Classical Europe

Auf dem Hörbuch "Im Märchen durch Europa" werden die schönsten Märchen unserer liebsten Reiseländer erzählt. Von Belgien bis in die Türkei werden all die Plätze besucht, an die wir Erinnerungen der schönsten Zeit des Jahres knüpfen.

Mark Twain und Europa: 14 Humorvolle Kurzgeschichten. Auf ausgedehnten Reisen hat Twain seinen Landsfrauen und -männern die Eigenwilligkeiten der "Alten Welt" nahegebracht. Die gnadenlose Effizienz der Deutschen, die Verschrobenheit der Briten, die Geschäftstüchtigkeit der Italiener, die Eigenwilligkeit der Franzosen: Mark Twain behandelt sie alle gerecht - alle bekommen gleichermaßen seinen Spott zu spüren.

Mark Twain hat mehrfach Europa bereist, ist in Deutschland, der Schweiz, Frankreich, Italien, ja sogar der Türkei gewesen. Seine satirischen, respektlosen, oft absolut treffenden Beobachtungen lassen Vertrautes im neuen Licht erscheinen, und sind schlichtweg ein Vergnügen.

This is a story from the Andersen's Fairy Tales collection.

This is a story from the Andersen's Fairy Tales collection.

Le storie di Luca, Penelope, Giorgio e Margherita si intrecciano sulle isole che si trovano al confine fra le tradizioni istriane e le dalmate; dalle cascate del fiume Cherca alle sorgenti del Fiume Quieto. Un ambiente dove la Bora soffia bianca d'estate e nera d'inverno, sempre degna di rispetto.

Charles Dickens, considered one of the greatest English authors of all time, wrote the essay "Sunday Under Three Heads" in 1836. It is a short piece expressing Charles Dickens' opinion on a bill being presented in the British Parliament which was meant to restrict pleasurable pursuits on Sundays. Dickens explains how this proposed act would negatively affect the poor people of Britain. Besides stating his opinion with eloquence, the essay provides a good description of life on an English Sunday in the early 19th century.

"The Happy Prince" is a short story by Oscar Wilde, about a swallow and a statue. The swallow who remained behind when his flock flew to Africa for the winter, befriends a golden and bejewelled statue of a prince. Witnessing the poverty and suffering in the city, the statue asks the swallow to take his jewels and use them to help the poor. One by the swallow takes the gemstones, and ultimately also the gold plating, stripping the statue bare. But because it waited so long, it succumbs to the cold of winter.

A poor shoemaker and his wife need money to pay the rent. He gives away the last pair of shoes he has to a needy person. Before going to bed, he cuts out the last pieces of leather so that he can sew them into a pair of shoes the next day. Three elves come in the night and make the pair of shoes which he sells for more than his asking price the next day.

While most farmers are well-mannered and espouse great virtues and integrity this story proves there exists at least one farmer who is a profound scoundrel. It's not often a farmer can start with a wooden calf and end up the richest farmer in the land. The moral may well be never to follow this fellow's example.

Once there was a lazy girl who would not spin and her mother berates her for it. The Queen overhears and the woman, ashamed, explains that the girl spins so much that her mother cannot afford to buy enough flax to keep her occupied. The queen, impressed, takes the girl to a room filled with flax. If she spins it all within three days, she'll be rewarded with marriage to the queen's oldest son. Two days later, the queen returns and is amazed to find the flax untouched. The girl says that homesickness has kept her from spinning, but she realizes this lie will not serve her twice.

A little fir tree stands in the woods. All he can think about is growing up into a big tree. When a hare hops over him, emphasizing how small he is, he is embarrassed. Children call him the baby of the forest. Find out what happens to the little fir tree in this far from happily-ever-after tale for older children.

The classic story of a king buying invisible clothes from con men. See what peer pressure can do.

Another Grimm's Fairy Tale, "The Enchanted Stag" is a story about how a little sister cares for her brother while he is under a spell by their wicked step-mother. A King saves them both, and then they are betrayed again by the step-mother.... Will the King be fooled by the step-mother, will the brother always be under the spell? Find out who lives happily ever after. Narrated by Kathy Verduin.

This is a story from the Thumbelina and Other Fairy Tales collection.

King Henry VIII is inconsolable over the loss of his beloved queen, Jane Seymour. He banishes himself to the lower-levels of Whitehall Palace and refuses to see or speak to anyone. A deeply concerned Cromwell has a desperate plan: To send down the old court jester, the unstable Will Sommers, into the darkness, to somehow help. Meanwhile, Cromwell's enemies at court are gathering. Henry's grief regresses into a strange kind of manic madness. But can a fool really save the King?

One of the most famous fairytales of all time is the adventure of Jack who goes to market to sell a cow - and returns home with three beans instead. But those are magic beans, as he soon finds out - they grow straight into heaven with a gigantic stalk! A great adventure awaits Jack - and he is about to find out who he really is.