was held open he pushed
himself inside.

Then all at once he found himself in a great confusion, for the Sheep
butted him so hard that he fell against the stove; and the Pig gored and
bit him; and the Goose nipped and pecked him; and the Hare ran about
over the house, now on the floor and now aloft, so that the Wolf did not
know who or what he was, and was scared out of his wits, and all the
time the Cock perched on a top beam and flapped his wings and crowed and
crowed.

By-and-by the Wolf managed to get near the door and to dash through it.

"Neighborhood makes for brotherhood," said the Wolf's brother. "You must
have made good friends, since you remained so long. But what became of
your errand, for you have neither pipe nor smoke?"

"Nice life makes pleasant company," said the Wolf. "Such manners I never
saw. For no sooner was I inside than the shoemaker flew at me with his
last, and two smiths blew bellows and made the sparks fly, and beat
and punched me with red-hot pincers, and tore great pieces out of my
body, the hunter kept running about trying to find his gun, and it is
well for me that he did not, for I should never have come out alive; and
all the while a butcher sat up on a beam and flapped his arms and sang
out to the others: 'Put a hook into him! Put a hook into him and drag
him thither!' so it was all I could do to get out alive!"

"Well," said his brother, "we can't choose in this wicked world, and an
unbidden guest sometimes gets bad treatment. But I think that we will be
very well advised to let these new neighbors alone."

So the Wolf, and the Wolf's family, and the Wolf's brother and his
brother's family, let the Sheep and the Pig and the Goose and the Hare
and the Cock alone, and they lived very happily in their house in the
woods.

[Illustration: MOTHER READS A FAIRY TALE]

DOLL-IN-THE-GRASS

Once upon a time there was a King who had twelve sons. These sons did
not like to do useful things--they only liked to ride and to hunt in the
woods, and to do what pleased them.

One day the King said: "You shall each one go forth into the world to
seek a bride. But you must choose a bride who can do useful things--and,
to prove it, she must be able to gather the flax and spin and weave a
shirt all in one day. If she cannot do this, I will not accept her as my
daughter-in-law."

So the sons set out on their errands, each riding a beautiful horse, and
looking forward to having a