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Favorite Folktales from Around the World by Jane Yolen
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Favorite Folktales from Around the World by Jane Yolen
Paperback $22.00
Aug 12, 1988 | ISBN 9780394751887

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  • $22.00

    Aug 12, 1988 | ISBN 9780394751887

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  • May 14, 2014 | ISBN 9780804152860

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Praise

“Wonderful . . . This book provides a wealth of delights.”
The New York Times Book Review

“This handsome book, a feast of good reading, deserves a place in every home where there are children.”
John Barkham Reviews

“Most of the great human themes, from storytelling itself through love, wisdom, and death are covered in this dazzling collection of tales . . . A delight for all readers.”
Library Journal 

“Be you storyteller or story reader, this wonderful folktale collection is not to be missed.”
—Jim Trelease, author of The Read-Aloud Handbook

Praise for the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library
“A splendid folklore series . . . ”
The Washington Post

Table Of Contents

Acknowledgments  /  xiii
Introduction  /  1
 
TELLING TALES  /  17
The Man Who Had No Story (Ireland)  /  20
How Spider Obtained the Sky God’s Stories (Africa)  /  24
Helping to Lie (Germany)  /  27
The Ash Lad Who Made the Princess Say “You’re a Liar” (Norway)  /  28
The Parson and the Sexton (Norway)  /  29
The Tall Tales (Burma)  /  30
Catherine, Sly Country Lass (Italy)  /  33
The Wise Little Girl (Russia)  /  38
Clever Answers (Russia)  /  41
A Dispute in Sign Language (Israel)  /  42
Leopard, Goat, and Yam (Africa)  /  44
An Endless Story (Japan)  /  45
 
THE VERY YOUNG AND THE VERY OLD  /  47
Glooscap and the Baby (American Indian)  /  49
The Brewery of Eggshells (Ireland)  /  50
Father of Eighteen Elves (Iceland)  /  53
The Fly (Vietnam)  /  55
The Two Pickpockets (England)  /  58
The Seventh Father of the House (Norway)  /  59
The King’s Favorite (China)  /  61
Wagging My Tail in the Mud (China)  /  61
When One Man Has Two Wives (Syria)  /  62
The Old Man and His Grandson (Germany)  /  62
Half a Blanket (Ireland)  /  63
 
TRUE LOVES AND FALSE  /  65
How Men and Women Got Together (American Indian)  /  68
The Little Old Woman with Five Cows (Siberia)  /  72
The Prayer That Was Answered (Tibet)  /  79
The Merchant’s Daughter and the Slanderer (Russia)  /  82
What Happened to Hadji (Turkey)  /  85
Mr. Fox (England)  /  87
The Waiting Maid’s Parrot (China)  /  90
The White Cat (France)  /  95
Sedna (Eskimo)  /  105
Urashima the Fisherman (Japan)  /  107
The Sprit of the Can (Wales)  /  110
The Toad-Bridegroom (Korea)  /  112
Taken (Ireland)  /  115
The Girl at the Shieling (Iceland)  /  117
Deer Hunter and White Corn Maiden (American Indian)  /  121
 
TRICKSTERS, ROGUES, AND CHEATS  /  125
Tyll Ulenspiegel’s Merry Prank (Germany)  /  128
The Hodja and the Cauldron (Turkey)  /  129
Being Greedy Chokes Anansi (Jamaica)  /  130
Quevedo and the King (Mexico)  /  131
Why the Hare Runs Away (Africa)  /  132
Coyote Fights a Lump of Pitch (American Indian)  /  134
Crack and Crook (Italy)  /  136
The Master Thief (Germany)  /  138
Peik (Norway)  /  144
The Monkey and the Crocodile (India)  /  151
The Race Between Toad and Donkey (Jamaica)  /  152
The King’s Son Goes Bear Hunting (Finland)  /  155
John Brodison and the Policeman (Ireland)  /  156
The Rabbi and the Inquisitor (Jewish)  /  157
The Ugly Son (Japan)  /  158
Dividing the Goose (Russia)  /  160
The Men Who Wouldn’t Stay Dead (France)  /  161
The Story of Campriano (Italy)  /  163
 
THE FOOL: NUMBSKULLS AND NOODLEHEADS  /  167
The Three Sillies (England)  /  170
Nasr-ed-Din Hodja in the Pulpit (Turkey)  /  173
Lazy Jack (England)  /  174
Chelm Justice (Jewish)  /  176
Those Stubborn Souls, the Biellese (Italy)  /  176
The Drovers Who Lost Their Feet (Mexico)  /  177
The Old Man and Woman Who Switched Jobs (Sweden)  /  178
The Two Old Women’s Bet (United States)  /  181
A Stroke of Luck (Hungary)  /  183
The Sausage (Sweden)  /  185
Nail Soup (Sweden)  /  187
Old Dry Frye (United States)  /  191
“Bye-bye” (Haiti)  /  194
The Barn is Burning (Afro-American)  /  195
 
HEROES: LIKELY AND UNLIKELY  /  199
The Birth of Finn MacCumhail (Ireland)  /  202
Li Chi Slays the Serpent (China)  /  210
The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs (Germany)  /  212
The Longwitton Dragon (England)  /  218
The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog (American Indian)  /  220
Molly Whuppie (England)  /  228
The Beginning of the Narran Lake (Australian Aboriginal)  /  231
The Flying Head (American Indian)  /  233
The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was (Germany)  /  235
 
WONDER TALES, TALL TALES, AND BRAG  /  243
Talk (Africa)  /  246
The King of Ireland’s Son (Ireland)  /  248
The Goose Girl (Germany)  /  254
The Princess on the Glass Hill (Norway)  /  260
The Promises of the Three Sisters (Egypt)  /  268
The Magic Mirror of Rabbi Adam (Jewish)  /  276
The Old Woman Who Lived in a Vinegar Bottle (England)  /  283
The Magic Pear Tree (China)  /  286
Faithful John (Germany)  /  287
Four Hound-Dog Stories (Ireland and United States)  /  294
 
SHAPE SHIFTERS  /  297
The Doctor and His Pupil (France)  /  300
The Swan-Maiden (Sweden)  /  303
Sister Alionushka, Brother Ivanushka (Russia)  /  305
The Blacksmith’s Wife of Yarrowfoot (Scotland)  /  308
The Seal’s Skin (Ireland)  /  310
The Wounded Seal (Scotland)  /  311
The Cat-Woman (France)  /  313
The Serpent-Woman (Spain)  /  315
The Snake’s Lover (Peru)  /  323
 
NOT QUITE HUMAN  /  329
The Well-Baked Man (American Indian)  /  331
The Finn Messenger (Norway)  /  333
Vasilisa the Beautiful (Russia)  /  335
Bridget and the Lurikeen (Ireland)  /  342
The Two Hunchbacks (Italy)  /  343
Then the Merman Laughed (Iceland)  /  346
Peregrin and the Mermaid (Wales)  /  347
The Ash Lad Who Had an Eating Match with the Troll (Norway)  /  348
How Mosquitoes Came to Be (American Indian)  /  350
The Departure of the Giants (Africa)  /  352
 
FOOLING THE DEVIL  /  355
The Peasant and the Devil (Germany)  /  358
Wicked John and the Devil (United States)  /  359
The Bad Wife (Russia)  /  367
Katcha and the Devil (Czechoslovakia)  /  369
The Lawyer and the Devil (Ireland)  /  375
Coals on the Devil’s Hearth (Ireland)  /  376
The Devil’s Hide (Finland)  /  378
How El Bizarrón Fooled the Devil (Cuba)  /  386
Bearskin (Germany)  /  389
The Lad and the Devil (Norway)  /  394
Wiley and the Hairy Man (United States)  /  395
 
THE GETTING OF WISDOM  /  401
Truth and Falsehood (Greece)  /  403
Getting Common Sense (Jamaica)  /  405
Rich Man, Poor Man (Africa)  /  406
The Lost Horse (China)  /  407
It Could Always Be Worse (Jewish)  /  408
His Just Reward (Sweden)  /  409
Djuha’s Sleeve (Syria)  /  411
King Mátyás and His Scholars (Hungary)  /  412
The Missing Axe (China)  /  412
What Melody Is the Sweetest? (Afghanistan)  /  413
The Peddler of Swaffham (England)  /  414
The Beduin’s Gazelle (Saudi Arabia)  /  415
The Happy Man’s Shirt (Italy)  /  417
 
GHOSTS AND REVENANTS  /  419
Orpheus and Eurydice (Greece)  /  422
The Spirit-Wife (American Indian)  /  423
One Night in Paradise (Italy)  /  428
A Pretty Girl in the Road (United States)  /  430
The Dream House (Ireland)  /  432
The Peasant and the Fiend (Estonia)  /  433
The Tinker and the Ghost (Spain)  /  435
Hold Him, Tabb (Afro-American)  /  439
Drinking Companions (China)  /  440
The Ostler and the Grave Robbers (Scotland)  /  444
 
DEATH AND THE WORLD’S END  /  445
The Duration of Life (Germany)  /  448
Woman Chooses Death (American Indian)   /  449
Jump into My Sack (Italy)  /  451
Youth Without Age and Life Without Death (Turkey)  /  457
Goha on the Deathbed (Egypt)  /  465
Death of a Miser (Russia)  /  466
Godfather Death (Germany)  /  466
The Hungry Peasant, God, and Death (Mexico)  /  469
The Word the Devil Made Up (Afro-American)  /  471
A Paddock in Heaven (England)  /  472
How a Man Found His Wife in the Land of the Dead (Papua)  /  472
The End of the World (American Indian)  /  474
 
Notes  /  477
Permissions Acknowledgments  /  495
  / 
 

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