A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys

Nathaniel Hawthorne reshaped six Greek myths for young readers in this 1851 collection, wrapping them in a gentle frame in which a college student named Eustace Bright tells the tales to a group of children at a New England country house. Inside that frame come the great stories: Perseus and the deadly Gorgon Medusa, King Midas and his golden touch, Pandora and the forbidden box, Hercules and the golden apples, and the kind old couple rewarded with a never-empty pitcher. Hawthorne softens the ancient cruelty and adds his own warmth and humor, turning myth into something closer to a fireside story. The result feels far more personal than a plain retelling and shows a darker novelist at his most playful. Free PDF and EPUB editions are available to read and download.