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Oscar Wilde is most famous for his satirical plays which he wrote at the time of great literary enlightenment, when all Britons were able to embrace literature previously only available to the wealthy and educated. At the height of the prosperity sweeping through London in the Victorian era, Oscar Wilde also wrote many tales offering rich and dramatic portrayals of the human life and condition.

Little Hans spends most of his time gardening and makes a living from sales of his beautiful flowers. Little Hans always treats his neighbours well and even allows the neighbouring rich miller to pick flowers from his garden. But the miller rarely invites Hans into his house or responds in kind. The miller instead has his own philosophy of friendship: 'Lots of people act well, but very few people talk well, which shows that talking is much the more difficult thing of the two, and much the finer thing also'.

In this collection of beautifully written modern fairy tales, Oscar Wilde does not fail to both entertain with humorous characters and witty dialogue and at the same time deliver a subtle yet very potent message about some of the most human qualities, such as true friendship, true happiness, selfishness, ignorance, playfulness and love. Some of the most famous epigrams of Oscar Wilde come from the characters in these tales.

A nightingale finds a young, romantic student in tears because he cannot find a red rose for his beautiful ball partner. There are no red roses in the garden. The nightingale visits all the rose trees in the area, and one of the roses tells her there is a way to produce a red rose, but only if the nightingale is prepared to sing the sweetest song for the rose all night with her heart pressing into a thorn, sacrificing her life.

Once upon a time, there was a woodcutter and his wife, who had seven children, all boys. The eldest was but 10 years old and the youngest only seven. They were very poor, and their seven children were a great source of trouble to them because not one of them was able to earn his bread. What gave them yet more uneasiness was that the youngest was very delicate and scarce ever spoke a word, which made people take for stupidity that which was a sign of good sense.

Once upon a time, there was a king and a queen who were very sorry that they had no children - so sorry that it cannot be told. At last, however, the queen had a daughter. There was a very fine christening, and the princess had for her godmothers all the fairies they could find in the whole kingdom (there were seven of them), so that every one of them might confer a gift upon her, as was the custom of fairies in those days. By this means the princess had all the perfections imaginable.

There was once a merchant who was very, very rich. He had six children, three boys and three girls, and as he was a man of good sense, he spared no expense in order that they might be well educated and gave them masters of every kind. His daughters were all beautiful, but his youngest one was especially admired, and from the time she was a small child had been known and spoken of only as Beauty. Read in English, unabridged.

Once upon a time, there lived in a certain village a little country girl, the prettiest creature that ever was seen. Her mother was very fond of her, and her grandmother loved her still more. This good woman made for her a little red riding hood, which became the girl so well that everybody called her Little Red Riding Hood. Read in English, unabridged.

A crafty, boots-wearing cat named Puss and how he made a fortune for his young, not very rich master and made friends with a great monarch, Marquis Carabas. Read in English, unabridged.

Once upon a time, there was a gentleman who married, as his second wife, the proudest and most haughty woman who ever was seen. She had two daughters of her own, who were indeed exactly like her in all things. The gentleman had also a young daughter of rare goodness and sweetness of temper, which she took from her mother, who was the best creature in the world. Read in English, unabridged.

There was once a man who had three sons, the youngest of whom was called the Simpleton. He was laughed at and despised and neglected on all occasions. Now it happened one day that the eldest son wanted to go into the forest to hew wood, and his mother gave him a beautiful cake to take with him, so he might not suffer from hunger.... Read in English, unabridged.

Long ago, in the merry days of good King Arthur, there lived a ploughman and his wife. They were very poor but would have been content and happy if only they could have had a little child. One day, having heard of the great fame of the magician Merlin, who was living at the court of King Arthur, the wife persuaded her husband to go and tell him of their trouble.

Once upon a time there was an old sow with three little pigs, and as she had not enough to keep them, she sent them out to seek their fortune.

Read in English, unabridged.

In the same neighbourhood as Peter Rabbit live an old cat called Mrs. Tabitha Twitchit and her kittens, Moppet, Mittens and Tom, who was always up for some mischief. Learn how Tom nearly ended up being cooked inside a dumpling and why he does not like rats. Meet another friendly neighbour pussycat, Ribby, who likes inviting friends to tea and offering them delicious pie dishes.

Listen to the story about two disagreeable people called Tommy Brock and Mr. Tod. Nobody could call Mr. Tod nice. The rabbits could not bear him; they could smell him half a mile off. He was of a wandering habit, and he had foxey whiskers; they never knew where he would be next. One day he was living in a stick-house in the coppice, causing terror to the family of old Mr. Benjamin Bouncer. Next day he moved into a pollard willow near the lake, frightening the wild ducks and the water rats. Read in English, unabridged.

In the time of swords and periwigs and full-skirted coats with flowered lappets - when gentlemen wore ruffles and gold laced waistcoats of paduasoy and taffeta - there lived a tailor in Gloucester. He sat in the window of a little shop in Westgate Street, cross legged on a table, from morning till dark. All day long while the light lasted he sewed and snippeted, piecing out his satin and pompadour and lutestring; stuffs had strange names and were very expensive in the days of the tailor of Gloucester.

Once upon a time there was a village shop. The name over the window was Ginger and Pickles. The counter inside was a convenient height for rabbits. Ginger and Pickles sold red spotty pocket-handkerchiefs at a penny three farthings. They also sold sugar, and snuff and galoshes.

Once upon a time there was a little fat comfortable grey squirrel, called Timmy Tiptoes. He had a nest thatched with leaves in the top of a tall tree; and he had a little squirrel wife called Goody. Every day they made several journeys and picked quantities of nuts. They carried them away in bags, and stored them in several hollow stumps near the tree where they had built their nest.

This is a tale about a tail—a tail that belonged to a little red squirrel, and his name was Nutkin. He had a brother called Twinkleberry and a great many cousins: They lived in a wood at the edge of a lake.

Once upon a time there was a frog called Mr. Jeremy Fisher; he lived in a little damp house amongst the buttercups at the edge of a pond. The water was all slippy-sloppy in the larder and in the back passage. But Mr. Jeremy liked getting his feet wet; nobody ever scolded him, and he never caught a cold!