In a second gleaning of the fields of Fairy Land we cannot expect to
find a second Perrault. But there are good stories enough left, and it
is hoped that some in the Red Fairy Book may have the attraction of
being less familiar than many of the old friends. The tales have been
translated, or, in the case of those from Madame d’Aulnoy’s long
stories, adapted, by Mrs. Hunt from the Norse, by Miss Minnie Wright
from Madame d’Aulnoy, by Mrs. Lang and Miss Bruce from other French
sources, by Miss May Sellar, Miss Farquharson, and Miss Blackley from
the German, while the story of ‘Sigurd’ is condensed by the Editor from
Mr. William Morris’s prose version of the ‘Volsunga Saga.’ The Editor
has to thank his friend, M. Charles Marelles, for permission to
reproduce his versions of the ‘Pied Piper,’ of ‘Drakestail,’ and of
‘Little Golden Hood’ from the French, and M. Henri Carnoy for the same
privilege in regard to ‘The Six Sillies’ from _La Tradition_.
Lady Frances Balfour has kindly copied an old version of ‘Jack and the
Beanstalk,’ and Messrs. Smith and Elder have permitted the publication
of two of Mr. Ralston’s versions from the Russian.