The table,the donkey,and the stick ( Grimms’ Fairy Tales) Once there was a man who had three sons1,Tom,Bob and Jack.Tom had gone2 to work with a man who made tables,and other things,of wood.He worked...605The table, the donkey, and the stick ( Grimms’ Fairy Tales) Once there was a man who had three sons1, Tom, Bob and Jack. Tom had gone2 to work with a man who made tables, and other things, of wood. He worked very hard for one year; and, when the year’s work was over3, the man gave him a table. It was made of wood and it looked like any other old table, but it was a magic table. If you said to it, ‘Be covered,’4 then it at once became covered with nice food. Tom was very pleased. He went from one country to another, and from one city to another, and he was always happy. When he wanted food, he set down his table in the house, or in the field, or by the road, and said, ‘Be covered.’ And at once it was covered with nice things to eat. On his journey he came to a house, and he said to the man of the house, ‘May I stay the night here?’ The man said, ‘Yes, you may stay here, but I can’t give you any food.’ Tom said, ‘Don’t give me any food. You can eat with me.’ Then he put down his table and said, ‘ Be covered’; and at once the table was covered with nice food, and they sat down to eat. Now this man was a bad man. He thought, ‘I must have this boy’s table. It will give me food, and I’ll sell the food from it to others.’ When Tom went to bed, the man took another table and put it in the place of5 the magic table. The next morning Tom put the table on his back. He did not know that it had been changed6; and he walked towards his father’s house. At noon he came to his father’s house. The old man was very pleased when he saw his son. ‘What have you been doing7, my son?’ he asked. ‘I have been making tables,’ answered Tom. ‘That’s a very good thing to do,’ said the father. ‘And what have you brought back with you from your journeys?’ 200