world

A Spooky Irish Story

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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?

The Town Musicians of Bremen

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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.

El Ratón Pérez

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Este cuento se llama El Ratón Pérez escrito por Luis Coloma, y adaptado, traducido, y leído por Lorena Romero y Madeline Walton Hadlock. Esta es una grabación de LibraryCall. Hace muchos años vivió el rey Buby. Era un gran amigo de los niños pobres y también protector de los ratones.

The Boy Who Loved to Draw Cats

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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.

The Greedy Lion and the Clever Little Rabbit

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The Greedy Lion and Clever Little Rabbit, a tale from the ancient Indian collection of stories called The Panchatantra. A long time ago in India, there was a jungle full of beautiful plants and trees, flowers and fruit, and many animals lived happily there. Deer, monkeys, rabbits and wild boar in this jungle, there was also a fierce Lion who had protected the other animals in the past. But over the years had become greedy and mean. He had begun to attack the other animals, even when he wasn't hungry.

The Chinese Years of the Animals

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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

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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.

Rumpelstiltskin

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This story is called Rumpelstiltskin by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. This is a LibraryCall recording. By the side of a wood, in a country a long way off, ran a fine stream of water; and upon the stream there stood a mill. The miller’s house was close by, and the miller, you must know, had a very beautiful daughter. She was also very shrewd and clever; and the miller was so proud of her, that he one day told the king of the land, who used to come and hunt in the wood, that his daughter could spin gold out of straw.

Rapunzel

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There were once a man and a woman who had long in vain wished for a child. At length the woman hoped that God was about to grant her desire. These people had a little window at the back of their house from which a splendid garden could be seen, which was full of the most beautiful flowers and herbs. It was, however, surrounded by a high wall, and no one dared to go into it because it belonged to an enchantress, who had great power and was dreaded by all the world.

The Elves and the Shoemaker

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This story is called The Elves and the Shoemaker written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and read by Madeline Walton-Hadlock. This is a LibraryCall adaptation and recording. Once upon a time, there was a man who owned a small shoe shop in a village in Germany. His job was to make shoes out of leather and sell them to the villagers. Although the shoemaker was talented and hard-working, it took him many hours to make each pair of shoes, so he never had many shoes ready to sell. For this reason, he was quite poor.