[p. i]

OLD-TIME STORIES

[p. ii]

"They reached the house where the light was burning."

[p. iii]

OLD-TIME STORIES

told by

MASTER
CHARLES
PERRAULT

translated from
the French by
A·E·Johnson
with illustrations
by

W·HEATH
ROBINSON

NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD & COMPANY

[p. iv]

First Published, 1921

Printed in Great Britain

[p. v] PREFATORY NOTE

Of the eleven tales which the present volume comprises, the first eightare from the master-hand of Charles Perrault. Charles Perrault(1628-1703) enjoyed much distinction in his day, and is familiar tostudents of French literature for the prominent part that he played inthe famous Quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns, which so keenlyoccupied French men of letters in the latter part of the seventeenthcentury. But his fame to-day rests upon his authorship of thetraditional Tales of Mother Goose; or Stories of Olden Times, and solong as there are children to listen spellbound to the adventures ofCinderella, Red Riding Hood, and that arch rogue Puss in Boots, hismemory will endure.

To the eight tales of Perrault three others have been added here.'Beauty and the Beast,' by Mme Leprince de Beaumont (1711-1781), has acelebrity which warrants its inclusion, however inferior it may seem, asan example of the story-teller's art, to the masterpieces of Perrault.'Princess Rosette' and 'The Friendly Frog' are from the prolific pen ofMme d'Aulnoy (1650-1705), a contemporary of Perrault, whom she couldsometimes rival in invention, if never in dramatic power.

[p. vii]

CONTENTS

•   PAGE
• THE SLEEPING BEAUTY IN THE WOOD 1
• PUSS IN BOOTS 21
• LITTLE TOM THUMB 34
• THE FAIRIES ...