American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1879-05-03
AN oLD-FAsuIoNED FAIRY STORY.

Once on time there was q King who
had daughter, and she was such a
dreadful story-teller that the like of her
was not to be found far or near. So the
King gave out that if any one could tell
such string of lies as would get her to
say, 6 That's a story" he should have
her to wife and half the kingdom be-
sides. Well, many came, as you may
fancy, to try their luck, for every one
would have been very glad to have the
Princess, to say nothing of the king
dom; but they all cut sorry figure, for
the Princess was so given to story-tell-
Ing that all the lies went in one ear and
out of the other. Among the rest came
three brothers to try their luck, and the
two older went first, but they -fared no
better than those who had gone before
them. Last of all, the third, Boots, set
off and found the Princess in the farm
yard.
"Good morning." said he, "and
thank you nothing"
'Good morning." said she, " and the
same to you"
Then she went on
You haven't such fine farm-yard
as ours, I'll be bound; for when two
shepherds stand, one at each end of it,
and blow their rams horns, the one
can't hear the other"
"Haven't we, thought" answered
Boots. "Ours is far bigger, for a young
calf beginning at one end of it does not
get to the other end before she is q full
grown cow"
81 dare say" said the Princess.
"Well, but you haven't such big OK.
after all, as ours yonder; for when two
men sit, one on each horn, they can't
touch each other with 20-foot rule"
Stuff!' said Boots; sis that ALI
Why, we have an OK that is so big that
when two men sit, one on each horn,
and blow their great mountain trum-
pets, they can't hear one another"
al dare say!" said the Princess
"but you haven't so much milk as we,
III be bound for we milk our kline into
great pals and carry them indoors and
empty them into great tubs, and SO we
make great cheeses."
"Oh! you do, do youp" said Boots
"Well, we milk ours into great tubs, land
then we put them in carts, and drive
them in doors, and then we turn them
ont into great brewing-vats, and so we
make cheeses as big as a great house
We had, too, dun mare to tread the
cheese well together when it was max
ing; but once she tumbled down
into the cheese and we lost her; and af-
ter we had eaten at this cheese Z years
we came upon great dun mare, alive
and kicking. Well, once after that ]
was going TO drive this mare to the
mill, and her backbone snapt in two
but l wasn't put out, not 1, for took a
spruce sapling, and made backbone
for her out of it, and she had TO other
backbone all the while we had her
But the sapling grew up into such a tai
tree that 1 climbed right up to the
moon by it, and when 1 got there
saw al OLD woman sitting and spinning
the foam of the sea into pig's-bristle
ropes; but just then the spruce fiji
broke short off and L could not get
down again; so the old woman let me
down by one of the ropes, and down !
slipped straight into a fox's hole, and
who should sit there but my mother
and your father cobbling shoes; and
just as L stepped in, my mother gave
your father such a box on the ear that
it made his whiskers curl"
That's story!" said the Princess
my father never did such thing in all
his born days! y"
So Boots got the Princess to wife, and
half the kingdom besides.