The dwarf's spectacles, and other fairy tales
| Language | en |
|---|---|
| First published | 2025-11-20 |
| Rights | Public domain in the USA. |
| Gutenberg ID | #77279 |
Description
"In peril on the sea" by Montague T. Hainsselin is a collection of fairy tales written in the early 20th century. The work strings together gentle, didactic stories where animals, insects, toys, and a country boy illustrate lessons about kindness, humility, loyalty, and clear-sighted judgment. The opening of this collection unfolds a suite of brief fables: a rose-bush grows thorns after a cat kills a nightingale’s brood, explaining the bird’s mournful song; an aged fly survives winter only to feel out of place among the young and drifts into the fire; a girl learns, through a fairy’s gift, that her cherished white mouse fears her “affection,” and that creatures seek their own kind; a grand doll’s pride leads to ruin while modest dolls endure; sparrows repeatedly save a child—warning her from poisoned candy, diverting a runaway horse, and guiding her home from kidnappers—earning lifelong gratitude; and six glow-worms, pressed into service as lamps by an owl, escape with a young owl’s help and restore light to a meadow’s revelers. Finally, the frame shifts to Michel, a dutiful farmhand who, twice swindled on the road, aids a stranded dwarf and receives spectacles that reveal thoughts; he immediately uses them to avoid undercutting local laborers, who in turn feed, re-clothe, and help him find work. (This is an automatically generated summary.)