German Folktale. A spoiled, haughty princess judges potential suitors by looks alone and is so ill mannered that she says cruel things about them to their faces. Her father teaches her a lesson in humility by marrying her off to the first beggar that came to his doors.
Short Story by Margaret Atwood. A frozen 150-year-old body provides a lesson for the living. The story uses the mystery illness that killed members of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition to highlight the dangers of consumerism and modern technology such as soil and water pollution, toxic waste and acid rain.
Grade 5-6 Story by Paul Jennings. A haughty boy who always comes top of his class suspects that 'magic’ ice-cream helped another boy score a hundred in a Math test. He learns the truth after breaking into the ice-cream vendor’s van and eating a bucket labelled SMART ICE-CREAM.
Short Story by Rajinder Singh Bedi. Set in the violent upheaval of British India’s 1947 partition, it follows a Hindu activist whose wife has been abducted into Pakistan. Although the activist shows unexpected kindness on his wife’s return, he refuses to discuss her experiences, preventing both from finding closure.
Short Story by Edgar Allan Poe. Alcohol and mental illness make for a dangerous mix. The protagonist becomes violent when in a drunken state. This is initially directed towards family pets, but escalates to the brutal murder of his wife. The “wailing shriek” of a black cat exposes the crime.