Found: Funny children's short story included in an anthology
Original topic subject: Funny children's short story included in an anthology
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1sheepjoin
I am trying to find a children's short story.
In it I recall a gentleman is on a train with and sharing a carriage with some children and their guardian. He tells them a story to amuse them which is punctuated by their comments. It is about a little girl who is always very good and punctual and obedient and receives medals for those virtues. The prince hears about it and invites her to spend time in his private garden. She visits the garden and is disappointed there are no flowers because she promised her aunties she would not pick the flowers. There are no flowers because the pigs eat them and the Prince had to choose between pigs and flowers and chose pigs. The children hearing the story approve of this choice. While the girl is in the garden a wolf comes in to eat the pigs and smells her. She hides from the wolf but while she is hiding her medals clink together and the wolf hears it and eats her. The children hearing the story approve of the ending and the moral. Their guardian is horrified.
I read this story in an anthology of children's short stories about 27 years ago. The stories may have been part of the series of anthologies collected by Pat Thomson or at least something similar. I thought the title might have been about "naughty children" or something similar but none of the Pat Thomson anthologies have titles along those lines.
In it I recall a gentleman is on a train with and sharing a carriage with some children and their guardian. He tells them a story to amuse them which is punctuated by their comments. It is about a little girl who is always very good and punctual and obedient and receives medals for those virtues. The prince hears about it and invites her to spend time in his private garden. She visits the garden and is disappointed there are no flowers because she promised her aunties she would not pick the flowers. There are no flowers because the pigs eat them and the Prince had to choose between pigs and flowers and chose pigs. The children hearing the story approve of this choice. While the girl is in the garden a wolf comes in to eat the pigs and smells her. She hides from the wolf but while she is hiding her medals clink together and the wolf hears it and eats her. The children hearing the story approve of the ending and the moral. Their guardian is horrified.
I read this story in an anthology of children's short stories about 27 years ago. The stories may have been part of the series of anthologies collected by Pat Thomson or at least something similar. I thought the title might have been about "naughty children" or something similar but none of the Pat Thomson anthologies have titles along those lines.
2Petroglyph
It's The storyteller by Saki.
Thank you for reminding me of this story! I couldn't recall title/author, either, but I did remember the phrase "She was horribly good" (which is what gets the children interested again after they've written off the story as another morality tale about a goody-two-shoes).
PDF link here. EDIT: Non-pdf link here.
Thank you for reminding me of this story! I couldn't recall title/author, either, but I did remember the phrase "She was horribly good" (which is what gets the children interested again after they've written off the story as another morality tale about a goody-two-shoes).
PDF link here. EDIT: Non-pdf link here.
3sheepjoin
>2 Petroglyph: Thank you so much!! I loved being able to read it again :)
