warm now although it is so cold that is because you have done a good action said the prince and the little swallow began to think and then he fell asleep thinking always made him sleepy when day broke he flew down to the river and had a bath what a remarkable phenomenon said the professor of omnophology as he was passing over the bridge a swallow in winter and he wrote a long letter about it to the local newspaper everyone quoted it and it was full of so many words that they could not understand tonight I go to Egypt said the swallow and he was in high spirits at the prospect he visited all the public monuments and sat a long time at the top of the church steeple wherever he went the spirits chirrupt and said to each other what a distinguished stranger he so enjoyed himself very much when the moon rose to the happy prince have you any commissions for Egypt he cried I am just starting swallow swallow little swallow said the prince will you not stay with me one night longer I am waited for an Egypt answered the swallow tomorrow my friends will fly up to the second cataract the river horse couches there among the bullrushes he ran it thrown since the god Menon all night long he watches the stars and when the morning star shines he utters one cry of joy and then he is silent at noon the yellow lions come down to the water's edge to drink they have eyes like green barrels and the roar is louder than the roar of the cataract swallow swallow little swallow said the prince far away across the city I see a young man in a garret he is leaning over a desk covered with papers and in a tumbler by his side there is a bunch of withered violets his hair is brown and crisp and his lips are as red as a pomegranate and he has large and dreamy eyes he is trying to finish a play for the director of the theater but he is too cold to write anymore there is no fire in the grate and hunger has made him faint I will wait with you for one night longer said the swallow who really had a good heart shall I take him another ruby alas I have no ruby now said the prince my eyes are all that I have left they are made of rare sapphires which were brought out of India a thousand years ago pluck out one of them and take it to him he will sell it to the jeweler and buy food and firewood and finish his play dear prince said the swallow I cannot do that and he began to weep swallow swallow little swallow said the prince do as I command you so the swallow plucked out the prince's eye it was easy enough to get in as there was a hole in the roof through this he darted and came into the room the young man had his head buried in his hands so he did not hear the flutter of the bird's wings and when he looked up he found the beautiful sapphire lying on the withered violets I am beginning to be appreciated he cried this is from some great admirer now I can finish my play and he looked quite happy the next day the swallow flew down to the harbor he sat on the mast of a large vessel and watched the sailors hauling big chests out of the hold with ropes they shouted as each chest came up I am going to Egypt cried the swallow but nobody minded and when the moon rose he flew back to the happy prince I am coming to bid you goodbye he cried swallow little swallow said the prince will you not stay with me one night longer it is winter answered the swallow and the chill snow will soon be here in Egypt the sun is warm on the green palm trees and the crocodiles lie in the mud and look lazily about them my companions are building a nest in the temple of Baalbek the pink and white doves are watching them and cooing to each other dear prince I must leave you but I will never forget you and the next spring I will bring you back two beautiful jewels the ruby shall be redder than a red rose and the sapphire shall be as blue as the great sea in the square below said the happy prince there stands a little match girl she has let her matches fall into the gutter and they are all spoiled her father will beat her if she does not come home with some money and she is crying she has no shoes or stockings and her little head is bare pluck out my other eye and give it to her and her father will not beat her I will stay with you one night longer said the swallow but I cannot pluck out your eye you would be quite blind then swallow swallow little swallow swallow said the prince do as I command you so he plucked out the prince's other eye and darted down with it he swooped past the match girl and slipped the jewel into the palm of her hand what a lovely big glass cried the little girl and she ran home laughing then the swallow came back to the prince you are blind now he said so I will stay with you always oh little swallow said the poor prince you must go away to Egypt I will stay with you always said the swallow and he slept at the prince's feet all the next day he sat on the prince's shoulder and told him stories of what he had seen in strange lands he told him of the red ibises who stand in long rows on the banks of the Nile and catch goldfish in their beaks who is as old as the world itself and lives in the desert and knows everything of the merchants who walk slowly by the side of their camels and carry amber beads in their hands of the king of the mountains of the moon who is as black as ebony and worships a large crystal of the great green snake that sleeps in a palm tree and has twenty priests to feed it with honey cakes and of the pygmies who sail over the big lake on large flat leaves and are always at war with the butterflies dear little swallow said the prince you tell me of marvelous things but more marvelous than anything is the suffering of men and women there is no mystery so great as misery fly over my city little swallow and tell me what you see there so the swallow flew over the great city and saw the rich making merry in their beautiful houses while the beggars were sitting at the gates he flew into dark lanes and saw the white faces of starving children looking out listlessly at the black streets under the archway of a bridge two little boys were lying in one another's arms to try and keep themselves warm how hungry we are they said you must not lie here shouted the watchman and they wandered out into the rain then he flew back and told the prince what he had seen I am covered with fine gold said the prince you must take it off leaf by leaf and give it to my poor the living always think that gold can make them happy leaf after leaf of the fine gold the swallow picked off till the happy prince looked quite dull and gray leaf after leaf of the fine gold he brought to the poor and the children's faces grew rosier and they laughed and played games in the street we have bread, nod they cried then the snow came and after the snow came the frost the streets looked as if they were made of silver they were so bright and glistening long icicles like crystal daggers hung down from the eaves of the houses everybody went about in furs and the little boys wore scarlet caps and skated on the ice the poor little swallow grew colder and colder but he would not leave the prince he loved him too well he picked up crumbs outside the baker's door when the baker was not looking and tried to keep himself warm by flapping his wings but at last he knew that he was going to die he had just strength to fly up to the prince's shoulder once more goodbye, dear prince he murmured will you let me kiss your hand I am glad that you are going to Egypt at last, little swallow said the prince you have stayed here too long but you must kiss me on the lips for I love you it is not to Egypt that I am going I am going to the house of death death is the brother of sleep is he not and he kissed the happy prince on the lips and fell down dead at his feet at that moment a curious crack sounded inside the statue as if something had broken the fact is that the leaden heart had snapped right into it certainly was a dreadfully hard frost early the next morning the mayor was walking in the square below in company with the town councilors as they passed the column he looked up at the statue dear me how shabby the happy prince looks he said how shabby you did cried the town councilors who always agreed with the mayor and they went up to look at it the ruby has fallen out of his sword his eyes are gone and he is golden no longer said the mayor in fact he is little better than a beggar little better than a beggar said the town councilors and there is actually a dead bird at his feet continued the mayor we must really issue a proclamation that birds are not to be allowed to die here one clerk made a note of the suggestion so they pulled down the statue of the happy prince as he is no longer beautiful he is no longer useful said the art professor at the university then they melted the statue in a furnace and the mayor held a meeting of the corporation to decide what was to be done with the metal we must have another statue of course he said it shall be a statue of myself of myself said each town councilor and they quarreled when last I heard of them they were quarreling still what a strange thing said the overseer at the workman at the foundry this broken lead heart will not melt in the furnace we must throw it away so they threw it on the dust heap where the dead swallow was also lying bring me the two most precious things in the city said god to one of his angels and the angel brought him the leaden heart and the dead bird you have rightly chosen said god for in my garden of paradise this little bird shall sing forever more and in my city of gold the happy prince shall praise me end of The Happy Prince recording by Lisa Hirschbach Dick Lake, Alaska The Jolly Fisherman contributed by Boston Public Library this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Taylor Arnett The Jolly Fisherman contributed by Boston Public Library one we kitten in the house it's all as quiet as a mouse when there are two it's not so quiet but not enough to call a riot when three are there they make a noise most like a school room full of boys those kittens three kick up such capers papa can't read his daily capers I think the best he can do is sin all three to school don't you? their noise and capers will seize and he can read the news in peace at the toy shop bye bye what shall we buy a horse to ride or kite to fly a train a boat or a ball a lady doll or a sailor boy it's terribly hard to choose a toy when you like to try them all the doggies promenade three dogs went out for a promenade all on a summer's day there was mr dog and mrs dog and little doggie tray and as they walked down the crowded street they were proud as proud could be for they were dressed in their very best as everyone could see but a mischievous cat on the sidewalk stood no coat no hat and she left at the dress and the pompousness of the dog and his family mr dog growled deep and sprang at the cat and chased her up and down with an angry cry and flashing eyes throughout the wandering town but he tripped and fell in the slippery street and when he rose low his stylish clothes were mud from head to toe and mrs dog when she saw his plight with whore swooned away and sank right down with her silk and gown on a heap of soft red clay wee baby dog was in sad distress he sought first cap in vain his kit was torn he was all forlorn and his tears fell down like rain but the rugged cat at her fireside sat and thought of her fun that day and she jumped and danced and purred and pranced at the doggies running away just noticed our clothes as we walked in the line did you ever see anything half so fine old dog is a humbug on a fraud he has bent mr deuce is a fool if he gives him a cent they didn't know it was loaded very refreshing you get the very best milk you know with the chalk and water dairy cow mom and his mother whenever they pass always call in and have a glass jumbo's garden jumbo has a garden a pretty little garden filled with every flower that grows and to his watered every day in a novel sort of way with his trunk for a garden hose wide awake oh bitty said foxy come sit with me the moon's wide awake I wait for thee no thanks said bitty I'm safer here the moon is wide awake so am I foxy dear the family coach this is the way the kittens play when their children are gone gone away six in the coach and all alive gone off for a lovely drive tumbling down they never mind they run in front they run behind Tabitha Mew has lost her head worse things happen at sea than that so take my warning girls and boys and put away all your toys or else the kittens with them will play whenever you have them to go away end of the Jolly Fisherman recording by Taylor Arnett Cleopatra or the reformed little Thailand by M. Becca this is a Leapybox recording all Leapybox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit Leapybox.org a part little Hussie whose name was Cleopatra was continually teasing and commanding her for a brother so you will not do what I bid you Mr. obstinacy she would often say to him come come sir obey or she'll be worse for you if Cleopatra's word might be taken for it her brother did everything wrong but on the contrary whatever she thought of doing was the masterpiece of reason and sound sense if he proposed any kind of diversion she was sure to consider it as dull and unsympathetic but it often happened that she would herself the next day recommend the same thing and having forgotten what she said a bit before consider it as the most lively and entertaining her brother was obliged to submit to her unaccountable wins and fancies or else endure the most disagreeable lectures a little female tongue could utter if ever he presumed to be so hardy as to reason with her on her strange conduct instant destruction to his playthings with the inevitable consequence of it her parents saw with regret this change and tyrannical disposition of their daughter and in vain did everything they could think of to break her of it her mother in particular continually enforced on her mind that such children never procured the esteem of others and that a girl who set up her own opinion against that of everyone else would soon become intolerable and deportable to all her acquaintance this prudent advice however made no impression on her stubborn heart and her brother wearied out by her priests and tyranny began to have very little affection for her it one day happened that a gentleman of a free and open temper dined at their house with what help observing with when a haughty air she treated her poor brother and indeed every other person in the room at first the rules of politeness kept him from saying anything but at last tired out with her impertinence he began addressing his discourse to her mama in the following manner I was lately in friends and as I was fond of being present at the soldiers exercises I used to go as often as I could to see their maneuvers on the parade nearly in the same manner as they do here at St. James's along the soldiers there were many I observed with whiskers which gave them a very fierce and soldier like book had I a child like your Cleopatra I would instantly give her soldiers uniform and put her on a pair of whiskers when she might with rather more priority than at present act the part of a commander Cleopatra heard this instead of covered with confusion she could not help flushing and was unable to conceal her tears however this reproach perfectly and she became sensible how unbecoming was a tyrannizing temper it has been observed that to be sensible of our errors is half the work of reformation so it happened with Cleopatra who with the assistance of her mother's council became an amiable girl her reformation was a credit to her and it is much to be wished that all young ladies who take no pains to conquer their passions would at least imitate Cleopatra and wish to avoid being told that a soldier's dress and a pair of whiskers would better become them the nice cambered fox and silk slips had Cleopatra attended to the advice of her parents and not have imagined that greatness consists in impertinence she would have been happy much sooner than she was end of Cleopatra or the reformed little tyrant by author unknown this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Perez the circus procession by author unknown open the gates and draw the curtain here comes something fine that's certain louder the band begins to play open the gates and clear the way enters a queen with a king beside her every horse is proud of his rider two by two they march to the tune and head the procession that will follow soon men in livery in their places make the gay steeds keep their paces soothing down their wildest fears at the rising shouts and cheers jockeau in these sports a sharer acts the part of a standard bearer while behind him soldiers gay bugled notes of victory play now a clown in line appearing with a tandem well as the cheering standing on his horse's back thus he guides them round the track on a donkey rides another quite as funny as his brother blowing bugled notes so loud he astonishes the crowd here's another clown arriving in a chariot he is driving like a noble roman dressed low he guides three steeds abreast nimble little monkey Tony rides along upon a pony followed by a stupid clown pouring down here's the creature young and slender dressed in robes of dazzling splendor in a chariot decked with gold she's the fairy queen I'm told close behind her two enormous elephants first rate performers stalk along with heavy tread sending on their trunks ahead here is something very funny surely worth the entrance money at the sight what laughter peels tis an elephant on wheels close behind him a relation the state of perspiration don his specs and wheels his fan just like any gentleman here's jumbo gentle creature kindness shown in every feature on his back the children are safe as in a jaunting car shetland pony small and stocky each one mounted by a jockey march twixed elephants in giraffe tis no wonder towser laughs hark the trumpet loudly peeling knocks the plaster from the ceiling as there marches on the course jumbos of the police force clowns and dogs with queer expression have their place in this procession and tis hard for dogs I know on their two hind legs to go who are these with courtly manners bearing lofty poles and banners faithfully they represent followers of the tournament next a line of pretty pages our attention close engages the Chinese giant in the rear making them like dwarfs appear here's a funny turn out surely with an ostrich last securely to a coach Zenobia shares and well the bird the burden bears goats upon the mountains ramble and in harness sometimes amble but a tandem team like this is a sight you should not miss through the deserts camels travel speeding are of the sand and gravel bearing heavy burdens too which in our land they could not do here the roads are rough and stony and the camels back so bony none but clowns were dare to go on them with the circus show goodness gracious did you ever hear our harness up quite clever two giraffes the whip they heed nor venture at a breakneck speed a soldier comes on stillty stalking back of him a dude is walking either side of him a friend as you can see and that's the end end of the circus procession recording by Perez best stories to tell to children by Sarah Cone Bryant the little hero of Harlem this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Al C best stories to tell to children by Sarah Cone Bryant the little hero of Harlem a long way off across the ocean there is a little country where the ground is lower than the level of the sea instead of higher as it is here of course the water would run in and cover the land and houses if something were not done to keep it out but something is done the people build great thick walls all around the country and the walls keep to see out you see how much depends on those walls the good crops the houses and even the safety of the people even the small children in that country when an accident to one of those walls is a terrible thing these walls are really great banks as wide as roads and they are called dykes once there was a little boy who lived in that country whose name was Hans one day he took his little brother out along by the dyke to play they went a long way out of town and came to where there were no houses but ever so many flowers in green fields climbed up on the dyke and sat down the little brother was playing about at the foot of the bank suddenly the little brother called out oh what a funny little hole it bubbles hole where said Hans here in the bank said the little brother waters in it what said Hans and he slid down as fast as he could to where his little brother was playing there was the tiniest little hole in the bank a drop of water bubbled slowly through it's a hole in the dyke cried Hans what shall we do he looked around not a person or a house in sight he looked at the hole the little drops oozed steadily through he knew that the water would soon break a great gap because that tiny hole gave it a chance the town was so far away if they ran for help it would be too late what should he do once more he looked the hole was larger now and the water was trickling suddenly a thought came to Hans he stuck his little forefinger right into the hole where it fitted tight and he said to his little brother run dating go to town and tell the man there's a hole in the dyke tell them I will keep it stopped until they get here the little brother knew by Hans's face that something very serious was the matter and he started for the town as fast as his legs could run Hans kneeling with his finger in the hole watched him grow smaller and smaller as he got fathered away pretty soon he was as small as a chicken then he was only a speck then he was out of sight Hans was alone squatted on the ground with his finger tight in the bank he could hear the water slap slap slap on the stones and deep down under the slapping was a gurgling rumbling sound it seemed very near by and by his hand began to feel numb he rubbed it with the other hand but it got colder and more numb colder and more numb every minute he looked to see if the men were coming the road was bare as far as he could see then the cold began creeping creeping up his arm first his wrist then his arm to the elbow then his arm to his shoulder how cold it was and soon it began to ache ugly little cramp pain streamed up his finger up his palm up his arm till it ached way into his shoulder and down the back of his neck it seemed hours since the little brother went away he felt very lonely and the hurt in his arm grew and grew he watched the road with all his eyes but no one came in sight then he leaned his head against the dyke to rest his shoulder as his ear touched the dyke he heard the voice of the great sea murmuring the sound seemed to say I am the great sea no one can stand against me what are you a little child that you tried to keep me out beware beware Hansa's heart beat in heavy knocks would they never come he was frightened and the water went on beating at the wall and murmuring I will come through I will get you run run before I come through Hansa started to pull out his finger he was so frightened that he felt as if he must run forever but that minute he remembered how much depended on him if he pulled out his finger the water would surely make the hole bigger and at last break down the dyke and the sea would come in on all the land and houses he set his teeth and stuck his finger tighter than ever you shall not come through he whispered not run just as he thought it he heard a far off shout far in the distance he saw a black something on the road and dust the men were coming at last they were coming they came nearer fast and he could make out his own father and the neighbors they had pickaxes and shovels and they were running and as they ran they shouted we're coming take heart and it seemed they were there and when they saw Hans with his pale face and his hand tight in the dyke they gave a great cheer just as people do for soldiers back from war and they lifted him up and rubbed his aching arm with tender hands and they told him that he was a real hero and that he had saved the town when the men had mended the dyke they marched home like an army and Hans was carried high on their shoulders because he was a hero and to this day the people of Harlem tell the story of how a little boy saved the dyke End of Best Stories to Tell to Children by Sarah Cohn Bryant the little hero of Harlem King Winter by Author Unknown This is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer LibriVox.org Recording by Perez King Winter by Author Unknown The sky is dull and gray piercing and chill the blast each step resounds on the frosty ground winter is come at last Mama sits by the fire her little ones round her knees how cozy we are mama they cry tell us something if you please tell us about King Winter and about Jack Frost his man will not be noisy or naughty at all but as good as ever we can well then says Mama you Jenny may knit and listen my dear and Johnny may split up wood to make the fire burn bright and clear King Winter dwells in the north far away in the frozen zone in a palace of snow he holds his court and sits on an icy throne he has cushions of course his queen made them out of her wedding gown putting them well with snowflakes fine and soft as Eiderdown the king has a trusty servant Jack Frost is his name his nose is raspberry red his beard is white and stiff as a crutch it grows old Jack is a sturdy good fellow and serves their majesties well he's here and he's there and he's everywhere and does more than I can tell each year as the day comes round the king and his royal train tour through the wide wide world and sweep over mountain and plain his majesty fails not to visit every climb that's not too hot to look in upon both high and low from the palace down to the cot Jack Frost has a busy time then but he's helped and advised by the queen that all may be right when the king goes forth and everything fit to be seen that the king may have pleasant travel and no stone to hurt his royal toe her majesty spreads all over the earth a carpet of downy snow find mirrors the king delights in none are finer than Jack can make and in matchless sheets of crystal clear he lays them on river and lake the trees all naked in drear he robs in the purest white and with icicles shining with rainbow hues he makes their branches bright and for what of buds and blossoms through in his majesty's way with magic flowers of his own device he makes the windows gay these wonders wrought in a single night may well excite surprise amazed is the sun when he gets up at dawn and he stares with all his eyes then out come all the boys and girls Jack's handiwork to view and their noses and cheeks turn red with cold some of them even turn blue they pelt each other with snow up in a mighty ball and shout and laugh and scamper about and heels over head they fall they make a huge man of snow as grand as a Russian Tsar a wooden sword in his hand in his mouth a carrot to serve for cigar his eyes his hair and his beard they paint as black as my shoe with burnt stick but they spoil his nose for they stick it rather askew then what do you think for they pelt him and hit they knock of the snowman's ears and nose but he does not mind it a bit hooray for the good thick ice oh isn't it jolly they slide they skate and enslave so fine they go and swift as the wind they glide king winter laughs at the sport cries bravo and claps his hands and calling in haste for his man Jack Frost he gives him these commands go see the papa's and mama's and bring me word what they say have the children been good and well behaved since last I came this way? the king trims Christmas trees to give to good girls and boys with tapers and trinkets of silver and gold and all sorts of dainties and toys the queen cuts twigs of birch of birch so supple and keen and daintily ties them up into rods the finest that ever were seen soon with a word to the king Jack Frost comes back at a trot good have most of the children been but some of them have not the king gives him the pretty trees the queen the rods so smart and away goes Jack again with his load till every house has its part cakes mince pies nuts and apples good children get from the king you can guess what the naughty get the rods are the only thing oh dear mama cries jenny Johnny's been good and so have I pray tell Jack Frost we don't want the rod oh do ask him to put it by mama smiles on her darlings they run to her kiss her and say how long do you think will it be mama ear king winter goes away he will lay upon baby's cradle the snow drops that early come forth and then my dears he will bid us goodbye and go back to his home in the north end of king winter