THE
GREY FAIRY BOOK
THE
Grey Fairy Book
EDITED BY
ANDREW LANG
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS BY H. J. FORD
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
91 AND 93 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK
LONDON AND BOMBAY
1905
All rights reserved
Copyright 1900
by
Longmans, Green, and Co.
First Edition, October 1900.
Reprinted, September, 1901.
Reprinted, August, 1905.
University Press
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A.
PREFACE
The tales in the Grey Fairy Book are derived from manycountries—Lithuania, various parts of Africa, Germany, France, Greece,and other regions of the world. They have been translated and adapted byMrs. Dent, Mrs. Lang, Miss Eleanor Sellar, Miss Blackley, and Miss Lang.'The Three Sons of Hali' is from the last century 'Cabinet des Fées,' avery large collection. The French author may have had some Orientaloriginal before him in parts; at all events he copied the Eastern methodof putting tale within tale, like the Eastern balls of carved ivory. Thestories, as usual, illustrate the method of popular fiction. A certainnumber of incidents are shaken into many varying combinations, like thefragments of coloured glass in the kaleidoscope. Probably the possiblecombinations, like possible musical combinations, are not unlimited innumber, but children may be less sensitive in the matter of fairies thanMr. John Stuart Mill was as regards music.