After swimming a little farther, the fox said: "The water is deep. You may get wet where you are. Jump up on my shoulder."

So the Little Gingerbread Boy jumped up on the fox's shoulder.

When they were near the other side of the river the fox cried out suddenly:

"The water grows deeper still. Jump up on my nose! Jump up on my nose!"

So the Little Gingerbread Boy jumped up on the fox's nose.

Then the fox sprang ashore in a twinkling and threw back his head and snip, snip, snap! At last and at last that Gingerbread Boy went the way of every single gingerbread boy that ever came out of an oven!

THE CROW AND THE PITCHER

Adapted from Aesop

There was once a good old black Crow and he was very, very thirsty. He looked and looked for water, but all he could find was a little bit at the bottom of a deep pitcher. The Crow put his beak into the pitcher and tried very hard to reach the water, but there was so little left that, try as he would, he could not get it.

He turned and was about to go sorrowfully away when an idea came to him. He went back, picked up

a pebble and dropped it in the pitcher; then he took another pebble and dropped that into the pitcher. Then he looked down in to see what had happened to the water. The pebbles had made the water rise just a little way. He would have to work hard to get pebbles enough to bring the water up to a place where he could reach it. At first he thought he would give up trying and fly away. Then he said to himself:

"No, though I seem to find so little change each time I drop in a pebble, if I keep right at my work, and keep at it, and keep at it, at last I shall get my drink."

So he went back patiently to work and dropped in another pebble and another and another. Little by little he saw the water rise. At last, it came up where he could reach it. Then he put in his beak and was able to take the good drink of which he was so much in need.

OLE-LUK-OIE, THE SANDMAN

Hans Christian Andersen

HERE is nobody in all the world who can tell so many stories as Ole-Luk-oie! And such stories as he can tell!

When night is drawing on, and the children are sitting round the table as

good as possible or on their little

footstools, in walks Ole Shut-eyes. He comes so quietly up the stairs that nobody hears him; and, puff! he sends a shower of milk into their eyes in such fine spray as to be invisible; but they can't keep their eyes open after it, and so they never see him. He steals behind them and breathes upon their necks, making their heads as heavy as lead; but he never hurts them; he does it all from kindness to the children. He only wants them to be quiet, and the best way to make them quiet is to have them in bed; when they are settled there, he can tell them his stories.

Then as soon as the children are asleep, Ole Shut-eyes seats himself upon their beds. He is well dressed; his clothes are all of silk; but it is impossible to say what color they are, for it shimmers green, red and blue

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every time he turns. He has an umbrella under his arm, one with pictures on it, and this he holds over the good children, and then they dream the most delightful stories all night long. The other umbrella has no pictures on it, and he holds this one over the children who have been naughty, and then they sleep heavily till the morning and have no dreams at all.

I am now going to tell you about a little boy to whom Ole-Luk-oie went every night for a whole week. His name was Hjalmar.