Mittwoch, 28. November 2018

Edmund Dulac: illustrations to Stories from the Arabian Nights, II


THE STORY OF THE KING OF THE EBONY ISLES

The Queen of the Ebony Isles.

 Supposing me asleep, they began to talk.

 The cup of wine which she gives him each night contains a sleeping-draught.

She went on to vent her malice upon the city and islands.

 Began to heap upon me terms of the most violent and shameful abuse.

 Thus by her wicked machinations the city became a lake.

 Great was the astonishment of the Vizier and the Sultan's escort.


THE STORY OF THE WICKED HALF-BROTHERS

 There appeared before him an old man of venerable appearance.


Pirouzè, the fairest and most honourably born.

Reaching his farthest wounded the giant in the knee.

 The lady advanced to meet him.


THE STORY OF THE PRINCESS OF DERYABAR

A city among the Isles named Deryabar.

Presently in the distance he perceived a light.

The ship struck upon a rock.

And presently, feeling myself lifted by men's hands.

The Princess of Deryabar.

She found to her grief the place where Codadad had lain left vacant.

She and her companion arrived at the city of Harran.

 And taking her hand he led her to the apartments of the Queen Pirouzè.

After these, maidens on white horses, with heads unveiled, bearing in their hands baskets of precious stones.

 


Sonntag, 25. November 2018

The Straw Ox illustrated by Frederick Richardson

Author and artist Frederick Richardson was highly influenced by the Art Nouveau movement, as reflected in his exquisite illustrations for "The Three Bears," "The Bremen Town Musicians," "The Little Red Hen," and "The Straw Ox,"
The Straw Ox is a Russian Folk Tale.


THERE was once upon a time an old man and an old
woman. The old man worked in the fields as a pitch
burner, while the old woman sat at home and spun
flax. They were so poor that they could save nothing at all;
all their earnings went in bare food, and when that was gone
there was nothing left. At last the old woman had a good idea.
" Look, now, husband," cried she, " make me a straw ox,
and smear it all over with tar."
" Why, you foolish woman !" said he, " what's the good of
an ox of that sort ?"
" Never mind»" said she ; " you just make it. I know what
I am about."
What was the poor man to do? He Set to work and made
the ox of straw, and smeared it all over with tar.


 And while she spun, her head
drooped down, and she began to doze, and while she was dozing,
from behind the dark wood and from the back of the huge
pines a bear came rushing out upon the ox and said:
" Who are you ? Speak and tell me !"
And the ox said: " A three-year-old heifer am I, made of straw and smeared with tar."
" Oh ! " said the bear, " stuffed with straw and trimmed with
tar, are you ? Then give me of your straw and tar, that I may patch up my ragged fur again !"
“ Take some," said the ox, and the bear fell upon him and began to tear away at the tar.
He tore and tore, and buried his teeth in it till he found he couldn't let go again. He tugged and he tugged, but it was no good, and the ox dragged him gradually off, goodness
knows where. 


And while she spun, her head drooped down, and she dozed. And, lo ! from
behind the dark wood, from the back of the huge pines, a gray
wolf came rushing out upon the ox and said:
 " Who are you ? Come, tell me !"
"I am a three-year-old heifer, stuffed with straw and
trimmed with tar," said the ox.




Then a fox came running up. "Who are you?" it asked the ox.
" I'm a three-year-old heifer, stuffed with straw and daubed with tar."
" Then give me some of your tar to smear my sides with,
when those dogs and sons of dogs tear my hide !"
" Take some," said the ox. Then the fox fastened her teeth
in him and couldn't draw them out again. The old woman
told her old man, and he took and cast the fox into the cellar
in the same way. And after that they caught Pussy Swiftfoot  (the Hare)
likewise.
 

So when he had got them all safely the old man sat down on
a bench before the cellar and began sharpening a knife. And
the bear said to him:
" Tell me, daddy, what are you sharpening your knife for?"
" To flay your skin off, that I may make a leather jacket for
myself and a pelisse for my old woman."
" Oh, don't flay me, daddy dear ! Rather let me go, and
I'll bring you a lot of honey."



" Daddy !" cried the old woman, " there's some one scratching
at the door ; go and see who it is !"
The old man went out, and there was the bear carrying a
whole hive full of honey. The old man took the honey from
thr bear...


...but no sooner did he lie down than again there was
another " Durrrrr ! " at the door. The old man looked out and
saw the wolf driving a whole flock of sheep into the courtyard.
Close on his heels came the fox, driving before him
geese and hens, and all manner of fowls ; and last of all came
the hare, bringing cabbage and kale, and all manner of good
food. And the old man was glad, and the old woman was glad.
And the old man sold the sheep and oxen, and got so rich that
he needed nothing more. As for the straw-stuffed ox, it stood
in the sun till it fell to pieces.









Donnerstag, 22. November 2018

Stories from the Pentamerone illustrated by Warwick Goble

Warwick Goble (1862 – 1943) was an illustrator of children’s books. He specialized in Japanese and Indian themes.
In 1909, he became resident gift book illustrator for MacMillan and produced illustrations for The Water Babies, Green Willow, and Other Japanese Fairy Tales, The Complete Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, Stories from the Pentamerone, Folk Tales of Bengal, The Fairy Book, and The Book of Fairy Poetry and many other books.
The Pentamerone (Neapolitan subtitle: Lo cunto de li cunti, "The Tale of Tales") is a seventeenth-century fairy tale collection by Italian poet and courtier Giambattista Basile. The stories in the Pentamerone were collected by Basile and published posthumously in two volumes by his sister Adriana in Naples, Italy, in 1634 and 1636 under the pseudonym Gian Alesio Abbatutis. These stories were later adapted by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, the latter making extensive, acknowledged use of Basile's collection. Examples of this are versions of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Puss in Boots, Sleeping Beauty, and Hansel and Gretel.(Wikipedia).


 Frontispiece
The Prince and Zoza, with the Story-Tellers from
How The Stories Came To Be Told

 

The Myrtle

The Fairy appearing to the Prince


Peruonto

Vastolla and Peruonto approaching the Ship


Vardiello

Vardiello with the Cloth


The Flea

The Princess as the Ogre's Bride

 

Cenerentola

The Fairy appearing to the Prince in the Grotto


The Merchant

The Two Courtiers presenting Cienzo to the King



Goat-Face

The Lizard showing Goat-Face the Palace

The Enchanted Doe

Fenicia and the Two Brothers


Parsley

The Prince and Parsley looking for the Gall-Nuts
  

The Three Sisters
The Prince appearing to Nella

Violet

Violet and the Prince in the Garden

Pippo 

The King and the Princess receiving Pippo at Court


The Serpent

Grannonia and the Fox
  
The She-Bear

Preziosa in the Garden

The Dove 

The Prince and Filadoro with the Snails

Cannetella 
Cannetella released from the Cask

Corvetto

Corvetto escaping with the Ogre's Tapestry

The Booby
   the Royal Proclamation

The Stone in the Cock's Stone


Minecco Aniello meeting the Magicians


The Three Enchanted Princes
Rita riding on the Dolphin


The Dragon


The Castles in the Air

The Two Cakes 

Marziella on the Seashore

The Seven Doves
 

Cianna and her Brothers

The Raven


Liviella going to the ship 

The Months
Lise, in the Snow, with the Casket


Pintosmalto

Betta making Pintosmalto

The Golden Root

Parmetella gathering Golden Leaves


The Sun, Moon, and Talia


The King and the Falcon outside the Palace


Nennillo and Nennella

Nennillo and Nennella in the Wood

The Three Citrons 
The Slave at the Well
  
Conclusion
Zoza denouncing the Slave