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A rich woman sat up late carding wool while her children and servants slept. A knock came at the door and a voice said: “Open! Open!” “Who’s there?” said the woman of the house. “I am the witch of the one horn,” came the answer. Against her better judgement, the mistress felt compelled to get up and open the door. A woman entered - but Mary! What a strange woman she was, for a horn grew out of her forehead! She sat down in silence by the fire and began to card thread with violent haste. Eventually she said: “Where are the others?

Once upon a time there was an old man, an old woman, and a little boy. One morning the old woman made some gingerbread in the shape of a man. She added icing for his hair and clothes, and little blobs of dough for his nose and eyes. When she put him in the oven to bake, she said to the little boy, "You watch the gingerbread man while your grandfather and I go out to work in the garden." So the old man and the old woman went out and began to dig potatoes, and left the little boy to tend the oven. And he started to day dream, and didn’t watch it all of the time.

A certain man had a donkey, which had carried the corn sacks to the mill loyally for many a long year; but his strength was going, and he was growing more and more unfit for work. His master began to wonder if it was worth his while by keeping this old donkey much longer. The donkey, seeing that no good wind was blowing, ran away and set out on the road to Bremen. “There,” he thought, “I can surely be a town musician.” When he had walked some distance, he found a dog lying on the road, gasping like one who had run until he was tired.

We bring you this sad but, we hope, beautiful story in verse. Orpheus the musician married Eurydice the shepherdess. When she was killed by a snake, he travelled down to the underworld and was granted one chance to fetch her back to life. Bertie has freely adapted this ancient tale into his own poem. Yes, we did warn you, it is sad. Adaptation by Bertie. Read by Richard.

It was Shrove Tuesday, otherwise known as pancake day. The City Mayor was sitting up in his bed eating his breakfast – a big pile of pancakes with black caviar and sour cream, washed down with champagne. As he took another silver-spoonful of caviar, his mobile phone rang. How he hated it when people called him while he was still at breakfast! He was about to throw his phone out of the window when he noticed that the call was coming from the Chief Of Police. “Oh dear,” thought the Mayor. “He probably wants to miss our card game.

Long ago, in Japan, there was a boy who was training to be a monk. He lived in the small temple at the end of the village. Every morning, at quarter to four, he woke up to the sound of a bell rung by the old priest. His first task of the day was to sit with the priest and chant the poem known as Zazen Wasan: All living beings come from Buddhas. Just as it is with ice and water There is no ice without water There are no Buddhas without living beings The chanting was followed by a lesson called Sansen. After a bowl of rice for breakfast, the boy set to work cleaning or gardening.

One day, the Lord Buddha called all the animals to a meeting. He told them that he had decided to pick the 13 most faithful animals, and reward each of them with their own year. As soon as the animals heard this, they began to quarrel among themselves about who should have the honour of the first year, the second, the third, and so on. The Buddha decided to settle this squabble with a contest. He gathered the 13 animals on the bank of a gushing river, and told them that they must swim across to the other side.

Why Cats and Dogs Are Enemies A Story From China, Told by A Mouse. Download mp3 Adapted by Bertie Read by Natasha There was a house that I used to visit for my super sometimes. I knew the way in very well - there was a tiny little door by the back window, so small that you would probably never notice it, but I’m a mouse, and I can squeeze through the teeniest of entrances. To tell you the truth, the joint was going down hill. Every time I visited, there were fewer and fewer crumbs. It was hardly worth going there anymore and besides there were dangers. They had a cat.

The Two frogs and the well by Aesop Hello, This is Richard, and I’m here with a fable by Aesop which is ever so short. As it’s such a teeny weeny squib of a tale, there’s time to tell it to you in three forms: a story, a poem, and a song. First the story It was hot. It was so terribly hot that the trees were sweating. The ponds were empty. The wells were dry. The ducks were thirsty.