English Fairy Tales Stories
Page 2 of 2 • 29 stories total
Thumbelina
A woman who wants a child plants a magic seed that grows into a flower. Inside the flower is Thumbelina, a tiny girl no bigger than a thumb. She has many adventures: a toad kidnaps her to marry her son, but fish help her escape. A beetle takes her but abandons her when other beetles call her ugly. She survives alone in the forest until winter, when a kind field mouse takes her in. The mouse wants her to marry a rich mole, but Thumbelina finds a sick swallow and nurses it back to health. In spring, the swallow takes her to a warm land where she meets a tiny flower prince. They fall in love, and Thumbelina finally finds happiness as the queen of the flower fairies.
The Bremen Town Musicians
An old donkey runs away from his farm to become a musician in Bremen. Along the way, he meets an old dog, cat, and rooster who all face similar problems. The four friends travel together and discover a cottage in the forest occupied by robbers. They stack on top of each other and make a terrible noise, scaring the robbers away. The animals decide to stay in the cozy cottage and live happily together, never making it to Bremen.
The Golden Goose
A kind young man called Simpleton shares his meager food with a magical old man and receives a golden goose in return. Anyone who touches the goose gets stuck to it, creating a hilarious chain of people. When a sad princess sees this funny sight, she laughs for the first time, and Simpleton wins her hand in marriage.
The Seven Dwarfs
Seven dwarfs live together in a forest cottage and work in a diamond mine. When they find Snow White in their home, they let her stay with them. She becomes part of their family, cleaning and cooking while they work. However, the evil Queen discovers Snow White is alive and poisons her with an apple.
The Lost Crown
A young princess loses her golden crown in a deep forest. With the help of a wise owl and a kind fox, she learns that true royalty comes from the heart, not from a crown.
Rapunzel
In this classic fairy tale, a desperate father steals rapunzel lettuce from a witch's garden to satisfy his pregnant wife's cravings. As payment, the witch takes their newborn daughter and names her Rapunzel. The girl is locked away in a doorless tower, where only her extraordinarily long golden hair provides access. When a prince discovers her and they fall in love, they devise an escape plan. However, Rapunzel accidentally reveals their secret, leading to her banishment and the prince's blindness. After years of wandering, he finds Rapunzel in the wilderness with their twin children, and her tears miraculously restore his sight, reuniting the family.
Jack and the Beanstalk
A poor boy named Jack trades his family's only cow for magic beans. When his angry mother throws them out, they grow into a giant beanstalk reaching the clouds. Jack climbs up three times to a giant's castle, stealing gold, a hen that lays golden eggs, and a magical harp. On his third adventure, the giant chases him down, but Jack cuts down the beanstalk just in time, defeating the giant and securing his family's wealth forever.
The Little Mermaid
A young mermaid princess falls in love with a human prince she saves from drowning. She trades her beautiful voice to a sea witch for human legs, hoping to win his love. When the prince marries another woman he believes saved him, the mermaid chooses not to harm him. Her selfless love transforms her into a spirit of the air, destined to earn an immortal soul through good deeds.
Beauty and the Beast
A merchant's daughter named Belle sacrifices herself to save her father by living with a terrifying Beast. Through kindness and patience, Belle discovers the Beast's gentle heart, and her love breaks a curse, transforming him back into a prince.
Rumpelstiltskin
A poor miller falsely boasts to the king that his daughter can spin straw into gold. The king locks the girl in a room full of straw and demands she spin it into gold or face punishment. A mysterious little man appears and offers to help in exchange for her valuables. When she has nothing left to give, she promises him her first child. She becomes queen and later tries to keep her child when the little man returns. He gives her three days to guess his name. A messenger discovers the name 'Rumpelstiltskin' and the queen saves her child.
The Cursed Kingdom
A young shepherd discovers that his village lies at the edge of a cursed kingdom where everyone has been turned to stone. Armed with courage and kindness, he must break the spell by finding the three keys of virtue hidden throughout the frozen land.