Jewish Fairy Tales

Long ago there was a wealthy merchant who had only one son, whom he instructed in the Torah and all of the other sacred books. Now his son grew older and married, and the merchant saw his son's children in his own lifetime. And when the merchant lay on his deathbed he called his son to him and said: Know that I possess great riches, and I am leaving all of these to you on one condition—that you swear never to sail across the sea. For I have made my fortune through sea voyages, and I have learned all too well the dangers lurking at sea. Therefore, if you should break the vow, then I bequeath all my property to heaven instead. Then the son solemnly swore that he would never undertake a voyage at sea, and shortly after that his father passed away from the world. A year or two later a ship reached the harbor of that town, loaded with gold, silver, and many precious gems. When the men of that ship had disembarked, they tried to seek out the rich merchant, and when they discovered that h...

In a town in Libya there lived a Jew who was plagued by bad luck. Whatever he did turned out poorly. He seldom earned a dinar, and things went from bad to worse. Nor was his wife a source of happiness—for whenever she saw her husband her mouth was full of curses and she roared like a lion. And one day, when everything seemed to be going wrong, this poor man decided to take his life. He left the town walls behind him, and climbed a nearby mountain outside the city, intending to cast himself down from the top of it. And when he reached the top he took out a kerchief and tied it around his eyes. But before he could jump, two strong arms took hold of him. The man removed the kerchief and saw standing before him a winged giant with the feet of a cock, a beard like that of a goat, and fire shooting forth from his nostrils. And even though the man had been about to kill himself, he was terrified when he saw this giant, and his legs began to tremble. All at once the giant spoke and said: Why w...

There once was a shepherd who served a wealthy king. It was this shepherd's duty to take the king's numerous herds of sheep and cattle to the meadow every day to graze. One day, while the shepherd was in the fields, he heard dogs barking, and saw that they were chasing a young man. Then he acted at once, using his shepherd's staff to chase off the dogs, and thus saved the young man from their teeth. But when the young man came closer, the shepherd was astonished to see that he did not cast a shadow, and he knew at once that although he had a human form, he must be a demon. This, indeed, was the case, and the demon was very grateful and said: You have saved me from the clutches of the dogs, who otherwise would have torn me to pieces. My father Asmodeus is the king of demons, and if you will accompany me to his palace he will surely reward you. But do not be distressed if he does not speak to you for three days, for on the third day he will surely ask you to name the reward y...

Now King David had had a long and full life, and the time had come when he saw that he would soon take leave of this world, and that his son, Solomon, would take his place as king. So King David called in Solomon and said to him: Solomon, my son, now that I am growing old there is a secret I wish to share with you, a secret I have been saving for many years. It concerns a dream that came to me on the night you were born. In the dream I was following a path at night, when I came upon a ladder that reached from earth into heaven. I knew at once that I must ascend that ladder, for I longed to know where it would lead me. And as soon as I stepped on the first rung, I heard a melody like a distant harp, more beautiful than any I had ever heard. And with each rung I climbed, the melody grew clearer and drew me closer. When at last I reached the top rung of the ladder, I found myself in a city that resembled Jerusalem in every respect, except that the stones of the houses and the streets were...