The True Story Book   By: Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

WORKS BY ANDREW LANG.

HOMER AND THE EPIC. Crown 8vo. 9 s. net.

CUSTOM AND MYTH: Studies of Early Usage and Belief. With 15 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 3 s. 6 d.

BALLADS OF BOOKS. Edited by ANDREW LANG. Fcp. 8vo. 6 s.

LETTERS TO DEAD AUTHORS. Fcp. 8vo. 2 s. 6 d. net.

BOOKS AND BOOKMEN. With 2 Coloured Plates and 17 Illustrations. Fcp. 8vo. 2 s. 6 d. net.

OLD FRIENDS. Fcp. 2 s. 6 d. net.

LETTERS ON LITERATURE. Fcp. 8vo. 2 s. 6 d. net. .

GRASS OF PARNASSUS. Fcp. 8vo. 2 s. 6 d. net.

ANGLING SKETCHES. With 20 Illustrations by W. G. Burn Murdoch. Crown 8vo. 7 s. 6 d.

THE BLUE FAIRY BOOK. Edited by ANDREW LANG. With 8 Plates and 130 Illustrations in the Text by H. J. Ford and G. P. Jacomb Hood. Crown 8vo. 6 s.

THE RED FAIRY BOOK. Edited by ANDREW LANG. With 4 Plates and 96 Illustrations in the Text by H. J. Ford and Lancelot Speed. Crown 8vo. 6 s.

THE GREEN FAIRY BOOK. Edited by ANDREW LANG. With 11 Plates and 88 Illustrations in the Text by H. J. Ford. Crown 8vo. 6 s.

THE BLUE POETRY BOOK. Edited by ANDREW LANG. With 12 Plates and 88 Illustrations in the Text by H. J. Ford and Lancelot Speed. Crown 8vo. 6 s.

SCHOOL EDITION, without Illustrations. Fcp. 8vo. 2 s. 6 d.

SPECIAL EDITION, printed on Indian paper. With Notes, but without Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 7 s. 6 d.

THE TRUE STORY BOOK. Edited by ANDREW LANG. With Plates and Illustrations in the Text by H. J. Ford, Lucien Davis, Lancelot Speed, and L. Bogle. Crown 8vo. 6 s.

London: LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO. New York: 15 East 16th Street.

[Illustration: MONTEZUMA GREETS THE SPANIARDS]

THE TRUE STORY BOOK

Edited by

ANDREW LANG

With Numerous Illustrations by L. Bogle, Lucien Davis, H. J. Ford, C. H. M. Kerr, and Lancelot Speed

[Illustration]

London Longmans, Green, and Co and New York: 15 East 16th Street 1893

All rights reserved

DEDICATION

TO FRANCIS McCUNN

You like the things I used to like, The things I'm fond of still, The sound of fairy wands that strike Men into beasts at will;

The cruel stepmother, the fair Stepdaughter, kind and leal, The bull and bear so debonair, The trenchant fairy steel.

You love the world where brute and fish Converse with man and bird, Where dungeons open at a wish, And seas dry at a word.

That merry world to day we leave, We list an ower true tale, Of hearts that sore for Charlie grieve, When handsome princes fail,

Of gallant races overthrown, Of dungeons ill to climb, There's no such tale of trouble known, In all the fairy time.

There Montezuma still were king, There Charles would wear the crown, And there the Highlanders would ding The Hanoverian down:

In Fairyland the Rightful Cause Is never long a winning, In Fairyland the fairy laws Are prompt to punish sinning:

For Fairyland's the land of joy, And this the world of pain, So back to Fairyland, my boy, We'll journey once again!

INTRODUCTION