Taylor Bayard lived between 1825 and 1878. This volume includes his version of Beauty and the Beast: A Story of Old Russia, and several other tales. His story is unlike the classical fable. See my reviews of the version by an unknown author and the de Beaumont account. A rather vicious prince who is generally drunk and who moves about with a whip in hand terrorizes his serfs in Russian. He is the beast in the story, although Bayard does not use the term. His son, also a prince, falls in love with a beautiful woman and marries her. His father is furious. The story continues by showing how the beautiful wife wins over the beastly prince.