1. Belgium

The Sweethearts’ Cross

They were young and they were in love. What did it matter to them that a blizzard was blowing in, when they set off straight across the Fagnes on the morning 21 January 1871 to fetch papers for their wedding?

François Reiff was born in 1839 in Bastogne, and was now working on the building of the Gileppe dam; He met up with housemaid Maria Solheid at the place where they had first set eyes on each other, the Café Mixhe in Jalhay, where Maria’s brother was working. They planned to go 20 kilometers across the fens to Xhoffraix, which was where Maria was born in 1846. Maria’s brother was worried: the snow was too deep and the wind was driving fresh clouds in. But Maria and François would not wait.

A few hours later, they were regretting not having heeded the warning. The snow had drifted over all the waymarkers. The struggle against the blizzard was exhausting them. They were tormented by hunger and thirst. Fear crept their limbs.

At the border between Prussia and Belgium, Maria collapsed. François called out her name, and tried to warm her with his body – but in vain. In his despair, he scribbled a note: “Maria has just died, and I am now going to die as well.” Then he set off, hoping to make it back to Jalhay to bring help. But he lost his way and stumbled deeper into the white wilderness.

On 13 March 1871, François Reiff’s body was found near Solwaster. On 25 March 1871, a Prussian customs official the discovered Maria Solheid. But her lifeless body was not where François had left her, thinking that she was dead. In fact Maria had merely fainted. She had tried desperately to make it to Baraque Michel, where so many lost people had found salvation. It was only a little bit further. But she had no strength left, and at border marker 151, Maria could go no further. With har last ounce of strength, she pulled off her petticoat and hung it over a bush: surely somebody would spot it? Then she went to sleep and never wake up – just two kilometers from her beloved François.

François Reiff was just 32 years old, Maria Solheid 25. The Fagnes stole their lives from them, but ensured their memory would live on for ever. Even today, a cross near Baraque Michel commemorates the lovers. But the real Sweetheart’s Cross has been preserved in a glass case at the Nature Protection Centre at Botrange. Of all the crosses in the Fagnes, it conceals perhaps the most moving story.

2. Finland

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The Fox and the Crow

One morning a Fox was walking through the woods looking for something tasty to eat for his breakfast. He sniffed the air.

‘Cheese,’ he said. ‘I smell cheese.’

Soon the fox saw a crow sitting on a branch high up in a tree and in the crow’s beak was the biggest piece of cheese he’d ever seen. Now the Fox loved cheese more than anything in the whole world and he decided that he would have that piece of cheese for himself.

‘Morning Mr Crow,!  I haven’t heard any beautiful songs for a long time. I bet you’ve got the most beautiful singing voice ’ said the Fox. ‘I can tell just by looking at you. I mean all crows are good singers...’

The Crow nodded.

‘And I bet you’re the best singer out of all the crows’  said the fox.

The Crow nodded again.

The crow thought to himself. ‘The Fox is right. I’m a wonderful singer. I shall sing for the Fox right now.’

As the Crow opened his beak and started to sing...the piece of cheese fell to the ground.

The Fox licked his lips. ‘Thank you, Mr Crow,’ he said. ‘You can stop singing now. That horrible sound is spoiling my breakfast.’

3. Germany

                          Rumpelstiltskin

There was once a miller who was poor, but he had one beautiful daughter. It happened one day that he came to speak with the king, and, to give himself consequence, he told him that he had a daughter who could spin gold out of straw. The king said to the miller, "That is an art that pleases me well; if thy daughter is as clever as you say, bring her to my castle to-morrow, that I may put her to the proof." When the girl was brought to him, he led her into a room that was quite full of straw, and gave her a wheel and spindle, and said, "Now set to work, and if by the early morning thou hast not spun this straw to gold thou shalt die." And he shut the door himself, and left her there alone. And so the poor miller's daughter was left there sitting, and could not think what to do for her life: she had no notion how to set to work to spin gold from straw, and her distress grew so great that she began to weep. Then all at once the door opened, and in came a little man, who said, "Good evening, miller's daughter; why are you crying?" "Oh!" answered the girl, "I have got to spin gold out of straw, and I don't understand the business." Then the little man said, "What will you give me if I spin it for you?" - "My necklace," said the girl. The little man took the necklace, seated himself before the wheel, and whirr, whirr, whirr! three times round and the bobbin was full; then he took up another, and whirr, whirr, whirr! three times round, and that was full; and so he went on till the morning, when all the straw had been spun, and all the bobbins were full of gold. At sunrise came the king, and when he saw the gold he was astonished and very much rejoiced, for he was very avaricious. He had the miller's daughter taken into another room filled with straw, much bigger than the last, and told her that as she valued her life she must spin it all in one night. The girl did not know what to do, so she began to cry, and then the door opened, and the little man appeared and said, "What will you give me if I spin all this straw into gold?" - "The ring from my finger," answered the girl. So the little man took the ring, and began again to send the wheel whirring round, and by the next morning all the straw was spun into glistening gold. The king was rejoiced beyond measure at the sight, but as he could never have enough of gold, he had the miller's daughter taken into a still larger room full of straw, and said, "This, too, must be spun in one night, and if you accomplish it you shall be my wife." For he thought, "Although she is but a miller's daughter, I am not likely to find any one richer in the whole world." As soon as the girl was left alone, the little man appeared for the third time and said, "What will you give me if I spin the straw for you this time?" - "I have nothing left to give," answered the girl. "Then you must promise me the first child you have after you are queen," said the little man. "But who knows whether that will happen?" thought the girl; but as she did not know what else to do in her necessity, she promised the little man what he desired, upon which he began to spin, until all the straw was gold. And when in the morning the king came and found all done according to his wish, he caused the wedding to be held at once, and the miller's pretty daughter became a queen. In a year's time she brought a fine child into the world, and thought no more of the little man; but one day he came suddenly into her room, and said, "Now give me what you promised me." The queen was terrified greatly, and offered the little man all the riches of the kingdom if he would only leave the child; but the little man said, "No, I would rather have something living than all the treasures of the world." Then the queen began to lament and to weep, so that the little man had pity upon her. "I will give you three days," said he, "and if at the end of that time you cannot tell my name, you must give up the child to me." Then the queen spent the whole night in thinking over all the names that she had ever heard, and sent a messenger through the land to ask far and wide for all the names that could be found. And when the little man came next day, (beginning with Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar) she repeated all she knew, and went through the whole list, but after each the little man said, "That is not my name." The second day the queen sent to inquire of all the neighbours what the servants were called, and told the little man all the most unusual and singular names, saying, "Perhaps you are called Roast-ribs, or Sheepshanks, or Spindleshanks?" But he answered nothing but "That is not my name." The third day the messenger came back again, and said, "I have not been able to find one single new name; but as I passed through the woods I came to a high hill, and near it was a little house, and before the house burned a fire, and round the fire danced a comical little man, and he hopped on one leg and cried, "To-day do I bake, to-morrow I brew, The day after that the queen's child comes in; And oh! I am glad that nobody knew That the name I am called is Rumpelstiltskin!" You cannot think how pleased the queen was to hear that name, and soon afterwards, when the little man walked in and said, "Now, Mrs. Queen, what is my name?" she said at first, "Are you called Jack?" - "No," answered he. "Are you called Harry?" she asked again. "No," answered he. And then she said, "Then perhaps your name is Rumpelstiltskin?" "The devil told you that! the devil told you that!" cried the little man, and in his anger he stamped with his right foot so hard that it went into the ground above his knee; then he seized his left foot with both his hands in such a fury that he split in two, and there was an end of him. * * * END * * *

3.1. video

3.2. The brothers Grimm

3.3. The German Fairy Tale Route

4. Iceland

...

5. Ireland

The Salmon of Knowledge

The Fianna of Ireland were noble fighting men. Their motto was “Truth in our hearts, strength in our hands and our deeds according to our word. No man could join the Fianna until he was able to recite twelve books of poetry, defend himself from the spears of nine warriors, run through the woods without breaking a twig, leap over a stick the height of himself, pass under a stick as low as his knee and take a thorn from his foot while running.

                                                              The chief of the Fianna was Cumhall, father of Fionn. Fionn was only a small child when his father was killed in battle by the men of Clan Mórna. His mother was afraid that Clan Mórna would try and kill Fionn also. She asked two wise women to take him to a safe place and care for him. The wise women took Fionn to a lonely dwelling deep in the woods of Slieve Bloom. The young boy learned from them all that they knew. They taught him to swim by throwing him into a deep pool and leaving him to make his own way out.

To make him learn to run swiftly they made him herd hares in a field which had no fence or hedge. Fionn grew up to be very tall. At last the time came for him to leave the wise women and go a wise old man, Finnéigeas, to learn the art of poetry. Finnéigeas lived in a small cabin beside the river Boyne.

He had chosen that place because it was always beside water that poetry was revealed to poets. Near to his cabin was a deep pool overhung by the branches of the nine hazel trees of wisdom. Nuts of wisdom fell from this tree into the pool and in that pool lived the Salmon of Knowledge. It was foretold that whoever ate the first bite of this salmon would possess all the knowledge of the world. Finnéigeas had fished for seven years, but failed to catch the salmon of knowledge. A short time after Fionn came to him, he fished for the salmon and succeeded in catching it.

Finnéigeas was delighted. He instructed Fionn to cook the salmon but not to eat any of it. Fionn thought that this was unfair but he obeyed Finnéigeas. He cooked the salmon carefully but after a few minutes he saw that a little bubble had appeared on the salmon’s skin. Without thinking, Fionn burst the bubble with his thumb. “Ouch!!” he yelled as it had burnt him. So he stuck his thumb into his mouth to soothe the pain.

When it was ready he served it to his master. Finnéigeas saw that Fionn had changed. His checks were rosy red and his eyes were bright blue. “Tell me boy, have you eaten any of this salmon? he asked. “No master, I have not, but I burned my thumb on the salmon and I put it in my mouth. Finnéigeas knew then that Fionn had received the knowledge of the salmon. “Here” he said, returning the fish to him.

Fionn ate the salmon and became possessed with all the knowledge of the world. Whenever he wanted to know something he only had to bite hard on his thumb to find the answer. He would never have to ask anyone questions ever again. Finnéigeas, though he loss he was happy for the boy since he knew that he would grow up to be a most wise man and from that day forth Fionn Mac Cumhail would be the most celebrated leader of the Fianna Warriors . The End. From then on Fionn MacCumhaill was known as the most famous and knowledgeable leader of the Fianna.

6. Italy

Pulcinella

His name, from Italian pulcino ('chick'), refers to his distinguishing feature: a
long beaklike nose. According to another version, Pulcinella derived from the
name of Puccio d'Aniello, a peasant of Acerra, who was portrayed in a famous
picture attributed to Annibale Carracci, and indeed characterized by a long
nose

Always dressed in white with a black mask (hence conciliating the opposites of life and death), he stands out thanks to his peculiar voice, whose sharp and vibrant qualities produced with a tool called a swazzle contribute to the intense tempo of the show. Pulcinella often carries around macaroni and a wooden spoon. According to Pierre-Louis Duchartre, his traditional temperament is to be mean, vicious, and crafty and his main mode of defense is to pretend to be too stupid to know what's going on.

7. Pinocchio

A magical log falls off a wagon and rolls through an Italian town causing considerable damage and some injuries. It comes to rest in front of the house of Geppetto, a poor wood carver, who carves a puppet, Pinocchio, from it. To Geppetto's surprise, the puppet comes to life and to his dismay, it becomes very mischievous. Geppetto sells his only coat to provide schoolbooks for Pinocchio; however, the rambunctious puppet goes on several adventures, dreading school. He joins a puppet theater and is almost eaten by the gigantic puppet master. Pinocchio lies to get out of the situation, claiming misery and poverty in his family, and the puppet master gives him five gold coins. He then meets Fox and Cat, two crooks who trick him out of his money, telling him to plant the coins in the ground in order to grow a "money tree". The watchful Blue Fairy, who encourages him to give up his obnoxious ways, saves him from a hanging by the crooks. She gives Pinocchio medicine and when he refuses it, coffin-bearing rabbits appear. Pinocchio immediately consumes the medicine, lying that he wanted to drink it in the first place but that the Fairy would not let him.

When the Fairy asks Pinocchio about the gold coins he had, Pinocchio lies to her and says he lost them, causing his nose to grow. The Fairy, knowing of his constant fibbing, tells him that there are two types of lies: those with short legs and those with long noses. Pinocchio promises the Fairy that from there on he will try his best to be good.

When Pinocchio is sent to jail for his encounters with the Fox and Cat, he meets Lucignolo (Leonardo in the American dubbing), another truant thief who is let out soon after Pinocchio is admitted in. A few months later, as part of a celebration for the birth of an emperor's son, he is set free he stumbles across the grave of the Blue Fairy, who supposedly died of grief because of his antics. After nearly drowning in the ocean in an attempt to save his father, he washes up on the shore of a city where he discovers that the Blue Fairy has faked her death in order to forgive Pinocchio.

Once again starting anew, he is on his way to school when he gets into a fight with his schoolmates. One of them tries to throw a book at him, but when he ducks the book hits his classmate Eugenio instead, who is knocked unconscious. Thinking that he is dead, the others run away, leaving Pinocchio at the scene. After being arrested by a carabineer and escaping, he joins Lucignolo in a trip to "Fun Forever Land", where all is play and no work or school. There, boys turn into donkeys who are sold for hard labor.

Pinocchio escapes and, wanting to make up for his mischievous ways, agrees to work at a farm. Later, he finds Lucignolo dying in a stable on the farm. Trying to reunite with his father, he is swallowed by a Whale and together they escape from its belly. As a reward for his efforts to strive for moral prudence, the Blue Fairy finally reforms Pinocchio and he becomes a real boy. The film ends with Pinocchio going to school at last, while his shadow, still in the shape of a puppet, chases a butterfly into the hills of the countryside, a lasting memory of his adventures.

8. Pinocchio

9. Prezzemolina (bambola cucchiaio)

Prezzemolina (dolls made by pupils of class 1 A San leucio)

(Little parsley) by Gianbattista Basile

There were once a couple who lived in a nice house. From a window you could see a garden surrounded by a high low wall. No one had ever set foot because he belonged to an orca……. very bad.  One day his wife, who was expecting a child, looking at that piece of land, she saw a beautiful flowerbed sown with parsley and  desired to try it. He waited for the evening twilight and furtively dropped in the garden, took a big handful of parsley and ran away. The next day did the same. Eat and eat tomorrow Orca, which was very fond of parsley,  realized that someone was taking every day a nice amount. He wanted to find out who stole and in the  evening she  hid behind a bush.

 And here, at dusk, off again the woman who had just arrived on the ground, he was horrified to see before him the horrible orca.

 - How dare you steal what belongs to me? cried this by holding the arm - you will not regret it! - Excuse me, ma'am orca, forgive me - cried the poor woman. - I feel like parsley because I'm pregnant.

 - If this is the case - the old woman with the same fierce look than before - just got what you want. But you have to give me the baby is being  born.

 The woman, in her anguish, promised everything and ran home. Soon came a beautiful baby girl. Great was the astonishment of the parents to see them engraved on the palm of his hand a small sprig of parsley. It was called so Prezzemolina. But neither the mother nor the father thought of the promise, in fact had completely forgotten.

 Time passed and Prezzemolina grew beautiful as the sun, his complexion was like rose petals, blond hair and long, that her mother combing her hair in two thick braids, like rays of sunshine.

 But one day while Prezzemolina, which has become big now, returning alone from school, was approached dall'orca:

 - Beautiful little girl - said quite friendly - you want to tell your mother that you remember what I should give?

 And Prezzemolina, back home, reported:

 - Mom, the old woman who lives nearby says to remember the promise made.

 She felt a lump in his heart and did not answer. Meanwhile, the killer whale taken daily in the habit of waiting Prezzemolina and repeat the usual phrase. At the end the girl who was tired of hearing those words, urged his mother:

 - At least tell me what I have to answer.

 And the mother, without thinking much, he suggested:

 - When the old you again speaks of the promise, you answer her "Take it if you want."

The next day Prezzemolina said as her mother had said.

 The old woman did not need to be told twice, he grabbed the girl and took her away with her. Then she led her into the woods and locked her in a high tower with no doors and no stairs, only up, on top at the top, there was a small window.

 From the little window Prezzemolina was dangling beautiful braids so that the orca could climb the tower holding on to the hair, which fell for a distance of twenty yards. And so when she wanted to go to the old went under the tower and cried:

 - Prezzemolina, Prezzemolina, throw me your braids.

 The girl loosened her braids and the orca went up. One day it happened that near the tower passed the son of a king. He heard a sweet song in the air and stopped to listen. Prezzemolina  was singing with a wonderful voice. The prince looked up and saw the girl from afar. He wanted to reach, tried the door, up the stairs. Nothing. He tried to climb, but the window was too high. Finally he returned to his castle, without being able to forget that voice so sweet. Every day, so he went into the woods to be able to listen. Once, hidden behind a tree, he heard the killer whale that arrived at the foot of the tower shouted:

 - Prezzemolina, Prezzemolina, throw me your braids. Then he saw the girl who dropped slowly blond braids and the  old orca  who climbed. When the whale was gone, the young man ran himself at the foot of the tower and cried:

 - Prezzemolina, Prezzemolina, throw me your braids. Immediately braids came down and in a moment the Prince climbed up. The two young   looked at each other and the enchanted prince was finally able to express his love.

 - Will you be my bride? - He asked finally. Prezzemolina, seeing him so young and beautiful, put his hands in those of him and said:

 - I'd love to go with you, but I do not know how to get out of here. Bringing back every time a piece of string, so I’ll tie  a ladder. When it is long enough, you will come down and take me away on your white horse.

 They decided to see each other every day at nightfall, when the orca went away. Prezzemolina then broke again her beautiful tresses, the prince climbed up and slid them down.

 The visits were repeated every night and some witches who lived in the woods became suspicious. One of them, the meanest, he wanted to warn the orca. She went to wait at the foot of the tower, told her what happened when she went away and then added:

 - Dear orca, I'm sure that the two young people are preparing to flee.

 - Thank you - this answer. - But Prezzemolina can not escape because it is the victim of a spell. If you do not enter into possession of three acorns, which are well hidden in my garden, can never get away from the tower.

 Prezzemolina, from the window, he heard everything. He pretended to nothing. Then the prince told him all that, in the absence Orca, he went into the garden and stole three acorns.

 That same evening, as soon as the whale was gone, the young man came up to Prezzemolina, brought her three acorns and the last piece of rope. The ladder was ready, he attacked the small window and in a moment came down with the girl.

 They began to run through the woods on horseback. But the witch, who saw them flee, ran to warn the orca. This, like the wind, chased the two young men, then Prezzemolina, frightened, threw it on the ground the first acorn. It came out of an ugly dog ​​with his mouth wide open, that he persecuted the orca. But the old woman knew all the perfidy; removed from his pocket a large piece of meat and threw it into the jaws of the beast, that began to devour leaving it free.

 The killer whale began to run after the two lovers; Prezzemolina launched the second acorn. It soon became a fierce lion with a roar scary, ran the old one. Also this time the orca found the remedy blew on a bush that immediately caught fire. The beast was afraid and ran away.

 It all seemed lost. The orca was very close to the two young people, ready to grab when Prezzemolina threw down the last acorn. This time here is coming out a wolf that jumped on the old and swallowed a mouthful.

 At last they were free! The prince took the girl into his kingdom where they were once the wedding and from that moment the two young men lived happily ever after.

10. The story of silkworm

I love the feeling of silk. It’s so luxurious, and I feel really special every time I put silk anything on.The only problem with traditional silk is that the silkworm, the little caterpillar that spins the silk, lives a very short, sad life thanks to our demand for this luxurious fiber. This is why I’ve largely stopped buying silk unless it’s used or recycled.

Many people are unaware of where silk comes from, or what happens to the little worms that spin the silk that we love sliding over our shoulders.

The Life of a Silkworm

People, especially in Asia, have been making silk for thousands of years. The world’s finest and softest silk comes from the mulberry silkworm.

What’s happened is that because humans have been raising and farming silkworms for so many thousands of years, the caterpillar has evolved to become completely dependent on humans. There are no silkworms left in the wild; all of them are now raised in homes and farms.

Silkworms start out as an egg that hatches 10 days after its laid. The silkworm larvae eat an incredible amount of mulberry leaves. They’ll eat non-stop for 35 days straight! By the time they’re done, they’ll have increased their weight over 10,000 times.

The interesting thing about silkworms is that they’re incredibly delicate. Any loud noises, temperature changes, or even strong smells will cause them to stop eating mulberry leaves. If this happens, they don’t spin as much silk because they’re not as big.

After it’s fully grown, the silkworm will attach itself to a twig and begin spinning a cocoon. It secrets chemicals from its mouth that, once they interact with air, solidify to form silk. Every silkworm will spin 1,000 yards of silk fiber in just three days. This silk forms the cocoon the silkworm will stay in to become a moth.

                           A fairy tale about silkworm

The Silkworm and the Spider

Princess Lioness ordered the silkworm to spin twenty yards of silk for her royal robe. The silkworm sat by her loom and began the work eagerly.

One day, a spider came along and asked the silkworm if it could hire a web-room close by. The silkworm consented and the spider started to weave his web. He finished his work quickly and said to the silkworm, “See how delicate and lovely my web looks. And I have finished my work so quickly while you are so slow. Don’t you agree that I’m a better worker than you?”

 The silkworm replied scornfully, “Go away, you disturb me.” Then she looked at at the exquisite web she was making and said to the spider, “Your web is only a dirty trap for others and it can be easily destroyed, whereas what I design is beautiful and stored as a royal ornament.”

Thus true art is something, which takes time to produce, lasts longer. and pleases all.

11. Pulcinella

Pulcinella

His name, from Italian pulcino ('chick'), refers to his distinguishing feature: a

long beaklike nose. According to another version, Pulcinella derived from the name of Puccio d'Aniello, a peasant of Acerra, who was portrayed in a famous picture attributed to Annibale Carracci, and indeed characterized by a long nose.

Always dressed in white with a black mask (hence conciliating the opposites of life and death),

 he stands out thanks to his peculiar voice, whose sharp and vibrant qualities produced with

a tool called a swazzle contribute to the intense tempo of the show. Pulcinella often carries

 around macaroni and a wooden spoon. According to Pierre-Louis Duchartre, his traditional

temperament is to be mean, vicious, and crafty and his main mode of defense is to pretend

 to be too stupid to know what's going on.

Once Pulcinella told this  funny story:

 “In high school, I needed money. I was able to drive, had a girlfriend,

 and like to go out with my friends. My folks didn't have much money and I needed to pay

 my own way.

I had already done jobs working at restaurants and grocery stores and wanted to try

something more interesting. While searching around, I stopped at the zoo.

As it turned out, the zoo director liked my style and said he had an interesting job that

 he felt I could handle. We walked through the back alleys and tunnels of the zoo that most

 people never see until we got to the gorilla cage. But, it was empty.

The director told me that their gorilla named Kong had caught a bug and was in

quarantine for the next week. Kong was getting old and they were even now shopping around for a replacement since Kong just sits on a treebranch holding onto a rope all day. When the crowds

 started arriving on the weekend, they'd be disappointed to have no gorilla since everyone enjoys the gorilla exhibit, even a boring old gorilla.

The director said he had a gorilla suit I could wear if I would be interested in sitting

on the branch for 4 hours at a time so the people would at least have something to look at.

 It sounded good to me, not the usual high school job, so I told him I would.

The next day I went to the zoo, put on the gorilla suit and climbed into the cage.

 I sat on the branch holding the rope and soon there was a crowd of children pressing

 their faces to the bars. It didn't take long for me to start getting bored, so I would scratch

 my armpits, thump my chest, and twirl the rope. About an hour passed and I began to

 really get into this gorilla stuff. I would grab the rope and swing across the cage.

 The kids thought it was great so I started swinging higher and higher.

In the next cage there was a lion and he was becoming irritated by my antics and began

to pace his cage and roar. I kept swinging and started to swing to the lion's side of the cage

and would use my feet to push off of his bars. I could really swing out far and he roared

even louder. It was actually pretty fun and the kids were really enjoying the show.

All of a sudden I missed the bars, flew through, and dropped right into the lion's cage!

 I landed on my back and was stunned but immediately got up and ran to the front

 of the cage to the croud, screaming "Help me, help me, I'm not who you think I am!"

Just as I yelled, the lion jumped on my back and knocked me to the ground.

His head was at my neck and I was sure I'd never make it to graduation.

Then he whispered in my ear, "Shut up stupid, or you'll get us both fired".

classe 2 A San Leucio

12. The little lawn ladybird

  Once upon a time, not long ago, a lawn, a simple lawn, surrounded by small houses and trees where  many animals lived:  bee, sparrows, butterflies, ants and even squirrels, fragrant in all seasons of fresh grass and colorful flowers, of sweet  strawberries and delicious mushrooms in wet seasons. At  weekends in the spring and in warm summer evenings the small lawn was filled with children and families who, happily, sitting on the scented grass and spent hours in  company. Time passed and many things changed after evenings spent in the company, the grass began to no longer be the same. We began to see garbage left on the grass, plastic bottles, bags of chips, paper, old newspapers ... At one point the lawn, a clear day and fragrant, became a small landfill between  the houses and trees. Children and families never met again on the grass was yellowed and that, instead of flowers, it was full of rubbish. Even the animals ran away and everything became sad and grey. Only a small ladybug remained and was so angry that he decided to do something to save the small lawn. Gathered together all the pets and all the children with their families. She explained to them that there was a simple spell which  name was  a bit strange RECYCLING. A simple way to transform bags, bottles and all kinds of waste into reusable materials: taught them a simple song:

If you recycle you know, your lawn will save. And, if you continue to be great, will save our Earth.
People went to work and the small lawn became a laboratory ... After some time they all returned to the big lawn where the bottles and papers, by magic, had become long colorful festoons, the bags were soft pillows to rest, and among the fragrant flowers, next to the plastic flowers, leaping animals. Everyone understood the lesson of the little ladybug lawn and learned the song:                                                 If you recycle you know,                                                  your lawn will save.                                          And, if you continue to be great,                                                   will save our Earth. Students attending the second Primary School Puccianiello I.C. S.Leucio - Caserta February 2013

13. The tale of a flying squirrel

The tale of a flying squirrel

Once the Animal People challenged the Bird People to a ballgame. The animals expected to win with no

problems.

Bear was the captain of the animals' team. "Of course we'll win," roared Bear. "I'm stronger and heavier than any other animal." It was agreed that Bear could stop anyone that got in his way. And Deer? Deer could outrun all the other animals. And Terrapin was at that time the great, original terrapin, not the puny thing we have now. So of course the animals would beat those silly birds!

The Birds had, of course, elected Eagle as their captain. They also had the skills of the great, mythical Hawk. The birds had met to plan their strategy-they were a little afraid of all the animals, who were so large and strong. But, when the meeting was ready to begin, along came two tiny things that looked a little like field mice.

"Please," said the little creatures, "can we join your team?"

"You belong with the animals, don't you?" said Eagle.

"They laughed at us and drove us away," said the smaller, furry creature. "We want to be birds. Let us help you." Eagle felt so sorry for them that he agreed to let them play as birds.

"You need wings. We'll make you some," said Eagle. The birds decided to use the head of the drum that they used for their dances. The drumhead was made of badger skin, so they began to cut off pieces of it and attach it to the smaller creature's front legs. This is the way the birds created Bat.

Unfortunately, this used all of the drumhead leather. There was none left to make wings for the creature that looked like a tiny ground squirrel.

"Let's stretch the skin he has , said Bluebird. This sounded like a good plan, so Eagle and Red-tailed Hawk pulled from opposite sides, helped by the smaller birds. When they were done, the birds had created Flying Squirrel.

Flying Squirrel and Bat were very grateful. 'You'll see! We can help you win."

The animals and birds met on the plain by the river. The ballgame would be won by whoever first hit the ball against the poles at opposite ends of the playing field that were the goals of the birds and the beasts.

The great ballgame was very close. The animals were shocked to see what strong fliers Bat and Flying Squirrel were. The small animals who were too young to play stood at the side of the ball field and began to chant, "Beasts over Birds! Beasts over Birds!"

The hummingbirds began to lead their own chant, 'Birds over Beasts! Birds over Beasts!"

Finally, Flying Squirrel caught the ball, carried it up a tree, and then threw it to Blue Jay who flew with it high enough that the animals couldn't reach it. Then Blue Jay dropped it, and Bear rushed to try to take it away. But Bat swooped very near the ground, took the ball, and dodged and doubled so fast that even Deer couldn't catch him. He threw the ball against the pole decorated with feathers and won the game for the birds.

 Pupils scuola media Casola

14. Slovenia

Mary Nickelpot

Mojca Pokrajculja

Folklore story from Slovania

Mary Nickelpot was sweeping the house when she found a nickel in the rubbish.

She took it and bought a little pot. It was freezing outside and there was hoarfrost.

She was very tired and fell asleep. But then a strong knocking on her little house’s door woke her up.

“Who is it?” she asked.

“It’s me, the fox. Oh, Mary Nickelpot. I beg you – let me come in. Bora is blowing and it’s freezing. I’ll freeze to death if you don’t let me in,” she whined.

Mary Nickelpot hesitated and asked the fox, “If you are good at something, I’ll let you in, otherwise no!”

“I’m a dressmaker,” answered the fox.

Mary Nickelpot let her came inside the little pot. They lay down and fell asleep.

But soon after they had fallen asleep the knocking on the door woke them up again. When Mary asked who it was, somebody moaned, “Oh, Mary Nickelpot, please, bora is blowing and it’s freezing. I’ll freeze to death. I’m a wolf and I’m a butcher.”

“Because you are good at something, you may come in,” she answered. Mary Nickelpot opened the door and let the wolf in her little pot.

While sleeping they heard the moaning again, “Mary Nickelpot, please, open the door! The bora is blowing, there is hoarfrost and I, the bear, will freeze to death if you don’t let me in.”

“What are you good at?” asked Mary Nickelpot.

“I’m a shoemaker!” answered the bear. Mary opened the door wide.

“Oh, we won’t have any peace this night!” Mary said angrily when she heard the knocking and the moaning again.

“Mary Nickelpot, I beg you, let me in, I’m freezing!”

“Who are you and what are you good at?” asked the housekeeper.

“I’m the rabbit, and I can sew like a tailor!” came the answer.

She let him in, too.

Mary Nickelpot was very angry, when she heard the knocking and moaning again.

“Mary Nickelpot, I beg you, let me in. I can’t stand the bora and the hoarfrost anymore.” It was a deer. Mary Nickelpot let him in too, as she found out that he is a qualified lumberjack. After that they all fell asleep.

The next morning, Mary Nickelpot sent all the guests to work. The wolf provided a delicious dinner.

He brought several bee hives and put the honey in a pot.

They ate the dinner and went to bed. During the night the fox moaned: “Oh my, I’ve got a stomach ache!”

Mary Nickelpot said to her, “Go to the kitchen and make yourself some chamomile tea.” The fox went to the kitchen. As soon as they had fallen asleep again, the fox began to moan for the second time and was moaning for so long that Mary Nickelpot repeated the advice and sent her to the kitchen in order to take some more chamomile tea.

And the fox went to the kitchen for three times to make herself some tea. But there was no pinching in her belly and she made no chamomile tea. Actually, she knew where the honey was and she licked it all. Then she fell soundly asleep. In the morning, Mary Nickelpot sent everybody to work and said to the fox, “Poor little dressmaker, as you were sick last night and you couldn’t sleep, you can rest now”.

But soon everybody in the kitchen started arguing, “You ate the honey!” “No, I didn’t! You did!” And so on and so on. Mary said: “The thief was somebody from the house. Nobody else could know about the honey because the door was closed.

In order for the guests to avoid the shame the wolf suggested, “Let’s all lie down on the back, open the mouth and sunbathe! The animal that ate the honey will be discovered as the honey will be leaking from that person’s mouth!”

Everybody lay down on the grass in front of the little pot and immediately fell asleep. Only the fox couldn’t sleep because she felt guilty. Indeed, the honey came out of her mouth. She quickly wiped the honey and spread it around bunny’s mouth. Then she, like the others, fell asleep. The uproar woke her up. Meanwhile the others woke up and saw the honey round the rabbit’s mouth. They started chasing him. He ran as fast as he could, but while running he broke both of his front legs and only after that he managed to escape. Everyone ran after him and Mary Nickelpot was left alone with her little pot.

The legs of poor little rabbit stayed like that for ever and that’s why even nowadays his front legs are shorter than his back ones.

...

15. Mary Nickelpot and Comenius Actor Group