Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales Part B

In this story, an old, ugly, little fellow went to DAME Goody's home to ask her to come care for his wife's baby as she was sick and could not do it herself. She hopped on the horse with him and they went to the fellow's cottage. When the wife handed the baby over she gave DAME Goody an ointment and told her to rub that on the baby's eyes when he started to open them. She was curious as to what that ointment did so when she rubbed it on the baby's eyes she also rubbed it on her right eye. She saw everything much more elegant and realized that she was in a house of pixies. 

DAME Goody caring for the baby

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The next day when she was home she went to the store and noticed the little fellow was going from stall to stall and nobody seemed to notice. When she saw him she went up to him and he realized that she had put the ointment on her eye as well. When she told him what eye she had rubbed it on, the little fellow struck her on the right eye and she became blind. 

Bibliography: Fairy Ointment from English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales Part A

This story is a lot of repeating but each time they add one more thing to the sequence of things that must happen in order for the pig to jump over the stile. The woman could not go home until the pig jumped over the stile.

Illustration from the storybook

Source: Flickr

Example: From end to beginning

The cow ate hay and gave woman milk.

The woman gave the milk to the cat.

The cat began to kill the rat.

The rat began to gnaw on the rope.

The rope began to hang the butcher.

The butcher began to kill the ox.

The ox began to drink the water.

The water began to quench the fire.

The fire began to burn the stick.

The stick began to beat the dog.

The dog began to bite the pig.

The little pig in a fright jumped over the stile.
Bibliography: The Old Woman and Her Pig from English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs