A collection of fifteen Spanish fairy tales.

Old Spanish Folklore which has been kept alive in South America. These tales are said to have inspired the Spanish Children of the long about the deeds Which made Spain Famous for discoveries and explorations. This collection includes: The white parrot -- The carnation youth -- The wood cutter's son and the two turtles-- The luck fairies -- The bird which laid diamonds -- The enchanted castle in the sea -- The princess who was dumb -- The King who slept -- The Prince Fernando -- The lily and the bear -- Sun, moon, and the morning star -- The frog and his clothes -- The white dove of the city of the Swinging Gate -- The flower of beauty -- The magician Palermo

Contains a magical collection of folktales from around the world.

This volume consists of seventeen stories by nine of nineteenth-century Spain's most well-known authors, and demonstrates convinvingly that, although it had no Charles Perrault and no brothers Grimm, it maintained a rich oral vein of folktales and fostered stories in written form that are in keeping with the European tradition.

Once upon a time there was a boy named Rupert, the sharpest and most prudent lad in his village, and indeed in any of those to be found for twenty leagues around. One night he was with a group of boys of his own age, who, gathered round the fire, were listening with amazement to a veteran soldier, covered with scars, which had gained him the modest stripes of a sergeant pensioner, and who was telling the story of his adventures. The narrator was at the most interesting point of his tale. "The great City of Fortune," he said, "is situated on the summit of a very high mountain, so steep that only very few have succeeded in reaching the top. There gold circulates in such abundance that the inhabitants do not know what to do with the precious metal. Houses are built of it, the walls of the fortress are of solid silver, and the cannons which defend it are enormous pierced diamonds. The streets are paved with duros, always new, because as soon as they begin to lose their brilliance they are replaced by others just minted. "You ought to see the cleanliness of it! What dirt there is is pure gold dust, which the dust carts collect in order to throw in large baskets into the drains. "The pebbles against which we stumble continually are brilliants as large as nuts, despised on account of the extraordinary abundance with which the soil supplies them. In a word, he who lives there may consider the most powerful of the earth as beggars. "The worst of it is that the path which leads there is rough and difficult, and most people succumb without having been able to arrive at the city of gold."

Experience the enchanting world of Spanish folk tales through the vibrant retelling of José Muñoz Escámez. From trickster foxes to talking bees, these stories are sure to captivate and delight readers of all ages. 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.