Favorite Folktales from Around the World

by Yolen, Jane

• ISBN13: 9780394751887
• ISBN10: 0394751884
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1988-08-12
• Publisher: Pantheon

Summary

A one volume collection of 160 tales from over 40 cultures and traditions, containing both classics and lesser known tales.

Author Biography

JANE YOLEN is the author of more than three hundred books, including children's fiction, poetry, short stories, graphic novels, fantasy, and science fiction. Her books include Owl Moon, The Devil's Arithmetic, Briar Rose, Sister Emily's Lightship and Other Stories, and How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? Honors she has received include the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, two Christopher Medals, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards, the Golden Kite Award, the National Jewish Book Award, the World Fantasy Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Association of Jewish Libraries Award.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction	1	(16)
Telling Tales	17	(30)
The Man Who Had No Story (Ireland)	20	(4)
How Spider Obtained the Sky God's Stories (Africa)	24	(3)
Helping to Lie (Germany)	27	(1)
The Ash Lad Who Made the Princess Say ``You're a Liar!'' (Norway)	28	(1)
The Parson and the Sexton (Norway)	29	(1)
The Tall Tales (Burma)	30	(3)
Catherine, Sly Country Lass (Italy)	33	(5)
The Wise Little Girl (Russia)	38	(3)
Clever Answers (Russia)	41	(1)
A Dispute in Sign Language (Israel)	42	(2)
Leopard, Goat, and Yam (Africa)	44	(1)
An Endless Story (Japan)	45	(2)
The Very Young and the Very Old	47	(18)
Glooscap and the Baby (American Indian)	49	(1)
The Brewery of Eggshells (Ireland)	50	(3)
Father of Eighteen Elves (Iceland)	53	(2)
The Fly (Vietnam)	55	(3)
The Two Pickpockets (England)	58	(1)
The Seventh Father of the House (Norway)	59	(2)
The King's Favorite (China)	61	(1)
Wagging My Tail in the Mud (China)	61	(1)
When One Man Has Two Wives (Syria)	62	(1)
The Old Man and His Grandson (Germany)	62	(1)
Half a Blanket (Ireland)	63	(2)
True Loves and False	65	(60)
How Men and Women Got Together (American Indian)	68	(4)
The Little Old Woman with Five Cows (Siberia)	72	(7)
The Prayer That Was Answered (Tibet)	79	(3)
The Merchant's Daughter and the Slanderer (Russia)	82	(3)
What Happened to Hadji (Turkey)	85	(2)
Mr. Fox (England)	87	(3)
The Waiting Maid's Parrot (China)	90	(5)
The White Cat (France)	95	(10)
Sedna (Eskimo)	105	(2)
Urashima the Fisherman (Japan)	107	(3)
The Spirit of the Van (Wales)	110	(2)
The Toad-Bridegroom (Korea)	112	(3)
Taken (Ireland)	115	(2)
The Girl at the Shieling (Iceland)	117	(4)
Deer Hunter and White Corn Maiden (American Indian)	121	(4)
Tricksters, Rogues, and Cheats	125	(42)
Tyll Ulenspiegel's Merry Prank (Germany)	128	(1)
The Hodja and the Cauldron (Turkey)	129	(1)
Being Greedy Chokes Anansi (Jamaica)	130	(1)
Quevedo and the King (Mexico)	131	(1)
Why the Hare Runs Away (Africa)	132	(2)
Coyote Fights a Lump of Pitch (American Indian)	134	(2)
Crack and Crook (Italy)	136	(2)
The Master Thief (Germany)	138	(6)
Peik (Norway)	144	(7)
The Monkey and the Crocodile (India)	151	(1)
The Race Between Toad and Donkey (Jamaica)	152	(3)
The King's Son Goes Bear Hunting (Finland)	155	(1)
John Brodison and the Policeman (Ireland)	156	(1)
The Rabbi and the Inquisitor (Jewish)	157	(1)
The Ugly Son (Japan)	158	(2)
Dividing the Goose (Russia)	160	(1)
The Men Who Wouldn't Stay Dead (France)	161	(2)
The Story of Campriano (Italy)	163	(4)
The Fool: Numbskulls and Noodleheads	167	(32)
The Three Sillies (England)	170	(3)
Nasr-ed-Din Hodja in the Pulpit (Turkey)	173	(1)
Lazy Jack (England)	174	(2)
Chelm Justice (Jewish)	176	(1)
Those Stubborn Souls, the Biellese (Italy)	176	(1)
The Drovers Who Lost Their Feet (Mexico)	177	(1)
The Old Man and Woman Who Switched Jobs (Sweden)	178	(3)
The Two Old Women's Bet (United States)	181	(2)
A Stroke of Luck (Hungary)	183	(2)
The Sausage (Sweden)	185	(2)
Nail Soup (Sweden)	187	(4)
Old Dry Frye (United States)	191	(3)
``Bye-bye'' (Haiti)	194	(1)
The Barn Is Burning (Afro-American)	195	(4)
Heroes: Likely and Unlikely	199	(44)
The Birth of Finn MacCumhail (Ireland)	202	(8)
Li Chi Slays the Serpent (China)	210	(2)
The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs (Germany)	212	(6)
The Longwitton Dragon (England)	218	(2)
The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog (American Indian)	220	(8)
Molly Whuppie (England)	228	(3)
The Beginning of the Narran Lake (Australian Aboriginal)	231	(2)
The Flying Head (American Indian)	233	(2)
The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was (Germany)	235	(8)
Wonder Tales, Tall Tales, and Brag	243	(54)
Talk (Africa)	246	(2)
The King of Ireland's Son (Ireland)	248	(6)
The Goose Girl (Germany)	254	(6)
The Princess on the Glass Hill (Norway)	260	(8)
The Promises of the Three Sisters (Egypt)	268	(8)
The Magic Mirror of Rabbi Adam (Jewish)	276	(7)
The Old Woman Who Lived in a Vinegar Bottle (England)	283	(3)
The Magic Pear Tree (China)	286	(1)
Faithful John (Germany)	287	(7)
Four Hound-Dog Stories (Ireland and United States)	294	(3)
Shape Shifters	297	(32)
The Doctor and His Pupil (France)	300	(3)
The Swan-Maiden (Sweden)	303	(2)
Sister Alionushka, Brother Ivanushka (Russia)	305	(3)
The Blacksmith's Wife of Yarrowfoot (Scotland)	308	(2)
The Seal's Skin (Iceland)	310	(1)
The Wounded Seal (Scotland)	311	(2)
The Cat-Woman (France)	313	(2)
The Serpent-Woman (Spain)	315	(8)
The Snake's Lover (Peru)	323	(6)
Not Quite Human	329	(26)
The Well-Baked Man (American Indian)	331	(2)
The Finn Messenger (Norway)	333	(2)
Vasilisa the Beautiful (Russia)	335	(7)
Bridget and the Lurikeen (Ireland)	342	(1)
The Two Hunchbacks (Italy)	343	(3)
Then the Merman Laughed (Iceland)	346	(1)
Pergrin and the Mermaid (Wales)	347	(1)
The Ash Lad Who Had an Eating Match with the Troll (Norway)	348	(2)
How Mosquitoes Came to Be (American Indian)	350	(2)
The Departure of the Giants (Africa)	352	(3)
Fooling The Devil	355	(46)
The Peasant and the Devil (Germany)	358	(1)
Wicked John and the Devil (United States)	359	(8)
The Bad Wife (Russia)	367	(2)
Katcha and the Devil (Czechoslovakia)	369	(6)
The Lawyer and the Devil (Ireland)	375	(1)
Coals on the Devil's Hearth (Ireland)	376	(2)
The Devil's Hide (Finland)	378	(8)
How El Bizarron Fooled the Devil (Cuba)	386	(3)
Bearskin (Germany)	389	(5)
The Lad and the Devil (Norway)	394	(1)
Wiley and the Hairy Man (United States)	395	(6)
The Getting of Wisdom	401	(18)
Truth and Falsehood (Greece)	403	(2)
Getting Common Sense (Jamaica)	405	(1)
Rich Man, Poor Man (Africa)	406	(1)
The Lost Horse (China)	407	(1)
It Could Always Be Worse (Jewish)	408	(1)
His Just Reward (Sweden)	409	(2)
Djuha's Sleeve (Syria)	411	(1)
King Matyas and His Scholars (Hungary)	412	(1)
The Missing Axe (China)	412	(1)
What Melody Is the Sweetest? (Afghanistan)	413	(1)
The Peddler of Swaffham (England)	414	(1)
The Beduin's Gazelle (Saudi Arabia)	415	(2)
The Happy Man's Shirt (Italy)	417	(2)
Ghosts and Revenants	419	(26)
Orpheus and Eurydice (Greece)	422	(1)
The Spirit-Wife (American Indian)	423	(5)
One Night in Paradise (Italy)	428	(2)
A Pretty Girl in the Road (United States)	430	(2)
The Dream House (Ireland)	432	(1)
The Peasant and the Fiend (Estonia)	433	(2)
The Tinker and the Ghost (Spain)	435	(4)
Hold Him, Tabb (Afro-American)	439	(1)
Drinking Companions (China)	440	(4)
The Ostler and the Grave Robbers (Scotland)	444	(1)
Death and the World's End	445	(32)
The Duration of Life (Germany)	448	(1)
Woman Chooses Death (American Indian)	449	(2)
Jump into My Sack (Italy)	451	(6)
Youth Without Age and Life Without Death (Turkey)	457	(8)
Goha on the Deathbed (Egypt)	465	(1)
Death of a Miser (Russia)	466	(1)
Godfather Death (Germany)	466	(3)
The Hungry Peasant, God, and Death (Mexico)	469	(2)
The Word the Devil Made Up (Afro-American)	471	(1)
A Paddock in Heaven (England)	472	(1)
How a Man Found His Wife in the Land of the Dead (Papua)	472	(2)
The End of the World (American Indian)	474	(3)
Notes	477	(18)
Permissions Acknowledgments	495