Stories — European Fairy Tales
The Boy who saved Holland
The dikes were large walls that held back the sea. Every child in Holland knows that if the dikes break, water will rush in and all will be lost. Hans was so busy playing that he didn’t notice the sun setting. When he realized how late it was, he speedily headed for home.
Alice in Wonderland
The Rabbit pulled a watch out of his pocket to check the time. He shook his head, then disappeared down a rabbit's hole. "I must find out why he's in such a hurry!" cried Alice. Filled with curiosity, she ran to the rabbit's hole and peeped through the entrance.
The hole dropped suddenly and Alice fell. "When will I ever reach the bottom of this dreadful hole?" she shouted, while falling helplessly downwards.
Finally she landed in a long, narrow hallway with doors of many sizes. On a three-
legged table, Alice found a tiny gold key and a green bottle that said "DRINK ME". "This key must fit one of the doors," she said.
The Boy who cried Wolf
A boy called Peter lived with his parents in a village on the hillside. His parents, like most of the other people in the village, were sheep farmers. Everybody in the village took turns to look after the sheep, and when Peter was 10 years old, he was considered old enough to take his turn at shepherding.
But Peter was too easily bored, and he found it very tiresome being on the hillside with only sheep for company. So he’d find ways to amuse himself, running up rocks, climbing trees, chasing sheep, but nothing really kept him amused for very long. Then he hit upon a brilliant idea. He climbed to the top of the tallest tree, and started shouting towards the village: “Wolf! Wolf! Wooolf! Woooolf!”
Hansel and Gretel
"There is not enough food in the house for us all. There are too many mouths to feed! We must get rid of the two brats," she declared. And she kept on trying to persuade her husband to abandon his children in the forest.
Rapunzel
There were once a man and a woman who had long in vain wished for a child. At length the woman hoped that God was about to grant her desire. These people had a little window at the back of their house from which a splendid garden could be seen, which was full of the most beautiful flowers and herbs. It was, however, surrounded by a high wall, and no one dared to go into it because it belonged to an enchantress, who had great power and was dreaded by all the world.