English Fairy Tales

"Chop off my head, my hinny, my heart, Chop off my head, my own darling . . ." What is a poor girl to do, when the Frog of the Well of the World's End demands such a thing of her? Or what of the bride-to-be who spies this above the door she must enter: "Be bold, be bold, but not that bold, Lest that your heart's blood should run cold!" These forty-one traditional English tales abound with such odd, wonderful and often mysterious characters as Mr. and Mrs. Vinegar, Mr. Fox, and Nix Naught Nothing -- as well as a bevy of wicked stepmothers, fairy queens and beautiful rose-cheeked maidens.