FOR THE WINTER; BEING A SELECTION OF WONDERFUL & SUPERNATURAL STORIES. Translated from the Chinese, Turkish and German. COMPILED BY HENRY ST. CLAIR. THREE VOLUMES IN ONE. VOL. 1. "I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word "Would harrow up thy soul; freeze thy young blood, "Thy knotted and combined locks to part แ And each particular hair to stand on end, "Like quills upon the fretful porcupine."-Shakspeare NEW-YORK: PUBLISHED BY RICHARD MARSH, 374 Pearl Street, PREFACE. was THE Editor of this volume makes no doubt that will be an acceptable offering to the Public. There time, indeed, when men were burned for witch craft, and Quakers were hanged for non-conformity, that Tales like those which compose this collection would have been improper for publication. That time has passed away-old women ride through New-Eng land on broomsticks no longer-children are no longer hushed to rest by threats of the coming of the Devil-"E'en the last lingering phantom of the brain, The churchyard ghost, is now at rest again!" Stories founded on supernatural agency cannot now mislead the young, or terrify the old. At the same time there are no tales which excite such intense interest, or will bear frequent perusal so well. Witness the Arabian Nights Entertainment, the Tales of the Genii, and many other collections of a like nature, which have been the delight of centuries past, and will constitute a large portion of the amusement of centu ries future. These works, however, have become rather hack nied. Every one knows the Arabian Tales by rote; the Tales of the Genii are scarcely less familiar; even Winter Evenings at Home are not sought with the same avidity they once were. The Editor has, therefore, sought and put together such supernatural tales as are written with equal power, and are less gene |