Even Grimmer Tales Read Online Free Page B

considerable by now,
    a certain change sets in
    at twelve or so. For after that they have
    a different flavour.
    Not quite tainted, but a whiff
    of something less appealing.
    You’d be the first to send it back, complain,
    if restaurants served you tough old steak.
    Those children whom I care for are given
    many pleasures. Sweets and treats galore.
    It’s not a house of gingerbread – that sort of myth
    no-one would ever credit – but they enjoy
    a happy life with me before their time is up.
    Their freedom may be limited; sometimes
    a child’s mind doesn’t know that it’s
    well-off, and till they realise the dangers
    of the outside world, they need to be confined.
    But most of them are greedy little people
    and I have learned through years just what has
    most appeal. To them, I mean, not only me.
    So, Gretel, lots of milk and cheese for Hansel’s lunch,
    and then this plate of cream cakes for dessert.
    Just take it to the garden hut where he is waiting.
    I’ll bring the key, unlock the door for you.
    We need to make sure that he’s been well-fed …

The Fisherman and his Wife
    A very impoverished fisherman one day catches a large flounder, but puts it back in the sea when it pleads that it is really an enchanted prince. In their miserable hovel that night, his wife Ilsabill is furious that he has asked for nothing in return. Always ready to seize an opportunity, she orders him back to the fish to claim a better cottage. Her subservient husband goes, unwillingly. For a short time she is satisfied, then the domineering woman sends him to demand, in turn, a manor house, and after that a palace. He’s not happy – but he obeys. The fish is amazingly patient – it must have been very grateful! Or sympathetic? As each request is met, the wife’s requirements become more excessive; she insists on becoming first of all king, then emperor, and finally pope. For fear of her, the fisherman yields and presents each order in turn, but she is never satisfied. At last she demands to be like god, and to be able to make the sun rise and set. This time when her hen-pecked husband returns from the sea, he finds that they are once more living in the hovel. Did he dare say I told you so?



Of Mice and Men
    â€œShe wears the pants, of course!”
    So limited in understanding,
    anyone who could say that!
    My smile, a twisted grin.
    It’s easy to accept that many men
    find women who are strong a threat.
    Masculinity’s an obligation, after all!
    What’s always been to me much more intriguing
    is while so many men may fit the stereotype,
    sometimes the ones who seem most macho
    are very likely to be needy, looking, searching,
    wanting something quite outside the norm.
    I learned that early on.
    The ones who lick their lips, and grow excited,
    as soon as they see pictures of a woman with a whip –
    The ones whose needs are so particular they find it hard
    to gain their satisfaction in the marriage bed,
    but seek a woman who will understand …
    In short, someone like me, with skills
    (I learned when young how marketable)
    and courage to pursue my avocation.
    I’m known for that. I did quite well.
    Such men will pay for the discreet indulgence
    of their less usual desires. They like to feel
    a woman in control, to get the punishment
    deserved. Perhaps relief for men who call the shots,
    whose daily lives put them in high positions.
    Responsibility’s a burden. Bliss to let go?
    And they have money. No problem to afford me.
    I don’t come cheap. My reputation’s known.
    No longer any need to advertise. Word gets around.
    The days of magazines that offer special services
    like mine are over. Now I pick and choose.
    Just as I choose the methods that I’ll use,
    the little toys that are my tools of trade – they really
    should be tax deductible – now that I think about it,
    I have some politicians in my clientele … perhaps
    I need to put