1,003+ Folk Tales and Classic Stories — Free to Read Online Explore all stories →

All Ages

Timeless stories the whole family can enjoy together. No age limit on great storytelling.

324 stories found
The Tsarevna Frog Russian Folk Tales All Ages

The Tsarevna Frog

The Tsarevna Frog: [Illustration] In an old, old Russian tsarstvo, I do not know when, there lived a sovereign prince with the princess his wife. They had

The Story of the Slave Kafur Arabian Nights All Ages

The Story of the Slave Kafur

An enslaved boy in the Arabian Nights tells one lie a year. The year his lie convinces a whole household their master is dead, and the master that his household is dead, a city is thrown into mourning over corpses that never existed - a comic, unsettling parable on the runaway speed of a falsehood.

The Story of Ghanim ibn Ayyub, the Slave of Love Arabian Nights All Ages

The Story of Ghanim ibn Ayyub, the Slave of Love

Locked out of Baghdad at nightfall, the young Damascus merchant Ghanim finds a living woman sealed in a chest among the tombs - and loves her so honourably he will not touch her. One of the great romances of the Arabian Nights.

The Barber’s Story of His Fifth Brother Arabian Nights All Ages

The Barber’s Story of His Fifth Brother

The barber's fifth brother, Al-Nashshar, invested his whole inheritance in glassware and, lost in a daydream of the fortune it would bring, kicked over the tray and shattered everything - the Arabian Nights tale that gave English the word 'Alnaschar'.

The Barber’s Story of Himself Arabian Nights All Ages

The Barber’s Story of Himself

The comic Arabian Nights tale of the self-styled Silent Barber - the busybody who climbs uninvited into a stranger's boat, lands in chains before the Caliph, and still cannot hear how he sounds.

The Tale of the Three Apples Arabian Nights All Ages

The Tale of the Three Apples

The Tale of the Three Apples from the Arabian Nights - one of the earliest murder mysteries ever told. A locked chest pulled from the Tigris, a three-day deadline, and a husband undone by his own haste.

An Old Chinese Story Japanese Folk Tales All Ages

An Old Chinese Story

An Old Chinese Story: Long, long ago there lived a great Chinese Empress who succeeded her brother the Emperor Fuki. It was the age of giants, and the Empress

How An Old Man Lost His Wen Japanese Folk Tales All Ages

How An Old Man Lost His Wen

How An Old Man Lost His Wen: Many, many years ago there lived a good old man who had a wen like a tennis-ball growing out of his right cheek. This lump was a

The Ogre Of Rashomon Japanese Folk Tales All Ages

The Ogre Of Rashomon

The Ogre Of Rashomon: Long, long ago in Kyoto, the people of the city were terrified by accounts of a dreadful ogre, who, it was said, haunted the Gate of

Momotaro, Or The Story Of The Son Of A Peach Japanese Folk Tales All Ages

Momotaro, Or The Story Of The Son Of A Peach

Momotaro, Or The Story Of The Son Of A Peach: Long, long ago there lived, an old man and an old woman; they were peasants, and had to work hard to earn their

The Story Of Prince Yamato Take Japanese Folk Tales All Ages

The Story Of Prince Yamato Take

The Story Of Prince Yamato Take: The insignia of the great Japanese Empire is composed of three treasures which have been considered sacred, and guarded with

The White Hare And The Crocodiles Japanese Folk Tales All Ages

The White Hare And The Crocodiles

The White Hare And The Crocodiles: Long, long ago, when all the animals could talk, there lived in the province of Inaba in Japan, a little white hare. The