ittle Pig,
there is a Fair in the Town this afternoon: will you go?"
"Oh, yes," said the Pig, I will go; what time shall you be ready?"
"At three," said the Wolf.
So the little Pig went off before the time, as usual, and got to the Fair,
and bought a butter churn, and was on his way home with it when he saw the
Wolf coming. Then he could not tell what to do. So he got into the churn
to hide, and in doing so turned it round, and it began to roll, and rolled
down the hill with the Pig inside it, which frightened the Wolf so much
that he ran home without going to the Fair.
He went to the little Pig's house, and told him how frightened he had
been by a great round thing which came down the hill past him.
Then the little Pig said, "Hah! I frightened you, did I? I had been to the
Fair and bought a butter churn, and when I saw you I got into it, and
rolled down the hill."
Then the Wolf was very angry indeed, and declared he would eat up the
little Pig, and that he would get down the chimney after him.
When the little Pig saw what he was about, he hung on the pot full of
water, and made up a blazing fire, and, just as the Wolf was coming down,
took off the cover of the pot, and in fell the Wolf. And the little Pig
put on the cover again in an instant, boiled him up, and ate him for
supper, and lived happy ever after.
TOM THUMB
Long ago, in the merry days of good King Arthur, there lived a ploughman
and his wife. They were very poor, but would have been contented and happy
if only they could have had a little child. One day, having heard of the
great fame of the magician Merlin, who was living at the Court of King
Arthur, the wife persuaded her husband to go and tell him of their
trouble. Having arrived at the Court, the man besought Merlin with tears
in his eyes to give them a child, saying that they would be quite content
even though it should be no bigger than his thumb. Merlin determined to
grant the request, and what was the countryman's astonishment to find when
he reached home that his wife had a son, who, wonderful to relate, was no
bigger than his father's thumb!
The parents were now very happy, and the christening of the little fellow
took place with great ceremony. The Fairy Queen, attended by all her
company of elves, was present at the feast. She kissed the little child,
and, giving it the name of Tom Thumb, told her fairies to fetch the
tailors of her Court, who dressed her little godso
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