Old & wise, short & insightful
Spellbinding Tales to Read Online
Book of Tales has all kinds of tales and stories but below
you'll find a list of all its Traditional Tales.
Carried and preserved by word of mouth for centuries, or maybe even millennia, traditional tales were designed for two purposes:
1. To entertain us regardless of our age, gender or class;
2. To help us all, young and old, to make sense of our ever-expanding inner and outer worlds (either in realistic or symbolic terms).
Never were these old tales solely intended for children.
For the young and very young Book of Tales has a special section
called
Bedtime Stories >>
"Where are you rushing to" said he Tree to the River,
"you are always in such a hurry".
I have many stories, really important stories Tree, I have got to
get them to the sea as quickly as possible.
"And is the wind going to help you" said the Tree.
"Sometimes" said the River, "but the wind can be friend and foe,
it is I alone am the storyteller."
(A Tale from Ireland)
Click on the title to read the Tale online.
- The Tale of Mousey the Merchant >>
A Picture without walls
A short, millennia old Indian Tale from the Kathasaritsagara
(The-Ocean-of-Streams-of-Stories) of Somadeva
- A Nasty Rumour >>
A short Indian tale from the same source as the tale of Mousey the Merchant above
This old tale about the power of gossip is still as relevant today as it was
in the old days
After Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger,
but before the trees, brambles and thorns shielded her castle from
the outside world
there was this moment...Continue reading >>
Arabian Tales from the Book of a Thousand Nights
and A Night
- Ali the Persian >>
An Old Arabian Tale with a Modern Theme
from the Book of a Thousand Nights and A Night
- The Proud King >>
One Tale from the Book of a Thousand Nights that right after it ends continues not once but twice
- The Three Apples >>
A wonderful old Tale from the Book of a Thousand Nights and A Night
- The Tale of Abu Hasan >>
A Tale from the Book of a Thousand Nights and A Night
about wind and a very embarrassed Arabian man called Abu Hasan