A collection of stories from a simpler time, evoking nostalgia for a past that may or may not have ever existed. With humorous characters and a warm tone, these tales are perfect for a cozy evening by the fire. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

It concerned the family ghost, which ghost was said to haunt a certain blue chamber in the east wing of the castle. Now I myself had never gainsaid these reports; for although I do not believe in ghosts, I have a certain respect for them, as they have never offered me any affront, either by appearing to me or otherwise maltreating me. But Marian, who like many of her sex seemed to consort naturally with banshees, bogies, apparitions, and the like, declared to me that at several different and equally inconvenient times this ghost had presented itself to her, startling her on two occasions to such an extent that she once let fall the contents of the broth-bowl on Herne the blood-hound, thereby causing that beast to maliciously devour two breadths of her new black taffeta Sunday gown; again, a hot iron wherewith she was pressing out the seams of Lady Margaret's night-gown. On the second occasion, she fled along the kitchen hall, shrieking piteously, and preceded by Doll, the kitchen wench, the latter having in her seeming a certain ghostly appearance, as she was clad only in her shift, which the draughts in the hall inflated to a great size. The poor maid fled affrighted into her room and locked the door behind her; yet when I did essay to assuage the terror of Mistress Butter, identifying Doll and the blue-room ghost as one and the same, she thanked me not, but belabored me in her frenzy with the yet warm iron, which she had instinctively snatched up in her flight; demanding of me at the same time if I had ever seen Doll's nose spout fire, and her eyes spit in her head like hot coals. I being of a necessity compelled to reply "No," Marian further told me that it was thus that the ghost had comported itself; that, moreover, it was clad all in a livid blue flame from top to toe, and that it had a banner o' red sarcenet that streamed out behind like forked lightning. She then said that this malevolent spirit had struck her with its blazing hand, and that, did I not believe her, I could see the burn on her wrist. Upon my suggesting that this wound might have been inflicted by the iron in its fall, she did use me in so unwifely a manner that I sought my bed in much wrath and vexation of spirit. Nay, I do fear me that I cursed the day I was wed, the day on which my wife was born, wishing all women to the d—l; and that, moreover, out loud, which put me to much shame afterwards for some days; although, be it said to my still greater shame, it was full a fortnight e'er I confessed my repentance unto the wife whom I had so abused.

'A Brother To Dragons and Other Old-time Tales' is a collection of three tales by the American author Amélie Rives. The collection features stories of dragons, a farrier lass, and Nurse Crumpet telling a tale. Rives, described as a genius and morbidly sensitive, weaves tales of fantasy and wonder, enchanting readers with her imaginative storytelling.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1882.

Of the eleven tales which the present volume comprises, the first eight are from the master-hand of Charles Perrault. Charles Perrault (1628-1703) enjoyed much distinction in his day, and is familiar to students of French literature for the prominent part that he played in the famous Quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns, which so keenly occupied French men of letters in the latter part of the seventeenth century. But his fame to-day rests upon his authorship of the traditional Tales of Mother Goose; or Stories of Olden Times, and so long as there are children to listen spellbound to the adventures of Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, and that arch rogue Puss in Boots, his memory will endure. To the eight tales of Perrault three others have been added here. 'Beauty and the Beast,' by Mme Leprince de Beaumont (1711-1781), has a celebrity which warrants its inclusion, however inferior it may seem, as an example of the story-teller's art, to the masterpieces of Perrault. 'Princess Rosette' and 'The Friendly Frog' are from the prolific pen of Mme d'Aulnoy (1650-1705), a contemporary of Perrault, whom she could sometimes rival in invention, if never in dramatic power.

THE author of this work makes no pretense of originality in the telling of these stories of olden times. They have been gleaned from many sources, and are the common heritage of all who love to write them anew and hear them again. Only the words belong to the story teller; the story itself is as old as the race. In the lapse of years and with the much telling of these stories there is no longer a line between fact and fiction. How much is true and how much is false does not matter; the story itself is the thing, and one need not worry whether it really happened or not. Much of it is palpable fiction, but much of it is true. Let us not be too critical of a story when it is a few hundred years old. At any rate, the stories herein contained are a part of the great inheritance that the boys and girls of this day have received from the past, and to which they are entitled in all fullness and freedom. If the reading of them shall add anything to the enjoyment or to the information of those who are always young in heart because they always thrill at romance and adventure, the writer of these old time tales will be amply repaid. LAWTON B. EVANS JEROME AND THE LION THE SAINT WHO STOOD ON A PILLAR THE SCOURGE OF GOD THE VANDAL HORDE KING CLOVIS BECOMES A CHRISTIAN A CAMEL DRIVER BECOMES A PROPHET WHAT IT MEANT TO BE A KNIGHT BERTHA WITH THE BIG FOOT STORIES OF CHARLEMAGNE CHARLEMAGNE AND THE MAGIC RING CHARLEMAGNE AND THE ROBBER ROLAND BECOMES A KNIGHT THE DEATH OF ROLAND HOW NORMANDY CAME BY ITS NAME OLAF, THE BOY VIKING OF NORWAY THE CID WINS HIS NAME THE LAST DAYS OF THE CID THE LORELEI THE MOUSE TOWER THE DEVIL'S LADDER GERDA'S RIDE TO HER WEDDING PETER THE HERMIT THE WIVES OF WEINSBERG THE MEETING OF KING RICHARD AND SALADIN ADVENTURES OF RICHARD, THE LION HEART THE PRINCE OF TRAVELERS WILLIAM TELL, THE SWISS PATRIOT EDWARD, THE BLACK PRINCE BIG FERRE KEEPS THE FORT THE LEGEND OF THE STRASSBURG CLOCK THE BURGHERS OF GHENT REFUSE TO BE HANGED THE SACRIFICE OF ARNOLD WINKELRIED THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC BAYARD, THE KNIGHT WITHOUT FEAR AND WITHOUT REPROACH THE FIELD OF THE CLOTH OF GOLD DMITRI, THE PRETENDER THE MAN WITH THE IRON MASK STORIES OF PETER THE GREAT MAZEPPA, THE CHIEF OF THE COSSACKS THE CRIME OF CHARLOTTE CORDAY