Twenty-Four Unusual Stories for Boys and Girls

u have heard this old story that was once told to me, and I hope have learnt the moral.

[Illustration: WHERE TO LAY THE BLAME]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 2: Reprinted by special permission from Stories and Tales, by Hans Christian Andersen. Copyright by Houghton, Mifflin Company.]

WHERE TO LAY THE BLAME[3]

Many and many a man has come to trouble--so he will say--by following his wife's advice. This is how it was with a man of whom I shall tell you.

THERE was once upon a time a fisherman who had fished all day long and had caught not so much as a sprat. So at night there he sat by the fire, rubbing his knees and warming his shins, and waiting for supper that his wife was cooking for him, and his hunger was as sharp as vinegar, and his temper hot enough to fry fat.

While he sat there grumbling and growling and trying to make himself comfortable and warm, there suddenly came a knock at the door. The good woman opened it, and there stood an old man, clad al