Fairy tale information

Long ago, Gaia married Uranus and gave birth to giants, the Titans. Cronus, the leader, possessed power over every creature on Earth."I will rule forever," he said, "And so it shall be." Gaia, who foresaw the future, said, "One day, one of your own children will defeat you." To prevent this, each time his wife gave birth, Cronus swallowed the child whole.When Gaia realized Cronus's doings, she devised a plan. Gaia replaced the next-born baby with a stone she wrapped in a blanket. Cronus swallowed the stone disguised as his son.Gaia then carried the baby Zeus to Amalthea of Crete. "Care for Zeus as if he were your own," Gaia instructed. "Protect him from Cronus. He must never find this boy." Amalthea took Zeus into her arms and into her heart. Then she gathered young men and trained them to ...

John Bog and Thomas Bick of Gotham were neighbors, but not friends. One day when Thomas was returning home from Nottingham market he met John on Nottingham bridge and called out roughly, "Where are you going?" "I am going to Nottingham to buy sheep," said John. "Buy sheep!" said Thomas, "and which way will you bring them home?" "Oh," responded John, "I will bring them over this bridge." "No you won't," said Thomas. "I'm going to stay here and stop you." Each man carried a stout cane, and as they talked they swung their canes in the air and thumped them on the ground. "If you act like that," said John, "you'll make my sheep jump off the bridge into the water and they'll drown.""Let them drown," said Thomas." I don't care. You can take them home some other way." "I shall not!" said John, "I ...

Long ago, just before dawn, a band of fairies flew toward the fields to collect the morning dew. Few ever saw the fairies, for they are careful to hide themselves from human beings. This particular morning the fairies were collecting dew in their small cups when they saw the giant dragon. The dragon was preparing to attack a knight who stood before him. The fairies had no idea that this knight was the courageous St. Leonard. The battle began. The dragon thrashed his spiked tail this way and that. The fairies silently cheered on the knight who fought with all his strength. They were astonished by his bravery and determination as the battle raged on. Near dawn the fairies saw that the young knight was gravely wounded. The dragon reared up on his hind legs, ready for one last, deadly plunge. ...

Long ago a beautiful boy named Narcissus was born. An oracle told his mother that he could live forever, but only if he never saw his reflection.Echo, a nymph, used to be the goddess Juno's servant. Echo liked to gossip, and often told lies about the gods. One day, Juno became angry and sent Echo away to live in the forest, saying, "As punishment for your lies, from this day forward you will only be able to repeat what others have spoken."One day Echo saw Narcissus. She fell in love with him at first sight. Echo quietly began to follow him. How she longed to be able to say, "I love you." She started to cry.Narcissus turned. "Is someone here?""Here," Echo whispered.Narcissus saw no one. "Come here," he cried."Come here," Echo answered.Now the young man was angry. "Who are you? What do you w ...

Inanna was a goddess. One day, she heard her sister, the queen of the underworld, crying. Her husband had died. "I must go to my sister's husband's funeral," Inanna told her servant. "If I do not return in three days, ask the gods for help." When Inanna arrived at the outer gates of the underworld, the gatekeeper ran to tell the queen about the goddess. The queen hated her sister, so she told him: "Open the seven gates, but as my sister enters each gate, take away one of her royal garments." When the gatekeeper opened the first gate, he grabbed the crown from Inanna's head. It was the same at the other gates. At each one, the gatekeeper took away another piece of Inanna's jewelry, and at the seventh gate the gatekeeper removed her royal robes.Naked, Inanna entered the underworld and walked ...