Month: December 2016

by Eugene Marckx In a time that circles with the changing faces of the moon this story is always happening.  A boy.  Why is it a boy?  Could it be a girl for once?  But this was a boy¾born to trouble.  Oh, yes, plenty of people tried to wish it all away, yet there was…

  Wi’ yer drums ’n guns ’n drums ’n guns, hurroo, hurroo, Wi’ yer drums ’n guns ’n drums ’n guns, hurroo, hurroo, Wi’ yer drums ’n guns ’n drums ’n guns The enemy nearly slew ye. Oh, my darlin’ dear, ye look so queer, Why, Johnny, we hardly knew ye.                                                                                                 traditional   It…

From RUSSIAN FAIRY TALES, collected by Aleksandr Afanas’ev Translated by Norbert Guterman (1973) Random House There was once a wealthy merchant named Marka, and never was anyone so stingy as he!  One day he went for a walk, and on his way he saw an old beggar asking for alms. “For Christ’s sake, pious men,…

by Eugene Marckx Once there was a boy who made friends with a white bird.  They went freely together everywhere.  But one day the boy locked the bird in a cage because he said that other boys were always trying to catch it.  When he came back from play the cage was empty.  The white…

by - Eugene Marckx There is a dock on a lake where a few men gather to fish.  Every Saturday they come at sunrise and stay as long as the fish are biting.  All the people they have to please and all the things they have to do don’t keep them from this.  Whatever the…

—adapted from the Brothers Grimm   Once upon a time there was a young man who joined the army and went to war.  He learned about courage when bullets are flying.  He learned to kill the enemy and to trust his brother soldiers.  He found some skill in warfare and enough pure luck to stay…