With "The Pink Fairy Book" Mr. Lang has exhausted the primary colors without coming to an end of his store of fairytales. This time he has gone further afield, though without finding much that is new. Japan yields a few; and other sources which we do not remember in the earlier books have been drawn upon. Generally, however, it is from the folklore of European nations, and from that most admirable of story-tellers, Hans Christian Andersen, that we get the best things. It is true that, as Mr. Lang remarks, Andersen " wants to ' point a moral' as well as "adorn a tale," whereas the true fairy-story should not have any more intelligible moral than that it is a great virtue to be the youngest son of three, and a still greater to be the youngest of seven. Not the less, however, is it true that, on the whole, these stories are on the side of goodness and kindness. It is difficult to make a choice among these good things. But perhaps, " How the Hermit Helped to Win the King's Daughter," is as good as any. Among the few outlandish stories, "Wischimataro and the Turtle " may be mentioned.This book is fully illustrated and annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer.
With "The Pink Fairy Book" Mr. Lang has exhausted the primary colors without coming to an end of his store of fairytales. This time he has gone further afield, though without finding much that is new. Japan yields a few; and other sources which we do not remember in the earlier books have been drawn upon. Generally, however, it is from the folklore of European nations, and from that most admirable of story-tellers, Hans Christian Andersen, that we get the best things. It is true that, as Mr. Lang remarks, Andersen " wants to ' point a moral' as well as "adorn a tale," whereas the true fairy-story should not have any more intelligible moral than that it is a great virtue to be the youngest son of three, and a still greater to be the youngest of seven. Not the less, however, is it true that, on the whole, these stories are on the side of goodness and kindness. It is difficult to make a choice among these good things. But perhaps, " How the Hermit Helped to Win the King's Daughter," is as good as any. Among the few outlandish stories, "Wischimataro and the Turtle " may be mentioned.
This book is fully illustrated and annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer.
Contents:
Preface
The Cat's Elopement
How the Dragon Was Tricked
The Goblin and the Grocer
The House in the Wood
Uraschimataro and the Turtle
The Slaying of the Tanuki
The Flying Trunk
The Snow-man
The Shirt-collar
The Princess in the Chest
The Three Brothers
The Snow-queen
The Fir-tree
Hans, the Mermaid's Son
Peter Bull
The Bird 'Grip'
Snowflake
I Know What I Have Learned
The Cunning Shoemaker
The King Who Would Have a Beautiful Wife
Catherine and Her Destiny
How the Hermit Helped to Win the King's Daughter
The Water of Life
The Wounded Lion
The Man Without a Heart
The Two Brothers
Master and Pupil
The Golden Lion
The Sprig of Rosemary
The White Dove
The Troll's Daughter
Esben and the Witch
Princess Minon-minette
Maiden Bright-eye
The Merry Wives
King Lindorm
The Jackal, the Dove, and the Panther
The Little Hare
The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue
The Story of Ciccu
Don Giovanni De La Fortuna