'King John and the Abbot of Canterbury' is an English take on the Italian 'Crab' and German 'Dr. Knowall', but it's my absolute favorite version of the story.

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Our first of three stories from "English Fairytales" and "More English Fairytales" by Joseph Jacobs is 'The Cat and the Mouse' and it's one of my favorite kinds of tales, the progressive tale of a mouse on a quest.

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Our final story from Turkey, 'The Language of Birds', shows us that there are some things we humans just aren't supposed to understand.

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In 'The Calif Omar' we see reason and justice prevail for a wrongly accused man.

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Our first of three stories from Turkey, 'How the Priest Knew That it Would Snow' includes a traveller, a Priest and a particularly talented pig.

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My favorite tales always feature a strong, smart woman and 'The Clever Girl' is the best of those that also has a young prince who also appreciates her wisdom and wit.

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Our second story from Italy about how a peasant pulls one over on the nobility is 'Crab', the Italian version of the German folktale "Doctor Knowall".

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In the first of three Italian folktales this week that focuses on just how much more clever the peasants are than the clergy or nobility, 'The Thoughtless Abbot' has his neck saved by a trusted servant.

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As we conclude our week with the gold buckskin whincher from Carl Sandburg's "Rootabaga Stories" we get a very American version of 'The Monkey's Paw'.

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Today we're following the gold buckskin whincher to its next owner to discover what power it will possess over the cistern cleaner Jason Squiff.

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