Publisher's Synopsis
The tales in the Grey Fairy Book are derived from many countries-Lithuania, various parts ofAfrica, Germany, France, Greece, and other regions of the world. They have been translated andadapted by Mrs. Dent, Mrs. Lang, Miss Eleanor Sellar, Miss Blackley, and Miss hang. 'The ThreeSons of Hali' is from the last century 'Cabinet des Fees, ' a very large collection. The French authormay have had some Oriental original before him in parts; at all events he copied the Eastern methodof putting tale within tale, like the Eastern balls of carved ivory. The stories, as usual, illustrate themethod of popular fiction. A certain number of incidents are shaken into many varyingcombinations, like the fragments of coloured glass in the kaleidoscope. Probably the possiblecombinations, like possible musical combinations, are not unlimited in number, but children may beless sensitive in the matter of fairies than Mr. John Stuart Mill was as regards music
