The Grey Fairy Book

The Grey Fairy Book

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Title: The Grey Fairy Book
Author: Andrew Lang, Ed.
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The Grey Fairy Book Edited by Andrew Lang

Preface

The tales in the Grey Fairy Book are derived from many countries-
-Lithuania, various parts of Africa, Germany, France, Greece, and other
regions of the world. They have been translated and adapted by Mrs.
Dent, Mrs. Lang, Miss Eleanor Sellar, Miss Blackley, and Miss hang.
‘The Three Sons of Hali' is from the last century ‘Cabinet des Fees,' a
very large collection. The French author may have had some Oriental
original before him in parts; at all events he copied the Eastern method
of putting tale within tale, like the Eastern balls of carved ivory. The
stories, as usual, illustrate the method of popular fiction. A certain
number of incidents are shaken into many varying combinations, like
the fragments of coloured glass in the kaleidoscope. Probably the
possible combinations, like possible musical combinations, are not
unlimited in number, but children may be less sensitive in the matter of
fairies than Mr. John Stuart Mill was as regards music.

Contents

Donkey Skin The Goblin Pony An Impossible Enchantment The Story
of Dschemil and Dachemila Janni and the Draken The Partnership of
the Thief and the Liar Fortunatus and his Purse The Goat-faced Girl
What came of picking Flowers The Story of Bensurdatu The
Magician's Horse The Little Gray Man Herr Lazarus and the Draken

The Story of the Queen of the Flowery Isles Udea and her Seven
Brothers The White Wolf Mohammed with the Magic Finger Bobino
The Dog and the Sparrow The Story of the Three Sons of Hali The
Story of the Fair Circassians The Jackal and the Spring The Bear The
Sunchild The Daughter of Buk Ettemsuch Laughing Eye and Weeping
Eye, or the Limping Fox The Unlooked for Prince The Simpleton The
Street Musicians The Twin Brothers Cannetella The Ogre A Fairy's
Blunder Long, Broad, and Quickeye Prunella

Donkey Skin

There was once upon a time a king who was so much beloved by his
subjects that he thought himself the happiest monarch in the whole
world, and he had everything his heart could desire. His palace was
filled with the rarest of curiosities, and his gardens with the sweetest
flowers, while in the marble stalls of his stables stood a row of
milk-white Arabs, with big brown eyes.
Strangers who had heard of the marvels which the king had collected,
and made long journeys to see them, were, however, surprised to find
the most splendid stall of all occupied by a donkey, with particularly
large and drooping ears. It was a very fine donkey; but still, as far as
they could tell, nothing so very remarkable as to account for the care
with which it was lodged; and they went away wondering, for they
could not know that every night, when it was asleep, bushels of gold
pieces tumbled out of its ears, which were picked up each morning by
the attendants.
After many years of prosperity a sudden blow fell upon the king in the
death of his wife, whom he loved dearly. But before she died, the queen,
who had always thought first of his happiness, gathered all her strength,
and said to him:
‘Promise me one thing: you must marry again, I know, for the good of
your people, as well as of yourself. But do not set about it in a hurry.
Wait until you have