Showing results for "emma fenney" in Classics

Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness. Readily accessible by children, they present lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity that appeal to mature listeners as well. This collection of 25 tales includes The Wild Swans, The Little Mermaid, and The Snow Man.

In "The Emperor's New Clothes", two weavers tell the emperor that they can make him a new suit of clothes that is invisible to people who are unfit for their positions or who are stupid or incompetent. Con men, the two weavers actually outfit the emperor in nothing, but will anyone be willing to tell the emperor that he is naked? As an idiom, the story's title refers to things that are accepted as common knowledge in spite of being obviously untrue.

In The Naughty Boy, an old poet welcomes a wet and shivering boy into his home to warm up, not realizing that the boy has an ulterior motive - and a bow and arrow. This short tale ruminates on the naughtiness and ubiquity of Cupid.

In this fable about what happens to liars and boasters, a gentleman’s collar decides to marry and proposes to various female objects, embroidering his accomplishments and good qualities at every turn.

In The Princess and the Pea, a prince who wants to marry a princess finds it difficult to ascertain whether a princess is authentically noble. On a stormy night, a bedraggled young woman claiming to be a princess seeks shelter in the prince's castle. The Prince’s mother tests the girl’s claim by placing three peas underneath the 20 mattresses laid out for her. A humorous tale about the absurdities of the noble.

In The Happy Family, a pair of snails live inside a burdock forest near an old manor house. They remember the old days when their kinfolk were served on platters in the old house and suspect the house has since been abandoned. Deciding to grow their family, they adopt a common snail and must arrange a marriage for their new child.