Old-Time Stories   By: Charles Perrault (1628-1703)

OLD TIME STORIES

[Illustration: "THEY REACHED THE HOUSE WHERE THE LIGHT WAS BURNING."]

OLD TIME STORIES

told by

MASTER CHARLES PERRAULT

translated from the French by A·E·Johnson with illustrations by

W·HEATH ROBINSON

[Illustration: Decoration]

NEW YORK DODD, MEAD & COMPANY

First Published, 1921

Printed in Great Britain

PREFATORY NOTE

Of the eleven tales which the present volume comprises, the first eight are from the master hand of Charles Perrault. Charles Perrault (1628 1703) enjoyed much distinction in his day, and is familiar to students of French literature for the prominent part that he played in the famous Quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns , which so keenly occupied French men of letters in the latter part of the seventeenth century. But his fame to day rests upon his authorship of the traditional Tales of Mother Goose; or Stories of Olden Times , and so long as there are children to listen spellbound to the adventures of Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, and that arch rogue Puss in Boots, his memory will endure.

To the eight tales of Perrault three others have been added here. 'Beauty and the Beast,' by Mme Leprince de Beaumont (1711 1781), has a celebrity which warrants its inclusion, however inferior it may seem, as an example of the story teller's art, to the masterpieces of Perrault. 'Princess Rosette' and 'The Friendly Frog' are from the prolific pen of Mme d'Aulnoy (1650 1705), a contemporary of Perrault, whom she could sometimes rival in invention, if never in dramatic power.

[Illustration: Decoration]

CONTENTS

PAGE

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY IN THE WOOD 1

PUSS IN BOOTS 21

LITTLE TOM THUMB 34

THE FAIRIES 55

RICKY OF THE TUFT 61

CINDERELLA 75

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD 92

BLUE BEARD 99

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST 113

THE FRIENDLY FROG 138

PRINCESS ROSETTE 174

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

COLOURED PLATES

'They reached the house where the light was burning' (see page 41) Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

'The most beautiful sight he had ever seen' 16

'All that remained for the youngest was the cat' 21

'"You must die, madam," he said' 99

'Every evening the Beast paid her a visit' 130

'"Could your father but see you, my poor child"' 152

BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

'The king ... at once published an edict' 3

'A little dwarf who had a pair of seven league boots' 7

'The king's son chanced to go a hunting' 10

'All asleep' 12

'They all fell asleep' 13

'As though he were dead' 23

'The cat went on ahead' 26

Puss in Boots 27

'Puss became a personage of great importance' 31

'A good dame opened the door' 37