Once upon a time, in a forest far far away, there was a castle. And in that castle, there lived a child. Come the wee hours of each morning, the child would take bread from the pantry, and draw water from the well, from which he would sup for the day. Once the sun set, he would go to the bedroom, and fall soundly asleep on the bed. Each day came like the last, and each year the one before. The forest outside the castle was gloomy and deep, where the wild-beasts never ceased to snarl and bay. But this did not reach the child— For the hardy castle protected him. Yet there is a time for every castle to crumble. Though the child strived hither and thither to mend the holes, the cracks grew greater and greater. How it confounded the child! One day, a witch rang the bell at the castle door. The child had never opened this door before. He dreaded all that lay outside, from the pit of his stomach. Yet he could not help but hear the witch beseech him, and in his kindness he let her into the castle. The food of the castle was barely enough for the child to subsist, but still he shared a half of his meal with the witch. Come days later, the witch sought out the child. She was much pleased with the child's choice, and so she pledged to him: —I may grant you a wish. A wish! The child began to think. He would like to mend the castle, and continue his life from before. But after the witch was gone, suppose the castle were to fall apart again; whatever would he do? He thought and thought, until finally a perfect wish came to him: —I want to take the castle with me, away from the forest. Hence, the child set upon the journey of his— And behind him was his tiny little castle, which seemed to look very much like him, and which forever protected him. —The Child's Castle, selected from The Jeffreys Collection of Fairytales New and Old