English

Why Pigs Have Curly Tails THERE was once a fairy who fell into a bramble-bush. It was a very closely grown bush, and she could not get out. She was sadly scratched, and the thorns caught her tiny delicate wings and tore her pretty frail dress into shreds. The bramble-bush formed part of a hedge which ran along the side of an orchard, and presently a horse came sauntering up to the hedge. “Oh, please help me, sir,” said the fairy. “I’m caught in a bramble-bush, and can’t get out.” The horse came and looked at her. “That’s a nasty place to be in,” he said.

This story is called The Boy Who Wanted More Cheese, a story from the Netherlands by William Elliot Griffis. This is a LibraryCall adaptation and recording. Klaas was a Dutch boy who lived on a farm where cows were plentiful. His appetite was always good and his mother declared his stomach had no bottom. His hair was of a color half-way between a carrot and a sweet potato and it was as thick as reeds in a swamp. He wore a pair of wooden shoes that made an awful rattle when he ran fast to catch a rabbit, or scuffed slowly to school over the brick road of his village.