the pumpkin glory

The Pumpkin-Glory

short stories

The Pumpkin Glory By William Dean Howells Listen to the story The Pumpkin Glory The papa had told the story so often that the children knew just exactly what to expect the moment he began. They all knew it as well as he knew it himself, and they could keep him from making mistakes or forgetting. Sometimes he would go wrong on purpose or would pretend to forget, and then they had a perfect right to pound him till he quit it. He usually quits pretty soon. The children liked it because it was very exciting, and at the same time, it had no moral, so when it was all over, they could feel that they had not been excited just for the moral. The…

the great feast

The Great Feast

short stories

The Great Feast By Laura E. Richards Listen to the story The Great FEAST Once, the Play Angel came into a nursery where four little children sat on the floor with sad and troubled faces. “What is the matter, dears?” asked the Play Angel. “We wanted to have a grand feast!” said the child whose nursery it was. “Yes, that would be delightful!” said the Play Angel. “But there is only one cookie!” said the child whose nursery it was. “And it is a very small cookie!” said the child, who was a cousin and therefore felt a right to speak. “Not big enough for myself!” said the child whose nursery it was. The other two children said nothing because they were not relations, but…

the great stone face

The Great Stone Face

short stories

The Great Stone Face By Nathaniel Hawthorne Listen to the story “The Great Stone Face” story shows us that the motive of human existence is to serve and to show compassion and the desire to assist others. The Great Stone Face One afternoon, when the sun was going down, a mother and her little boy sat at the door of their cottage, talking about the Great Stone Face. They had but to lift their eyes, and there it was plainly to be seen, though miles away, with the sunshine brightening all its features. And what was the Great Stone Face? Embosomed amongst a family of lofty mountains, there was a valley so spacious that it contained many thousand inhabitants. Some of these good people dwelt…

the sagacious monkey and the boar

The Sagacious Monkey and the Boar

short stories

The sagacious monkey and the boar Listen to the story “The sagacious monkey and the Boar show us that no one can live without needing some advice from time to time, but at that time, we must very carefully choose the right person to consult and listen to his advice in order to get what we want following his advice and not the other way around.    The sagacious monkey and the boar Long, long ago, there lived in the province of Shinshin in Japan, a traveling  monkey-man who earned his living by taking round a monkey and showing off  the animal’s tricks. One evening the man came home in a very bad temper and told his wife to send  for the butcher the next…

the forest bride the story of a little mouse who was a princess

The forest bride: the story of a little mouse who was a Princess

short stories

The forest bride: The story of a little mouse who was a princess. By Parker Fillmore Listen to the story “the forest bride: the story of a little mouse who was a princess” story shows us how important it is for our hearts to be simple, loving, and tender. We do not care about appearances and precedence more than love and passion. The forest bride: The story of a little mouse who was a princess There was once a farmer who had three sons. One day when the boys were grown to manhood, he said to them: “My sons, it is high time that you were all married. Tomorrow I wish you to go out in search of brides.” “But where shall we go?” the oldest…

east of the sun and west of the moon

East of the sun and west of the moon

short stories

East of the Sun and west of the Moon By Peter Christen Asbjrnsen Listen to the story “East of the Sun and West of the Moon“ story shows us two opposite attitudes we need to focus on. The first one is that We must not betray the trust of the one who gave it to us, like what she did when she listened to her mother and not to him.The second one is what we should all have, and that is the Perseverance and determination she had when she insisted to rescue the man she loved. East of the Sun and West of the Moon At a time there was a poor husbandman who had many children and little to give them in the way either…

the owl and the pussycat

The Owl and the Pussycat

short stories

The Owl and the Pussycat By Edward Lear Listen to the story The Owl and the Pussycat THE Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea In a beautiful pea-green boat, They took some honey, and plenty of money Wrapped up in a five-pound note.                                                             ————————————————————— The Owl looked up to the stars above, And sang to a small guitar, “O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love, What a beautiful Pussy you are, You are, You are! What a beautiful Pussy you are!”                           …

the little red hen

The Little Red Hen

short stories

The Little Red HEN  by Florence White Williams Listen to the story “The Little Red HEN” tell us the importance of hard work and personal initiative.  The Little Red Hen A little red hen lived in a barnyard; she spent almost all of her time walking about the barnyard in her Piketty Pecha, scratching everywhere for worms; she dearly loved fat, delicious worms and felt they were absolutely necessary to the health of her children, as often as she found a worm, she would call it “Chuck Chuck Chuck.” to her chicks, when they gathered about her, she would distribute choice morsels of her tidbit, a busy little body was she. A cat usually napped lazily in the barn door, not even bothering herself to scare the rat who…

the celebrated jumping frog

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras

short stories

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras By MARK TWAIN Listen to the story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras Country in compliance with the request of a friend of mine who wrote me from the east I called on good-natured, garrulous old Simon Wheeler and inquired after my friends friend Leonidas W smiley as requested to do and I hear unto a pen to the result I have a lurking suspicion that Leonidas W smiley is a myth and that my friend never knew such a personage and that he only conjectured that if I asked old Wheeler about him it would remind him of his infamous Jim smiley, and he would go to work and bore me to death with some exasperatingly reminisces of…