"And first," quoth the king, "when I'm in this stead, With my crown of gold so fair on my head, "Secondly, tell me, without any doubt, How soon I may ride the whole world about; "O, these are hard questions for my shallow wit, "Now three weeks' space to thee will I give, Away rode the Abbot, all sad at that word, KING JOHN AND THE ABBOT OF PART II. Then home rode the Abbot of comfort so cold, 'Sad news, sad news, shepherd, I must give, "The first is to tell him there in that stead, I Nay, frown not, if it hath been told unto me am like your lordship as ever may be ; And if you will but lend me your gown There is none shall know us in fair London town." "Now horses and serving men thou shalt have, "Now welcome, Sir Abbot," the king he did say, ""Tis well thou'rt come back to keep thy day For if thou canst answer my questions three Thy life and thy living both savéd shall be. "And first, when thou seest me here in this stead, "For thirty pence our Saviour was sold, "You must rise with the sun, and ride with the same, Until the next morning he riseth again; And then your grace need not make any doubt "Yea, that I shall do, and make your grace merry; The king he laughed, and swore by the mass, "Four nobles a week, then, I will give thee, Old Ballad. LITTLE THUMB. (From Hans Christian Andersen's Tales for Children.) PART I. A woman wanted very much to have a little child, so she asked an old witch whether she could tell her any way in which her wishes could be carried out. "It is easy to do that," said the witch. "There is a kind of barley, unlike what the farmers grow; get some of that and sow it in a flower-pot, and wait and see what comes up." The woman thanked her, and gave her a shilling. She went home, got the barley, sowed it in her flower-pot, and there sprang up at once a large flower like a tulip, but its leaves were closed, as if it were only in bud. What a pretty flower it is!" said the woman as she kissed the red and yellow leaves; but just then the flower opened with a bang. It was a real tulip, as all might now easily see, but seated in the middle of it was a very little girl. She was so pretty and small that they called her Little Thumb, for she was not taller than the length of one's thumb. They gave her a walnut-shell for her cradle, blue violet leaves for her mattress, and a rose-leaf for a covering. In this cradle she slept at night, but in the daytime she played on the table, where was also placed a dishful of water with pretty flowers all round the edge, and a lily-leaf floating in the middle. On this lily-leaf, Little Thumb used to sit, and row herself from one side of the dish to the other, which looked very pretty. She could also sing very sweetly, sweeter than anything else which people had heard in those parts. As she was lying one night in her beautiful bed, an ugly toad came hopping through a broken pane in the window. The toad was a large, wet, hideous monster, and hopped on to just that part of the table on which Little Thumb was asleep under her rose-leaf. "What a charming wife that would be for my son!" said the toad; and so taking up the walnutshell in which Little Thumb was lying, she jumped with it through the broken pane into the garden. Through this garden flowed a broad river, the banks of which were covered with mud, and it was in this river that the toad and her son dwelt. He was quite as ugly as his mother, and all he could say was "koar, koar, croak, croak," and this he did say when he saw the pretty little girl in the walnut-shell. "Don't speak so loud, or you will wake her," said the old toad," and then she will perhaps run away. We will put her out on the river on one of the leaves of the water-lily, which will be as |