Showing results by author "Andrew Lang" in All Categories

Toby Stephens takes us back to the world of cunning, adventure, mishap, and fun. Sheherezade, night after night, weaves her tales and Aladdin and his Magic Lamp, Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and other tales come alive. The unforgettable music of Rimsky-Korsakov sets the scene perfectly. A delightful treat for young listeners.

Martin entered town and saw a man dragging a cat by a string heading off to drown the creature. Martin offered to purchase the cat instead and spent the rest of the family's money on the cat. Outraged, his mother kicked him out of the house and off he went with the dog and cat. Martin worked honest labor for the next year, and then finds himself on quite an adventure after he rescues a burning damsel and takes her back to her father. From him, he receives a magical ring that seems to get him into more trouble.

When he undertakes the daunting task of saving his father’s ailing fruit trees, the young Prince Iwanich becomes enamored by a dream lady, Militza, who he cannot speak of, for he is bound to secrecy. Praised as a hero for saving his father’s trees, the prince flees in search of the woman and her palace. They become betrothed, but one day, Militza is called away on duty, and leaves the prince with one request: there is one room in the house forbidden to him. But burning with curiosity, the prince opens the door....

To save herself from certain death, the beautiful Scheherazade must beguile a Persian sultan with her enchanting stories. In two of her most well-known tales, Aladdin's and Ali Baba's cleverness and quick-thinking save the day - and a great treasure. Andrew Lang's masterful version of these ancient Middle Eastern folk tales will captivate listeners of all ages, just as they did when Scherazade was the storyteller.

A widowed peasant man was left to raise his two twin children, a boy and a girl. He tried his best but nothing seemed to go right without a woman's touch. And so, he remarried and had more children but things were still not right - the stepmother was very mean to the twins, beating and starving them. This wasn't enough for the wicked stepmother and she decided to send them off into the woods where an evil witch lived. She tells the twins they are to go off and serve her sweet granny.

The Prince of Air was raised to fear love and distrust women. This all changes the moment he sees Princess Rosalie, and he kidnaps her and hides her away, much to the dismay of her father. When the Invisible Prince comes to visit Rosalie’s father, it seems he might be able to rescue Rosalie after all, thanks to a magical gift from a fairy that granted him invisibility.

There was a family of three brothers. The older two were very intelligent and much beloved by their parents; the youngest however was considered to be a dunce and a pest and was always getting in his mother's way. One day, the king announced that he was offering his daughter's hand in marriage to whoever could build a flying ship. The older two brothers were immediately sent on their way to try to construct the flying ship, while the youngest was left behind.

There once was a young shepherd who one day discovers a wounded giant. Although at first frightened, he decides to care for the giant who shows his gratitude by giving the young boy a belt of invisibility and taking him underground to a giant's wedding celebration. The boy sneaks a loaf of bread away with him while he is leaving so that he might have something to eat the next day but much to his chagrin, he is unable to tear the bread when he tries. He then tries biting it and is shocked when pieces of gold fall from the loaf.

Alphege was born the son of a King, whose mother died in childbirth. His father remarried a new queen who also bore him a child. The queen desired for her son to be the rightful heir, so from the very beginning she looked for ways to rid the kingdom of Alphege. One day, Alphege went on a journey to visit his aunt in a far-off land and an evil fairy cast a spell on him that turned him into a green monkey. His father soon died and the queen's son became the new king. Years passed by until the kingdom discovered the truth of the green monkey that appeared in the kingdom.

The Dragon of the North is an Estonian fairy tale of a terrible dragon who devoured all in his path on his way from the north. One brave man sets out to find a way to conquer him and protect the people of his home. The man consults a magician, who tells him to seek the aid of birds. With the help of the birds, he discovers a witch-maiden who can help him, but whom he mistakenly crosses. The young man must then deal with the consequences of his actions.

A collection of English fairy tales taking you into a magical world of wit and mystery. Learn about Simpleton and how he succeeded in a tough situation where his older brother failed. Find out how one little piglet outwitted the streetwise old, grey wolf. A crafty cat, Puss, saves the life of his master and befriends the mighty Marquis Carabas. The collection includes some of the most memorable tales, such as 'The Golden Goose', 'The Three Little Pigs', 'Puss in Boots', 'The Three Bears', and 'Tom Thumb'.

Every night, the 12 princesses of the kingdom are locked safely in their rooms. And every morning, their shoes are worn through with holes! Michael, the gardener, longs to marry a princess. Will he win the Duke's challenge to discover where the princesses go at night? With some mystical help, he finds himself following the 12 dancing princesses to a midnight ball in a magical land.

The son of the Gardener to the King and the King's daughter fall in love. The King wants his daughter to marry the Prime Minister's son. So the two young men have to enter a contest: Whoever travels to a distant land and comes back first, wins the hand of the Princess.

On 28 May, 1828, a boy of around 16 appeared in the Bavarian city of Nuremburg holding a letter in his hand. The lad was unable to speak, apart from three odd phrases which he repeated parrot-like, one of which was: "Want to be a soldier, as father was." The letter, addressed to the captain of the local infantry regiment, told a bizarre story. It appeared that the boy had been kept shut up in isolation in the dark for his entire life, had never learned to speak and knew nothing of the world.

"Why the Sea Is Salt" is a fairy tale narrative that explains in fictional form how the sea came to be salty. It all started with a poor farmer with information he did not share. A moral tale for all ages.

A king who was a fantastic hunter one day got himself lost in the forest. Unable to find his way back home, an old woman appeared and said she would help him get home, provided that he married her daughter. Although her daughter was beautiful and the king agreed, he did not trust his new wife. And so he hid away in a palace in the woods his seven children, six sons and a daughter, from his previous wife. The new queen began to suspect something was amiss, so she bribed the servants to reveal the truth to her.

Imagine a time of fairies and giants, when good always triumphed over evil, and bravery and cunning saveed the day. That's the world inhabited by this collection of favorite fairy tales, retold in charming prose by Andrew Lang. Children will love hearing how Jack made his fortune; how a quick-thinking queen saved her baby from Rumpelstiltskin; how a clever cat turned his master into a marquis; and how even a spiteful fairy couldn't stop true love from waking a sleeping princess.

One day while a prince was riding through a meadow he came across an old woman trapped in a ditch. The prince rescued the old woman and assisted her out of the ditch, safely. In return, the old woman told the prince about the most beautiful woman in the world and where to find her. The prince decided to take her advice and journey to find this beautiful woman. After several years of traveling the prince finally finds the beautiful woman, but now it is up to him to save her from her kidnapper and return her home safely.

I have created this special collection of stories because…in my youth and even today I love the fantasy and magic of fairytales, and I grew up longing for a prince charming of my own one day. Of course being a little boy, back then, I tended to imagine myself in the role of a princess as that seemed the only option.

'The Enchanted Knife' is the story of a young man who seeks to marry the princess. Her father sets him an impossible task to perform before he will grant the suit - but with the aid of the cunning princess and a magic knife, the youth is able to win his bride.