diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:26:34 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:26:34 -0700 |
| commit | 88a1dafc762803f79e129ef3ce896e2e7f351e94 (patch) | |
| tree | 3b8e07236bafddbab3025ce349f50347659eb854 | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5957-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 150340 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5957-h/5957-h.htm | 12022 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5957.txt | 8276 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5957.zip | bin | 0 -> 145978 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
7 files changed, 20314 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5957-h.zip b/5957-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1e1471c --- /dev/null +++ b/5957-h.zip diff --git a/5957-h/5957-h.htm b/5957-h/5957-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ab6d706 --- /dev/null +++ b/5957-h/5957-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12022 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<hTML> +<hEAD> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> +<TITLE>Project Gutenberg's eText of The Art of the Story-Teller, by Marie L. Shedlock</TITLE> +</HEAD> +<BODY> +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Art of the Story-Teller, by Marie L. Shedlock + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Art of the Story-Teller + +Author: Marie L. Shedlock + +Release Date: June, 2004 [EBook #5957] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on September 29, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ART OF THE STORY-TELLER *** + + + + +This etext was created by Doug Levy, _literra scripta manet_. + + + +</pre> +<h1 align=center>THE ART OF THE STORY-TELLER</h1> +<h2 align=center>by Marie L. Shedlock</h2> + +<p> </p> +<h3 align=center>PREFACE</h3> + +<p> +Some day we shall have a science of education comparable to the +science +of medicine; but even when that day arrives the <i>art</i> of +education +will still remain the inspiration and the guide of all wise +teachers. +The laws that regulate our physical and mental development will be +reduced to order; but the impulses which lead each new generation to +play its way into possession of all that is best in life will still +have +to be interpreted for us by the artists who, with the wisdom of +years, +have not lost the direct vision of children. + +<p> +Some years ago I heard Miss Shedlock tell stories in England. Her +fine +sense of literary and dramatic values, her power in sympathetic +interpretation, always restrained within the limits of the art she +was +using, and her understanding of educational values, based on a wide +experience of teaching, all marked her as an artist in story- +telling. +She was equally at home in interpreting the subtle blending of wit +and +wisdom in Daudet, the folk lore philosophy of Grimm, or the deeper +world +philosophy and poignant human appeal of Hans Christian Andersen. + +<p> +Then she came to America and for two or three years she taught us +the +difference between the nightingale that sings in the tree tops and +the +artificial bird that goes with a spring. Cities like New York, +Boston, +Pittsburgh and Chicago listened and heard, if sometimes +indistinctly, +the notes of universal appeal, and children saw the Arabian Nights +come +true. + +<p> +Yielding to the appeals of her friends in America and England, Miss +Shedlock has put together in this little book such observations and +suggestions on story-telling as can be put in words. Those who have +the +artist's spirit will find their sense of values quickened by her +words, +and they will be led to escape some of the errors into which even +the +greatest artists fall. And even those who tell stories with their +minds +will find in these papers wise generalizations and suggestions born +of +wide experience and extended study which well go far towards making +even +an artificial nightingale's song less mechanical. To those who +know, +the book is a revelation of the intimate relation between a child's +instincts and the finished art of dramatic presentation. To those +who +do not know it will bring echoes of reality.—Earl Barnes.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h3 align=center>CONTENTS</h3> +<h3 align=center>PART I</h3> +<h4 align=center>THE ART OF STORY-TELLING</h4> +<h5>CHAPTER</h5> + +<p> +<a href="#chapI">I. THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE STORY</a><br> +<a href="#chapII">II. THE ESSENTIALS OF THE STORY</a><br> +<a href="#chapIII">III. THE ARTIFICES OF STORY-TELLING</a><br> +<a href="#chapIV">IV. ELEMENTS TO AVOID IN SELECTION OF MATERIAL +</a><br> +<a href="#chapV">V. ELEMENTS TO SEEK IN THE CHOICE OF MATERIAL</a> +<br> +<a href="#chapVI">VI. HOW TO OBTAIN AND MAINTAIN THE EFFECT OF THE +STORY</a><br> +<a href="#chapIV">IV. ELEMENTS TO AVOID IN SELECTION OF MATERIAL +</a><br> +<a href="#chapVII">VII. QUESTIONS ASKED BY TEACHERS</a></p> + +<h3 align=center>PART II</h3> +<h4 align=center>THE STORIES</h4> + +<p> +<a href="#sturla">STURLA, THE HISTORIAN</a><br> +<a href="#saga">A SAGA</a><br> +<a href="#legend">THE LEGEND OF ST. CHRISTOPHER</a><br> +<a href="#arthur">ARTHUR IN THE CAVE</a><br> +<a href="#hafiz">HAFIZ, THE STONE-CUTTER</a><br> +<a href="#health">TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH</a><br> +<a href="#cock">THE PROUD COCK</a><br> +<a href="#sneg">SNEGOURKA</a><br> +<a href="#nixie">THE WATER NIXIE</a><br> +<a href="#rose">THE BLUE ROSE</a><br> +<a href="#frogs">THE TWO FROGS</a><br> +<a href="#shepherd">THE WISE OLD SHEPHERD</a><br> +<a href="#folly">THE FOLLY OF PANIC</a><br> +<a href="#festival">THE TRUE SPIRIT OF A FESTIVAL DAY</a><br> +<a href="#filial">FILIAL PIETY</a></p> +<p> +THREE STORIES FROM HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN—<br> +<a href="#swineherd">THE SWINEHERD</a><br> +<a href="#nightingale">THE NIGHTINGALE</a><br> +<a href="#pea">THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA</a></p> + +<h3 align=center>PART III</h3> +<p> +<a href="#list">LIST OF STORIES</a><br> +<a href="#books">BOOKS SUGGESTED TO THE STORY-TELLER AND BOOKS +REFERRED TO IN THE LIST OF STORIES</a></p> + +<p> </p> +<h3 align=center>INTRODUCTION</h3> + +<p> +Story-telling is almost the oldest art in the world—the first +conscious form of literary communication. In the East it still +survives, and it is not an uncommon thing to see a crowd at a street +corner held by the simple narration of a story. There are signs in +the +West of a growing interest in this ancient art, and we may yet live +to +see the renaissance of the troubadours and the minstrels whose +appeal +will then rival that of the mob orator or itinerant politician. One +of +the surest signs of a belief in the educational power of the story +is +its introduction into the curriculum of the training-college and the +classes of the elementary and secondary schools. It is just at the +time +when the imagination is most keen, the mind being unhampered by +accumulation of facts, that stories appeal most vividly and are +retained +for all time. + +<p> +It is to be hoped that some day stories will be told to school +groups +only by experts who have devoted special time and preparation to the +art +of telling them. It is a great fallacy to suppose that the +systematic +study of story-telling destroys the spontaneity of narrative. After +a +long experience, I find the exact converse to be true, namely, that +it +is only when one has overcome the mechanical difficulties that one +can +"let one's self go" in the dramatic interest of the story. + +<p> +By the expert story-teller I do not mean the professional +elocutionist. +The name, wrongly enough, has become associated in the mind of the +public with persons who beat their breast, tear their hair, and +declaim +blood-curdling episodes. A decade or more ago, the drawing-room +reciter +was of this type, and was rapidly becoming the bugbear of social +gatherings. The difference between the stilted reciter and the +simple +story-teller is perhaps best illustrated by an episode in Hans +Christian +Andersen's immortal "Story of the Nightingale." The real +Nightingale +and the artificial Nightingale have been bidden by the Emperor to +unite +their forces and to sing a duet at a Court function. The duet turns +out +most disastrously, and while the artificial Nightingale is singing +his +one solo for the thirty-third time, the real Nightingale flies out +of +the window back to the green wood—a true artist, instinctively +choosing his right atmosphere. But the bandmaster—symbol of +the +pompous pedagogue—in trying to soothe the outraged feelings of +the +courtiers, says, "Because, you see, Ladies and Gentlemen, and above +all, +Your Imperial Majesty, with the real nightingale you never can tell +what +you will hear, but in the artificial nightingale everything is +decided +beforehand. So it is, and so it must remain. It cannot be +otherwise." + +<p> +And as in the case of the two nightingales, so it is with the +stilted +reciter and the simple narrator: one is busy displaying the +machinery, +showing "how the tunes go"; the other is anxious to conceal the art. +Simplicity should be the keynote of story-telling, but (and her the +comparison with the nightingale breaks down) it is a simplicity +which +comes after much training in self-control, and much hard work in +overcoming the difficulties which beset the presentation. + +<p> +I do not mean that there are not born story-tellers who <i>could</i> +hold an audience without preparation, but they are so rare in number +that we can afford to neglect them in our general consideration, for +this work is dedicated to the average story-tellers anxious to make +the +best use of their dramatic ability, and it is to them that I present +my +plea for special study and preparation before telling a story to a +group +of children—that is, if they wish for the far-reaching effects +I +shall speak of later on. Only the preparation must be of a much +less +stereotyped nature than that by which the ordinary reciters are +trained +for their career. + +<p> +Some years ago, when I was in America, I was asked to put into the +form +of lectures my views as to the educational value of telling stories. +A +sudden inspiration seized me. I began to cherish a dream of long +hours +to be spent in the British Museum, the Congressional Library in +Washington and the Public Library in Boston—and this is the +only +portion of the dream which has been realized. I planned an +elaborate +scheme of research work which was to result in a magnificent (if +musty) +philological treatise. I thought of trying to discover by long and +patient researches what species of lullaby were crooned by Egyptian +mothers to their babes, and what were the elementary dramatic poems +in +vogue among Assyrian nursemaids which were the prototypes of "Little +Jack Horner," "Dickory, Dickory Dock" and other nursery classics. I +intended to follow up the study of these ancient documents by making +an +appendix of modern variants, showing what progress we had made +—if +any—among modern nations. + +<p> +But there came to me suddenly one day the remembrance of a scene +from +Racine's "Plaideurs," in which the counsel for the defence, eager to +show how fundamental his knowledge, begins his speech: "Before the +Creation of the World"—And the Judge (with a touch of +weariness +tempered by humor) suggests: + +<p> +"Let us pass on to the Deluge." + +<p> +And thus I, too, have passed on to the Deluge. I have abandoned an +account of the origin and past of stories which at best would only +have +displayed a little recently acquired book knowledge. When I thought +of +the number of scholars who could treat this part of the question +infinitely better than myself, I realized how much wiser it would be +—though the task is more humdrum—to deal with the +present +possibilities of story-telling for our generation of parents and +teachers. + +<p> +My objects in urging the use of stories in the education of children +are +at least fivefold: + +<p> +First, to give them dramatic joy, for which they have a natural +craving; +to develop a sense of humor, which is really a sense of proportion; +to +correct certain tendencies by showing the consequences in the career +of +the hero in the story [Of this motive the children must be quite +unconscious and there should be no didactic emphasis]; to present by +means of example, not precept, such ideals as will sooner or later +be +translated into action; and finally, to develop the imagination, +which +really includes all the other points. + +<p> +But the art of story-telling appeals not only to the educational +world +and to parents as parents, but also to a wider public interested in +the +subject from a purely human point of view. + +<p> +In contrast to the lofty scheme I had originally proposed to myself, +I +now simply place before all those who are interested in the art of +story-telling in any form the practical experiences I have had in my +travels in America and England. + +<p> +I hope that my readers may profit by my errors, improve on my +methods, +and thus help to bring about the revival of an almost lost art. + +<p> +In Sir Philip Sydney's "Defence of Poesie: we find these words: + +<p> +"Forsooth he cometh to you with a tale, which holdeth children from +play, and old men from the chimney-corner, and pretending no more, +doth +intend the winning of the mind from wickedness to virtue even as the +child is often brought to take most wholesome things by hiding them +in +such other as have a pleasant taste."</p> + + +<P align=right>—MARIE L. SHEDLOCK, LONDON</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h3 align=center>PART I</h3> +<h4 align=center>THE ART OF THE STORY-TELLER.</h4> +<h4 align=center><a name="chapI">CHAPTER I</a></h4> +<h4 align=center>THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE STORY</h4> + +<p> +I propose to deal in this chapter with the difficulties or dangers +which +beset the path of the story-teller, because, until we have overcome +these, we cannot hope to bring out the full value of the story. + +<p> +The difficulties are many, and yet they ought not to discourage the +would-be narrators, but only show them how all-important is the +preparation for the story, if it is to have the desired effect. + +<p> +I propose to illustrate by concrete examples, thereby serving a +twofold +purpose: one to fix the subject more clearly in the mind of the +student, +the other to use the art of story-telling to explain itself. +<p> +I have chosen one or two instances from my own personal experience. +The +grave mistakes made in my own case may serve as a warning to others +who +will find, however, that experience is the best teacher. For +positive +work, in the long run, we generally find out our own method. On the +negative side, however, it is useful to have certain pitfalls +pointed +out to us, in order that we may save time by avoiding them. It is +for +this reason that I sound a note of warning. + +<p> +1. There is <i>the danger of side issues</i>. An inexperienced +story- +teller is exposed to the temptation of breaking off from the main +dramatic interest in a short exciting story in order to introduce a +side +issue which is often interesting and helpful but which must be left +for +a longer and less dramatic story. If the interest turns on some +dramatic moment, the action must be quick and uninterrupted, or it +will +lose half its effect. + +<p> +I had been telling a class of young children the story of Polyphemus +and +Ulysses, and just at the most dramatic moment in the story some +impulse +for which I cannot account prompted me to go off on a side issue to +describe the personal appearance of Ulysses. + +<p> +The children were visibly bored, but with polite indifference they +listened to my elaborate description of the hero. If I had given +them +an actual description from Homer, I believe that the strength of the +language would have appealed to their imagination (all the more +strongly +because the might not have understood the individual words) and have +lessened their disappointment at the dramatic issue being postponed; +but +I trusted to my own lame verbal efforts, and signally failed. +Attention +flagged, fidgeting began, the atmosphere was rapidly becoming +spoiled in +spit of the patience and toleration still shown by the children. At +last, however, one little girl in the front row, as spokeswoman for +the +class, suddenly said: "If you please, before you go on any further, +do +you mind telling us whether, after all, that Poly . . . [slight +pause] . +. . that . . . [final attempt] . . . <i>Polyanthus</i> died?" + +<p> +Now, the remembrance of this question has been of extreme use to me +in +my career as a story-teller. I have realized that in a short +dramatic +story the mind of the listeners must be set at ease with regard to +the +ultimate fate of the special Polyanthus who takes the center of the +stage. + +<p> +I remember, too, the despair of a little boy at a dramatic +representation of "Little Red Riding-Hood," when that little person +delayed the thrilling catastrophe with the Wolf, by singing a +pleasant +song on her way through the wood. "Oh, why," said the little boy, +"does +she not get on?" And I quite shared his impatience. + +<p> +This warning is necessary only in connection with the short dramatic +narrative. There are occasions when we can well afford to offer +short +descriptions for the sake of literary style, and for the purpose of +enlarging the vocabulary of the child. I have found, however, in +these +cases, it is well to take the children into your confidence, warning +them that they are to expect nothing particularly exciting in the +way of +dramatic event. They will then settle down with a freer mind +(though +the mood may include a touch of resignation) to the description you +are +about to offer them. + +<p> +2. <i>Altering the story to suit special occasions</i> is done +sometimes from extreme conscientiousness, sometimes from sheer +ignorance +of the ways of children. It is the desire to protect them from +knowledge which they already possess and with which they, equally +conscientious, are apt to "turn and rend" the narrator. I remember +once +when I was telling the story of the Siege of Troy to very young +children, I suddenly felt anxious lest there should be anything in +the +story of the rape of Helen not altogether suitable for the average +age +of the class, namely, nine years. I threw, therefore, a domestic +coloring over the whole subject and presented an imaginary +conversation +between Paris and Helen, in which Paris tried to persuade Helen that +she +was strong-minded woman thrown away on a limited society in Sparta, +and +that she should come away and visit some of the institutions of the +world with him, which would doubtless prove a mutually instructive +journey[1]. I then gave the children the view taken by Herodotus +that +Helen never went to Troy, but was detained in Egypt. The children +were +much thrilled by the story, and responded most eagerly when, in my +inexperience, I invited them to reproduce in writing for the next +day +the story I had just told them. A small child presented <i>me</i>, +as +you will see, with the ethical problem from which I had so +laboriously +protected <i>her</i>. The essay ran: + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +Once upon a time the King of Troy's son was called Paris. And he +went +over to <i>Greace</i> to see what it was like. And here he saw the +beautiful Helen<i>er</i>, and likewise her husband Menela<i>yus</i>. +And one day, Menelayus went out hunting, and left Paris and Helener +alone, and Paris said: "Do you not feel <i>dul</i> in this +<i>palis</i>?"[2] And Helener said: "I feel very dull in this <i> +pallice +</i>," and Paris said: "Come away and see the world with me." So +they +<i>sliped</i> off together, and they came to the King of Egypt, and +<i> +he</i> said: "Who <i>is</i> the young lady"? So Paris told him. +"But," +said the King, "it is not <i>propper</i> for you to go off with +other +people's <i>wifes</i>. So Helener shall stop here." Paris stamped +his +foot. When Menelayus got home, <i>he</i> stamped his foot. And he +called round him all his soldiers, and they stood round Troy for +eleven +years. At last they thought it was no use <i>standing</i> any +longer, +so they built a wooden horse in memory of Helener and the Trojans +and it +was taken into the town. +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +Now, the mistake I made in my presentation was to lay any particular +stress on the reason for elopement by my careful readjustment, which +really called more attention to the episode than was necessary for +the +age of my audience; and evidently caused confusion in the minds of +some +of the children who knew the story in its more accurate original +form. + +<p> +While traveling in America, I was provided with a delightful +appendix to +this story. I had been telling Miss Longfellow and her sister the +little girl's version of the Siege of Troy, and Mrs. Thorpe made the +following comment, with the American humor the dryness of which adds +so +much to its value: + +<p> +"I never realized before," she said, "how glad the Greeks must have +been +to sit down even inside a horse, when they had been <i>standing</i> +for +eleven years." + +<p> +3. <i>The danger of introducing unfamiliar words</i> is the very +opposite danger of the one to which I have just alluded; it is the +taking for granted that children are acquainted with the meaning of +certain words upon which turns some important point in the story. +We +must not introduce, without at least a passing explanation, words +which, +if not rightly understood, would entirely alter the picture we wish +to +present. + +<p> +I had once promised to tell stories to an audience of Irish +peasants, +and I should like to state here that, though my travels have brought +me +in touch with almost every kind of audience, I have never found one +where the atmosphere is so "self-prepared" as in that of a group of +Irish peasants. To speak to them, especially on the subject of +fairy- +tales, is like playing on a delicate harp: the response is so quick +and +the sympathy so keen. Of course, the subject of fairy-tales is one +which is completely familiar to them and comes into their everyday +life. +They have a feeling of awe with regard to fairies, which is very +deep in +some parts of Ireland. + +<p> +On this particular occasion I had been warned by an artist friend +who +had kindly promised to sing songs between the stories, that my +audience +would be of varying age and almost entirely illiterate. Many of the +older men and women, who could neither read nor write, had never +been +beyond their native village. I was warned to be very simple in my +language and to explain any difficult words which might occur in the +particular Indian story I had chosen for that night, namely, "The +Tiger, +the Jackal and the Brahman."[3]—at a proper distance, however, +lest the audience should class him with the wild animals. I then +went +on with my story, in the course of which I mentioned a buffalo. In +spite of the warning I had received, I found it impossible not to +believe that the name of this animal would be familiar to any +audience. +I, therefore, went on with the sentence containing this word, and +ended +it thus: "And then the Brahman went a little further and met an old +buffalo turning a wheel." + +<p> +The next day, while walking down the village street, I entered into +conversation with a thirteen-year-old girl who had been in my +audience +the night before and who began at once to repeat in her own words +the +Indian story in questions. When she came to the particular sentence +I +have just quoted, I was greatly startled to hear <i>her</i> version, +which ran thus: "And the priest went on a little further, and he met +another old gentleman pushing a wheelbarrow." I stopped her at +once, +and not being able to identify the sentence as part of the story I +had +told, I questioned her a little more closely. I found that the word +"buffalo," had evidently conveyed to her mind an old "buffer" whose +name +was "Lo," probably taken to be an Indian form of appellation, to be +treated with tolerance though it might not be Irish in sound. Then, +not +knowing of any wheel more familiarly than that attached to a barrow, +the +young narrator completed the picture in her own mind—but +which, +one must admit, had lost something of the Indian atmosphere which I +had +intended to gather about. + +<p> +4. <i>The danger of claiming coöperation of the class by means +of +questions</i> is more serious for the teacher than the child, who +rather +enjoys the process and displays a fatal readiness to give any sort +of +answer if only he can play a part in the conversation. If we could +in +any way depend on the children giving the kind of answer we expect, +all +might go well and the danger would be lessened; but children have a +perpetual way of frustrating our hopes in this direction, and of +landing +us in unexpected bypaths from which it is not always easy to return +to +the main road without a very violent reaction. As illustrative of +this, +I quote from the "The Madness of Philip," by Josephine Daskam Bacon, +a +truly delightful essay on child psychology in the guise of the +lightest +of stories. + +<p> +The scene takes place in a kindergarten, where a bold and fearless +visitor has undertaken to tell a story on the spur of the moment to +a +group of restless children. + +<p> +She opens thus: + +<p> +"Yesterday, children, as I came out of my yard, what do you think I +saw?" + +<p> +The elaborately concealed surprise in store was so obvious that +Marantha +rose to the occasion and suggested, "An el'phunt." + +<p> +"Why, no. Why should I see an elephant in my yard? It was not <i> +nearly</i> so big as that—it was a little thing." + +<p> +"A fish," ventured Eddy Brown, whose eye fell upon the aquarium in +the +corner. The raconteuse smiled patiently. + +<p> +"Now, how could a fish, a live fish, get into my front yard?" + +<p> +"A dead fish," says Eddy. + +<p> +He had never been known to relinquish voluntarily an idea. + +<p> +"No; it was a little kitten," said the story-teller decidedly. "A +little white kitten. She was standing right near a big puddle of +water. +Now, what else do you think I saw?" + +<p> +"Another kitten," suggests Marantha, conservatively. + +<p> +"No; it was a big Newfoundland dog. He saw the little kitten near +the +water. Now, cats don't like water, do they? What do they like?" + +<p>"Mice," said Joseph Zukoffsky abruptly. + +<p> +"Well, yes, they do; but there were no mice in my yard. I'm sure +you +know what I mean. If they don't like <i>water</i>, <i>what</i> do +they +like?" + +<p> +"Milk," cried Sarah Fuller confidently. + +<p> +"They like a dry place," said Mrs. R. B. Smith. "Now, what do you +suppose the dog did?" + +<p> +It may be that successive failures had disheartened the listeners. +It +may be that the very range of choice presented to them and the dog +alike +dazzled their imagination. At all events, they made no answer. + +<p> +"Nobody knows what the dog did?" repeated the story-teller +encouragingly. "What would you do if you saw a little kitten like +that?" + +<p> +And Philip remarked gloomily: + +<p> +"I'd pull its tail." + +<p> +"And what do the rest of you think? I hope you are not as cruel as +that +little boy." + +<p> +A jealous desire to share Philip's success prompted the quick +response: + +<p> +"I'd pull it too." + +<p> +Now, the reason of the total failure of this story was the inability +to +draw any real response from the children, partly because of the +hopeless +vagueness of the questions, partly because, there being no time for +reflection, children say the first thing that comes into their heads +without any reference to their real thoughts on the subject. + +<p> +I cannot imagine anything less like the enlightened methods of the +best +kindergarten teaching. Had Mrs. R. B. Smith been a real, and not a +fictional, person, it would certainly have been her last appearance +as a +raconteuse in this educational institution. + +<p> +5. <i>The difficulty of gauging the effect of a story upon the +audience +</i> rises from lack of observation and experience; it is the want +of +these qualities which leads to the adoption of such a method as I +have +just presented. We learn in time that want of expression on the +faces +of the audience and want of any kind of external response do not +always +mean either lack of interest or attention. There is often real +interest +deep down, but no power, or perhaps no wish, to display that +interest, +which is deliberately concealed at times so as to protect oneself +from +questions which may be put. + +<p> +6. <i>The danger of over illustration</i>. After long experience, +and +after considering the effect produced on children when pictures are +shown to them during the narration, I have come to the conclusion +that +the appeal to the eye and the ear at the same time is of doubtful +value, +and has, generally speaking, a distracting effect: the concentration +on +one channel of communication attracts and holds the attention more +completely. I was confirmed in this theory when I addressed an +audience +of blind people[4] for the first time, and noticed how closely they +attended, and how much easier it seemed to them because they were so +completely "undistracted by the sights around them." + +<p> +I have often suggested to young teachers two experiments in support +of +this theory. They are not practical experiments, nor could they be +repeated often with the same audience, but they are intensely +interesting, and they serve to show the <i>actual</i> effect of +appealing to one sense at a time. The first of these experiments is +to +take a small group of children and suggest that they should close +their +eyes while you tell them a story. You will then notice how much +more +attention is given to the intonation and inflection of the voice. +The +reason is obvious. With nothing to distract the attention, it is +concentrated on the only thing offered the listeners, that is, +sound, to +enable them to seize the dramatic interest of the story. + +<p> +We find an example of the dramatic power of the voice in its appeal +to +the imagination in one of the tributes brought by an old pupil to +Thomas +Edward Brown, Master at Clifton College: + +<p> +"My earliest recollection is that his was the most vivid teaching I +ever +received; great width of view and poetical, almost passionate, power +of +presentment. We were reading Froude's History, and I shall never +forget +how it was Brown's words, Brown's voice, not the historian's, that +made +me feel the great democratic function which the monasteries +performed in +England; the view became alive in his mouth." And in another +passage: +"All set forth with such dramatic force and aided by such a splendid +voice, left an indelible impression on my mind."[5] + +<p> +A second experiment, and a much more subtle and difficult one, is to +take the same group of children on another occasion, telling them a +story in pantomime form, giving them first the briefest outline of +the +story. In this case it must be of the simplest construction, until +the +children are able, if you continue the experiment, to look for +something +more subtle. + +<p> +I have never forgotten the marvelous performance of a play given in +London many years ago entirely in pantomime form. The play was +called +"L'Enfant Prodigue," and was presented by a company of French +artists. +It would be almost impossible to exaggerate the strength of that +"silent +appeal" to the public. One was so unaccustomed to reading meaning +and +development of character into gesture and facial expression that it +was +really a revelation to most of those present—certainly to all +Anglo-Saxons. + +<p> +I cannot touch on this subject without admitting the enormous +dramatic +value connected with the cinematograph. Though it can never take +the +place of an actual performance, whether in story form or on the +stage, +it has a real educational value in its possibilities of +representation +which it is difficult to overestimate, and I believe that its +introduction into the school curriculum, under the strictest +supervision, will be of extraordinary benefit. The movement, in its +present chaotic condition, and in the hands of commercial +management, is +more likely to stifle than to awaken or stimulate the imagination, +but +the educational world is fully alive to the danger, and I am +convinced +that in the future of the movement good will predominate. + +<p> +The real value of the cinematograph in connection with stories is +that +it provides the background that is wanting to the inner vision of +the +average child, and does not prevent its imagination from filling in +the +details later. For instance, it would be quite impossible for the +average child to get an idea from mere word-painting of the +atmosphere +of the polar regions as represented lately on the film in connection +with Captain Scott's expedition, but any stories told later on about +these regions would have an infinitely greater interest. + +<p> +There is, however, a real danger in using pictures to illustrate the +story, especially if it be one which contains a direct appeal to the +imagination of the child and one quite distinct from the stories +which +deal with facts, namely, that you force the whole audience of +children +to see the same picture, instead of giving each individual child the +chance of making his own mental picture. That is of far greater +joy, +and of much great educational value, since by this process the child +coöperates with you instead of having all the work done for +him. + +<p> +Queyrat, in his works on "La Logique chez l'Enfant," quotes Madame +Necker de Saussure:[6] "To children and animals actual objects +present +themselves, not the terms of their manifestations. For them +thinking is +seeing over again, it is going through the sensations that the real +object would have produced. Everything which goes on within them is +in +the form of pictures, or rather, inanimate scenes in which life is +partially reproduced. . . . Since the child has, as yet, no capacity +for +abstraction, he finds a stimulating power in words and a suggestive +inspiration which holds him enchanted. They awaken vividly colored +images, pictures far more brilliant than would be called into being +by +the objects themselves." + +<p> +Surely, if this be true, we are taking from children that rare power +of mental visualization by offering to their outward vision an <i> +actual +</i> picture. + +<p> +I was struck with the following note by a critic of the <i> Outlook +</i>, +referring to a Japanese play but which bears quite directly on the +subject in hand. + +<p> +"First, we should be inclined to put insistence upon appeal by <i> +imagination</i>. Nothing is built up by lath and canvas; everything +has +to be created by the poet's speech." + +<p> +He alludes to the decoration of one of the scenes which consists of +three pines, showing what can be conjured up in the mind of the +spectator. + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +Ah, yes. Unfolding now before my eyes<br> +The views I know: the Forest, River, Sea<br> +And Mist—the scenes of Ono now expand. +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +I have often heard objections raised to this theory by teachers +dealing +with children whose knowledge of objects outside their own circle is +so +scanty that words we use without a suspicion that they are +unfamiliar +are really foreign expressions to them. Such words as sea, woods, +fields, mountains, would mean nothing to them, unless some +explanation +were offered. To these objections I have replied that where we are +dealing with objects that can actually be seen with the bodily eyes, +then it is quite legitimate to show pictures before you begin the +story, +so that the distraction between the actual and mental presentation +may +not cause confusion; but, as the foregoing example shows, we should +endeavor to accustom the children to seeing much more than mere +objects +themselves, and in dealing with abstract qualities we must rely +solely +on the power and choice of words and dramatic qualities of +presentation, +and we need not feel anxious if the response is not immediate, nor +even +if it is not quick and eager.[7] + +<p> +7. <i>The danger of obscuring the point of the story with too many +details</i> is not peculiar to teachers, nor is it shown only in the +narrative form. I have often heard really brilliant after-dinner +stories marred by this defect. One remembers the attempt made by +Sancho +Panza to tell a story to Don Quixote. I have always felt a keen +sympathy with the latter in his impatience over the recital. + +<p> +"In a village of Estramadura there was a shepherd—no, I mean a +goatherd—which shepherd or goatherd as my story says, was +called +Lope Ruiz—and this Lope Ruiz was in love with a shepherdess +called +Torralva, who was daughter to a rich herdsman, and this rich +herdsman +——" + +<p> +"If this be thy story, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "thou wilt not +have +done these two days. Tell it concisely, like a man of sense, or +else +say no more." + +<p> +"I tell it in the manner they tell all stories in my country," +answered +Sancho, "and I cannot tell it otherwise, nor ought your Worship to +require me to make new customs." + +<p> +"Tell it as thou wilt, then," said Don Quixote, "since it is the +will of +fate that I should here it, go on." + +<p>Sancho continued: + +<p> +"He looked about him until he espied a fisherman with a boat near +him, +but so small that it could only hold one person and one goat. The +fisherman got into the boat and carried over on goat; he returned +and +carried another; he came back again and carried another. Pray, sir, +keep an account of the goats which the fisherman is carrying over, +for +if you lose count of a single one, the story ends, and it will be +impossible to tell a word more. . . . I go on, then. . . . He +returned +for another goat, and another, and another and another—— +" + +<p> +"<i>Suppose</i> them all carried over," said Don Quixote, "or thou +wilt +not have finished carrying them this twelve months!" + +<p> +"Tell me, how many have passed already?" said Sancho. + +<p>"How should I know?" answered Don Quixote. + +<p> +"See there, now! Did I not tell thee to keep an exact account? +There +is an end of the story. I can go no further." + +<p> +"How can this be?" said Don Quixote. "Is it so essential to the +story +to know the exact number of goats that passed over, that if one +error be +made the story can proceed no further?" + +<p>"Even so," said Sancho Panza. + +<p> +8. <i>The danger of overexplanation</i> is fatal to the artistic +success of any story, but it is even more serious in connection with +stories told from an educational point of view, because it hampers +the +imagination of the listener, and since the development of that +faculty +is one of our chief aims in telling these stories, we must leave +free +play, we must not test the effect, as I have said before, by the +material method of asking questions. My own experience is that the +fewer explanations you offer, provided you have been careful with +the +choice of your material and artistic in the presentation, the more +the +child will supplement by his own thinking power what is necessary +for +the understanding of the story. + +<p> +Queyrat says: "A child has no need of seizing on the exact meaning +of +words; on the contrary, a certain lack of +precision seems to stimulate his imagination only the more +vigorously, +since it gives him a broader liberty and firmer independence."[8] + +<p> +9. <i>The danger of lowering the standard</i> of the story in order +to +appeal to the undeveloped taste of the child is a special one. I am +alluding here only to the story which is presented from the +educational +point of view. There are moments of relaxation in a child's life, +as in +that of an adult, when a lighter taste can be gratified. I allude +now +to the standard of story for school purposes. + +<p> +There is one development of story-telling which seems to have been +very +little considered, either in America or in our own country, namely, +the +telling of stories to <i>old</i> people, and that not only in +institutions or in quiet country villages, but in the heart of the +busy +cities and in the homes of these old people. How often, when the +young +people are able to enjoy outside amusements, the old people, +necessarily +confined to the chimney-corner and many unable to read much for +themselves, might return to the joy of their childhood by hearing +some +of the old stories told them in dramatic form. Here is a delightful +occupation for those of the leisured class who have the gift, and a +much +more effective way of reading aloud. + +<p> +Lady Gregory, in talking to the workhouse folk in Ireland, was moved +by +the strange contrast between the poverty of the tellers and the +splendors of the tale. She says: + +<p> +"The stories they love are of quite visionary things; of swans that +turn +into kings' daughters, and of castles with crowns over the doors, +and of +lovers' flights on the backs of eagles, and music-loving witches, +and +journeys to the other world, and sleeps that last for seven hundred +years." + +<p> +I fear it is only the Celtic imagination that will glory in such +romantic material; but I am sure the men and women of the poorhouse +are +much more interested than we are apt to think in stories outside the +small circle of their lives. + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="chapII">CHAPTER II</a></h4> +<h4 align=center>THE ESSENTIALS OF THE STORY</h4> + +<p> +It would be a truism to suggest that dramatic instinct and dramatic +power of expression are naturally the first essentials for success +in +the art of story-telling, and that, without these, no story-teller +would +go very far; but I maintain that, even with these gifts, no high +standard of performance will be reached without certain other +qualities, +among the first of which I place <i>apparent</i> simplicity, which +is +really the <i>art</i> of <i>concealing</i> the art. + +<p> +I am speaking here of the public story-teller, or of the teacher +with a +group of children, not the spontaneous (and most rare) power of +telling +stories such as Béranger gives us in his poem, "Souvenirs du +Peuple": + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +Mes enfants, dans ce village,<br> +Suivi de rois, il passa;<br> +Voilà bien longtemps de celà!<br> +Je venais d'entrer en ménage,<br> +À pied grimpant le coteau,<br> +Où pour voir je m'étais mise. +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +Il avait petit chapeau et redingote grise.<br> +Il me dit: Bon jour, ma chère.<br> +Il vous a parlé, grand mère?<br> +Il vous a parlé? +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +I am skeptical enough to think that it is not the spontaneity of the +grandmother but the art of Béranger which enhances the effect +of +the story told in the poem. + +<p> +This intimate form of narration, which is delightful in its special +surroundings, would fail to <i>reach</i>, much less <i>hold</i>, a +large +audience, not because of its simplicity, but often because of the +want +of skill in arranging material and of the artistic sense of +selection +which brings the interest to a focus and arranges the side lights. +In +short, the simplicity we need for the ordinary purpose is that which +comes from ease and produces a sense of being able to let ourselves +go, +because we have thought out our effects. It is when we translate +our +instinct into art that the story becomes finished and complete. + +<p> +I find it necessary to emphasize this point because people are apt +to +confuse simplicity of delivery with carelessness of utterance, loose +stringing of sentences of which the only connections seem to be the +ever-recurring use of "and" and "so," and "er . . .," this latter +inarticulate sound having done more to ruin a story and distract the +audience than many more glaring errors of dramatic form. + +<p> +Real simplicity holds the audience because the lack of apparent +effort +in the artist has the most comforting effect upon the listener. It +is +like turning from the whirring machinery of process to the finished +article, which bears no traces of the making except the harmony and +beauty of the whole, which make one realize that the individual +parts +have received all proper attention. What really brings about this +apparent simplicity which insures the success of the story? It has +been +admirably expressed in a passage from Henry James' lecture on +Balzac: + +<p> +"The fault in the artist which amounts most completely to a failure +of +dignity is the absence of <i>saturation with his idea</i>. When +saturation fails, no other real presence avails, as when, on the +other +hand, it operates, no failure of method fatally interferes." + +<p> +I now offer two illustrations of the effect of this saturation, one +to +show that the failure of method does not prevent successful effect, +the +other to show that when it is combined with the necessary secondary +qualities the perfection of the art is reached. + +<p> +In illustration of the first point, I recall an experience in the +north +of England when the head mistress of an elementary school asked me +to +hear a young inexperienced girl tell a story to a group of very +small +children. + +<p> +When she began, I felt somewhat hopeless, because of the complete +failure of method. She seemed to have all the faults most damaging +to +the success of a speaker. Her voice was harsh, her gestures +awkward, +her manner was restless and melodramatic; but, as she went on I soon +began to discount all these faults and, in truth, I soon forgot +about +them, for so absorbed was she in her story, so saturated with her +subject, that she quickly communicated her own interest to her +audience, +and the children were absolutely spellbound. + +<p> +The other illustration is connected with a memorable peep behind the +stage, when the late M. Coquelin had invited me to see him in the +greenroom between the first and second acts of "L'abbé +Constantin," one of the plays given during his last season in +London, +the year before his death. The last time I had met M. Coquelin was +at a +dinner party, where I had been dazzled by the brilliant conversation +of +this great artist in the rôle of a man of the world. But on +this +occasion I met the simple, kindly priest, so absorbed in his +rôle +that he inspired me with the wish to offer a donation for his poor, +and, +on taking leave, to ask for his blessing for myself. While talking +to +him, I had felt puzzled. It was only when I had left him that I +realized what had happened, namely, that he was too thoroughly +saturated +with his subject to be able to drop his rôle during the +interval, +in order to assume the more ordinary one of host and man of the +world. + +<p> +Now, it is this spirit I would wish to inculcate into the would-be +story-tellers. If they would apply themselves in this manner to +their +work, it would bring about a revolution in the art of presentation, +that +is, in the art of teaching. The difficulty of the practical +application +of this theory is the constant plea, on the part of teachers, that +there +is not the time to work for such a standard in an art which is so +apparently simple that the work expended on it would never be +appreciated. + +<p> +My answer to this objection is that, though the counsel of +perfection +would be to devote a great deal of time to the story, so as to +prepare +the atmosphere quite as much as the mere action of the little drama +(just as photographers use time exposure to obtain sky effects, as +well +as the more definite objects in the picture), yet it is not so much +a +question of time as concentration on the subject, which is one of +the +chief factors in the preparation of the story. + +<p> +So many story-tellers are satisfied with cheap results, and most +audiences are not critical enough to encourage a high standard.[9] +The +method of "showing the machinery" has more immediate results, and it +is +easy to become discouraged over the drudgery which is not necessary +to +secure the approbation of the largest number. But, since I am +dealing +with the essentials of really good story-telling, I may be pardoned +for +suggesting the highest standard and the means for reaching it. + +<p> +Therefore, I maintain that capacity for work, and even drudgery, is +among the essentials of story-telling. Personally, I know of +nothing +more interesting than watching the story grow gradually from mere +outline into a dramatic whole. It is the same pleasure, I imagine, +which is felt over the gradual development of a beautiful design on +a +loom. I do not mean machine-made work, which has to be done under +adverse conditions in a certain time and which is similar to +thousands +of other pieces of work; but that work, upon which we can bestow +unlimited time and concentrated thought. + +<p> +The special joy in the slowly-prepared story comes in the exciting +moment when the persons, or even the inanimate objects, become alive +and +move as of themselves. I remember spending two or three +discouraging +weeks with Andersen's story of the "Adventures of a Beetle." I +passed +through times of great depression, because all the little creatures, +beetles, ear-wigs, frogs, etc., behaved in such a conventional way, +instead of displaying the strong individuality which Andersen had +bestowed upon them that I began to despair of presenting a live +company +at all. + +<p> +But one day, the <i>Beetle</i>, so to speak, "took the stage," and +at +once there was life and animation among the minor characters. Then +the +main work was done, and there remained only the comparatively easy +task +of guiding the movement of the little drama, suggesting side issues +and +polishing the details, always keeping a careful eye on the Beetle, +that +he might "gang his ain gait" and preserve to the full his own +individuality. + +<p> +There is a tendency in preparing stories to begin with detail work, +often a gesture or side issue which one has remembered from hearing +a +story told, but if this is done before the contemplative period, +only +scrappy, jerky and ineffective results are obtained, on which one +cannot +count for dramatic effects. This kind of preparation reminds one of +a +young peasant woman who was taken to see a performance of "Wilhelm +Tell," and when questioned as to the plot could only sum it up +saying, +"I know some fruit was shot at."[10] + +<p> +I realize the extreme difficulty teachers have to devote the +necessary +time to perfecting the stories they tell in school, because this is +only +one of the subjects they have to teach in an already over-crowded +curriculum. To them I would offer this practical advice: Do not be +afraid to repeat your stories.[11] If you do not undertake more +than +seven stories a year, chosen with infinite care, and if you repeated +these stories six times during the year of forty-two weeks, you +would be +able to do artistic and, therefore, lasting work; you would also be +able +to avoid the direct moral application, for each time a child hears a +story artistically told, a little more of the meaning underlying the +simple story will come to him without any explanation on your part. +The +habit of doing one's best instead of one's second-best means, in the +long run, that one has no interest except in the preparation of the +best, and the stories, few in number, polished and finished in +style, +will have an effect of which one can scarcely overstate the +importance. + +<p> +In the story of the "Swineherd," Hans Andersen says: + +<p> +"On the grave of the Prince's father there grew a rose-tree. It +only +bloomed once in five years, and only bore one rose. But what a +rose! +Its perfume was so exquisite that whoever smelt it forgot at once +all +his cares and sorrows." + +<p> +Lafcadio Hearn says: + +<p> +"Time weeds out the errors and stupidities of cheap success, and +presents the Truth. It takes, like the aloe, a long time to flower, +but +the blossom is all the more precious when it appears." + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="chapIII">CHAPTER III</a></h4> +<h4 align=center>THE ARTIFICES OF STORY-TELLING</h4> + +<p> +By this term I do not mean anything against the gospel of simplicity +which I am so constantly preaching, but, for want of a better term, +I +use the word "artifice" to express the mechanical devices by which +we +endeavor to attract and hold the attention of the audience. The art +of +telling stories is, in truth, much more difficult than acting a part +on +the stage: First, because the narrator is responsible for the whole +drama and the whole atmosphere which surrounds it. He has to live +the +life of each character and understand the relation which each bears +to +the whole. Secondly, because the stage is a miniature one, gestures +and +movements must all be so adjusted as not to destroy the sense of +proportion. I have often noticed that actors, accustomed to the +more +roomy public stage, are apt to be too broad in their gestures and +movements when they tell a story. The special training for the +story- +teller should consist not only in the training of the voice and in +choice of language, but above all in power of delicate suggestion, +which +cannot always be used on the stage because this is hampered by the +presence of <i>actual things</i>. The story-teller has to present +these +things to the more delicate organism of the "inward eye." + +<p> +So deeply convinced am I of the miniature character of the story- +telling art that I believe one never gets a perfectly artistic +presentation of this kind in a very large hall or before a very +large +audience. + +<p> +I have made experiments along this line, having twice told a story +to an +audience in America[12] exceeding five thousand, but on both +occasions, +though the dramatic reaction upon oneself from the response of so +large +an audience was both gratifying and stimulating, I was forced to +sacrifice the delicacy of the story and to take from its artistic +value +by the necessity of emphasis, in order to be heard by all present. + +<p> +Emphasis is the bane of all story-telling, for it destroys the +delicacy, and the whole performance suggests a struggle in conveying +the +message. The indecision of the victory leaves the audience restless +and +unsatisfied. + +<p>Then, again, as compared with acting on the stage, in telling a +story +one misses the help of effective entrances and exits, the +footlights, +the costume, the facial expression of your fellow-actor which +interprets +so much of what you yourself say without further elaboration on your +part; for, in the story, in case of a dialogue which necessitates +great +subtlety and quickness in facial expression and gesture, one has to +be +both speaker and listener. + +<p> +Now, of what artifices can we make use to take the place of all the +extraneous help offered to actors on the stage? First and foremost, +as +a means of suddenly pulling up the attention of the audience, is the +judicious art of pausing. For those who have not actually had +experience in the matter, this advice will seem trite and +unnecessary, +but those who have even a little experience will realize with me the +extraordinary efficacy of this very simple means. It is really what +Coquelin spoke of as a "high light," where the interest is focused, +as +it were, to a point. + +<p> +I have tried this simple art of <i>pausing</i> with every kind of +audience, and I have rarely know it to fail. It is very difficult +to +offer a concrete example of this, unless one is giving a "live" +representation, but I shall make an attempt, and at least I shall +hope +to make myself understood by those who have heard me tell stories. + +<p> +In Hans Andersen's "Princess and the Pea," the King goes down to +open +the door himself. Now, one may make this point in two ways. One +may +either say: "And then the King went to the door, and at the door +there +stood a real Princess," or, "And then the King went to the door, and +at +the door there stood—(pause)—a real Princess." + +<p> +It is difficult to exaggerate the difference of effect produced by +so +slight a pause.[13] With children it means an unconscious curiosity +which expresses itself in a sudden muscular tension. There is just +time +during that instant's pause to <i>feel</i>, though not to <i> +formulate +</i>, the question: "What is standing at the door?" By this means, +half +your work of holding the attention is accomplished. It is not +necessary +for me to enter into the psychological reason of this, but I +strongly +recommend those who are interested in the question to read the +chapter +in Ribot's work on this subject, "Essai sur L'Imagination Cré +atrice," as well as Mr. Keatinge's work on "Suggestion." + +<p> +I would advise all teachers to revise their stories with a view to +introducing the judicious pause, and to vary its use according to +the +age, the number, and, above all, the mood of the audience. +Experience +alone can insure success in this matter. It has taken me many years +to +realize the importance of this artifice. + +<p> +Among other means for holding the attention of the audience and +helping to bring out the points of the story is the use of gesture. +I +consider, however, that it must be a sparing use, and not of a broad +or +definite character. We shall never improve on the advice given by +Hamlet to the actors on this subject: "See that ye o'erstep not the +modesty of Nature." + +<p> +And yet, perhaps it is not necessary to warn story-tellers against +abuse +of gesture. It is more helpful to encourage them in the use of it, +especially in Anglo-Saxon countries, where we are fearful of +expressing +ourselves in this way, and when we do the gesture often lacks +subtlety. +The Anglo-Saxon, when he does move at all, moves in solid blocks +—a +whole arm, a whole leg, the whole body—but if one watches a +Frenchman or an Italian in conversation, one suddenly realizes how +varied and subtle are the things which can be suggested by the mere +turn +of the wrist or the movement of a finger. The power of the hand has +been so wonderfully summed up in a passage from Quintillian that I +am +justified in offering it to all those who wish to realize what can +be +done by a gesture: + +<p> +"As to the hands, without the aid of which all delivery would be +deficient and weak, it can scarcely be told of what a variety of +motions +they are susceptible, since they almost equal in expression the +power of +language itself. For other parts of the body assist the speaker, +but +these, I may almost say, speak themselves. With our hands we ask, +promise, call persons to us and send them away, threaten, +supplicate, +intimate dislike or fear; with out hands we signify joy, grief, +doubt, +acknowledgement, penitence, and indicate measure, quantity, number +and +time. Have not our hands the power of inciting, of restraining, or +beseeching, of testifying approbation? . . . So that amidst the +great +diversity of tongues pervading all nations and people, the language +of +the hands appears to be a language common to all men."[14] + +<p> +One of the most effective of artifices in telling stories to young +children is the use of mimicry—the imitation of animals' +voices +and sound in general is of never-ending joy to the listeners. +However, +I should wish to introduce a note of grave warning in connection +with +this subject. This special artifice can only be used by such +narrators +as have special aptitude and gifts in this direction. There are +many +people with good imaginative power but who are wholly lacking in the +power of mimicry, and their efforts in this direction, however +painstaking, remain grotesque and therefore ineffective. When +listening +to such performances, of which children are strangely critical, one +is +reminded of the French story in which the amateur animal painter is +showing her picture to an undiscriminating friend: + +<p> +"Ah!" says the friend, "this is surely meant for a lion?" + +<p> +"No," says the artist (?), with some slight show of temper, "it is +my +little lap-dog." + +<p> +Another artifice which is particularly successful with very small +children is to insure their attention by inviting their coö +peration +before one actually begins the story. The following has proved +quite +effective as a short introduction to my stories when I was +addressing +large audiences of children: + +<p> +"Do you know that last night I had a very strange dream, which I am +going to tell you before I begin the stories? I dreamed that I was +walking along the streets of —— [here would follow the +town +in which I happened to be speaking], with a large bundle on my +shoulders, and this bundle was full of stories which I had been +collecting all over the world in different countries; and I was +shouting +at the top of my voice: 'Stories! Stories! Stories! Who will listen +to +my stories?' And the children came flocking round me in my dream, +saying: 'Tell <i>us</i> your stories. <i>We</i> will listen to your +stories.' So I pulled out a story from my big bundle and I began in +a +most excited way, "Once upon a time there lived a King and a Queen +who +had no children, and they——' Here a little boy, <i>very +</i> +much like that little boy I see sitting in the front row, stopped +me, +saying: 'Oh, I know <i>that</i> old story: it's Sleeping Beauty.' + +<p> +"So I pulled out a second story, and began: 'Once upon a time there +was +a little girl who was sent by her mother to visit her grandmother +——' Then a little girl, <i>so</i> much like the one +sitting +at the end of the second row, said: 'Oh! everybody knows that story! +It's——'" + +<p> +Here I would like to make a judicious pause, and then the children +in +the audience would shout in chorus, with joyful superiority: "Little +Red +Riding-Hood!" before I had time to explain that the children in my +dream +had done the same. + +<p> +This method I repeated two or three times, being careful to choose +very +well-known stories. By this time the children were all encouraged +and +stimulated. I usually finished with congratulations on the number +of +stories they knew, expressing a hope that some of those I was going +to +tell that afternoon would be new to them. I have rarely found this +plan +to fail to establish a friendly relation between oneself and the +juvenile audience. It is often a matter of great difficulty, not to +<i> +win</i> the attention of an audience but to <i>keep</i> it, and one +of +the most subtle artifices is to let the audience down (without their +perceiving it) after a dramatic situation, so that the reaction may +prepare them for the interest of the next situation. + +<p> +An excellent instance of this is to be found in Rudyard Kipling's +story +of "The Cat That Walked . . ." where the repetition of words acts as +a +sort of sedative until one realizes the beginning of a fresh +situation. + +<p> +The great point is never to let the audience quite down, that is, in +stories which depend on dramatic situations. It is just a question +of +shade and color in the language. If you are telling a story in +sections, and one spread over two or three occasions, you should +always +stop at an exciting moment. It encourages speculation in the +children's +minds, which increases their interest when the story is taken up +again. + +<p> +Another very necessary quality in the mere artifice of story-telling +is +to watch your audience, so as to be able to know whether its mood is +for +action or reaction, and to alter your story accordingly. The moods +of +reaction are rarer, and you must use them for presenting a different +kind of material. Here is your opportunity for introducing a piece +of +poetic description, given in beautiful language, to which the +children +cannot listen when they are eager for action and dramatic +excitement. + +<p> +Perhaps one of the greatest artifices is to take a quick hold of +your +audience by a striking beginning which will enlist their attention +from +the start. You can then relax somewhat, but you must be careful +also of +the end because that is what remains most vivid to the children. If +you +question them as to which story they like best in a program, you +will +constantly find it to be the last one you have told, which has for +the +moment blurred out the others. + +<p> +Here are a few specimens of beginnings which seldom fail to arrest +the +attention of the child: + +<p> +"There was once a giant ogre, and he lived in a cave by himself." +From +"The Giant and Jack-straws," David Starr Jordan. + +<p> +"There were once twenty-five tin soldiers, who were all brothers, +for +they had been made out of the same old tin spoon." From "The Tin +Soldier," Hans Christian Andersen. + +<p> +"There was once an Emperor who had a horse shod with gold." From +"The +Beetle," Hans Christian Andersen. + +<p> +"There was once a merchant who was so rich that he could have paved +the +whole street with gold, and even then he would have had enough for a +small alley." From the "The Flying Trunk," Hans Christian Andersen. + +<p> +"There was once a shilling which came forth from the mint springing +and shouting, 'Hurrah! Now I am going out into the wide world.'" +From +"The Silver Shilling," Hans Christian Andersen. + +<p> +"In the High and Far Off Times the Elephant, O Best Beloved, had no +trunk." From "The Elephant's Child": "Just So Stories," Rudyard +Kipling. + +<p> +"Not always was the Kangaroo as now we behold him, but a Different +Animal with four short legs." From "Old Man Kangaroo": "Just So +Stories," Rudyard Kipling. + +<p> +"Whichever way I turn," said the weather-cock on a high steeple, "no +one +is satisfied." From "Fire-side Fables," Edwin Barrow. + +<p> +"A set of chessmen, left standing on their board, resolved to alter +the +rules of the game." From the same source. + +<p> +"The Pink Parasol had tender whalebone ribs and a slender stick of +cherry-wood." From "Very Short Stories," Mrs. W. K. Clifford. + +<p> +"There was once a poor little Donkey on Wheels: it had never wagged +its +tail, or tossed its head, or said 'Hee-haw,' or tasted a tender +thistle." From the same source. + +<p> +Now, some of these beginnings are, of course, for very young +children, +but they all have the same advantage, that of plunging <i>in medias +res +</i>, and, therefore, arrest attention at once, contrary to the +stories +which open on a leisurely note of description. + +<p> +In the same way we must be careful about the endings of stories. +They +must impress themselves either in a very dramatic climax to which +the +whole story has worked up, as in the following: + +<p> +"Then he goes out the Wet Wild Woods, or up the Wet Wild Trees, or +on +the Wet Wild Roofs, waving his Wild Tail, and walking by his Wild +Lone." +From "Just So Stories," Rudyard Kipling. + +<p>Or by an anti-climax for effect: + +<p> +"We have all this straight from the alderman's newspaper, but it is +not +to be depended on." From "Jack the Dullard," Hans Christian +Andersen. + +<p> +Or by evading the point: + +<p> +"Whoever does not believe this must buy shares in the Tanner's +yard." +From A Great Grief," Hans Christian Andersen. + +<p> +Or by some striking general comment: + +<p>"He has never caught up with the three days he missed at the +beginning of the world, and he has never learnt how to behave." +From +"How the Camel got his Hump": "Just So Stories," Rudyard Kipling. + +<p> +I have only suggested in this chapter a few of the artifices which I +have found useful in my own experience, but I am sure that many more +might be added. + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="chapIV">CHAPTER IV</a></h4> +<h4 align=center>ELEMENTS TO AVOID IN THE SELECTION OF MATERIAL</h4> + +<p> +I am confronted in this portion of my work with a great difficulty, +because I cannot afford to be as catholic as I could wish (this +rejection or selection of material being primarily intended for +those +story-tellers dealing with normal children); but I do wish from the +outset to distinguish between a story told to an individual child in +the +home circle or by a personal friend, and a story told to a group of +children as part of the school curriculum. And if I seem to +reiterate +this difference, it is because I wish to show very clearly that the +recital of parents and friends may be quite separate in content and +manner from that offered by the teaching world. In the former case, +almost any subject can be treated, because, knowing the individual +temperament of the child, a wise parent or friend knows also what +can be +presented or not presented to the child; but in dealing with a group +of +normal children in school much has to be eliminated that could be +given +fearlessly to the abnormal child; I mean the child who, by +circumstances +or temperament, is developed beyond his years. + +<p> +I shall now mention some of the elements which experience has shown +me +to be unsuitable for class stories. + +<p> +I. <i>Stories dealing with analysis of motive and feeling.</i> +This +warning is specially necessary today, because this is, above all, an +age +of introspection and analysis. We have only to glance at the +principal +novels and plays during the last quarter of a century, more +especially +during the last ten years, to see how this spirit has crept into our +literature and life. + +<p> +Now, this tendency to analyze is obviously more dangerous for +children +than for adults, because, from lack of experience and knowledge of +psychology, the child's analysis is incomplete. It cannot see all +the +causes of the action, nor can it make that philosophical allowance +for +mood which brings the adult to truer conclusions. + +<p> +Therefore, we should discourage the child who shows a tendency to +analyze too closely the motives of its action, and refrain from +presenting to them in our stories any example which might encourage +them +to persist in this course. + +<p> +I remember, on one occasion, when I went to say good night to a +little +girl of my acquaintance, I found her sitting up in bed, very wide- +awake. +Her eyes were shining, her cheeks were flushed, and when I asked her +what had excited her so much, she said: + +<p> +"I <i>know</i> I have done something wrong today, but I cannot quite +remember what it was." + +<p> +I said: "But, Phyllis, if you put your hand, which is really quite +small, in front of your eyes, you could not see the shape of +anything +else, however large it might be. Now, what you have done today +appears +very large because it is so close, but when it is a little further +off, +you will be able to see better and know more about it. So let us +wait +till tomorrow morning." + +<p> +I am happy to say that she took my advice. She was soon fast +asleep, +and the next morning she had forgotten the wrong over which she had +been +unhealthily brooding the night before. + +<p> +2. <i>Stories dealing too much with sarcasm and satire</i>. These +are +weapons which are too sharply polished, and therefore too dangerous, +to +place in the hands of children. For here again, as in the case of +analysis, they can only have a very incomplete conception of the +case. +They do not know the real cause which produces the apparently +ridiculous +appearance, and it is only the abnormally gifted child or grown-up +person who discovers this by instinct. It takes a lifetime to +arrive at +the position described in Sterne's words: "I would not have let +fallen +an unseasonable pleasantry in the venerable presence of misery to be +entitled to all the with which Rabelais has ever scattered." + +<p> +I will hasten to add that I should not wish children to have their +sympathy too much drawn out, of their emotions kindled too much to +pity, +because this would be neither healthy nor helpful to themselves or +others. I only want to protect children from the dangerous critical +attitude induced by the use of satire which sacrifices too much of +the +atmosphere of trust and belief in human beings which ought to be an +essential of childlife. By indulging in satire, the sense of +kindness +in children would become perverted, their sympathy cramped, and they +themselves would be old before their time. We have an excellent +example +of this in Hans Christian Andersen's "Snow Queen." + +<p> +When Kay gets the piece of broken mirror into his eye, he no longer +sees +the world from the normal child's point of view; he can no longer +see +anything but the foibles of those about him, a condition usually +reached +by a course of pessimistic experience. + +<p> +Andersen sums up the unnatural point of view in these words: "When +Kay tried to repeat the Lord's Prayer, he could only remember the +multiplication table." Now, without taking these words in any +literal +sense, we can admit that they represent the development of the head +at +the expense of the heart. + +<p> +An example of this kind of story to avoid is Andersen's "Story of +the +Butterfly." The bitterness of the Anemones, the sentimentality of +the +Violets, the schoolgirlishness of the Snowdrops, the domesticity of +the +Sweetpeas—all this tickles the palate of the adult, but does +not +belong to the place of the normal child. Again, I repeat, that the +unusual child may take all this in and even preserve his kindly +attitude +towards the world, but it is dangerous atmosphere for the ordinary +child. + +<p> +3. <i>Stories of a sentimental character.</i> Strange to say, this +element of sentimentality appeals more to the young teachers than to +the +children themselves. It is difficult to define the difference +between +real sentiment and sentimentality, but the healthy normal boy or +girl +of, let us say, ten or eleven years old, seems to feel it +unconsciously, +though the distinction is not so clear a few years later. + +<p> +Mrs. Elisabeth McCracken contributed an excellent article some years +ago +to the <i>Outlook</i> on the subject of literature for the young, in +which we find a good illustration of this power of discrimination on +the +part of a child. + +<p> +A young teacher was telling her pupils the story of the emotional +lady +who, to put her lover to the test, bade him pick up the glove which +she +had thrown down into the arena between the tiger and the lion. The +lover does her bidding in order to vindicate his character as a +brave +knight. One boy after hearing the story at once states his contempt +for +the knight's acquiescence, which he declares to be unworthy. + +<p> +"But," says the teacher, "you see he really did it to show the lady +how +foolish she was." The answer of the boy sums up what I have been +trying +to show: "There was no sense in <i>his</i> being sillier than <i>she +</i> +was, to show her <i>she</i> was silly." + +<p> +If the boy had stopped there, we might have concluded that he was +lacking in imagination or romance, but his next remark proves what a +balanced and discriminating person he was, for he added: "Now, if <i +> +she</i> had fallen in, and he had leapt after her to rescue her, +that +would have been splendid and of some use." Given the character of +the +lady, we might, as adults, question the last part of the boy's +statement, but this is pure cynicism and fortunately does not enter +into +the child's calculations. + +<p> +In my own personal experience, and I have told this story often in +the +German ballad form to girls of ten and twelve in the high schools in +England, I have never found one girl who sympathized with the lady +or +who failed to appreciate the poetic justice meted out to her in the +end +by the dignified renunciation of the knight. + +<p> +Chesterton defines sentimentality as "a tame, cold, or small and +inadequate manner of speaking about certain matters which demand +very +large and beautiful expression." + +<p>I would strongly urge upon young teachers to revise, by this +definition, some of the stories they have included in their +repertories, +and see whether they would stand the test or not. + +<p> +4. <i>Stories containing strong sensational episodes.</i> The +danger +of this kind of story is all the greater because many children +delight +in it and some crave for it in the abstract, but fear it in the +concrete.[15] + +<p> +An affectionate aunt, on one occasion, anxious to curry favor with a +four-year-old nephew, was taxing her imagination to find a story +suitable for his tender years. She was greatly startled when he +suddenly said, in a most imperative tone: "Tell me the story of a +bear +eating a small boy." This was so remote from her own choice of +subject +that she hesitated at first, but coming to the conclusion that as +the +child had chosen the situation he would feel no terror in the +working up +of its details, she a most thrilling and blood-curdling story, +leading +up to the final catastrophe. But just as she reached the great +dramatic +moment, the child raised his hands in terror and said: "Oh! Auntie, +don't let the bear <i>really</i> eat the boy!" + +<p> +"Don't you know," said an impatient boy who had been listening to a +mild +adventure story considered suitable to his years, "that I don't take +any +interest in the story until the decks are dripping with gore?" Here +we +have no opportunity of deciding whether or not the actual +description +demanded would be more alarming than the listener had realized. + +<p> +Here is a poem of James Stephens, showing a child's taste for +sensational things: + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +A man was sitting underneath a tree<br> +Outside the village, and he asked me<br> +What name was upon this place, and said he<br> +Was never here before. He told a<br> +Lot of stories to me too. His nose was flat.<br> +I asked him how it happened, and he said,<br> +The first mate of the <i>Mary Ann</i> done that<br> +With a marling-spike one day, but he was dead,<br> +And a jolly job too, but he'd have gone a long way to have killed +him. +<br> +A gold ring in one ear, and the other was bit off by a crocodile, +bedad, +<br> +That's what he said: He taught me how to chew.<br> +He was a real nice man. He liked me too. +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +The taste that is fed by the sensational contents of the newspapers +and +the dramatic excitement of street life, and some of the lurid +representations of the cinematograph, is so much stimulated that the +interest in normal stories is difficult to rouse. I will not here +dwell +on the deleterious effects of over-dramatic stimulation, which has +been +known to lead to crime, since I am keener to prevent the telling of +too +many sensational stories than to suggest a cure when the mischief is +done. + +<p> +Kate Douglas Wiggin has said: + +<p> +"Let us be realistic, by all means, but beware, O story-teller, of +being +too realistic. Avoid the shuddering tale of 'the wicked boy who +stoned +the birds,' lest some hearer should be inspired to try the dreadful +experiment and see if it really does kill." + +<p> +I must emphasize the fact, however, that it is only the excess of +this +dramatic element which I deplore. A certain amount of excitement is +necessary, but this question belongs to the positive side of the +subject, and I shall deal with it later on. + +<p> +5. <i>Stories presenting matters quite outside the plane of a +child's +interests, unless they are wrapped in mystery</i>. Experience with +children ought to teach us to avoid stories which contain too much +<i> +allusion</i> to matters of which the hearers are entirely ignorant. +But +judging from the written stories of today, supposed to be for +children, +it is still a matter of difficulty to realize that this form of +allusion +to "foreign" matters, or making a joke, the appreciation of which +depends solely on a special and "inside" knowledge, is always +bewildering and fatal to sustained dramatic interest. + +<p> +It is a matter of intense regret that so very few people have +sufficiently clear remembrance of their own childhood to help them +to +understand the taste and point of view of the <i>normal</i> child. +There is a passage in the "Brownies," by Mrs. Ewing, which +illustrates +the confusion created in the child mind by a facetious allusion in a +dramatic moment which needed a more direct treatment. When the +nursery +toys have all gone astray, one little child exclaims joyfully: + +<p> +"Why, the old Rocking-Horse's nose has turned up in the oven!" + +<p> +"It couldn't," remarks a tiresome, facetious doctor, far more +anxious to +be funny than to sympathized with the child, "it was the purest +Grecian, +modeled from the Elgin marbles." + +<p> +Now, for grownup people this is an excellent joke, but for a child +has +not yet become acquainted with these Grecian masterpieces, the whole +remark is pointless and hampering.[16] + +<p> +6. <i>Stories which appeal to fear or priggishness</i>. This is a +class of story which scarcely counts today and against which the +teacher +does not need a warning, but I wish to make a passing allusion to +these +stories, partly to round off my subject and partly to show that we +have +made some improvement in choice of subject. + +<p> +When I study the evolution of the story from the crude recitals +offered +to our children within the last hundred years, I feel that, though +our +progress may be slow, it is real and sure. One has only to take +some +examples from the Chaps Books of the beginning of last century to +realize the difference of appeal. Everything offered then was +either an +appeal to fear or to priggishness, and one wonders how it is that +our +grandparents and their parents every recovered from the effects of +such +stories as were offered to them. But there is the consoling thought +that no lasting impression was made upon them, such as I believe <i> +may +</i> be possible by the right kind of story. + +<p> +I offer a few examples of the old type of story: + +<p> +Here is an encouraging address offered to children by a certain Mr. +Janeway about the year 1828: + +<p> +"Dare you do anything which your parents forbid you, and neglect to +do +what they command? Dare you to run up and down on the Lord's Day, +or do +you keep in to read your book, and learn what your good parents +command?" + +<p> +Such an address would have almost tempted children to envy the lot +of +orphans, except that the guardians and less close relations might +have +been equally, if not more, severe. + +<p> +From "The Curious Girl," published about 1809: + +<p> +"Oh! papa, I hope you will have no reason to be dissatisfied with +me, +for I love my studies very much, and I am never so happy at my play +as +when I have been assiduous at my lessons all day." + +<p> +"Adolphus: How strange it is, papa, you should believe it possible +for +me to act so like a child, now that I am twelve years old!" + +<p> +Here is a specimen taken from a Chap Book about 1835: + +<p> +Edward refuses hot bread at breakfast. His hostess asks whether he +likes it. + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +<p>"Yes, I am extremely fond of it." + +<p> +"Why did you refuse it?" + +<p> +"Because I know that my papa does not approve of my eating it. Am I +to +disobey a Father and Mother I love so well, and forget my duty, +because +they are a long way off? I would not touch the cake, were I sure +nobody +would see me. I myself should know it, and that would be +sufficient. + +<p> +"Nobly replied!" exclaimed Mrs. C. "Act always thus, and you must +be +happy, for although the whole world should refuse the praise that is +due, you must enjoy the approbation of your conscience, which is +beyond +anything else." +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +Here is a quotation of the same kind from Mrs. Sherwood: + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +Tender-souled little creatures, desolated by a sense of sin, if they +did +but eat a spoonful of cupboard jam without Mamma's express +permission. . +. . Would a modern Lucy, jealous of her sister Emily's doll, break +out +thus easily into tearful apology for her guilt: 'I know it is wicked +in +me to be sorry that Emily is happy, but I feel that I cannot help +it'? +And would a modern mother retort with heartfelt joy: 'My dear child, +I +am glad you have confessed Now I shall tell you why you feel this +wicked +sorrow'?—proceeding to an account of the depravity of human +nature +so unredeemed by comfort for a childish mind of common intelligence +that +one can scarcely imagine the interview ending in anything less +tragic +than a fit of juvenile hysteria. +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +Description of a good boy: + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +A good boy is dutiful to his Father and Mother, obedient to his +master +and loving to his playfellows. He is diligent in learning his book +and +takes a pleasure in improving himself in everything that is worthy +of +praise. He rises early in the morning, makes himself clean and +decent, +and says his prayers. He loves to hear good advice, is thankful to +those who give it and always follows it. He never swears[17] or +calls +names or uses ill words to companions. He is never peevish and +fretful, +always cheerful and good-tempered. +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +7. <i>Stories of exaggerated and coarse fun</i>. In the chapter on +the +positive side of this subject I shall speak more in detail of the +educational value of robust and virile representation of fun and of +sheer nonsense, but as a preparation to these statements, I should +like +to strike a note of warning against the element of exaggerated and +coarse fun being encouraged in our school stories, partly, because +of +the lack of humor in such presentations (a natural product of +stifling +imagination) and partly, because the strain of the abnormal has the +same +effect as the too frequent use of the melodramatic. + +<p> +In an article in <i>Macmillans's Magazine</i>, December, 1869, Miss +Yonge writes: + +<p> +"A taste for buffoonery is much to be discouraged, an exclusive +taste +for extravagance most unwholesome and even perverting. It becomes +destructive of reverence and soon degenerates into coarseness. It +permits nothing poetical or imaginative, nothing sweet or pathetic +to +exist, and there is a certain self-satisfaction and superiority in +making game of what others regard with enthusiasm and sentiment +which +absolutely bars the way against a higher or softer tone." + +<p> +Although these words were written nearly half a century ago, they +are +so specially applicable today that they seem quite "up-to-date." +Indeed, I think they will hold equally good fifty years hence. + +<p> +In spite of a strong taste on the part of children for what is ugly +and +brutal, I am sure that we ought to eliminate this element as far as +possible from the school stories, especially among poor children. +Not +because I think children should be protected from all knowledge of +evil, +but because so much of this knowledge comes into their life outside +school that we can well afford to ignore it during school hours. At +the +same time, however, as I shall show by example when I come to the +positive side, it would be well to show children by story +illustration +the difference between brutal ugliness without anything to redeem it +and +surface ugliness, which may be only a veil over the beauty that lies +underneath. It might be possible, for instance, to show children +the +difference between the real ugliness in the priest's face of the +"Laocoon" group, because of the motive of courage and endurance +behind +the suffering. Many stories in everyday life could be found to +illustrate this. + +<p> +8. <i>Stories of infant piety and death-bed scenes</i>. The +stories +for children forty years ago contained much of this element, and the +following examples will illustrate this point: + +<p> +Notes from poems written by a child between six and eight years of +age, +by name Philip Freeman, afterwards Archdeacon of Exeter:</p> + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +Poor Robin, thou canst fly no more,<br> +Thy joys and sorrows all are o'er.<br> +Through Life's tempestuous storms thou'st trod,<br> +But now art sunk beneath the sod.<br> +Here lost and gone poor Robin lies,<br> +He trembles, lingers, falls and dies.<br> +He's gone, he's gone, forever lost,<br> +No more of him they now can boast.<br> +Poor Robin's dangers all are past,<br> +He struggled to the very last.<br> +Perhaps he spent a happy Life,<br> +Without much struggle and much strife.[18] +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +The prolonged gloom of the main theme is somewhat lightened by the +speculative optimism of the last verse. + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +<p> +Life, transient Life, is but a dream,<br> +Like Sleep which short doth lengthened seem<br> +Till dawn of day, when the bird's lay<br> +Doth charm the soul's first peeping gleam.</p> + +<p> +Then farewell to the parting year,<br> +Another's come to Nature dear.<br> +In every place, thy brightening face<br> +Does welcome winter's snowy drear.</p> + +<p> +Alas! our time is much mis-spent.<br> +Then we must haste and now repent.<br> +We have a book in which to look,<br> +For we on Wisdom should be bent.</p> + +<p> +Should God, the Almighty, King of all,<br> +Before His judgment-seat now call<br> +Us to that place of Joy and Grace<br> +Prepared for us since Adam's fall.</p> +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +I think there is no doubt that we have made considerable progress in +this matter. Not only do we refrain from telling these highly moral +(<I +>sic</i>) stories but we have reached the point of parodying them, +in +sign of ridicule, as, for instance, in such writing as Belloc's +"Cautionary Tales." These would be a trifle too grim for a timid +child, +but excellent fun for adults. + +<p> +It should be our study today to prove to children that the immediate +importance to them is not to think of dying and going to Heaven, but +of +living and—shall we say?—of going to college, which is a +far +better preparation for the life to come than the morbid dwelling +upon +the possibility of an early death. + +<p> +In an article signed "Muriel Harris," I think, from a copy of the <i +> +Tribune</i>, appeared a delightful article on Sunday books, from +which I +quote the following: + +<p> +"All very good little children died young in the storybooks, so that +unusual goodness must have been the source of considerable anxiety +to +affectionate parents. I came across a little old book the other day +called 'Examples for Youth.' On the yellow fly-leaf was written, in +childish, carefully-sloping hand: 'Presented to Mary Palmer Junior, +by +her sister, to be read on Sundays,' and was dated 1828. The +accounts +are taken from a work on "Piety Promoted,' and all of them begin +with +unusual piety in early youth and end with the death-bed of the +little +paragon, and his or her dying words." + +<p> +9. <i>Stories containing a mixture of fairy tale and science</i>. +By +this combination one loses what is essential to each, namely, the +fantastic on the one side, and accuracy on the other. The true +fairy +tale should be unhampered by any compromise of probability even; the +scientific representation should be sufficiently marvelous along its +own +lines to need no supernatural aid. Both appeal to the imagination +in +different ways. + +<p> +As an exception to this kind of mixture, I should quote "The Honey +Bee, +and Other Stories," translated from the Danish of Evald by C. G. +Moore +Smith. There is a certain robustness in these stories dealing with +the +inexorable laws of Nature. Some of them will appear hard to the +child +but they will be of interest to all teachers. + +<p> +Perhaps the worst element in the choice of stories is that which +insists +upon the moral detaching itself and explaining the story. In "Alice +in +Wonderland" the Duchess says, "'And the moral of <i>that</i> is: +Take +care of the sense and the sounds will take care of themselves.' "How +fond she is of finding morals in things," thought Alice to herself." +(This gives the point of view of the child.) + +<p> +The following is a case in point, found in a rare old print in the +British Museum: + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +<p>Jane S. came home with her clothes soiled and hands badly torn. +"Where have you been?" asked her mother. + +<p> +"I fell down the bank near the mill," said Jane, "and I should have +been +drowned, if Mr. M. had not seen me and pulled me out." + +<p> +"Why did you go so near the edge of the brink?" + +<p> +"There was a pretty flower there that I wanted, and I only meant to +take +one step, but I slipped and fell down. + +<p> +<i>Moral:</i> Young people often take but one step in sinful +indulgence +[Poor Jane!], but they fall into soul-destroying sins. They can do +it +by a single act of sin. [The heinous act of picking a flower!] They +do +it; but the act leads to another, and they fall into the gulf of +Perdition, unless God interposes.</p> +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +Now, quite apart from the folly of this story we must condemn it on +moral grounds. Could we imagine a lower standard of a Deity than +that +presented here to the child? + +<p> +Today the teacher would commend Jane for a laudable interest in +botany, +but might add a word of caution about choosing inclined planes in +the +close neighborhood of a body of running water as a hunting ground +for +specimens and a popular, lucid explanation of the inexorable law of +gravity. + +<p> +Here we have an instance of applying a moral when we have finished +our +story, but there are many stories where nothing is left to chance in +this matter and where there is no means for the child to use +ingenuity +or imagination in making out the meaning for himself. + +<p> +Henry Morley has condemned the use of this method as applied to +fairy +stories. He says: "Moralizing in a fairy story is like the snoring +of<I +>Bottom</i> in <i>Titania's</i> lap." + +<p> +But I think this applies to all stories, and most especially to +those by +which we do wish to teach something. + +<p> +John Burroughs says in his article, "Thou Shalt Not Preach":[19] + +<p> +"Didactic fiction can never rank high. Thou shalt not preach or +teach; +thou shalt portray and create, and have ends as universal as nature. +. . +. What Art demands is that the artist's personal convictions and +notions, his likes and dislikes, do not obtrude themselves at all; +that +good and evil stand judged in his work by the logic of events, as +they +do in nature, and not by any special pleading on his part. He does +non +hold a brief for either side; he exemplifies the working of the +creative +energy. . . . The great artist works <i>in</i> and <i>through</i> +and <I +>from</i> moral ideas; his works are indirectly a criticism of life. +He +is moral without having a moral. The moment a moral obtrudes +itself, +that moment he begins to fall from grace as an artist. . . . The +great +distinction of Art is that it aims to see life steadily and to see +it +whole. . . . It affords the one point of view whence the world +appears +harmonious and complete." + +<p> +It would seem, then, from this passage, that it is of <i>moral</i> +importance to put things dramatically.</p> + +<p> +In Froebel's "Mother Play" he demonstrates the educational value of +stories, emphasizing that their highest use consists in their +ability to +enable the child, through <i>suggestion,</i> to form a pure and +noble +idea of what a man may be or do. The sensitiveness of a child's +mind is +offended if the moral is forced upon him, but if he absorbs it +unconsciously, he has received its influence for all time. + +<p> +To me the idea of pointing out the moral of the story has always +seemed +as futile as tying a flower on a stalk instead of letting the flower +grow out of the stalk, as Nature has intended. In the first case, +the +flower, showy and bright for the moment, soon fades away. In the +second +instance, it develops slowly, coming to perfection in fullness of +time +because of the life within. + +<p> +Lastly, the element to avoid is that which rouses emotions which +cannot +be translated into action. + +<p> +Mr. Earl Barnes, to whom all teachers owe a debt of gratitude for +the +inspiration of his educational views, insists strongly on this +point. +The sole effect of such stories is to produce a form of hysteria, +fortunately short-lived, but a waste of force which might be +directed +into a better channel.[20] Such stories are so easy to recognize +that +it would be useless to make a formal list, but I make further +allusion +to them, in dealing with stories from the lives of the saints. + +<p> +These, then, are the main elements to avoid in the selection of +material +suitable for normal children. Much might be added in the way of +detail, +and the special tendency of the day may make it necessary to avoid +one +class of story more than another, but this care belongs to another +generation of teachers and parents. + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="chapV">CHAPTER V</a></h4> +<h4 align=center>ELEMENTS TO SEEK IN CHOICE OF MATERIAL</h4> + +<p> +In his "Choice of Books," Frederic Harrison has said: "The most +useful +help to reading is to know what we shall <i>not</i> read, what we +shall +keep from that small, cleared spot in the overgrown jungle of +information which we can call our ordered patch of fruit-bearing +knowledge." + +<p> +Now, the same statement applies to our stories, and, having busied +myself during the last chapter with "clearing my small spot" by +cutting +away a mass of unfruitful growth, I am no going to suggest what +would be +the best kind of seed to sow in the patch which I have "reclaimed +from +the jungle." + +<p> +Again, I repeat, I have no wish to be dogmatic and in offering +suggestions as to the stories to be told, I am catering only for a +group +of normal school children. My list of subjects does not pretend to +cover the whole ground of children's needs, and just as I exclude +the +abnormal or unusual child from the scope of my warning in subjects +to +avoid, so do I also exclude that child from the limitation in choice +of +subjects to be sought, because you can offer almost any subject to +the +unusual child, especially if you stand in close relation to him and +know +his powers of apprehension. In this matter, age has very little to +say; +it is a question of the stage of development. + +<p> +Experience has taught me that for the group of normal children, +irrespective of age, the first kind of story suitable for them will +contain an appeal to conditions to which the child is accustomed. +The +reason for this is obvious: the child, having limited experience, +can +only be reached by this experience, until his imagination is +awakened +and he is enabled to grasp through this faculty what he has not +actually +passed through. Before this awakening has taken place he enters the +realm of fiction, represented in the story, by comparison with his +personal experience. Every story and every point in the story mean +more +as that experience widens, and the interest varies, of course, with +temperament, quickness of perception, power of visualizing and of +concentration. + +<p> +In "The Marsh King's Daughter," Hans Christian Andersen says: + +<p> +"The storks have a great many stories which they tell their little +ones, +all about the bogs and marshes. They suit them to their age and +capacity. The young ones are quite satisfied with <i>kribble, +krabble, +</i> or some such nonsense, and find it charming; but the elder ones +want something with more meaning." + +<p> +One of the most interesting experiments to be made in connection +with +this subject is to tell the same story at intervals of a year or six +months to an individual child.[21] The different incidents in the +story +which appeal to him (and one must watch it closely, to be sure the +interest is real and not artificially stimulated by any suggestion +on +one's own part) will mark his mental development and the gradual +awakening of his imagination. This experiment is a very delicate +one +and will not be infallible, because children are secretive and the +appreciation is often simulated (unconsciously) or concealed through +shyness or want of articulation. But it is, in spite of this, a +deeply +interesting and helpful experiment. + +<p> +To take a concrete example: Let us suppose the story Andersen's "Tin +Soldier" told to a child of five or six years. At the first +recital, +the point which will interest the child most will be the setting up +of +the tin soldiers on the table, because he can understand this by +means +of his own experience, in his own nursery. It is an appeal to +conditions to which he is accustomed and for which no exercise of +the +imagination is needed, unless we take the effect of memory to be, +according to Queyrat, retrospective imagination. + +<p> +The next incident that appeals is the unfamiliar behavior of the +toys, +but still in familiar surroundings; that is to say, the <i>unusual +</i> +activities are carried on in the safe precincts of the nursery +—the +<i>usual</i> atmosphere of the child. + +<p> +I quote from the text: + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +Late in the evening the other soldiers were put in their box, and +the +people of the house went to bed. Now was the time for the toys to +play; +they amused themselves with paying visits, fighting battles and +giving +balls. The tin soldiers rustled about in their box, for they wanted +to +join the games, but they could not get the lid off. The nut- +crackers +turned somersaults, and the pencil scribbled nonsense on the slate. +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +Now, from this point onwards in the story, the events will be quite +outside the personal experience of the child and there will have to +be a +real stretch of imagination to appreciate the thrilling and blood- +curdling adventures of the tin soldier, namely, the terrible sailing +down the gutter under the bridge, the meeting with the fierce rat +who +demands the soldier's passport, the horrible sensation in the fish's +body, etc. Last of all, perhaps, will come the appreciation of the +best +qualities of the hero: his modesty, his dignity, his reticence, his +courage and his constancy. He seems to combine all the qualities of +the +best soldier with those of the best civilian, without the more +obvious +qualities which generally attract first. As for the love story, we +must +<i>expect</i> any child to see its tenderness and beauty, though the +individual child may intuitively appreciate these qualities, but it +is +not what we wish for or work for at this period of child life. + +<p> +This method could be applied to various stories. I have chosen the +"Tin +Soldier" because of its dramatic qualities and because it is marked +off, +probably quite unconsciously on the part of Andersen, into periods +which +correspond to the child's development. + +<p> +In Eugene Field's exquisite little poem of "The Dinkey Bird," we +find +the objects familiar to the child in <i>unusual</i> places, so that +some +imagination is needed to realize that "big red sugar-plums are +clinging +to the cliffs beside the sea"; but the introduction of the fantastic +bird and the soothing sound of amfalula tree are new and delightful +sensations, quite out of the child's personal experience. + +<p> +Another such instance is to be found in Mrs. W. K. Clifford's story +of +"Master Willie." The abnormal behavior of familiar objects, such as +a +doll, leads from the ordinary routine to the paths of adventure. +This +story is to be found in a little book called "Very Short Stories," a +most interesting collection for teachers and children. + +<p> +We now come to the second element we should seek in material, +namely, +the element of the unusual, which we have already anticipated in the +story of the "Tin Soldier." + +<p> +This element is necessary in response to the demand of the child who +expressed the needs of his fellow-playmates when he said: "I want to +go +to the place where the shadows are real." This is the true +definition +of "faerie" lands and is the first sign of real mental development +in +the child when he is no longer content with the stories of his own +little deeds and experiences, when his ear begins to appreciate +sounds +different from the words in his own everyday language, and when he +begins to separate his own personality from the action of the story. + +<p> +George Goschen says: + +<p> +"What I want for the young are books and stories which do not simply +deal with our daily life. I like the fancy even of little children +to +have some larger food than images of their own little lives, and I +confess I am sorry for the children whose imaginations are not +sometimes +stimulated by beautiful fairy tales which carry them to worlds +different +from those in which their future will be passed. . . . I hold that +what +removes them more or less from their daily life is better than what +reminds them of it at every step."[22] + +<p> +It is because of the great value of leading children to something +beyond +the limited circle of their own lives that I deplore the twaddling +boarding-school stories written for girls and the artificially +prepared +public school stories for boys. Why not give them the dramatic +interest +of a larger stage? No account of a cricket match or a football +triumph +could present a finer appeal to boys and girls than the description +of +the Peacestead in the "Heroes of Asgaard": + +<p> +"This was the playground of the Æsir, where they practiced +trials +of skill one with another and held tournaments and sham fights. +These +last were always conducted in the gentlest and most honorable +manner; +for the strongest law of the Peacestead was that no angry blow +should be +struck or spiteful word spoken upon the sacred field." + +<p> +For my part, I would unhesitatingly give to boys and girls an +element of +strong romance in the stories which are told them even before they +are +twelve. + +<p> +Miss Sewell says: + +<p> +"The system that keeps girls in the schoolroom reading simple +stories, +without reading Scott and Shakespeare and Spenser, and then hands +them +over to the unexplored recesses of the Circulating Library, has been +shown to be the most frivolizing that can be devised." She sets +forth +as the result of her experience that a good novel, especially a +romantic +one, read at twelve or fourteen, is really a beneficial thing. + +<p> +At present, so many of the children from the elementary schools get +their first idea of love, if one can give it such a name from vulgar +pictures displayed in the shop windows or jokes on marriage, culled +from +the lowest type of paper, or the proceedings of a divorce court. + +<p> +What an antidote to such representation might be found in the +stories of +Hector and Andromache, Siegfried and Brünnehilde, Dido and +Æ +neas, Orpheus and Eurydice, St. Francis and St. Clare! + +<p> +One of the strongest elements we should introduce into our stories +for +children of all ages is that which calls forth love of beauty. And +the +beauty should stand out, not only in the delineation of noble +qualities +in our heroes and heroines, but in the beauty and strength of +language +and form. + +<p> +In this latter respect, the Bible stories are of such inestimable +value; +all the greater because a child is familiar with the subject and the +stories gain fresh significance from the spoken or winged word as +compared with the mere reading. As to whether we should keep to the +actual text is a matter of individual experience. Professor R. G. +Moulton, whose interpretations of the Bible stories are so well +known +both in England and America, does not always confine himself to the +actual text, but draws the dramatic elements together, rejecting +what +seems to him to break the narrative, but introducing the actual +language +where it is the most effective. Those who have heard him will +realize +the success of his method. + +<p> +There is one Bible story which can be told with scarcely any +deviation +from the text, if only a few hints are given beforehand, and that is +the +story of Nebuchadnezzar and the Golden Image. Thus, I think it +wise, if +the children are to succeed in partially visualizing the story, that +they should have some idea of the dimensions of the Golden Image as +it +would stand out in a vast plain. It might be well to compare those +dimension with some building with which the child is familiar. In +London, the matter is easy as the height will compare, roughly +speaking, +with Westminster Abbey. The only change in text I should adopt is +to +avoid the constant enumeration of the list of rulers and the musical +instruments. In doing this, I am aware that I am sacrificing +something +of beauty in the rhythm, but, on the other hand, for narrative +purpose +the interest is not broken. The first time the announcement is +made, +that is, by the Herald, it should be in a perfectly loud, clear and +toneless voice, such as you would naturally use when shouting +through a +trumpet to a vast concourse of people scattered over a wide plain, +reserving all the dramatic tone of voice for the passage where +Nebuchadnezzar is making the announcement to the three men by +themselves. I can remember Professor Moulton saying that all the +dramatic interest of the story is summed up in the words "But if not +. . +." This suggestion is a very helpful one, for it enables us to work +up +gradually to this point, and then, as it were, <i>unwind,</i> until +we +reach the words of Nebuchadnezzar's dramatic recantation. + +<p> +In this connection, it is a good plan occasionally during the story +hour +to introduce really good poetry, which delivered in a dramatic +manner +(far removed, of course, from the melodramatic), might give children +their first love of beautiful form in verse. And I do not think it +necessary to wait for this. Even the normal child of seven, though +there is nothing arbitrary in the suggestion of this age, will +appreciate the effect, if only on the ear, of beautiful lines well +spoken. Mahomet has said, in his teaching advice: "Teach your +children +poetry: it opens the mind, lends grace to wisdom and makes heroic +virtues hereditary." + +<p> +To begin with the youngest children of all, here is a poem which +contains a thread of story, just enough to give a human interest:</p +> + +<P align=center>MILKING-TIME</p> + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +When the cows come home, the milk is coming;<br> +Honey's made when the bees are humming.<br> +Duck, drake on the rushy lake,<br> +And the deer live safe in the breezy brake,<br> +And timid, funny, pert little bunny<br> +Winks his nose, and sits all sunny.—CHRISTINA ROSSETTI. +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +Now, in comparing this poem with some of the doggerel verse offered +to +small children, one is struck with the literary superiority in the +choice of words. Here, in spite of the simplicity of the poem, +there is +not the ordinary limited vocabulary, nor the forced rhyme, nor the +application of a moral, by which the artist falls from grace. + +<p> +Again, Eugene Field's "Hushaby Lady," of which the language is most +simple, yet the child is carried away by the beauty of the sound. + +<p> +I remember hearing some poetry repeated by the children in one of +the +elementary schools in Sheffield which made me feel that they had +realized romantic possibilities which would prevent their lives from +ever becoming quite prosaic again, and I wish that this practice +were +more usual. There is little difficulty with the children. I can +remember, in my own experience as a teacher in London, making the +experiment of reading or repeating passages from Milton and +Shakespeare +to children from nine to eleven years of age, and the enthusiastic +way +they responded by learning those passages by heart. I have taken +with +several sets of children such passages from Milton as the "Echo +Song," +"Sabrina," "By the Rushy-fringed Bank," "Back, Shepherds, Back," +from +"Comus"; "May Morning," "Ode to Shakespeare," "Samson," "On His +Blindness," etc. I even ventured on several passage from "Paradise +Lost," and found "Now came still evening on" a particular favorite +with +the children. + +<p> +It seemed even easier to interest them in Shakespeare, and they +learned +quite readily and easily many passages from "As You Like It," "The +Merchant of Venice," "Julius Cæsar," "Richard II," "Henry IV," +and +"Henry V." + +<p> +The method I should recommend in the introduction of both poets +occasionally into the story-hour would be threefold. First, to +choose +passages which appeal for beauty of sound or beauty of mental vision +called up by those sounds; such as "Tell me where is Fancy bred," +"Titania's Lullaby," "How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this +bank." +Secondly, passages for sheer interest of content, such as the Trial +Scene from "The Merchant of Venice," or the Forest Scene in "As You +Like +It." Thirdly, for dramatic and historical interest, such as, "Men +at +some time are masters of their fates," the whole of Mark Antony's +speech, and the scene with Imogen and her foster brothers in the +Forest. + +<p> +It may not be wholly out of place to add here that the children +learned +and repeated these passages themselves, and that I offered them the +same +advice as I do to all story-tellers. I discussed quite openly with +them +the method I considered best, trying to make them see that +simplicity of +delivery was not only the most beautiful but the most effective +means to +use and, by the end of a few months, when they had been allowed to +experiment and express themselves, they began to see that mere +ranting +was not force and that a sense of reserve power is infinitely more +impressive and inspiring than mere external presentation. + +<p> +I encouraged them to criticize each other for the common good, and +sometimes I read a few lines with overemphasis and too much gesture, +which they were at liberty to point out that they might avoid the +same +error. + +<p> +Excellent collections of poems for this purpose of narrative are: +Mrs. P. A. Barnett's series of "Song and Story," published by Adam +Black, and "The Posy Ring," chosen and classified by Kate Douglas +Wiggin +and Nora Archibald Smith, published by Doubleday. For older +children, +"The Call of the Homeland," selected and arranged by Dr. R. P. Scott +and +Katharine T. Wallas, published by Houghton, Mifflin, and "Golden +Numbers," chosen and classified by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora +Archibald Smith, published by Doubleday. + +<p> +I think it is well to have a goodly number of stories illustrating +the +importance of common-sense and resourcefulness. + +<p> +For this reason, I consider the stories treating of the ultimate +success +of the youngest son[23] very admirable for the purpose, because the +youngest child who begins by being considered inferior to the older +ones +triumphs in the end, either from resourcefulness or from common- +sense or +from some higher quality, such as kindness to animals, courage in +overcoming difficulties, etc.[24] + +<p> +Thus, we have the story of Cinderella. The cynic might imagine that +it +was the diminutive size of her foot that insured her success. The +child +does not realize any advantage in this, but, though the matter need +not +be pressed, the story leaves us with the impression that Cinderella +had +been patient and industrious, and forbearing with her sisters. We +know +that she was strictly obedient to her godmother, and in order to be +this +she makes her dramatic exit from the ball which is the beginning of +her +triumph. There are many who might say that these qualities do not +meet +with reward in life and that they end in establishing a habit of +drudgery, but, after all, we must have poetic justice in a fairy +story, +occasionally, at any rate, even if the child is confused by the +apparent +contradiction. + +<p> +Such a story is "Jesper and the Hares." Here, however, it is not at +first resourcefulness that helps the hero, but sheer kindness of +heart, +which prompts him first to help the ants, and then to show civility +to +the old woman, without for a moment expecting any material benefit +from +such actions. At the end, he does win on his own ingenuity and +resourcefulness, and if we regret that his trickery has such +wonderful +results, we must remember the aim was to win the princess for +herself, +and that there was little choice left him. I consider that the end +of +this story is one of the most remarkable I have found in my long +years +of browsing among fairy tales. I should suggest stopping at the +words: +"The Tub is full," as any addition seems to destroy the subtlety of +the +story.[25] + +<p> +Another story of this kind, admirable for children from six years +and +upwards, is, "What the Old Man Does is Always Right." Here, +perhaps, +the entire lack of common-sense on the part of the hero would serve +rather as a warning than a stimulating example, but the conduct of +the +wife in excusing the errors of her foolish husband is a model of +resourcefulness. + +<p> +In the story of "Hereafter-this,"[26] we have just the converse: a +perfectly foolish wife shielded by a most patient and forbearing +husband, whose tolerance and common-sense save the situation. + +<p> +One of the most important elements to seek in our choice of stories +is +that which tends to develop, eventually, a fine sense of humor in a +child. I purposely use the word, "eventually," because I realize, +first, that humor has various stages, and that seldom, if ever, can +one +expect an appreciation of fine humor from a normal child, that is, +from +an elemental mind. It seems as if the rough-and-tumble element were +almost a necessary stage through which children must pass, and which +is +a normal and healthy stage; but up to now we have quite +unnecessarily +extended the period of elephantine fun, and, though we cannot +control +the manner in which children are catered to along this line in their +homes, we can restrict the folly of appealing too strongly or too +long +to this elemental faculty in our schools. Of course, the temptation +is +strong because the appeal is so easy, but there is a tacit +recognition +that horseplay and practical jokes are no longer considered as an +essential part of a child's education. We note this in the changed +attitude in the schools, taken by more advanced educators, towards +bullying, fagging, hazing, etc. As a reaction, then, from more +obvious +fun, there should be a certain number of stories which make appeal +to a +more subtle element, and in the chapter on the questions put to me +by +teachers on various occasions I speak more in detail as to the +educational value of a finer humor in our stories. + +<p> +At some period there ought to be presented in our stories the +superstitions connected with the primitive history of the race, +dealing +with the fairy proper, giants, dwarfs, gnomes, nixies, brownies and +other elemental beings. Andrew Lang says: "Without our savage +ancestors +we should have had no poetry. Conceive the human race born into the +world in its present advanced condition, weighing, analyzing, +examining +everything. Such a race would have been destitute of poetry and +flattened by common-sense. Barbarians did the <i>dreaming</i> of +the +world." + +<p> +But it is a question of much debate among educators as to what +should be +the period of the child's life in which these stories are to be +presented. I, myself, was formerly of the opinion that they +belonged to +the very primitive age of the individual, just as they belong to the +primitive age of the race, but experience in telling stories has +taught +me to compromise. + +<p> +Some people maintain that little children, who take things with +brutal +logic, ought not to be allowed the fairy tale in its more limited +form +of the supernatural; whereas, if presented to older children, this +material can be criticized, catalogued and (alas!) rejected as +worthless, or retained with flippant toleration. + +<p> +While realizing a certain value in this point of view, I am bound to +admit that if we regulate our stories entirely on this basis, we +lose +the real value of the fairy tale element. It is the one element +which +causes little children to <i>wonder,</i> simply because no +scientific +analysis of the story can be presented to them. It is somewhat +heartrending to feel that "Jack and the Bean Stalk" and stories of +that +ilk are to be handed over to the critical youth who will condemn the +quick growth of the tree as being contrary to the order of nature, +and +wonder why <i>Jack</i> was not playing football on the school team +instead of climbing trees in search of imaginary adventures. + +<p> +A wonderful plea for the telling of early superstitions to children +is +to be found in an old Indian allegory called, "The Blazing Mansion." + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +<p> +An old man owned a large rambling Mansion. The pillars were rotten, +the +galleries tumbling down, the thatch dry and combustible, and there +was +only one door. Suddenly, one day, there was a smell of fire: the +old +man rushed out. To his horror he saw that the thatch was aflame, +the +rotten pillars were catching fire one by one, and the rafters were +burning like tinder. But, inside, the children went on amusing +themselves quite happily. The distracted Father said: "I will run +in +and save my children. I will seize them in my strong arms, I will +bear +them harmless through the falling rafters and the blazing beams." +Then +the sad thought came to him that the children were romping and +ignorant. +"If I say the house is on fire, they will not understand me. If I +try +to seize them, they will romp about and try to escape. Alas! not a +moment to be lost!" Suddenly a bright thought flashed across the +old +man's mind. "My children are ignorant," he said; "they love toys +and +glittering playthings. I will promise them playthings of unheard-of +beauty. Then they will listen."</p> + +<p> +So the old man shouted: "Children, come out of the house and see +these +beautiful toys! Chariots with white oxen, all gold and tinsel. See +these exquisite little antelopes. Whoever saw such goats as these? +Children, children come quickly, or they will all be gone!"</p> + +<p> +Forth from the blazing ruin the children came in hot haste. The +word, +"plaything," was almost the only word they could understand.</p> + +<p> +Then the Father, rejoiced that his offspring were freed from peril, +procured for them one of the most beautiful chariots ever seen. The +chariot had a canopy like a pagoda; it had tiny rails and +balustrades +and rows of jingling bells. Milk-white oxen drew the chariot. The +children were astonished when they were placed inside.[27]</p> +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +Perhaps, as a compromise, one might give the gentler superstitions +to +very small children, and leave such a blood-curdling story as +"Bluebeard" to a more robust age. + +<p> +There is one modern method which has always seemed to me much to be +condemned, and that is the habit of changing the end of a story, for +fear of alarming the child. This is quite indefensible. In doing +this +we are tampering with folklore and confusing stages of development. + +<p> +Now, I know that there are individual children that, at a tender +age, +might be alarmed at such a story, for instance, as "Little Red +Riding- +Hood"; in which case, it is better to sacrifice the "wonder stage" +and +present the story later on. + +<p> +I live in dread of finding one day a bowdlerized form of +"Bluebeard," +prepared for a junior standard, in which, to produce a satisfactory +finale, all the wives come to life again, and "live happily ever +after" +with Bluebeard and each other! + +<p> +And from this point it seems an easy transition to the subject of +legends of different kinds. Some of the old country legends in +connection with flowers are very charming for children, and so long +as +we do not tread on the sacred ground of the nature students, we may +indulge in a moderate use of such stories, of which a few will be +found +in the List of Stories, given later. + +<p> +With regard to the introduction of legends connected with saints +into +the school curriculum, my chief plea is the element of the unusual +which +they contain and an appeal to a sense of mysticism and wonder which +is a +wise antidote to the prosaic and commercial tendencies of today. +Though +many of the actions of the saints may be the result of a morbid +strain +of self-sacrifice, at least none of them was engaged in the sole +occupation of becoming rich: their ideals were often lofty and +unselfish; their courage high, and their deeds noble. We must be +careful, in the choice of our legends, to show up the virile +qualities +rather than to dwell on the elements of horror in details of +martyrdom, +or on the too-constantly recurring miracles, lest we should defeat +our +own ends. For the children might think lightly of the dangers to +which +the saints were exposed if they found them too often preserved at +the +last moment from the punishment they were brave enough to undergo. +For +one or another of these reasons, I should avoid the detailed history +of +St. Juliana, St. Vincent, St. Quintin, St. Eustace, St. Winifred, +St. +Theodore, St. James the More, St. Katharine, St. Cuthbert, St. +Alphage, +St. Peter of Milan, St. Quirine and Juliet, St. Alban and others. + +<p> +The danger of telling stories connected with sudden conversions is +that +they are apt to place too much emphasis on the process, rather than +on +the goal to be reached. We should always insist on the splendid +deeds +performed after a real conversion, not the details of the conversion +itself; as, for instance, the beautiful and poetical work done by +St. +Christopher when he realized what work he could do most effectively. + +<p> +On the other hand, there are many stories of the saints dealing with +actions and motives which would appeal to the imagination and are +not +only worthy of imitation, but are not wholly outside the life and +experience even of the child.[28] + +<p> +Having protested against the elephantine joke and the too-frequent +use +of exaggerated fun, I now endeavor to restore the balance by +suggesting +the introduction into the school curriculum of a few purely +grotesque +stories which serve as an antidote to sentimentality or +utilitarianism. +But they must be presented as nonsense, so that the children may use +them for what they are intended as—pure relaxation. Such a +story +is that of "The Wolf and the Kids," which I present in my own +version at +the end of the book. I have had serious objections offered to this +story by several educational people, because of the revenge taken by +the +goat on the wolf, but I am inclined to think that if the story is to +be +taken as anything but sheer nonsense, it is surely sentimental to +extend +our sympathy toward a caller who has devoured six of his hostess' +children. With regard to the wolf being cut open, there is not the +slightest need to accentuate the physical side. Children accept the +deed as they accept the cutting off of a giant's head, because they +do +not associate it with pain, especially if the deed is presented half +humorously. The moment in the story where their sympathy is aroused +is +the swallowing of the kids, because the children do realize the +possibility of being disposed of in the mother's absence. (Needless +to +say, I never point out the moral of the kids' disobedience to the +mother +in opening the door.) I have always noticed a moment of +breathlessness +even in a grown-up audience when the wolf swallows the kids, and +that +the recovery of them "all safe and sound, all huddled together" is +quite +as much appreciated by the adult audience as by the children, and is +worth the tremor caused by the wolf's summary action. + +<p> +I have not always been able to impress upon the teachers the fact +that +this story <i>must</i> be taken lightly. A very earnest young +student +came to me once after the telling of this story and said in an awe- +struck voice: "Do you cor-relate?" Having recovered from the effect +of +this word, which she carefully explained, I said that, as a rule, I +preferred to keep the story quite apart from the other lessons, just +an +undivided whole, because it had effects of its own which were best +brought about by not being connected with other lessons. She +frowned +her disapproval and said: "I am sorry, because I thought I would +take +the Goat for my nature study lesson and then tell your story at the +end." I thought of the terrible struggle in the child's mind +between +his conscientious wish to be accurate and his dramatic enjoyment of +the +abnormal habits of a goat who went out with scissors, needle and +thread; +but I have been most careful since to repudiate any connection with +nature study in this and a few other stories in my ré +pertoire. + +<p> +One might occasionally introduce one of Edward Lear's "Nonsense +Rhymes." +For instance: + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +There was an Old Man of Cape Horn<br> +Who wished he had never been born.<br> +So he sat in a chair<br> +Till he died of despair,<br> +That dolorous Old Man of Cape Horn. +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +Now, except in case of very young children, this could not possibly +be +taken seriously. The least observant normal boy or girl would +recognize +the hollowness of the pessimism that prevents an old man from at +least +an attempt to rise from his chair. + +<p> +The following I have chosen as repeated with intense appreciation +and +much dramatic vigor by a little boy just five years old: + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +There was an old man who said: "Hush!<br> +I perceive a young bird in that bush."<br> +When they said: "Is it small?"<br> +He replied, "Not at all.<br> +It is four times as large as the bush."[29] +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +One of the most desirable of all elements to introduce into our +stories +is that which encourages kinship with animals. With very young +children +this is easy, because during those early years when the mind is not +clogged with knowledge, the sympathetic imagination enables them to +enter into the feeling of animals. Andersen has an illustration of +this point in his "Ice Maiden": + +<p> +"Children who cannot talk yet can understand the language of fowls +and +ducks quite well, and cats and dogs speak to them quite as plainly +as +Father and Mother; but that is only when the children are very +small, +and then even Grandpapa's stick will become a perfect horse to them +that +can neigh and, in their eyes, is furnished with legs and a tail. +With +some children this period ends later than with others, and of such +we +are accustomed to say that they are very backward, and that they +have +remained children for a long time. People are in the habit of +saying +strange things." + +<p> +Felix Adler says: + +<p> +"Perhaps the chief attraction of fairy tales is due to their +representing the child as living in brotherly friendship with nature +and +all creatures. Trees, flowers, animals, wild and tame, even the +stars +are represented as comrades of children. That animals are only +human beings in disguise is an axiom in the fairy tales. Animals +are +humanized, that is, the kinship between animal and human life is +still +keenly felt, and this reminds us of those early animistic +interpretations of nature which subsequently led to doctrines of +metempsychosis."[30] + +<p> +I think that beyond question the finest animal stories are to be +found +in the Indian collections, of which I furnish a list in the last +chapter. + +<p> +With regard to the development of the love of Nature through the +telling +of stories, we are confronted with a great difficulty in the +elementary +schools because so many of the children have never been out of the +towns, have never seen a daisy, a blade of grass and scarcely a +tree, so +that in giving, in the form of a story, a beautiful description of +scenery, you can make no appeal to the retrospective imagination, +and +only the rarely gifted child well be able to make pictures while +listening to a style which is beyond his everyday use. +Nevertheless, +once in a while, when the children are in a quiet mood, not eager +for +action but able to give themselves up to the pure joy of sound, then +it +is possible to give them a beautiful piece of writing in praise of +Nature, such as the following, taken from "The Divine Adventure," by +Fiona Macleod: + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +Then he remembered the ancient wisdom of the Gael and came out of +the +Forest Chapel and went into the woods. He put his lip to the earth, +and +lifted a green leaf to his brow, and held a branch to his ear; and +because he was no longer heavy with the sweet clay of mortality, +though +yet of human clan, he heard that which we do not hear, and saw that +which we do not see, and knew that which we do not know. All the +green +life was his. In that new world he saw the lives of trees, now pale +green, now of woodsmoke blue, now of amethyst; the gray lives of +stone; +breaths of the grass and reed, creatures of the air, delicate and +wild +as fawns, or swift and fierce and terrible tigers of that +undiscovered +wilderness, with birds almost invisible but for their luminous +wings, +and opalescent crests. +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +The value of this particular passage is the mystery pervading the +whole +picture, which forms so beautiful an antidote to the eternal +explaining +of things. I think it of the highest importance for the children to +realize that the best and most beautiful things cannot be expressed +in +everyday language and that they must content themselves with a flash +here and there of the beauty which may come later. One does not +enhance +the beauty of the mountain by pulling to pieces some of the earthy +clogs; one does not increase the impression of a vast ocean by +analyzing +the single drops of water. But at a reverent distance one gets a +clear +impression of the whole, and can afford to leave the details in the +shadow. + +<p> +In presenting such passages (and it must be done very sparingly), +experience has taught me that we should take the children into our +confidence by telling them frankly that nothing exciting is going to +happen, so that they well be free to listen to the mere words. A +very +interesting experiment might occasionally be made by asking the +children +some weeks afterwards to tell you in their own words what pictures +were +made on their minds. This is a very different thing from allowing +the +children to reproduce the passage at once, the danger of which +proceeding I speak of later in detail.[31] + +<p> +We now come to the question as to what proportion of <i>dramatic +excitement</i> we should present in the stories for a normal group +of +children. Personally, I should like, while the child is very young, +I +mean in main, not in years, to exclude the element of dramatic +excitement, but though this may be possible for the individual +child, it +is quite Utopian to hope that we can keep the average child free +from +what is in the atmosphere. Children crave for excitement, and +unless we +give it to them in legitimate form, they will take it in any riotous +form it presents itself, and if from our experience we can control +their +mental digestion by a moderate supply of what they demand, we may +save +them from devouring too eagerly the raw material they can so easily +find +for themselves. + +<p> +There is a humorous passage bearing on this question in the story of +the +small Scotch boy, when he asks leave of his parents to present the +pious +little book—a gift to himself from an aunt to a little sick +friend, hoping probably that the friend's chastened condition will +make +him more lenient towards this mawkish form of literature. The +parents +expostulate, pointing out to their son how ungrateful he is, and how +ungracious it would be to part with his aunt's gift. Then the boy +can +contain himself no longer. He bursts out, unconsciously expressing +the +normal attitude of children at a certain stage of development: + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +"It's a <i>daft</i> book ony way: there's naebody gets kilt ent. I +like +stories about folk gettin' their heids cut off, or there's nae wile +beasts. I I like stories about black men gettin' ate up, an' white +men +killin' lions and tigers an' bears an'——" +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +Then, again, we have the passage from George Eliot's "Mill on the +Floss": + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +<p> +"Oh, dear! I wish they would not fight at your school, Tom. Didn't +it +hurt you?" + +<p> +"Hurt me? No," said Tom, putting up the hooks again, taking out a +large +pocketknife, and slowly opening the largest blade, which he looked +at +meditatively as he rubbed his finger along it. Then he added: + +<p> +"I gave Spooner a black eye—that's what he got for wanting to +leather me. I wasn't going to go halves because anybody leathered +me." + +<p> +"Oh! how brave you are, Tom. I think you are like Samson. If there +came a lion roaring at men, I think you'd fight him, wouldn't you, +Tom?" + +<p> +"How can a lion come roaring at you, you silly thing? There's no +lions +only in the shows." + +<p> +"No, but if we were in the lion countries—I mean in Africa +where +it's very hot, the lions eat people there. I can show it you in the +book where I read it." + +<p> +"Well, I should get a gun and shoot him." + +<p> +"But if you hadn't a gun?—we might have gone out, you know, +not +thinking, just as we go out fishing, and then a great lion might +come +towards us roaring, and we could not get away from him. What should +you +do, Tom?" + +<p> +Tom paused, and at last turned away contemptuously, saying: "But the +lion <i>isn't</i> coming. What's the use of talking?" +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +This passage illustrates also the difference between the highly- +developed imagination of the one and the stodgy prosaical +temperament of +the other. Tom could enter into the elementary question of giving +his +schoolfellow a black eye, but could not possibly enter into the +drama of +the imaginary arrival of a lion. He was sorely in need of fairy +stories. + +<p> +It is to this element we have to cater, and we cannot shirk our +responsibilities. + +<p> +William James says: + +<p> +"Living things, moving things or things that savor of danger or +blood, +that have a dramatic quality, these are the things natively +interesting +to childhood, to the exclusion of almost everything else, and the +teacher of young children, until more artificial interests have +grown +up, will keep in touch with his pupils by constant appeal to such +matters as these."[32] + +<p> +Of course the savor of danger and blood is only <i>one</i> of the +things +to which we should appeal, but I give the whole passage to make the +point clearer. + +<p> +This is one of the most difficult parts of our selection, namely, +how to +present enough excitement for the child and yet include enough +constructive element which will satisfy him when the thirst for +"blugginess" is slaked. + +<p> +And here I should like to say that, while wishing to encourage in +children great admiration and reverence for the courage and other +fine +qualities which have been displayed in times of war and which have +mitigated its horrors, I think we should show that some of the +finest +moments in these heroes' lives had nothing to do with their +profession +as soldiers. Thus, we have the well-known story of Sir Philip +Sydney +and the soldier; the wonderful scene where Roland drags the bodies +of +his dead friends to receive the blessing of the Archbishop after the +battle of Roncesvall;[33] and of Napoleon sending the sailor back to +England. There is a moment in the story of Gunnar when he pauses in +the +midst of the slaughter of his enemies, and says, "I wonder if I am +less +base than others, because I kill men less willingly than they." + +<p> +And in the "Burning of Njal,"[34] we have the words of the boy, +Thord, +when his grandmother, Bergthora, urges him to go out of the burning +house. + +<p> +"'You promised me when I was little, grandmother, that I should +never go +from you till I wished it of myself. And I would rather die with +you +than live after you.'" + +<p> +Here the moral courage is so splendidly shown: none of these heroes +feared to die in battle or in open single fight; but to face death +by +fire for higher considerations is a point of view worth presenting +to +the child. + +<p> +In spite of all the dramatic excitement roused by the conduct of our +soldiers and sailors, should we not try to offer also in our stories +the +romance and excitement of saving as well as taking life? + +<p> +I would have quite a collection dealing with the thrilling +adventures of +the Lifeboat and the Fire Brigade, of which I shall present examples +in +the final story list. + +<p> +Finally, we ought to include a certain number of stories dealing +with +death, especially with children who are of an age to realize that it +must come to all, and that this is not a calamity but a perfectly +natural and simple thing. At present the child in the street +invariably +connects death with sordid accidents. I think they should have +stories +of death coming in heroic form, as when a man or woman dies for a +great +cause, in which he has opportunity of admiring courage, devotion and +unselfishness; or of death coming as a result of treachery, such as +we +find in the death of Baldur, the death of Siegfried, and others, so +that +children may learn to abhor such deeds; but also a fair proportion +of +stories dealing with death that comes naturally, when our work is +done, +and our strength gone, which has no more tragedy than the falling of +a +leaf from the tree. In this way, we can give children the first +idea +that the individual is so much less than the whole. + +<p> +Little children often take death very naturally. A boy of five met +two +of his older companions at the school door. They said sadly and +solemnly: "We have just seen a dead man!" "Well," said the little +philosopher, "that's all right. We've <i>all</i> got to die when +our +work is done." + +<p> +In one of the Buddha stories which I reproduce at the end of this +book, +the little Hare (who is, I think, a symbol of nervous individualism) +constantly says: "Suppose the Earth were to fall in, what would +become +of me?" + +<p> +As an antidote to the ordinary attitude towards death, I commend an +episode from a German folklore story which is called "Unlucky John," +and +which is included in the list of stories recommended at the end of +this +book. + +<p> +The following sums up in poetic form some of the material necessary +for +the wants of a child. + + +<P align=center>THE CHILD</p> +<P align=center>1</p> + +<P align=center> +The little new soul has come to earth,<br> +He has taken his staff for the pilgrim's way.<br> +His sandals are girt on his tender feet,<br> +And he carries his scrip for what gifts he may. + +<P align=center>2</p> +<P align=center> +What will you give to him, Fate Divine?<br> +What for his scrip on the winding road?<br> +A crown for his head, or a laurel wreath?<br> +A sword to wield, or is gold his load? + +<P align=center>3</p> +<P align=center> +What will you give him for weal or woe?<br> +What for the journey through day and night?<br> +Give or withhold from him power and fame,<br> +But give to him love of the earth's delight. + +<P align=center>4</p> +<P align=center> +Let him be lover of wind and sun<br> +And of falling rain; and the friend of trees;<br> +With a singing heart for the pride of noon,<br> +And a tender heart for what twilight sees. + +<P align=center>5</p> +<P align=center> +Let him be lover of you and yours—<br> +The Child and Mary; but also Pan<br> +And the sylvan gods of the woods and hills,<br> +And the god that is hid in his fellowman. + +<P align=center>6</p> +<P align=center> +Love and a song and the joy of the earth,<br> +These be gifts for his scrip to keep<br> +Till, the journey ended, he stands at last<br> +In the gathering dark, at the gate of sleep.</p> +<P align=center><small>ETHEL CLIFFORD</small></p> + +<p> </p> + +<p> +And so our stories should contain all the essentials for the child's +scrip on the road of life, providing the essentials and holding or +withholding the non-essentials. But, above all, let us fill the +scrip +with gifts that the child need never reject, even when he passes +through +to "the gate of sleep."</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="chapVI">CHAPTER VI</a></h4> +<h4 align=center> +HOW TO OBTAIN AND MAINTAIN<br> +THE EFFECT OF THE STORY</h4> + +<p> +We are now come to the most important part of the question of story- +telling, to which all the foregoing remarks have been gradually +leading, +and that is the effect of these stories upon the child, quite apart +from +the dramatic joy he experiences in listening to them, which would in +itself be quite enough to justify us in the telling. But, since I +have +urged the extreme importance of giving so much time to the manner of +telling and of bestowing so much care in the selection of the +material, +it is right that we should expect some permanent results or else +those +who are not satisfied with the mere enjoyment of the children will +seek +other methods of appeal—and it is to them that I most +specially +dedicate this chapter. + +<p> +I think we are of the threshold of the re-discovery of an old truth, +that <i>dramatic presentation</i> is the quickest and the surest +method +of appeal, because it is the only one with which memory plays no +tricks. +If a thing has appeared before us in a vital form nothing can really +destroy it; it is because things are often given in a blurred, faint +light that they gradually fade out of our memory. A very keen +scientist +was deploring to me, on one occasion, the fact that stories were +told so +much in the schools, to the detriment of science, for which he +claimed +the same indestructible element that I recognize in the best-told +stories. Being very much interested in her point of view, I asked +her +to tell me, looking back on her school days, what she could remember +as +standing out from other less clear information. After thinking some +little time over the matter, she said with some embarrassment, but +with +candor that did her much honor: + +<p> +"Well, now I come to think of it, it was the story of Cinderella." + +<p> +Now, I am not holding any brief for this story in particular. I +think +the reason it was remembered was because of the dramatic form in +which +it was presented to her, which fired her imagination and kept the +memory +alight. I quite realize that a scientific fact might also have been +easily remembered if it had been presented in the form of a +successful +chemical experiment; but this also has something of the dramatic +appeal +and will be remembered on that account. + +<p> +Sully says: "We cannot understand the fascination of a story for +children save in remembering that for their young minds, quick to +imagine, and unversed in abstract reflection, words are not dead +things +but <i>winged,</i> as the old Greeks called them."[35] + +<p> +The <i>Red Queen,</i> in "Alice Through the Looking-Glass," was more +psychological than she was aware of when she made the memorable +statement: "When once you've <i>said</i> a thing, that <i>fixes</i> +it, +and you must take the consequences." + +<p> +In Curtin's "Introduction to Myths and Folk Tales of the Russians, +he +says: + +<p> +"I remember well the feeling roused in my mind at the mention or +sight +of the name <i>Lucifer</i> during the early years of my life. It +stood +for me as the name of a being stupendous, dreadful in moral +deformity, +lurid, hideous and mighty. I remember the surprise with which, when +I +had grown somewhat older and began to study Latin, I came upon the +name +in Virgil where it means <i>light-bringer</i>—the herald of +the +Sun." + +<p> +Plato has said that "the end of education should be the training by +suitable habits of the instincts of virtue in the child." + +<p> +About two thousand years later, Sir Philip Sydney, in his "Defence +of +Poesy," says: "The final end of learning is to draw and lead us to +so +high a perfection as our degenerate souls, made worse by their clay +lodgings, can be capable of." + +<p> +And yet it is neither the Greek philosopher nor the Elizabethan poet +that makes the everyday application of these principles; but we have +a +hint of this application from the Pueblo tribe of Indians, of whom +Lummis tells us the following: + +<p> +"There is no duty to which a Pueblo child is trained in which he has +to +be content with a bare command: do this. For each, he learns a +fairy- +tale designed to explain how children first came to know that it was +right to 'do this,' and detailing the sad results that befall those +who +did otherwise. Some tribes have regular story-tellers, men who have +devoted a great deal of time to learning the myths and stories of +their +people and who possess, in addition to good memory, a vivid +imagination. +The mother sends for one of these, and having prepared a feast for +him, +she and her little brood, who are curled up near her, await the +fairy +stories of the dreamer who after his feast and smoke entertains the +company for hours." + +<p> +In modern times, the nurse, who is now receiving such complete +training +for her duties with children, should be ready to imitate the +"dreamer" +of the Indian tribe. I rejoice to find that regular instruction in +story-telling is being given in many of the institutions where the +nurses are trained. + +<p> +Some years ago there appeared a book by Dion Calthrop called "King +Peter," which illustrates very fully the effect of story-telling. +It is +the account of the education of a young prince which is carried on +at +first by means of stories, and later he is taken out into the arena +of +life to show what is happening there—the dramatic appeal being +always the means used to awaken his imagination. The fact that only +<i> +one</i> story a year is told him prevents our seeing the effect from +day +to day, but the time matters little. We only need faith to believe +that +the growth, though slow, was sure. + +<p> +There is something of the same idea in the "Adventures of +Telemachus," +written by Fénélon for his royal pupil, the young Duke +of +Burgundy, but whereas Calthrop trusts to the results of indirect +teaching by means of dramatic stories, Fénélon, on the +contrary, makes use of the somewhat heavy, didactic method, so that +one +would think the attention of the young prince must have wandered at +times; and I imagine Telemachus was in the same condition when he +was +addressed at such length by Mentor, who, being Minerva, though in +disguise, should occasionally have displayed that sense of humor +which +must always temper true wisdom. + +<p> +Take, for instance the heavy reproof conveyed in the following +passage: + +<p> +"Death and shipwreck are less dreadful than the pleasures that +attack +Virtue. . . . Youth is full of presumption and arrogance, though +nothing +in the world is so frail: it fears nothing, and vainly relies utmost +levity and without any precaution." + + +<p> +And on another occasion, when Calypso hospitably provides clothes +for +the shipwrecked men, and Telemachus is handling a tunic of the +finest +wool and white as snow, with a vest of purple embroidered with gold, +and +displaying much pleasure in the magnificence of the clothes, Mentor +addresses him in a severe voice, saying: "Are these, O Telemachus, +the +thoughts that ought to occupy the heart of the son of Ulysses? A +young +man who loves to dress vainly, as a woman does, is unworthy of +wisdom or +glory." + +<p> +I remember, as a school girl of thirteen, having to commit to memory +several books of these adventures, so as to become familiar with the +style. Far from being impressed by the wisdom of Mentor, I was +simply +bored, and wondered why Telemachus did not escape from him. The +only +part in the book that really interested me was Calypso's unrequited +love +for Telemachus, but this was always the point where we ceased to +learn +by heart, which surprised me greatly, for it was here that the real +human interest seemed to begin. + +<p> +Of all the effects which I hope for from the telling of stories in +the +schools, I, personally, place first the dramatic joy we bring to the +children and to ourselves. But there are many who would consider +this +result as fantastic, if not frivolous, and not to be classed among +the +educational values connected with the introduction of stories into +the +school curriculum. I, therefore, propose to speak of other effects +of +story-telling which may seem of more practical value. + +<p> +The first, which is of a purely negative character, is that through +means of a dramatic story we may counteract some of the sights and +sounds of the street which appeal to the melodramatic instinct in +children. I am sure that all teachers whose work lies in crowded +cities +must have realized the effect produced on children by what they see +and +hear on their way to and from school. If we merely consider the +bill +boards with their realistic representations, quite apart from the +actual +dramatic happenings in the street, we at once perceive that the +ordinary +school interests pale before such lurid appeals as these. How can +we +expect the child who has stood openmouthed before a poster +representing +a woman chloroformed by a burglar (while that hero escapes in safety +with jewels) to display any interest in the arid monotony of the +multiplication table? The illegitimate excitement created by the +sight +of the depraved burglar can only be counteracted by something +equally +exciting along the realistic but legitimate side of appeal; and this +is +where the story of the right kind becomes so valuable, and why the +teacher who is artistic enough to undertake the task can find the +short +path to results which theorists seek for so long in vain. It is not +even necessary to have an exceedingly exciting story; sometimes one +which will bring about pure reaction may be just as suitable. + +<p> +I remember in my personal experience an instance of this kind. I +had +been reading with some children of about ten years old the story +from +"Cymbeline" of <i>Imogen</i> in the forest scene, when the brothers +strew flowers upon her, and sing the funeral dirge, + +<P align=center>Fear no more the heat of the sun.</p> + +<p> +Just as we had all taken on this tender, gentle mood, the door +opened +and one of the prefects announced in a loud voice the news of the +relief +of Mafeking. The children were on their feet at once, cheering +lustily, +and for the moment the joy over the relief of the brave garrison was +the +predominant feeling. Then, I took advantage of a momentary reaction +and +said: "Now, children, don't you think we can pay England the tribute +of +going back to England's greatest poet?" In a few minutes we were +back +in the heart of the forest, and I can still hear the delightful +intonation of those subdued voices repeating, + +<p align=center> +Golden lads and girls all must<br> +Like chimney-sweepers come to dust.</p> + +<p> +It is interesting to note that the same problem that is exercising +us +today was a source of difficulty to people in remote times. The +following is taken from an old Chinese document, and has particular +interest for us at this time: + +<p> +"The philosopher, Mentius (born 371 B. C.), was left fatherless at a +very tender age and brought up by his mother, Changsi. The care of +this +prudent and attentive mother has been cited as a model for all +virtuous +parents. The house she occupied was near that of a butcher; she +observed at the first cry of the animals that were being +slaughtered, +the little Mentius ran to be present at the sight, and that, on his +return, he sought to imitate what he had seen. Fearful lest his +heart +might become hardened, and accustomed to the sights of blood, she +removed to another house which was in the neighborhood of a +cemetery. +The relations of those who were buried there came often to weep upon +their graves, and make their customary libations. The lad soon took +pleasure in their ceremonies and amused himself by imitating them. +This +was a new subject of uneasiness to his mother: she feared her son +might +come to consider as a jest what is of all things the most serious, +and +that he might acquire a habit of performing with levity, and as a +matter +of routine merely, ceremonies which demand the most exact attention +and +respect. Again, therefore, she anxiously changed the dwelling, and +went +to live in the city, opposite a school, where her son found examples +the +most worthy of imitation, and began to profit by them. This +anecdote +has become incorporated by the Chinese into a proverb, which they +constantly quote: The mother of Mentius seeks a neighborhood." + +<p> +Another influence we have to counteract is that of newspaper +headings +and placards which catch the eye of children in the streets and +appeal +so powerfully to their imagination. + +<p>Shakespeare has said: + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +Tell me where is Fancy bred,<br> +Or in the heart, or in the head?<br> +How begot, how nourished?<br> +It is engendered in the eyes<br> +With gazing fed,<br> +And Fancy dies in the cradle where it lies.<br> +Let us all ring Fancy's knell.<br> +I'll begin it—ding, dong, bell.<br> +—"Merchant of Venice." +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> +If this be true, it is of importance to decide what our children +shall +look upon as far as we can control the vision, so that we can form +some +idea of the effect upon their imagination. + +<p> +Having alluded to the dangerous influence of the street, I should +hasten +to say that this influence is very far from being altogether bad. +There +are possibilities of romance in street life which may have just the +same +kind of effect on children as the telling of exciting stories. I am +indebted to Mrs. Arnold Glover, Honorary Secretary of the National +Organization of Girls' Clubs,[36] one of the most widely informed +people +on this subject, for the two following experiences gathered from the +streets and which bear indirectly on the subject of story-telling: + +<p> +Mrs. Glover was visiting a sick woman in a very poor neighborhood, +and +found, sitting on the door-step of the house, two little children, +holding something tightly grasped in their little hands, and gazing +with +much expectancy towards the top of the street. She longed to know +what +they were doing, but not being one of those unimaginative and +tactless +folk who rush headlong into the mysteries of children's doings, she +passed them at first in silence. It was only when she found them +still +in the same silent and expectant posture half an hour later that she +said tentatively: "I wonder whether you would tell me what you are +doing +here?" After some hesitation, one of them said, in a shy voice: +"We're +waitin' for the barrer." It then transpired that, once a week, a +vegetable-and-flower-cart was driven through this particular street, +on +its way to a more prosperous neighborhood, and on a few red-letter +days, +a flower, or a sprig, or even a root sometimes fell out of the back +of +the cart; and these two little children were sitting there in hope, +with +their hands full of soil, ready to plant anything which might by +some +golden chance fall that way, in their secret garden of oyster +shells. + +<p> +This seems to me as charming a fairy tale as any that our books can +supply. + +<p> +On another occasion, Mrs. Glover was collecting the pennies for the +Holiday Fund Savings Bank from the children who came weekly to her +house. She noticed on three consecutive Mondays that one little lad +deliberately helped himself to a new envelope from her table. Not +wishing to frighten or startle him, she allowed this to continue for +some weeks, and then one day, having dismissed the other children, +she +asked him quite quietly why he was taking the envelopes. At first +he +was very sulky, and said: "I need them more than you do." She quite +agreed this might be, but reminded him that, after all, they +belonged to +her. She promised, however, that if he would tell her for what +purpose +he wanted the envelopes, she would endeavor to help him in the +matter. +Then came the astonishing announcement: "I am building a navy." +After a +little more gradual questioning, Mrs. Glover drew from the boy the +information that the Borough water carts passed through the side +street +once a week, flushing the gutter; that then the envelope ships were +made +to sail on the water and pass under the covered ways which formed +bridges for wayfarers and tunnels for the "navy." Great was the +excitement when the ships passed out of sight and were recognized as +they arrived safely at the other end. Of course, the expenses in +raw +material were greatly diminished by the illicit acquisition of Mrs. +Glover's property, and in this way she had unconsciously provided +the +neighborhood with a navy and a commander. Her first instinct, after +becoming acquainted with the whole story, was to present the boy +with a +real boat, but on second thought she collected and gave him a number +of +old envelopes with names and addresses upon them, which added +greatly to +the excitement of the sailing, because they could be more easily +identified as they came out of the other end of the tunnel, and had +their respective reputations as to speed. + +<p> +Here is indeed food for romance, and I give both instances to prove +that +the advantages of street life are to be taken into consideration as +well +as the disadvantages, though I think we are bound to admit that the +latter outweigh the former. + +<p> +One of the immediate results of dramatic stories is the escape from +the +commonplace, to which I have already alluded in quoting Mr. +Goschen's +words. The desire for this escape is a healthy one, common to +adults +and children. When we wish to get away from our own surroundings +and +interests, we do for ourselves what I maintain we ought to do for +children: we step into the land of fiction. It has always been a +source +of astonishment to me that, in trying to escape from our own +everyday +surroundings, we do not step more boldly into the land of pure +romance, +which would form a real contrast to our everyday life, but, in nine +cases out of ten, the fiction which is sought after deals with the +subjects of our ordinary existence, namely, frenzied finance, sordid +poverty, political corruption, fast society, and religious doubts. + +<p> +There is the same danger in the selection of fiction for children: +namely, a tendency to choose very utilitarian stories, both in form +and +substance, so that we do not lift the children out of the +commonplace. +I remember once seeing the titles of two little books, the contents +of +which were being read or told to children; one was called, "Tom the +Bootblack"; the other, "Dan the Newsboy." My chief objection to +these +stories was the fact that neither of the heroes rejoiced in his work +for +the work's sake. Had <i>Tom</i> even invented a new kind of +blacking, +or if <i>Dan</i> had started a newspaper, it might have been +encouraging +for those among the listeners who were thinking of engaging in +similar +professions. It is true, both gentlemen amassed large fortunes, but +surely the school age is not to be limited to such dreams and +aspirations as these! One wearies of the tales of boys who arrive +in a +town with one cent in their pocket and leave it as millionaires, +with +the added importance of a mayoralty. It is undoubtedly true that +the +romantic prototype of these worthy youths is <i>Dick Whittingon,</i> +for +whom we unconsciously cherish the affection which we often bestow on +a +far-off personage. Perhaps—who can say?—it is the +picturesque adjunct of the cat, lacking to modern millionaires. + +<p> +I do not think it Utopian to present to children a fair share of +stories +which deal with the importance of things "untouched by hand." They, +too, can learn at an early age that "the things which are seen are +temporal, but the things which are unseen are spiritual." To those +who +wish to try the effect of such stories on children, I present for +their +encouragement the following lines from James Whitcomb Riley: + +<p align=center> +THE TREASURE OF THE WISE MAN[37]</p> +<p align=center> +Oh, the night was dark and the night was late,<br> +When the robbers came to rob him;<br> +And they picked the lock of his palace-gate,<br> +The robbers who came to rob him—<br> +They picked the lock of the palace-gate,<br> +Seized his jewels and gems of State,<br> +His coffers of gold and his priceless plate,—<br> +The robbers that came to rob him.</p> + +<p align=center> +But loud laughed he in the morning red!—<br> +For of what had the robbers robbed him?<br> +Ho! hidden safe, as he slept in bed,<br> +When the robbers came to rob him,—<br> +They robbed him not of a golden shred<br> +Of the childish dreams in his wise old head—<br> +"And they're welcome to all things else," he said,<br> +When the robbers came to rob him. + +<p> +There is a great deal of this romantic spirit, combined with a +delightful sense of irresponsibility, which I claim above all things +for +small children, to be found in our old nursery rhymes. I quote from +the +following article written by the Rev. R. L. Gales for the <i> +Nation</i>. + +<p> +After speaking on the subject of fairy stories being eliminated from +the +school curriculum, the writer adds: + +<p> +"This would be lessening the joy of the world and taking from +generations yet unborn the capacity for wonder, the power to take a +large unselfish interest in the spectacle of things, and putting +them +forever at the mercy of small private cares. + +<p> +"A nursery rhyme is the most sane, the most unselfish thing in the +world. It calls up some delightful image—a little nut-tree +with a +silver walnut and a golden pear; some romantic adventure only for +the +child's delight and liberation from the bondage of unseeing +dullness: it +brings before the mind the quintessence of some good thing: + +<p> +"'The little dog laughed to see such sport'—there is the soul +of +good humor, of sanity, of health in the laughter of that innocently +wicked little dog. It is the laughter of pure frolic without +unkindness. To have laughed with the little dog as a child is the +best +preservative against mirthless laughter in later years—the +horse +laughter of brutality, the ugly laughter of spite, the acrid +laughter of +fanaticism. The world of nursery rhymes, the old world of Mrs. +Slipper- +Slopper, is the world of natural things, of quick, healthy motion, +of +the joy of living. + +<p> +"In nursery rhymes the child is entertained with all the pageant of +the +world. It walks in fairy gardens, and for it the singing birds +pass. +All the King's horses and all the King's men pass before it in their +glorious array. Craftsmen of all sorts, bakers, confectioners, +silversmiths, blacksmiths are busy for it with all their arts and +mysteries, as at the court of an eastern King." + +<p> +In insisting upon the value of this escape from the commonplace, I +cannot prove the importance of it more clearly than by showing what +may +happen to a child who is deprived of his birthright by having none +of +the fairy tale element presented to him. In "Father and Son," Mr. +Edmund Gosse says: + +<p> +"Meanwhile, capable as I was of reading, I found my greatest +pleasure in +the pages of books. The range of these was limited, for storybooks +of +every description were sternly excluded. No fiction of any kind, +religious or secular, was admitted into the house. In this it was +to my +Mother, not to my Father, that the prohibition was due. She had a +remarkable, I confess, to me somewhat unaccountable impression that +to +'tell a story,' that is, to compose fictitious narrative of any +king, +was a sin. . . . Nor would she read the chivalrous tales in the +verse of +Sir Walter Scott, obstinately alleging that they were not true. She +would nothing but lyrical and subjective poetry. As a child, +however, +she had possessed a passion for making up stories, and so +considerable a +skill in it, that she was constantly being begged to indulge others +with +its exercise. . . . 'When I was a very little child,' she says, 'I +used +to amuse myself and my brothers with inventing stories such as I had +read. Having, I suppose, a naturally restless mind and busy +imagination, this soon became the chief pleasure of my life. +Unfortunately, my brothers were always fond of encouraging this +propensity, and I found in Taylor, my maid, a still greater tempter. +I +had not known there was any harm in it, until Miss Shore, a +Calvinistic +governess, finding it out, lectured me severely and told me it was +wicked. From that time forth, I considered that to invent a story +of +any kind was a sin. . . . But the longing to do so grew with +violence. . +. . The simplicity of Truth was not enough for me. I must needs +embroider imagination upon it, and the vanity and wickedness which +disgraced my heart are more than I am able to express.' This [the +author, her son, adds] is surely a very painful instance of the +repression of an instinct." + +<p> +In contrast to the stifling of the imagination, it is good to recall +the +story of the great Hermite who, having listened to the discussion of +the +Monday sitting at the Académie des Sciences (Insitut de +France) +as to the best way to teach the "young idea how to shoot" in the +direction of mathematical genius, said: <i>Cultivez l'imagination, +messieurs. Tout est Là. Si vous voulez des mathé +maticiens, donnez à vos enfants à lire—des +Contes de +Fées.</i>" + +<p> +Another important effect of the story is to develop at an early age +sympathy for children of other countries where conditions are +different +from our own. + +<p> +I have so constantly to deal with the question of confusion between +truth and fiction in the minds of children that it might be useful +to +offer here an example of the way they make the distinction for +themselves. + +<p>Mrs. Ewing says on this subject: + +<p> +"If there are young intellects so imperfect as to be incapable of +distinguishing between fancy and falsehood, it is most desirable to +develop in them the power to do so, but, as a rule, in childhood, we +appreciate the distinction with a vivacity which as elders our care- +clogged memories fail to recall." + +<p> +Mr. P. A. Barnett, in his book on the "Common-sense of Education," +says, +alluding to fairy-tales: + +<p> +"Children will <i>act</i> them but not act <i>upon</i> them, and +they +will not accept the incidents as part of their effectual belief. +They +will imagine, to be sure, grotesque worlds, full of admirable and +interesting personages to whom strange things might have happened. +So +much the better: this largeness of imagination is one of the +possessions +that distinguish the better nurtured child from others less +fortunate." + +<p> +The following passage from Stevenson's essay on <i>"Child Play"</i> +[38] +will furnish an instance of children's aptitude for creating their +own +dramatic atmosphere: + +<p> +"When my cousin and I took our porridge of a morning, we had a +device to +enliven the course of a meal. He ate his with sugar, and explained +it +to be a country continually buried under snow. I took mine with +milk, +and explained it to be country suffering gradual inundation. You +can +imagine us exchanging bulletins; how here was an island still +unsubmerged, here a valley not yet covered with snow; what +inventions +were made; how his population lived in cabins on perches and +traveled on +stilts, and how mine was always in boats; how the interest grew +furious +as the last corner of safe ground was cut off on all sides and grew +smaller every moment; and how, in fine, the food was of altogether +secondary importance, and might even have been nauseous, so long as +we +seasoned it with these dreams. But perhaps the most exciting +moments I +ever had over a meal were in the case of calf's foot jelly. It was +hardly possible not to believe—and you may be quite sure, so +far +from trying, I did all I could to favor the illusion—that some +part of it was hollow and that sooner or later my spoon would lay +open +the secret tabernacle of the golden rock. There, might some <i>Red- +Beard</i> await his hour; there might one find the treasures of the +Forty Thieves. And so I quarried on slowly, with bated breath, +savoring +the interest. Believe me, I had little palate left for the jelly; +and +though I preferred the taste when I tool cream with it, I used often +to +go without because the cream dimmed the transparent fractures." + +<p> +In his work on "Imagination," Ribot says: "The free initiative of +children is always superior to the imitations we pretend to make for +them." + +<p> +The passage from Robert Louis Stevenson becomes more clear from a +scientific point of view when taken in connection with one from Karl +Groos' book on the "Psychology of Animal Play": + +<p> +"The child is wholly absorbed in his play, and yet under the ebb and +flow of thought and feeling like still water under wind-swept waves, +he +has the knowledge that it is pretense after all. Behind the sham +'I' +that takes part in the game, stands the unchanged 'I' which regards +the +sham 'I' with quiet superiority." + +<p> +Queyrat speaks of play as one of the distinct phases of a child's +imagination; it is "essentially a metamorphosis of reality, a +transformation of places and things." + +<p> +Now to return to the point which Mrs. Ewing makes, namely, that we +should develop in normal children the power of distinguishing +between +truth and falsehood. + +<p> +I should suggest including two or three stories which would test +that +power in children, and if they fail to realize the difference +between +romancing and telling lies, then it is evident that they need +special +attention and help along this line. I give the titles of two +stories of +this kind in the collection at the end of the book.[39] + +<p> +Thus far we have dealt only with the negative results of stories, +but +there are more important effects, and I am persuaded that if we are +careful in our choice of stories, and artistic in our presentation, +so +that the truth is framed, so to speak, in the memory, we can +unconsciously correct evil tendencies in children which they +recognize +in themselves only when they have already criticized them in the +characters of the story. I have sometimes been misunderstood on +this +point, and, therefore, I should like to make it quite clear. I do +<i> +not</i> mean that stories should take the place entirely of moral or +direct teaching, but that on many occasions they could supplement +and +strengthen moral teaching, because the dramatic appeal to the +imagination is quicker than the moral appeal to the conscience. A +child +will often resist the latter lest it should make him uncomfortable +or +appeal to his personal sense of responsibility: it is often not in +his +power to resist the former, because it has taken possession of him +before he is aware of it. + +<p> +As a concrete example, I offer three verses from a poem entitled, "A +Ballad for a Boy," written some twelve years ago by W. Cory, an Eton +master. The whole poem is to be found in a book of poems known as +"Ionica."[40] + +<p> +The poem describes a fight between two ships, the French ship, <i> +Téméraire,</i> and the English ship, <i>Quebec</i>. +The +English ship was destroyed by fire; Farmer, the captain, was killed, +and +the officers take prisoners: + +<p> +They dealt with us as brethren, they mourned for Farmer dead,<br> +And as the wounded captives passed each Breton bowed the head.<br> +Then spoke the French lieutenant:<br> +"'Twas the fire that won, not we.<br> +You never struck your flag to <i>us;</i> You'll go to England +free."[41] + +<p> +'Twas the sixth day of October, seventeen hundred seventy-nine,<br> +A year when nations ventured against us to combine,<br> +<i>Quebec</i> was burned and Farmer slain, by us remembered not;<br> +But thanks be to the French book wherein they're not forgot. + +<p> +And you, if you've got to fight the French, my youngster, bear in +mind +<br> +Those seamen of King Louis so chivalrous and kind;<br> +Think of the Breton gentlemen who took our lads to Brest,<br> +And treat some rescued Breton as a comrade and a guest. + +<p> +But in all our stories, in order to produce desired effects we must +refrain from holding, as Burroughs says, "a brief for either side," +and +we must let the people in the story be judged by their deeds and +leave +the decision of the children free in this matter.[42] + +<p> +In a review of Ladd's "Psychology" in the <i>Academy,</i> we find a +passage which refers as much to the story as to the novel: + +<p> +"The psychological novelist girds up his loins and sets himself to +write +little essays on each of his characters. If he have the gift of the +thing he may analyze motives with a subtlety which is more than +their +desert, and exhibit simple folk passing through the most dazzling +rotations. If he be a novice, he is reduced to mere crude invention +—the result in both cases is quite beyond the true purpose of +Art. +Art—when all is said and done—is a suggestion, and it +refuses to be explained. Make it obvious, unfold it in detail, and +you +reduce it to a dead letter." + +<p> +Again, there is a sentence by Schopenhauer applied to novels which +would +apply equally well to stories: + +<p> +"Skill consists in setting the inner life in motion with the +smallest +possible array of circumstances, for it is this inner life that +excites +our interest." + +<p> +In order to produce an encouraging and lasting effect by means of +our +stories, we should be careful to introduce a certain number from +fiction +where virtue is rewarded and vice punished, because to appreciate +the +fact that "virtue is its own reward" it takes a developed and +philosophic mind, or a born saint, of whom there will not, I think, +be +many among normal children: a comforting fact, on the whole, as the +normal teacher is apt to confuse them with prigs. + +<p> +A grande dame visiting an elementary school listened to the telling +of +an exciting story from fiction, and was impressed by the thrill of +delight which passed through the children. But when the story was +finished, she said: "But <i>oh!</i> what a pity the story was not +taken +from actual history!" + +<p> +Now, not only was this comment quite beside the mark, but the lady +in +question did not realize that pure fiction has one quality which +history +cannot have. The historian, bound by fact and accuracy, must often +let +his hero come to grief. The poet (or, in this case we may call him, +in +the Greek sense, the "maker" of stories) strives to show <i>ideal</i +> +justice. + +<p> +What encouragement to virtue, except for the abnormal child, can be +offered by the stories of good men coming to grief, such as we find +Miltiades, Phocion, Socrates, Severus, Cicero, Cato and Cæsar? + +<p>Sir Philip Sydney says in his "Defence of Poesy": + +<p> +"Only the poet declining to be held by the limitations of the +lawyer, +the <i>historian,</i> the grammarian, the rhetorician, the logician, +the +physician, the metaphysician is lifted up with the vigor of his own +imagination; doth grow in effect into another nature in making +things +either better than Nature bringeth forth or quite anew, as the +Heroes, +Demi-gods, Cyclops, Furies and such like so as he goeth hand-in-hand +with Nature, not inclosed in the narrow range of her gifts but +freely +ranging within the Zodiac of his own art—<i>her</i> world is +brazen; the poet only delivers a golden one." + +<p> +The effect of the story need not stop at the negative task of +correcting +evil tendencies. There is the positive effect of translating the +abstract ideal of the story into concrete action. + +<p> +I was told by Lady Henry Somerset that when the first set of +children +came down from London for a fortnight's holiday in the country, she +was +much startled and shocked by the obscenity of the games they played +amongst themselves. Being a sound psychologist, Lady Henry wisely +refrained from appearing surprised or from attempting any direct +method +of reproof. "I saw," she said, "that the 'goody' element would have +no +effect, so I changed the whole atmosphere by reading to them or +telling +them the most thrilling medieval tales without any commentary. By +the +end of the fortnight the activities had all changed. The boys were +performing astonishing deeds of prowess, and the girls were allowing +themselves to be rescued from burning towers and fetid dungeons." +Now, +if these deeds of chivalry appear somewhat stilted to us, we can at +least realize that, having changed the whole atmosphere of the +filthy +games, it is easier to translate the deeds into something a little +more +in accordance with the spirit of the age, and boys will more readily +wish later on to save their sisters from dangers more sordid and +commonplace than fiery towers and dark dungeons, if they have once +performed the deeds in which they had to court danger and self- +sacrifice +for themselves. + +<p> +And now we come to the question as to how these effects are to be +maintained. In what has already been stated as to the danger of +introducing the dogmatic and direct appeal into the story, it is +evident +that the avoidance of this element is the first means of preserving +the +story in all its artistic force in the memory of the child. We must +be +careful, as I point out in the chapter on Questions, not to +interfere by +comment or question with the atmosphere we have made round the +story, or +else, in the future, that story will become blurred and overlaid +with +the remembrance, not of the artistic whole, as presented by the +teller +of the story, but by some unimportant small side issue raised by an +irrelevant question or a superfluous comment. + +<p> +Many people think that the dramatization of the story by the +children +themselves helps to maintain the effect produced. Personally, I +fear +there is the same danger as in the immediate reproduction of the +story, +but by some unimportant small side issue raised by an irrelevant +question or a superfluous comment. + +<p> +Many people think that the dramatization of the story by the +children +themselves helps to maintain the effect produced. Personally, I +fear +there is the same danger as in the immediate reproduction of the +story, +namely, that the general dramatic effect may be weakened. + +<p> +If, however, there is to be dramatization (and I do not wish to +dogmatize on the subject), I think it should be confined to facts +and +not fancies, and this is why I realize the futility of the +dramatization +of fairy tales. + +<p> +Horace E. Scudder says on this subject: + +<p> +"Nothing has done more to vulgarize the fairy than its introduction +on +the stage. The charm of the fairy tale is its divorce from human +experience: the charm of the stage is its realization in miniature +of +human life. If a frog is heard to speak, if a dog is changed before +our +eyes into a prince by having cold water dashed over it, the charm of +the +fairy tale has fled, and, in its place, we have the perplexing +pleasure +of <i>legerdemain.</i> Since the real life of a fairy is in the +imagination, a wrong is committed when it is dragged from its +shadowy +hiding-place and made to turn into ashes under the calcium light of +the +understanding."[43] + +<p> +I am bound to admit that the teachers have a case when they plead +for +this reproducing of the story, and there are three arguments they +use +the validity of which I admit, but which have nevertheless not +converted +me, because the loss, to my mind, would exceed the gain. + +<p> +The first argument they put forward is that the reproduction of the +story enables the child to enlarge and improve his vocabulary. Now +I +greatly sympathize with this point of view, but, as I regard the +story +hour as a very precious and special one, which I think may have a +lasting effect on the character of a child, I do not think it +important +that, during this hour, a child should be called upon to improve his +vocabulary at the expense of the dramatic whole, and at the expense +of +the literary form in which the story has been presented. It would +be +like using the Bible for parsing or paraphrase or pronunciation. So +far, I believe, the line has been drawn here, though there are +blasphemers who have laid impious hands on Milton or Shakespeare for +this purpose. + +<p> +There are surely other lessons, as I have already said in dealing +with the reproduction of the story quite apart from the +dramatization, +lessons more utilitarian in character, which can be used for this +purpose: the facts of history (I mean the mere facts as compared +with +the deep truths), and those of geography. Above all, the grammar +lessons are those in which the vocabulary can be enlarged and +improved. +But I am anxious to keep the story hour apart as dedicated to +something +higher than these excellent but utilitarian considerations. + +<p> +The second argument used by the teachers is the joy felt by the +children +in being allowed to dramatize the stories. This, too, appeals very +strongly to me, but there is a means of satisfying their desire and +yet +protecting the dramatic whole, and that is occasionally to allow +children to act out their own dramatic inventions; this, to my mind, +has +great educational significance: it is original and creative work +and, +apart from the joy of the immediate performance, there is the +interesting process of comparison which can be presented to the +children, showing them the difference between their elementary +attempts +and the finished product of the experienced artist. This difference +they can be led to recognize by their own powers of observation if +the +teachers are not in too great a hurry to point it out themselves. + +<p> +Here is a short original story, quoted by the French psychologist, +Queyrat, in his "Jeux de l'Enfance," written by a child of five:</p> + +<p> +"One day I went to sea in a life-boat—all at once I saw an +enormous whale, and I jumped out of the boat to catch him, but he +was so +big that I climbed on his back and rode astride, and all the little +fishes laughed to see." + +<p> +Here is a complete and exciting drama, making a wonderful picture +and +teeming with adventure. We could scarcely offer anything to so +small a +child for reproduction that would be a greater stimulus to the +imagination. + +<p> +Here is another, offered by Loti, but the age of the child is not +given: + +<p> +"Once upon a time a little girl out in the Colonies cut open a huge +melon, and out popped a green beast and stung her, and the little +child +died." + +<p> +Loti adds: + +<p> +"The phrases 'out in the Colonies' and 'a huge melon' were enough to +plunge me suddenly into a dream. As by an apparition, I beheld +tropical +trees, forests alive with marvelous birds. Oh! the simple magic of +the +words 'the Colonies'! In my childhood they stood for a multitude of +distant sun-scorched countries, with their palm-trees, their +enormous +flowers, their black natives, their wild beasts, their endless +possibilities of adventure." + +<p> +I quote this in full because it shows so clearly the magic force of +words to evoke pictures, without any material representation. It is +just the opposite effect of the pictures presented to the bodily eye +without the splendid educational opportunity for the child to form +his +own mental image. + +<p> +I am more and more convinced that the rare power of visualization is +accounted for by the lack of mental practice afforded along these +lines. + +<p> +The third argument used by teachers in favor of the dramatization of +the +stories is that it is a means of discovering how much the child has +really learned from the story. Now this argument makes absolutely +no +appeal to me. + +<p> +My experience, in the first place, has taught me that a child very +seldom gives out any account of a deep impression made upon him: it +is +too sacred and personal. But he very soon learns to know what is +expected of him, and he keeps a set of stock sentences which he has +found out are acceptable to the teacher. How can we possibly gauge +the +deep effects of a story in this way, or how can a child, by acting +out a +story, describe the subtle elements which one has tried to +introduce? +One might as well try to show with a pint measure how the sun and +rain +have affected a plant, instead of rejoicing in the beauty of the +sure, +if slow, growth. + +<p> +Then, again, why are we in such a hurry to find out what effects +have +been produced by our stories? Does it matter whether we know today +or +tomorrow how much a child has understood? For my part, so sure do I +feel of the effect that I am willing to wait indefinitely. Only, I +must +make sure that the first presentation is truly dramatic and +artistic. + +<p> +The teachers of general subjects have a much easier and more simple +task. Those who teach science, mathematics, even, to a certain +extent, +history and literature, are able to gauge with a fair amount of +accuracy +by means of examination what their pupils have learned. The +teaching +carried on by means of stories can never be gauged in the same +manner. + +<p> +Carlyle has said: + +<p> +"Of this thing be certain: wouldst thou plant for Eternity, then +plant +into the deep infinite faculties of man, his Fantasy and Heart. +Wouldst +thou plant for Year and Day, then plant into his shallow superficial +faculties, his self-love and arithmetical understanding, what will +grow +there."[44] + +<p> +If we use this marvelous art of story-telling in the way I have +tried to +show, then the children who have been confided to our care will one +day +be able to bring <i>us</i> the tribute which Björnson brought +to +Hans Christian Andersen: + +<P align=center> +Wings you gave to my Imagination,<br> +Me uplifting to the strange and great;<br> +Gave my heart the poet's revelation,<br> +Glorifying things of low estate.</p> + +<P align=center> +When my child-soul hungered all-unknowing,<br> +With great truths its need you satisfied:<br> +Now, a world-worn man, to you is owing<br> +That the child in me has never died.</p> + +<P align=center>TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH BY EMILIE POULSON.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="chapVII">CHAPTER VII</a></h4> +<h4 align=center>QUESTIONS ASKED BY TEACHERS</h4> + +<p> +The following questions have been put to me so often by teachers, in +my +own country and in America, that I have thought it might be useful +to +give in my book some of the attempts I have made to answer them; and +I +wish to record here an expression of gratitude to the teachers who +have +asked these questions at the close of my lectures. It has enabled +me to +formulate my views on the subject and to clear up, by means of +research +and thought, the reason for certain things which I had more or less +taken for granted. It has also constantly modified my own point of +view, and has prevented me from becoming too dogmatic in dealing +with +other people's methods. + +<p> +QUESTION I: <i>Why do I consider it necessary to spend so many +years +on the art of story-telling, which takes in, after all, such a +restricted portion of literature?</i> + +<p> +Just in the same way that an actor thinks it worth while to go +through +so many years' training to fit him for the stage, although dramatic +literature is also only one branch of general literature. The +region of +storyland is the legitimate stage for children. They crave drama as +we +do, and because there are comparatively few good story-tellers, +children +do not have their dramatic needs satisfied. What is the result? We +either take them to dramatic performances for grown-up people, or we +have children's theaters where the pieces, charming as they may be, +are +of necessity deprived of the essential elements which constitute a +drama +—or they are shriveled up to suit the capacity of the child. +Therefore, it would seem wiser, while the children are quite young, +to +keep them to the simple presentation of stories, because with their +imagination keener at that period, they have the delight of the +inner +vision and they do not need, as we do, the artificial stimulus +provided +by the machinery of the stage. + +<p> +QUESTION II: <i>What is to be done if a child asks you: "Is the +story +true?"</i> + +<p> +I hope I shall be considered Utopian in my ideas if a say that it is +quite easy, even with small children, to teach them that the seeing +of +truth is a relative matter which depends on the eyes of the seer. +If we +were not afraid to tell our children that all through life there are +grown-up people who do not see things that others see, their own +difficulties would be helped. + +<p> +In his "Imagination Créatrice," Queyrat says: + +<p> +"To get down into the recesses of a child's mind, one would have to +become even as he is; we are reduced to interpreting that child in +the +terms of an adult. The children we observe live and grow in a +civilized +community, and the result of this is that the development of their +imagination is rarely free or complete, for as soon as it rises +beyond +the average level, the rationalistic education of parents and +schoolmasters at once endeavors to curb it. It is restrained in its +flight by an antagonistic power which treats it as a kind of +incipient +madness." + +<p> +It is quite easy to show children that if one keeps things where +they +belong, they are true with regard to each other, but that if one +drags +these things out of the shadowy atmosphere of the "make-believe," +and +forces them into the land of actual facts, the whole thing is out of +gear. + +<p> +To take a concrete example: The arrival of the coach made from a +pumpkin +and driven by mice is entirely in harmony with the <i>Cinderella</i> +surroundings, and I have never heard one child raise any question of +the +difficulty of traveling in such a coach or of the uncertainty of +mice in +drawing it. But, suggest to the child that this diminutive vehicle +could be driven among the cars of Broadway, or amongst the motor +omnibuses in the Strand, and you would bring confusion at once into +his +mind. + +<p> +Having once grasped this, the children will lose the idea that fairy +stories are just for them, and not for their elders, and from this +they +will go on to see that it is the child-like mind of the poet and +seer +that continues to appreciate these things; that it is the dull, +heavy +person whose eyes so soon become dim and unable to see any more the +visions which were once his own. + +<p> +In his essay on "Poetry and Life" (Glasgow, 1889), Professor Bradley +says: + +<p> +"It is the effect of poetry, not only by expressing emotion but in +other +ways also, to bring life into the dead mass of our experience, and +to +make the world significant." + +<p> +This applies to children as well as to adults. There may come to +the +child in the story hour, by some stirring poem or dramatic +narration, a +sudden flash of the possibilities of life which he had not hitherto +realized in the even course of school experience. + +<p> +"Poetry," says Professor Bradley, "is a way of representing truth; +but +there is in it, as its detractors have always insisted, a certain +untruth or illusion. We need not deny this, so long as we remember +that +the illusion is conscious, that no one wishes to deceive, and that +no +one is deceived. But it would be better to say that poetry is false +to +literal fact for the sake of obtaining a higher truth. First, in +order +to represent the connection between a more significant part of +experience and a less significant, poetry, instead of linking them +together by a chain which touches one by one the intermediate +objects +that connect them, leaps from one to the other. It thus falls at +once +into conflict with common-sense." + +<p> +Now, the whole of this passage bears as much on the question of the +truth embodied in a fairy tale as a poem, and it would be +interesting to +take some of these tales and try to discover where they are false to +actual fact for the sake of a higher truth. + +<p> +Let us take, for instance, the Story of Cinderella: The coach and +pumpkins to which I have alluded and all the magic part of the +story, +are false to actual facts as we meet them in our every life; but is +it +not a higher truth that <i>Cinderella</i> could escape from her +chimney +corner by thinking of the brightness outside? In this sense we all +travel in pumpkin coaches. + +<p> +Take the Story of Psyche, in any one of the many forms it is +presented +to us in folk-story. The magic transformation of the lover is false +to +actual fact; but is it not a higher truth that we are often +transformed +by circumstance, and that love and courage can overcome most +difficulties? + +<p> +Take the Story of the Three Bears. It is not in accordance with +established fact that bears should extend hospitality to children +who +invade their territory. Is it not true in a higher sense that +fearlessness often lessens or averts danger? + +<p> +Take the Story of Jack and the Bean Stalk. The rapid growth of the +bean +stalk and the encounter with the giant are false to literal fact; +but is +it not a higher truth that the spirit of courage and high adventure +leads us straight out of the commonplace and often sordid facts of +life? + +<p> +Now, all these considerations are too subtle for the child, and, if +offered in explanation, would destroy the excitement and interest of +the +story; but they are good for those of us who are presenting such +stories: they provide not only an argument against the objection +raised +by unimaginative people as to the futility, if not immorality, of +presenting these primitive tales, but clear up our own doubt and +justify +us in the use of them, if we need such justification. + +<p> +For myself, I am perfectly satisfied that, being part of the history +of +primitive people, it would be foolish to ignore them from an +evolutionary point of view, which constitutes their chief +importance; +and it is only from the point of view of expediency that I mention +the +potential truths they contain. + +<p> +QUESTION III: <i>What are you to do if a child says he does not +like +fairy tales?</i> + +<p> +This is not an uncommon case. What we have first to determine, +under +these circumstances, is whether this dislike springs from a stolid, +prosaic nature, whether it springs from a real inability to +visualize +such pictures as the fairy or marvelous element in the story +present, or +whether (and this is often the real reason) it is from a fear of +being +asked to believe what his judgment resents as untrue, or whether he +thinks it is "grown-up" to reject such pleasure as unworthy of his +years. + +<p> +In the first case, it is wise to persevere, in hopes of developing +the +dormant imagination. If the child resents the apparent want of +truth we +can teach him how many-sided truth is, as I suggested in my answer +to +the first question. In the other cases, we must try to make it +clear +that the delight he may venture to take now will increase, not +decrease, +with years; that the more one brings <i>to</i> a thing, in the way +of +experience and knowledge, the more one will draw <i>out</i> of it. + +<p> +Let us take as a concrete example the question of Santa Claus. This +joy +has almost disappeared, for we have torn away the last shred of +mystery +about the personage by allowing him to be materialized in the +Christmas +shops and bazaars. + +<p> +But the original myth need never have disappeared; the link could +easily +have been kept by gradually telling the child that the Santa Claus +they +worshiped as a mysterious and invisible power is nothing but the +spirit +of charity and kindness that makes us remember others, and that this +spirit often takes the form of material gifts. We can also lead +them a +step higher and show them that this spirit of kindness can do more +than +provide material things; so that the old nursery tale has laid a +beautiful foundation which need never be pulled up: we can build +upon it +and add to it all through our lives. + +<p> +Is not <i>one</i> of the reasons that children reject fairy tales +this, +that such very <i>poor</i> material is offered them? There is a +dreary +flatness about all except the very best which revolts the child of +literary appreciation and would fail to strike a spark in the more +prosaic. + +<p> +QUESTION IV: <i>Do I recommend learning a story by heart, or +telling it +in one's own words?</i> + +<p> +This would largely depend on the kind of story. If the style is +classic +or if the interest of the story is closely connected with the style, +as +in Andersen, Kipling or Stevenson, then it is better to commit it +absolutely to memory. But if this process should take too long (I +mean +for those who cannot afford the time to specialize), or if it +produces a +stilted effect, then it is wiser to read the story many times over, +let +it soak in, taking notes of certain passages which would add to the +dramatic interest of the story, and not trouble about the word +accuracy +of the whole. + +<p> +For instance, for very young children the story of <i>Pandora</i>, +as +told in the "Wonder-Book" could be shortened so as to leave +principally +the dramatic dialogue between the two children, which could be +easily +committed to memory by the narrator and would appeal most directly +to +the children. Or for older children: in taking a beautiful medieval +story such as "Our Lady's Tumbler," retold by Wickstead, the +original +text could hardly be presented so as to hold an audience; but while +giving up a great deal of the elaborate material, we should try to +present many of the characteristic passages which seem to sum up the +situation. For instance, before his performance, the <i>Tumbler</i> +cries: "What am I doing? For there is none here so caitiff but who +vies with all the rest in serving God after his trade." And after +his +act of devotion: "Lady, this is a choice performance. I do it for +no +other but for you; so aid me God, I do not—for you and for +your +Son. And this I dare avouch and boast, that for me it is no play- +work. +But I am serving you, and that pays me." + +<p> +On the other hand, there are some very gifted narrators who can only +tell the story in their own words. I consider that both methods are +necessary to the all-round story-teller. + +<p> +QUESTION V: <i>How do I set about preparing a story?</i> + +<p> +Here again the preparation depends a great deal on the kind of +story: +whether it has to be committed to memory or rearranged to suit a +certain +age of child, or told entirely in one's own words. But there is one +kind of preparation which is the same for any story, that is, living +with it for a long time, until one has really obtained the right +atmosphere, especially in the case of inanimate objects. This is +where +Hans Christian Andersen reigns supreme. Horace Scudder says of him: +"By +some transmigration, souls have passed into tin soldiers, balls, +tops, +money-pigs, coins, shoes and even such attenuated things as darning- +needles, and when, informing these apparent dead and stupid bodies, +they +begin to make manifestations, it is always in perfect consistency +with +the ordinary conditions of the bodies they occupy, though the +several +objects become, by the endowment of souls, suddenly expanded in +their +capacity."[45] + +<p> +Now, my test of being ready with such stories is whether I have +ceased to look upon such objects <i>as</i> inanimate. Let us take +some +of those quoted from Andersen. First, the <i>Tin Soldier</i>. To +me, +since I have lived in the story, he is a real live hero, holding his +own +with some of the bravest fighting heroes in history or fiction. As +for +his being merely of tin, I entirely forget it, except when I realize +against what odds he fights, or when I stop to admire the wonderful +way +Andersen carries out his simile of the old tin spoon—the +stiffness +of the musket, and the tears of tin. + +<p> +Take the <i>Top</i> and the <i>Ball</i>, and, except for the +delightful +way they discuss the respective merits of cork and mahogany in their +ancestors, you would completely forget that they are not real human +beings with the live passions and frailties common to youth. + +<p> +As for the <i>Beetle</i>—who ever thinks of him as a mere +entomological specimen? Is he not the symbol of the self-satisfied +traveler who learns nothing en route but the importance of his own +personality? And the <i>Darning-Needle?</i> It is impossible to +divorce human interest from the ambition of this little piece of +steel. + +<p> +And this same method applied to the preparation of any shows that +one +can sometimes rise from the rôle of mere interpreter to that +of +creator—that is to say, the objects live afresh for you in +response to the appeal you make in recognizing their possibilities +of +vitality. + +<p> +As a mere practical suggestion, I would advise that, as soon as one +has +overcome the difficulties of the text (if actually learning by +heart, +there is nothing but the drudgery of constant repetition), and as +one +begins to work the story into true dramatic form, always say the +words +aloud, and many times aloud, before trying them even on one person. +More suggestions come to one in the way of effects from hearing the +sounds of the words, and more complete mental pictures, in this way +than +any other—it is a sort of testing period, the results of which +may +or may not have to be modified when produced in public. In case of +committing to memory, I advise word perfection first, not trying +dramatic effects before this is reached; but, on the other hand, if +you +are using your own words, you can think out the effects as you go +along +—I mean, during the preparation. Gestures, pauses, facial +expression often help to fix the choice of words one decides to use, +though here again the public performance will often modify the +result. +I strongly advise that all gestures be studied before the glass, +because +this most faithfully recording friend, whose sincerity we dare not +question, will prevent glaring errors, and also help by the +correction +of these to more satisfactory results along positive lines. If your +gesture does not satisfy you (and practice will make one more and +more +critical), it is generally because you have not made sufficient +allowance for the power of imagination in your audience. Emphasis +in +gesture is just as inartistic—and therefore ineffective— +as +emphasis in tone or language. + +<p> +Before deciding, however, either on the facial expression or +gesture, we +must consider the chief characters in the story, and study how we +can +best—<i>not</i> present them, but allow them to present +themselves, which is a very different thing. The greatest tribute +which +can be paid to a story-teller, as to an actor, is that his own +personality is temporarily forgotten, because he has so completely +identified himself with his rôle. + +<p> +When we have decided what the chief characters really mean to do, we +can +let ourselves go in the impersonation. + +<p> +I shall now take a story as a concrete example, namely, the Buddhist +legend of the "Lion and the Hare."[46] + +<p> +We have here the <i>Lion</i> and the <i>Hare</i> as types—the +other animals are less individual and therefore display less salient +qualities. The little hare's chief characteristics are nervousness, +fussiness, and misdirected imagination. We must bear this all in +mind +when she appears on the stage—fortunately these +characteristics +lend themselves easily to dramatic representation. The <i>Lion</i> +is +not only large-hearted but broad-minded. It is good to have an +opportunity of presenting to the children a lion who has other +qualities +than physical beauty or extraordinary strength (here again there +will +lurk the danger of alarming the nature students). He is even more +interesting than the magnanimous lion whom we have sometimes been +privileged to meet in fiction. + +<p> +Of course we grown-up people know that the <i>Lion</i> is the Buddha +in +disguise. Children will not be able to realize this, nor is it the +least necessary that they should do so; but they will grasp the idea +that he is a very unusual lion, not to be met with in Paul Du +Chaillu's +adventures, still less in the quasi-domestic atmosphere of the +Zoological Gardens. If our presentation is life-like and sincere, +we +shall convey all we intend to the child. This is part of what I +call +the atmosphere of the story, which, as in a photograph, can only be +obtained by long exposure, that is to say, in the case of +preparation we +must bestow much reflection and sympathy. + +<p> +Because these two animals are the chief characters, they must be +painted +in fainter colors—they should be suggested rather than +presented +in detail. It might be well to give a definite gesture to the <i> +Elephant</i>—say, a characteristic movement with his trunk +—a +scowl to the <i>Tiger</i>, a supercilious and enigmatic smile to the +<i> +Camel</i> (suggested by Kipling's wonderful creation). But if a +gesture +were given to each of the animals, the effect would become +monotonous, +and the minor characters would crowd the foreground of the picture, +impeding the action and leaving little to the imagination of the +audience. I personally have found it effective to repeat the +gestures +of these animals as they are leaving the stage, but less markedly, +as it +is only a form of reminder. + +<p> +Now, what is the impression we wish to leave on the mind of the +child, +apart from the dramatic joy and interest we have endeavored to +provide? +Surely it is that he may realize the danger of a panic. One method +of +doing this (alas! a favorite one still) is to say at the end of the +story: "Now, children, what do we learn from this?" Of this method +Lord +Morley has said: "It is a commonplace to the wise, and an +everlasting +puzzle to the foolish, that direct inculcation of morals should +invariably prove so powerless an instrument, so futile a method." + +<p> +If this direct method were really effective, we might as well put +the +little drama aside, and say plainly: "It is foolish to be nervous; +it is +dangerous to make loose statements. Large-minded people understand +things better than those who are narrow-minded." + +<p> +All these abstract statements would be as true and as tiresome as +the +multiplication table. The child might or might not fix them in his +mind, but he would not act upon them. + +<p> +But, put all the artistic warmth of which you are capable into the +presentation of the story, and, without one word of comment from +you, +the children will feel the dramatic intensity of that vast concourse +of +animals brought together by the feeble utterance of one +irresponsible +little hare. Let them feel the dignity and calm of the <i>Lion</i>, +which accounts for his authority; his tender but firm treatment of +the +foolish little <i>Hare;</i> and listen to the glorious finale when +all +the animals retire convinced of their folly; and you will find that +you +have adopted the same method as the <i>Lion</i> (who must have been +an +unconscious follower of Froebel), and that there is nothing to add +to +the picture. + +<p> +QUESTION VI: <i>Is it wise to talk over a story with children and +to +encourage them in the habit of asking questions about it?</i> + +<p>At the time, no! The effect produced is to be by dramatic means, +and +this would be destroyed any attempt at analysis by means of +questions. + +<p> +The medium that has been used in the telling of the story is (or +ought +to be) a purely artistic one which will reach the child through the +medium of the emotions: the appeal to the intellect or the reason is +a +different method, which must be used at a different time. When you +are +enjoying the fragrance of a flower or the beauty of its color, it is +not +the moment to be reminded of its botanical classification, just as +in +the botany lesson it would be somewhat irrelevant to talk of the +part +that flowers play in the happiness of life. + +<p> +From a practical point of view, it is not wise to encourage +questions on +the part of the children, because they are apt to disturb the +atmosphere +by bringing in entirely irrelevant matter, so that in looking back +on +the telling of the story, the child often remembers the irrelevant +conversation to the exclusion of the dramatic interest of the story +itself.[47] + +<p> +I remember once making what I considered at the time a most +effective +appeal to some children who had been listening to the Story of the +Little Tin Soldier, and, unable to refrain from the cheap method of +questioning, of which I have now recognized the futility, I asked: +"Don't you think it was nice of the little dancer to rush down into +the +fire to join the brave little soldier?" "Well," said a prosaic +little +lad of six: <i>I</i> thought the draught carried her down." + +<p> +QUESTION VII: <i>Is it wise to call upon children to repeat the +story +as soon as it has been told?</i> + +<p> +My answer here is decidedly in the negative. + +<p> +While fully appreciating the modern idea of children expressing +themselves, I very much deprecate this so-called self-expression +taking +the form of mere reproduction. I have dealt with this matter in +detail +in another portion of my book. This is one of the occasions when +children should be taking in, not giving out (even the most fanatic +of +moderns must agree that there <i>are</i> such moments). + +<p> +When, after much careful preparation, an expert has told a story to +the +best of his ability, to encourage the children to reproduce this +story +with their imperfect vocabulary and with no special gift of speech +(I am +always alluding to the normal group of children) is as futile as if, +after the performance of a musical piece by a great artist, some +individual member of the audience were to be called upon to give <i> +his +</i> rendering of the original rendering. The result would be that +the +musical joy of the audience would be completely destroyed and the +performer himself would share in the loss.[48]</p> + +<p> +I have always maintained that five minutes of complete silence after +the +story would do more to fix the impression on the mind of the child +than +any amount of attempt at reproducing it. The general statement made +in +Dr. Montessor's wonderful chapter on "Silence" would seem to me of +special application to the moments following on the telling of a +story. + +<p> +QUESTION VIII: <i>Should children be encouraged to illustrate the +stories which they have heard?</i> + +<p> +As a dramatic interest to the teachers and the children, I think it +is a +very praiseworthy experiment, if used somewhat sparingly. But I +seriously doubt whether these illustrations in any way indicate the +impression made on the mind of the child. It is the same question +that +arises when that child is called upon, or expresses a wish, to +reproduce +the story in his own words: the unfamiliar medium in both instances +makes it almost impossible for the child to convey his meaning, +unless +he is an artist in the one case or he has real literary power of +expression in the other. + +<p> +My own impression, confirmed by many teachers who have made the +experiment, is that a certain amount of disappointment is mixed up +with +the daring joy in the attempt, simply because the children can get +nowhere near the ideal which has presented itself to the "inner +eye." + +<p> +I remember a kindergarten teacher saying that on one occasion, when +she +had told to the class a thrilling story of a knight, one of the +children +immediately asked for permission to draw a picture of him on the +blackboard. So spontaneous a request could not, of course, be +refused, +and, full of assurance, the would-be artist began to give his +impression +of the knight's appearance. When the picture was finished, the +child +stood back for a moment to judge for himself of the result. He put +down +the chalk and said sadly: "And I <i>thought</i> he was so handsome." + +<p> +Nevertheless, except for the drawback of the other children seeing a +picture which might be inferior to their own mental vision, I should +quite approve of such experiments, as long as they are not taken as +literal data of what the children have really received. It would, +however, be better not to have the picture drawn on a blackboard but +at +the child's private desk, to be seen by the teacher and not, unless +the +picture were exceptionally good, to be shown to the other children. + +<p> +One of the best effects of such an experiment would be to show a +child +how difficult it is to give the impression one wishes to record, and +which would enable him later on to appreciate the beauty of such +work in +the hands of a finished artist. + +<p> +I can anticipate the jeers with which such remarks would be received +by +the Futurist School, but, according to their own theory, I ought to +be +allowed to express the matter <i>as I see it,</i> however faulty the +vision may appear to them.[49] + +<p> +QUESTION IX: <i>In what way can the dramatic method of story- +telling be +used in ordinary class teaching?</i> + +<p> +This is too large a question to answer fully in so general a survey +as +this work, but I should like to give one or two examples as to how +the +element of story-telling could be introduced. + +<p> +I have always thought that the only way in which we could make +either a +history or literature lesson live, so as to take a real hold on the +mind +of the pupil at any age, would be that, instead of offering lists of +events, crowded into the fictitious area of one reign, one should +take a +single event, say in one lesson out of five, and give it in the most +splendid language and in the most dramatic manner. + +<p> +To come to a concrete example: Supposing that one is talking to the +class of Greece, either in connection with its history, its +geography or +its literature, could any mere accumulation of facts give a clearer +idea +of the life of the people than a dramatically told story from Homer, +Æschylus, Sophocles or Euripides? + +<p> +What in the history of Iceland could give any more graphic idea of +the +whole character of the life and customs of the inhabitants than one +of +the famous sagas, such as "The Burning of Njal" or "The Death of +Gunnar"? + +<p> +In teaching the history of Spain, what could make the pupils +understand +better the spirit of knight-errantry, its faults and its qualities, +than +a recital from "Don Quixote" or from the tale of "The Cid"? + +<p> +In a word, the stories must appeal so vividly to the imagination +that +they will light up the whole period of history which we wish them to +illustrate and keep it alive in the memory for all time. + +<p> +But quite apart from the dramatic presentation of history, there are +very great possibilities for the short story introduced into the +portrait of some great personage, insignificant in itself, but which +throws a sudden sidelight on his character, showing the mind behind +the +actual deeds; this is what I mean by using the dramatic method. + +<p> +To take a concrete example: Suppose, in giving an account of the +life of +Napoleon, after enlarging upon his campaigns, his European policy, +his +indomitable will, one were suddenly to give an idea of his many- +sidedness by relating how he actually found time to compile a +catechism +which was used for some years in the elementary schools of France. +What +sidelights might be thrown in this way on such characters as Nero, +Cæsar, Henry VIII, Luther, Goethe! + +<p> +To take one example from these: Instead of making the whole career +of +Henry VIII center round the fact that he was a much-married man, +could +we not present his artistic side and speak of his charming +contributions +to music? + +<p> +So much for the history lessons. But could not the dramatic form +and +interest be introduced into our geography lessons? Think of the +romance +of the Panama Canal, the position of Constantinople, as affecting +the +history of Europe, the shape of Greece, England as an island, the +position of Thibet [sic], the interior of Africa—to what +wonderful +story-telling would these themes lend themselves! + +<p> +QUESTION X: <i>Which should predominate in the story—the +dramatic +or the poetic element?</i> + +<p> +This is a much debated point. From experience I have come to the +conclusion that, though both should be found in the whole range of +stories, the dramatic element should prevail from the very nature of +the +presentation, and also because it reaches the larger number of +children, +at least of normal children. Almost every child is dramatic, in the +sense that it loves action (not necessarily an action in which it +has to +bear a part). It is the exceptional child who is reached by the +poetic +side, and just as on the stage the action must be quicker and more +concentrated than in a poem—than even a dramatic poem— +the +poetical side, which must be painted in more delicate colors or +presented in less obvious form, often escapes them. Of course, the +very +reason why we must include the poetical element is that it is an +unexpressed need of most children. Their need of the dramatic is +more +loudly proclaimed and more easily satisfied. + +<p> +QUESTION XI: <i>What is the educational value of humor in the +stories +told to our children?</i> + +<p> +My answer to this is that humor means so much more than is usually +understood by this term. So many people seem to think that to have +a +sense of humor is merely to be tickled by a funny element in a +story. +It surely means something much more subtle than this. It is +Thackeray +who says: "If humor only meant laughter, but the humorist profess to +awaken and direct your love, your pity, your kindness, your scorn +for +untruth and pretension, your tenderness for the weak, the poor, the +oppressed, the unhappy." So that, in our stories, the introduction +of +humor should not merely depend on the doubtful amusement that +follows on +a sense of incongruity. It should inculcate a sense of proportion +brought about by an effort of imagination; it shows a child its real +position in the universe and prevents hasty conclusions. It +shortens +the period of joy in horse-play and practical jokes. It brings +about a +clearer perception of all situations, enabling the child to get the +point of view of another person. It is the first instilling of +philosophy into the mind of a child and prevents much suffering +later on +when the blows of life fall upon him; for a sense of humor teaches +us at +an early age not to expect too much: and this philosophy can be +developed with cynicism or pessimism, without even destroying the <i +> +joie de vivre.</i> + +<p> +One cannot, however, sufficiently emphasize the fact that these far- +reaching results can be brought about only by humor quite distinct +from +the broader fun and hilarity which have also their use in an +educational +scheme. + +<p> +From my own experience, I have learned that development of humor is +with +most children extremely slow. It <i>is</i> quite natural and quite +right that at first pure fun, obvious situations and elementary +jokes +should please them, but we can very gradually appeal to something +more +subtle, and if I were asked what story would educate our children +most +thoroughly in appreciation of humor, I should say that "Alice in +Wonderland" was the most effective. + +<p> +What better object lesson could be given in humorous form of taking +somebody else's point of view than that given to <i>Alice</i> by the +<i> +Mock Turtle</i> in speaking of the <i>Whiting</i>— + +<p> +"You know what they're like?" + +<p> +"I believe so," said Alice. "They have their tails in their mouths +—and they're all over crumbs." + +<p> +"You're wrong about the crumbs,: said the Mock Turtle. +"Crumbs would all wash off in the sea."</p> + +<p> +Or when <i>Alice</i> is speaking to the <i>Mouse</i> of her cat, and +says: + +<p> +"She is such a dear quiet thing—and a capital one for catching +mice——" and then suddenly realizes the point of view of +the +<i>Mouse,</i> who was "trembling down to the end of its tail." + +<p> +Then, as an instance of how a lack of humor leads to illogical +conclusions (a condition common to most children), we have the +conversation between <i>Alice</i> and the <i>Pigeon</i>: + +<p> +ALICE: "But little girls eat quite as much as serpents, you know." + +<p> +PIGEON: "I don't believe it. But if they do, why then they're a +kind +of serpent, that's all I can say."</p> + +<p> +Then, as an instance of how a sense of humor would prevent too much +self- importance: + +<p> +"I have a right to think," said Alice sharply. + +<p> +"Just about as much right," said the Duchess, "as pigs have to fly." +</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h3 align=center>PART II</h3> +<h4 align=center>THE STORIES</h4> + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +<p> +The following stories do not form a comprehensive selection; this I +have +endeavored to give in the List of Stories. The stories given are +chiefly taken from my own répertoire, and have been so +constantly +asked by teachers that I am glad of an opportunity of presenting +them in +full. + +<p> +I regret that I have been unable to furnish many of the stories I +consider good for narration, but the difficulty of obtaining +permission +has deterred me from further efforts in this direction. +</BLOCKQUOTE> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="sturla">STURLA, THE HISTORIAN[50]</a></h4> + +<p> +Then Sturla got ready to sail away with the king, and his name was +put +on the list. He went on board before many men had come; he had a +sleeping bag and a travelling chest, and took his place on the +foredeck. +A little later the king came on to the quay, and a company of men +with +him. Sturla rose and bowed, and bade the king "hail," but the king +answered nothing, and went aft along the ship to the quarter-deck. +They +sailed that day to go south along the coast. But in the evening +when +men unpacked their provisions Sturla sat still, and no one invited +him +to mess. Then a servant of the king's came and asked Sturla if he +had +any meat and drink. Sturla said "NO." Then the king's servant went +to +the king and spoke with him, out of hearing, and then went forward +to +Sturla and said: "You shall go to mess with Thorir Mouth and Erlend +Maw." They took him into their mess, but rather stiffly. When men +were +turning in to sleep, a sailor of the king's asked who should tell +them +stories. There was little answer. Then said he: "Sturla the +Icelander, +will you tell stories?" "As you will," said Sturla. So he told +them +the story of Huld, better and fuller than any one there had ever +heard +it told before. Then many men pushed forward to the fore-deck, +wanting +to hear as clearly as might be, and there was a great crowd. The +queen +asked: "What is that crowd on deck there?" A man answered: "The men +are +listening to the story that the Icelander tells." "What story is +that?" +said she. He answers: "It is about a great troll-wife, and it is a +good +story and well told." The king bade her pay no heed to that, and go +to +sleep. She says: "I think this Icelander must be a good fellow, and +less to blame than he is reported." The King was silent. + +<p> +So the night passed, and the next morning there was no wind for +them, +and the king's ship lay in the same place. Later in the day, when +men +sat at their drink, the king sent dishes from his table to Sturla. +Sturla's messmates were pleased with this: "You bring better luck +than +we thought, if this sort of thing goes on." After dinner the queen +sent +for Sturla and asked him to come to her and bring the troll-wife +story +along with him. So Sturla went aft to the quarter-deck, and greeted +the +king and queen. The king answered little, the queen well and +cheerfully. She asked him to tell the same story he had told +overnight. +He did so, for a great part of the day. When he finished, the queen +thanked him, and many others besides, and made him out in their +minds to +be a learned man and sensible. But the king said nothing; only he +smiled a little. Sturla thought he saw that the king's whole frame +of +mind was brighter than the day before. So he said to the king that +he +had made a poem about him, and another about his father: "I would +gladly +get a hearing for them." The queen said: "Let him recite his poem; +I am +told that he is the best of poets, and his poem will be excellent." +The +king bade him say on, if he would, and repeat the poem he professed +to +have made about him. Sturla chanted it to the end. The queen said: +"To +my mind that is a good poem." The king said to her: "Can you follow +the +poem so clearly?" "I would be fain to have you think so, Sir," said +the +queen. The king said: "I have learned that Sturla is good at +verses." +Sturla took his leave of the king and queen and went to his place. +There was no sailing for the king all that day. In the evening +before +he went to bed he sent for Sturla. And when he came he greeted the +king +and said: "What will you have me to do, Sir?" The king called for a +silver goblet full of wine, and drank some and gave it to Sturla and +said: A health to a friend in wine!" (<i>Vin skal til vinar drekka +</i>). +Sturla said: "God be praised for it!" "Even so, " says the king, +"and +now I wish you to say the poem you have made about my father." +Sturla +repeated it: and when it was finished men praised it much and most +of +all the queen. The king said: "To my thinking, you are a better +reciter +than the Pope."—<i>Sturlunga Saga,</i> vol.ii, p.269.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="saga">A SAGA</a></h4 + +<p> +In the grey beginnings of the world, or ever the flower of justice +had +rooted in the heart, there lived among the daughters of men two +children, sisters, of one house. + +<p> +In childhood did they leap and climb and swim with the men children +of +their race, and were nurtured on the same stories of gods and +heroes. + +<p> +In maidenhood they could do all that a maiden might and more— +delve +could they no less than spin, hunt no less than weave, brew pottage +and +helm ships, wake the harp and tell the stars, face all danger and +laugh +at all pain. + +<p> +Joyous in toil-time and rest-time were they as the days and years of +their youth came and went. Death had spared their house, and +unhappiness knew they none. Yet often as at falling day they sat +before sleep round the hearth of red fire, listening with the +household +to the brave songs of gods and heroes, there would surely creep into +their hearts a shadow—the thought that whatever the years of +their +lives, and whatever the generous deeds, there would for them, as +women, +be no escape at the last from the dire mists of Hela, the fogland +beyond +the grave for all such as die not in battle; no escape for them from +Hela, and no place for ever for them or for their kind among the +glory- +crowned, sword-shriven heroes of echoing Valhalla. + +<p> +That shadow had first fallen in their lusty childhood, had slowly +gathered darkness through the overflowing days of maidenhood, and +now, +in the strong tide of full womanhood, often lay upon their future as +the +moon Odin's wrath lies upon the sun. + +<p> +But stout were they to face danger and laugh at pain, and for all +the +shadow upon their hope they lived brave and songful days—the +one a +homekeeper and in her turn a mother of men: the other unhusbanded, +but +gentle to ignorance and sickness and sorrow through the width and +length +of the land. + +<p> +And thus, facing life fearlessly and ever with a smile, those two +women +lived even unto extreme old age, unto the one's children's +children's +children, labouring truly unto the end and keeping strong hearts +against +the dread day of Hela, and the fate-locked gates of Valhalla.</p> + +<p> +But at the end a wonder. + +<p> +As these sisters looked their last upon the sun, the one in the +ancestral homestead under the eyes of love, the other in a distant +land +among strange faces, behold the wind of Thor, and out of the deep of +heaven the white horses of Odin, All-Father, bearing Valkyrie, +shining +messengers of Valhalla. And those two world-worn women, faithful in +all +their lives, were caught up in death in divine arms and borne far +from +the fogs of Hela to golden thrones among the battle heroes, upon +which +the Nornir, sitting at the loom of life, had from all eternity +graven +their names. + +<p> +And from that hour have the gates of Valhalla been thrown wide to +all +faithful endeavour whether of man or woman.</p> + +<P align=center>JOHN RUSSELL<br> +Headmaster of the King Alfred School.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="legend">THE LEGEND OF ST. CHRISTOPHER</a> +</h4> + +<p> +Christopher was of the lineage of the Canaaneans and he was of a +right +great stature, and had a terrible and fearful cheer and countenance. +And he was twelve cubits of length. And, as it is read in some +histories, when he served and dwelled with the king of Canaaneans, +it +came in his mind that he would seek the greatest prince that was in +the +world and him he would serve and obey. + +<p> +And so far he went that he came to a right great king, of whom the +renown generally was that he was the greatest of the world. And +when +the king saw him received him into his service and made him to dwell +in +his court. + +<p> +Upon a time a minstrel sung tofore him a song in which he named oft +the +devil. And the king which was a Christian man, when he heard him +name +the devil, made anon the sign of the cross in his visage. And when +Christopher saw that, he had great marvel what sign it was and +wherefore +the king made it. And he demanded it of him. And because the king +would not say, he said, "If thou tell me not, I shall no longer +dwell +with thee." And then the king told to him saying, "Alway when I +hear +the devil named, I fear that he should have power over me, and I +garnish +me with this sign that he grieve not nor annoy me." Then +Christopher +said to him, "Thou doubtest the devil that he hurt thee not? Then +is +the devil more mighty and greater than thou art. I am then deceived +of +my hope and purpose; for I supposed that I had found the most mighty +and +the most greatest lord of the world. But I commend thee to God, for +I +will go seek him to be my lord and I his servant." + +<p> +And then he departed from this king and hasted him to seek the +devil. +And as he went by a great desert he saw a great company of knights. +Of +which a knight cruel and horrible came to him and demanded whither +he +went. And Christopher answered to him and said, "I go to seek the +devil +for to be my master." And he said, "I am he that thou seekest." +And +then Christopher was glad and bound himself to be his servant +perpetual, +and took him for his master and lord. + +<p> +And as they went together by a common way, they found there a cross +erect and standing. And anon as the devil saw the cross, he was +afeard +and fled, and left the right way and brought Christopher about by a +sharp desert, and after, when they were past the cross, he brought +him +to the highway that they had left. And when Christopher saw that, +he +marvelled and demanded whereof he doubted that he had left high and +fair +way and had gone so far about by so hard desert. And the devil +would +not tell him in no wise. Then Christopher said to him, "If thou +wilt +not tell me I shall anon depart from thee and shall serve thee no +more." +Therefore the devil was constrained to tell him, and said "There was +a +man called Christ which was hanged on the cross, and when I see his +sign, I am sore afeard and flee from it wheresomever I find it." To +whom Christopher said, "Then he is greater and more mightier than +thou, +when thou art afraid of his sign. And I see well that I have +laboured +in vain since I have not founden the greatest lord of all the earth. +And I will serve thee no longer. Go thy way then: for I will go +seek +Jesus Christ." + +<P> +And when he had long sought and demanded where he should find +Christ, +at last he came into a great desert to an hermit that dwelled there. +And this hermit preached to him of Jesus Christ and informed him in +the +faith diligently. And he said to him, "This king whom thou desirest +to +serve, requireth this service that thou must oft fast." And +Christopher +said to him, "Require of me some other thing and I shall do it. For +that which thou requirest I may not do." And the hermit said, "Thou +must then wake and make many prayers." And Christopher said to him, +"I +wot not what it is. I may do no such thing." And then the hermit +said +unto him, "Knowest thou such a river in which many be perished and +lost?" To whom Christopher said, "I know it well." Then said the +hermit, "Because thou art noble and high of stature and strong in +thy +members, thou shalt be resident by that river and shalt bear over +all +them that shall pass there. Which shall be a thing right convenable +to +Our Lord Jesus Christ, whom thou desirest to serve, and I hope He +shall +shew Himself to thee." Then said Christopher, "Certes, this service +may +I well do, and I promise to Him for to do it." + +<p> +Then went Christopher to this river, and made there his habitation +for +him. And he bare a great pole in his hand instead of a staff, by +which +he sustained him in the water; and bare over all manner of people +without ceasing. And there he abode, thus doing, many days. + +<p> +And on a time, as he slept in his lodge, he heard the voice of a +child +which called him and said, "Christopher, come out and bear me over." +Then he awoke and went out; but he found no man. And when he was +again +in his house, he heard the same voice, and he ran out and found no +body. +The third time he was called, and came thither, and found a child +beside +the rivage of the river: which prayed him goodly to bear him over +the +water. And then Christopher lift up the child on his shoulders and +took +his staff and entered in to the river for to pass. And the water of +the +river arose and swelled more and more. And the child was heavy as +lead. +And always as he went further the water increased and grew more, and +the +child more and more waxed heavy: in so much that Christopher had +great +anguish and feared to be drowned. And when he was escaped with +great +pain and passed the water, and set the child aground, he said to the +child, "Child, thou hast put me in great peril. Thou weighest +almost as +I had had all the world upon me. I might bear no greater burden." +And +the child answered, "Christopher, marvel thou no thing. For thou +hast +not only borne all the world upon thee; but thou hast borne Him that +created and made the world upon thy shoulders. I am Jesus Christ, +the +king to whom thou servest in this work. And that thou mayest know +that +I say to thee truth, set thy staff in the earth by the house, and +thou +shalt see to-morrow that it shall bear flowers and fruit." And anon +he +vanished from his eyes. + +<p> +And then Christopher set his staff in the earth and when he arose on +the +morrow, he found his staff like a palm-tree bearing flowers, leaves +and +dates. + +<p>—<i>From</i> THE LEGENDA AUREA TEMPLE CLASSICS.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="arthur">ARTHUR IN THE CAVE</a></h4> + +<p> +Once upon a time a Welshman was walking on London Bridge, staring at +the +traffic and wondering why there were so many kites hovering about. +He +had come to London, after many adventures with thieves and +highwaymen, +which need not be related here, in charge of a herd of black Welsh +cattle. He had sold them with much profit, and with jingling gold +in +his pocket he was going about to see the sights of the city. + +<p> +He was carrying a hazel staff in his hand, for you must know that a +good +staff is as necessary to a drover as teeth are to his dogs. He +stood +still to gaze at some wares in a shop (for at that time London +Bridge +was shops from beginning to end), when he noticed that a man was +looking +at his stick with a long fixed look. The man after a while came to +him +and asked him where he came from. + +<p> +"I come from my own country," said the Welshman, rather surlily, for +he +could not see what business the man had to ask such a question. + +<p> +"Do not take it amiss," said the stranger: "if you will only answer +my +questions, and take my advice, it will be of greater benefit to you +than +you imagine. Do you remember where you cut that stick?" + +<p> +The Welshman was still suspicious, and said: "What does it matter +where +I cut it?" + +<p> +"It matters," said the questioner, "because there is a treasure +hidden +near the spot where you cut that stick. If you can remember the +place +and conduct me to it, I will put you in possession of great riches." + +<p> +The Welshman now understood he had to deal with a sorcerer, and he +was +greatly perplexed as to what to do. On the one hand, he was tempted +by +the prospect of wealth; on the other hand, he knew that the sorcerer +must have derived his knowledge from devils, and he feared to have +anything to do with the powers of darkness. The cunning man strove +hard +to persuade him, and at length made him promise to shew the place +where +he cut his hazel staff. + +<p> +The Welshman and the magician journeyed together to Wales. They +went to +Craig y Dinas, the Rock of the Fortress, at the head of the Neath +valley, near Pont Nedd Fechan, and the Welshman, pointing to the +stock +or root of an old hazel, said: "This is where I cut my stick." + +<p> +"Let us dig," said the sorcerer. They digged until they came to a +broad, flat stone. Prying this up, they found some steps leading +downwards. They went down the steps and along a narrow passage +until +they came to a door. "Are you brave?" asked the sorcerer; "will you +come in with me?" + +<p> +"I will," said the Welshman, his curiosity getting the better of his +fear. + +<p> +They opened the door, and a great cave opened out before them. +There +was a faint red light in the cave, and they could see everything. +The +first thing they came to was a bell. + +<p> +"Do not touch that bell," said the sorcerer, "or it will be all over +with us both." + +<p> +As they went further in, the Welshman saw that the place was not +empty. +There were soldiers lying down asleep, thousands of them, as far as +ever +the eye could see. Each one was clad in bright armour, the steel +helmet +of each was on his head, the shining shield of each was on his arm, +the +sword of each was near his hand, each had his spear stuck in the +ground +near him, and each and all were asleep. + +<p> +In the midst of the cave was a great round table at which sat +warriors +whose noble features and richly-dight armour proclaimed that they +were +not as the roll of common men. + +<p> +Each of these, too, had his head bent down in sleep. On a golden +throne +on the further side of the round table was a king of gigantic +stature +and august presence. In his hand, held below the hilt, was a mighty +sword with scabbard and haft of gold studded with gleaming gems; on +his +head was a crown set with precious stones which flashed and glinted +like +so many points of fire. Sleep had set its seal on his eyelids also. + +<p> +"Are they asleep?" asked the Welshman, hardly believing his own +eyes. + +<p> +"Yes, each and all of them," answered the sorcerer. "But, if you +touch +yonder bell, they will all awake." + +<p> +"How long have they been asleep?" + +<p> +"For over a thousand years." + +<p> +"Who are they?" + +<p> +"Arthur's warriors, waiting for the time to come when they shall +destroy +all the enemy of the Cymry and re-possess the strand of Britain, +establishing their own king once more at Caer Lleon." + +<p> +"Who are these sitting at the round table?" + +<p> +"These are Arthur's knights—Owain, the son of Urien; Cai, the +son +of Cynyr; Gnalchmai, the son of Gwyar; Peredir, the son of Efrawe; +Geraint, the son of Erbin; Ciernay, the son of Celhddon; Edeyrn, the +son +of Nudd; Cymri, the son of Clydno." + +<p> +"And on the golden throne?" broke in the Welshman. + +<p> +"Is Arthur himself, with his sword Excalibur in his hand," replied +the +sorcerer. + +<p> +Impatient by this time at the Welshman's questions, the sorcerer +hastened to a great heap of yellow gold on the floor of the cave. +He +took up as much as he could carry, and bade his companion do the +same. +"It is time for us to go," he then said, and he led the way towards +the +door by which they had entered. + +<p> +But the Welshman was fascinated by the sight of the countless +soldiers +in their glittering arms—all asleep. + +<p> +"How I should like to see them all awaking!" he said to himself. "I +will touch the bell—I <i>must</i> see them all arising from +their +sleep." + +<p> +When they came to the bell, he struck it until it rang through the +whole +place. As soon as it rang, lo! the thousands of warriors leapt to +their +feet and the ground beneath them shook with the sound of the steel +arms. +And a great voice came from their midst: "Who rang the bell? Has +the +day come?" + +<p> +The sorcerer was so much frightened that he shook like an aspen +leaf. +He shouted in answer: "No, the day has not come. Sleep on." + +<p> +The mighty host was all in motion, and the Welshman's eyes were +dazzled +as he looked at the bright steel arms which illumined the cave as +with +the light of myriad flames of fire. + +<p> +"Arthur," said the voice again, "awake; the bell has rung, the day +is +breaking. Awake, Arthur the Great." + +<p> +"No," shouted the sorcerer, "it is still night. Sleep on, Arthur +the +Great." + +<p> +A sound came from the throne. Arthur was standing, and the jewels in +his +crown shone like bright stars above the countless throng. His voice +was +strong and sweet like the sound of many waters, and he said: + +<p> +"My warriors, the day has not come when the Black Eagle and the +Golden +Eagle shall go to war. It is only a seeker after gold who has rung +the +bell. Sleep on, my warriors; the morn of Wales has not yet dawned." + +<p> +A peaceful sound like the distant sigh of the sea came over the +cave, +and in a trice the soldiers were all asleep again. The sorcerer +hurried +the Welshman out of the cave, moved the stone back to its place and +vanished. + +<p> +Many a time did the Welshman try to find his way into the cave +again, +but though he dug over every inch of the hill, he has never again +found +the entrance to Arthur's Cave.</p> + +<p> +—<i>From</i> "THE WELSH FAIRY BOOK,"<br> +by W. JENKYN THOMAS. FISHER UNWIN.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 ALIGN=CENTER><a name="hafiz">HAFIZ, THE STONE-CUTTER</a></h4> + +<p> +There was once a stone-cutter whose name was Hafiz, and all day long +he +chipped, chipped, chipped at his block. And often he grew very +weary of +his task and he would say to himself impatiently, "Why should I not +have +pleasure and amusement as other folk have?" + +<p> +One day, when the sun was very hot and when he felt specially weary, +he +suddenly heard the sound of many feet, and, looking up from his +work, he +saw a great procession coming his way. It was the King, mounted on +a +splendid charger, all his soldiers to the right, in their shining +armour, and the servants to the left, dressed in gorgeous clothing, +ready to do his behests. + +<p> +And Hafiz said: "How splendid to be a King! If only I could be a +King, +if only for ten minutes, so that I might know what it feels like!" +And +then, even as he spoke, he seemed to be dreaming, and in his dream +he +sang this little song: + +<p> +"Ah me! Ah me!<br> +If Hafiz only the King could be!"[51] + +<p> +And then a voice from the air around seemed to answer him and to +say: + +<p> +"Be thou the King." + +<p> +And Hafiz became the King, and he it was that sat on the splendid +charger, and they were his soldiers to the right and his servants to +the +left. And Hafiz said: "I am King, and there is no one stronger in +the +whole world than I." + +<p> +But soon, in spite of the golden canopy over his head, Hafiz began +to +feel the terrible heat of the rays of the sun, and soon he noticed +that +the soldiers and servants were weary, that his horse drooped, and +that +he, Hafiz, was overcome, and he said angrily: "What! Is there +something +stronger in the world than a King?" And, almost without knowing it, +he +again sang his song—more boldly than the first time: + +<p> +"Ah me! Ah me!<br> +If Hafiz only the Sun could be!" + +<p> +And the Voice answered: + +<p>"Be thou the Sun." + +<p> +And Hafiz became the Sun, and shone down upon the Earth, but, +because he +did not know how to shine very wisely, he shone very fiercely, so +that +the crops dried up, and folk grew sick and died. And then there +arose +from the East a little cloud which slipped between Hafiz and the +Earth, +so that he could no longer shine down upon it, and he said: "Is +there +something stronger in the world than the Sun?" + +<p> +"Ah me! Ah me!<br> +If Hafiz only the Cloud could be!" + +<p> +"Be thou the Cloud. + +<p> +And Hafiz became the Cloud, and rained down water upon the Earth, +but, +because he did not know how to do so wisely, there fell so much rain +that all the little rivulets became great rivers, and all the great +rivers overflowed their banks, and carried everything before them in +swift torrent—all except one great rock which stood unmoved. +And +Hafiz said: "Is there something stronger than the Cloud?" + +<p> +"Ah me! Ah me!<br> +If Hafiz only the Rock could be!" + +<p> +And the Voice said: + +<p> +"Be thou the Rock." + +<p> +And Hafiz became the Rock, and the Cloud disappeared and the waters +went +down. + +<p> +And Hafiz the Rock, saw coming towards him a man—but he could +not +see the face. As the man approached he suddenly raised a hammer and +struck Hafiz, so that he felt it through all his stony body. And +Hafiz +said: "Is there something stronger in the world than the Rock? + +<p> +"Ah me! Ah me!<br> +If Hafiz only that Man might be!" + +<p> +And the Voice said: + +<p> +"Be thou—Thyself." + +<p> +And Hafiz seized the hammer and said: + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +"The Sun was stronger than the King, the Cloud was stronger than the +sun, the Rock was stronger then the Cloud, but I, Hafiz, was +stronger +than all." +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p align=center><i>Adapted and arranged by the Author.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="health">TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH</a></h4> +<P align=center>(<i>From the Russian</i>)</p> + +<p> +Long long ago there lived a King who was such a mighty monarch that +whenever he sneezed everyone in the whole country had to say, "To +your +good health!" Everyone said it except the Shepherd with the bright +blue +eyes, and he would not say it. + +<p> +The King heard of this and was very angry, and sent for the Shepherd +to +appear before him. + +<p> +The Shepherd came and stood before the throne, where the King sat +looking very grand and powerful. But however grand or powerful he +might +be, the Shepherd did not feel a bit afraid of him. + +<p> +"Say at once 'To my good health'!" cried the King. + +<p> +"To my good health," replied the Shepherd. + +<p> +"To mine—to <i>mine,</i> you rascal, you vagabond!" stormed +the +King. + +<p> +"To mine, to mine, Your Majesty," was the answer. + +<p> +"But to <i>mine</i>—to my own!" roared the King, and beat on +his +breast in a rage. + +<p> +"Well, yes; to mine, of course, to my own," cried the Shepherd, and +gently tapped his breast. + +<p> +The King was beside himself with fury and did not know what to do, +when +the Lord chamberlain interfered: + +<p> +"Say at once—say this very moment, 'To your health, Your +Majesty,' +for if you don't say it you will lose your life," he whispered. + +<p> +"No, I won't say it tell I get the Princess for my wife," was the +Shepherd's answer. + +<p> +Now the Princess was sitting on a little throne beside the King, her +father, and she look as sweet and lovely as a little golden dove. +When +she heard what the Shepherd said, she could not help laughing, for +there +is no denying the fact that this young shepherd with the blue eyes +pleased her very much; indeed, he pleased her better than any king's +son +she had yet seen. + +<p> +But the King was not as pleasant as his daughter, and gave orders to +throw the Shepherd into the white bear's pit. + +<p> +The guards led him away and thrust him into the pit with the white +bear, +who had had nothing to eat for two days and was very hungry. The +door +of the pit was hardly closed when the bear rushed at the shepherd; +but +when it saw his eyes it was so frightened that it was ready to eat +itself. It shrank away into a corner and gazed at him from there, +and +in spite of being so famished, did not dare to touch him, but sucked +its +own paws from sheer hunger. The Shepherd felt that if he once +removed +his eyes off the beast he was a dead man, and in order to keep +himself +awake he made songs and sang them, and so the night went by. + +<p> +Next morning the Lord Chamberlain came to see the Shepherd's bones, +and +was amazed to find him alive and well. He led him to the King, who +fell +into a furious passion, and said: + +<p> +"Well, you have learned what it is to be very near death, and now +will +you say, 'To my very good health'?" + +<p> +But the Shepherd answered: + +<p> +"I am not afraid of ten deaths! I will only say it if I may have +the +Princess for my wife." + +<p> +"Then go to your death," cried the King, and ordered him to be +thrown +into the den with the wild boars. + +<p> +The wild boars had not been fed for a week, and when the Shepherd +was +thrust into their den they rushed at him to tear him to pieces. But +the +Shepherd took a little flute out of the sleeve of his jacket, and +began +to play a merry tune, on which the wild boars first of all shrank +shyly +away, and then got up on their hind legs and danced gaily. The +Shepherd +would have given anything to be able to laugh, they looked so funny; +but +he dared not stop playing, for he knew well enough that the moment +he +stopped they would fall upon him and tear him to pieces. His eyes +were +of no use to him here, for he could not have stared ten wild boars +in +the face at once; so he kept playing, and the wild boars danced very +slowly, as if in a minuet; then by degrees he played faster and +faster, +till they could hardly twist and turn quickly enough, and ended by +all +falling over each other in a heap, quite exhausted and out of +breath. + +<p> +Then the Shepherd ventured to laugh at last; and he laughed so long +and +so loud that when the Lord Chamberlain came early in the morning, +expecting to find only his bones, the tears were still running down +his +cheeks from laughter. + +<p> +As soon as the King was dressed the Shepherd was again brought +before +him; but he was more angry than ever to think the wild boars had not +torn the man to bits, and he said: + +<p> +"Well, you have learned what it feels to be near ten deaths, <i>now +</i> +say 'To my good health'!" + +<p> +But the shepherd broke in with: + +<p> +"I do not fear a hundred deaths; and I will only say it if I may +have +the Princess for my wife." + +<p> +"Then go to a hundred deaths!" roared the King, and ordered the +Shepherd +to be thrown down the deep vault of scythes. + +<p> +The guards dragged him away to a dark dungeon, in the middle of +which +was a deep well with sharp scythes all round it. At the bottom of +the +well was a little light by which one could see, if anyone was thrown +in, +whether he had fallen to the bottom. + +<p> +When the Shepherd was dragged to the dungeon he begged the guards to +leave him alone a little while that he might look down into the pit +of +scythes; perhaps he might after all make up his mind to say, "To +your +good health" to the King. + +<p> +So the guards left him alone, and he stuck up his long stick near +the +wall, hung his cloak round the stick and put his hat on the top. He +also hung his knapsack up beside the cloak, so that it might seem to +have some body within it. When this was done, he called out to the +guards and said that he had considered the matter, but after all he +could not make up his mind to say what the King wished. + +<p> +The guards came in, threw the hat and cloak, knapsack and stick all +down +in the well together, watched to see how they put out the light at +the +bottom, and came away, thinking that now there was really an end to +the +Shepherd. But he had hidden in a dark corner, and was now laughing +to +himself all the time. + +<p> +Quite early next morning came the Lord Chamberlain with a lamp, and +he +nearly fell backwards with surprise when he saw the Shepherd alive +and +well. He brought him to the King, whose fury was greater than ever, +but +who cried: + +<p> +"Well, now you have been near a hundred deaths; will you say, 'To +your +good health'?" + +<p> +But the Shepherd only gave the answer: + +<p> +"I won't say it till the Princess is my wife." + +<p> +"Perhaps, after all, you may do it for less," said the King, who saw +that there was no chance of making away with the shepherd; and he +ordered the state coach to be got ready; then he made the Shepherd +get +in with him and sit beside him, and ordered the coachman to drive to +the +silver wood. + +<p> +When they reached it, he said: + +<p> +"Do you see this silver wood? Well, if you will say 'To your good +health,' I will give it to you." + +<p> +The shepherd turned hot and cold by turns, but he still persisted: + +<p> +"I will not say it till the Princess is my wife." + +<p> +The King was much vexed; he drove further on till they came to a +splendid castle, all of gold, and then he said: + +<p> +"Do you see this golden castle? Well, I will give you that too, the +silver wood and the gold castle, if only you will say one thing to +me: +'To your good health.'" + +<p> +The Shepherd gaped and wondered, and was quite dazzled but he still +said: + +<p> +"No, I will not say it till I have the Princess for my wife." + +<p> +This time the King was overwhelmed with grief, and gave orders to +drive +on to the diamond pond and there he tried once more: + +<p> +"You shall have the all—all, if you will but say 'To your good +health.'" + +<p> +The Shepherd had to shut his staring eyes tight not to be dazzled +with +the brilliant pond, but still he said: + +<p> +"No, no; I will not say it till I have the Princess for my wife." + +<p> +Then the King saw that all his efforts were useless, and that he +might +as well give in; so he said: + +<p> +"Well, well, it is all the same to me—I will give you my +daughter +to wife; but then you really must say to me, 'To your good health.'" + +<p> +"Of course I'll say it; why should I not say it? It stands to +reason +that I shall say it then." + +<p> +At this the King was more delighted than anyone could have believed. +He made it known all through the country that there were going to be +great rejoicings, as the Princess was going to be married. And +everyone +rejoiced to think that the Princess who had refused so many royal +suitors, should have ended by falling in love with the staring-eyed +Shepherd. + +<p> +There was such a wedding as had never been seen. Everyone ate and +drank +and danced. Even the sick were feasted, and quite tiny new-born +children had presents given them. But the greatest merrymaking was +in +the King's palace; there the best bands played and the best food was +cooked. A crowd of people sat down to table, and all was fun and +merrymaking. + +<p> +And when the groomsman, according to custom, brought in the great +boar's +head on a big dish and placed it before the King, so that he might +carve +it and give everyone a share, the savoury smell was so strong that +the +King began to sneeze with all his might. + +<p> +"To your very good health!" cried the Shepherd before anyone else, +and +the King was so delighted that he did not regret having given him +his +daughter. + +<p> +In time, when the old King died, the Shepherd succeeded him. He +made a +very good king, and never expected his people to wish him well +against +their wills: but, all the same, everyone did wish him well, because +they +loved him.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="cock">THE PROUD COCK</a></h4> + +<p> +There was once a cock who grew so dreadfully proud that he would +have +nothing to say to anybody. He left his house, it being far beneath +his +dignity to have any trammel of that sort in his life, and as for his +former acquaintance, he cut them all. + +<p> +One day, whilst walking about, he came to a few little sparks of +fire +which were nearly dead. + +<p> +They cried out to him: "Please fan us with your wings, and we shall +come +to the full vigour of life again." + +<p> +But he did not deign to answer, and as he was going away one of the +sparks said; "Ah well! we shall die, but our big brother, the Fire +will +pay you out for this one day." + +<p> +On another day he was airing himself in a meadow, showing himself +off in +a very superb set of clothes. A voice calling from somewhere said: +"Please be so good as to drop us into the water again." + +<p> +He looked about and saw a few drops of water: they had got separated +from their friends in the river, and were pining away with grief. +"Oh! +please be so good as to drop us into the water again," they said; +but, +without any answer, he drank up the drops. He was too proud and a +great +deal too big to talk to a poor little puddle of water; but the drops +said: "Our big brother, the Water, will one day take you in hand, +you +proud and senseless creature." + +<p> +Some days afterwards, during a great storm of rain, thunder and +lightning, the cock took shelter in a little empty cottage, and shut +to +the door; and he thought: "I am clever; I am in comfort. What fools +people are to top out in a storm like this! What's that?" thought +he. +"I never heard a sound like that before." + +<p> +In a little while it grew much louder, and when a few minutes had +passed, it was a perfect howl. "Oh!" thought he, "this will never +do. +I must stop it somehow. But what is it I have to stop?" + +<p> +He soon found it was the wind, shouting through the keyhole, so he +plugged up the keyhole with a bit of clay, and then the wind was +able to +rest. He was very tired with whistling so long through the keyhole, +and +he said: "Now, if ever I have at any time a chance of doing a good +turn +to that princely domestic fowl, I well do it." + +<p> +Weeks afterwards, the cock looked in at a house door: he seldom went +there, because the miser to whom the house belonged almost starved +himself, and so, of course, there was nothing over for anybody else. + +<p> +To his amazement the cock saw the miser bending over a pot on the +fire. +At last the old fellow turned round to get a spoon with which to +stir +his pot, and then the cock, waking up, looked in and saw that the +miser +was making oyster-soup, for he had found some oyster-shells in an +ash- +pit, and to give the mixture a colour he had put in a few halfpence +in +the pot. + +<p> +The miser chanced to turn quickly round, while the cock was peering +into +the saucepan, and, chuckling to himself, he said: "I shall have +chicken +broth after all." + +<p> +He tripped up the cock into the pot and shut the lid on. The bird, +feeling warm, said: "Water, water, don't boil!" But the water only +said: "You drank up my young brothers once: don't ask a favour of <i +> +me."</i> + +<p> +Then he called out to the Fire: "Oh! kind Fire, don't boil the +water." +But the fire replied: "You once let my young sisters die: you cannot +expect any mercy from me." So he flared up and boiled the water all +the +faster. + +<p> +At last, when the cock got unpleasantly warm, he thought of the +wind, +and called out: "Oh, Wind, come to my help!" and the Wind said: +"Why, +there is that noble domestic bird in trouble. I will help him." So +he +came down the chimney, blew out the fire, blew the lid off the pot, +and +blew the cock far away into the air, and at last settled him on a +steeple, where the cock remained ever since. And people say that +the +halfpence which were in the pot when it was boiling have given him +the +queer brown colour he still wears. + +<p>—<i>From the Spanish</i>.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 ALIGN=CENTER><a name="sneg">SNEGOURKA</a></h4> + +<p> +There lived once, in Russia, a peasant and his wife who would have +been +as happy as the day is long, if only God had given them a little +child. + +<p> +One day, as they were watching the children playing in the snow, the +man +said to the woman: + +<P +>"Wife, shall we go out and help the children make a snowball?" + +<p> +But the wife answered, smiling: + +<p> +"Nay, husband, but since God has given us no little child, let us go +and +fashion one from the snow." + +<p> +And she put on her long blue cloak, and he put on his long brown +coat, +and they went out onto the crisp snow, and began to fashion the +little +child. + +<p> +First, they made the feet and the legs and the little body, and then +they took a ball of snow for the head. And at that moment a +stranger in +a long cloak, with his hat well drawn over his face, passed that +way, +and said: "Heaven help your undertaking!" + +<p> +And the peasants crossed themselves and said: + +<p> +"It is well to ask help from Heaven in all we do." + +<p> +Then they went on fashioning the little child. And they made two +holes +for the eyes and formed the nose and the mouth. And then— +wonder +of wonders—the little child came alive, and breath came from +its +nostrils and parted lips. + +<p> +And the man was feared, and said to his wife: "What have we done?" + +<p> +And the wife said: "This is the little girl child God has sent us." +And +she gathered it into her arms, and the loose snow fell away from the +little creature. Her hair became golden and her eyes were as blue +as +forget-me-nots—but there was no colour in her cheeks, because +there was no blood in her veins. + +<p> +In a few days she was like a child of three or four, and in a few +weeks +she seemed to be the age of nine or ten, and ran about gaily and +prattled with the other children, who loved her so dearly, though +she +was so different from them. + +<p> +Only, happy as she was, and dearly as her parents loved her, there +was +one terror in her life, and that was the sun. And during the day +she +would run and hide herself in cool, damp places away from the +sunshine, +and this the other children could not understand. + +<p> +As the Spring advanced and the days grew longer and warmed, little +Snegourka (for this was the name by which she was known) grew paler +and +thinner, and her mother would often ask her: "What ails you, my +darling?" and Snegourka would say: "Nothing, Mother but I wish the +sun +were not so bright." + +<p> +One day, on St. John's Day, the children of the village came to +fetch +her for a day in the woods, and they gathered flowers for her and +did +all they to make her happy, but it was only when the great red sun +went +down that Snegourka drew a deep breath of relief and spread her +little +hands out to the cool evening air. And the boys, glad at her +gladness, +said: "Let us do something for Snegourka. Let us light a bonfire." +And Snegourka not knowing what a bonfire was, she clapped her hands +and +was as merry and eager as they. And she helped them gather the +sticks, +and then they all stood round the pile and the boys set fire to the +wood. + +<p> +Snegourka stood watching the flames and listening to the crackle of +the +wood: and then suddenly they heard a tiny sound—and looking at +the +place where Snegourka had been standing, they saw nothing but a +little +snow-drift fast melting. And they called and called, "Snegourka! +Snegourka!" thinking she had run into the forest. But there was no +answer. Snegourka had disappeared from this life as mysteriously as +she +had come into it. + +<p>—<i>Adapted by the author.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="nixie">THE WATER NIXIE</a></h4> + +<p> +The river was so clear because it was the home of a very beautiful +Water +Nixie who lived in it, and who sometimes could emerge from her home +and +sit in woman's form upon the bank. She had a dark green smock upon +her, +the colour of the water-weed that waves as the water wills it, deep, +deep down. And in her long wet hair were the white flowers of the +water-violet, and she held a reed mace in her hand. Her face was +very +sad because she had lived a long life, and known so many adventures, +ever since she was a baby, which was nearly a hundred years ago. +For +creatures of the streams and trees live a long, long time, and when +they +die they lose themselves in Nature. That means that they are +forever +clouds, or trees, or rivers, and never have the form of men and +women +again. + +<p> +All water creatures would live, if they might choose it, in the sea, +where they are born. It is in the sea they float hand-in-hand upon +the +crested billows, and sink deep in the great troughs of the strong +waves, +that are green as jade. They follow the foam and lose themselves in +the +wide ocean—</p> + +<p align=center> +"Where great whales come sailing by,<br> +Sail and sail with unshut eye;"</p> + +<p> +and they store in the Sea King's palace the golden phosphor of the +sea. +But this Water Nixie had lost her happiness through not being good. +She +had forgotten many things that had been told her, and she had done +many +things that grieved others. She had stolen somebody else's property +—quite a large bundle of happiness—which belonged +elsewhere +and not to her. Happiness is generally made to fit the person who +owns +it, just as do your shoes, or clothes; so that when you take someone +else's it's very little good to you, for it fits badly, and you can +never forget it isn't yours. + +<p> +So what with one thing and another, this Water Nixie had to be +punished, +and the Queen of the Sea had banished her from the waves.[52] + +<p> +"You shall live for a long time in little places where you will +weary of +yourself. You will learn to know yourself so well that everything +you +want will seem too good for you, and you will cease to claim it. +And +so, in time, you shall get free." + +<p> +Then the Nixie had to rise up and go away, and be shut into the +fastness +of a very small space, according to the words of the Queen. And +this +small space was—a tear. + +<p> +At first she could hardly express her misery, and by thinking so +continuously of the wideness and savour of the sea, she brought a +dash +of the brine with her, that makes the saltness of our tears. She +became +many times smaller than her own stature; even then, by standing +upright +and spreading wide her arms, she touched with her finger-tips the +walls +of her tiny crystal home. How she longed that this tear might be +wept, +and the walls of her prison shattered! But the owner of this tear +was +of a very proud nature, and she was so sad that tears seemed to her +in +no wise to express her grief. + +<p> +She was a Princess who lived in a country that was not her home. +What +were tears to her? If she could have stood on the top of the very +highest hill and with both hands caught the great winds of heaven, +strong as they, and striven with them, perhaps she might have felt +as if +she expressed all she knew. Or, if she could have torn down the +stars +from the heavens, or cast her mantle over the sun. But tears! +Would +they have helped to tell her sorrow? You cry if you soil your +copybook, +don't you? or pinch your hand? So you may imagine the Nixie's home +was +a safe one, and she turned round and round in the captivity of that +tear. + +<p> +For twenty years she dwelt in that strong heart, till she grew to be +accustomed to her cell. At last, in this wise came her release. + +<p> +An old gipsy came one morning to the Castle and begged to see the +Princess. She must see her, she cried. And the Princess came down +the +steps to meet her, and the gipsy gave her a small roll of paper, but +in +the midst of the page was a picture, small as the picture reflected +in +the iris of an eye. The picture shewed a hill, with one tree on the +sky-line, and a long road wound round the hill. + +<p> +And suddenly in the Princess' memory a voice spoke to her. Many +sounds +she heard, gathered up into one great silence, like the quiet there +is +in forest spaces, when it is Summer and the green is deep:—</p +> + +<P align=center> +"Blessed are they that have the home longing,<br> +For they shall go home."</p> + + +<p> +Then the Princess gave the gipsy two golden pieces, and went up to +her +chamber, and long that night she sat, looking out upon the sky. + +<p> +She had no need to look upon the honeyed scroll, though she held it +closely. Clearly before her did she see that small picture: the +hill, +and the tree, and the winding road, imaged as if mirrored in the +iris of +an eye. And in her memory she was upon that road, and the hill rose +beside her, and the little tree was outlined, every twig of it, +against +the sky. + +<p> +And as she saw all this, an overwhelming love of the place arose in +her, +a love of that certain bit of country that was so sharp and strong, +that +it stung and swayed her, as she leaned on the window-sill. + +<p> +And because the love of a country is one of the deepest loves you +may +feel, the band of her control was loosened, and the tears came +welling +to her eyes. Up they brimmed and over in salty rush and follow, +dimming +her eyes, magnifying everything, speared for a moment on her +eyelashes, +then shimmering to their fall. And at last came the tear that held +the +disobedient Nixie. + +<p> +Splish! it fell. And she was free. + +<p> +If you could have seen how pretty she looked standing there, about +the height of a grass-blade, wringing out her long wet hair. Every +bit +of moisture she wrung out of it, she was so glad to be quit of that +tear. Then she raised her two arms above her in one delicious +stretch, +and if you had been the size of a mustard-seed perhaps you might +have +heard her laughing. Then she grew a little, and grew and grew, till +she +was about the height of a bluebell, and as slender to see. + +<p> +She stood looking at the splash on the window-sill that had been her +prison so long, and then with three steps of her bare feet, she +reached +the jessamine that was growing by the window, and by this she swung +herself to the ground. + +<p> +Away she sped over the dew-drenched meadows till she came to the +running +brook, and with all her longing in her outstretched hands, she +kneeled +down by the crooked willows among all the comfry and the +loosestrife, +and the yellow irises and the reeds. + +<p> +Then she slid into the wide, cool stream.</p> + +<p>— +<i>From</i> "THE CHILDREN AND THE PICTURES."<br> +PAMELA TENNANT (LADY GLENCONNER).</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="rose">THE BLUE ROSE</a></h4> + +<p> +There lived once upon a time in China a wise Emperor who had one +daughter. His daughter was remarkable for her perfect beauty. Her +feet +were the smallest in the world; her eyes were long and slanting and +bright as brown onyxes, and when you heard her laugh it was like the +listening to a tinkling stream or to the chimes of a silver bell. +Moreover, the Emperor's daughter was as wise as she was beautiful, +and +she chanted the verse of the great poets better than anyone in the +land. +The Emperor was old in years; his son was married and had begotten a +son; he was, therefore, quite happy with regard to the succession to +the +throne, but he wished before he died to see his daughter wedded to +someone who should be worthy of her. + +<p> +Many suitors presented themselves to the palace as soon as it became +know that the Emperor desired a son-in-law, but when they reached +the +palace they were met by the Lord Chamberlain, who told them that the +Emperor had decided that only the man who found and brought back the +blue rose should marry his daughter. The suitors were much puzzled +by +this order. What was the blue rose and where was it to be found? +In +all, a hundred and fifty at once put away from them all thought of +winning the hand of the Emperor's daughter, since they considered +the +condition imposed to be absurd. + +<p> +The other hundred set about trying to find the blue rose. One of +them +—his name was Ti-Fun-Ti—he was a merchant and was +immensely +rich, at once went to the largest shop in the town and said to the +shopkeeper, "I want a blue rose, the best you have." + +<p> +The shopkeeper, with many apologies, explained that he did not stock +blue roses. He had red roses in profusion, white, pink and yellow +roses, but no blue roses. There had hitherto been no demand for the +article. + +<p> +"Well," said Ti-Fun-Ti, "you must get one for me. I do not mind how +much money it costs, but I must have a blue rose." + +<p> +The shopkeeper said he would do his best, but he feared it would be +an +expensive article and difficult to procure. Another of the suitors, +whose name I have forgotten, was a warrior, and extremely brave; he +mounted his horse, and taking with him a hundred archers and a +thousand +horsemen, he marched into the territory of the King of the Five +Rivers, +whom he knew to be the richest king in the world and the possessor +of +the rarest treasures, and demanded of him the blue rose, threatening +him +with a terrible doom should he be reluctant to give it up. + +<p> +The King of the Five Rivers, who disliked soldiers, and had a horror +of +noise, physical violence, and every kind of fuss (his bodyguard was +armed solely with fans and sunshades), rose from the cushions on +which +he was lying when the demand was made, and, tinkling a small bell, +said +to the servant who straightway appeared, "Fetch me the blue rose." + +<p> +The servant retired and returned presently bearing on a silken +cushion a +large sapphire which was carved so as to imitate a full-blown rose +with +all its petals. + +<p> +"This," said the king of the Five Rivers, "is the blue rose. You +are +welcome to it." + +<p> +The warrior took it, and after making brief, soldier-like thanks, he +went straight back to the Emperor's palace, saying that he had lost +no +time in finding the blue rose. He was ushered into the presence of +the +Emperor, who as soon as he heard the warrior's story and saw the +blue +rose which had been brought sent for his daughter and said to her: +"This +intrepid warrior has brought you what he claims to be the blue rose. +Has he accomplished the quest?" + +<p> +The Princess took the precious object in her hands, and after +examining +it for a moment, said: "This is not a rose at all. It is a +sapphire; I +have no need of precious stones." And the warrior went away in +discomfiture. + +<p> +The merchant, hearing of the warrior's failure, was all the more +anxious +to win the prize. He sought the shopkeeper and said to him: "Have +you +got me the blue rose?" I trust you have; because, if not, I shall +most +assuredly be the means of your death. My brother-in-law is chief +magistrate, and I am allied by marriage to all the chief officials +in +the kingdom." + +<p> +The shopkeeper turned pale and said: "Sir, give me three days and I +will +procure you the rose without fail." The merchant granted him the +three +days and went away. Now the shopkeeper was at his wit's end as to +what +to do, for he knew well there was no such thing as a blue rose. For +two +days he did nothing but moan and wring his hands, and on the third +day +he went to his wife and said, "Wife, we are ruined." + +<p> +But his wife, who was a sensible woman, said: "Nonsense. If there +is +no such thing as a blue rose we must make one. Go to the chemist +and +ask him for a strong dye which well change a white rose into a blue +one." + +<p> +So the shopkeeper went to the chemist and asked him for a dye, and +the +chemist gave him a bottle of red liquid, telling him to pick a white +rose and to dip its stalk into the liquid and the rose would turn +blue. +The shopkeeper did as he was told; the rose turned into a beautiful +blue +and the shopkeeper took it to the merchant, who at once went with it +to +the palace saying that he had found the blue rose. + +<p> +He was ushered into the presence of the Emperor, who as soon as he +saw +the blue rose sent for his daughter and said to her: "This wealthy +merchant has brought you what he claims to be the blue rose. Has he +accomplished the quest?" + +<p> +The Princess took the flower in her hands and after examining it for +a +moment said: "This is a white rose, its stalk has been dipped in a +poisonous dye and it has turned blue. Were a butterfly to settle +upon +it it would die of the potent fume. Take it back. I have no need +of a +dyed rose." And she returned it to the merchant with many elegantly +expressed thanks. + +<p> +The other ninety-eight suitors all sought in various ways for the +blue +rose. Some of them traveled all over the world seeking it; some of +them +sought the aid of wizards and astrologers, and one did not hesitate +to +invoke the help of the dwarfs that live underground; but all of +them, +whether they traveled in far countries or took counsel with wizards +and +demons or sat pondering in lonely places, failed to find the blue +rose. + +<p> +At last they all abandoned the quest except the Lord Chief Justice, +who +was the most skillful lawyer and statesman in the country. After +thinking over the matter for several months he sent for the most +famous +artist in the country and said to him: "Make me a china cup. Let it +be +milk-white in colour and perfect in shape, and paint on it a rose, a +blue rose." + +<p> +The artist made obeisance and withdrew, and worked for two months at +the Lord Chief Justice's cup. In two months' time it was finished, +and +the world has never seen such a beautiful cup, so perfect in +symmetry, +so delicate in texture, and the rose on it, the blue rose, was a +living +flower, picked in fairyland and floating on the rare milky surface +of +the porcelain. When the Lord Chief Justice saw it he gasped with +surprise and pleasure, for he was a great lover of porcelain, and +never +in his life had he seen such a piece. He said to himself, "Without +doubt the blue rose is here on this cup and nowhere else." + +<p> +So, after handsomely rewarding the artist, he went to the Emperor's +palace and said that he had brought the blue rose. He was ushered +into +the Emperor's presence, who as he saw the cup sent for his daughter +and +said to her: "This eminent lawyer has brought you what he claims to +be +the blue rose. Has he accomplished the quest?" + +<p> +The Princess took the bowl in her hands, and after examining it for +a +moment said: "This bowl is the most beautiful piece of china I have +ever +seen. If you are kind enough to let me keep it I will put it aside +until I receive the blue rose. For so beautiful is it that no other +flower is worthy to be put in it except the blue rose." + +<p> +The Lord Chief Justice thanked the Princess for accepting the bowl +with +many elegantly turned phrases, and he went away in discomfiture. + +<p> +After this there was no one in the whole country who ventured on the +quest of the blue rose. It happened that not long after the Lord +Chief +Justice's attempt a strolling minstrel visited the kingdom of the +Emperor. One evening he was playing his one-stringed instrument +outside +a dark wall. It was a summer's evening, and the sun had sunk in a +glory +of dusty gold, and in the violet twilight one or two stars were +twinkling like spearheads. There was an incessant noise made by the +croaking of frogs and the chatter of grasshoppers. The minstrel was +singing a short song over and over again to a monotonous tune. The +sense of it was something like this:</p> + +<P align=center> +I watched beside the willow trees<br> +The river, as the evening fell,<br> +The twilight came and brought no breeze,<br> +Nor dew, nor water for the well.</p> + +<P align=center> +When from the tangled banks of grass<br> +A bird across the water flew,<br> +And in the river's hard grey glass<br> +I saw a flash of azure blue.</p> + +<p> +As he sang he heard a rustle on the wall, and looking up he saw a +slight +figure white against the twilight, beckoning him. He walked along +under +the wall until he came to a gate, and there someone was waiting for +him, +and he was gently led into the shadow of a dark cedar tree. In the +dim +twilight he saw two bright eyes looking at him, and he understood +their +message. In the twilight a thousand meaningless nothings were +whispered +in the light of the stars, and the hours fled swiftly. When the +East +began to grow light, the Princess (for it was she) said it was time +to +go. + +<p> +"But," said the minstrel, "to-morrow I shall come to the palace and +ask +for your hand." + +<p> +"Alas!" said the Princess, "I would that were possible, but my +father +has made a foolish condition that only he may wed me who finds the +blue +rose." + +<p> +"That is simple," said the minstrel. "I will find it." And they +said +good night to each other. + +<p> +The next morning the minstrel went to the palace, and on his way he +picked a common white rose from a wayside garden. He was ushered +into +the Emperor's presence, who sent for his daughter and said to her: +"This +penniless minstrel has brought you what he claims to be the blue +rose. +Has he accomplished the quest?" + +<p> +The Princess took the rose in her hands and said: "Yes, this is +without +doubt the blue rose." + +<p> +But the Lord Chief Justice and all who were present respectfully +pointed +out that the rose was a common white rose and not a blue one, and +the +objection was with many forms and phrases conveyed to the Princess. + +<p> +"I think the rose is blue," said the Princess. "Perhaps you are all +colour blind." + +<p> +The Emperor, with whom the decision rested, decided that if the +Princess +thought the rose was blue it was blue, for it was well known that +her +perception was more acute than that of any one else in the kingdom.< + +<p> +So the minstrel married the Princess, and they settled on the sea +coast +in a little seen house with a garden full of white roses, and they +lived +happily ever afterwards. And the Emperor, knowing that his daughter +had +made a good match, died in peace. + +<p>—MAURICE BARING.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="frogs">THE TWO FROGS</a></h4> + +<p> +Once upon a time in the country of Japan there lived two frogs, one +of +whom made his home in a ditch near the town of Osaka, on the sea +coast, +while the other dwelt in a clear little stream which ran through the +city of Kioto. At such a great distance apart, they had never even +heard of each other; but, funnily enough, the idea came into both +their +heads at once that they should like to see a little of the world, +and +the frog who lived at Kioto wanted to visit Osaka, and the frog who +lived at Osaka wished to go to Kioto, where the great Mikado had his +palace. + +<p> +So one fine morning in the spring, they both set out along the road +that +led from Kioto to Osaka, one from one end and the other from the +other. + +<p> +The journey was more tiring than they expected, for they did not +know +much about travelling, and half-way between the two towns there rose +a +mountain which had to be climbed. It took them a long time and a +great +many hops to reach the top, but there they were at last, and what +was +the surprise of each to see another frog before him! They looked at +each other for a moment without speaking, and then fell into +conversation, and explained the cause of their meeting so far from +their +homes. It was delightful to find that they both felt the same wish +—to learn a little more of their native country—and as +there +was no sort of hurry they stretched themselves out in a cool, damp +place, and agreed that they would have a good rest before they +parted to +go their ways. + +<p> +"What a pity we are not bigger," said the Osaka frog, "and then we +could +see both towns from here and tell if it worth our while going on." + +<p> +"Oh, that is easily manage," returned the Kioto frog. "We have only +got +to stand up on our hind legs, and hold on to each other, and then we +can +each look at the town he is travelling to." + +<p> +This idea pleased the Osaka frog so much that he at once jumped up +and +put his front paws on the shoulder of his friend, who had risen +also. +There they both stood, stretching themselves as high as they could, +and +holding each other tightly, so that they might not fall down. The +Kioto +frog turned his nose towards Osaka, and the Osaka frog turned his +nose +toward Kioto; but the foolish thing forgot that when the stood up +their +great eyes lay in the backs of their heads, and that though their +noses +might point to the places to which they wanted to go, their eyes +beheld +the places from which they had come. + +<p> +"Dear me!" cried the Osaka frog; "Kioto is exactly like Osaka. It +is +certainly not worth such a long journey. I shall go home." + +<p> +"If I had had any idea that Osaka was only a copy of Kioto I should +never have travelled all this way," exclaimed the frog from Kioto, +and +as he spoke, he took his hands from his friend's shoulders and they +both +fell down to the grass. + +<p> +Then they took a polite farewell of each other, and set off for +home, +again, and to the end of their lives they believed that Osaka and +Kioto, +which are as different to look at as two towns can be, were as like +as +two peas. + +<p>—THE VIOLET LOVING BOOK.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="shepherd">THE WISE OLD SHEPHERD</a></h4> + +<p> +Once upon a time a Snake went out of his hole to take an airing. He +crawled about, greatly enjoying the scenery and the fresh whiff of +the +breeze, until, seeing an open door, he went in. Now this door was +the +door of the palace of the King, and inside was the King himself, +with +all his courtiers. + +<p>Imagine their horror at seeing a huge Snake crawling in at the +door. +They all ran away except the king, who felt that his rank forbade +him to +be a coward, and the King's son. The King called out for somebody +to +come and kill the Snake; but this horrified them still more, because +in +that country the people believed it to be wicked to kill any living +thing, even snakes and scorpion and wasps. So the courtiers did +nothing, but the young Prince obeyed his father, and killed the +Snake +with his stick. + +<p> +After a while the Snake's wife became anxious and set out in search +of +her husband. She too saw the open door of the palace, and in she +went. +O horror! there on the floor lay the body of her husband all covered +with blood and quite dead. No one saw the Snake's wife crawl in; +she +inquired of a white ant what had happened, and when she found that +the +young prince had killed her husband, she made a vow that, as he had +made +her a widow, so she would make his wife a widow. + +<p> +That night, when all the world was asleep, the Snake crept into the +Prince's bedroom, and coiled round his neck. The Prince slept on, +and +when he awoke in the morning, he was surprised to find his neck +encircled with the coils of a snake. He was afraid to stir, so +there he +remained, until the Prince's mother became anxious and went to see +what +was the matter. When she entered his room, and saw him in this +plight, +she gave a loud shriek, and ran off to tell the king. + +<p> +"Call the archers," said the King. + +<p> +The archers came in a row, fitted the arrows to the bows, the bows +were +raised and ready to shoot, when, on a sudden, from the Snake there +issued a voice which spoke as follows: + +<p> +"O archers, wait, wait and hear me before you shoot. It is not fair +to +carry out the sentence before you have heard the case. Is not this +a +good law: an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth? Is it not so, +O +King?" + +<p> +"Yes," replied the King, "that is our law." + +<p> +"Then," said the snake, "I plead the law. Your son has made me a +widow, +so it is fair and right that I should make his wife a widow." + +<p> +"That sounds right enough," said the King, "but right and law are +not +always the same thing. We had better ask somebody who knows." + +<p> +They asked all the judges, but none of them could tell the law of +the +matter. They shook their heads, and said they would look up all +their +law-books, and see whether anything of the sort had ever happened +before, and if so, how it had been decided. That is the way judges +used +to decide cases in that country, though I dare say it sounds to you +a +very funny way. It looked as if they had not much sense in their +own +heads, and perhaps that was true. The upshot of it all was that not +a +judge would give an opinion; so the King sent messengers all over +the +countryside, to see if they could find somebody somewhere who knew +something. + +<p> +One of these messengers found a party of five shepherds, who were +sitting upon a hill and trying to decide a quarrel of their own. +They +gave their opinions so freely, and in language so very strong, that +the +King's messenger said to himself, "Here are the men for us. Here +are +five men, each with an opinion of his own, and all different." +Posthaste he scurried back to the King, and told him that he had +found +at last some one ready to judge the knotty point. + +<p> +So the King and the Queen, and the Prince and Princess, and all the +courtiers, got on horseback, and away they galloped to the hill +whereupon the five shepherds were sitting, and the Snake too went +with +them, coiled around the neck of the Prince. + +<p> +When they got to the shepherds' hill, the shepherds were dreadfully +frightened. At first they thought the strangers were a gang of +robbers, +and when they saw it was the King their next thought was that one of +their misdeeds had been found out; and each of them began thinking +what +was the last thing he had done, and wondering, was it that? + +<p> +But the King and the courtiers got off their horses, and said good +day, +in the most civil way. So the shepherds felt their minds set at +ease +again. Then the King said: + +<p> +"Worthy shepherds, we have a question to put to you, which not all +the +judges in all the courts of my city have been able to solve. Here +is my +son, and here, as you see, is a snake coiled round his neck. Now, +the +husband of this Snake came creeping into my palace hall, and my son +the +Prince killed him; so this Snake, who is the wife of the other, says +that, as my son has made her a widow, so she has a right to widow my +son's wife. What do you think about it?" + +<p> +The first shepherd said: "I think she is quite right, my Lord the +King. +If anyone made my wife a widow, I would pretty soon do the same to +him." + +<p> +This was brave language, and the other shepherds shook their heads +and +looked fierce. But the King was puzzled, and could not quite +understand +it. You see, in the first place, if the man's wife were a widow, +the +man would be dead; and then it is hard to see that he could do +anything. +So to make sure, the King asked the second shepherd whether that was +his +opinion too. + +<p> +"Yes," said the second shepherd; "now the Prince has killed the +Snake, +the Snake has a right to kill the Prince if he can." But that was +not +of much use either, as the Snake was as dead as a doornail. So the +King +passed on to the third. + +<p> +"I agree with my mates," said the third shepherd. "Because, you +see, a +Prince is a Prince, but then a Snake is a Snake." That was quite +true, +they all admitted, but it did not seem to help the matter much. +Then +the King asked the fourth shepherd to say what he thought. + +<p> +The fourth shepherd said: "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a +tooth; +so I think a widow should be a widow, if so be she don't marry +again." + +<p> +By this time the poor King was so puzzled that he hardly knew +whether he +stood on his head or his heels. But there was still the fifth +shepherd +left; the oldest and wisest of them all; and the fifth shepherd +said: + +<p>"King, I should like to ask two questions." + +<p> +"Ask twenty, if you like," said the King. He did not promise to +answer +them, so he could afford to be generous. + +<p> +"First. I ask the Princess how many sons she has." + +<p> +"Four," said the Princess. + +<p> +"And how many sons has Mistress Snake here?" + +<p> +Seven," said the Snake. + +<p> +"Then," said the old shepherd, "it will be quite fair for Mistress +Snake +to kill his Highness the Prince when her Highness the Princess has +had +three sons more." + +<p> +"I never thought of that," said the Snake. "Good-bye, King, and all +you +good people. Send a message when the Princess has had three more +sons, +and you may count upon me—I will not fail you." + +<p> +So saying, she uncoiled from the Prince's neck and slid away among +the +grass. + +<p> +The King and the Prince and everybody shook hands with the wise old +shepherd, and went home again. And the Princess never had any more +sons +at all. She and the Prince lived happily for many years; and if +they +are not dead they are living still. + +<p>—<i>From</i>"THE TALKING THRUSH."</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="folly">THE FOLLY OF PANIC</a></h4> + +<p> +And it came to pass that the Buddha (to be) was born again as a +Lion. +Just as he had helped his fellow-men, he now began to help his +fellow- +animals, and there was a great deal to be done. For instance, there +was +a little nervous Hare who was always afraid that something dreadful +was +going to happen to her. She was always saying: "Suppose the Earth +were +to fall in, what would happen to me?" And she said this so often +that +at last she thought it really was about to happen. One day, when +she +had been saying over and over again, "Suppose the Earth were to fall +in, +what would happen to me?" she heard a slight noise: it really was +only a +heavy fruit which had fallen upon a rustling leaf, but the little +Hare +was so nervous she was ready to believe anything, and she said in a +frightened tone: "The Earth <i>is</i> falling in." She ran away as +fast +as she could go, and presently she met an old brother Hare, who +said: +"Where are you running to Mistress Hare?" + +<p> +And the little Hare said: "I have no time to stop and tell you +anything. +The Earth is falling in, and I am running away." + +<p> +"The Earth is falling in, is it?" said the old brother Hare, in a +tone +of much astonishment; and he repeated this to <i>his</i> brother +hare, +and <i>he</i> to <i>his</i> brother hare, and he to <i>his</i> +brother +hare, until at last there were a hundred thousand brother hares, all +shouting: "The Earth is falling in." Now presently the bigger +animals +began to take the cry up. First the deer, and then the sheep, and +then +the wild boar, and then the buffalo, and then the camel, and then +the +tiger, and then the elephant. + +<p> +Now the wise Lion heard all this noise and wondered at it. "There +are +no signs," he said, "of the Earth falling in. They must have heard +something." And then he stopped them all short and said: "What is +this +you are saying?" + +<p> +And the Elephant said: "I remarked that the Earth was falling in." + +<p> +"How do you know this?" asked the Lion. + +<p> +"Why, now I come to think of it, it was the Tiger that remarked it +to +me." + +<p> +And the Tiger said: "I had it from the Camel," and the Camel said: +"I +had it from the Buffalo." And the buffalo from the wild boar, and +the +wild boar from the sheep, and the sheep from the deer, and the deer +from +the hares, and the Hares said: "Oh! <i>we</i> heard it from <i>that +</i> +little Hare." + +<p> +And the Lion said: "Little Hare, <i>what</i> made you say that the +Earth +was falling in?" + +<p> +And the little Hare said: "I <i>saw</i> it." + +<p> +"You saw it?" said the Lion. "Where?" + +<p> +"Yonder, by that tree." + +<p> +"Well," said the Lion, "come with me and I will show you how— +—" + +<p> +"No, no," said the Hare, "I would not go near that tree for +anything, +I'm <i>so</i> nervous." + +<p> +"But," said the Lion, "I am going to take you on my back." And he +took +her on his back, and begged the animals to stay where they were +until +they returned. Then he showed the little Hare how the fruit had +fallen +upon the leaf, making the noise that had frightened her, and she +said: +"Yes, I see—the Earth is <i>not</i> falling in." and the Lion +said: "Shall we go back and tell the other animals?" And they went +back. The little Hare stood before the animals and said: "The Earth +is +<i>not</i> falling in." And all the animals began to repeat this to +one +another, and they dispersed gradually, and you heard the words more +and +more softly: + +<p> +"The Earth is <i>not</i> falling in," etc., etc., etc., until the +sound +died away altogether.</p> + +<p>—<i>From</i>"EASTERN STORIES AND LEGENDS."</p> + +<BLOCKQUOTE><small> +NOTE:—This story I have told in my own words, using the +language I +have found most effective for very young children.</small> +</BLOCKQUOTE> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="festival">THE TRUE SPIRIT OF A FESTIVAL +DAY</a +></h4> + +<p> +And it came to pass that the Buddha was born a Hare and lived in a +wood; +on one side was the foot of a mountain, on another a river, on the +third +side a border village. + +<p> +And with him lived three friends: a Monkey, a Jackal and an Otter; +each +of these creatures got food on his own hunting ground. In the +evening +they met together, and the Hare taught his companions many wise +things: +that the moral law should be observed, that alms should be given to +the +poor, and that holy days should be kept. + +<p> +One day the Buddha said: "To-morrow is a fast day. Feed any beggars +that come to you by giving food from your own table." They all +consented. + +<p> +The next day the Otter went down to the bank of the Ganges to seek +his +prey. Now a fisherman had landed seven red fish and had buried them +in +the sand on the river's bank while he went down the stream catching +more +fish. The Otter scented the buried fish, dug up the sand till he +came +upon them, and he called aloud: "Does any one own these fish?" And, +not +seeing the owner, he laid the fish in the jungle where he dwelt, +intending to eat them at a fitting time. Then he lay down, thinking +how +virtuous he was. + +<p> +The Jackal also went off in search of food, and found in the hut of +a +field watcher a lizard, two spits, and a pot of milk-curd. + +<p> +And, after thrice crying aloud, "To whom do these belong?" and not +finding an owner, he put on his neck the rope for lifting the pot, +and +grasping the spits and lizard with his teeth, he laid them in his +own +lair, thinking, "In due season I will devour them," and then he lay +down, thinking how virtuous he had been. + +<p> +But the Hare (who was the Buddha-to-be) in due time came out, +thinking +to lie (in contemplation) on the Kuca grass. "It is impossible for +me +to offer <i>grass</i> to any beggars who may chance to come by, and +I +have no oil or rice or fish. If any beggar comes to me, I will give +him +(of) my own flesh to eat." + +<p> +Now when Sakka, the King of the Gods, heard this thing, he +determined to +put the Royal Hare to the test. So he came in disguise of a Brahmin +to +the Otter and said: "Wise Sir, if I could get something to eat, I +would +perform <i>all</i> my priestly duties." + +<p> +The Otter said: "I will give you food. Seven red fish have I safely +brought to land from the sacred river of the Ganges. Eat thy fill, +O +Brahmin, and stay in this wood." + +<p> +And the Brahmin said: "Let it be until to-morrow, and I will see to +it +then." + +<p> +Then he went to the Jackal, who confessed that he had stolen the +food, +but he begged the Brahmin to accept it and remain in the wood: but +the +Brahmin said: "Let it be until the morrow, and then I well see to +it." + +<p> +Then the Brahmin went to the wise Hare, and the Hare said: "Behold, +I +will give you of my flesh to eat. But you must not take life on +this +holy day. When you have piled up the logs I will sacrifice myself +by +falling into the midst of the flames, and when my body is roasted +you +shall eat my flesh and perform all your priestly duties." + +<p> +Now when Sakka heard these words he caused a heap of burning coals +to +appear, and the Wisdom Being, rising from the grass, came to the +place, +but before casting himself into the flames he shook himself, lest +perchance there should be any insects in his coat who might suffer +death. Then, offering his body as a free gift, he sprang up, and +like a +royal swan, lighting on a bed of lotus in an ecstasy of joy, he fell +on +the heap of live coals. But the flame failed even to heat the pores +or +the hair on the body of the Wisdom Being, and it was as if he had +entered a region of frost. Then he addressed the Brahmin in these +words: "Brahmin, the fire that you have kindled is icy cold; it +fails to +heat the pores of the hair on my body. What is the meaning of +this?" + +<p> +"O most wise Hare! I am Sakka, and have come to put your virtue to +the +test." + +<p> +And the Buddha in a sweet voice said: "No god or man could find in +me an +unwillingness to die." + +<p> +Then Sakka said: "O wise Hare, be thy virtue know to all the ages to +come." + +<p> +And seizing the mountain he squeezed out the juice and daubed on the +moon the signs of the young hare. + +<p> +Then he placed him back on the grass that he might continue his +Sabbath +meditation, and returned to Heaven. + +<p> +And the four creatures lived together and kept the moral law.</p> +<p>—<i>From</i> "EASTERN STORIES AND LEGENDS."</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="filial">FILIAL PIETY</a></h4> + +<p> +Now it came to pass that the Buddha was reborn in the shape of a +parrot, +and he greatly excelled all other parrots in his strength and +beauty. +And when he was full grown his father, who had long been the leader +of +the flock in their flights to other climes, said to him: "My son, +behold, thou shalt rest. I will lead the birds." And the parrots +rejoiced in the strength of their new leader, and willingly did they +follow him. Now from that day on, the Buddha undertook to feed his +parents, and would not consent that they should do any more work. +Each +day he led his flock to the Himalaya Hills, and when he had eaten +his +fill of the clumps of rice that grew there, he filled his beak with +food +for the dear parents who were waiting his return. + +<p>Now there was a man appointed to watch the rice-fields, and he +did +his best to drive the parrots away, but there seemed to be some +secret +power in the leader of this flock which the keeper could not +overcome. + +<p> +He noticed that the parrots ate their fill and then flew away, but +that the Parrot-King not only satisfied his hunger, but carried away +rice in his beak. + +<p> +Now he feared there would be no rice left, and he went to his +master, +the Brahmin, to tell him what had happened; and even as the master +listened there came to him the thought that the Parrot-King was +something higher than he seemed, and he loved him even before he saw +him. But he said nothing of this, and only warned the Keeper that +he +should set a snare and catch the dangerous bird. So the man did as +he +was bidden: he made a small cage and set the snare, and sat down in +his +hut waiting for the birds to come. And soon he saw the Parrot-King +amidst his flock, who, because he had no greed, sought no richer +spot, +but flew down to the same place in which he had fed the day before. + +<p> +Now, no sooner had he touched the ground than he felt his feet +caught in +the noose. Then fear crept into his bird heart, but a stronger +feeling +was there to crush it down, for he thought: "If I cry out the Cry of +the +Captured, my Kinsfolk will be terrified, and they will fly away +foodless. But if I lie still, then their hunger will be satisfied, +and +may they safely come to my aid." Thus, was the parrot both brave +and +prudent. + +<p> +But alas! he did not know that his Kinsfolk had nought of his brave +spirit. When <i>they</i> had eaten their fill, though they heard +the +thrice-uttered cry of the captured, they flew away, nor heed the sad +plight of their leader. + +<p> +Then was the heart of the Parrot-King sore within him, and he said: +"All +these my kith and kin, and not one to look back on me. Alas! what +sin +have I done?" + +<p> +The watchman now heard the cry if the Parrot-King, and the sound of +the +other parrots flying through the air. "What is that?" he cried, and +leaving his hut he came to the place where he had laid the snare. +There +he found the captive parrot; he tied his feet together and brought +him +to the Brahmin, his master. Now, when the Brahmin saw the Parrot- +King, +he felt his strong power, and his heart was full of love to him, but +he +hid his feelings, and said in a voice of anger: "Is thy greed +greater +than that of all other birds? They eat their fill, but thou canst +takest away each day more food than thou canst eat. Doest thou this +out +of hatred for me, or dost thou store up the food in same granary for +selfish greed?" + +<p> +And the Great Being made answer in a sweet human voice: "I hate thee +not, O Brahmin. Nor do I store the rice in a granary for selfish +greed. +But this thing I do. Each day I pay a debt which is due—each +day +I grant a loan, and each day I store up a treasure." + +<p> +Now the Brahmin could not understand the words of the Buddha +(because +true wisdom had not entered his heart) and he said: "I pray thee, O +Wondrous Bird, to make these words clear unto me." + +<p> +And then the Parrot-King made answer: "I carry food to my ancient +parents who can no longer seek that food for themselves: thus I pay +my +daily debt. I carry food to my callow chicks whose wings are yet +ungrown. When I am old they will care for me—this my loan to +them. And for other birds, weak and helpless of wing, who need the +aid +of the strong, for them I lay up a store; to these I give in +charity." + +<p> +Then was the Brahmin much moved and showed the love that was in his +heart. "Eat thy fill, O Righteous Bird, and let thy Kinsfolk eat, +too, +for thy sake." And he wished to bestow a thousand acres of land +upon +him, but the Great Being would only take a tiny portion round which +were +set boundary stores. + +<p> +And the parrot returned with a head of rice, and said: "Arise, dear +parents, that I may take you to a place of plenty." And he told +them +the story of his deliverance.</p> + +<p>—<i>From</i>"EASTERN STORIES AND LEGENDS."</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h3 align=center>THREE STORIES FROM HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN[53]</h3> +<h4 align=center><a name="swineherd">THE SWINEHERD</a></h4> + +<p> +There was once a poor Prince. He owned a Kingdom—a very small +one, but it was big enough to allow him to marry, and he was +determined +to marry. Now, it was really very bold on his part to say to a +King's +daughter: "Will you marry me?" But he dared to do so, for his name +was +known far and wide, and there were hundreds of princesses who would +willingly have said: "Yes, thank you." But, would <i>she?</i> We +shall +hear what happened. + +<p> +On the grave of the Prince's father, there grew a rose-tree— +such a +wonderful rose-tree! It bloomed only once in five years, and then +it +bore only one rose—but what a rose! Its perfume was so sweet +that +whoever smelt it forgot all his cares and sorrows. The Prince had +also +a nightingale which could sing as if all the delicious melodies in +the +world were contained in its little throat. The rose and the +nightingale +were both to be given to the Princess, and were therefore placed in +two +great silver caskets and sent to her. The Emperor had them carried +before him into the great hall where the Princess was playing at +"visiting" with her ladies-in-waiting—they had nothing else to +do. +When she saw the caskets with the presents in them, she clapped her +hands with joy. + +<p> +"If it were only a little pussy-cat," she cried. But out came a +beautiful rose. + +<p> +"How elegantly it is made," said all the ladies of the court. + +<p> +"It is more than elegant," said the Emperor, "It is <i>neat.</i> + +<p> +"Fie, papa," she said, "it is not made at all; it is a <i>natural</i +> +rose." + +<p> +"Let us see what the other casket contains before we lose our +temper," +said the Emperor, and then out came the little nightingale and sang +so +sweetly that at first nobody could think of anything to say against +it." + +<p> +"<i>Superbe, superbe,"</i> cried the ladies of the court, for they +all +chattered French, one worse than the other. + +<p> +"How the bird reminds me of the late Empress' musical-box!" said an +old +Lord-in-Waiting. "Ah, me! the same tone, the same execution." + +<p> +"The very same," said the Emperor, and he cried like a little child. + +<p> +"I hope it is not a real bird," said the Princess. + +<p> +Oh, yes! it is a real bird," said those who had brought it. + +<p> +"Then let the bird fly away," she said, and she would on no account +allow the Prince to come in. + +<p> +But he was not to be disheartened; he smeared his face with black +and +brown, drew his cap over his forehead, and knocked at the Palace +door. +The Emperor opened it. + +<p> +"Good day, Emperor," he said. "Could I get work at the Palace?" + +<p> +"Well, there are so many wanting places," said the Emperor; "but let +me +see!—I need a Swineherd. I have a good many pigs to keep." + +<p> +So the Prince was made Imperial Swineherd. He had a wretched little +room near the pig-sty and here he was obliged to stay. But the +whole +day he sat and worked, and by the evening he had made a neat little +pipkin, and round it was a set of bells, and as soon as the pot +began to +boil, the bells fell to jingling most sweetly and played the old +melody: + +<P align=center> +"Ach du lieber Augustin,<br> +Alles is weg, weg, weg!"[54]</p> + +<p> +But the most wonderful thing was that when you held your finger in +the +steam of the pipkin, you could immediately smell what dinner was +cooking +on every hearth in the town. That was something very different from +a +rose. + +<p> +The Princess was walking out with her ladies-in-waiting, and when +she +heard the melody, she stopped short, and looked pleased, for she +could +play "Ach du lieber Augustin" herself; it was the only tune she +knew, +and that she played with one finger. "Why, that is the tune I +play," +she said. "What a cultivated Swineherd he must be. Go down and ask +him +how much his instrument costs." + +<p> +So one of the ladies-in-waiting was obliged to go down, but she put +on +pattens first. + +<p> +"How much do you want for your pipkin?" asked the Lady-in-waiting. + +<p> +"I will have ten kisses from the Princess," said the Swineherd. + +<p> +"Good gracious!" said the Lady-in-waiting. + +<p> +"I will not take less," said the Swineherd. + +<p> +"Well, what did he say?" asked the Princess. + +<p> +"I really cannot tell you," said the Lady-in-waiting. "It is too +dreadful." + +<p> +"Then you must whisper it,"" said the Princess. + +<p> +So she whispered it. + +<p> +"He is very rude," said the Princess, and she walked away. But she +had +gone only a few steps when the bells sounded so sweetly: + +<P align=center> +"Ach du lieber Augustin<br> +Alles ist weg, weg, weg!"</p> + +<p> +"Listen," said the Princess, "ask him whether he will have his +kisses +from my Ladies-in-waiting." + +<p> +"No, thank you," said the Swineherd. "I will have ten kisses from +the +Princess, or, I will keep my pipkin." + +<p> +"How tiresome!" said the Princess; "but you must stand round me, so +that +nobody shall see." + +<p> +So the ladies-in-waiting stood round her and they spread out their +skirts. The Swineherd got the kisses, and she got the pipkin. + +<p> +How delighted she was. All the evening and the whole of the next +day, +that pot was made to boil. And you might have known what everybody +was +cooking on every hearth in town, from the Chamberlain's to the +shoemaker's. The court ladies danced and clapped their hands. + +<p> +"We know who is to have fruit-soup and pancakes, and we know who is +going to have porridge, and cutlets. How very interesting it is!" + +<p> +"Most interesting, indeed," said the first Lady-of-Honor. + +<p> +"Yes, but hold your tongues, for I am the Emperor's daughter." + +<p> +"Of course we will," they cried in one breath. + +<p> +The Swineherd, or the Prince, nobody knew that he was not a real +Swineherd, did not let the day pass without doing something, and he +made +a rattle which could play all the waltzes, and the polkas and the +hop- +dances which had been know since the creation of the world. + +<p> +"But this is <i>superbe!"</i> said the Princess, who was just +passing: +"I have never heard more beautiful composition. Go and as him what +the +instrument costs. But I will give no more kisses." + +<p> +"He insists on a hundred kisses from the Princess," said the ladies- +in-waiting who had been down to ask. + +<p> +"I think he must be quite mad," said the Princess, and she walked +away. +But when she had taken a few steps, she stopped short, and said: +"One +must encourage the fine arts, and I am the emperor's daughter. Tell +him +he may have ten kisses, as before, and the rest he can take from my +ladies-in-waiting." + +<p> +"Yes, but we object to that,: said the ladies-in-waiting. + +<p> +"That is nonsense," said the Princess. "If I can kiss him, surely +you +can do the same. Go down at once. Don't I give you board and +wages?" + +<p> +So the ladies-in-waiting were obliged to go down to the Swineherd +again. + +<p> +"A hundred kisses from the Princess, or each keeps his own." + +<p> +"Stand round me," she said. And all the ladies-in-waiting stood +round +her, and the Swineherd began to kiss her. + +<p> +"What can all the crowd be down by the pig-sty?" said the Emperor, +stepping out onto the balcony. He rubbed his eyes and put on his +spectacles. "It is the court ladies up to some of their tricks. I +must +go down and look after them." He pulled up his slippers, for they +were +shoes which he had trodden down at heel. + +<p> +Gracious goodness, how he hurried! As soon as he came into the +garden, +he walked very softly, and the ladies-in-waiting had so much to do +counting the kisses, so that everything could be done fairly, and +that +the Swineherd should get neither too many nor too few, that they +never +noticed the Emperor at all. He stood on tip-toe. + +<p> +"What is this all about?" he said, when he saw the kissing that was +going on, and he hit them on the head with his slipper, just as the +Swineherd was getting the eighty-sixth kiss. "Heraus!" said the +Emperor, for he was angry, and both the Princess and the Swineherd +were +turned out of his Kingdom. + +<p> +The Princess wept, the Swineherd scolded, and the rain streamed +down. + +<p> +"Oh! wretched creature that I am," said the Princess. "If I had +only +taken the handsome Prince! Oh, how unhappy I am!" + +<p> +Then the Swineherd went behind a tree, washed the black and brown +off +his face, threw of his ragged clothes, and stood forth in his royal +apparel, looking so handsome that she was obliged to curtsey. + +<p> +"I have learned to despise you," he said. "You would not have an +honorable Prince. You could not appreciate a rose or a nightingale, +but +for a musical toy, you kissed the Swineherd. Now you have your +reward." + +<p> +So he went into his Kingdom, shut the door and bolted it, and she +had to +stand outside singing: + +<P align=center> +"Ach, du lieber Augustin,<br> +Alles is weg, weg, weg!"</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="nightengale">THE NIGHTINGALE</a></h4> + +<p> +In China, you must know, the Emperor is a Chinaman, and all those +around +him are Chinamen, too. It is many years since all this happened, +and +for that very reason it is worth hearing, before it is forgotten. + +<p> +The Emperor's palace was the most beautiful in the world; built all +of +fine porcelain and very costly, but so fragile that it was very +difficult to touch, and you had to be very careful in doing so. The +most wonderful flowers were to be seen in the garden, and to the +most +beautiful silver bells, tinkling bells were tied, for fear people +should +pass by without noticing them. How well everything had been thought +out +in the Emperor's garden! This was so big, that the gardener himself +did +not know where it ended. If you walked on and on you came to the +most +beautiful forest, with tall trees and big lakes. The wood stretched +right down to the sea which was blue and deep; great ships could +pass +underneath the branches, and here a nightingale had made its home, +and +its singing was so entrancing that the poor fisherman, though he had +so +many other things to do, would lie still and listen when he was out +at +night drawing in his nets. + +<p> +"How beautiful it is!" he said; but then he was forced to think +about +his own affairs, and the Nightingale was forgotten. The next day, +when +it sang again, the fisherman said the same thing: "How beautiful it +is!" + +<p> +Travellers from all the countries of the world came to the emperor's +town, and expressed their admiration of the palace and the garden, +but +when they heard the Nightingale, they all said: "This is the best of +all!" + +<p> +Now, when these travellers came home, they told of what they had +seen. +And scholars wrote many books about the town, the palace and the +garden, +but nobody left out the Nightingale; it was always spoken of as the +most +wonderful of all they had seen. And those who had the gift of the +Poet, +wrote the most delightful poems all about the Nightingale in the +wood +near the deep lake. + +<p> +The books went round the world, and in the course of time some of +them +reached the Emperor. He sat in his golden chair, and read and read, +nodding his head every minute; for it pleased him to read the +beautiful +descriptions of the town, the palace and the garden. + +<p> +"But the Nightingale is the best of all," he read. + +<p> +"What is this?" said the Emperor. "The Nightingale! I now nothing +whatever about it. To think of there being such a bird in my +Kingdom +—nay in my very garden—and I have never heard it. And +to +think one should learn such a thing for the first time from a book!" + +<p> +Then he summoned his Lord-in-Waiting, who was such a grand personage +that if anyone inferior in rank ventured to speak to him, or ask him +about anything, he merely answered "P," which meant nothing +whatever. + +<p> +"There is said to be a most wonderful bird, called the Nightingale," +said the Emperor; "they say it is the best thing in my great +Kingdom. +Why have I been told nothing about it?" + +<p> +"I have never heard it mentioned before," said the Lord-in-Waiting. +"It +has certainly never been presented at court." + +<p> +"It is my good pleasure that it shall appear to-night and sing +before +me!" said the Emperor. "The whole world knows what is mine, and I +myself do not know it." + +<p> +"I have never heard it mentioned before," said the Lord-in-Waiting. +"I +will seek it, and I shall find it." + +<p> +But where was it to be found? The Lord-in-Waiting ran up and down +all +the stairs, through halls and passages, but not one of all those +whom he +met had ever heard a word about the Nightingale; so the Lord-in- +Waiting +ran back to the Emperor and told him that it must certainly be a +fable +invented by writers of books. + +<p> +"Your Majesty must not believe all that is written in books. It is +pure +invention, something which is called the Black Art." + +<p> +"But," said the Emperor, "the book in which I have read this was +sent to +me by His Majesty, the Emperor of Japan, and therefore this cannot +be a +falsehood. I <i>will</i> hear the Nightingale. It must appear this +evening! It has my Imperial favor, and if it fails to appear the +Court +shall be trampled upon after the Court has supped." + +<p> +"Tsing-pe!" said the Lord-in-Waiting, and again he ran up and down +all +the stairs, through all the passages, and half the Court ran with +him, +for they had no wish to be trampled upon. And many questions were +asked +about the wonderful Nightingale, of whom all had heard except those +who +lived at Court. + +<p> +At last, they met a poor little girl in the kitchen. She said: "Oh, +yes! The Nightingale! I know it well. How it can sing! Every +evening +I have permission to take the broken pieces from the table to my +poor +sick mother who lives near the sea-shore, and on my way back, when I +feel tired, and rest a while in the wood, then I hear the +Nightingale +sing, and my eyes are filled with tears; it is as if my mother +kissed +me." + +<p> +"Little kitchen-maid," said the Lord-in-Waiting, "I will get a +permanent +place for you in the Court Kitchen and permission to see the Emperor +dine, if you can lead us to the Nightingale; for it has been +commanded +to appear at Court to-night." + +<p> +So they started off all together where the bird used to sing; half +the +Court went, too. They were going along at a good pace, when +suddenly +they heard a cow lowing. + +<p> +"Oh," said a Court-Page. "There it is! What a wonderful power for +so +small a creature! I have certainly heard it before." + +<p> +"No, those are the cows lowing," said the little kitchen-maid. "We +are +a long way from the place yet." + +<p> +Then the frogs began to croak in the marsh. "Glorious," said the +Court-Preacher. "Now, I hear it—it is just like little +church- +bells." + +<p> +"No, those are the frogs," said the little kitchen-maid. "But now I +think we shall soon hear it." + +<p> +And then the Nightingale began to sing. + +<p> +"There it is," said the little girl. "Listen, listen—there it +sits!" And she pointed to a little gray bird in the branches. + +<p> +"Is it possible!" said the Lord-in-Waiting. "I had never supposed +it +would look like that. How very plain it looks! It has certainly +lost +its color from seeing so many grand folk here." + +<p> +"Little Nightingale," called out the little kitchen-maid, "our +gracious +Emperor wishes you to sing for him." + +<p> +"With the greatest pleasure," said the Nightingale, and it sang, and +it +was a joy to hear it. + +<p> +"It sounds like little glass bells," said the Lord-in-Waiting; "and +just +look at its little throat, how it moves! It is astonishing to think +we +have never heard it before! It will have a real <i>success</i> at +Court." + +<p> +"Shall I sing for the Emperor again?" asked the Nightingale, who +thought +that the Emperor was there in person. + +<p> +"Mine excellent little Nightingale," said the Lord-in-Waiting, "I +have +the great pleasure of bidding you to a Court-Festival this night, +when +you will enchant His Imperial Majesty with your delightful +warbling." + +<p> +"My voice sounds better among the green trees," said the +Nightingale. +But it came willingly when it knew the Emperor wished it. + +<p> +There was a great deal of furbishing up at the palace. The walls +and +ceiling which were of porcelain, shone with the light of a thousand +golden lamps. The most beautiful flowers of the tinkling kind were +placed in the passages. There was a running to and fro and a great +draught, but that is just what made the bells ring, and one could +not +hear oneself speak. In the middle of the great hall where the +Emperor +sat, a golden rod had been set up on which the Nightingale was to +perch. +The whole Court was present, and the little kitchen-maid was allowed +to +stand behind the door, for she had now the actual title of Court +Kitchen-Maid. All were there in their smartest clothes, and they +all +looked toward the little gray bird to which the Emperor nodded. + +<p> +And then the Nightingale sang, so gloriously that tears sprang into +the +Emperor's eyes and rolled down his cheeks, and the Nightingale sang +even +more sweetly. The song went straight to the heart, and the Emperor +was +so delighted that he declared that the Nightingale should have his +golden slipper to hang round its neck. But the Nightingale +declined. +It had already had its reward. + +<p> +"I have seen tears in the Emperor's eyes. That is my greatest +reward. +An Emperor's tears have a wonderful power. God knows I am +sufficiently +rewarded," and again its sweet, glorious voice was heard. + +<p> +"That is the most delightful coquetting I have ever known," said the +ladies sitting round, and they took water into their mouths, in +order to +gurgle when anyone spoke to them, and they really thought they were +like +the Nightingale. Even the footmen and the chambermaids sent word +that +they were satisfied, and that means a great deal, for they are +always +the most difficult people to please. Yes, indeed, there was no +doubt as +to the Nightingale's success. It was to stay at Court, and have its +own +cage, with liberty to go out twice in the daytime, and once at +night. +Twelve footmen went out with it, and each held a silk ribbon which +was +tied to the bird's leg, and which they held very tightly. There was +not +much pleasure in an outing of that sort. The whole town was talking +about the wonderful bird, and when two people met, one said: +"Nightin +—— and the other said "gale," and they sighed and +understood +one another. Eleven cheese-mongers' children were called after the +bird, though none of them could sing a note. + +<p> +One day a large parcel came for the Emperor. Outside was written +the +word: "Nightingale." + +<p> +"Here we have a new book about our wonderful bird," said the +Emperor. +But it was not a book; it was a little work of art which lay in a +box +—an artificial Nightingale, which looked exactly like the real +one, but it was studded all over with diamonds, rubies and +sapphires. +As soon as you wound it up, it could sing one of the songs which the +real bird sang, and its tail moved up and down and glittered with +silver +and gold. Round its neck was a ribbon on which was written: "The +Emperor of Japan's Nightingale is poor indeed, compared with the +Emperor +of China's." + +<p> +"That is delightful," they all said, and on the messenger who had +brought the artificial bird, they bestowed the title of "Imperial +Nightingale-Bringer-in-Chief." + +<p> +"Let them sing together, and <i>what</i> a duet that will be!" + +<p> +And so they had to sing, but the thing would not work, because the +real +Nightingale could only sing in its own way, and the artificial +Nightingale went by clockwork. + +<p> +"That is not its fault," said the band-master. "Time is its strong +point and it has quite my method." + +<p> +Then the artificial Nightingale had to sing alone. It had just as +much +success as the real bird, and it was so much handsomer to look at; +it +glittered like bracelets and breast-pins. It sang the same tune +three +and thirty times, and still it was not tired; the people would +willingly +listen to the whole performance over again from the start, but the +Emperor suggested that the real Nightingale should sing for a while +—where was it? Nobody had noticed it had flown out of the +open +window back to its green woods. + +<p> +"But what is the meaning of all this?" said the Emperor. All the +courtiers railed at the Nightingale and said it was a most +ungrateful +creature. + +<p> +"We have the better of the two," they said, and the artificial +Nightingale had to sing again, and this was the thirty-fourth time +they +had heard the same tune. But they did not know it properly event +then +because it was so difficult, and the band-master praised the +wonderful +bird in the highest terms and even asserted that it was superior to +the +real bird, not only as regarded the outside, with the many lovely +diamonds, but the inside as well. + +<p> +"You see, ladies and gentlemen, and above all your Imperial Majesty, +that with the real Nightingale, you can never predict what may +happen, +but with the artificial bird, everything is settled beforehand; so +it +remains and it cannot be changed. One can account for it. One can +rip +it open, and show the human ingenuity, explaining how the cylinders +lie, +how they work, and how one thing is the result of another." + +<p> +"That is just what we think," they all exclaimed, and the bandmaster +received permission to exhibit the bird to the people on the +following +Sunday. The Emperor said they would hear it sing. They listened +and +were as much delighted as if they had been drunk with tea, which is +Chinese, you know, and they all said: "Oh!" and stuck their +forefingers +in the air, and nodded their heads. But the poor fisherman who had +heard the real Nightingale, said: "It sounds quite well, and a +little +like it, but there is something wanting, I do not know what." + +<p> +The real Nightingale was banished from the Kingdom. + +<p> +The artificial bird had its place on a silken cushion close to the +Emperor's bed. All the presents it had received, the gold and +precious +stones, lay all round it, and it had been honored with the title of +High-Imperial-Bed-Room-Singer—in the first rank, on the left +side, +for even the Emperor considered that side the grander on which the +heart +is placed, and even an Emperor has his heart on the left side. + +<p> +The band-master wrote twenty-five volumes about the wonderful +artificial +bird. The book was very learned and very long, filled with the most +difficult words in the Chinese language, and everybody said they had +read and understood it, for otherwise they would have been +considered +stupid, and would have been trampled upon. + +<p> +And thus a whole year passed away. The Emperor, the Court, and all +the +Chinamen knew every little gurgle in the artificial bird's song, and +just for this reason, they were all the better pleased with it. +They +could sing it themselves—which they did. + +<p> +The boys in the street sang "Zi-zi-zi," and, "cluck, cluck," and +even +the Emperor sang it. Yes, it was certainly beautiful! + +<p> +But one evening, while the bird was singing, and the Emperor lay in +bed +listening to it, there was a whirring sound inside the bird, and +something whizzed; all the wheels ran round, and the music stopped. + +<p> +The Emperor sprang out of bed and sent for the Court Physician, but +what +could he do? Then they sent for the watch-maker, and after much +talk +and examination, he patched the bird up, but he said it must be +spared +as much as possible, because the hammers were so worn out—and +he +could not put new ones in so that the music could be counted on. +This +was a great grief. The bird could only be allowed to sing once a +year, +and even that was risky, but on these occasions, the band-master +would +make a little speech, full of difficult words, saying the bird was +just +as good as ever—and that was true. + +<p> +Five years passed away, and a great sorrow had come to the country. +The +people all really cared for their Emperor, and now he was ill and it +was +said he could not live. A new Emperor had been chosen, and the +people +stood about the streets, and questioned the Lord-in-Waiting about +their +Emperor's condition. + +<p> +"P!" he said, and shook his head. + +<p> +The Emperor lay pale and cold on his great, gorgeous bed; the whole +Court believed that he was dead, and they all hastened to pay homage +to +the new Emperor. The footmen hurried off to discuss matters, and +the +chambermaids gave a great coffee-party. Cloth had been laid down in +all +the rooms and passages, so that not even a footstep should be heard +and +it was all so very quiet. But the Emperor was not yet dead. He lay +stiff and pale in the sumptuous bed, with its long velvet curtains +and +heavy gold tassels; high above was an open window, and the moon +shone in +upon the Emperor and the artificial bird. The poor Emperor could +hardly +breathe; he felt as if someone were sitting on his chest; he opened +his +eyes and saw that it was Death sitting on his chest, wearing his +golden +crown, holding in one hand his golden sword, and in the other his +splendid banner. And from the folds of the velvet curtains strange +faces peered forth; some terrible to look on, others mild and +friendly +—these were the Emperor's good and bad deeds, which gazed upon +him +now that Death sat upon his heart. + +<p> +"Do you remember this?" whispered one after the other. "Do you +remember +that?" They told him so much that the sweat poured down his face. + +<p> +"I never knew that," said the Emperor. "Music! music! Beat the +great +Chinese drum!" he called out, "so that I may not hear what they are +saying!" + +<p> +But they kept on, and Death nodded his head, like a Chinaman, at +everything they said. + +<p> +"Music, music," cried the Emperor. "You precious little golden +bird! +Sing to me, ah! sing to me! I have given you gold and costly +treasure. +I have hung my golden slipper about your neck. Sing to me. Sing to +me!" + +<p> +But the bird was silent; there was no one to wind him up, and +therefore +he could not sing. Death went on, staring at the Emperor with his +great +hollow eyes, and it was terribly still. + +<p> +Then suddenly, close to the window, came the sound of a lovely song. +It +was the little live Nightingale perched on a branch outside. It had +heard of its Emperor's need, and had therefore flown hither to bring +him +comfort and hope, and as he sang, the faces became paler and the +blood +coursed more freely through the Emperor's veins. Even Death himself +listened and said: "Go on, little Nightingale. Go on." + +<p> +"Yes, if you will give me the splendid sword. Yes, if you will give +me +the Imperial banner! Yes, if you will give me the Emperor's crown!" + +<p> +And Death gave back all these treasures for a song. And still the +Nightingale sang on. He sang of the quiet churchyard, where the +white +roses grow, where the elder flowers bloom, and where the grass is +kept +moist by the tears of those left behind, and there came to Death +such a +longing to see his garden, that he floated out of the window, like a +could white mist. + +<p> +"Thank you, thank you," said the Emperor. "You heavenly little +bird, I +know you well! I banished you from the land, and you have charmed +away +the evil spirits from my bed and you have driven Death from my +heart. +How shall I reward you?" + +<p> +"You have rewarded me," said the Nightingale. "I brought tears to +your +eyes the first time I sang, and I shall never forget that. Those +are +the jewels which touched the heart of the singer; but sleep now, +that +you may wake fresh and strong. I will sing to you." Then it sang +again, and the Emperor fell into a sweet sleep. + +<p> +The sun shone in upon him through the window, when he woke the next +morning feeling strong and well. None of his servants had come +back, +because they thought he was dead, but the Nightingale was still +singing. + +<p> +You will always stay with me," said the Emperor. "You shall only +sing +when it pleases you, and I will break the artificial Nightingale +into a +thousand pieces." + +<p> +"Do not do that," said the Nightingale. "It has done the best it +could. +Keep it with you. I cannot build my nest in a palace, but let me +come +just as I please. I well sit on the branch near the window, and +sing to +you that you may both joyful and thoughtful. I will sing to you of +the +happy folk, and of those that suffer; I will sing of the evil and of +the +good, which is being hidden from you. The little singing bird flies +hither and thither, to the poor fisherman, to the peasant's hut, to +many +who live far from your Court. Your heart is dearer to me than your +crown, and yet the crown has a breath of sanctity, too. I will +come, I +will sing to you! But one thing you must promise me!" + +<p> +"All that you ask," said the Emperor, and stood there in his +imperial +robes which he had put on himself, and held the heavy golden sword +on +his heart. + +<p> +"I beg you, let no one know that you have a little bird who tells +you +everything. It will be far better so!" + +<p> +Then the Nightingale flew away. + +<p> +The servants came to look upon their dead Emperor. Yes, there they +stood; and the Emperor said: "Good morning!"</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="pea">THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA</a></h4> + +<p> +There was once a Prince who wished to marry a Princess, but she must +be +a <i>real</i> Princess. He travelled all over the world to find +one, +but there was always something wrong. There were plenty of +Princesses, +but whether they were <i>real</i> or not he could not be sure. +There +was always something that was not quite right. So he came home +again, +feeling very sad, for he was so anxious to have a real Princess. + +<p> +One evening there was a terrible storm; it lightened and thundered, +and +the rain came down in torrents; it was a fearful night. In the +midst of +the storm there came a knocking at the town-gate, and the old King +himself went down to open it. There, outside stood a princess. But +what a state she was in from the rain and the storm! The water was +running out of her hair on to her clothes, into he shoes and out at +the +heels; and yet she said she was a <i>real</i> Princess. + +<p> +"We shall soon find out about that," thought the old Queen. But she +said never a word. She went into the bedroom, took off all the +bedclothes and put a pea on the bedstead. Then she took twenty +mattresses and laid them on the pea and twenty eider-down quilts on +the +mattresses. And the Princess was to sleep on the top of all. + +<p> +In the morning they came to her and asked her how she had slept. + +<p> +"Oh! wretchedly," said the Princess. "I scarcely closed my eyes the +whole night long. Heaven knows what could have been in the bed! I +have +lain upon something hard, so that my whole body is black and blue. +It +is quite dreadful." + +<p> +They could see now that she was a <i>real</i> Princess, because she +had +felt the pea through twenty mattresses and twenty eider-down quilts. +Nobody but a real Princess could be so sensitive. + +<p> +So the Prince married her, for now he knew that he had found a <i> +real +</i> Princess, and the pea was sent to an Art Museum, where it can +still +be seen, if nobody has taken it away. + +<p> +Now, mark you: This is a true story.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h3 align=center>PART III</h3> + +<p> </p> +<p align=center>AUTHOR'S NOTE</p> + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +I had intended, in this section, to offer an appendix of titles of +stories and books which should cover all the ground of possible +narrative in schools; but I have found so many lists containing +standard +books and stories, that I have decided that this original plan would +be +a work of supererogation. What is really needed is a supplementary +list +to those already published—a specialized list which is the +result +of private research and personal experience. I have for many years +spent considerable time in the British Museum and some of the +principal +libraries in America. I now offer the fruit of my labor. +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="list">LIST OF STORIES</a></h4> + +<h4 align=center>CLASSICAL STORIES</h4> + +<p> +THE STORY OF THESEUS. From Kingsley's "Heroes."<br> +How Theseus lifted the stone.<br> +How Theseus slew the Corynetes.<br> +How Theseus slew Sinis.<br> +How Theseus slew Kerkyon and Procrustes.<br> +How Theseus slew the Medea and was acknowledged<br> the son of +Æ +geus.<br> +How Theseus slew the Minotaur. To be told in six parts as a series. + +<p>THE STORY OF CROESUS. + +<p>THE CONSPIRACY OF THE MAGI. + +<p>ARION AND THE DOLPHIN. From "Wonder Tales from Herodotus," by N. +Barrington D'Almeida. These stories are intended for reading, but +could +be shortened for effective narration. + +<p>CORIOLANUS. + +<p>JULIUS CÆSAR. + +<p>ARISTIDES. + +<p>ALEXANDER. From "Plutarch's Lives for Boys and Girls," by W. H. +Weston. These stories must be shortened and adapted for narration. + +<p>THE GOD OF THE SPEARS: THE STORY OF ROMULUS. + +<p>HIS FATHER'S CROWN: THE STORY OF ALCIBIADES. From "Tales from +Plutarch," by F. J. Rowbotham. These stories may be shortened and +told +in sections.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center>EAST INDIAN STORIES</h4> + +<p>THE WISE OLD SHEPHERD. + +<p>THE RELIGIOUS CAMEL. From "The Talking Thrush," by W. H. D. +Rouse. + +<p>LESS INEQUALITY THAN MEN DEEM. From "Old Deccan Days," by Mary +Frere. + +<p>THE BRAHMAN, THE TIGER AND THE SIX JUDGES. This story may be +found +in "The Fairy Ring," edited by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora +Archibald +Smith; also in "Tales of the Punjab," by F. A. Steel, under the +title of +"The Tiger, the Brahman and the Jackal." + +<p>TIT FOR TAT. From "Old Deccan Days," by Mary Frere. This story +may +be found in "The Fairy Ring," edited by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora +Archibald Smith. + +<p>"PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL." + +<p>HARISARMAN. From "Indian Fairy Tales," by Joseph Jacobs. + +<p>THE BEAR'S BAD BARGAIN. + +<p>LITTLE ANKLEBONE. + +<p>PEASIE AND BEANSIE. From "Tales of the Punjab," by F. A.Steel. + +<p>THE WEAVER AND THE WATERMELON. + +<p>THE TIGER AND THE HARE. From "Indian Nights Entertainment," by +Synnerton. + +<p>THE VIRTUOUS ANIMALS. This story should be abridged for +narration. + +<p>THE ASS AS SINGER. + +<p>THE WOLF AND THE SHEEP. From "Tibetan Tales," by F. A. +Schiefner. + +<p>A STORY ABOUT ROBBERS. From "Out of the East," by Lafcadio +Hearn. + +<p>DRIPPING. From "Indian Fairy Tales," by Mark Thornhill. + +<p>THE BUDDHA AS TREE-SPIRIT. + +<p>THE BUDDHA AS PARROT. + +<p>THE BUDDHA AS KING. From "A Collection of Eastern Stories and +Legends," by M. L. Shedlock. + +<p>RAKSHAS AND BAKSHAS. This story may be found in "Tales of +Laughter," +edited by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith, under the +title +of "The Blind Man, the Deaf Man and the Donkey." + +<p>THE BREAD OF DISCONTENT. From "Legendary Lore of all Nations." + +<p>A GERM DESTROYER. + +<p>NAMGARY DOOLA. A good story for boys, to be given in shortened +form. +From "The Kipling Reader," by Rudyard Kipling. + +<p>A STUPID BOY. + +<p>THE CLEVER JACKAL. One of the few stories wherein the Jackal +shows +skill combined with gratitude. From "Folk Tales of Kashmir," by J. +H. +Knowles. + +<p>WHY THE FISH LAUGHED. From "Folk Tales of Kashmir," by J. H. +Knowles.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center>MYTHS, LEGENDS, AND FAIRY TALES</h4> + +<p>HOW THE HERRING BECAME KING. + +<p>JOE MOORE'S STORY. + +<p>THE MERMAID OF GOB NY OOYL. + +<p>KING MAGNUS BAREFOOT. From "Manx Tales," by Sophia Morrison. + +<p>THE GREEDY MAN. From "Contes Populaires Malgaches," by Gariel +Ferrand. + +<p>ARBUTUS. + +<p>BASIL. + +<p>BRIONY + +<p>DANDELION. From "Myths and Legends of Flowers, Trees, Fruits, +and +Plants," by C. M. Skinner. + +<p>THE MAGIC PICTURE. + +<p>THE STONE MONKEY. + +<p>STEALING PEACHES. + +<p>THE COUNTRY OF GENTLEMEN. + +<p>FOOTBALL ON A LAKE. From "Chinese Fairy Tales, by H. A. Giles. +</p> + +<p>THE LIME TREE. + +<p>INTELLIGENCE AND LUCK. + +<p>THE FROST, THE SUN AND WIND. From "Sixty Folk Tales from +Slavonic +Sources," by O. H. Wratislaw. + +<p>THE BOY WHO SLEPT. + +<p>THE GODS KNOW. From "Chinese Fairy Stories," by N. A. Pitnam. +This +story must be shortened and adapted for narration. + +<p>THE IMP TREE. + +<p>THE PIXY FLOWER. + +<p>TOM TIT TOT. + +<p>THE PRINCESS OF COLCHESTER. From "Fairy Gold," by Ernest Rhys. + +<p>THE ORIGIN OF THE MOLE. From "Cossack Fairy Tales," by R. N. +Bain. + +<p>DOLLS AND BUTTERFLIES. From "Myths and Legends of Japan," by F. +H. +Davis. + +<p>THE CHILD OF THE FOREST. + +<p>THE SPARROW'S WEDDING. + +<p>THE MOON MAIDEN. From "Old World Japan," by Frank Rinder. + +<p>THE STORY OF MERLIN. From "Stories of Early British Heroes," by +C. +G. Hartley. + +<p>THE ISLE OF THE MYSTIC LAKE. From "The Voyage of Maildun," in +"Old +Celtic Romances," by P. W. Joyce. + +<p>THE STORY OF BALDUR. From "Heroes of Asgard," by M. R. Earle. +In +three parts for young children. + +<p>ADALHERO. From "Evenings with the Old Story Tellers." + +<p>MARTIN THE PEASANT'S SON. From "Russian Wonder Tales," by Post +Wheeler. This is more suitable for reading. + +<p>THE LEGEND OF RIP VAN WINKLE. From "Rip Van Winkle," by +Washington +Irving. + +<p>URASHIMA. From "Myths and Legends of Japan," by F. H. Davis. + +<p>THE MONK AND THE BIRD. From "The Book of Legends Told Over +Again," +by H. E. Scudder. + +<p>CAROB. From "Myths and Legends of Flowers, Trees, Fruits and +Plants," by C. M. Skinner. A Talmud legend. + +<p>THE LAND OF ETERNAL YOUTH. From "Child-Lore." + +<p>CATSKIN. + +<p>GUY OF GISBORNE. + +<p>KING HENRY AND THE MILLER. From "A Book of Ballad Stories," by +Mary +Macleod. + +<p>THE LEGEND OF THE BLACK PRINCE. + +<p>WHY THE WOLVES NO LONGER DEVOUR THE LAMBS OF CHRISTMAS NIGHT. +From +"Au Pays des Legendes," by Eugéne Herepin. + +<p>THE COYOTE AND THE LOCUST. + +<p>THE COYOTE AND THE RAVENS WHO RACED THEIR EYES. From "Zuni Folk +Tales," by F. H. Cushing. + +<p>THE PEACEMAKER. From "Legends of the Iroquois," by W. V. +Canfield. + +<p>THE STORY OF THE GREAT CHIEF OF THE ANIMALS. + +<p>THE STORY OF LION AND LITTLE JACKAL. From "Kaffir Folk Tales," +by G. +M. Theal. + +<p>THE LEGEND OF THE GREAT ST. NICHOLAS. + +<p>THE THREE COUNSELS. From "Bulletin De Folk Lore, Liège." + +<p>THE TALE OF THE PEASANT DEMYAR. + +<p>THE MONKEY AND THE POMEGRANATE TREE. + +<p>THE ANT AND THE SNOW. + +<p>THE VALUE OF AN EGG. + +<p>THE PADRE AND THE NEGRO. + +<p>PAPRANKA. From "Tales of Old Lusitania," by Coelho. + +<p>KOJATA. + +<p>THE LOST SPEAR. (To be shortened.) + +<p>THE HERMIT. (By Voltaire.) + +<p>THE BLUE CAT. (From the French.) + +<p>THE SILVER PENNY. + +<p>THE THREE SISTERS. + +<p>THE SLIPPERS OF ABOU-KAREM. From "The Golden Fairy Book." + +<p>THE FAIRY BABY. From "Uncle Remus in Hansaland," by Mary and +Newman +Tremearne. + +<p>WHY THE SOLE OF A MAN'S FOOT IS UNEVEN. + +<p>THE WONDERFUL HAIR. + +<p>THE EMPEROR TROJAN'S GOAT EARS. + +<p>THE LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS. + +<p>HANDICRAFT ABOVE EVERYTHING. + +<p>JUST EARNINGS ARE NEVER LOST. + +<p>THE MAIDEN WHO WAS SWIFTER THAN A HORSE. From "Servian Stories +and +Legends." + +<p>THE COUPLE SILENCIEUX. + +<p>LE MORT PARLANT. + +<p>LA SOTTE FIANCÉE + +<p>LE CORNAÇON. + +<p>PERSIN AU POT. From "Contes Populaires du Pays Wallon," by +August +Gittée. + +<p>THE RAT AND THE CAT. + +<p>THE TWO THIEVES. + +<p>THE TWO RATS. + +<p>THE DOG AND THE RAT. From "Contes Populaires Malgaches," by +Gabriel +Ferrand. + +<p>RUA AND TOKA. From "The Maori Tales," by Baroness Orczy and +Montagu +Marstow. This story is given for the same purpose as "A Long-Bow +Story" +from Andrew Lang's "Olive Fairy Book." + +<p>LADY CLARE. + +<p>THE WOLF-CHILD. From "Tales from the Land of Grapes and Nuts," +by +Charles Sellers. + +<p>THE UNGRATEFUL MAN. + +<p>THE FAITHFUL SERVANT. (In part.) + +<p>JOVINIAN, THE PROUD EMPEROR. + +<p>THE KNIGHT AND THE KING OF HUNGARY. + +<p>THE WICKED PRIEST. + +<p>THE EMPEROR AND CONRAD AND THE COUNT'S SON. From the "Gesta +Romanorum." + +<p>VIRGIL, THE EMPEROR AND THE TRUFFLES. From "Unpublished Legends +of +Virgil," collected by C. G. Leland. + +<p>SEEING THAT ALL WAS RIGHT. (A good story for boys.) + +<p>LA FORTUNA. + +<p>THE LANTERNS OF THE STOZZI PALACE. From "Legends of Florence," +by C. +G. Leland. + +<p>THE THREE KINGDOMS. + +<p>YELENA THE WISE. + +<p>SEVEN SIMEONS. + +<p>IVAN, THE BIRD AND THE WOLF. + +<p>THE PIG, THE DEER AND THE STEED. + +<p>WATERS OF YOUTH. + +<p>THE USELESS WAGONER. From "Myths and Folk Tales of the Russians, +Western Slavs and Magyars," by Jeremiah Curtin. These stories need +shortening and adapting. + +<p>THE COMICAL HISTORY OF THE KING AND THE COBBLER. This story +should +be shortened to add to the dramatic power. [From a Chap Book.] + +<p>THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE. From "Fairy Tales," by Hans +Christian +Andersen. + +<p>HEREAFTER THIS. From "More English Fairy Tales," by Joseph +Jacobs. +This story and "The Fisherman and his Wife" are great favorites and +could be told one after the other, one to illustrate the patient +wife, +and the other the patient husband. + +<p>HOW A MAN FOUND HIS WIFE IN THE LAND OF THE DEAD. This is a very +dramatic and pagan story, to be used with discretion. + +<p>THE MAN WITHOUT HANDS AND FEET. + +<p>THE COCKEREL. From "Papuan Fairy Tales." by Annie Ker. + +<p>THE STORY OF SIR TRISTRAM AND LA BELLE ISEULT. From "Cornwall's +Wonderland," by Mabel Quiller-Couch. To be told in shortened form. + +<p>THE CAT THAT WENT TO THE DOCTOR. + +<p>THE WOOD ANEMONE. + +<p>SWEETER THAN SUGAR. + +<p>THE RASPBERRY CATERPILLAR. From "Fairy Tales from Finland," by +Zachris Topélius. + +<p>DINEVAN, THE EMU. + +<p>GOOMBLE GUBBON, THE BUSTARD. From "Australian Legendary Tales," +by +Mrs. K. L. Parker. + +<p>THE TULIP BED. From "The English Fairy Book," by Ernest Rhys. I +have been asked so often for this particular story I am glad to be +able +to provide it in very poetical language. + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center>STORIES FROM GRIMM AND ANDERSEN</h4> + +<p>THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE. + +<p>THE WOLF AND THE KIDS. + +<p>THE ADVENTURES OF CHANTICLEER AND PARTLET. + +<p>THE OLD MAN AND HIS GRANDSON. + +<p>RUMPELSTILTSKIN. + +<p>THE QUEEN BEE. + +<p>THE WOLF AND THE MAN. + +<p>THE GOLDEN GOOSE. From Grimm's Fairy Tales, edited by Mrs. Edgar +Lucas. + +<p>OLÉ—LUK—ÔIÉ. Series of seven +stories. + +<p>WHAT THE OLD MAN DOES IS ALWAYS RIGHT. + +<p>THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA. + +<p>THUMBELINA. For younger children. From Andersen's Fairy Tales. + +<p>IT'S QUITE TRUE. + +<p>FIVE OUT OF ONE POD. + +<p>GREAT CLAUS AND LITTLE CLAUS. + +<p>JACK THE DULLARD. + +<p>THE BUCKWHEAT. + +<p>THE FIR-TREE. + +<p>THE LITTLE TIN SOLDIER. + +<p>THE NIGHTINGALE. + +<p>THE UGLY DUCKLING. + +<p>THE SWINEHERD. + +<p>THE SEA SERPENT. + +<p>THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL. + +<p>THE GARDENER AND HIS FAMILY. For older children. From +Andersen's +Fairy Tales. The two best editions of Hans Christian Andersen's +fairy +tales are the translation by Mrs. Edgar Lucas and the only complete +English edition by W. A. and J. K. Craigie. + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center>STORIES FROM THE FAIRY BOOK SERIES</h4> + +<p align=center><small>EDITED BY ANDREW LANG.</small></p> + +<p>THE SERPENT'S GIFTS. + +<p>UNLUCKY JOHN. From "All Sorts of Stories Book," by Mrs. L. B. +Lang. + +<p>MAKOMA. From "The Orange Fairy Book." A story for boys. + +<p>THE LADY OF SOLACE. + +<p>HOW THE ASS BECAME A MAN AGAIN. + +<p>AMYS AND AMILE. + +<p>THE BURNING OF NJAL. + +<p>OGIER THE DANE. From "The Red Romance Book." + +<p>THE HEART OF A DONKEY. + +<p>THE WONDERFUL TUNE. + +<p>A FRENCH PUCK. + +<p>A FISH STORY. From "The Lilac Fairy Book." + +<p>EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON. As a preparation for Cupid +and +Psyche. From "The Blue Fairy Book." + +<p>THE HALF CHICK. + +<p>THE STORY OF HOK LEE AND THE DWARFS. From "The Green Fairy Book. + +<p>HOW TO FIND A TRUE FRIEND. From "The Crimson Fairy Book." To be +given in shorter form. + +<p>A LONG-BOW STORY. From "The Olive Fairy Book." This story makes +children learn to distinguish between falsehood and romance. + +<p>KANNY, THE KANGAROO. + +<p>THE STORY OF TOM THE BEAR. From "The Animal Story Book." + +<p>THE STORY OF THE FISHERMAN. + +<p>ALADDIN AND THE LAMP. This story should be divided and told in +two +sections. + +<p>THE STORY OF ALI COGIA. From "The Arabian Nights Entertainment," +edited by Andrew Lang. + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center> +STORIES ILLUSTRATING COMMON-SENSE<br> +RESOURCEFULNESS AND HUMOR</h4> + +<p>THE THIEF AND THE COCOANUT TREE. + +<p>THE WOMAN AND THE LIZARD. + +<p>SADA SADA. + +<p>THE SHOP-KEEPER AND THE ROBBER. + +<p>THE RECITER. + +<p>RICH MAN'S POTSHERD. + +<p>THE SINGER AND THE DONKEY. + +<p>CHILD AND MILK. + +<p>RICH MAN GIVING A FEAST. + +<p>KING SOLOMON AND THE MOSQUITOES. + +<p>THE KING WHO PROMISED TO LOOK AFTER TENNAL RANAN'S FAMILY. + +<p>VIKADAKAVI. + +<p>HORSE AND COMPLAINANT. + +<p>THE WOMAN AND THE STOLEN FRUIT. From "An Indian Tale or Two," by +William Swinton. + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center> +STORIES DEALING WITH THE SUCCESS<br> +OF THE YOUNGER CHILD</h4> + +<p>This is sometimes due to a kind action shown to some humble +person or +to an animal. + +<p>THE THREE SONS. From "The Kiltartan Wonder Book," by Lady +Gregory. + +<p>THE FLYING SHIP. From "Russian Fairy Tales," by F. B. Bain. + +<p>HOW JESPER HERDED THE HARES. From "The Violet Fairy Book," by +Andrew +Lang. + +<p>YOUTH, LIFE AND DEATH. From "Myths and Folk Tales of the +Russians, +Western Slavs and Magyars," by Jeremiah Curtin. + +<p>JACK THE DULLARD. From "Fairy Tales," by Hans Christian +Andersen. + +<p>THE ENCHANTED WHISTLE. From "The Golden Fairy Book." + +<p>THE KING'S THREE SONS. + +<p>HUNCHBACK AND BROTHERS. From "Legends of the French Provinces." + +<p>THE LITTLE HUMPBACKED HORSE. From "Russian Wonder Tales," by +Post +Wheeler. This story is more suitable for reading than telling. + +<p>THE QUEEN BEE. From Grimm's Fairy Tales, edited by Mrs. Edgar +Lucas. + +<p>THE WONDERFUL BIRD. From "Roumanian Fairy Tales," by J. M. +Percival. + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center>STORIES FROM THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS</h4> + +<p>THE STORY OF SAINT BRANDONS. Vol. 7, page 52. + +<p>THE STORY OF SAINT FRANCIS. Vol. 5, page 125. + +<p>THE STORY OF SANTA CLARA AND THE ROSES. + +<p>SAINT ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY. Vol. 6, page 213. + +<p>SAINT MARTIN AND THE CLOAK. Vol. 6, page 142. From the "Legenda +Aurea." + +<p>THE LEGEND OF SAINT MARJORY. From "Tales Facetiae." + +<p>MELANGELL'S LAMBS. From "The Welsh Fairy Book," by W. J. Thomas. + +<p>OUR LADY'S TUMBLER. Twelfth Century Legend Done Out of Old +French +into English, by J. H. Wickstead. This story may be shortened and +adapted without sacrificing too much of the beauty of the style. + +<p>THE SONG OF THE MINISTER. From "A Child's Book of Saints," by +William Canton. This should be shortened and somewhat simplified +for +narration, especially in the technical, ecclesiastical terms. + +<p>THE STORY OF SAINT KENELM, THE LITTLE KING. + +<p>THE STORY OF KING ALFRED AND SAINT CUTHBERT. + +<p>THE STORY IF AEDBURG, THE DAUGHTER OF EDWARD. + +<p>THE STORY OF KING HAROLD'S SICKNESS AND RECOVERY. From "Old +English +History for Children," by E. A. Freeman. I commend all those who +tell +these stories to read the comments made on them by E. A. Freeman +himself. + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center>MODERN STORIES</h4> + +<p>THE SUMMER PRINCESS. From "The Enchanted Garden," by Mrs. M. L. +Molesworth. This may be shortened and arranged for narration. + +<p>THOMAS AND THE PRINCESS. From "Twenty-six Ideal Stories for +Girls," +by Helena M. Conrad. A fairy tale for grown-ups, for pure +relaxation. + +<p>THE TRUCE OF GOD. From "All-Fellows Seven Legends of Lower +Redemption," by Laurence Housman. + +<p>THE SELFISH GIANT. From "Fairy Tales," by Oscar Wilde. + +<p>THE LIGEND OF THE TORTOISE. From "Windlestraw, Legends in Rhyme +of +Plants and Animals," by Pamela Glenconner. From the Provenç +al. + +<p>FAIRY GRUMBLESNOOKS. + +<p>A BIT OF LAUGHTER'S SMILE. From "Tales for Little People," Nos. +323 +and 318, by Maud Symonds. + +<p>THE FAIRY WHO JUDGED HER NEIGHBORS. From "The Little Wonder +Box," in +"Stories Told to a Child," by Jean Ingelow. + +<p>LE COURAGE. + +<p>LE'ÉCOLE. + +<p>LE JOUR DE CATHERINE. + +<p>JACQUELINE ET MIRANT. From "Nos Enfants," by Anatole France. + +<p>THE GIANT AND THE JACKSTRAW. From "The Book of Knight and +Barbara," +by David Starr Jordan. For very small children. + +<p>THE MUSICIAN. + +<p>THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS ROSE. From "The Girl from the +Marshcroft," by Selma Lageröf. Both stories should be +shortened +and adapted for narration. + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +I trust that the grouping of my stories in this section may not be +misleading. Under "Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales" I have included +many +stories which contain valuable ethical teaching, deep philosophy and +stimulating examples for conduct in life. I regret that I have been +unable to find a good collection of stories from history for +narrative +purposes. I have made a careful and lengthy search, but the stories +are +all written from the <i>reading</i> point of view rather than the <i +> +telling.</i> +</BLOCKQUOTE> + + +<p> </p> +<h4 align=center><a name="books"> +BOOKS SUGGESTED TO THE STORY-TELLER<br> +AND BOOKS REFERRED TO IN THE<br> +LIST OF STORIES</a></h4> +<p> </p> + +<p>ANDERSEN, HANS CHRISTIAN<br> +Fairy Tales; translated by Mrs. Edgar Lucas. Dutton.<br> +Fairy Tales; edited by W. A. and J. K. Craigie. Oxford University +Press. + +<p>BABBITT, E. C.<br> +Jataka Tales. Century. + +<p>BAIN, R. N.<br> +Cossack Fairy Tales. Burt.<br> +Russian Fairy Tales. Burt. + +<p>BRIANT, EGBERT<br> +History of English Balladry. Badger. + +<p>BUDDHA<br> +The Jataka; or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births;<br> +translated from the Pali by Various Hands. In Six Volumes.<br> +University Press. + +<p>BUCKLEY, E. F.<br> +Children of the Dawn. Stokes. + +<p>BULLETIN, OF FOLK LORE. Liege. + +<p>CALTHORPE, DION C.<br> +King Peter. Duckworth. + +<p>CANFIELD, W. W.<br> +The Legends of the Iroquois. Wessels. + +<p>CANTON, WILLIAM<br> +A Child's Book of Saints. Dutton.<br> +A Child's Book of Warriors. Dutton. + +<p>CHILD LORE. Nimmo. + +<p>CHODZKO, A. E. B.<br> +Slav Fairy Tales; translated by E. J. Harding. Burt. + +<p>CLARK, K. M.<br> +Maori Tales. Nutt. + +<p>COELHO.<br> +Tales of Old Lusitania. Swan Sonnenschein. + +<p>CONRAD, JOSEPH.<br> +Twenty-six Ideal Stories for Girls. Hutchinson. + +<p>COUCH, MABEL QUILLER-<br> +Cornwall's Wonderland. Dutton. + +<p>CURTIN, JEREMIAH<br> +Myths and Folk Tales of the Russians, Western Slavs and Magyars. +Little. + +<p>CUSHING, F. H.<br> +Zuni Folk Tales. Putnam. + +<p>DARTON, E. J. H.<br> +Pilgrim Tales; from Tales of the Canterbury Pilgrims. Dodge.<br> +Wonder Book of Old Romance. Stokes. + +<p>DASENT, SIR G. W.<br> +Norse Fairy Tales. Putnam. + +<p>DAVIDS, T. W. RHYS<br> +Buddhist Birth Stories. Trübner. + +<p>DAVIS, F. H.<br> +Myths and Legends of Japan. Crowell. + +<p>EARLE, M. R.<br> +Heroes of Asgard. Macmillan.<br> +Evenings with the Old Story Tellers. Leavitt and Allen. + +<p>EWALD, CARL<br> +The Queen Bee and Other Nature Tales; translated by<br> +C. C. Moore-Smith. Nelson. + +<p>FERRAND, GABRIEL<br> +Contes Populaires Malgaches. Leroux. + +<p>FIELDE, ADELE<br> +Chinese Nights' Entertainment. Putnam + +<p>FRANCE, ANATOLE<br> +Nos Enfants. Hachette. + +<p>FREEMAN, E. A.<br> +Old English History for Children. Dutton. + +<p>FRERE, MARY<br> +Old Deccan Days. Murray. + +<p>FROISSART<br> +Stories from Froissart; edited by Henry Nebolt<br> +Macmillan. + +<p>GESTA ROMANORUM. Swan Sonnenschein. + +<p>GILES, H. A.<br> +Chinese Fairy Tales. Gowans. + +<p>GITTÉE, AUGUST<br> +Contes Populaires du Pays Wallon. Vanderpooten. + +<p>GLENCONNER, LADY (PAMELA TENNANT)<br> +Windlestraw, Legends in Rhyme of Plants and Animals.<br> +Chiswick Press. + +<p>GOLDEN FAIRY BOOK. Hutchinson. + +<p>GREGORY, LADY AUGUSTA<br> +The Kiltartan Wonder Book. Dutton. + +<p>GRIMM, J. L. K. AND W. K. GRIMM<br> Fairy Tales;<br> +translated by Mrs. Edgar Lucas. Leppincott. + +<p>HARRIS, JOEL CHANDLER<br> +Uncle Remus; His Songs and His Sayings. Appleton. + +<p>HARTLEY, C. G.<br> Stories of Early British Heroes. Dent. + +<p>HEARN, LAFCADIO<br> +Out of the East. Houghton. + +<p>HERODOTUS<br> +Wonder Storied from Herodotus;<br> +edited by N. Barrington D'Almeida. Harper. + +<p>HERPIN, EUGÉNE<br> +Au Pays Du Legendes. Calliére. + +<p>HIGGINS, M. M.<br> +Stories from the History of Ceylon for Children. Capper. + +<p>HOUSMAN, LAURENCE<br> +All-Fellows Seven Legends of Lower Redemption.<br> +Kegan Paul. + +<p>INGELOW, JEAN<br> +The Little Wonder Box. Griffeths, Farren and Company.<br> +Stories Told to a Child. Little. + +<p>IRVING, WASHINGTON<br> +Rip Van Winkle. Macmillan. + +<p>JACOBS, JOSEPH<br> +Indian Fairy Tales. Putnam.<br> +More English Fairy Tales. Putnam. + +<p>JORDAN, DAVID STARR<br> +The Book of Knight and Barbara. Appleton. + +<p>JOYCE, P. W.<br> +Old Celtic Romances. Longmans. + +<p>KEARY, ANNIE AND ELIZA<br> +Heroes of Asgard. Macmillan. + +<p>KER, ANNIE<br> +Papuan Fairy Tales. Macmillan + +<p>KINGSLEY, CHARLES<br> +Heroes. Macmillan. + +<p>KIPLING, RUDYARD<br> +The Jungle Book. Macmillan.<br> +The Kipling Reader. Appleton.<br> +The Second Jungle Book. Macmillan. + +<p>KNOWLES, J. H.<br> +Folk Tales of Kashmir. Trübner. + +<p>LAGERLÖF, SELMA<br> +The Girl from Marshcroft. Little. + +<p>LANG, ANDREW<br> +Arabian Nights' Entertainment. Longmans.<br> +The Blue Fairy Book. Longmans.<br> +The Crimson Fairy Book Longmans.<br> +The Green Fairy Book. Longmans.<br> +The Lilac Fairy Book. Longmans.<br> +The Olive Fairy Book. Longmans.<br> +The Orange Fairy Book. Longmans.<br> +The Red Fairy Book. Longmans.<br> +The Violet Fairy Book. Longmans. + +<p>LANG. L. B.<br> +All Sorts of Stories Book. Longmans. + +<p>LEGENDA AUREA. + +<p>LELAND, C. G.<br> +Legends of Florence. Macmillan.<br> +Unpublished Legends of Virgil. Stock. + +<p>MACKENZIE<br> +Indian Myths and Legends. Gresham Publishing House. + +<p>MACLEOD, MARY<br> +A Book of Ballad Stories. Stokes. + +<p>MOLESWORTH, MRS. M. L.<br> +The Enchanted Garden. Unwin. + +<p>MONCRIEFF, A. H. HOPE<br> +Classic Myths and Legends. Gresham Publishing House. + +<p>MORRISON, SOPHIA<br> +Manx Fairy Tales. Nutt. + +<p>NAAKE, J. T.<br> +Slavonic Fairy Tales. King. + +<p>NOBLE, M. E. AND K. COOMARASWAMY<br> +Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists. Holt. + +<p>ORCZY, BARONESS AND MONTAGU BARSTOW<br> +Old Hungarian Fairy Tales. Dean. + +<p>PARKER, MRS. K. L.<br> +Australian Legendary Tales. Nutt. + +<p>PEARSE, W. G.<br> +The Children's Library of the Saints. Jackson. + +<p>PERCIVAL, J. M.<br> +Roumanian Fairy Tales. Holt. + +<p>PERRAULT, CHARLES<br> +Fairy Tales. Dutton. + +<p>PITMAN, N. H.<br> +Chinese Fairy Stories. Crowell. + +<p>PLUTARCH<br> +Plutarch's Lives for Boys and Girls; retold by W. H. Weston. Stokes +<br> +Tales from Plutarch, by F. J. Rowbotham. Crowell. + +<p>RAGOZIN, Z. A.<br> +Tales of the Heroic Ages; Frithjof, Viking of Norway, and Roland, +Paladin of France. Putnam.<br> +Tales of the Heroic Ages; Siegfried, Hero of the North, and Beowulf, +Hero of Anglo-Saxons. Putnam. + +<p>RATTRAY, R. S.<br> +Hansa Folk Lore, Custooms, Proverbs, etc. Clarendon Press. + +<p>RHYS, ERNEST<br> +The English Fairy Book. Stokes.<br> +Fairy Gold. Dutton.<br> +The Garden of Romance. Kegan Paul. + +<p>RINDER, FRANK<br> +Old World Japan. Allen. + +<p>ROBINSON, T. H.<br> +Tales and Talks from History. Caldwell. + +<p>ROUSE, W. H. D.<br> +The Talking Thrush. Dutton. + +<p>SCHIEFNER, F. A.<br> +Tibetan Tales. Trübner. + +<p>SCUDDER, H. E.<br> +The Book of Legends Told Over Again. Houghton. + +<p>SELLERS, CHARLES<br> +Tales from the Land of Grapes and Nuts. Field and Tuer. + +<p>SERVIAN STORIES AND LEGENDS. + +<p>SHEDLOCK, M. L.<br> +A Collection of Eastern Stories and Legends. Dutton. + +<p>SKINNER, C. M.<br> +Myths and Legends of Flowers, Fruits and Plants. Lippincott. + +<p>SMITH, J. C. AND G. SOUTAR<br> +Book of Ballads for Boys and Girls. Oxford University Press. + +<p>STEEL, MRS. F.A.<br> +Tales of the Punjab. Macmillan. + +<p>STRICKLAND, W. W.<br> +Northwest Slav Legends and Fairy Stories. Erben. + +<p>SWINTON<br> +An Indian Tale or Two; Reprinted from Blackheath Local Guide. + +<p>SWINTON AND CATHCART<br> +Legendary Lore of all Nations. Ivison, Taylor & Company. + +<p>SYNNERTON<br> +Indian Nights' Entertainment. Stock. + +<p>TALES FACETLÆ. + +<p>TENNANT, PAMELA (LADY GLENCONNER)<br> +The Children and the Pictures. Macmillan. + +<p>THEAL, G. M.<br> +Kaffir Folk Lore. Swan Sonnenschein. + +<p>THOMAS, W. J.<br> +The Welsh Fairy Book. Stokes. + +<p>THORNHILL, MARK<br> +Indian Fairy Tales. Hatchard. + +<p>TOPÉLIUS, ZACHRIS<br> +Fairy Tales from Finland. Unwin. + +<p>TREMEARNE, MARY AND NEWMAN<br> +Uncle Remus in Hansaland. + +<p>WHEELER, POST<br> +Russian Wonder Tales. Century. + +<p>WICKSTEAD, J. H.<br> +Our Lady's Tumbler; Twelfth Century Legend Done Out of Old French +into +English. Mosher. + +<p>WIGGIN, KATE DOUGLAS AND NORA ARCHIBALD SMITH<br> +The Fairy Ring. Doubleday.<br> +Tales of Laughter. Doubleday. + +<p>WILDE, OSCAR<br> +Fairy Tales. Putnam. + +<p>WILSON, RICHARD<br> +The Indian Story Book. Macmillan. + +<p>WRATISLAW, A. H.<br> +Sixty Folk Tales from Exclusively Slavonic Sources. Stock. + + +<p> </p> +<h4><a name="footnotes">FOOTNOTES</a></h4> + +<p>1. I venture to hope (at this long distance of years) that my<br> +language in telling the story was more simple than appears from this +<br> +account. + +<p>2. This difference of spelling in the same essay will be much<br> +appreciated by those who know how gladly children offer an +orthographical<br> alternative, in hopes that one if not the other +may +satisfy the exigency<br> of the situation.</p> + +<p>3. See "List of Stories." + +<p>4. At the Congressional Library in Washington. + +<p>5. Letters of T. E. Brown, page 55. + +<p>6. Page 55. + +<p>7. In further illustration of this point see "When Burbage +Played," +<br>Austen Dobson, and "In the Nursery," Hans Andersen. + +<p>8. "Les jeux des enfants," page 16. + +<p>9. A noted Greek gymnast struck his pupil, though he was +applauded by +<br>the whole assembly. "You did it clumsily, and not as you ought, +for +<br>these people would never have praised you for anything really +artistic." + +<p>10. For further details on the question of preparation of the +story, +see<br> chapter on "Questions Asked by Teachers." + +<p>11. Sully says that children love exact repetition because of the +<br> +intense enjoyment bound up with the process of imaginative +realization. + +<p>12. At the Summer School at Chautauqua, New York, and at Lincoln +<br> +Park, Chicago. + +<p>13. There must be no more emphasis in the second manner than<br> +the first. + +<p>14. From "Education of an Orator," Book II, Chapter 3. + +<p>15. One child's favorite book bore the exciting title of "Birth, +<br> +Life and Death of Crazy Jane." + +<p>16. This does not imply that the child would not appreciate in +the +right<br> context the thrilling and romantic story in connection +with<br +> the finding of the Elgin marbles.</p> + +<p>17. One is almost inclined to prefer Marjorie Fleming's little<br +> +innocent oaths. + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +"But she was more than usual calm,<br> +She did not give a single dam." +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p>18. Published by John Loder, bookseller, Woodbridge, in 1829. + +<p>19. From "Literary Values." + +<p>20. A story is told of Confucius, who, having attended a funeral, +<br> +presented his horse to the chief mourner. When asked why he +bestowed<br +>this gift, he replied: "I wept with the man, so I felt I ought to +<i>do +</i> something for him." + +<p>21. This experiment cannot be made with a group of children for +<br> +obvious reasons. + +<p>22. From an address on "The Cultivation of the Imagination." + +<p>23. "The House in the Wood" (Grimm), is another instance of +triumph +<br>for the youngest child. + +<p>24. See list of stories under this heading. + +<p>25. To be found in Andrew Lang's "The Violet Fairy Book." + +<p>26. To be found in Jacob's "More English Fairy Tales." + +<p>27. From the "Thabagata." + +<p>28. For selection of suitable stories among legends of the +Saints,<br +> +see list of stories under the heading, "Stories from the Lives of +the<br +> Saints." + +<p>29. These words have been set most effectively to music by Miss +Margaret<br> Ruthven Lang. + +<p>30. From "The Use of Fairy Tales," in "Moral Instruction of +Children." + +<p>31. See Chapter on Questions asked by Teachers. + +<p>32. From "Talks to Teachers," page 93. + +<p>33. An excellent account of this is to be found in "The Song of +Roland,"<br> by Arthur Way and Frederic Spender. + +<p>34. Njal's Burning, from "The Red Book of Romance," by Andrew +Lang. + +<p>35. From "Studies of Childhood." + +<p>36. England. + +<p>37. From "The Lockerbie Book," by James Whitcomb Riley, +copyright, +1911.<br> Used by special permission of the publishers, The Bobbs- +<br> +Merrill Company. + +<p>38. From "Virginibus Puerisque." + +<p>39. See "Long Bow Story;" "John and the Pig." + +<p>40. Published by George Allen & Co. + +<p>41. This is even a higher spirit than that shown in the advice +given +<br>in the "Agamemnon" (speaking of the victor's attitude after the +taking<br>of Troy): + +<BLOCKQUOTE> +"Yea, let no craving for forbidden gain<br> +Bid conquerors yield before the darts of greed." +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p>42. It is curious to find that the story of Puss-in-Boots in its +variants<br> is sometimes presented with a moral, sometimes without. +In +the Valley<br> of the Ganges it has <i>none.</i> In Cashmere it has +<br> +one moral, in Zanzibar another. + +<p>43. From Hans Christian Andersen, in "Childhood in Literature and +Art." + +<p>44. "Sartor Resartus," Book III, page 218. + +<p>45. From "Childhood in Literature and Art." + +<p>46. See "Eastern Stories and Fables," published by Routledge. + +<p>47. See Chapter I. + +<p>48. In this matter I have, in England, the support of Dr. +Kimmins,<br +>Chief Inspector of Education in the London County Council, who is +<br> +strongly opposed to the immediate reproduction of stories. + +<p>49. These remarks refer only to the illustrations of stories +told.<br +> Whether children should be encouraged to self-expression in +drawing<br +>(quite apart form reproducing in one medium what has been conveyed +to +<br> them in another), is too large a question to deal with in this +special<br> work on story-telling. + +<p>50. I give the following story, quoted by Professor Ker in his +Romanes<br> lecture, 1906, as an encouragement to those who develop +the +art of<br>story-telling. + +<p>51. The melody to be crooned at first and to grow louder at <br> +each +incident. + +<p>52. "The punishment that can most affect Merfolk is to restrict +their +<br>freedom. And this is how the Queen of the Sea punished the +Nixie of +<br>our tale." + +<p>53. The three stories from Hans Christian Andersen have for so +long +<br> formed part of my répertoire that I have been requested +to +<br>include them. I am offering a free translation of my own from +the +<br>Danish version. + +<p>54. Alas! dear Augustin, All is lost, lost!</p> + + +<p> </p> +<h4><a name="note">NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT</a></h4> + +<p>My thanks are due to: + +<p>Mrs. Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon, for <br>permission to use an +extract from "The Madness of Philip," and to<br> +her publishers. + +<p>To Messrs. Houghton Mifflin, for permission to use extract from +"Thou +<br> Shalt Not Preach," by Mr. John Burroughs. + +<p>To Messrs. Macmillan and Co., for permission to use, "Milking +Time," +<br>of Miss Rossetti. + +<p>To Mrs. William Sharp, for permission to use passage from "The +Divine +<br> Adventure," by Fiona MacLeod. + +<p>To Miss Ethel CLifford, for permission to use the poem of "The +Child." + +<p>To Mr. James Whitcomb Riley and the Bobbs Merrill Co., for +permission +<br>to use "The Treasure of the Wise Man." + +<p>To Professor Ker, for permission to quote from "Sturla the +Historian." + +<p>To Mr. John Russell, for permission to print in full, "A Saga." + +<p>To Messrs. Longmans, Green, and Co., for permission to use "The +Two +<br> Frogs," from the Violet Fairy Book, and "To Your Good Health," +from +<br>the Crimson Fairy Book. + +<p>To Mr. Heinemann and Lady Glenconner, for permission to reprint +"The +<br>Water Nixie," by Pamela Tennant, from "The Children and the +Pictures." + +<p>To Mr. Maurice Baring and the Editor of <i>The Morning Post</i>, +<br> +for permission to reprint "The Blue Rose" from <i>The Morning Post +</i>. + +<p>To Dr. Walter Rouse and Mr. J. M. Dent, for permission to reprint +from <br>"The Talking Thrush" the story of "The Wise Old Shepherd." + +<p>To Rev. R. L. Gales, for permission to use the article on +"Nursery<br +> Rhymes" from the <i>Nation</i>. + +<p>To Mr. Edmund Gosse, for permission to use extracts from "Father +and +Son." + +<p>To Messrs. Chatto & Windus, for permission to use "Essay on +Child's<br> Play" (from <i>Virginibus Puerisque</i>) and other +papers. + +<p>To Mr. George Allen & Co., for permission to use "Ballad for +a<br +>Boy," by W. Cory, from "Ionica." + +<p>To Professor Bradley, for permission to quote from his essay on +<br> +"Poetry and Life." + +<p>To Mr. P. A. Barnett, for permission to quote from "The +Commonsense +<br>of Education." + +<p>To Mr. James Stephens, for permission to reprint "The Man and<br> +the Boy." + +<p>To Mr. Harold Barnes, for permission to use version of the "The +Proud +<br>Cock."<br> To Mrs. Arnold Glover, for permission to print<br>two +of +her stories. + +<p>To Miss Emilie Poulson, for permission to use her translation of +<br> +Björnsen's Poem. + +<p>To George Routledge & Son, for permission to use stories from +<br> +"Eastern Stories and Fables." + +<p>To Mrs. W. K. Clifford, for permission to quote from "Very Short +Stories." + +<p>To Mr. W. Jenkyn Thomas and Mr. Fisher Unwin, for permission to +use +<br> "Arthur in the Cave" from the Welsh Fairy Book. +<pre> + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Art of the Story-Teller, by Marie L. Shedlock + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ART OF THE STORY-TELLER *** + +This file should be named 5957-h.htm or 5957-h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, strtl11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, strtl10a.txt + +This etext was created by Doug Levy, _literra scripta manet_. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +https://gutenberg.org or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart hart@pobox.com + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + +</pre> +</body> +</html> + + + diff --git a/5957.txt b/5957.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b5f51ba --- /dev/null +++ b/5957.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8276 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Art of the Story-Teller, by Marie L. Shedlock + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Art of the Story-Teller + +Author: Marie L. Shedlock + +Release Date: June, 2004 [EBook #5957] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on September 29, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ART OF THE STORY-TELLER *** + + + + +This etext was created by Doug Levy, _literra scripta manet_. + + + + + + + + + +ART OF THE STORY-TELLER, by MARIE L. SHEDLOCK + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Some day we shall have a science of education comparable to the +science of medicine; but even when that day arrives the art of +education will still remain the inspiration and the guide of all +wise teachers. The laws that regulate our physical and mental +development will be reduced to order; but the impulses which lead +each new generation to play its way into possession of all that +is best in life will still have to be interpreted for us by the +artists who, with the wisdom of years, have not lost the direct +vision of children. + +Some years ago I heard Miss Shedlock tell stories in England. Her +fine sense of literary and dramatic values, her power in sympathetic +interpretation, always restrained within the limits of the art she was +using, and her understanding of educational values, based on a wide +experience of teaching, all marked her as an artist in story-telling. +She was equally at home in interpreting the subtle blending of wit and +wisdom in Daudet, the folk lore philosophy of Grimm, or the deeper +world philosophy and poignant human appeal of Hans Christian Andersen. + +Then she came to America and for two or three years she taught us the +difference between the nightingale that sings in the tree tops and the +artificial bird that goes with a spring. Cities like New York, Boston, +Pittsburgh and Chicago listened and heard, if sometimes indistinctly, +the notes of universal appeal, and children saw the Arabian Nights +come true. + +Yielding to the appeals of her friends in America and England, Miss +Shedlock has put together in this little book such observations and +suggestions on story-telling as can be put in words. Those who have +the artist's spirit will find their sense of values quickened by her +words, and they will be led to escape some of the errors into which +even the greatest artists fall. And even those who tell stories with +their minds will find in these papers wise generalizations and +suggestions born of wide experience and extended study which well go +far towards making even an artificial nightingale's song less +mechanical. To those who know, the book is a revelation of the +intimate relation between a child's instincts and the finished art of +dramatic presentation. To those who do not know it will bring echoes +of reality. + Earl Barnes. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +PART I. THE ART OF STORY-TELLING. + + CHAPTER. + + I. THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE STORY. + II. THE ESSENTIALS OF THE STORY. + III. THE ARTIFICES OF STORY-TELLING. + IV. ELEMENTS TO AVOID IN SELECTION OF MATERIAL. + V. ELEMENTS TO SEEK IN THE CHOICE OF MATERIAL. + VI. HOW TO OBTAIN AND MAINTAIN THE EFFECT OF THE STORY. + VII. QUESTIONS ASKED BY TEACHERS. + + +PART II. THE STORIES. + + STURLA, THE HISTORIAN. + A SAGA. + THE LEGEND OF ST. CHRISTOPHER. + ARTHUR IN THE CAVE. + HAFIZ, THE STONE-CUTTER. + TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH. + THE PROUD COCK. + SNEGOURKA. + THE WATER NIXIE. + THE BLUE ROSE. + THE TWO FROGS. + THE WISE OLD SHEPHERD. + THE FOLLY OF PANIC. + THE TRUE SPIRIT OF A FESTIVAL DAY. + FILIAL PIETY. + + THREE STORIES FROM HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN. + THE SWINEHERD. + THE NIGHTINGALE. + THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA. + + +PART III. LIST OF STORIES. BOOKS SUGGESTED TO THE STORY-TELLER AND + BOOKS REFERRED TO IN THE LIST OF STORIES. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Story-telling is almost the oldest art in the world--the first +conscious form of literary communication. In the East it still +survives, and it is not an uncommon thing to see a crowd at a street +corner held by the simple narration of a story. There are signs in +the West of a growing interest in this ancient art, and we may yet +live to see the renaissance of the troubadours and the minstrels whose +appeal will then rival that of the mob orator or itinerant politician. +One of the surest signs of a belief in the educational power of the +story is its introduction into the curriculum of the training-college +and the classes of the elementary and secondary schools. It is just +at the time when the imagination is most keen, the mind being +unhampered by accumulation of facts, that stories appeal most vividly +and are retained for all time. + +It is to be hoped that some day stories will be told to school groups +only by experts who have devoted special time and preparation to the +art of telling them. It is a great fallacy to suppose that the +systematic study of story-telling destroys the spontaneity of +narrative. After a long experience, I find the exact converse to be +true, namely, that it is only when one has overcome the mechanical +difficulties that one can "let one's self go" in the dramatic interest +of the story. + +By the expert story-teller I do not mean the professional elocutionist. +The name, wrongly enough, has become associated in the mind of the +public with persons who beat their breast, tear their hair, and declaim +blood-curdling episodes. A decade or more ago, the drawing-room reciter +was of this type, and was rapidly becoming the bugbear of social +gatherings. The difference between the stilted reciter and the simple +story-teller is perhaps best illustrated by an episode in Hans Christian +Andersen's immortal "Story of the Nightingale." The real Nightingale +and the artificial Nightingale have been bidden by the Emperor to unite +their forces and to sing a duet at a Court function. The duet turns out +most disastrously, and while the artificial Nightingale is singing his +one solo for the thirty-third time, the real Nightingale flies out of +the window back to the green wood--a true artist, instinctively choosing +his right atmosphere. But the bandmaster--symbol of the pompous +pedagogue--in trying to soothe the outraged feelings of the courtiers, +says, "Because, you see, Ladies and Gentlemen, and above all, Your +Imperial Majesty, with the real nightingale you never can tell what you +will hear, but in the artificial nightingale everything is decided +beforehand. So it is, and so it must remain. It cannot be otherwise." + +And as in the case of the two nightingales, so it is with the stilted +reciter and the simple narrator: one is busy displaying the machinery, +showing "how the tunes go"; the other is anxious to conceal the art. +Simplicity should be the keynote of story-telling, but (and her the +comparison with the nightingale breaks down) it is a simplicity which +comes after much training in self-control, and much hard work in +overcoming the difficulties which beset the presentation. + +I do not mean that there are not born story-tellers who _could_ hold an +audience without preparation, but they are so rare in number that we can +afford to neglect them in our general consideration, for this work is +dedicated to the average story-tellers anxious to make the best use of +their dramatic ability, and it is to them that I present my plea for +special study and preparation before telling a story to a group of +children--that is, if they wish for the far-reaching effects I shall +speak of later on. Only the preparation must be of a much less +stereotyped nature than that by which the ordinary reciters are trained +for their career. + +Some years ago, when I was in America, I was asked to put into the +form of lectures my views as to the educational value of telling +stories. A sudden inspiration seized me. I began to cherish a dream +of long hours to be spent in the British Museum, the Congressional +Library in Washington and the Public Library in Boston--and this +is the only portion of the dream which has been realized. I planned +an elaborate scheme of research work which was to result in a +magnificent (if musty) philological treatise. I thought of trying to +discover by long and patient researches what species of lullaby were +crooned by Egyptian mothers to their babes, and what were the +elementary dramatic poems in vogue among Assyrian nursemaids which +were the prototypes of "Little Jack Horner," "Dickory, Dickory Dock" +and other nursery classics. I intended to follow up the study of +these ancient documents by making an appendix of modern variants, +showing what progress we had made--if any--among modern nations. + +But there came to me suddenly one day the remembrance of a scene from +Racine's "Plaideurs," in which the counsel for the defence, eager to +show how fundamental his knowledge, begins his speech: "Before the +Creation of the World"--And the Judge (with a touch of weariness +tempered by humor) suggests: + +"Let us pass on to the Deluge." + +And thus I, too, have passed on to the Deluge. I have abandoned an +account of the origin and past of stories which at best would only +have displayed a little recently acquired book knowledge. When I +thought of the number of scholars who could treat this part of the +question infinitely better than myself, I realized how much wiser it +would be--though the task is more humdrum--to deal with the present +possibilities of story-telling for our generation of parents +and teachers. + +My objects in urging the use of stories in the education of children +are at least fivefold: + +First, to give them dramatic joy, for which they have a natural +craving; to develop a sense of humor, which is really a sense of +proportion; to correct certain tendencies by showing the consequences +in the career of the hero in the story [Of this motive the children +must be quite unconscious and there should be no didactic emphasis]; +to present by means of example, not precept, such ideals as will +sooner or later be translated into action; and finally, to develop the +imagination, which really includes all the other points. + +But the art of story-telling appeals not only to the educational world +and to parents as parents, but also to a wider public interested in +the subject from a purely human point of view. + +In contrast to the lofty scheme I had originally proposed to myself, I +now simply place before all those who are interested in the art of +story-telling in any form the practical experiences I have had in my +travels in America and England. + +I hope that my readers may profit by my errors, improve on my methods, +and thus help to bring about the revival of an almost lost art. + +In Sir Philip Sydney's "Defence of Poesie: we find these words: + +"Forsooth he cometh to you with a tale, which holdeth children from +play, and old men from the chimney-corner, and pretending no more, +doth intend the winning of the mind from wickedness to virtue even as +the child is often brought to take most wholesome things by hiding them +in such other as have a pleasant taste." + + MARIE L. SHEDLOCK, LONDON. + + + + +PART I. THE ART OF THE STORY-TELLER. + + +CHAPTER I. THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE STORY. + +I propose to deal in this chapter with the difficulties or dangers +which beset the path of the story-teller, because, until we have +overcome these, we cannot hope to bring out the full value of the +story. + +The difficulties are many, and yet they ought not to discourage the +would-be narrators, but only show them how all-important is the +preparation for the story, if it is to have the desired effect. + +I propose to illustrate by concrete examples, thereby serving a +twofold purpose: one to fix the subject more clearly in the mind of +the student, the other to use the art of story-telling to explain +itself. + +I have chosen one or two instances from my own personal experience. +The grave mistakes made in my own case may serve as a warning to +others who will find, however, that experience is the best teacher. +For positive work, in the long run, we generally find out our own +method. On the negative side, however, it is useful to have certain +pitfalls pointed out to us, in order that we may save time by avoiding +them. It is for this reason that I sound a note of warning. + +1. There is _the danger of side issues_. An inexperienced story-teller +is exposed to the temptation of breaking off from the main dramatic +interest in a short exciting story in order to introduce a side issue +which is often interesting and helpful but which must be left for a +longer and less dramatic story. If the interest turns on some dramatic +moment, the action must be quick and uninterrupted, or it will lose half +its effect. + +I had been telling a class of young children the story of Polyphemus +and Ulysses, and just at the most dramatic moment in the story some +impulse for which I cannot account prompted me to go off on a side +issue to describe the personal appearance of Ulysses. + +The children were visibly bored, but with polite indifference they +listened to my elaborate description of the hero. If I had given them +an actual description from Homer, I believe that the strength of the +language would have appealed to their imagination (all the more +strongly because the might not have understood the individual words) +and have lessened their disappointment at the dramatic issue being +postponed; but I trusted to my own lame verbal efforts, and signally +failed. Attention flagged, fidgeting began, the atmosphere was +rapidly becoming spoiled in spit of the patience and toleration still +shown by the children. At last, however, one little girl in the front +row, as spokeswoman for the class, suddenly said: "If you please, +before you go on any further, do you mind telling us whether, after +all, that Poly . . . [slight pause] . . . that . . . [final attempt] +. . . _Polyanthus_ died?" + +Now, the remembrance of this question has been of extreme use to me in +my career as a story-teller. I have realized that in a short dramatic +story the mind of the listeners must be set at ease with regard to +the ultimate fate of the special Polyanthus who takes the center of +the stage. + +I remember, too, the despair of a little boy at a dramatic +representation of "Little Red Riding-Hood," when that little person +delayed the thrilling catastrophe with the Wolf, by singing a pleasant +song on her way through the wood. "Oh, why," said the little boy, +"does she not get on?" And I quite shared his impatience. + +This warning is necessary only in connection with the short dramatic +narrative. There are occasions when we can well afford to offer short +descriptions for the sake of literary style, and for the purpose of +enlarging the vocabulary of the child. I have found, however, in +these cases, it is well to take the children into your confidence, +warning them that they are to expect nothing particularly exciting in +the way of dramatic event. They will then settle down with a freer +mind (though the mood may include a touch of resignation) to the +description you are about to offer them. + +2. _Altering the story to suit special occasions_ is done sometimes +from extreme conscientiousness, sometimes from sheer ignorance of the +ways of children. It is the desire to protect them from knowledge which +they already possess and with which they, equally conscientious, are apt +to "turn and rend" the narrator. I remember once when I was telling the +story of the Siege of Troy to very young children, I suddenly felt +anxious lest there should be anything in the story of the rape of Helen +not altogether suitable for the average age of the class, namely, nine +years. I threw, therefore, a domestic coloring over the whole subject +and presented an imaginary conversation between Paris and Helen, in +which Paris tried to persuade Helen that she was strong-minded woman +thrown away on a limited society in Sparta, and that she should come +away and visit some of the institutions of the world with him, which +would doubtless prove a mutually instructive journey.[1] I then gave +the children the view taken by Herodotus that Helen never went to Troy, +but was detained in Egypt. The children were much thrilled by the +story, and responded most eagerly when, in my inexperience, I invited +them to reproduce in writing for the next day the story I had just told +them. A small child presented _me_, as you will see, with the ethical +problem from which I had so laboriously protected _her_. The essay ran: + + + Once upon a time the King of Troy's son was called Paris. And he + went over to _Greace_ to see what it was like. And here he saw the + beautiful Helen_er,_ and likewise her husband Menela_yus_. And one + day, Menelayus went out hunting, and left Paris and Helener alone, + and Paris said: "Do you not feel _dul_ in this _palis_?"_[2] And + Helener said: "I feel very dull in this _pallice_," and Paris said: + "Come away and see the world with me." So they _sliped_ off together, + and they came to the King of Egypt, and _he_ said: "Who _is_ the + young lady"? So Paris told him. "But," said the King, "it is not + _propper_ for you to go off with other people's _wifes_. So Helener + shall stop here." Paris stamped his foot. When Menelayus got home, + _he_ stamped his foot. And he called round him all his soldiers, + and they stood round Troy for eleven years. At last they thought it + was no use _standing_ any longer, so they built a wooden horse in + memory of Helener and the Trojans and it was taken into the town. + + +Now, the mistake I made in my presentation was to lay any particular +stress on the reason for elopement by my careful readjustment, which +really called more attention to the episode than was necessary for +the age of my audience; and evidently caused confusion in the minds +of some of the children who knew the story in its more accurate +original form. + +While traveling in America, I was provided with a delightful appendix +to this story. I had been telling Miss Longfellow and her sister the +little girl's version of the Siege of Troy, and Mrs. Thorpe made the +following comment, with the American humor the dryness of which adds +so much to its value: + +"I never realized before," she said, "how glad the Greeks must have +been to sit down even inside a horse, when they had been standing for +eleven years." + +3. _The danger of introducing unfamiliar words_ is the very opposite +danger of the one to which I have just alluded; it is the taking for +granted that children are acquainted with the meaning of certain words +upon which turns some important point in the story. We must not +introduce, without at least a passing explanation, words which, if not +rightly understood, would entirely alter the picture we wish to present. + +I had once promised to tell stories to an audience of Irish peasants, +and I should like to state here that, though my travels have brought +me in touch with almost every kind of audience, I have never found one +where the atmosphere is so "self-prepared" as in that of a group of +Irish peasants. To speak to them, especially on the subject of fairy- +tales, is like playing on a delicate harp: the response is so quick +and the sympathy so keen. Of course, the subject of fairy-tales is +one which is completely familiar to them and comes into their everyday +life. They have a feeling of awe with regard to fairies, which is +very deep in some parts of Ireland. + +On this particular occasion I had been warned by an artist friend who +had kindly promised to sing songs between the stories, that my +audience would be of varying age and almost entirely illiterate. Many +of the older men and women, who could neither read nor write, had +never been beyond their native village. I was warned to be very +simple in my language and to explain any difficult words which might +occur in the particular Indian story I had chosen for that night, +namely, "The Tiger, the Jackal and the Brahman."[3]--at a proper +distance, however, lest the audience should class him with the wild +animals. I then went on with my story, in the course of which I +mentioned a buffalo. In spite of the warning I had received, I found +it impossible not to believe that the name of this animal would be +familiar to any audience. I, therefore, went on with the sentence +containing this word, and ended it thus: "And then the Brahman went a +little further and met an old buffalo turning a wheel." + +The next day, while walking down the village street, I entered into +conversation with a thirteen-year-old girl who had been in my audience +the night before and who began at once to repeat in her own words the +Indian story in questions. When she came to the particular sentence I +have just quoted, I was greatly startled to hear _her_ version, which +ran thus: "And the priest went on a little further, and he met another +old gentleman pushing a wheelbarrow." I stopped her at once, and not +being able to identify the sentence as part of the story I had told, I +questioned her a little more closely. I found that the word "buffalo," +had evidently conveyed to her mind an old "buffer" whose name was "Lo," +probably taken to be an Indian form of appellation, to be treated with +tolerance though it might not be Irish in sound. Then, not knowing of +any wheel more familiarly than that attached to a barrow, the young +narrator completed the picture in her own mind--but which, one must +admit, had lost something of the Indian atmosphere which I had +intended to gather about. + +4. _The danger of claiming cooperation of the class by means of +questions_ is more serious for the teacher than the child, who +rather enjoys the process and displays a fatal readiness to give any +sort of answer if only he can play a part in the conversation. If we +could in any way depend on the children giving the kind of answer we +expect, all might go well and the danger would be lessened; but +children have a perpetual way of frustrating our hopes in this +direction, and of landing us in unexpected bypaths from which it is +not always easy to return to the main road without a very violent +reaction. As illustrative of this, I quote from the "The Madness of +Philip," by Josephine Daskam Bacon, a truly delightful essay on child +psychology in the guise of the lightest of stories. + +The scene takes place in a kindergarten, where a bold and fearless +visitor has undertaken to tell a story on the spur of the moment to a +group of restless children. + +She opens thus: + +"Yesterday, children, as I came out of my yard, what do you think +I saw?" + +The elaborately concealed surprise in store was so obvious that +Marantha rose to the occasion and suggested, "An el'phunt." + +"Why, no. Why should I see an elephant in my yard? It was not +_nearly_ so big as that--it was a little thing." + +"A fish," ventured Eddy Brown, whose eye fell upon the aquarium in the +corner. The raconteuse smiled patiently. + +"Now, how could a fish, a live fish, get into my front yard?" + +"A dead fish," says Eddy. + +He had never been known to relinquish voluntarily an idea. + +"No; it was a little kitten," said the story-teller decidedly. "A +little white kitten. She was standing right near a big puddle of +water. Now, what else do you think I saw?" + +"Another kitten," suggests Marantha, conservatively. + +"No; it was a big Newfoundland dog. He saw the little kitten near the +water. Now, cats don't like water, do they? What do they like?" + +"Mice," said Joseph Zukoffsky abruptly. + +"Well, yes, they do; but there were no mice in my yard. I'm sure you +know what I mean. If they don't like _water_, _what_ do they like?" + +"Milk," cried Sarah Fuller confidently. + +"They like a dry place," said Mrs. R. B. Smith. "Now, what do you +suppose the dog did?" + +It may be that successive failures had disheartened the listeners. +Itmay be that the very range of choice presented to them and the +dog alike dazzled their imagination. At all events, they made +no answer. + +"Nobody knows what the dog did?" repeated the story-teller +encouragingly. "What would you do if you saw a little kitten +like that?" + +And Philip remarked gloomily: + +"I'd pull its tail." + +"And what do the rest of you think? I hope you are not as cruel as +that little boy." + +A jealous desire to share Philip's success prompted the quick response: + +"I'd pull it too." + +Now, the reason of the total failure of this story was the inability +to draw any real response from the children, partly because of the +hopeless vagueness of the questions, partly because, there being no +time for reflection, children say the first thing that comes into +their heads without any reference to their real thoughts on the subject. + +I cannot imagine anything less like the enlightened methods of the +best kindergarten teaching. Had Mrs. R. B. Smith been a real, and not +a fictional, person, it would certainly have been her last appearance +as a raconteuse in this educational institution. + +5. _The difficulty of gauging the effect of a story upon the +audience_ rises from lack of observation and experience; it is the +want of these qualities which leads to the adoption of such a method +as I have just presented. We learn in time that want of expression on +the faces of the audience and want of any kind of external response do +not always mean either lack of interest or attention. There is often +real interest deep down, but no power, or perhaps no wish, to display +that interest, which is deliberately concealed at times so as to +protect oneself from questions which may be put. + +6. _The danger of overillustration_. After long experience, and +after considering the effect produced on children when pictures are +shown to them during the narration, I have come to the conclusion that +the appeal to the eye and the ear at the same time is of doubtful +value, and has, generally speaking, a distracting effect: the +concentration on one channel of communication attracts and holds the +attention more completely. I was confirmed in this theory when I +addressed an audience of blind people[4] for the first time, and +noticed how closely they attended, and how much easier it seemed to +them because they were so completely "undistracted by the sights +around them." + +I have often suggested to young teachers two experiments in support +of this theory. They are not practical experiments, nor could they +be repeated often with the same audience, but they are intensely +interesting, and they serve to show the _actual_ effect of appealing to +one sense at a time. The first of these experiments is to take a small +group of children and suggest that they should close their eyes while +you tell them a story. You will then notice how much more attention is +given to the intonation and inflection of the voice. The reason is +obvious. With nothing to distract the attention, it is concentrated on +the only thing offered the listeners, that is, sound, to enable them to +seize the dramatic interest of the story. + +We find an example of the dramatic power of the voice in its appeal to +the imagination in one of the tributes brought by an old pupil to +Thomas Edward Brown, Master at Clifton College: + +"My earliest recollection is that his was the most vivid teaching I +ever received; great width of view and poetical, almost passionate, +power of presentment. We were reading Froude's History, and I shall +never forget how it was Brown's words, Brown's voice, not the +historian's, that made me feel the great democratic function which the +monasteries performed in England; the view became alive in his mouth." +And in another passage: "All set forth with such dramatic force and +aided by such a splendid voice, left an indelible impression on my +mind."[5] + +A second experiment, and a much more subtle and difficult one, is to +take the same group of children on another occasion, telling them a +story in pantomime form, giving them first the briefest outline of the +story. In this case it must be of the simplest construction, until the +children are able, if you continue the experiment, to look for +something more subtle. + +I have never forgotten the marvelous performance of a play given in +London many years ago entirely in pantomime form. The play was called +"L'Enfant Prodigue," and was presented by a company of French artists. +It would be almost impossible to exaggerate the strength of that +"silent appeal" to the public. One was so unaccustomed to reading +meaning and development of character into gesture and facial expression +that it was really a revelation to most of those present--certainly to +all Anglo-Saxons. + +I cannot touch on this subject without admitting the enormous dramatic +value connected with the cinematograph. Though it can never take the +place of an actual performance, whether in story form or on the stage, +it has a real educational value in its possibilities of representation +which it is difficult to overestimate, and I believe that its +introduction into the school curriculum, under the strictest +supervision, will be of extraordinary benefit. The movement, in its +present chaotic condition, and in the hands of commercial management, +is more likely to stifle than to awaken or stimulate the imagination, +but the educational world is fully alive to the danger, and I am +convinced that in the future of the movement good will predominate. + +The real value of the cinematograph in connection with stories is that +it provides the background that is wanting to the inner vision of the +average child, and does not prevent its imagination from filling in +the details later. For instance, it would be quite impossible for the +average child to get an idea from mere word-painting of the atmosphere +of the polar regions as represented lately on the film in connection +with Captain Scott's expedition, but any stories told later on about +these regions would have an infinitely greater interest. + +There is, however, a real danger in using pictures to illustrate the +story, especially if it be one which contains a direct appeal to the +imagination of the child and one quite distinct from the stories which +deal with facts, namely, that you force the whole audience of children +to see the same picture, instead of giving each individual child the +chance of making his own mental picture. That is of far greater joy, +and of much great educational value, since by this process the child +cooperates with you instead of having all the work done for him. + +Queyrat, in his works on "La Logique chez l'Enfant," quotes Madame +Necker de Saussure:[6] "To children and animals actual objects present +themselves, not the terms of their manifestations. For them thinking +is seeing over again, it is going through the sensations that the real +object would have produced. Everything which goes on within them is +in the form of pictures, or rather, inanimate scenes in which life is +partially reproduced. . . . Since the child has, as yet, no capacity +for abstraction, he finds a stimulating power in words and a +suggestive inspiration which holds him enchanted. They awaken vividly +colored images, pictures far more brilliant than would be called into +being by the objects themselves." + +Surely, if this be true, we are taking from children that rare power +of mental visualization by offering to their outward vision an _actual_ +picture. + +I was struck with the following note by a critic of the _Outlook_, +referring to a Japanese play but which bears quite directly on the +subject in hand. + +"First, we should be inclined to put insistence upon appeal by +_imagination_. Nothing is built up by lath and canvas; everything +has to be created by the poet's speech." + +He alludes to the decoration of one of the scenes which consists +of three pines, showing what can be conjured up in the mind of +the spectator. + + + Ah, yes. Unfolding now before my eyes + The views I know: the Forest, River, Sea + And Mist--the scenes of Ono now expand. + + +I have often heard objections raised to this theory by teachers +dealing with children whose knowledge of objects outside their own +circle is so scanty that words we use without a suspicion that they +are unfamiliar are really foreign expressions to them. Such words as +sea, woods, fields, mountains, would mean nothing to them, unless some +explanation were offered. To these objections I have replied that +where we are dealing with objects that can actually be seen with the +bodily eyes, then it is quite legitimate to show pictures before you +begin the story, so that the distraction between the actual and mental +presentation may not cause confusion; but, as the foregoing example +shows, we should endeavor to accustom the children to seeing much more +than mere objects themselves, and in dealing with abstract qualities +we must rely solely on the power and choice of words and dramatic +qualities of presentation, and we need not feel anxious if the +response is not immediate, nor even if it is not quick and eager.[7] + +7. _The danger of obscuring the point of the story with too many +details_ is not peculiar to teachers, nor is it shown only in the +narrative form. I have often heard really brilliant after-dinner +stories marred by this defect. One remembers the attempt made by +Sancho Panza to tell a story to Don Quixote. I have always felt a +keen sympathy with the latter in his impatience over the recital. + +"In a village of Estramadura there was a shepherd--no, I mean a +goatherd--which shepherd or goatherd as my story says, was called +Lope Ruiz--and this Lope Ruiz was in love with a shepherdess +called Torralva, who was daughter to a rich herdsman, and this rich +herdsman---" + +"If this be thy story, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "thou wilt not have +done these two days. Tell it concisely, like a man of sense, or else +say no more." + +"I tell it in the manner they tell all stories in my country," +answered Sancho, "and I cannot tell it otherwise, nor ought your +Worship to require me to make new customs." + +"Tell it as thou wilt, then," said Don Quixote, "since it is the will +of fate that I should here it, go on." + +Sancho continued: + +"He looked about him until he espied a fisherman with a boat near him, +but so small that it could only hold one person and one goat. The +fisherman got into the boat and carried over on goat; he returned and +carried another; he came back again and carried another. Pray, sir, +keep an account of the goats which the fisherman is carrying over, for +if you lose count of a single one, the story ends, and it will be +impossible to tell a word more. . . . I go on, then. . . . He returned +for another goat, and another, and another and another---" + +"_Suppose_ them all carried over," said Don Quixote, "or thou wilt not +have finished carrying them this twelve months!" + +"Tell me, how many have passed already?" said Sancho. + +"How should I know?" answered Don Quixote. + +"See there, now! Did I not tell thee to keep an exact account? There +is an end of the story. I can go no further." + +"How can this be?" said Don Quixote. "Is it so essential to the story +to know the exact number of goats that passed over, that if one error +be made the story can proceed no further?" + +"Even so," said Sancho Panza. + +8. _The danger of overexplanation_ is fatal to the artistic success of +any story, but it is even more serious in connection with stories told +from an educational point of view, because it hampers the imagination of +the listener, and since the development of that faculty is one of our +chief aims in telling these stories, we must leave free play, we must +not test the effect, as I have said before, by the material method of +asking questions. My own experience is that the fewer explanations you +offer, provided you have been careful with the choice of your material +and artistic in the presentation, the more the child will supplement by +his own thinking power what is necessary for the understanding of the story. + +Queyrat says: "A child has no need of seizing on the exact meaning of +words; on the contrary, a certain lack of precision seems to stimulate +his imagination only the more vigorously, since it gives him a broader +liberty and firmer independence."[8] + +9. _The danger of lowering the standard_ of the story in order to +appeal to the undeveloped taste of the child is a special one. I +am alluding here only to the story which is presented from the +educational point of view. There are moments of relaxation in a +child's life, as in that of an adult, when a lighter taste can be +gratified. I allude now to the standard of story for school purposes. + +There is one development of story-telling which seems to have been +very little considered, either in America or in our own country, +namely, the telling of stories to _old_ people, and that not only +in institutions or in quiet country villages, but in the heart of the +busy cities and in the homes of these old people. How often, when the +young people are able to enjoy outside amusements, the old people, +necessarily confined to the chimney-corner and many unable to read +much for themselves, might return to the joy of their childhood by +hearing some of the old stories told them in dramatic form. Here is +a delightful occupation for those of the leisured class who have the +gift, and a much more effective way of reading aloud. + +Lady Gregory, in talking to the workhouse folk in Ireland, was moved +by the strange contrast between the poverty of the tellers and the +splendors of the tale. She says: + +"The stories they love are of quite visionary things; of swans that +turn into kings' daughters, and of castles with crowns over the doors, +and of lovers' flights on the backs of eagles, and music-loving +witches, and journeys to the other world, and sleeps that last for +seven hundred years." + +I fear it is only the Celtic imagination that will glory in such +romantic material; but I am sure the men and women of the poorhouse +are much more interested than we are apt to think in stories outside +the small circle of their lives. + + + +CHAPTER II. THE ESSENTIALS OF THE STORY. + +It would be a truism to suggest that dramatic instinct and dramatic +power of expression are naturally the first essentials for success in +the art of story-telling, and that, without these, no story-teller +would go very far; but I maintain that, even with these gifts, no high +standard of performance will be reached without certain other +qualities, among the first of which I place _apparent_ simplicity, +which is really the _art_ of concealing_ the art. + +I am speaking here of the public story-teller, or of the teacher with +a group of children, not the spontaneous (and most rare) power of +telling stories such as Beranger gives us in his poem, "Souvenirs du +Peuple": + + + Mes enfants, dans ce village, + Suivi de rois, il passa; + Voila; bien longtemps de cela! + Je venais d'entrer en menage, + A pied grimpant le coteau, + Ou pour voir je m'tais mise. + + Il avait petit chapeau et redingote grise. + Il me dit: Bon jour, ma chere. + Il vous a parle, grand mere? + Il vous a parle? + + +I am skeptical enough to think that it is not the spontaneity of the +grandmother but the art of Beranger which enhances the effect of the +story told in the poem. + +This intimate form of narration, which is delightful in its special +surroundings, would fail to _reach_, much less _hold_, a large audience, +not because of its simplicity, but often because of the want of skill in +arranging material and of the artistic sense of selection which brings +the interest to a focus and arranges the side lights. In short, the +simplicity we need for the ordinary purpose is that which comes from +ease and produces a sense of being able to let ourselves go, because we +have thought out our effects. It is when we translate our instinct into +art that the story becomes finished and complete. + +I find it necessary to emphasize this point because people are apt to +confuse simplicity of delivery with carelessness of utterance, loose +stringing of sentences of which the only connections seem to be the +ever-recurring use of "and" and "so," and "er . . .," this latter +inarticulate sound having done more to ruin a story and distract the +audience than many more glaring errors of dramatic form. + + +Real simplicity holds the audience because the lack of apparent effort +in the artist has the most comforting effect upon the listener. It is +like turning from the whirring machinery of process to the finished +article, which bears no traces of the making except the harmony and +beauty of the whole, which make one realize that the individual parts +have received all proper attention. What really brings about this +apparent simplicity which insures the success of the story? It has +been admirably expressed in a passage from Henry James' lecture +on Balzac: + +"The fault in the artist which amounts most completely to a failure of +dignity is the absence of _saturation with his idea_. When +saturation fails, no other real presence avails, as when, on the other +hand, it operates, no failure of method fatally interferes." + +I now offer two illustrations of the effect of this saturation, one +to show that the failure of method does not prevent successful effect, +the other to show that when it is combined with the necessary secondary +qualities the perfection of the art is reached. + +In illustration of the first point, I recall an experience in the +north of England when the head mistress of an elementary school asked +me to hear a young inexperienced girl tell a story to a group of very +small children. + +When she began, I felt somewhat hopeless, because of the complete +failure of method. She seemed to have all the faults most damaging to +the success of a speaker. Her voice was harsh, her gestures awkward, +her manner was restless and melodramatic; but, as she went on I soon +began to discount all these faults and, in truth, I soon forgot about +them, for so absorbed was she in her story, so saturated with her +subject, that she quickly communicated her own interest to her +audience, and the children were absolutely spellbound. + +The other illustration is connected with a memorable peep behind the +stage, when the late M. Coquelin had invited me to see him in the +greenroom between the first and second acts of "L'abbe Constantin," one +of the plays given during his last season in London, the year before his +death. The last time I had met M. Coquelin was at a dinner party, where +I had been dazzled by the brilliant conversation of this great artist in +the role of a man of the world. But on this occasion I met the simple, +kindly priest, so absorbed in his role that he inspired me with the wish +to offer a donation for his poor, and, on taking leave, to ask for his +blessing for myself. While talking to him, I had felt puzzled. It was +only when I had left him that I realized what had happened, namely, that +he was too thoroughly saturated with his subject to be able to drop his +role during the interval, in order to assume the more ordinary one of +host and man of the world. + +Now, it is this spirit I would wish to inculcate into the would-be +story-tellers. If they would apply themselves in this manner to their +work, it would bring about a revolution in the art of presentation, +that is, in the art of teaching. The difficulty of the practical +application of this theory is the constant plea, on the part of +teachers, that there is not the time to work for such a standard in an +art which is so apparently simple that the work expended on it would +never be appreciated. + +My answer to this objection is that, though the counsel of perfection +would be to devote a great deal of time to the story, so as to prepare +the atmosphere quite as much as the mere action of the little drama +(just as photographers use time exposure to obtain sky effects, as +well as the more definite objects in the picture), yet it is not so +much a question of time as concentration on the subject, which is one +of the chief factors in the preparation of the story. + +So many story-tellers are satisfied with cheap results, and most +audiences are not critical enough to encourage a high standard.[9] +The method of "showing the machinery" has more immediate results, and +it is easy to become discouraged over the drudgery which is not +necessary to secure the approbation of the largest number. But, since +I am dealing with the essentials of really good story-telling, I may +be pardoned for suggesting the highest standard and the means for +reaching it. + +Therefore, I maintain that capacity for work, and even drudgery, is +among the essentials of story-telling. Personally, I know of nothing +more interesting than watching the story grow gradually from mere +outline into a dramatic whole. It is the same pleasure, I imagine, +which is felt over the gradual development of a beautiful design on a +loom. I do not mean machine-made work, which has to be done under +adverse conditions in a certain time and which is similar to thousands +of other pieces of work; but that work, upon which we can bestow +unlimited time and concentrated thought. + +The special joy in the slowly-prepared story comes in the exciting +moment when the persons, or even the inanimate objects, become alive +and move as of themselves. I remember spending two or three +discouraging weeks with Andersen's story of the "Adventures of a +Beetle." I passed through times of great depression, because all the +little creatures, beetles, ear-wigs, frogs, etc., behaved in such a +conventional way, instead of displaying the strong individuality which +Andersen had bestowed upon them that I began to despair of presenting +a live company at all. + +But one day, the _Beetle_, so to speak, "took the stage," and at once +there was life and animation among the minor characters. Then the main +work was done, and there remained only the comparatively easy task of +guiding the movement of the little drama, suggesting side issues and +polishing the details, always keeping a careful eye on the Beetle, +that he might "gang his ain gait" and preserve to the full his own +individuality. + +There is a tendency in preparing stories to begin with detail work, +often a gesture or side issue which one has remembered from hearing a +story told, but if this is done before the contemplative period, only +scrappy, jerky and ineffective results are obtained, on which one +cannot count for dramatic effects. This kind of preparation reminds +one of a young peasant woman who was taken to see a performance of +"Wilhelm Tell," and when questioned as to the plot could only sum it +up saying, "I know some fruit was shot at."[10] + +I realize the extreme difficulty teachers have to devote the necessary +time to perfecting the stories they tell in school, because this is +only one of the subjects they have to teach in an already over-crowded +curriculum. To them I would offer this practical advice: Do not be +afraid to repeat your stories.[11] If you do not undertake more than +seven stories a year, chosen with infinite care, and if you repeated +these stories six times during the year of forty-two weeks, you would +be able to do artistic and, therefore, lasting work; you would also be +able to avoid the direct moral application, for each time a child +hears a story artistically told, a little more of the meaning +underlying the simple story will come to him without any explanation +on your part. The habit of doing one's best instead of one's second- +best means, in the long run, that one has no interest except in the +preparation of the best, and the stories, few in number, polished and +finished in style, will have an effect of which one can scarcely +overstate the importance. + +In the story of the "Swineherd," Hans Andersen says: + +"On the grave of the Prince's father there grew a rose-tree. It only +bloomed once in five years, and only bore one rose. But what a rose! +Its perfume was so exquisite that whoever smelt it forgot at once all +his cares and sorrows." + +Lafcadio Hearn says: + +"Time weeds out the errors and stupidities of cheap success, and +presents the Truth. It takes, like the aloe, a long time to flower, +but the blossom is all the more precious when it appears." + + + +CHAPTER III. THE ARTIFICES OF STORY-TELLING. + +By this term I do not mean anything against the gospel of simplicity +which I am so constantly preaching, but, for want of a better term, I +use the word "artifice" to express the mechanical devices by which we +endeavor to attract and hold the attention of the audience. The art +of telling stories is, in truth, much more difficult than acting a +part on the stage: First, because the narrator is responsible for the +whole drama and the whole atmosphere which surrounds it. He has to +live the life of each character and understand the relation which each +bears to the whole. Secondly, because the stage is a miniature one, +gestures and movements must all be so adjusted as not to destroy the +sense of proportion. I have often noticed that actors, accustomed to +the more roomy public stage, are apt to be too broad in their gestures +and movements when they tell a story. The special training for the +story-teller should consist not only in the training of the voice and +in choice of language, but above all in power of delicate suggestion, +which cannot always be used on the stage because this is hampered by +the presence of actual things. The story-teller has to present +these things to the more delicate organism of the "inward eye." + +So deeply convinced am I of the miniature character of the story- +telling art that I believe one never gets a perfectly artistic +presentation of this kind in a very large hall or before a very +large audience. + +I have made experiments along this line, having twice told a story to +an audience in America[12] exceeding five thousand, but on both +occasions, though the dramatic reaction upon oneself from the response +of so large an audience was both gratifying and stimulating, I was +forced to sacrifice the delicacy of the story and to take from its +artistic value by the necessity of emphasis, in order to be heard by +all present. + +Emphasis is the bane of all story-telling, for it destroys the +delicacy, and the whole performance suggests a struggle in conveying +the message. The indecision of the victory leaves the audience +restless and unsatisfied. + +Then, again, as compared with acting on the stage, in telling a story +one misses the help of effective entrances and exits, the footlights, +the costume, the facial expression of your fellow-actor which interprets +so much of what you yourself say without further elaboration on your +part; for, in the story, in case of a dialogue which necessitates great +subtlety and quickness in facial expression and gesture, one has to be +both speaker and listener. + +Now, of what artifices can we make use to take the place of all the +extraneous help offered to actors on the stage? First and foremost, +as a means of suddenly pulling up the attention of the audience, is +the judicious art of pausing. For those who have not actually had +experience in the matter, this advice will seem trite and unnecessary, +but those who have even a little experience will realize with me the +extraordinary efficacy of this very simple means. It is really what +Coquelin spoke of as a "high light," where the interest is focused, as +it were, to a point. + +I have tried this simple art of _pausing_ with every kind of audience, +and I have rarely know it to fail. It is very difficult to offer a +concrete example of this, unless one is giving a "live" representation, +but I shall make an attempt, and at least I shall hope to make myself +understood by those who have heard me tell stories. + + +In Hans Andersen's "Princess and the Pea," the King goes down to open +the door himself. Now, one may make this point in two ways. One may +either say: "And then the King went to the door, and at the door there +stood a real Princess," or, "And then the King went to the door, and +at the door there stood--(pause)--a real Princess." + +It is difficult to exaggerate the difference of effect produced by so +slight a pause.[13] With children it means an unconscious curiosity +which expresses itself in a sudden muscular tension. There is just time +during that instant's pause to _feel_, though not to _formulate, the +question: "What is standing at the door?" By this means, half your work +of holding the attention is accomplished. It is not necessary for me to +enter into the psychological reason of this, but I strongly recommend +those who are interested in the question to read the chapter in Ribot's +work on this subject, "Essai sur L'Imagination Creatrice," as well as +Mr. Keatinge's work on "Suggestion." + +I would advise all teachers to revise their stories with a view to +introducing the judicious pause, and to vary its use according to the +age, the number, and, above all, the mood of the audience. Experience +alone can insure success in this matter. It has taken me many years +to realize the importance of this artifice. + +Among other means for holding the attention of the audience and +helping to bring out the points of the story is the use of gesture. I +consider, however, that it must be a sparing use, and not of a broad +or definite character. We shall never improve on the advice given by +Hamlet to the actors on this subject: "See that ye o'erstep not the +modesty of Nature." + +And yet, perhaps it is not necessary to warn story-tellers against +abuse of gesture. It is more helpful to encourage them in the use of +it, especially in Anglo-Saxon countries, where we are fearful of +expressing ourselves in this way, and when we do the gesture often +lacks subtlety. The Anglo-Saxon, when he does move at all, moves in +solid blocks--a whole arm, a whole leg, the whole body but if one +watches a Frenchman or an Italian in conversation, one suddenly +realizes how varied and subtle are the things which can be suggested +by the mere turn of the wrist or the movement of a finger. The power +of the hand has been so wonderfully summed up in a passage from +Quintillian that I am justified in offering it to all those who wish +to realize what can be done by a gesture: + +"As to the hands, without the aid of which all delivery would be +deficient and weak, it can scarcely be told of what a variety of +motions they are susceptible, since they almost equal in expression +the power of language itself. For other parts of the body assist the +speaker, but these, I may almost say, speak themselves. With our +hands we ask, promise, call persons to us and send them away, +threaten, supplicate, intimate dislike or fear; with out hands we +signify joy, grief, doubt, acknowledgement, penitence, and indicate +measure, quantity, number and time. Have not our hands the power of +inciting, of restraining, or beseeching, of testifying approbation? +. . . So that amidst the great diversity of tongues pervading all +nations and people, the language of the hands appears to be a language +common to all men."[14] + +One of the most effective of artifices in telling stories to young +children is the use of mimicry--the imitation of animals' voices and +sound in general is of never-ending joy to the listeners. However, +I should wish to introduce a note of grave warning in connection with +this subject. This special artifice can only be used by such narrators +as have special aptitude and gifts in this direction. There are many +people with good imaginative power but who are wholly lacking in +the power of mimicry, and their efforts in this direction, however +painstaking, remain grotesque and therefore ineffective. When listening +to such performances, of which children are strangely critical, one is +reminded of the French story in which the amateur animal painter is +showing her picture to an undiscriminating friend: + +"Ah!" says the friend, "this is surely meant for a lion?" + +"No," says the artist (?), with some slight show of temper, "it is my +little lap-dog." + +Another artifice which is particularly successful with very small +children is to insure their attention by inviting their cooperation +before one actually begins the story. The following has proved quite +effective as a short introduction to my stories when I was addressing +large audiences of children: + +"Do you know that last night I had a very strange dream, which I am +going to tell you before I begin the stories? I dreamed that I was +walking along the streets of---[here would follow the town in which I +happened to be speaking], with a large bundle on my shoulders, and this +bundle was full of stories which I had been collecting all over the +world in different countries; and I was shouting at the top of my voice: +'Stories! Stories! Stories! Who will listen to my stories?' And the +children came flocking round me in my dream, saying: 'Tell _us_ your +stories. _We_ will listen to your stories.' So I pulled out a story +from my big bundle and I began in a most excited way, "Once upon a time +there lived a King and a Queen who had no children, and they---' Here +a little boy, _very_ much like that little boy I see sitting in the +front row, stopped me, saying: 'Oh, I know _that_ old story: it's +Sleeping Beauty.' + +"So I pulled out a second story, and began: 'Once upon a time there +was a little girl who was sent by her mother to visit her grandmother +---' Then a little girl, _so_ much like the one sitting at the end of +the second row, said: 'Oh! everybody knows that story! It's---'" + +Here I would like to make a judicious pause, and then the children in +the audience would shout in chorus, with joyful superiority: "Little +Red Riding-Hood!" before I had time to explain that the children in my +dream had done the same. + +This method I repeated two or three times, being careful to choose +very well-known stories. By this time the children were all encouraged +and stimulated. I usually finished with congratulations on the number +of stories they knew, expressing a hope that some of those I was going +to tell that afternoon would be new to them. I have rarely found this +plan to fail to establish a friendly relation between oneself and the +juvenile audience. It is often a matter of great difficulty, not to +_win_ the attention of an audience but to _keep_ it, and one of the most +subtle artifices is to let the audience down (without their perceiving +it) after a dramatic situation, so that the reaction may prepare them +for the interest of the next situation. + +An excellent instance of this is to be found in Rudyard Kipling's +story of "The Cat That Walked . . ." where the repetition of words +acts as a sort of sedative until one realizes the beginning of a +fresh situation. + +The great point is never to let the audience quite down, that is, in +stories which depend on dramatic situations. It is just a question of +shade and color in the language. If you are telling a story in +sections, and one spread over two or three occasions, you should +always stop at an exciting moment. It encourages speculation in the +children's minds, which increases their interest when the story is +taken up again. + +Another very necessary quality in the mere artifice of story-telling +is to watch your audience, so as to be able to know whether its mood +is for action or reaction, and to alter your story accordingly. The +moods of reaction are rarer, and you must use them for presenting a +different kind of material. Here is your opportunity for introducing +a piece of poetic description, given in beautiful language, to which +the children cannot listen when they are eager for action and dramatic +excitement. + +Perhaps one of the greatest artifices is to take a quick hold of your +audience by a striking beginning which will enlist their attention +from the start. You can then relax somewhat, but you must be careful +also of the end because that is what remains most vivid to the children. +If you question them as to which story they like best in a program, you +will constantly find it to be the last one you have told, which has for +the moment blurred out the others. + +Here are a few specimens of beginnings which seldom fail to arrest the +attention of the child: + +"There was once a giant ogre, and he lived in a cave by himself." +From "The Giant and Jack-straws," David Starr Jordan. + +"There were once twenty-five tin soldiers, who were all brothers, for +they had been made out of the same old tin spoon." From "The Tin +Soldier," Hans Christian Andersen. + +"There was once an Emperor who had a horse shod with gold." From +"The Beetle," Hans Christian Andersen. + +"There was once a merchant who was so rich that he could have paved +the whole street with gold, and even then he would have had enough for +a small alley." From the "The Flying Trunk," Hans Christian Andersen. + +"There was once a shilling which came forth from the mint springing +and shouting, 'Hurrah! Now I am going out into the wide world.'" +From "The Silver Shilling," Hans Christian Andersen. + +"In the High and Far Off Times the Elephant, O Best Beloved, had +no trunk." From "The Elephant's Child": "Just So Stories," +Rudyard Kipling. + +"Not always was the Kangaroo as now we behold him, but a Different +Animal with four short legs." From "Old Man Kangaroo": "Just So +Stories," Rudyard Kipling. + +"Whichever way I turn," said the weather-cock on a high steeple, "no +one is satisfied." From "Fire-side Fables," Edwin Barrow. + +"A set of chessmen, left standing on their board, resolved to alter +the rules of the game." From the same source. + +"The Pink Parasol had tender whalebone ribs and a slender stick of +cherry-wood." From "Very Short Stories," Mrs. W. K. Clifford. + +"There was once a poor little Donkey on Wheels: it had never wagged +its tail, or tossed its head, or said 'Hee-haw,' or tasted a tender +thistle." From the same source. + +Now, some of these beginnings are, of course, for very young children, +but they all have the same advantage, that of plunging _in medias res_, +and, therefore, arrest attention at once, contrary to the stories which +open on a leisurely note of description. + +In the same way we must be careful about the endings of stories. They +must impress themselves either in a very dramatic climax to which the +whole story has worked up, as in the following: + +"Then he goes out the Wet Wild Woods, or up the Wet Wild Trees, or on +the Wet Wild Roofs, waving his Wild Tail, and walking by his Wild Lone." +From "Just So Stories," Rudyard Kipling. + +Or by an anti-climax for effect: + +"We have all this straight from the alderman's newspaper, but it is not +to be depended on." From "Jack the Dullard," Hans Christian Andersen. + +Or by evading the point: + +"Whoever does not believe this must buy shares in the Tanner's yard." +From "A Great Grief," Hans Christian Andersen. + +Or by some striking general comment: + +"He has never caught up with the three days he missed at the beginning +of the world, and he has never learnt how to behave." From "How the +Camel got his Hump": "Just So Stories," Rudyard Kipling. + +I have only suggested in this chapter a few of the artifices which I +have found useful in my own experience, but I am sure that many more +might be added. + + + +CHAPTER IV. ELEMENTS TO AVOID IN THE SELECTION OF MATERIAL. + +I am confronted in this portion of my work with a great difficulty, +because I cannot afford to be as catholic as I could wish (this +rejection or selection of material being primarily intended for those +story-tellers dealing with normal children); but I do wish from the +outset to distinguish between a story told to an individual child in +the home circle or by a personal friend, and a story told to a group +of children as part of the school curriculum. And if I seem to +reiterate this difference, it is because I wish to show very clearly +that the recital of parents and friends may be quite separate in +content and manner from that offered by the teaching world. In the +former case, almost any subject can be treated, because, knowing the +individual temperament of the child, a wise parent or friend knows +also what can be presented or not presented to the child; but in +dealing with a group of normal children in school much has to be +eliminated that could be given fearlessly to the abnormal child; I +mean the child who, by circumstances or temperament, is developed +beyond his years. + +I shall now mention some of the elements which experience has shown +me to be unsuitable for class stories. + +I. _Stories dealing with analysis of motive and feeling_. This +warning is specially necessary today, because this is, above all, an +age of introspection and analysis. We have only to glance at the +principal novels and plays during the last quarter of a century, more +especially during the last ten years, to see how this spirit has crept +into our literature and life. + +Now, this tendency to analyze is obviously more dangerous for children +than for adults, because, from lack of experience and knowledge of +psychology, the child's analysis is incomplete. It cannot see all the +causes of the action, nor can it make that philosophical allowance for +mood which brings the adult to truer conclusions. + +Therefore, we should discourage the child who shows a tendency to +analyze too closely the motives of its action, and refrain from +presenting to them in our stories any example which might encourage +them to persist in this course. + +I remember, on one occasion, when I went to say good night to a little +girl of my acquaintance, I found her sitting up in bed, very wide- +awake. Her eyes were shining, her cheeks were flushed, and when I +asked her what had excited her so much, she said: + +"I _know_ I have done something wrong today, but I cannot quite +remember what it was." + +I said: "But, Phyllis, if you put your hand, which is really quite +small, in front of your eyes, you could not see the shape of anything +else, however large it might be. Now, what you have done today +appears very large because it is so close, but when it is a little +further off, you will be able to see better and know more about it. +So let us wait till tomorrow morning." + +I am happy to say that she took my advice. She was soon fast asleep, +and the next morning she had forgotten the wrong over which she had +been unhealthily brooding the night before. + +2. _Stories dealing too much with sarcasm and satire_. These +are weapons which are too sharply polished, and therefore too +dangerous, to place in the hands of children. For here again, as in +the case of analysis, they can only have a very incomplete conception +of the case. They do not know the real cause which produces the +apparently ridiculous appearance, and it is only the abnormally gifted +child or grown-up person who discovers this by instinct. It takes a +lifetime to arrive at the position described in Sterne's words: "I +would not have let fallen an unseasonable pleasantry in the venerable +presence of misery to be entitled to all the with which Rabelais has +ever scattered." + +I will hasten to add that I should not wish children to have their +sympathy too much drawn out, of their emotions kindled too much to +pity, because this would be neither healthy nor helpful to themselves +or others. I only want to protect children from the dangerous +critical attitude induced by the use of satire which sacrifices too +much of the atmosphere of trust and belief in human beings which ought +to be an essential of child life. By indulging in satire, the sense of +kindness in children would become perverted, their sympathy cramped, +and they themselves would be old before their time. We have an +excellent example of this in Hans Christian Andersen's "Snow Queen." + +When Kay gets the piece of broken mirror into his eye, he no longer +sees the world from the normal child's point of view; he can no longer +see anything but the foibles of those about him, a condition usually +reached by a course of pessimistic experience. + +Andersen sums up the unnatural point of view in these words: "When +Kay tried to repeat the Lord's Prayer, he could only remember the +multiplication table." Now, without taking these words in any literal +sense, we can admit that they represent the development of the head at +the expense of the heart. + +An example of this kind of story to avoid is Andersen's "Story of the +Butterfly." The bitterness of the Anemones, the sentimentality of the +Violets, the schoolgirlishness of the Snowdrops, the domesticity of +the Sweetpeas--all this tickles the palate of the adult, but does +not belong to the place of the normal child. Again, I repeat, that +the unusual child may take all this in and even preserve his kindly +attitude towards the world, but it is dangerous atmosphere for the +ordinary child. + +3. _Stories of a sentimental character_. Strange to say, this +element of sentimentality appeals more to the young teachers than to +the children themselves. It is difficult to define the difference +between real sentiment and sentimentality, but the healthy normal +boy or girl of, let us say, ten or eleven years old, seems to feel +it unconsciously, though the distinction is not so clear a few +years later. + +Mrs. Elisabeth McCracken contributed an excellent article some years +ago to the _Outlook_ on the subject of literature for the young, +in which we find a good illustration of this power of discrimination +on the part of a child. + +A young teacher was telling her pupils the story of the emotional lady +who, to put her lover to the test, bade him pick up the glove which +she had thrown down into the arena between the tiger and the lion. +The lover does her bidding in order to vindicate his character as a +brave knight. One boy after hearing the story at once states his +contempt for the knight's acquiescence, which he declares to be +unworthy. + +"But," says the teacher, "you see he really did it to show the lady +how foolish she was." The answer of the boy sums up what I have been +trying to show: "There was no sense in _his_ being sillier than +_she_ was, to show her _she_ was silly." + +If the boy had stopped there, we might have concluded that he was +lacking in imagination or romance, but his next remark proves what a +balanced and discriminating person he was, for he added: "Now, if +_she_ had fallen in, and he had leapt after her to rescue her, that +would have been splendid and of some use." Given the character of the +lady, we might, as adults, question the last part of the boy's +statement, but this is pure cynicism and fortunately does not enter +into the child's calculations. + +In my own personal experience, and I have told this story often in the +German ballad form to girls of ten and twelve in the high schools in +England, I have never found one girl who sympathized with the lady or +who failed to appreciate the poetic justice meted out to her in the +end by the dignified renunciation of the knight. + +Chesterton defines sentimentality as "a tame, cold, or small and +inadequate manner of speaking about certain matters which demand +very large and beautiful expression." + +I would strongly urge upon young teachers to revise, by this +definition, some of the stories they have included in their +repertories, and see whether they would stand the test or not. + +4. _Stories containing strong sensational episodes_. The danger +of this kind of story is all the greater because many children delight +in it and some crave for it in the abstract, but fear it in the +concrete.[15] + +An affectionate aunt, on one occasion, anxious to curry favor with a +four-year-old nephew, was taxing her imagination to find a story +suitable for his tender years. She was greatly startled when he +suddenly said, in a most imperative tone: "Tell me the story of a bear +eating a small boy." This was so remote from her own choice of +subject that she hesitated at first, but coming to the conclusion that +as the child had chosen the situation he would feel no terror in the +working up of its details, she a most thrilling and blood-curdling +story, leading up to the final catastrophe. But just as she reached +the great dramatic moment, the child raised his hands in terror and +said: "Oh! Auntie, don't let the bear really eat the boy!" + +"Don't you know," said an impatient boy who had been listening to a +mild adventure story considered suitable to his years, "that I don't +take any interest in the story until the decks are dripping with +gore?" Here we have no opportunity of deciding whether or not the +actual description demanded would be more alarming than the listener +had realized. + +Here is a poem of James Stephens, showing a child's taste for +sensational things: + + + A man was sitting underneath a tree + Outside the village, and he asked me + What name was upon this place, and said he + Was never here before. He told a + Lot of stories to me too. His nose was flat. + I asked him how it happened, and he said, + The first mate of the _Mary Ann_ done that + With a marling-spike one day, but he was dead, + And a jolly job too, but he'd have gone a long way + to have killed him. + A gold ring in one ear, and the other was bit off by + a crocodile, bedad, + That's what he said: He taught me how to chew. + He was a real nice man. He liked me too. + + +The taste that is fed by the sensational contents of the newspapers +and the dramatic excitement of street life, and some of the lurid +representations of the cinematograph, is so much stimulated that the +interest in normal stories is difficult to rouse. I will not here +dwell on the deleterious effects of over-dramatic stimulation, which +has been known to lead to crime, since I am keener to prevent the +telling of too many sensational stories than to suggest a cure when +the mischief is done. + +Kate Douglas Wiggin has said: + +"Let us be realistic, by all means, but beware, O story-teller, of +being too realistic. Avoid the shuddering tale of 'the wicked boy who +stoned the birds,' lest some hearer should be inspired to try the +dreadful experiment and see if it really does kill." + +I must emphasize the fact, however, that it is only the excess of this +dramatic element which I deplore. A certain amount of excitement is +necessary, but this question belongs to the positive side of the +subject, and I shall deal with it later on. + +5. _Stories presenting matters quite outside the plane of a child's +interests, unless they are wrapped in mystery_. Experience with +children ought to teach us to avoid stories which contain too much +_allusion_ to matters of which the hearers are entirely ignorant. +But judging from the written stories of today, supposed to be for +children, it is still a matter of difficulty to realize that this form +of allusion to "foreign" matters, or making a joke, the appreciation +of which depends solely on a special and "inside" knowledge, is always +bewildering and fatal to sustained dramatic interest. + +It is a matter of intense regret that so very few people have +sufficiently clear remembrance of their own childhood to help them to +understand the taste and point of view of the _normal_ child. +There is a passage in the "Brownies," by Mrs. Ewing, which illustrates +the confusion created in the child mind by a facetious allusion in a +dramatic moment which needed a more direct treatment. When the +nursery toys have all gone astray, one little child exclaims joyfully: + +"Why, the old Rocking-Horse's nose has turned up in the oven!" + +"It couldn't," remarks a tiresome, facetious doctor, far more anxious +to be funny than to sympathized with the child, "it was the purest +Grecian, modeled from the Elgin marbles." + +Now, for grownup people this is an excellent joke, but for a child has +not yet become acquainted with these Grecian masterpieces, the whole +remark is pointless and hampering.[16] + +6. _Stories which appeal to fear or priggishness_. This is a +class of story which scarcely counts today and against which the +teacher does not need a warning, but I wish to make a passing allusion +to these stories, partly to round off my subject and partly to show +that we have made some improvement in choice of subject. + +When I study the evolution of the story from the crude recitals +offered to our children within the last hundred years, I feel that, +though our progress may be slow, it is real and sure. One has only to +take some examples from the Chaps Books of the beginning of last +century to realize the difference of appeal. Everything offered then +was either an appeal to fear or to priggishness, and one wonders how +it is that our grandparents and their parents every recovered from the +effects of such stories as were offered to them. But there is the +consoling thought that no lasting impression was made upon them, such +as I believe _may_ be possible by the right kind of story. + +I offer a few examples of the old type of story: + +Here is an encouraging address offered to children by a certain Mr. +Janeway about the year 1828: + +"Dare you do anything which your parents forbid you, and neglect to do +what they command? Dare you to run up and down on the Lord's Day, or +do you keep in to read your book, and learn what your good parents +command?" + +Such an address would have almost tempted children to envy the lot of +orphans, except that the guardians and less close relations might have +been equally, if not more, severe. + +From "The Curious Girl," published about 1809: + +"Oh! papa, I hope you will have no reason to be dissatisfied with me, +for I love my studies very much, and I am never so happy at my play as +when I have been assiduous at my lessons all day." + +"Adolphus: How strange it is, papa, you should believe it possible for +me to act so like a child, now that I am twelve years old!" + +Here is a specimen taken from a Chap Book about 1835: + +Edward refuses hot bread at breakfast. His hostess asks whether he +likes it. + +"Yes, I am extremely fond of it." + +"Why did you refuse it?" + +"Because I know that my papa does not approve of my eating it. Am I +to disobey a Father and Mother I love so well, and forget my duty, +because they are a long way off? I would not touch the cake, were +I sure nobody would see me. I myself should know it, and that would +be sufficient. + +"Nobly replied!" exclaimed Mrs. C. "Act always thus, and you must be +happy, for although the whole world should refuse the praise that is +due, you must enjoy the approbation of your conscience, which is +beyond anything else." + +Here is a quotation of the same kind from Mrs. Sherwood: + + + Tender-souled little creatures, desolated by a sense of sin, if they + did but eat a spoonful of cupboard jam without Mamma's express + permission. . . . Would a modern Lucy, jealous of her sister Emily's + doll, break out thus easily into tearful apology for her guilt: 'I + know it is wicked in me to be sorry that Emily is happy, but I feel + that I cannot help it'? And would a modern mother retort with + heartfelt joy: 'My dear child, I am glad you have confessed. Now I + shall tell you why you feel this wicked sorrow'?--proceeding to + an account of the depravity of human nature so unredeemed by comfort + for a childish mind of common intelligence that one can scarcely + imagine the interview ending in anything less tragic than a fit of + juvenile hysteria. + + +Description of a good boy: + + + A good boy is dutiful to his Father and Mother, obedient to his master + and loving to his playfellows. He is diligent in learning his book + and takes a pleasure in improving himself in everything that is worthy + of praise. He rises early in the morning, makes himself clean and + decent, and says his prayers. He loves to hear good advice, is + thankful to those who give it and always follows it. He never + swears[17] or calls names or uses ill words to companions. He is + never peevish and fretful, always cheerful and good-tempered. + + +7. _Stories of exaggerated and coarse fun_. In the chapter on +the positive side of this subject I shall speak more in detail of the +educational value of robust and virile representation of fun and of +sheer nonsense, but as a preparation to these statements, I should +like to strike a note of warning against the element of exaggerated +and coarse fun being encouraged in our school stories, partly, because +of the lack of humor in such presentations (a natural product of +stifling imagination) and partly, because the strain of the abnormal +has the same effect as the too frequent use of the melodramatic. + +In an article in _Macmillans's Magazine_, December, 1869, Miss +Yonge writes: + +"A taste for buffoonery is much to be discouraged, an exclusive taste +for extravagance most unwholesome and even perverting. It becomes +destructive of reverence and soon degenerates into coarseness. It +permits nothing poetical or imaginative, nothing sweet or pathetic to +exist, and there is a certain self-satisfaction and superiority in +making game of what others regard with enthusiasm and sentiment which +absolutely bars the way against a higher or softer tone." + +Although these words were written nearly half a century ago, they +are so specially applicable today that they seem quite "up-to-date." +Indeed, I think they will hold equally good fifty years hence. + +In spite of a strong taste on the part of children for what is ugly +and brutal, I am sure that we ought to eliminate this element as far +as possible from the school stories, especially among poor children. +Not because I think children should be protected from all knowledge of +evil, but because so much of this knowledge comes into their life +outside school that we can well afford to ignore it during school +hours. At the same time, however, as I shall show by example when I +come to the positive side, it would be well to show children by story +illustration the difference between brutal ugliness without anything +to redeem it and surface ugliness, which may be only a veil over the +beauty that lies underneath. It might be possible, for instance, to +show children the difference between the real ugliness in the priest's +face of the "Laocoon" group, because of the motive of courage and +endurance behind the suffering. Many stories in everyday life could +be found to illustrate this. + +8. _Stories of infant piety and death-bed scenes_. The stories +for children forty years ago contained much of this element, and the +following examples will illustrate this point: + +Notes from poems written by a child between six and eight years of +age, by name Philip Freeman, afterwards Archdeacon of Exeter: + + + Poor Robin, thou canst fly no more, + Thy joys and sorrows all are o'er. + Through Life's tempestuous storms thou'st trod, + But now art sunk beneath the sod. + Here lost and gone poor Robin lies, + He trembles, lingers, falls and dies. + He's gone, he's gone, forever lost, + No more of him they now can boast. + Poor Robin's dangers all are past, + He struggled to the very last. + Perhaps he spent a happy Life, + Without much struggle and much strife.[18] + + +The prolonged gloom of the main theme is somewhat lightened by the +speculative optimism of the last verse. + + + Life, transient Life, is but a dream, + Like Sleep which short doth lengthened seem + Till dawn of day, when the bird's lay + Doth charm the soul's first peeping gleam. + + Then farewell to the parting year, + Another's come to Nature dear. + In every place, thy brightening face + Does welcome winter's snowy drear. + + Alas! our time is much mis-spent. + Then we must haste and now repent. + We have a book in which to look, + For we on Wisdom should be bent. + + Should God, the Almighty, King of all, + Before His judgment-seat now call + Us to that place of Joy and Grace + Prepared for us since Adam's fall. + + +I think there is no doubt that we have made considerable progress in +this matter. Not only do we refrain from telling these highly moral +(_sic_) stories but we have reached the point of parodying them, +in sign of ridicule, as, for instance, in such writing as Belloc's +"Cautionary Tales." These would be a trifle too grim for a timid +child, but excellent fun for adults. + +It should be our study today to prove to children that the immediate +importance to them is not to think of dying and going to Heaven, but +of living and--shall we say?--of going to college, which is a far better +preparation for the life to come than the morbid dwelling upon the +possibility of an early death. + +In an article signed "Muriel Harris," I think, from a copy of the +_Tribune_, appeared a delightful article on Sunday books, from which +I quote the following: + +"All very good little children died young in the storybooks, so that +unusual goodness must have been the source of considerable anxiety to +affectionate parents. I came across a little old book the other day +called 'Examples for Youth.' On the yellow fly-leaf was written, in +childish, carefully-sloping hand: 'Presented to Mary Palmer Junior, by +her sister, to be read on Sundays,' and was dated 1828. The accounts +are taken from a work on "Piety Promoted," and all of them begin with +unusual piety in early youth and end with the death-bed of the little +paragon, and his or her dying words." + +9. _Stories containing a mixture of fairy tale and science_. By +this combination one loses what is essential to each, namely, the +fantastic on the one side, and accuracy on the other. The true fairy +tale should be unhampered by any compromise of probability even; the +scientific representation should be sufficiently marvelous along its +own lines to need no supernatural aid. Both appeal to the imagination +in different ways. + +As an exception to this kind of mixture, I should quote "The Honey +Bee, and Other Stories," translated from the Danish of Evald by C. G. +Moore Smith. There is a certain robustness in these stories dealing +with the inexorable laws of Nature. Some of them will appear hard to +the child but they will be of interest to all teachers. + +Perhaps the worst element in the choice of stories is that which +insists upon the moral detaching itself and explaining the story. In +"Alice in Wonderland" the Duchess says, "'And the moral of _that_ +is: Take care of the sense and the sounds will take care of +themselves.' "How fond she is of finding morals in things," thought +Alice to herself." (This gives the point of view of the child.) + +The following is a case in point, found in a rare old print in the +British Museum: + + + Jane S. came home with her clothes soiled and hands badly torn. + "Where have you been?" asked her mother. + + "I fell down the bank near the mill," said Jane, "and I should have + been drowned, if Mr. M. had not seen me and pulled me out." + + "Why did you go so near the edge of the brink?" + + "There was a pretty flower there that I wanted, and I only meant to + take one step, but I slipped and fell down." + + _Moral_: Young people often take but one step in sinful + indulgence [Poor Jane!], but they fall into soul-destroying sins. + They can do it by a single act of sin. [The heinous act of picking a + flower!] They do it; but the act leads to another, and they fall into + the gulf of Perdition, unless God interposes. + + +Now, quite apart from the folly of this story we must condemn it on +moral grounds. Could we imagine a lower standard of a Deity than that +presented here to the child? + +Today the teacher would commend Jane for a laudable interest in +botany, but might add a word of caution about choosing inclined planes +in the close neighborhood of a body of running water as a hunting +ground for specimens and a popular, lucid explanation of the +inexorable law of gravity. + +Here we have an instance of applying a moral when we have finished our +story, but there are many stories where nothing is left to chance in +this matter and where there is no means for the child to use ingenuity +or imagination in making out the meaning for himself. + +Henry Morley has condemned the use of this method as applied to fairy +stories. He says: "Moralizing in a fairy story is like the snoring +of _Bottom_ in _Titania's_ lap." + +But I think this applies to all stories, and most especially to those +by which we do wish to teach something. + +John Burroughs says in his article, "Thou Shalt Not Preach":[19] + +"Didactic fiction can never rank high. Thou shalt not preach or +teach; thou shalt portray and create, and have ends as universal +as nature. . . . What Art demands is that the artist's personal +convictions and notions, his likes and dislikes, do not obtrude +themselves at all; that good and evil stand judged in his work by the +logic of events, as they do in nature, and not by any special pleading +on his part. He does non hold a brief for either side; he exemplifies +the working of the creative energy. . . . The great artist works in and +_through_ and _from_ moral ideas; his works are indirectly a criticism +of life. He is moral without having a moral. The moment a moral +obtrudes itself, that moment he begins to fall from grace as an +artist. . . . The great distinction of Art is that it aims to see life +steadily and to see it whole. . . . It affords the one point of view +whence the world appears harmonious and complete." + +It would seem, then, from this passage, that it is of _moral_ +importance to put things dramatically. + +In Froebel's "Mother Play" he demonstrates the educational value of +stories, emphasizing that their highest use consists in their ability +to enable the child, through _suggestion_, to form a pure and +noble idea of what a man may be or do. The sensitiveness of a child's +mind is offended if the moral is forced upon him, but if he absorbs it +unconsciously, he has received its influence for all time. + +To me the idea of pointing out the moral of the story has always +seemed as futile as tying a flower on a stalk instead of letting the +flower grow out of the stalk, as Nature has intended. In the first +case, the flower, showy and bright for the moment, soon fades away. +In the second instance, it develops slowly, coming to perfection in +fullness of time because of the life within. + +Lastly, the element to avoid is that which rouses emotions which +cannot be translated into action. + +Mr. Earl Barnes, to whom all teachers owe a debt of gratitude for the +inspiration of his educational views, insists strongly on this point. +The sole effect of such stories is to produce a form of hysteria, +fortunately short-lived, but a waste of force which might be directed +into a better channel.[20] Such stories are so easy to recognize that +it would be useless to make a formal list, but I make further allusion +to them, in dealing with stories from the lives of the saints. + +These, then, are the main elements to avoid in the selection of material +suitable for normal children. Much might be added in the way of detail, +and the special tendency of the day may make it necessary to avoid one +class of story more than another, but this care belongs to another +generation of teachers and parents. + + + +CHAPTER V. ELEMENTS TO SEEK IN CHOICE OF MATERIAL. + +In his "Choice of Books," Frederic Harrison has said: "The most useful +help to reading is to know what we shall _not_ read, what we shall keep +from that small, cleared spot in the overgrown jungle of information +which we can call our ordered patch of fruit-bearing knowledge." + +Now, the same statement applies to our stories, and, having busied +myself during the last chapter with "clearing my small spot" by +cutting away a mass of unfruitful growth, I am no going to suggest +what would be the best kind of seed to sow in the patch which I have +"reclaimed from the jungle." + +Again, I repeat, I have no wish to be dogmatic and in offering +suggestions as to the stories to be told, I am catering only for a +group of normal school children. My list of subjects does not pretend +to cover the whole ground of children's needs, and just as I exclude +the abnormal or unusual child from the scope of my warning in subjects +to avoid, so do I also exclude that child from the limitation in +choice of subjects to be sought, because you can offer almost any +subject to the unusual child, especially if you stand in close relation +to him and know his powers of apprehension. In this matter, age has +very little to say; it is a question of the stage of development. + +Experience has taught me that for the group of normal children, +irrespective of age, the first kind of story suitable for them will +contain an appeal to conditions to which the child is accustomed. The +reason for this is obvious: the child, having limited experience, can +only be reached by this experience, until his imagination is awakened +and he is enabled to grasp through this faculty what he has not +actually passed through. Before this awakening has taken place he +enters the realm of fiction, represented in the story, by comparison +with his personal experience. Every story and every point in the +story mean more as that experience widens, and the interest varies, of +course, with temperament, quickness of perception, power of visualizing +and of concentration. + +In "The Marsh King's Daughter," Hans Christian Andersen says: + +"The storks have a great many stories which they tell their little +ones, all about the bogs and marshes. They suit them to their age and +capacity. The young ones are quite satisfied with _kribble, +krabble_, or some such nonsense, and find it charming; but the +elder ones want something with more meaning." + +One of the most interesting experiments to be made in connection with +this subject is to tell the same story at intervals of a year or six +months to an individual child.[21] The different incidents in the +story which appeal to him (and one must watch it closely, to be sure +the interest is real and not artificially stimulated by any suggestion +on one's own part) will mark his mental development and the gradual +awakening of his imagination. This experiment is a very delicate one +and will not be infallible, because children are secretive and the +appreciation is often simulated (unconsciously) or concealed through +shyness or want of articulation. But it is, in spite of this, a +deeply interesting and helpful experiment. + +To take a concrete example: Let us suppose the story Andersen's "Tin +Soldier" told to a child of five or six years. At the first recital, +the point which will interest the child most will be the setting up of +the tin soldiers on the table, because he can understand this by means +of his own experience, in his own nursery. It is an appeal to +conditions to which he is accustomed and for which no exercise of the +imagination is needed, unless we take the effect of memory to be, +according to Queyrat, retrospective imagination. + +The next incident that appeals is the unfamiliar behavior of the toys, +but still in familiar surroundings; that is to say, the _unusual_ +activities are carried on in the safe precincts of the nursery--the +_usual_ atmosphere of the child. + +I quote from the text: + + + Late in the evening the other soldiers were put in their box, + and the people of the house went to bed. Now was the time for + the toys to play; they amused themselves with paying visits, + fighting battles and giving balls. The tin soldiers rustled + about in their box, for they wanted to join the games, but + they could not get the lid off. The nut-crackers turned + somersaults, and the pencil scribbled nonsense on the slate. + + +Now, from this point onwards in the story, the events will be quite +outside the personal experience of the child and there will have to be +a real stretch of imagination to appreciate the thrilling and blood- +curdling adventures of the tin soldier, namely, the terrible sailing +down the gutter under the bridge, the meeting with the fierce rat who +demands the soldier's passport, the horrible sensation in the fish's +body, etc. Last of all, perhaps, will come the appreciation of the +best qualities of the hero: his modesty, his dignity, his reticence, +his courage and his constancy. He seems to combine all the qualities +of the best soldier with those of the best civilian, without the more +obvious qualities which generally attract first. As for the love +story, we must _expect_ any child to see its tenderness and +beauty, though the individual child may intuitively appreciate these +qualities, but it is not what we wish for or work for at this period +of child life. + +This method could be applied to various stories. I have chosen the +"Tin Soldier" because of its dramatic qualities and because it is +marked off, probably quite unconsciously on the part of Andersen, into +periods which correspond to the child's development. + +In Eugene Field's exquisite little poem of "The Dinkey Bird," we find +the objects familiar to the child in _unusual_ places, so that +some imagination is needed to realize that "big red sugar-plums are +clinging to the cliffs beside the sea"; but the introduction of the +fantastic bird and the soothing sound of amfalula tree are new and +delightful sensations, quite out of the child's personal experience. + +Another such instance is to be found in Mrs. W. K. Clifford's story of +"Master Willie." The abnormal behavior of familiar objects, such as a +doll, leads from the ordinary routine to the paths of adventure. This +story is to be found in a little book called "Very Short Stories," a +most interesting collection for teachers and children. + +We now come to the second element we should seek in material, namely, +the element of the unusual, which we have already anticipated in the +story of the "Tin Soldier." + +This element is necessary in response to the demand of the child who +expressed the needs of his fellow-playmates when he said: "I want to +go to the place where the shadows are real." This is the true +definition of "faerie" lands and is the first sign of real mental +development in the child when he is no longer content with the stories +of his own little deeds and experiences, when his ear begins to +appreciate sounds different from the words in his own everyday +language, and when he begins to separate his own personality from the +action of the story. + +George Goschen says: + +"What I want for the young are books and stories which do not simply +deal with our daily life. I like the fancy even of little children to +have some larger food than images of their own little lives, and I +confess I am sorry for the children whose imaginations are not +sometimes stimulated by beautiful fairy tales which carry them to +worlds different from those in which their future will be passed. . . . +I hold that what removes them more or less from their daily life is +better than what reminds them of it at every step."[22] + +It is because of the great value of leading children to something +beyond the limited circle of their own lives that I deplore the +twaddling boarding-school stories written for girls and the +artificially prepared public school stories for boys. Why not give +them the dramatic interest of a larger stage? No account of a cricket +match or a football triumph could present a finer appeal to boys and +girls than the description of the Peacestead in the "Heroes of Asgaard": + +"This was the playground of the Aesir, where they practiced trials of +skill one with another and held tournaments and sham fights. These last +were always conducted in the gentlest and most honorable manner; for the +strongest law of the Peacestead was that no angry blow should be struck +or spiteful word spoken upon the sacred field." + +For my part, I would unhesitatingly give to boys and girls an element +of strong romance in the stories which are told them even before they +are twelve. + +Miss Sewell says: + +"The system that keeps girls in the schoolroom reading simple stories, +without reading Scott and Shakespeare and Spenser, and then hands them +over to the unexplored recesses of the Circulating Library, has been +shown to be the most frivolizing that can be devised." She sets forth +as the result of her experience that a good novel, especially a +romantic one, read at twelve or fourteen, is really a beneficial thing. + +At present, so many of the children from the elementary schools get +their first idea of love, if one can give it such a name from vulgar +pictures displayed in the shop windows or jokes on marriage, culled +from the lowest type of paper, or the proceedings of a divorce court. + +What an antidote to such representation might be found in the stories +of Hector and Andromache, Siegfried and Brunnehilde, Dido and Aeneas, +Orpheus and Eurydice, St. Francis and St. Clare! + +One of the strongest elements we should introduce into our stories for +children of all ages is that which calls forth love of beauty. And +the beauty should stand out, not only in the delineation of noble +qualities in our heroes and heroines, but in the beauty and strength +of language and form. + +In this latter respect, the Bible stories are of such inestimable +value; all the greater because a child is familiar with the subject +and the stories gain fresh significance from the spoken or winged word +as compared with the mere reading. As to whether we should keep to +the actual text is a matter of individual experience. Professor R. G. +Moulton, whose interpretations of the Bible stories are so well known +both in England and America, does not always confine himself to the +actual text, but draws the dramatic elements together, rejecting what +seems to him to break the narrative, but introducing the actual +language where it is the most effective. Those who have heard him +will realize the success of his method. + +There is one Bible story which can be told with scarcely any deviation +from the text, if only a few hints are given beforehand, and that is +the story of Nebuchadnezzar and the Golden Image. Thus, I think it +wise, if the children are to succeed in partially visualizing the +story, that they should have some idea of the dimensions of the Golden +Image as it would stand out in a vast plain. It might be well to +compare those dimension with some building with which the child is +familiar. In London, the matter is easy as the height will compare, +roughly speaking, with Westminster Abbey. The only change in text I +should adopt is to avoid the constant enumeration of the list of +rulers and the musical instruments. In doing this, I am aware that I +am sacrificing something of beauty in the rhythm, but, on the other +hand, for narrative purpose the interest is not broken. The first +time the announcement is made, that is, by the Herald, it should be in +a perfectly loud, clear and toneless voice, such as you would +naturally use when shouting through a trumpet to a vast concourse of +people scattered over a wide plain, reserving all the dramatic tone of +voice for the passage where Nebuchadnezzar is making the announcement +to the three men by themselves. I can remember Professor Moulton +saying that all the dramatic interest of the story is summed up in +the words "But if not . . ." This suggestion is a very helpful one, +for it enables us to work up gradually to this point, and then, as +it were, _unwind_, until we reach the words of Nebuchadnezzar's +dramatic recantation. + +In this connection, it is a good plan occasionally during the story +hour to introduce really good poetry, which delivered in a dramatic +manner (far removed, of course, from the melodramatic), might give +children their first love of beautiful form in verse. And I do not +think it necessary to wait for this. Even the normal child of seven, +though there is nothing arbitrary in the suggestion of this age, will +appreciate the effect, if only on the ear, of beautiful lines well +spoken. Mahomet has said, in his teaching advice: "Teach your +children poetry: it opens the mind, lends grace to wisdom and makes +heroic virtues hereditary." + +To begin with the youngest children of all, here is a poem which +contains a thread of story, just enough to give a human interest: + + + MILKING-TIME + + When the cows come home, the milk is coming; + Honey's made when the bees are humming. + Duck, drake on the rushy lake, + And the deer live safe in the breezy brake, + And timid, funny, pert little bunny + Winks his nose, and sits all sunny. + CHRISTINA ROSSETTI. + + +Now, in comparing this poem with some of the doggerel verse offered to +small children, one is struck with the literary superiority in the +choice of words. Here, in spite of the simplicity of the poem, there +is not the ordinary limited vocabulary, nor the forced rhyme, nor the +application of a moral, by which the artist falls from grace. + +Again, Eugene Field's "Hushaby Lady," of which the language is most +simple, yet the child is carried away by the beauty of the sound. + +I remember hearing some poetry repeated by the children in one of the +elementary schools in Sheffield which made me feel that they had +realized romantic possibilities which would prevent their lives from +ever becoming quite prosaic again, and I wish that this practice were +more usual. There is little difficulty with the children. I can +remember, in my own experience as a teacher in London, making the +experiment of reading or repeating passages from Milton and +Shakespeare to children from nine to eleven years of age, and the +enthusiastic way they responded by learning those passages by heart. +I have taken with several sets of children such passages from Milton +as the "Echo Song," "Sabrina," "By the Rushy-fringed Bank," "Back, +Shepherds, Back," from "Comus"; "May Morning," "Ode to Shakespeare," +"Samson," "On His Blindness," etc. I even ventured on several passage +from "Paradise Lost," and found "Now came still evening on" a +particular favorite with the children. + +It seemed even easier to interest them in Shakespeare, and they +learned quite readily and easily many passages from "As You Like It," +"The Merchant of Venice," "Julius Caesar," "Richard II," "Henry IV," +and "Henry V." + +The method I should recommend in the introduction of both poets +occasionally into the story-hour would be threefold. First, to choose +passages which appeal for beauty of sound or beauty of mental vision +called up by those sounds; such as "Tell me where is Fancy bred," +"Titania's Lullaby," "How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank." +Secondly, passages for sheer interest of content, such as the Trial +Scene from "The Merchant of Venice," or the Forest Scene in "As You +Like It." Thirdly, for dramatic and historical interest, such as, +"Men at some time are masters of their fates," the whole of Mark +Antony's speech, and the scene with Imogen and her foster brothers in +the Forest. + +It may not be wholly out of place to add here that the children +learned and repeated these passages themselves, and that I offered +them the same advice as I do to all story-tellers. I discussed quite +openly with them the method I considered best, trying to make them see +that simplicity of delivery was not only the most beautiful but the +most effective means to use and, by the end of a few months, when they +had been allowed to experiment and express themselves, they began to +see that mere ranting was not force and that a sense of reserve power +is infinitely more impressive and inspiring than mere external +presentation. + +I encouraged them to criticize each other for the common good, and +sometimes I read a few lines with overemphasis and too much gesture, +which they were at liberty to point out that they might avoid the +same error. + +Excellent collections of poems for this purpose of narrative are: +Mrs. P. A. Barnett's series of "Song and Story," published by Adam +Black, and "The Posy Ring," chosen and classified by Kate Douglas +Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith, published by Doubleday. For older +children, "The Call of the Homeland," selected and arranged by Dr. R. +P. Scott and Katharine T. Wallas, published by Houghton, Mifflin, and +"Golden Numbers," chosen and classified by Kate Douglas Wiggin and +Nora Archibald Smith, published by Doubleday. + +I think it is well to have a goodly number of stories illustrating the +importance of common-sense and resourcefulness. + +For this reason, I consider the stories treating of the ultimate +success of the youngest son[23] very admirable for the purpose, +because the youngest child who begins by being considered inferior +to the older ones triumphs in the end, either from resourcefulness +or from common-sense or from some higher quality, such as kindness +to animals, courage in overcoming difficulties, etc.[24] + +Thus, we have the story of Cinderella. The cynic might imagine that +it was the diminutive size of her foot that insured her success. The +child does not realize any advantage in this, but, though the matter +need not be pressed, the story leaves us with the impression that +Cinderella had been patient and industrious, and forbearing with her +sisters. We know that she was strictly obedient to her godmother, and +in order to be this she makes her dramatic exit from the ball which is +the beginning of her triumph. There are many who might say that these +qualities do not meet with reward in life and that they end in +establishing a habit of drudgery, but, after all, we must have poetic +justice in a fairy story, occasionally, at any rate, even if the child +is confused by the apparent contradiction. + +Such a story is "Jesper and the Hares." Here, however, it is not at +first resourcefulness that helps the hero, but sheer kindness of +heart, which prompts him first to help the ants, and then to show +civility to the old woman, without for a moment expecting any material +benefit from such actions. At the end, he does win on his own +ingenuity and resourcefulness, and if we regret that his trickery has +such wonderful results, we must remember the aim was to win the +princess for herself, and that there was little choice left him. I +consider that the end of this story is one of the most remarkable I +have found in my long years of browsing among fairy tales. I should +suggest stopping at the words: "The Tub is full," as any addition +seems to destroy the subtlety of the story.[25] + +Another story of this kind, admirable for children from six years and +upwards, is, "What the Old Man Does is Always Right." Here, perhaps, +the entire lack of common-sense on the part of the hero would serve +rather as a warning than a stimulating example, but the conduct of +the wife in excusing the errors of her foolish husband is a model of +resourcefulness. + +In the story of "Hereafter-this,"[26] we have just the converse: a +perfectly foolish wife shielded by a most patient and forbearing +husband, whose tolerance and common-sense save the situation. + +One of the most important elements to seek in our choice of stories is +that which tends to develop, eventually, a fine sense of humor in a +child. I purposely use the word, "eventually," because I realize, +first, that humor has various stages, and that seldom, if ever, can +one expect an appreciation of fine humor from a normal child, that is, +from an elemental mind. It seems as if the rough-and-tumble element +were almost a necessary stage through which children must pass, and +which is a normal and healthy stage; but up to now we have quite +unnecessarily extended the period of elephantine fun, and, though we +cannot control the manner in which children are catered to along this +line in their homes, we can restrict the folly of appealing too +strongly or too long to this elemental faculty in our schools. Of +course, the temptation is strong because the appeal is so easy, but +there is a tacit recognition that horseplay and practical jokes are +no longer considered as an essential part of a child's education. +We note this in the changed attitude in the schools, taken by more +advanced educators, towards bullying, fagging, hazing, etc. As a +reaction, then, from more obvious fun, there should be a certain +number of stories which make appeal to a more subtle element, and +in the chapter on the questions put to me by teachers on various +occasions I speak more in detail as to the educational value of a +finer humor in our stories. + +At some period there ought to be presented in our stories the +superstitions connected with the primitive history of the race, dealing +with the fairy proper, giants, dwarfs, gnomes, nixies, brownies and +other elemental beings. Andrew Lang says: "Without our savage ancestors +we should have had no poetry. Conceive the human race born into the +world in its present advanced condition, weighing, analyzing, examining +everything. Such a race would have been destitute of poetry and +flattened by common-sense. Barbarians did the _dreaming_ of the world." + +But it is a question of much debate among educators as to what should +be the period of the child's life in which these stories are to be +presented. I, myself, was formerly of the opinion that they belonged +to the very primitive age of the individual, just as they belong to +the primitive age of the race, but experience in telling stories has +taught me to compromise. + +Some people maintain that little children, who take things with brutal +logic, ought not to be allowed the fairy tale in its more limited form +of the supernatural; whereas, if presented to older children, this +material can be criticized, catalogued and (alas!) rejected as +worthless, or retained with flippant toleration. + +While realizing a certain value in this point of view, I am bound to +admit that if we regulate our stories entirely on this basis, we lose +the real value of the fairy tale element. It is the one element which +causes little children to _wonder_, simply because no scientific +analysis of the story can be presented to them. It is somewhat +heartrending to feel that "Jack and the Bean Stalk" and stories of +that ilk are to be handed over to the critical youth who will condemn +the quick growth of the tree as being contrary to the order of nature, +and wonder why _Jack_ was not playing football on the school team +instead of climbing trees in search of imaginary adventures. + +A wonderful plea for the telling of early superstitions to children is +to be found in an old Indian allegory called, "The Blazing Mansion." + + + An old man owned a large rambling Mansion. The pillars were + rotten, the galleries tumbling down, the thatch dry and combustible, + and there was only one door. Suddenly, one day, there was a smell + of fire: the old man rushed out. To his horror he saw that the + thatch was aflame, the rotten pillars were catching fire one by + one, and the rafters were burning like tinder. But, inside, the + children went on amusing themselves quite happily. The distracted + Father said: "I will run in and save my children. I will seize + them in my strong arms, I will bear them harmless through the + falling rafters and the blazing beams." Then the sad thought + came to him that the children were romping and ignorant. "If + I say the house is on fire, they will not understand me. If + I try to seize them, they will romp about and try to escape. + Alas! not a moment to be lost!" Suddenly a bright thought + flashed across the old man's mind. "My children are ignorant," + he said; "they love toys and glittering playthings. I will + promise them playthings of unheard-of beauty. Then they will + listen." + + So the old man shouted: "Children, come out of the house and see + these beautiful toys! Chariots with white oxen, all gold and + tinsel. See these exquisite little antelopes. Whoever saw + such goats as these? Children, children come quickly, or they + will all be gone!" + + Forth from the blazing ruin the children came in hot haste. The + word, "plaything," was almost the only word they could understand. + + Then the Father, rejoiced that his offspring were freed from peril, + procured for them one of the most beautiful chariots ever seen. + The chariot had a canopy like a pagoda; it had tiny rails and + balustrades and rows of jingling bells. Milk-white oxen drew + the chariot. The children were astonished when they were placed + inside.[27] + + +Perhaps, as a compromise, one might give the gentler superstitions +to very small children, and leave such a blood-curdling story as +"Bluebeard" to a more robust age. + + +There is one modern method which has always seemed to me much to be +condemned, and that is the habit of changing the end of a story, for +fear of alarming the child. This is quite indefensible. In doing +this we are tampering with folklore and confusing stages of development. + +Now, I know that there are individual children that, at a tender age, +might be alarmed at such a story, for instance, as "Little Red Riding- +Hood"; in which case, it is better to sacrifice the "wonder stage" and +present the story later on. + +I live in dread of finding one day a bowdlerized form of "Bluebeard," +prepared for a junior standard, in which, to produce a satisfactory +finale, all the wives come to life again, and "live happily ever +after" with Bluebeard and each other! + +And from this point it seems an easy transition to the subject of +legends of different kinds. Some of the old country legends in +connection with flowers are very charming for children, and so long as +we do not tread on the sacred ground of the nature students, we may +indulge in a moderate use of such stories, of which a few will be +found in the List of Stories, given later. + +With regard to the introduction of legends connected with saints into +the school curriculum, my chief plea is the element of the unusual +which they contain and an appeal to a sense of mysticism and wonder +which is a wise antidote to the prosaic and commercial tendencies of +today. Though many of the actions of the saints may be the result of +a morbid strain of self-sacrifice, at least none of them was engaged +in the sole occupation of becoming rich: their ideals were often lofty +and unselfish; their courage high, and their deeds noble. We must be +careful, in the choice of our legends, to show up the virile qualities +rather than to dwell on the elements of horror in details of martyrdom, +or on the too-constantly recurring miracles, lest we should defeat our +own ends. For the children might think lightly of the dangers to which +the saints were exposed if they found them too often preserved at the +last moment from the punishment they were brave enough to undergo. For +one or another of these reasons, I should avoid the detailed history of +St. Juliana, St. Vincent, St. Quintin, St. Eustace, St. Winifred, St. +Theodore, St. James the More, St. Katharine, St. Cuthbert, St. Alphage, +St. Peter of Milan, St. Quirine and Juliet, St. Alban and others. + +The danger of telling stories connected with sudden conversions is +that they are apt to place too much emphasis on the process, rather +than on the goal to be reached. We should always insist on the +splendid deeds performed after a real conversion, not the details of +the conversion itself; as, for instance, the beautiful and poetical +work done by St. Christopher when he realized what work he could do +most effectively. + +On the other hand, there are many stories of the saints dealing with +actions and motives which would appeal to the imagination and are not +only worthy of imitation, but are not wholly outside the life and +experience even of the child.[28] + +Having protested against the elephantine joke and the too-frequent use +of exaggerated fun, I now endeavor to restore the balance by suggesting +the introduction into the school curriculum of a few purely grotesque +stories which serve as an antidote to sentimentality or utilitarianism. +But they must be presented as nonsense, so that the children may use +them for what they are intended as--pure relaxation. Such a story is +that of "The Wolf and the Kids," which I present in my own version at +the end of the book. I have had serious objections offered to this +story by several educational people, because of the revenge taken by the +goat on the wolf, but I am inclined to think that if the story is to be +taken as anything but sheer nonsense, it is surely sentimental to extend +our sympathy toward a caller who has devoured six of his hostess' +children. With regard to the wolf being cut open, there is not the +slightest need to accentuate the physical side. Children accept the +deed as they accept the cutting off of a giant's head, because they do +not associate it with pain, especially if the deed is presented half +humorously. The moment in the story where their sympathy is aroused is +the swallowing of the kids, because the children do realize the +possibility of being disposed of in the mother's absence. (Needless to +say, I never point out the moral of the kids' disobedience to the mother +in opening the door.) I have always noticed a moment of breathlessness +even in a grown-up audience when the wolf swallows the kids, and that +the recovery of them "all safe and sound, all huddled together" is quite +as much appreciated by the adult audience as by the children, and is +worth the tremor caused by the wolf's summary action. + +I have not always been able to impress upon the teachers the fact that +this story _must_ be taken lightly. A very earnest young student +came to me once after the telling of this story and said in an awe- +struck voice: "Do you cor-relate?" Having recovered from the effect +of this word, which she carefully explained, I said that, as a rule, I +preferred to keep the story quite apart from the other lessons, just +an undivided whole, because it had effects of its own which were best +brought about by not being connected with other lessons. She frowned +her disapproval and said: "I am sorry, because I thought I would take +the Goat for my nature study lesson and then tell your story at the +end." I thought of the terrible struggle in the child's mind between +his conscientious wish to be accurate and his dramatic enjoyment of +the abnormal habits of a goat who went out with scissors, needle and +thread; but I have been most careful since to repudiate any connection +with nature study in this and a few other stories in my repertoire. + +One might occasionally introduce one of Edward Lear's "Nonsense +Rhymes." For instance: + + + There was an Old Man of Cape Horn + Who wished he had never been born. + So he sat in a chair + Till he died of despair, + That dolorous Old Man of Cape Horn. + + +Now, except in case of very young children, this could not possibly +be taken seriously. The least observant normal boy or girl would +recognize the hollowness of the pessimism that prevents an old man +from at least an attempt to rise from his chair. + +The following I have chosen as repeated with intense appreciation and +much dramatic vigor by a little boy just five years old: + + + There was an old man who said: "Hush! + I perceive a young bird in that bush." + When they said: "Is it small?" + He replied, "Not at all. + It is four times as large as the bush."[29] + + +One of the most desirable of all elements to introduce into our +stories is that which encourages kinship with animals. With very +young children this is easy, because during those early years when the +mind is not clogged with knowledge, the sympathetic imagination +enables them to enter into the feeling of animals. Andersen has an +illustration of this point in his "Ice Maiden": + +"Children who cannot talk yet can understand the language of fowls and +ducks quite well, and cats and dogs speak to them quite as plainly as +Father and Mother; but that is only when the children are very small, +and then even Grandpapa's stick will become a perfect horse to them +that can neigh and, in their eyes, is furnished with legs and a tail. +With some children this period ends later than with others, and of +such we are accustomed to say that they are very backward, and that +they have remained children for a long time. People are in the habit +of saying strange things." + +Felix Adler says: + +"Perhaps the chief attraction of fairy tales is due to their +representing the child as living in brotherly friendship with nature +and all creatures. Trees, flowers, animals, wild and tame, even the +stars are represented as comrades of children. That animals are only +human beings in disguise is an axiom in the fairy tales. Animals +are humanized, that is, the kinship between animal and human life +is still keenly felt, and this reminds us of those early animistic +interpretations of nature which subsequently led to doctrines +of metempsychosis."[30] + +I think that beyond question the finest animal stories are to be +found in the Indian collections, of which I furnish a list in the +last chapter. + +With regard to the development of the love of Nature through the +telling of stories, we are confronted with a great difficulty in the +elementary schools because so many of the children have never been out +of the towns, have never seen a daisy, a blade of grass and scarcely a +tree, so that in giving, in the form of a story, a beautiful +description of scenery, you can make no appeal to the retrospective +imagination, and only the rarely gifted child well be able to make +pictures while listening to a style which is beyond his everyday use. +Nevertheless, once in a while, when the children are in a quiet mood, +not eager for action but able to give themselves up to the pure joy of +sound, then it is possible to give them a beautiful piece of writing +in praise of Nature, such as the following, taken from "The Divine +Adventure," by Fiona Macleod: + + + Then he remembered the ancient wisdom of the Gael and came + out of the Forest Chapel and went into the woods. He put + his lip to the earth, and lifted a green leaf to his brow, + and held a branch to his ear; and because he was no longer + heavy with the sweet clay of mortality, though yet of human + clan, he heard that which we do not hear, and saw that which + we do not see, and knew that which we do not know. All the + green life was his. In that new world he saw the lives of + trees, now pale green, now of woodsmoke blue, now of amethyst; + the gray lives of stone; breaths of the grass and reed, + creatures of the air, delicate and wild as fawns, or + swift and fierce and terrible tigers of that undiscovered + wilderness, with birds almost invisible but for their + luminous wings, and opalescent crests. + + +The value of this particular passage is the mystery pervading the +whole picture, which forms so beautiful an antidote to the eternal +explaining of things. I think it of the highest importance for the +children to realize that the best and most beautiful things cannot be +expressed in everyday language and that they must content themselves +with a flash here and there of the beauty which may come later. One +does not enhance the beauty of the mountain by pulling to pieces some +of the earthy clogs; one does not increase the impression of a vast +ocean by analyzing the single drops of water. But at a reverent +distance one gets a clear impression of the whole, and can afford to +leave the details in the shadow. + +In presenting such passages (and it must be done very sparingly), +experience has taught me that we should take the children into our +confidence by telling them frankly that nothing exciting is going to +happen, so that they well be free to listen to the mere words. A very +interesting experiment might occasionally be made by asking the +children some weeks afterwards to tell you in their own words what +pictures were made on their minds. This is a very different thing +from allowing the children to reproduce the passage at once, the +danger of which proceeding I speak of later in detail.[31] + +We now come to the question as to what proportion of _dramatic +excitement_ we should present in the stories for a normal group of +children. Personally, I should like, while the child is very young, +I mean in main, not in years, to exclude the element of dramatic +excitement, but though this may be possible for the individual child, +it is quite Utopian to hope that we can keep the average child free +from what is in the atmosphere. Children crave for excitement, and +unless we give it to them in legitimate form, they will take it in any +riotous form it presents itself, and if from our experience we can +control their mental digestion by a moderate supply of what they +demand, we may save them from devouring too eagerly the raw material +they can so easily find for themselves. + +There is a humorous passage bearing on this question in the story of +the small Scotch boy, when he asks leave of his parents to present the +pious little book--a gift to himself from an aunt to a little sick +friend, hoping probably that the friend's chastened condition will make +him more lenient towards this mawkish form of literature. The parents +expostulate, pointing out to their son how ungrateful he is, and how +ungracious it would be to part with his aunt's gift. Then the boy can +contain himself no longer. He bursts out, unconsciously expressing the +normal attitude of children at a certain stage of development: + +"It's a _daft_ book ony way: there's naebody gets kilt ent. I like +stories about folk gettin' their heids cut off, or there's nae wile +beasts. I I like stories about black men gettin' ate up, an' white +men killin' lions and tigers an' bears an'---" + + +Then, again, we have the passage from George Eliot's "Mill on +the Floss": + +"Oh, dear! I wish they would not fight at your school, Tom. Didn't +it hurt you?" + +"Hurt me? No," said Tom, putting up the hooks again, taking out a +large pocketknife, and slowly opening the largest blade, which he +looked at meditatively as he rubbed his finger along it. Then he +added: + +"I gave Spooner a black eye--that's what he got for wanting to leather +me. I wasn't going to go halves because anybody leathered me." + +"Oh! how brave you are, Tom. I think you are like Samson. If there +came a lion roaring at men, I think you'd fight him, wouldn't you, Tom?" + +"How can a lion come roaring at you, you silly thing? There's no lions +only in the shows." + +"No, but if we were in the lion countries--I mean in Africa where it's +very hot, the lions eat people there. I can show it you in the book +where I read it." + +"Well, I should get a gun and shoot him." + +"But if you hadn't a gun?--we might have gone out, you know, not +thinking, just as we go out fishing, and then a great lion might come +towards us roaring, and we could not get away from him. What should +you do, Tom?" + +Tom paused, and at last turned away contemptuously, saying: "But the +lion _isn't_ coming. What's the use of talking?" + +This passage illustrates also the difference between the highly- +developed imagination of the one and the stodgy prosaical temperament +of the other. Tom could enter into the elementary question of giving +his schoolfellow a black eye, but could not possibly enter into the +drama of the imaginary arrival of a lion. He was sorely in need of +fairy stories. + +It is to this element we have to cater, and we cannot shirk our +responsibilities. + +William James says: + +"Living things, moving things or things that savor of danger or blood, +that have a dramatic quality, these are the things natively interesting +to childhood, to the exclusion of almost everything else, and the +teacher of young children, until more artificial interests have grown +up, will keep in touch with his pupils by constant appeal to such +matters as these."[32] + +Of course the savor of danger and blood is only _one_ of the things to +which we should appeal, but I give the whole passage to make the point +clearer. + +This is one of the most difficult parts of our selection, namely, how +to present enough excitement for the child and yet include enough +constructive element which will satisfy him when the thirst for +"blugginess" is slaked. + +And here I should like to say that, while wishing to encourage in +children great admiration and reverence for the courage and other fine +qualities which have been displayed in times of war and which have +mitigated its horrors, I think we should show that some of the finest +moments in these heroes' lives had nothing to do with their profession +as soldiers. Thus, we have the well-known story of Sir Philip Sydney +and the soldier; the wonderful scene where Roland drags the bodies of +his dead friends to receive the blessing of the Archbishop after the +battle of Roncesvall;[33] and of Napoleon sending the sailor back to +England. There is a moment in the story of Gunnar when he pauses in +the midst of the slaughter of his enemies, and says, "I wonder if I am +less base than others, because I kill men less willingly than they." + +And in the "Burning of Njal,"[34] we have the words of the boy, Thord, +when his grandmother, Bergthora, urges him to go out of the burning +house. + +"'You promised me when I was little, grandmother, that I should never +go from you till I wished it of myself. And I would rather die with +you than live after you.'" + +Here the moral courage is so splendidly shown: none of these heroes +feared to die in battle or in open single fight; but to face death by +fire for higher considerations is a point of view worth presenting to +the child. + +In spite of all the dramatic excitement roused by the conduct of our +soldiers and sailors, should we not try to offer also in our stories +the romance and excitement of saving as well as taking life? + +I would have quite a collection dealing with the thrilling adventures +of the Lifeboat and the Fire Brigade, of which I shall present +examples in the final story list. + +Finally, we ought to include a certain number of stories dealing with +death, especially with children who are of an age to realize that it +must come to all, and that this is not a calamity but a perfectly +natural and simple thing. At present the child in the street +invariably connects death with sordid accidents. I think they should +have stories of death coming in heroic form, as when a man or woman +dies for a great cause, in which he has opportunity of admiring +courage, devotion and unselfishness; or of death coming as a result of +treachery, such as we find in the death of Baldur, the death of +Siegfried, and others, so that children may learn to abhor such deeds; +but also a fair proportion of stories dealing with death that comes +naturally, when our work is done, and our strength gone, which has no +more tragedy than the falling of a leaf from the tree. In this way, +we can give children the first idea that the individual is so much +less than the whole. + +Little children often take death very naturally. A boy of five met +two of his older companions at the school door. They said sadly and +solemnly: "We have just seen a dead man!" "Well," said the little +philosopher, "that's all right. We've _all_ got to die when our +work is done." + + +In one of the Buddha stories which I reproduce at the end of this +book, the little Hare (who is, I think, a symbol of nervous +individualism) constantly says: "Suppose the Earth were to fall +in, what would become of me?" + +As an antidote to the ordinary attitude towards death, I commend an +episode from a German folklore story which is called "Unlucky John," +and which is included in the list of stories recommended at the end +of this book. + +The following sums up in poetic form some of the material necessary +for the wants of a child. + + + THE CHILD + + The little new soul has come to earth, + He has taken his staff for the pilgrim's way. + His sandals are girt on his tender feet, + And he carries his scrip for what gifts he may. + + + What will you give to him, Fate Divine? + What for his scrip on the winding road? + A crown for his head, or a laurel wreath? + A sword to wield, or is gold his load? + + What will you give him for weal or woe? + What for the journey through day and night? + Give or withhold from him power and fame, + But give to him love of the earth's delight. + + Let him be lover of wind and sun + And of falling rain; and the friend of trees; + With a singing heart for the pride of noon, + And a tender heart for what twilight sees. + + Let him be lover of you and yours-- + The Child and Mary; but also Pan + And the sylvan gods of the woods and hills, + And the god that is hid in his fellowman. + + Love and a song and the joy of the earth, + These be gifts for his scrip to keep + Till, the journey ended, he stands at last + In the gathering dark, at the gate of sleep. + + ETHEL CLIFFORD + + +And so our stories should contain all the essentials for the child's +scrip on the road of life, providing the essentials and holding or +withholding the non-essentials. But, above all, let us fill the scrip +with gifts that the child need never reject, even when he passes +through to "the gate of sleep." + + + +CHAPTER V. HOW TO OBTAIN AND MAINTAIN THE EFFECT OF THE STORY. + +We are now come to the most important part of the question of story- +telling, to which all the foregoing remarks have been gradually +leading, and that is the effect of these stories upon the child, quite +apart from the dramatic joy he experiences in listening to them, which +would in itself be quite enough to justify us in the telling. But, +since I have urged the extreme importance of giving so much time to +the manner of telling and of bestowing so much care in the selection +of the material, it is right that we should expect some permanent +results or else those who are not satisfied with the mere enjoyment of +the children will seek other methods of appeal--it is to them that I +most specially dedicate this chapter. + +I think we are of the threshold of the re-discovery of an old truth, +that _dramatic presentation_ is the quickest and the surest +method of appeal, because it is the only one with which memory plays +no tricks. If a thing has appeared before us in a vital form nothing +can really destroy it; it is because things are often given in a +blurred, faint light that they gradually fade out of our memory. A +very keen scientist was deploring to me, on one occasion, the fact +that stories were told so much in the schools, to the detriment of +science, for which he claimed the same indestructible element that I +recognize in the best-told stories. Being very much interested in her +point of view, I asked her to tell me, looking back on her school +days, what she could remember as standing out from other less clear +information. After thinking some little time over the matter, she +said with some embarrassment, but with candor that did her much honor: + +"Well, now I come to think of it, it was the story of Cinderella." + +Now, I am not holding any brief for this story in particular. I think +the reason it was remembered was because of the dramatic form in which +it was presented to her, which fired her imagination and kept the +memory alight. I quite realize that a scientific fact might also have +been easily remembered if it had been presented in the form of a +successful chemical experiment; but this also has something of the +dramatic appeal and will be remembered on that account. + +Sully says: "We cannot understand the fascination of a story for +children save in remembering that for their young minds, quick to +imagine, and unversed in abstract reflection, words are not dead +things but _winged_, as the old Greeks called them."[35] + +The _Red Queen_, in "Alice Through the Looking-Glass," was more +psychological than she was aware of when she made the memorable +statement: "When once you've _said_ a thing, that _fixes_ it, and +you must take the consequences." + +In Curtin's "Introduction to Myths and Folk Tales of the Russians", +he says: + +"I remember well the feeling roused in my mind at the mention or sight +of the name _Lucifer_ during the early years of my life. It stood for +me as the name of a being stupendous, dreadful in moral deformity, +lurid, hideous and mighty. I remember the surprise with which, when I +had grown somewhat older and began to study Latin, I came upon the name +in Virgil where it means _light-bringer_--the herald of the Sun." + +Plato has said that "the end of education should be the training by +suitable habits of the instincts of virtue in the child." + +About two thousand years later, Sir Philip Sydney, in his "Defence of +Poesy," says: "The final end of learning is to draw and lead us to so +high a perfection as our degenerate souls, made worse by their clay +lodgings, can be capable of." + +And yet it is neither the Greek philosopher nor the Elizabethan poet +that makes the everyday application of these principles; but we have +a hint of this application from the Pueblo tribe of Indians, of whom +Lummis tells us the following: + +"There is no duty to which a Pueblo child is trained in which he has +to be content with a bare command: do this. For each, he learns a +fairy-tale designed to explain how children first came to know that +it was right to 'do this,' and detailing the sad results that befall +those who did otherwise. Some tribes have regular story-tellers, men +who have devoted a great deal of time to learning the myths and stories +of their people and who possess, in addition to good memory, a vivid +imagination. The mother sends for one of these, and having prepared a +feast for him, she and her little brood, who are curled up near her, +await the fairy stories of the dreamer who after his feast and smoke +entertains the company for hours." + +In modern times, the nurse, who is now receiving such complete training +for her duties with children, should be ready to imitate the "dreamer" +of the Indian tribe. I rejoice to find that regular instruction in +story-telling is being given in many of the institutions where the +nurses are trained. + +Some years ago there appeared a book by Dion Calthrop called "King +Peter," which illustrates very fully the effect of story-telling. It +is the account of the education of a young prince which is carried on +at first by means of stories, and later he is taken out into the arena +of life to show what is happening there--the dramatic appeal being +always the means used to awaken his imagination. The fact that only +_one_ story a year is told him prevents our seeing the effect from day +to day, but the time matters little. We only need faith to believe +that the growth, though slow, was sure. + +There is something of the same idea in the "Adventures of Telemachus," +written by Fenelon for his royal pupil, the young Duke of Burgundy, but +whereas Calthrop trusts to the results of indirect teaching by means of +dramatic stories, Fenelon, on the contrary, makes use of the somewhat +heavy, didactic method, so that one would think the attention of the +young prince must have wandered at times; and I imagine Telemachus was +in the same condition when he was addressed at such length by Mentor, +who, being Minerva, though in disguise, should occasionally have +displayed that sense of humor which must always temper true wisdom. + +Take, for instance the heavy reproof conveyed in the following passage: + +"Death and shipwreck are less dreadful than the pleasures that attack +Virtue. . . . Youth is full of presumption and arrogance, though +nothing in the world is so frail: it fears nothing, and vainly relies +utmost levity and without any precaution." + +And on another occasion, when Calypso hospitably provides clothes for +the shipwrecked men, and Telemachus is handling a tunic of the finest +wool and white as snow, with a vest of purple embroidered with gold, +and displaying much pleasure in the magnificence of the clothes, +Mentor addresses him in a severe voice, saying: "Are these, O +Telemachus, the thoughts that ought to occupy the heart of the son +of Ulysses? A young man who loves to dress vainly, as a woman does, +is unworthy of wisdom or glory." + +I remember, as a school girl of thirteen, having to commit to memory +several books of these adventures, so as to become familiar with the +style. Far from being impressed by the wisdom of Mentor, I was simply +bored, and wondered why Telemachus did not escape from him. The only +part in the book that really interested me was Calypso's unrequited +love for Telemachus, but this was always the point where we ceased to +learn by heart, which surprised me greatly, for it was here that the +real human interest seemed to begin. + +Of all the effects which I hope for from the telling of stories in the +schools, I, personally, place first the dramatic joy we bring to the +children and to ourselves. But there are many who would consider this +result as fantastic, if not frivolous, and not to be classed among the +educational values connected with the introduction of stories into the +school curriculum. I, therefore, propose to speak of other effects of +story-telling which may seem of more practical value. + +The first, which is of a purely negative character, is that through +means of a dramatic story we may counteract some of the sights and +sounds of the street which appeal to the melodramatic instinct in +children. I am sure that all teachers whose work lies in crowded +cities must have realized the effect produced on children by what they +see and hear on their way to and from school. If we merely consider +the bill boards with their realistic representations, quite apart from +the actual dramatic happenings in the street, we at once perceive that +the ordinary school interests pale before such lurid appeals as these. +How can we expect the child who has stood openmouthed before a poster +representing a woman chloroformed by a burglar (while that hero +escapes in safety with jewels) to display any interest in the arid +monotony of the multiplication table? The illegitimate excitement +created by the sight of the depraved burglar can only be counteracted +by something equally exciting along the realistic but legitimate side +of appeal; and this is where the story of the right kind becomes so +valuable, and why the teacher who is artistic enough to undertake the +task can find the short path to results which theorists seek for so +long in vain. It is not even necessary to have an exceedingly +exciting story; sometimes one which will bring about pure reaction may +be just as suitable. + +I remember in my personal experience an instance of this kind. I had +been reading with some children of about ten years old the story from +"Cymbeline" of _Imogen_ in the forest scene, when the brothers strew +flowers upon her, and sing the funeral dirge, + + + Fear no more the heat of the sun. + + +Just as we had all taken on this tender, gentle mood, the door opened +and one of the prefects announced in a loud voice the news of the +relief of Mafeking. The children were on their feet at once, cheering +lustily, and for the moment the joy over the relief of the brave +garrison was the predominant feeling. Then, I took advantage of a +momentary reaction and said: "Now, children, don't you think we can +pay England the tribute of going back to England's greatest poet?" In +a few minutes we were back in the heart of the forest, and I can still +hear the delightful intonation of those subdued voices repeating, + + + Golden lads and girls all must + Like chimney-sweepers come to dust. + + +It is interesting to note that the same problem that is exercising us +today was a source of difficulty to people in remote times. The +following is taken from an old Chinese document, and has particular +interest for us at this time: + +"The philosopher, Mentius (born 371 B. C.), was left fatherless at a +very tender age and brought up by his mother, Changsi. The care of +this prudent and attentive mother has been cited as a model for all +virtuous parents. The house she occupied was near that of a butcher; +she observed at the first cry of the animals that were being +slaughtered, the little Mentius ran to be present at the sight, and +that, on his return, he sought to imitate what he had seen. Fearful +lest his heart might become hardened, and accustomed to the sights of +blood, she removed to another house which was in the neighborhood of a +cemetery. The relations of those who were buried there came often to +weep upon their graves, and make their customary libations. The lad +soon took pleasure in their ceremonies and amused himself by imitating +them. This was a new subject of uneasiness to his mother: she feared +her son might come to consider as a jest what is of all things the +most serious, and that he might acquire a habit of performing with +levity, and as a matter of routine merely, ceremonies which demand the +most exact attention and respect. Again, therefore, she anxiously +changed the dwelling, and went to live in the city, opposite a school, +where her son found examples the most worthy of imitation, and began +to profit by them. This anecdote has become incorporated by the +Chinese into a proverb, which they constantly quote: The mother of +Mentius seeks a neighborhood." + +Another influence we have to counteract is that of newspaper headings +and placards which catch the eye of children in the streets and appeal +so powerfully to their imagination. + +Shakespeare has said: + + + Tell me where is Fancy bred, + Or in the heart, or in the head? + How begot, how nourished? + It is engendered in the eyes + With gazing fed, + And Fancy dies in the cradle where it lies. + Let us all ring Fancy's knell. + I'll begin it--ding, dong, bell. + "Merchant of Venice." + + +If this be true, it is of importance to decide what our children shall +look upon as far as we can control the vision, so that we can form +some idea of the effect upon their imagination. + +Having alluded to the dangerous influence of the street, I should +hasten to say that this influence is very far from being altogether +bad. There are possibilities of romance in street life which may have +just the same kind of effect on children as the telling of exciting +stories. I am indebted to Mrs. Arnold Glover, Honorary Secretary of +the National Organization of Girls' Clubs,[36] one of the most widely +informed people on this subject, for the two following experiences +gathered from the streets and which bear indirectly on the subject of +story-telling: + +Mrs. Glover was visiting a sick woman in a very poor neighborhood, and +found, sitting on the door-step of the house, two little children, +holding something tightly grasped in their little hands, and gazing +with much expectancy towards the top of the street. She longed to +know what they were doing, but not being one of those unimaginative +and tactless folk who rush headlong into the mysteries of children's +doings, she passed them at first in silence. It was only when she +found them still in the same silent and expectant posture half an hour +later that she said tentatively: "I wonder whether you would tell me +what you are doing here?" After some hesitation, one of them said, in +a shy voice: "We're waitin' for the barrer." It then transpired +that, once a week, a vegetable-and-flower-cart was driven through this +particular street, on its way to a more prosperous neighborhood, and +on a few red-letter days, a flower, or a sprig, or even a root +sometimes fell out of the back of the cart; and these two little +children were sitting there in hope, with their hands full of soil, +ready to plant anything which might by some golden chance fall that +way, in their secret garden of oyster shells. + +This seems to me as charming a fairy tale as any that our books +can supply. + +On another occasion, Mrs. Glover was collecting the pennies for the +Holiday Fund Savings Bank from the children who came weekly to her +house. She noticed on three consecutive Mondays that one little lad +deliberately helped himself to a new envelope from her table. Not +wishing to frighten or startle him, she allowed this to continue for +some weeks, and then one day, having dismissed the other children, she +asked him quite quietly why he was taking the envelopes. At first he +was very sulky, and said: "I need them more than you do." She quite +agreed this might be, but reminded him that, after all, they belonged +to her. She promised, however, that if he would tell her for what +purpose he wanted the envelopes, she would endeavor to help him in the +matter. Then came the astonishing announcement: "I am building a +navy." After a little more gradual questioning, Mrs. Glover drew from +the boy the information that the Borough water carts passed through +the side street once a week, flushing the gutter; that then the +envelope ships were made to sail on the water and pass under the +covered ways which formed bridges for wayfarers and tunnels for the +"navy." Great was the excitement when the ships passed out of sight +and were recognized as they arrived safely at the other end. Of +course, the expenses in raw material were greatly diminished by the +illicit acquisition of Mrs. Glover's property, and in this way she had +unconsciously provided the neighborhood with a navy and a commander. +Her first instinct, after becoming acquainted with the whole story, +was to present the boy with a real boat, but on second thought she +collected and gave him a number of old envelopes with names and +addresses upon them, which added greatly to the excitement of the +sailing, because they could be more easily identified as they came out +of the other end of the tunnel, and had their respective reputations +as to speed. + +Here is indeed food for romance, and I give both instances to prove +that the advantages of street life are to be taken into consideration +as well as the disadvantages, though I think we are bound to admit +that the latter outweigh the former. + +One of the immediate results of dramatic stories is the escape from the +commonplace, to which I have already alluded in quoting Mr. Goschen's +words. The desire for this escape is a healthy one, common to adults +and children. When we wish to get away from our own surroundings and +interests, we do for ourselves what I maintain we ought to do for +children: we step into the land of fiction. It has always been a source +of astonishment to me that, in trying to escape from our own everyday +surroundings, we do not step more boldly into the land of pure romance, +which would form a real contrast to our everyday life, but, in nine +cases out of ten, the fiction which is sought after deals with the +subjects of our ordinary existence, namely, frenzied finance, sordid +poverty, political corruption, fast society, and religious doubts. + +There is the same danger in the selection of fiction for children: +namely, a tendency to choose very utilitarian stories, both in form +and substance, so that we do not lift the children out of the +commonplace. I remember once seeing the titles of two little books, +the contents of which were being read or told to children; one was +called, "Tom the Bootblack"; the other, "Dan the Newsboy." My chief +objection to these stories was the fact that neither of the heroes +rejoiced in his work for the work's sake. Had _Tom_ even invented a +new kind of blacking, or if _Dan_ had started a newspaper, it might +have been encouraging for those among the listeners who were thinking +of engaging in similar professions. It is true, both gentlemen amassed +large fortunes, but surely the school age is not to be limited to such +dreams and aspirations as these! One wearies of the tales of boys who +arrive in a town with one cent in their pocket and leave it as +millionaires, with the added importance of a mayoralty. It is +undoubtedly true that the romantic prototype of these worthy youths is +_Dick Whittingon_, for whom we unconsciously cherish the affection which +we often bestow on a far-off personage. Perhaps--who can say?--it is +the picturesque adjunct of the cat, lacking to modern millionaires. + +I do not think it Utopian to present to children a fair share of +stories which deal with the importance of things "untouched by hand." +They, too, can learn at an early age that "the things which are seen +are temporal, but the things which are unseen are spiritual." To +those who wish to try the effect of such stories on children, I +present for their encouragement the following lines from James +Whitcomb Riley: + + + THE TREASURE OF THE WISE MAN[37] + + Oh, the night was dark and the night was late, + When the robbers came to rob him; + And they picked the lock of his palace-gate, + The robbers who came to rob him--; + They picked the lock of the palace-gate, + Seized his jewels and gems of State, + His coffers of gold and his priceless plate,-- + The robbers that came to rob him. + + But loud laughed he in the morning red!-- + For of what had the robbers robbed him? + Ho! hidden safe, as he slept in bed, + When the robbers came to rob him,-- + They robbed him not of a golden shred + Of the childish dreams in his wise old head- + + "And they're welcome to all things else," he said, + When the robbers came to rob him. + + +There is a great deal of this romantic spirit, combined with a +delightful sense of irresponsibility, which I claim above all things +for small children, to be found in our old nursery rhymes. I quote +from the following article written by the Rev. R. L. Gales for the +_Nation_. + +After speaking on the subject of fairy stories being eliminated from +the school curriculum, the writer adds: + +"This would be lessening the joy of the world and taking from +generations yet unborn the capacity for wonder, the power to take a +large unselfish interest in the spectacle of things, and putting them +forever at the mercy of small private cares. + +"A nursery rhyme is the most sane, the most unselfish thing in the +world. It calls up some delightful image--a little nut-tree with a +silver walnut and a golden pear; some romantic adventure only for the +child's delight and liberation from the bondage of unseeing dullness: +it brings before the mind the quintessence of some good thing: + +"'The little dog laughed to see such sport'--there is the soul of +good humor, of sanity, of health in the laughter of that innocently +wicked little dog. It is the laughter of pure frolic without +unkindness. To have laughed with the little dog as a child is the +best preservative against mirthless laughter in later years--the +horse laughter of brutality, the ugly laughter of spite, the acrid +laughter of fanaticism. The world of nursery rhymes, the old world of +Mrs. Slipper-Slopper, is the world of natural things, of quick, +healthy motion, of the joy of living. + +"In nursery rhymes the child is entertained with all the pageant of +the world. It walks in fairy gardens, and for it the singing birds +pass. All the King's horses and all the King's men pass before it in +their glorious array. Craftsmen of all sorts, bakers, confectioners, +silversmiths, blacksmiths are busy for it with all their arts and +mysteries, as at the court of an eastern King." + +In insisting upon the value of this escape from the commonplace, I +cannot prove the importance of it more clearly than by showing what +may happen to a child who is deprived of his birthright by having none +of the fairy tale element presented to him. In "Father and Son," Mr. +Edmund Gosse says: + +"Meanwhile, capable as I was of reading, I found my greatest pleasure +in the pages of books. The range of these was limited, for storybooks +of every description were sternly excluded. No fiction of any kind, +religious or secular, was admitted into the house. In this it was to +my Mother, not to my Father, that the prohibition was due. She had a +remarkable, I confess, to me somewhat unaccountable impression that to +'tell a story,' that is, to compose fictitious narrative of any king, +was a sin. . . . Nor would she read the chivalrous tales in the verse +of Sir Walter Scott, obstinately alleging that they were not true. She +would nothing but lyrical and subjective poetry. As a child, however, +she had possessed a passion for making up stories, and so considerable +a skill in it, that she was constantly being begged to indulge others +with its exercise. . . . 'When I was a very little child,' she says, +'I used to amuse myself and my brothers with inventing stories such as +I had read. Having, I suppose, a naturally restless mind and busy +imagination, this soon became the chief pleasure of my life. +Unfortunately, my brothers were always fond of encouraging this +propensity, and I found in Taylor, my maid, a still greater tempter. +I had not known there was any harm in it, until Miss Shore, a +Calvinistic governess, finding it out, lectured me severely and told +me it was wicked. From that time forth, I considered that to invent a +story of any kind was a sin. . . . But the longing to do so grew with +violence. . . . The simplicity of Truth was not enough for me. I must +needs embroider imagination upon it, and the vanity and wickedness +which disgraced my heart are more than I am able to express.' This +[the author, her son, adds] is surely a very painful instance of the +repression of an instinct." + +In contrast to the stifling of the imagination, it is good to recall +the story of the great Hermite who, having listened to the discussion +of the Monday sitting at the Academie des Sciences (Insitut de France) +as to the best way to teach the "young idea how to shoot" in the +direction of mathematical genius, said: "_Cultivez l'imagination, +messieurs. Tout est La. Si vous voulez des mathematiciens, donnez +a vos enfants a; lire--des Contes de Fees._" + +Another important effect of the story is to develop at an early age +sympathy for children of other countries where conditions are different +from our own. + +I have so constantly to deal with the question of confusion between +truth and fiction in the minds of children that it might be useful +to offer here an example of the way they make the distinction for +themselves. + +Mrs. Ewing says on this subject: + +"If there are young intellects so imperfect as to be incapable of +distinguishing between fancy and falsehood, it is most desirable to +develop in them the power to do so, but, as a rule, in childhood, we +appreciate the distinction with a vivacity which as elders our care- +clogged memories fail to recall." + +Mr. P. A. Barnett, in his book on the "Common-sense of Education," +says, alluding to fairy-tales: + +"Children will _act_ them but not act _upon_ them, and they +will not accept the incidents as part of their effectual belief. They +will imagine, to be sure, grotesque worlds, full of admirable and +interesting personages to whom strange things might have happened. So +much the better: this largeness of imagination is one of the +possessions that distinguish the better nurtured child from others +less fortunate." + +The following passage from Stevenson's essay on _"Child Play"_[38] +will furnish an instance of children's aptitude for creating their +own dramatic atmosphere: + +"When my cousin and I took our porridge of a morning, we had a device +to enliven the course of a meal. He ate his with sugar, and explained +it to be a country continually buried under snow. I took mine with +milk, and explained it to be country suffering gradual inundation. +You can imagine us exchanging bulletins; how here was an island still +unsubmerged, here a valley not yet covered with snow; what inventions +were made; how his population lived in cabins on perches and traveled +on stilts, and how mine was always in boats; how the interest grew +furious as the last corner of safe ground was cut off on all sides and +grew smaller every moment; and how, in fine, the food was of +altogether secondary importance, and might even have been nauseous, so +long as we seasoned it with these dreams. But perhaps the most +exciting moments I ever had over a meal were in the case of calf's +foot jelly. It was hardly possible not to believe--and you may +be quite sure, so far from trying, I did all I could to favor the +illusion--that some part of it was hollow and that sooner or +later my spoon would lay open the secret tabernacle of the golden +rock. There, might some _Red-Beard_ await his hour; there might +one find the treasures of the Forty Thieves. And so I quarried on +slowly, with bated breath, savoring the interest. Believe me, I had +little palate left for the jelly; and though I preferred the taste +when I tool cream with it, I used often to go without because the +cream dimmed the transparent fractures." + +In his work on "Imagination," Ribot says: "The free initiative of +children is always superior to the imitations we pretend to make +for them." + +The passage from Robert Louis Stevenson becomes more clear from a +scientific point of view when taken in connection with one from Karl +Groos' book on the "Psychology of Animal Play": + +"The child is wholly absorbed in his play, and yet under the ebb and +flow of thought and feeling like still water under wind-swept waves, +he has the knowledge that it is pretense after all. Behind the sham +'I' that takes part in the game, stands the unchanged 'I' which +regards the sham 'I' with quiet superiority." + +Queyrat speaks of play as one of the distinct phases of a child's +imagination; it is "essentially a metamorphosis of reality, a +transformation of places and things." + +Now to return to the point which Mrs. Ewing makes, namely, that we +should develop in normal children the power of distinguishing between +truth and falsehood. + +I should suggest including two or three stories which would test that +power in children, and if they fail to realize the difference between +romancing and telling lies, then it is evident that they need special +attention and help along this line. I give the titles of two stories +of this kind in the collection at the end of the book.[39] + +Thus far we have dealt only with the negative results of stories, but +there are more important effects, and I am persuaded that if we are +careful in our choice of stories, and artistic in our presentation, +so that the truth is framed, so to speak, in the memory, we can +unconsciously correct evil tendencies in children which they recognize +in themselves only when they have already criticized them in the +characters of the story. I have sometimes been misunderstood on this +point, and, therefore, I should like to make it quite clear. I do +_not_ mean that stories should take the place entirely of moral or +direct teaching, but that on many occasions they could supplement +and strengthen moral teaching, because the dramatic appeal to the +imagination is quicker than the moral appeal to the conscience. A +child will often resist the latter lest it should make him uncomfortable +or appeal to his personal sense of responsibility: it is often not in +his power to resist the former, because it has taken possession of him +before he is aware of it. + +As a concrete example, I offer three verses from a poem entitled, "A +Ballad for a Boy," written some twelve years ago by W. Cory, an Eton +master. The whole poem is to be found in a book of poems known as +"Ionica."[40] + +The poem describes a fight between two ships, the French ship, +_Temeraire_, and the English ship, _Quebec_. The English ship was +destroyed by fire; Farmer, the captain, was killed, and the officers +take prisoners: + + + They dealt with us as brethren, they mourned for Farmer dead, + And as the wounded captives passed each Breton bowed the head. + Then spoke the French lieutenant: + "'Twas the fire that won, not we. + You never struck your flag to _us_; You'll go to England free."[41] + + 'Twas the sixth day of October, seventeen hundred seventy-nine, + A year when nations ventured against us to combine, + _Quebec_ was burned and Farmer slain, by us remembered not; + But thanks be to the French book wherein they're not forgot. + + And you, if you've got to fight the French, my youngster, bear in + mind + Those seamen of King Louis so chivalrous and kind; + Think of the Breton gentlemen who took our lads to Brest, + And treat some rescued Breton as a comrade and a guest. + + +But in all our stories, in order to produce desired effects we must +refrain from holding, as Burroughs says, "a brief for either side," +and we must let the people in the story be judged by their deeds and +leave the decision of the children free in this matter.[42] + +In a review of Ladd's "Psychology" in the _Academy_, we find a +passage which refers as much to the story as to the novel: + +"The psychological novelist girds up his loins and sets himself to +write little essays on each of his characters. If he have the gift of +the thing he may analyze motives with a subtlety which is more than +their desert, and exhibit simple folk passing through the most +dazzling rotations. If he be a novice, he is reduced to mere crude +invention--the result in both cases is quite beyond the true purpose +of Art. Art--when all is said and done--a suggestion, and it +refuses to be explained. Make it obvious, unfold it in detail, and +you reduce it to a dead letter." + +Again, there is a sentence by Schopenhauer applied to novels which +would apply equally well to stories: + +"Skill consists in setting the inner life in motion with the smallest +possible array of circumstances, for it is this inner life that +excites our interest." + +In order to produce an encouraging and lasting effect by means of our +stories, we should be careful to introduce a certain number from +fiction where virtue is rewarded and vice punished, because to +appreciate the fact that "virtue is its own reward" it takes a +developed and philosophic mind, or a born saint, of whom there will +not, I think, be many among normal children: a comforting fact, on the +whole, as the normal teacher is apt to confuse them with prigs. + +A grande dame visiting an elementary school listened to the telling of +an exciting story from fiction, and was impressed by the thrill of +delight which passed through the children. But when the story was +finished, she said: "But _oh!_ what a pity the story was not +taken from actual history!" + +Now, not only was this comment quite beside the mark, but the lady in +question did not realize that pure fiction has one quality which +history cannot have. The historian, bound by fact and accuracy, must +often let his hero come to grief. The poet (or, in this case we may +call him, in the Greek sense, the "maker" of stories) strives to show +_ideal_ justice. + +What encouragement to virtue, except for the abnormal child, can be +offered by the stories of good men coming to grief, such as we find +Miltiades, Phocion, Socrates, Severus, Cicero, Cato and Caesar? + +Sir Philip Sydney says in his "Defence of Poesy": + +"Only the poet declining to be held by the limitations of the lawyer, +the _historian_, the grammarian, the rhetorician, the logician, +the physician, the metaphysician is lifted up with the vigor of his +own imagination; doth grow in effect into another nature in making +things either better than Nature bringeth forth or quite anew, as the +Heroes, Demi-gods, Cyclops, Furies and such like so as he goeth hand- +in-hand with Nature, not inclosed in the narrow range of her gifts but +freely ranging within the Zodiac of his own art--_her_ world is brazen; +the poet only delivers a golden one." + +The effect of the story need not stop at the negative task of correcting +evil tendencies. There is the positive effect of translating the +abstract ideal of the story into concrete action. + +I was told by Lady Henry Somerset that when the first set of children +came down from London for a fortnight's holiday in the country, she +was much startled and shocked by the obscenity of the games they +played amongst themselves. Being a sound psychologist, Lady Henry +wisely refrained from appearing surprised or from attempting any +direct method of reproof. "I saw," she said, "that the 'goody' +element would have no effect, so I changed the whole atmosphere by +reading to them or telling them the most thrilling medieval tales +without any commentary. By the end of the fortnight the activities +had all changed. The boys were performing astonishing deeds of +prowess, and the girls were allowing themselves to be rescued from +burning towers and fetid dungeons." Now, if these deeds of chivalry +appear somewhat stilted to us, we can at least realize that, having +changed the whole atmosphere of the filthy games, it is easier to +translate the deeds into something a little more in accordance with +the spirit of the age, and boys will more readily wish later on to +save their sisters from dangers more sordid and commonplace than fiery +towers and dark dungeons, if they have once performed the deeds in +which they had to court danger and self-sacrifice for themselves. + +And now we come to the question as to how these effects are to be +maintained. In what has already been stated as to the danger of +introducing the dogmatic and direct appeal into the story, it is +evident that the avoidance of this element is the first means of +preserving the story in all its artistic force in the memory of the +child. We must be careful, as I point out in the chapter on Questions, +not to interfere by comment or question with the atmosphere we have +made round the story, or else, in the future, that story will become +blurred and overlaid with the remembrance, not of the artistic whole, +as presented by the teller of the story, but by some unimportant small +side issue raised by an irrelevant question or a superfluous comment. + +Many people think that the dramatization of the story by the children +themselves helps to maintain the effect produced. Personally, I fear +there is the same danger as in the immediate reproduction of the story, +but by some unimportant small side issue raised by an irrelevant +question or a superfluous comment. + +Many people think that the dramatization of the story by the children +themselves helps to maintain the effect produced. Personally, I fear +there is the same danger as in the immediate reproduction of the story, +namely, that the general dramatic effect may be weakened. + +If, however, there is to be dramatization (and I do not wish to +dogmatize on the subject), I think it should be confined to facts +and not fancies, and this is why I realize the futility of the +dramatization of fairy tales. + +Horace E. Scudder says on this subject: + +"Nothing has done more to vulgarize the fairy than its introduction +on the stage. The charm of the fairy tale is its divorce from human +experience: the charm of the stage is its realization in miniature of +human life. If a frog is heard to speak, if a dog is changed before +our eyes into a prince by having cold water dashed over it, the charm +of the fairy tale has fled, and, in its place, we have the perplexing +pleasure of _legerdemain_. Since the real life of a fairy is in +the imagination, a wrong is committed when it is dragged from its +shadowy hiding-place and made to turn into ashes under the calcium +light of the understanding."[43] + +I am bound to admit that the teachers have a case when they plead for +this reproducing of the story, and there are three arguments they use +the validity of which I admit, but which have nevertheless not +converted me, because the loss, to my mind, would exceed the gain. + +The first argument they put forward is that the reproduction of the +story enables the child to enlarge and improve his vocabulary. Now I +greatly sympathize with this point of view, but, as I regard the story +hour as a very precious and special one, which I think may have a +lasting effect on the character of a child, I do not think it important +that, during this hour, a child should be called upon to improve his +vocabulary at the expense of the dramatic whole, and at the expense +of the literary form in which the story has been presented. It would +be like using the Bible for parsing or paraphrase or pronunciation. +So far, I believe, the line has been drawn here, though there are +blasphemers who have laid impious hands on Milton or Shakespeare +for this purpose. + +There are surely other lessons, as I have already said in dealing +with the reproduction of the story quite apart from the dramatization, +lessons more utilitarian in character, which can be used for this +purpose: the facts of history (I mean the mere facts as compared with +the deep truths), and those of geography. Above all, the grammar +lessons are those in which the vocabulary can be enlarged and improved. +But I am anxious to keep the story hour apart as dedicated to something +higher than these excellent but utilitarian considerations. + +The second argument used by the teachers is the joy felt by the +children in being allowed to dramatize the stories. This, too, +appeals very strongly to me, but there is a means of satisfying their +desire and yet protecting the dramatic whole, and that is occasionally +to allow children to act out their own dramatic inventions; this, to +my mind, has great educational significance: it is original and +creative work and, apart from the joy of the immediate performance, +there is the interesting process of comparison which can be presented +to the children, showing them the difference between their elementary +attempts and the finished product of the experienced artist. This +difference they can be led to recognize by their own powers of +observation if the teachers are not in too great a hurry to point it +out themselves. + +Here is a short original story, quoted by the French psychologist, +Queyrat, in his "Jeux de l'Enfance," written by a child of five: + +"One day I went to sea in a life-boat--all at once I saw an enormous +whale, and I jumped out of the boat to catch him, but he was so big +that I climbed on his back and rode astride, and all the little +fishes laughed to see." + +Here is a complete and exciting drama, making a wonderful picture and +teeming with adventure. We could scarcely offer anything to so small +a child for reproduction that would be a greater stimulus to the +imagination. + +Here is another, offered by Loti, but the age of the child is not given: + +"Once upon a time a little girl out in the Colonies cut open a huge +melon, and out popped a green beast and stung her, and the little +child died." + +Loti adds: + +"The phrases 'out in the Colonies' and 'a huge melon' were enough to +plunge me suddenly into a dream. As by an apparition, I beheld +tropical trees, forests alive with marvelous birds. Oh! the simple +magic of the words 'the Colonies'! In my childhood they stood for a +multitude of distant sun-scorched countries, with their palm-trees, +their enormous flowers, their black natives, their wild beasts, their +endless possibilities of adventure." + +I quote this in full because it shows so clearly the magic force of +words to evoke pictures, without any material representation. It is +just the opposite effect of the pictures presented to the bodily eye +without the splendid educational opportunity for the child to form +his own mental image. + +I am more and more convinced that the rare power of visualization is +accounted for by the lack of mental practice afforded along these lines. + +The third argument used by teachers in favor of the dramatization of +the stories is that it is a means of discovering how much the child +has really learned from the story. Now this argument makes absolutely +no appeal to me. + +My experience, in the first place, has taught me that a child very +seldom gives out any account of a deep impression made upon him: it +is too sacred and personal. But he very soon learns to know what is +expected of him, and he keeps a set of stock sentences which he has +found out are acceptable to the teacher. How can we possibly gauge +the deep effects of a story in this way, or how can a child, by acting +out a story, describe the subtle elements which one has tried to +introduce? One might as well try to show with a pint measure how the +sun and rain have affected a plant, instead of rejoicing in the beauty +of the sure, if slow, growth. + +Then, again, why are we in such a hurry to find out what effects have +been produced by our stories? Does it matter whether we know today or +tomorrow how much a child has understood? For my part, so sure do I +feel of the effect that I am willing to wait indefinitely. Only, I +must make sure that the first presentation is truly dramatic and +artistic. + +The teachers of general subjects have a much easier and more simple +task. Those who teach science, mathematics, even, to a certain extent, +history and literature, are able to gauge with a fair amount of accuracy +by means of examination what their pupils have learned. The teaching +carried on by means of stories can never be gauged in the same manner. + +Carlyle has said: + +"Of this thing be certain: wouldst thou plant for Eternity, then plant +into the deep infinite faculties of man, his Fantasy and Heart. Wouldst +thou plant for Year and Day, then plant into his shallow superficial +faculties, his self-love and arithmetical understanding, what will +grow there."[44] + +If we use this marvelous art of story-telling in the way I have tried +to show, then the children who have been confided to our care will one +day be able to bring _us_ the tribute which Bjornson brought to Hans +Christian Andersen: + + + Wings you gave to my Imagination, + Me uplifting to the strange and great; + Gave my heart the poet's revelation, + Glorifying things of low estate. + + When my child-soul hungered all-unknowing, + With great truths its need you satisfied: + Now, a world-worn man, to you is owing + That the child in me has never died. + + TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH BY EMILIE POULSON. + + + +CHAPTER VII. QUESTIONS ASKED BY TEACHERS. + +The following questions have been put to me so often by teachers, in +my own country and in America, that I have thought it might be useful +to give in my book some of the attempts I have made to answer them; +and I wish to record here an expression of gratitude to the teachers +who have asked these questions at the close of my lectures. It has +enabled me to formulate my views on the subject and to clear up, by +means of research and thought, the reason for certain things which I +had more or less taken for granted. It has also constantly modified +my own point of view, and has prevented me from becoming too dogmatic +in dealing with other people's methods. + +QUESTION I: _Why do I consider it necessary to spend so many years +on the art of story-telling, which takes in, after all, such a +restricted portion of literature?_ + +Just in the same way that an actor thinks it worth while to go through +so many years' training to fit him for the stage, although dramatic +literature is also only one branch of general literature. The region +of storyland is the legitimate stage for children. They crave drama +as we do, and because there are comparatively few good story-tellers, +children do not have their dramatic needs satisfied. What is the +result? We either take them to dramatic performances for grown-up +people, or we have children's theaters where the pieces, charming as +they may be, are of necessity deprived of the essential elements which +constitute a drama--or they are shriveled up to suit the capacity of +the child. Therefore, it would seem wiser, while the children are +quite young, to keep them to the simple presentation of stories, +because with their imagination keener at that period, they have the +delight of the inner vision and they do not need, as we do, the +artificial stimulus provided by the machinery of the stage. + + +QUESTION II: _What is to be done if a child asks you: "Is the story +true?"_ + +I hope I shall be considered Utopian in my ideas if a say that it is +quite easy, even with small children, to teach them that the seeing of +truth is a relative matter which depends on the eyes of the seer. If +we were not afraid to tell our children that all through life there +are grown-up people who do not see things that others see, their own +difficulties would be helped. + +In his "Imagination Creatrice," Queyrat says: + +"To get down into the recesses of a child's mind, one would have to +become even as he is; we are reduced to interpreting that child in the +terms of an adult. The children we observe live and grow in a +civilized community, and the result of this is that the development of +their imagination is rarely free or complete, for as soon as it rises +beyond the average level, the rationalistic education of parents and +schoolmasters at once endeavors to curb it. It is restrained in its +flight by an antagonistic power which treats it as a kind of incipient +madness." + +It is quite easy to show children that if one keeps things where they +belong, they are true with regard to each other, but that if one drags +these things out of the shadowy atmosphere of the "make-believe," and +forces them into the land of actual facts, the whole thing is out +of gear. + +To take a concrete example: The arrival of the coach made from a +pumpkin and driven by mice is entirely in harmony with the _Cinderella_ +surroundings, and I have never heard one child raise any question of the +difficulty of traveling in such a coach or of the uncertainty of mice in +drawing it. But, suggest to the child that this diminutive vehicle +could be driven among the cars of Broadway, or amongst the motor +omnibuses in the Strand, and you would bring confusion at once into +his mind. + +Having once grasped this, the children will lose the idea that fairy +stories are just for them, and not for their elders, and from this +they will go on to see that it is the child-like mind of the poet and +seer that continues to appreciate these things; that it is the dull, +heavy person whose eyes so soon become dim and unable to see any more +the visions which were once his own. + +In his essay on "Poetry and Life" (Glasgow, 1889), Professor Bradley +says: + +"It is the effect of poetry, not only by expressing emotion but in +other ways also, to bring life into the dead mass of our experience, +and to make the world significant." + +This applies to children as well as to adults. There may come to the +child in the story hour, by some stirring poem or dramatic narration, +a sudden flash of the possibilities of life which he had not hitherto +realized in the even course of school experience. + +"Poetry," says Professor Bradley, "is a way of representing truth; but +there is in it, as its detractors have always insisted, a certain +untruth or illusion. We need not deny this, so long as we remember +that the illusion is conscious, that no one wishes to deceive, and +that no one is deceived. But it would be better to say that poetry is +false to literal fact for the sake of obtaining a higher truth. +First, in order to represent the connection between a more significant +part of experience and a less significant, poetry, instead of linking +them together by a chain which touches one by one the intermediate +objects that connect them, leaps from one to the other. It thus falls +at once into conflict with common-sense." + +Now, the whole of this passage bears as much on the question of the +truth embodied in a fairy tale as a poem, and it would be interesting +to take some of these tales and try to discover where they are false +to actual fact for the sake of a higher truth. + +Let us take, for instance, the Story of Cinderella: The coach and +pumpkins to which I have alluded and all the magic part of the story, +are false to actual facts as we meet them in our every life; but is it +not a higher truth that _Cinderella_ could escape from her chimney +corner by thinking of the brightness outside? In this sense +we all travel in pumpkin coaches. + +Take the Story of Psyche, in any one of the many forms it is presented +to us in folk-story. The magic transformation of the lover is false +to actual fact; but is it not a higher truth that we are often +transformed by circumstance, and that love and courage can overcome +most difficulties? + +Take the Story of the Three Bears. It is not in accordance with +established fact that bears should extend hospitality to children +who invade their territory. Is it not true in a higher sense that +fearlessness often lessens or averts danger? + +Take the Story of Jack and the Bean Stalk. The rapid growth of the +bean stalk and the encounter with the giant are false to literal fact; +but is it not a higher truth that the spirit of courage and high +adventure leads us straight out of the commonplace and often sordid +facts of life? + +Now, all these considerations are too subtle for the child, and, if +offered in explanation, would destroy the excitement and interest of +the story; but they are good for those of us who are presenting such +stories: they provide not only an argument against the objection +raised by unimaginative people as to the futility, if not immorality, +of presenting these primitive tales, but clear up our own doubt and +justify us in the use of them, if we need such justification. + +For myself, I am perfectly satisfied that, being part of the history +of primitive people, it would be foolish to ignore them from an +evolutionary point of view, which constitutes their chief importance; +and it is only from the point of view of expediency that I mention the +potential truths they contain. + +QUESTION III: _What are you to do if a child says he does not like +fairy tales_? + +This is not an uncommon case. What we have first to determine, under +these circumstances, is whether this dislike springs from a stolid, +prosaic nature, whether it springs from a real inability to visualize +such pictures as the fairy or marvelous element in the story present, +or whether (and this is often the real reason) it is from a fear of +being asked to believe what his judgment resents as untrue, or whether +he thinks it is "grown-up" to reject such pleasure as unworthy of his +years. + +In the first case, it is wise to persevere, in hopes of developing the +dormant imagination. If the child resents the apparent want of truth +we can teach him how many-sided truth is, as I suggested in my answer +to the first question. In the other cases, we must try to make it +clear that the delight he may venture to take now will increase, not +decrease, with years; that the more one brings _to_ a thing, in the way +of experience and knowledge, the more one will draw _out_ of it. + +Let us take as a concrete example the question of Santa Claus. This +joy has almost disappeared, for we have torn away the last shred of +mystery about the personage by allowing him to be materialized in the +Christmas shops and bazaars. + +But the original myth need never have disappeared; the link could +easily have been kept by gradually telling the child that the Santa +Claus they worshiped as a mysterious and invisible power is nothing +but the spirit of charity and kindness that makes us remember others, +and that this spirit often takes the form of material gifts. We can +also lead them a step higher and show them that this spirit of +kindness can do more than provide material things; so that the old +nursery tale has laid a beautiful foundation which need never be +pulled up: we can build upon it and add to it all through our lives. + +Is not _one_ of the reasons that children reject fairy tales this, +that such very _poor_ material is offered them? There is a dreary +flatness about all except the very best which revolts the child of +literary appreciation and would fail to strike a spark in the +more prosaic. + +QUESTION IV: _Do I recommend learning a story by heart, or telling +it in one's own words_? + +This would largely depend on the kind of story. If the style is +classic or if the interest of the story is closely connected with the +style, as in Andersen, Kipling or Stevenson, then it is better to +commit it absolutely to memory. But if this process should take too +long (I mean for those who cannot afford the time to specialize), or +if it produces a stilted effect, then it is wiser to read the story +many times over, let it soak in, taking notes of certain passages +which would add to the dramatic interest of the story, and not trouble +about the word accuracy of the whole. + +For instance, for very young children the story of _Pandora_, as +told in the "Wonder-Book" could be shortened so as to leave principally +the dramatic dialogue between the two children, which could be easily +committed to memory by the narrator and would appeal most directly to +the children. Or for older children: in taking a beautiful medieval +story such as "Our Lady's Tumbler," retold by Wickstead, the original +text could hardly be presented so as to hold an audience; but while +giving up a great deal of the elaborate material, we should try to +present many of the characteristic passages which seem to sum up the +situation. For instance, before his performance, the _Tumbler_ cries: +"What am I doing? For there is none here so caitiff but who vies with +all the rest in serving God after his trade." And after his act of +devotion: "Lady, this is a choice performance. I do it for no other but +for you; so aid me God, I do not--for you and for your Son. And this I +dare avouch and boast, that for me it is no play-work. But I am serving +you, and that pays me." + +On the other hand, there are some very gifted narrators who can only +tell the story in their own words. I consider that both methods are +necessary to the all-round story-teller. + +QUESTION V: _How do I set about preparing a story_? + +Here again the preparation depends a great deal on the kind of story: +whether it has to be committed to memory or rearranged to suit a +certain age of child, or told entirely in one's own words. But there +is one kind of preparation which is the same for any story, that is, +living with it for a long time, until one has really obtained the +right atmosphere, especially in the case of inanimate objects. This +is where Hans Christian Andersen reigns supreme. Horace Scudder says +of him: "By some transmigration, souls have passed into tin soldiers, +balls, tops, money-pigs, coins, shoes and even such attenuated things +as darning-needles, and when, informing these apparent dead and stupid +bodies, they begin to make manifestations, it is always in perfect +consistency with the ordinary conditions of the bodies they occupy, +though the several objects become, by the endowment of souls, suddenly +expanded in their capacity."[45] + +Now, my test of being ready with such stories is whether I have ceased +to look upon such objects _as_ inanimate. Let us take some of those +quoted from Andersen. First, the _Tin Soldier_. To me, since I have +lived in the story, he is a real live hero, holding his own with some +of the bravest fighting heroes in history or fiction. As for his being +merely of tin, I entirely forget it, except when I realize against what +odds he fights, or when I stop to admire the wonderful way Andersen +carries out his simile of the old tin spoon--the stiffness of the +musket, and the tears of tin. + +Take the _Top_ and the _Ball_, and, except for the delightful way they +discuss the respective merits of cork and mahogany in their ancestors, +you would completely forget that they are not real human beings with the +live passions and frailties common to youth. + +As for the _Beetle_--who ever thinks of him as a mere entomological +specimen? Is he not the symbol of the self-satisfied traveler who +learns nothing en route but the importance of his own personality? And +the _Darning-Needle_? It is impossible to divorce human interest from +the ambition of this little piece of steel. + +And this same method applied to the preparation of any shows that +one can sometimes rise from the role of mere interpreter to that of +creator--that is to say, the objects live afresh for you in response +to the appeal you make in recognizing their possibilities of vitality. + +As a mere practical suggestion, I would advise that, as soon as one has +overcome the difficulties of the text (if actually learning by heart, +there is nothing but the drudgery of constant repetition), and as one +begins to work the story into true dramatic form, always say the words +aloud, and many times aloud, before trying them even on one person. +More suggestions come to one in the way of effects from hearing the +sounds of the words, and more complete mental pictures, in this way +than any other--it is a sort of testing period, the results of which +may or may not have to be modified when produced in public. In case +of committing to memory, I advise word perfection first, not trying +dramatic effects before this is reached; but, on the other hand, if +you are using your own words, you can think out the effects as you +go along--I mean, during the preparation. Gestures, pauses, facial +expression often help to fix the choice of words one decides to use, +though here again the public performance will often modify the result. +I strongly advise that all gestures be studied before the glass, because +this most faithfully recording friend, whose sincerity we dare not +question, will prevent glaring errors, and also help by the correction +of these to more satisfactory results along positive lines. If your +gesture does not satisfy you (and practice will make one more and more +critical), it is generally because you have not made sufficient +allowance for the power of imagination in your audience. Emphasis +in gesture is just as inartistic--and therefore ineffective--as +emphasis in tone or language. + +Before deciding, however, either on the facial expression or gesture, +we must consider the chief characters in the story, and study how we +can best--_not_ present them, but allow them to present themselves, +which is a very different thing. The greatest tribute which can be +paid to a story-teller, as to an actor, is that his own personality is +temporarily forgotten, because he has so completely identified himself +with his role. + +When we have decided what the chief characters really mean to do, we +can let ourselves go in the impersonation. + +I shall now take a story as a concrete example, namely, the Buddhist +legend of the "Lion and the Hare."[46] + +We have here the _Lion_ and the _Hare_ as types--the other animals are +less individual and therefore display less salient qualities. The +little hare's chief characteristics are nervousness, fussiness, and +misdirected imagination. We must bear this all in mind when she appears +on the stage--fortunately these characteristics lend themselves easily +to dramatic representation. The _Lion_ is not only large-hearted but +broad-minded. It is good to have an opportunity of presenting to the +children a lion who has other qualities than physical beauty or +extraordinary strength (here again there will lurk the danger of +alarming the nature students). He is even more interesting than +the magnanimous lion whom we have sometimes been privileged to meet +in fiction. + +Of course we grown-up people know that the _Lion_ is the Buddha in +disguise. Children will not be able to realize this, nor is it the +least necessary that they should do so; but they will grasp the idea +that he is a very unusual lion, not to be met with in Paul Du Chaillu's +adventures, still less in the quasi-domestic atmosphere of the +Zoological Gardens. If our presentation is life-like and sincere, +we shall convey all we intend to the child. This is part of what +I call the atmosphere of the story, which, as in a photograph, can +only be obtained by long exposure, that is to say, in the case of +preparation we must bestow much reflection and sympathy. + +Because these two animals are the chief characters, they must be +painted in fainter colors--they should be suggested rather than +presented in detail. It might be well to give a definite gesture to +the _Elephant_--say, a characteristic movement with his trunk--a scowl +to the _Tiger_, a supercilious and enigmatic smile to the _Camel_ +(suggested by Kipling's wonderful creation). But if a gesture were +given to each of the animals, the effect would become monotonous, and +the minor characters would crowd the foreground of the picture, impeding +the action and leaving little to the imagination of the audience. I +personally have found it effective to repeat the gestures of these +animals as they are leaving the stage, but less markedly, as it is +only a form of reminder. + +Now, what is the impression we wish to leave on the mind of the child, +apart from the dramatic joy and interest we have endeavored to provide? +Surely it is that he may realize the danger of a panic. One method of +doing this (alas! a favorite one still) is to say at the end of the +story: "Now, children, what do we learn from this?" Of this method Lord +Morley has said: "It is a commonplace to the wise, and an everlasting +puzzle to the foolish, that direct inculcation of morals should +invariably prove so powerless an instrument, so futile a method." + +If this direct method were really effective, we might as well put the +little drama aside, and say plainly: "It is foolish to be nervous; it +is dangerous to make loose statements. Large-minded people understand +things better than those who are narrow-minded." + +All these abstract statements would be as true and as tiresome as the +multiplication table. The child might or might not fix them in his +mind, but he would not act upon them. + +But, put all the artistic warmth of which you are capable into the +presentation of the story, and, without one word of comment from you, +the children will feel the dramatic intensity of that vast concourse +of animals brought together by the feeble utterance of one irresponsible +little hare. Let them feel the dignity and calm of the _Lion_, which +accounts for his authority; his tender but firm treatment of the foolish +little _Hare_; and listen to the glorious finale when all the animals +retire convinced of their folly; and you will find that you have adopted +the same method as the _Lion_ (who must have been an unconscious +follower of Froebel), and that there is nothing to add to the picture. + +QUESTION VI: _Is it wise to talk over a story with children and to +encourage them in the habit of asking questions about it_? + +At the time, no! The effect produced is to be by dramatic means, and +this would be destroyed any attempt at analysis by means of questions. + +The medium that has been used in the telling of the story is (or ought +to be) a purely artistic one which will reach the child through the +medium of the emotions: the appeal to the intellect or the reason is +a different method, which must be used at a different time. When you +are enjoying the fragrance of a flower or the beauty of its color, it +is not the moment to be reminded of its botanical classification, just +as in the botany lesson it would be somewhat irrelevant to talk of the +part that flowers play in the happiness of life. + +From a practical point of view, it is not wise to encourage questions +on the part of the children, because they are apt to disturb the +atmosphere by bringing in entirely irrelevant matter, so that in +looking back on the telling of the story, the child often remembers +the irrelevant conversation to the exclusion of the dramatic interest +of the story itself.[47] + +I remember once making what I considered at the time a most effective +appeal to some children who had been listening to the Story of the +Little Tin Soldier, and, unable to refrain from the cheap method of +questioning, of which I have now recognized the futility, I asked: +"Don't you think it was nice of the little dancer to rush down into +the fire to join the brave little soldier?" "Well," said a prosaic +little lad of six: "_I_ thought the draught carried her down." + +QUESTION VII: _Is it wise to call upon children to repeat the story +as soon as it has been told_? + +My answer here is decidedly in the negative. + +While fully appreciating the modern idea of children expressing +themselves, I very much deprecate this so-called self-expression +taking the form of mere reproduction. I have dealt with this matter +in detail in another portion of my book. This is one of the occasions +when children should be taking in, not giving out (even the most +fanatic of moderns must agree that there _are_ such moments). + +When, after much careful preparation, an expert has told a story to +the best of his ability, to encourage the children to reproduce this +story with their imperfect vocabulary and with no special gift of +speech (I am always alluding to the normal group of children) is as +futile as if, after the performance of a musical piece by a great +artist, some individual member of the audience were to be called upon +to give _his_ rendering of the original rendering. The result +would be that the musical joy of the audience would be completely +destroyed and the performer himself would share in the loss.[48] + +I have always maintained that five minutes of complete silence after +the story would do more to fix the impression on the mind of the child +than any amount of attempt at reproducing it. The general statement +made in Dr. Montessor's wonderful chapter on "Silence" would seem to +me of special application to the moments following on the telling of +a story. + +QUESTION VIII: _Should children be encouraged to illustrate the +stories which they have heard_? + +As a dramatic interest to the teachers and the children, I think it +is a very praiseworthy experiment, if used somewhat sparingly. But +I seriously doubt whether these illustrations in any way indicate the +impression made on the mind of the child. It is the same question +that arises when that child is called upon, or expresses a wish, to +reproduce the story in his own words: the unfamiliar medium in both +instances makes it almost impossible for the child to convey his +meaning, unless he is an artist in the one case or he has real +literary power of expression in the other. + +My own impression, confirmed by many teachers who have made the +experiment, is that a certain amount of disappointment is mixed +up with the daring joy in the attempt, simply because the children +can get nowhere near the ideal which has presented itself to the +"inner eye." + +I remember a kindergarten teacher saying that on one occasion, when +she had told to the class a thrilling story of a knight, one of the +children immediately asked for permission to draw a picture of him on +the blackboard. So spontaneous a request could not, of course, be +refused, and, full of assurance, the would-be artist began to give his +impression of the knight's appearance. When the picture was finished, +the child stood back for a moment to judge for himself of the result. +He put down the chalk and said sadly: "And I _thought_ he was so +handsome." + +Nevertheless, except for the drawback of the other children seeing a +picture which might be inferior to their own mental vision, I should +quite approve of such experiments, as long as they are not taken as +literal data of what the children have really received. It would, +however, be better not to have the picture drawn on a blackboard but +at the child's private desk, to be seen by the teacher and not, unless +the picture were exceptionally good, to be shown to the other children. + +One of the best effects of such an experiment would be to show a child +how difficult it is to give the impression one wishes to record, and +which would enable him later on to appreciate the beauty of such work +in the hands of a finished artist. + +I can anticipate the jeers with which such remarks would be received +by the Futurist School, but, according to their own theory, I ought to +be allowed to express the matter _as I see it_, however faulty the +vision may appear to them.[49] + +QUESTION IX: _In what way can the dramatic method of story-telling +be used in ordinary class teaching_? + +This is too large a question to answer fully in so general a survey as +this work, but I should like to give one or two examples as to how the +element of story-telling could be introduced. + +I have always thought that the only way in which we could make either +a history or literature lesson live, so as to take a real hold on the +mind of the pupil at any age, would be that, instead of offering lists +of events, crowded into the fictitious area of one reign, one should +take a single event, say in one lesson out of five, and give it in the +most splendid language and in the most dramatic manner. + +To come to a concrete example: Supposing that one is talking to the +class of Greece, either in connection with its history, its geography +or its literature, could any mere accumulation of facts give a clearer +idea of the life of the people than a dramatically told story from +Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles or Euripides? + +What in the history of Iceland could give any more graphic idea of +the whole character of the life and customs of the inhabitants than +one of the famous sagas, such as "The Burning of Njal" or "The Death +of Gunnar"? + +In teaching the history of Spain, what could make the pupils understand +better the spirit of knight-errantry, its faults and its qualities, than +a recital from "Don Quixote" or from the tale of "The Cid"? + +In a word, the stories must appeal so vividly to the imagination that +they will light up the whole period of history which we wish them to +illustrate and keep it alive in the memory for all time. + +But quite apart from the dramatic presentation of history, there are +very great possibilities for the short story introduced into the +portrait of some great personage, insignificant in itself, but which +throws a sudden sidelight on his character, showing the mind behind +the actual deeds; this is what I mean by using the dramatic method. + +To take a concrete example: Suppose, in giving an account of the life +of Napoleon, after enlarging upon his campaigns, his European policy, +his indomitable will, one were suddenly to give an idea of his many- +sidedness by relating how he actually found time to compile a catechism +which was used for some years in the elementary schools of France. What +sidelights might be thrown in this way on such characters as Nero, +Caesar, Henry VIII, Luther, Goethe! + + +To take one example from these: Instead of making the whole career of +Henry VIII center round the fact that he was a much-married man, could +we not present his artistic side and speak of his charming contributions +to music? + +So much for the history lessons. But could not the dramatic form and +interest be introduced into our geography lessons? Think of the +romance of the Panama Canal, the position of Constantinople, as +affecting the history of Europe, the shape of Greece, England as an +island, the position of Thibet, the interior of Africa--to what +wonderful story-telling would these themes lend themselves! + +QUESTION X: _Which should predominate in the story--the dramatic or +the poetic element_? + +This is a much debated point. From experience I have come to the +conclusion that, though both should be found in the whole range of +stories, the dramatic element should prevail from the very nature of +the presentation, and also because it reaches the larger number of +children, at least of normal children. Almost every child is dramatic, +in the sense that it loves action (not necessarily an action in which +it has to bear a part). It is the exceptional child who is reached by +the poetic side, and just as on the stage the action must be quicker +and more concentrated than in a poem--than even a dramatic poem--the +poetical side, which must be painted in more delicate colors or +presented in less obvious form, often escapes them. Of course, the +very reason why we must include the poetical element is that it is +an unexpressed need of most children. Their need of the dramatic is +more loudly proclaimed and more easily satisfied. + +QUESTION XI: _What is the educational value of humor in the stories +told to our children_? + +My answer to this is that humor means so much more than is usually +understood by this term. So many people seem to think that to have a +sense of humor is merely to be tickled by a funny element in a story. +It surely means something much more subtle than this. It is Thackeray +who says: "If humor only meant laughter, but the humorist profess to +awaken and direct your love, your pity, your kindness, your scorn for +untruth and pretension, your tenderness for the weak, the poor, the +oppressed, the unhappy." So that, in our stories, the introduction of +humor should not merely depend on the doubtful amusement that follows +on a sense of incongruity. It should inculcate a sense of proportion +brought about by an effort of imagination; it shows a child its real +position in the universe and prevents hasty conclusions. It shortens +the period of joy in horse-play and practical jokes. It brings about +a clearer perception of all situations, enabling the child to get the +point of view of another person. It is the first instilling of +philosophy into the mind of a child and prevents much suffering later +on when the blows of life fall upon him; for a sense of humor teaches +us at an early age not to expect too much: and this philosophy can be +developed with cynicism or pessimism, without even destroying the +_joie de vivre_. + +One cannot, however, sufficiently emphasize the fact that these far- +reaching results can be brought about only by humor quite distinct +from the broader fun and hilarity which have also their use in an +educational scheme. + +From my own experience, I have learned that development of humor is +with most children extremely slow. It _is_ quite natural and quite +right that at first pure fun, obvious situations and elementary jokes +should please them, but we can very gradually appeal to something more +subtle, and if I were asked what story would educate our children most +thoroughly in appreciation of humor, I should say that "Alice in +Wonderland" was the most effective. + +What better object lesson could be given in humorous form of taking +somebody else's point of view than that given to _Alice_ by the +_Mock Turtle_ in speaking of the _Whiting_-- + +"You know what they're like?" + +"I believe so," said Alice. "They have their tails in their mouths-- +and they're all over crumbs." + +"You're wrong about the crumbs," said the Mock Turtle. "Crumbs would +all wash off in the sea." + +Or when _Alice_ is speaking to the _Mouse_ of her cat, and says: + +"She is such a dear quiet thing--and a capital one for catching mice---" +and then suddenly realizes the point of view of the _Mouse_, who was +"trembling down to the end of its tail." + +Then, as an instance of how a lack of humor leads to illogical +conclusions (a condition common to most children), we have the +conversation between _Alice_ and the _Pigeon_: + +ALICE: "But little girls eat quite as much as serpents, you know." + +PIGEON: "I don't believe it. But if they do, why then they're a kind +of serpent, that's all I can say." + +Then, as an instance of how a sense of humor would prevent too much +self-importance: + +"I have a right to think," said Alice sharply. + +"Just about as much right," said the Duchess, "as pigs have to fly." + + + + +PART II. THE STORIES. + + + The following stories do not form a comprehensive selection; + this I have endeavored to give in the List of Stories. The + stories given are chiefly taken from my own repertoire, and + have been so constantly asked by teachers that I am glad of + an opportunity of presenting them in full. + + I regret that I have been unable to furnish many of the stories + I consider good for narration, but the difficulty of obtaining + permission has deterred me from further efforts in this direction. + + + +STURLA, THE HISTORIAN.[50] + +Then Sturla got ready to sail away with the king, and his name was put +on the list. He went on board before many men had come; he had a +sleeping bag and a travelling chest, and took his place on the foredeck. +A little later the king came on to the quay, and a company of men with +him. Sturla rose and bowed, and bade the king "hail," but the king +answered nothing, and went aft along the ship to the quarter-deck. +They sailed that day to go south along the coast. But in the evening +when men unpacked their provisions Sturla sat still, and no one invited +him to mess. Then a servant of the king's came and asked Sturla if he +had any meat and drink. Sturla said "NO." Then the king's servant went +to the king and spoke with him, out of hearing, and then went forward to +Sturla and said: "You shall go to mess with Thorir Mouth and Erlend +Maw." They took him into their mess, but rather stiffly. When men were +turning in to sleep, a sailor of the king's asked who should tell them +stories. There was little answer. Then said he: "Sturla the Icelander, +will you tell stories?" "As you will," said Sturla. So he told them +the story of Huld, better and fuller than any one there had ever heard +it told before. Then many men pushed forward to the fore-deck, wanting +to hear as clearly as might be, and there was a great crowd. The queen +asked: "What is that crowd on deck there?" A man answered: "The men are +listening to the story that the Icelander tells." "What story is that?" +said she. He answers: "It is about a great troll-wife, and it is a good +story and well told." The king bade her pay no heed to that, and go to +sleep. She says: "I think this Icelander must be a good fellow, and +less to blame than he is reported." The King was silent. + +So the night passed, and the next morning there was no wind for them, +and the king's ship lay in the same place. Later in the day, when men +sat at their drink, the king sent dishes from his table to Sturla. +Sturla's messmates were pleased with this: "You bring better luck +than we thought, if this sort of thing goes on." After dinner the +queen sent for Sturla and asked him to come to her and bring the +troll-wife story along with him. So Sturla went aft to the quarter- +deck, and greeted the king and queen. The king answered little, the +queen well and cheerfully. She asked him to tell the same story he +had told overnight. He did so, for a great part of the day. When he +finished, the queen thanked him, and many others besides, and made him +out in their minds to be a learned man and sensible. But the king +said nothing; only he smiled a little. Sturla thought he saw that the +king's whole frame of mind was brighter than the day before. So he +said to the king that he had made a poem about him, and another about +his father: "I would gladly get a hearing for them." The queen said: +"Let him recite his poem; I am told that he is the best of poets, and +his poem will be excellent." The king bade him say on, if he would, +and repeat the poem he professed to have made about him. Sturla +chanted it to the end. The queen said: "To my mind that is a good +poem." The king said to her: "Can you follow the poem so clearly?" +"I would be fain to have you think so, Sir," said the queen. The king +said: "I have learned that Sturla is good at verses." Sturla took his +leave of the king and queen and went to his place. There was no +sailing for the king all that day. In the evening before he went to +bed he sent for Sturla. And when he came he greeted the king and +said: "What will you have me to do, Sir?" The king called for a +silver goblet full of wine, and drank some and gave it to Sturla and +said: "A health to a friend in wine!" (_Vin skal til vinar drekka_). +Sturla said: "God be praised for it!" "Even so," says the king, "and +now I wish you to say the poem you have made about my father." Sturla +repeated it: and when it was finished men praised it much and most of +all the queen. The king said: "To my thinking, you are a better reciter +than the Pope." + Sturlunga Saga, vol.ii, p.269. + + + +A SAGA. + +In the grey beginnings of the world, or ever the flower of justice +had rooted in the heart, there lived among the daughters of men two +children, sisters, of one house. + +In childhood did they leap and climb and swim with the men children of +their race, and were nurtured on the same stories of gods and heroes. + +In maidenhood they could do all that a maiden might and more--delve +could they no less than spin, hunt no less than weave, brew pottage and +helm ships, wake the harp and tell the stars, face all danger and laugh +at all pain. + +Joyous in toil-time and rest-time were they as the days and years +of their youth came and went. Death had spared their house, and +unhappiness knew they none. Yet often as at falling day they sat +before sleep round the hearth of red fire, listening with the +household to the brave songs of gods and heroes, there would surely +creep into their hearts a shadow--the thought that whatever the +years of their lives, and whatever the generous deeds, there would +for them, as women, be no escape at the last from the dire mists of +Hela, the fogland beyond the grave for all such as die not in battle; +no escape for them from Hela, and no place for ever for them or for +their kind among the glory-crowned, sword-shriven heroes of echoing +Valhalla. + +That shadow had first fallen in their lusty childhood, had slowly +gathered darkness through the overflowing days of maidenhood, and +now, in the strong tide of full womanhood, often lay upon their +future as the moon Odin's wrath lies upon the sun. + +But stout were they to face danger and laugh at pain, and for all the +shadow upon their hope they lived brave and songful days--the one a +homekeeper and in her turn a mother of men: the other unhusbanded, +but gentle to ignorance and sickness and sorrow through the width +and length of the land. + +And thus, facing life fearlessly and ever with a smile, those two +women lived even unto extreme old age, unto the one's children's +children's children, labouring truly unto the end and keeping strong +hearts against the dread day of Hela, and the fate-locked gates +of Valhalla. + +But at the end a wonder. + +As these sisters looked their last upon the sun, the one in the +ancestral homestead under the eyes of love, the other in a distant +land among strange faces, behold the wind of Thor, and out of the deep +of heaven the white horses of Odin, All-Father, bearing Valkyrie, +shining messengers of Valhalla. And those two world-worn women, +faithful in all their lives, were caught up in death in divine arms +and borne far from the fogs of Hela to golden thrones among the battle +heroes, upon which the Nornir, sitting at the loom of life, had from +all eternity graven their names. + +And from that hour have the gates of Valhalla been thrown wide to all +faithful endeavour whether of man or woman. + JOHN RUSSELL + Headmaster of the King Alfred School. + + + +THE LEGEND OF ST. CHRISTOPHER. + +Christopher was of the lineage of the Canaaneans and he was of a right +great stature, and had a terrible and fearful cheer and countenance. +And he was twelve cubits of length. And, as it is read in some +histories, when he served and dwelled with the king of Canaaneans, it +came in his mind that he would seek the greatest prince that was in +the world and him he would serve and obey. + +And so far he went that he came to a right great king, of whom the +renown generally was that he was the greatest of the world. And when +the king saw him received him into his service and made him to dwell +in his court. + +Upon a time a minstrel sung tofore him a song in which he named oft +the devil. And the king which was a Christian man, when he heard him +name the devil, made anon the sign of the cross in his visage. And +when Christopher saw that, he had great marvel what sign it was and +wherefore the king made it. And he demanded it of him. And because +the king would not say, he said, "If thou tell me not, I shall no +longer dwell with thee." And then the king told to him saying, +"Alway when I hear the devil named, I fear that he should have power +over me, and I garnish me with this sign that he grieve not nor annoy +me." Then Christopher said to him, "Thou doubtest the devil that he +hurt thee not? Then is the devil more mighty and greater than thou +art. I am then deceived of my hope and purpose; for I supposed that I +had found the most mighty and the most greatest lord of the world. +But I commend thee to God, for I will go seek him to be my lord and I +his servant." + +And then he departed from this king and hasted him to seek the devil. +And as he went by a great desert he saw a great company of knights. +Of which a knight cruel and horrible came to him and demanded whither +he went. And Christopher answered to him and said, "I go to seek the +devil for to be my master." And he said, "I am he that thou seekest." +And then Christopher was glad and bound himself to be his servant +perpetual, and took him for his master and lord. + +And as they went together by a common way, they found there a cross +erect and standing. And anon as the devil saw the cross, he was +afeard and fled, and left the right way and brought Christopher about +by a sharp desert, and after, when they were past the cross, he +brought him to the highway that they had left. And when Christopher +saw that, he marvelled and demanded whereof he doubted that he had +left high and fair way and had gone so far about by so hard desert. +And the devil would not tell him in no wise. Then Christopher said to +him, "If thou wilt not tell me I shall anon depart from thee and shall +serve thee no more." Therefore the devil was constrained to tell him, +and said "There was a man called Christ which was hanged on the cross, +and when I see his sign, I am sore afeard and flee from it +wheresomever I find it." To whom Christopher said, "Then he is +greater and more mightier than thou, when thou art afraid of his sign. +And I see well that I have laboured in vain since I have not founden +the greatest lord of all the earth. And I will serve thee no longer. +Go thy way then: for I will go seek Jesus Christ." + +And when he had long sought and demanded where he should find Christ, +at last he came into a great desert to an hermit that dwelled there. +And this hermit preached to him of Jesus Christ and informed him in +the faith diligently. And he said to him, "This king whom thou +desirest to serve, requireth this service that thou must oft fast." +And Christopher said to him, "Require of me some other thing and I +shall do it. For that which thou requirest I may not do." And the +hermit said, "Thou must then wake and make many prayers." And +Christopher said to him, "I wot not what it is. I may do no such +thing." And then the hermit said unto him, "Knowest thou such a river +in which many be perished and lost?" To whom Christopher said, "I +know it well." Then said the hermit, "Because thou art noble and high +of stature and strong in thy members, thou shalt be resident by that +river and shalt bear over all them that shall pass there. Which shall +be a thing right convenable to Our Lord Jesus Christ, whom thou +desirest to serve, and I hope He shall shew Himself to thee." Then +said Christopher, "Certes, this service may I well do, and I promise +to Him for to do it." + +Then went Christopher to this river, and made there his habitation for +him. And he bare a great pole in his hand instead of a staff, by +which he sustained him in the water; and bare over all manner of +people without ceasing. And there he abode, thus doing, many days. + +And on a time, as he slept in his lodge, he heard the voice of a child +which called him and said, "Christopher, come out and bear me over." +Then he awoke and went out; but he found no man. And when he was +again in his house, he heard the same voice, and he ran out and found +no body. The third time he was called, and came thither, and found a +child beside the rivage of the river: which prayed him goodly to bear +him over the water. And then Christopher lift up the child on his +shoulders and took his staff and entered in to the river for to pass. +And the water of the river arose and swelled more and more. And the +child was heavy as lead. And always as he went further the water +increased and grew more, and the child more and more waxed heavy: in +so much that Christopher had great anguish and feared to be drowned. +And when he was escaped with great pain and passed the water, and set +the child aground, he said to the child, "Child, thou hast put me in +great peril. Thou weighest almost as I had had all the world upon me. +I might bear no greater burden." And the child answered, "Christopher, +marvel thou no thing. For thou hast not only borne all the world upon +thee; but thou hast borne Him that created and made the world upon thy +shoulders. I am Jesus Christ, the king to whom thou servest in this +work. And that thou mayest know that I say to thee truth, set thy staff +in the earth by the house, and thou shalt see to-morrow that it shall +bear flowers and fruit." And anon he vanished from his eyes. + +And then Christopher set his staff in the earth and when he arose on +the morrow, he found his staff like a palm-tree bearing flowers, +leaves and dates. + From THE LEGENDA AUREA TEMPLE CLASSICS. + + + +ARTHUR IN THE CAVE. + +Once upon a time a Welshman was walking on London Bridge, staring at +the traffic and wondering why there were so many kites hovering about. +He had come to London, after many adventures with thieves and +highwaymen, which need not be related here, in charge of a herd of +black Welsh cattle. He had sold them with much profit, and with +jingling gold in his pocket he was going about to see the sights of +the city. + +He was carrying a hazel staff in his hand, for you must know that a +good staff is as necessary to a drover as teeth are to his dogs. He +stood still to gaze at some wares in a shop (for at that time London +Bridge was shops from beginning to end), when he noticed that a man +was looking at his stick with a long fixed look. The man after a +while came to him and asked him where he came from. + +"I come from my own country," said the Welshman, rather surlily, for +he could not see what business the man had to ask such a question. + +"Do not take it amiss," said the stranger: "if you will only answer my +questions, and take my advice, it will be of greater benefit to you +than you imagine. Do you remember where you cut that stick?" + +The Welshman was still suspicious, and said: "What does it matter where +I cut it?" + +"It matters," said the questioner, "because there is a treasure hidden +near the spot where you cut that stick. If you can remember the place +and conduct me to it, I will put you in possession of great riches." + +The Welshman now understood he had to deal with a sorcerer, and he was +greatly perplexed as to what to do. On the one hand, he was tempted +by the prospect of wealth; on the other hand, he knew that the +sorcerer must have derived his knowledge from devils, and he feared to +have anything to do with the powers of darkness. The cunning man +strove hard to persuade him, and at length made him promise to shew +the place where he cut his hazel staff. + +The Welshman and the magician journeyed together to Wales. They went +to Craig y Dinas, the Rock of the Fortress, at the head of the Neath +valley, near Pont Nedd Fechan, and the Welshman, pointing to the stock +or root of an old hazel, said: "This is where I cut my stick." + +"Let us dig," said the sorcerer. They digged until they came to a +broad, flat stone. Prying this up, they found some steps leading +downwards. They went down the steps and along a narrow passage until +they came to a door. "Are you brave?" asked the sorcerer; "will you +come in with me?" + +"I will," said the Welshman, his curiosity getting the better of +his fear. + +They opened the door, and a great cave opened out before them. There +was a faint red light in the cave, and they could see everything. The +first thing they came to was a bell. + +"Do not touch that bell," said the sorcerer, "or it will be all over +with us both." + +As they went further in, the Welshman saw that the place was not +empty. There were soldiers lying down asleep, thousands of them, as +far as ever the eye could see. Each one was clad in bright armour, +the steel helmet of each was on his head, the shining shield of each +was on his arm, the sword of each was near his hand, each had his +spear stuck in the ground near him, and each and all were asleep. + +In the midst of the cave was a great round table at which sat warriors +whose noble features and richly-dight armour proclaimed that they were +not as the roll of common men. + +Each of these, too, had his head bent down in sleep. On a golden +throne on the further side of the round table was a king of gigantic +stature and august presence. In his hand, held below the hilt, was a +mighty sword with scabbard and haft of gold studded with gleaming +gems; on his head was a crown set with precious stones which flashed +and glinted like so many points of fire. Sleep had set its seal on +his eyelids also. + +"Are they asleep?" asked the Welshman, hardly believing his own eyes. + +"Yes, each and all of them," answered the sorcerer. "But, if you +touch yonder bell, they will all awake." + +"How long have they been asleep?" + +"For over a thousand years." + +"Who are they?" + +"Arthur's warriors, waiting for the time to come when they shall +destroy all the enemy of the Cymry and re-possess the strand of +Britain, establishing their own king once more at Caer Lleon." + +"Who are these sitting at the round table?" + +"These are Arthur's knights--Owain, the son of Urien; Cai, the +son of Cynyr; Gnalchmai, the son of Gwyar; Peredir, the son of Efrawe; +Geraint, the son of Erbin; Ciernay, the son of Celhddon; Edeyrn, the +son of Nudd; Cymri, the son of Clydno." + +"And on the golden throne?" broke in the Welshman. + +"Is Arthur himself, with his sword Excalibur in his hand," replied +the sorcerer. + +Impatient by this time at the Welshman's questions, the sorcerer +hastened to a great heap of yellow gold on the floor of the cave. He +took up as much as he could carry, and bade his companion do the same. +"It is time for us to go," he then said, and he led the way towards +the door by which they had entered. + +But the Welshman was fascinated by the sight of the countless soldiers +in their glittering arms--all asleep. + +"How I should like to see them all awaking!" he said to himself. "I +will touch the bell--I _must_ see them all arising from their sleep." + +When they came to the bell, he struck it until it rang through the +whole place. As soon as it rang, lo! the thousands of warriors leapt +to their feet and the ground beneath them shook with the sound of the +steel arms. And a great voice came from their midst: "Who rang the +bell? Has the day come?" + +The sorcerer was so much frightened that he shook like an aspen leaf. +He shouted in answer: "No, the day has not come. Sleep on." + +The mighty host was all in motion, and the Welshman's eyes were dazzled +as he looked at the bright steel arms which illumined the cave as with +the light of myriad flames of fire. + +"Arthur," said the voice again, "awake; the bell has rung, the day is +breaking. Awake, Arthur the Great." + +"No," shouted the sorcerer, "it is still night. Sleep on, Arthur +the Great." + +A sound came from the throne. Arthur was standing, and the jewels in +his crown shone like bright stars above the countless throng. His +voice was strong and sweet like the sound of many waters, and he said: + +"My warriors, the day has not come when the Black Eagle and the Golden +Eagle shall go to war. It is only a seeker after gold who has rung +the bell. Sleep on, my warriors; the morn of Wales has not yet dawned." + +A peaceful sound like the distant sigh of the sea came over the cave, +and in a trice the soldiers were all asleep again. The sorcerer +hurried the Welshman out of the cave, moved the stone back to its +place and vanished. + +Many a time did the Welshman try to find his way into the cave again, +but though he dug over every inch of the hill, he has never again +found the entrance to Arthur's Cave. + + From "THE WELSH FAIRY BOOK," by W. JENKYN THOMAS. + published by FISHER UNWIN. + + + + HAFIZ, THE STONE-CUTTER. + +There was once a stone-cutter whose name was Hafiz, and all day long +he chipped, chipped, chipped at his block. And often he grew very +weary of his task and he would say to himself impatiently, "Why should +I not have pleasure and amusement as other folk have?" + +One day, when the sun was very hot and when he felt specially weary, +he suddenly heard the sound of many feet, and, looking up from his +work, he saw a great procession coming his way. It was the King, +mounted on a splendid charger, all his soldiers to the right, in their +shining armour, and the servants to the left, dressed in gorgeous +clothing, ready to do his behests. + +And Hafiz said: "How splendid to be a King! If only I could be a +King, if only for ten minutes, so that I might know what it feels +like!" And then, even as he spoke, he seemed to be dreaming, and +in his dream he sang this little song: + + + "Ah me! Ah me! + If Hafiz only the King could be!"[51] + + +And then a voice from the air around seemed to answer him and to say: + + + "Be thou the King." + + +And Hafiz became the King, and he it was that sat on the splendid +charger, and they were his soldiers to the right and his servants to +the left. And Hafiz said: "I am King, and there is no one stronger +in the whole world than I." + +But soon, in spite of the golden canopy over his head, Hafiz began to +feel the terrible heat of the rays of the sun, and soon he noticed +that the soldiers and servants were weary, that his horse drooped, and +that he, Hafiz, was overcome, and he said angrily: "What! Is there +something stronger in the world than a King?" And, almost without +knowing it, he again sang his song more boldly than the first time: + + + "Ah me! Ah me! + If Hafiz only the Sun could be!" + + +And the Voice answered: + + + "Be thou the Sun." + + +And Hafiz became the Sun, and shone down upon the Earth, but, because +he did not know how to shine very wisely, he shone very fiercely, so +that the crops dried up, and folk grew sick and died. And then there +arose from the East a little cloud which slipped between Hafiz and the +Earth, so that he could no longer shine down upon it, and he said: +"Is there something stronger in the world than the Sun?" + + + "Ah me! Ah me! + If Hafiz only the Cloud could be!" + + + "Be thou the Cloud. + + +And Hafiz became the Cloud, and rained down water upon the Earth, but, +because he did not know how to do so wisely, there fell so much rain +that all the little rivulets became great rivers, and all the great +rivers overflowed their banks, and carried everything before them in +swift torrent--all except one great rock which stood unmoved. And Hafiz +said: "Is there something stronger than the Cloud?" + + + "Ah me! Ah me! + If Hafiz only the Rock could be!" + + +And the Voice said: + + + "Be thou the Rock." + + +And Hafiz became the Rock, and the Cloud disappeared and the waters +went down. + +And Hafiz the Rock, saw coming towards him a man--he could not see the +face. As the man approached he suddenly raised a hammer and struck +Hafiz, so that he felt it through all his stony body. And Hafiz said: +"Is there something stronger in the world than the Rock? + + + "Ah me! Ah me! + If Hafiz only that Man might be!" + + +And the Voice said: + + + "Be thou---Thyself." + + +And Hafiz seized the hammer and said: + +"The Sun was stronger than the King, the Cloud was stronger than the +sun, the Rock was stronger then the Cloud, but I, Hafiz, was stronger +than all." + Adapted and arranged by the Author. + + + +TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH. (From the Russian) + +Long long ago there lived a King who was such a mighty monarch that +whenever he sneezed everyone in the whole country had to say, "To your +good health!" Everyone said it except the Shepherd with the bright +blue eyes, and he would not say it. + +The King heard of this and was very angry, and sent for the Shepherd +to appear before him. + +The Shepherd came and stood before the throne, where the King sat +looking very grand and powerful. But however grand or powerful he +might be, the Shepherd did not feel a bit afraid of him. + +"Say at once 'To my good health'!" cried the King. + +"To my good health," replied the Shepherd. + +"To mine--to _mine_, you rascal, you vagabond!" stormed the King. + +"To mine, to mine, Your Majesty," was the answer. + +"But to _mine_--to my own!" roared the King, and beat on his +breast in a rage. + +"Well, yes; to mine, of course, to my own," cried the Shepherd, and +gently tapped his breast. + +The King was beside himself with fury and did not know what to do, +when the Lord chamberlain interfered: + +"Say at once--say this very moment, 'To your health, Your Majesty,' +for if you don't say it you will lose your life," he whispered. + +"No, I won't say it tell I get the Princess for my wife," was the +Shepherd's answer. + +Now the Princess was sitting on a little throne beside the King, her +father, and she look as sweet and lovely as a little golden dove. +When she heard what the Shepherd said, she could not help laughing, +for there is no denying the fact that this young shepherd with the +blue eyes pleased her very much; indeed, he pleased her better than +any king's son she had yet seen. + +But the King was not as pleasant as his daughter, and gave orders to +throw the Shepherd into the white bear's pit. + +The guards led him away and thrust him into the pit with the white +bear, who had had nothing to eat for two days and was very hungry. +The door of the pit was hardly closed when the bear rushed at the +shepherd; but when it saw his eyes it was so frightened that it was +ready to eat itself. It shrank away into a corner and gazed at him +from there, and in spite of being so famished, did not dare to touch +him, but sucked its own paws from sheer hunger. The Shepherd felt +that if he once removed his eyes off the beast he was a dead man, and +in order to keep himself awake he made songs and sang them, and so the +night went by. + +Next morning the Lord Chamberlain came to see the Shepherd's bones, +and was amazed to find him alive and well. He led him to the King, +who fell into a furious passion, and said: + +"Well, you have learned what it is to be very near death, and now will +you say, 'To my very good health'?" + +But the Shepherd answered: + +"I am not afraid of ten deaths! I will only say it if I may have the +Princess for my wife." + +"Then go to your death," cried the King, and ordered him to be thrown +into the den with the wild boars. + +The wild boars had not been fed for a week, and when the Shepherd +was thrust into their den they rushed at him to tear him to pieces. +But the Shepherd took a little flute out of the sleeve of his jacket, +and began to play a merry tune, on which the wild boars first of all +shrank shyly away, and then got up on their hind legs and danced +gaily. The Shepherd would have given anything to be able to laugh, +they looked so funny; but he dared not stop playing, for he knew well +enough that the moment he stopped they would fall upon him and tear +him to pieces. His eyes were of no use to him here, for he could not +have stared ten wild boars in the face at once; so he kept playing, +and the wild boars danced very slowly, as if in a minuet; then by +degrees he played faster and faster, till they could hardly twist and +turn quickly enough, and ended by all falling over each other in a +heap, quite exhausted and out of breath. + +Then the Shepherd ventured to laugh at last; and he laughed so long +and so loud that when the Lord Chamberlain came early in the morning, +expecting to find only his bones, the tears were still running down +his cheeks from laughter. + +As soon as the King was dressed the Shepherd was again brought before +him; but he was more angry than ever to think the wild boars had not +torn the man to bits, and he said: + +"Well, you have learned what it feels to be near ten deaths, _now_ say +'To my good health'!" + +But the shepherd broke in with: + +"I do not fear a hundred deaths; and I will only say it if I may have +the Princess for my wife." + +"Then go to a hundred deaths!" roared the King, and ordered the +Shepherd to be thrown down the deep vault of scythes. + +The guards dragged him away to a dark dungeon, in the middle of which +was a deep well with sharp scythes all round it. At the bottom of the +well was a little light by which one could see, if anyone was thrown +in, whether he had fallen to the bottom. + +When the Shepherd was dragged to the dungeon he begged the guards to +leave him alone a little while that he might look down into the pit of +scythes; perhaps he might after all make up his mind to say, "To your +good health" to the King. + +So the guards left him alone, and he stuck up his long stick near the +wall, hung his cloak round the stick and put his hat on the top. He +also hung his knapsack up beside the cloak, so that it might seem to +have some body within it. When this was done, he called out to the +guards and said that he had considered the matter, but after all he +could not make up his mind to say what the King wished. + +The guards came in, threw the hat and cloak, knapsack and stick all +down in the well together, watched to see how they put out the light +at the bottom, and came away, thinking that now there was really an +end to the Shepherd. But he had hidden in a dark corner, and was now +laughing to himself all the time. + +Quite early next morning came the Lord Chamberlain with a lamp, and he +nearly fell backwards with surprise when he saw the Shepherd alive and +well. He brought him to the King, whose fury was greater than ever, +but who cried: + +"Well, now you have been near a hundred deaths; will you say, 'To your +good health'?" + +But the Shepherd only gave the answer: + +"I won't say it till the Princess is my wife." + +"Perhaps, after all, you may do it for less," said the King, who saw +that there was no chance of making away with the shepherd; and he +ordered the state coach to be got ready; then he made the Shepherd get +in with him and sit beside him, and ordered the coachman to drive to +the silver wood. + +When they reached it, he said: + +"Do you see this silver wood? Well, if you will say 'To your good +health,' I will give it to you." + +The shepherd turned hot and cold by turns, but he still persisted: + +"I will not say it till the Princess is my wife." + +The King was much vexed; he drove further on till they came to a +splendid castle, all of gold, and then he said: + +"Do you see this golden castle? Well, I will give you that too, the +silver wood and the gold castle, if only you will say one thing to me: +'To your good health.'" + +The Shepherd gaped and wondered, and was quite dazzled but he +still said: + +"No, I will not say it till I have the Princess for my wife." + +This time the King was overwhelmed with grief, and gave orders to +drive on to the diamond pond and there he tried once more: + +"You shall have the all--all, if you will but say 'To your good +health.'" + +The Shepherd had to shut his staring eyes tight not to be dazzled with +the brilliant pond, but still he said: + +"No, no; I will not say it till I have the Princess for my wife." + +Then the King saw that all his efforts were useless, and that he might +as well give in; so he said: + +"Well, well, it is all the same to me--I will give you my daughter to +wife; but then you really must say to me, 'To your good health.'" + +"Of course I'll say it; why should I not say it? It stands to reason +that I shall say it then." + +At this the King was more delighted than anyone could have believed. +He made it known all through the country that there were going to be +great rejoicings, as the Princess was going to be married. And +everyone rejoiced to think that the Princess who had refused so many +royal suitors, should have ended by falling in love with the staring- +eyed Shepherd. + +There was such a wedding as had never been seen. Everyone ate and +drank and danced. Even the sick were feasted, and quite tiny new-born +children had presents given them. But the greatest merrymaking was in +the King's palace; there the best bands played and the best food was +cooked. A crowd of people sat down to table, and all was fun and +merrymaking. + +And when the groomsman, according to custom, brought in the great +boar's head on a big dish and placed it before the King, so that he +might carve it and give everyone a share, the savoury smell was so +strong that the King began to sneeze with all his might. + +"To your very good health!" cried the Shepherd before anyone else, and +the King was so delighted that he did not regret having given him his +daughter. + +In time, when the old King died, the Shepherd succeeded him. He made +a very good king, and never expected his people to wish him well +against their wills: but, all the same, everyone did wish him well, +because they loved him. + + + + THE PROUD COCK. + +There was once a cock who grew so dreadfully proud that he would have +nothing to say to anybody. He left his house, it being far beneath +his dignity to have any trammel of that sort in his life, and as for +his former acquaintance, he cut them all. + +One day, whilst walking about, he came to a few little sparks of fire +which were nearly dead. + +They cried out to him: "Please fan us with your wings, and we shall +come to the full vigour of life again." + +But he did not deign to answer, and as he was going away one of the +sparks said; "Ah well! we shall die, but our big brother, the Fire +will pay you out for this one day." + +On another day he was airing himself in a meadow, showing himself off +in a very superb set of clothes. A voice calling from somewhere said: +"Please be so good as to drop us into the water again." + +He looked about and saw a few drops of water: they had got separated +from their friends in the river, and were pining away with grief. "Oh! +please be so good as to drop us into the water again," they said; but, +without any answer, he drank up the drops. He was too proud and a great +deal too big to talk to a poor little puddle of water; but the drops +said: "Our big brother, the Water, will one day take you in hand, you +proud and senseless creature." + +Some days afterwards, during a great storm of rain, thunder and +lightning, the cock took shelter in a little empty cottage, and shut +to the door; and he thought: "I am clever; I am in comfort. What +fools people are to top out in a storm like this! What's that?" +thought he. "I never heard a sound like that before." + +In a little while it grew much louder, and when a few minutes had +passed, it was a perfect howl. "Oh!" thought he, "this will never +do. I must stop it somehow. But what is it I have to stop?" + +He soon found it was the wind, shouting through the keyhole, so he +plugged up the keyhole with a bit of clay, and then the wind was able +to rest. He was very tired with whistling so long through the keyhole, +and he said: "Now, if ever I have at any time a chance of doing a good +turn to that princely domestic fowl, I well do it." + +Weeks afterwards, the cock looked in at a house door: he seldom went +there, because the miser to whom the house belonged almost starved +himself, and so, of course, there was nothing over for anybody else. + +To his amazement the cock saw the miser bending over a pot on the +fire. At last the old fellow turned round to get a spoon with which +to stir his pot, and then the cock, waking up, looked in and saw that +the miser was making oyster-soup, for he had found some oyster-shells +in an ash-pit, and to give the mixture a colour he had put in a few +halfpence in the pot. + +The miser chanced to turn quickly round, while the cock was peering +into the saucepan, and, chuckling to himself, he said: "I shall have +chicken broth after all." + +He tripped up the cock into the pot and shut the lid on. The bird, +feeling warm, said: "Water, water, don't boil!" But the water only +said: "You drank up my young brothers once: don't ask a favour of _me_." + +Then he called out to the Fire: "Oh! kind Fire, don't boil the water." +But the fire replied: "You once let my young sisters die: you cannot +expect any mercy from me." So he flared up and boiled the water all +the faster. + +At last, when the cock got unpleasantly warm, he thought of the wind, +and called out: "Oh, Wind, come to my help!" and the Wind said: "Why, +there is that noble domestic bird in trouble. I will help him." So +he came down the chimney, blew out the fire, blew the lid off the pot, +and blew the cock far away into the air, and at last settled him on a +steeple, where the cock remained ever since. And people say that the +halfpence which were in the pot when it was boiling have given him the +queer brown colour he still wears. + From the Spanish. + + + +SNEGOURKA. + +There lived once, in Russia, a peasant and his wife who would have +been as happy as the day is long, if only God had given them a +little child. + +One day, as they were watching the children playing in the snow, the +man said to the woman: + +"Wife, shall we go out and help the children make a snowball?" + +But the wife answered, smiling: + +"Nay, husband, but since God has given us no little child, let us go +and fashion one from the snow." + +And she put on her long blue cloak, and he put on his long brown +coat, and they went out onto the crisp snow, and began to fashion +the little child. + +First, they made the feet and the legs and the little body, and then +they took a ball of snow for the head. And at that moment a stranger +in a long cloak, with his hat well drawn over his face, passed that +way, and said: "Heaven help your undertaking!" + +And the peasants crossed themselves and said: + +"It is well to ask help from Heaven in all we do." + +Then they went on fashioning the little child. And they made two +holes for the eyes and formed the nose and the mouth. And then-- +wonder of wonders--the little child came alive, and breath came from +its nostrils and parted lips. + +And the man was feared, and said to his wife: "What have we done?" + +And the wife said: "This is the little girl child God has sent us." +And she gathered it into her arms, and the loose snow fell away from +the little creature. Her hair became golden and her eyes were as blue +as forget-me-nots--but there was no colour in her cheeks, because +there was no blood in her veins. + +In a few days she was like a child of three or four, and in a few +weeks she seemed to be the age of nine or ten, and ran about gaily +and prattled with the other children, who loved her so dearly, though +she was so different from them. + +Only, happy as she was, and dearly as her parents loved her, there was +one terror in her life, and that was the sun. And during the day she +would run and hide herself in cool, damp places away from the sunshine, +and this the other children could not understand. + +As the Spring advanced and the days grew longer and warmed, little +Snegourka (for this was the name by which she was known) grew paler +and thinner, and her mother would often ask her: "What ails you, my +darling?" and Snegourka would say: "Nothing, Mother but I wish the sun +were not so bright." + +One day, on St. John's Day, the children of the village came to fetch +her for a day in the woods, and they gathered flowers for her and did +all they to make her happy, but it was only when the great red sun +went down that Snegourka drew a deep breath of relief and spread her +little hands out to the cool evening air. And the boys, glad at her +gladness, said: "Let us do something for Snegourka. Let us light a +bonfire." And Snegourka not knowing what a bonfire was, she clapped +her hands and was as merry and eager as they. And she helped them +gather the sticks, and then they all stood round the pile and the boys +set fire to the wood. + +Snegourka stood watching the flames and listening to the crackle of +the wood: and then suddenly they heard a tiny sound and looking at the +place where Snegourka had been standing, they saw nothing but a little +snow-drift fast melting. And they called and called, "Snegourka! +Snegourka!" thinking she had run into the forest. But there was no +answer. Snegourka had disappeared from this life as mysteriously as +she had come into it. + Adapted by the author. + + + +THE WATER NIXIE. + +The river was so clear because it was the home of a very beautiful +Water Nixie who lived in it, and who sometimes could emerge from her +home and sit in woman's form upon the bank. She had a dark green +smock upon her, the colour of the water-weed that waves as the water +wills it, deep, deep down. And in her long wet hair were the white +flowers of the water-violet, and she held a reed mace in her hand. +Her face was very sad because she had lived a long life, and known so +many adventures, ever since she was a baby, which was nearly a hundred +years ago. For creatures of the streams and trees live a long, long +time, and when they die they lose themselves in Nature. That means +that they are forever clouds, or trees, or rivers, and never have the +form of men and women again. + +All water creatures would live, if they might choose it, in the sea, +where they are born. It is in the sea they float hand-in-hand upon +the crested billows, and sink deep in the great troughs of the strong +waves, that are as green as jade. They follow the foam and lose +themselves in the wide ocean-- + + + "Where great whales come sailing by, + Sail and sail with unshut eye;" + + +and they store in the Sea King's palace the golden phosphor of the +sea. But this Water Nixie had lost her happiness through not being +good. She had forgotten many things that had been told her, and she +had done many things that grieved others. She had stolen somebody +else's property--quite a large bundle of happiness--which belonged +elsewhere and not to her. Happiness is generally made to fit the +person who owns it, just as do your shoes, or clothes; so that when +you take someone else's it's very little good to you, for it fits +badly, and you can never forget it isn't yours. + +So what with one thing and another, this Water Nixie had to be punished, +and the Queen of the Sea had banished her from the waves.[52] + +"You shall live for a long time in little places where you will weary +of yourself. You will learn to know yourself so well that everything +you want will seem too good for you, and you will cease to claim it. +And so, in time, you shall get free." + +Then the Nixie had to rise up and go away, and be shut into the +fastness of a very small space, according to the words of the Queen. +And this small space was--a tear. + +At first she could hardly express her misery, and by thinking so +continuously of the wideness and savour of the sea, she brought a dash +of the brine with her, that makes the saltness of our tears. She +became many times smaller than her own stature; even then, by standing +upright and spreading wide her arms, she touched with her finger-tips +the walls of her tiny crystal home. How she longed that this tear +might be wept, and the walls of her prison shattered! But the owner +of this tear was of a very proud nature, and she was so sad that tears +seemed to her in no wise to express her grief. + +She was a Princess who lived in a country that was not her home. What +were tears to her? If she could have stood on the top of the very +highest hill and with both hands caught the great winds of heaven, +strong as they, and striven with them, perhaps she might have felt as +if she expressed all she knew. Or, if she could have torn down the +stars from the heavens, or cast her mantle over the sun. But tears! +Would they have helped to tell her sorrow? You cry if you soil your +copybook, don't you? or pinch your hand? So you may imagine the +Nixie's home was a safe one, and she turned round and round in the +captivity of that tear. + +For twenty years she dwelt in that strong heart, till she grew to be +accustomed to her cell. At last, in this wise came her release. + +An old gipsy came one morning to the Castle and begged to see the +Princess. She must see her, she cried. And the Princess came down +the steps to meet her, and the gipsy gave her a small roll of paper, +but in the midst of the page was a picture, small as the picture +reflected in the iris of an eye. The picture shewed a hill, with +one tree on the sky-line, and a long road wound round the hill. + +And suddenly in the Princess' memory a voice spoke to her. Many +sounds she heard, gathered up into one great silence, like the quiet +there is in forest spaces, when it is Summer and the green is deep:-- + + + "Blessed are they that have the home longing, + For they shall go home." + + +Then the Princess gave the gipsy two golden pieces, and went up to +her chamber, and long that night she sat, looking out upon the sky. + +She had no need to look upon the honeyed scroll, though she held it +closely. Clearly before her did she see that small picture: the hill, +and the tree, and the winding road, imaged as if mirrored in the iris +of an eye. And in her memory she was upon that road, and the hill +rose beside her, and the little tree was outlined, every twig of it, +against the sky. + +And as she saw all this, an overwhelming love of the place arose in +her, a love of that certain bit of country that was so sharp and +strong, that it stung and swayed her, as she leaned on the window-sill. + +And because the love of a country is one of the deepest loves you may +feel, the band of her control was loosened, and the tears came welling +to her eyes. Up they brimmed and over in salty rush and follow, +dimming her eyes, magnifying everything, speared for a moment on her +eyelashes, then shimmering to their fall. And at last came the tear +that held the disobedient Nixie. + +Splish! it fell. And she was free. + +If you could have seen how pretty she looked standing there, about +the height of a grass-blade, wringing out her long wet hair. Every +bit of moisture she wrung out of it, she was so glad to be quit of +that tear. Then she raised her two arms above her in one delicious +stretch, and if you had been the size of a mustard-seed perhaps you +might have heard her laughing. Then she grew a little, and grew and +grew, till she was about the height of a bluebell, and as slender +to see. + +She stood looking at the splash on the window-sill that had been her +prison so long, and then with three steps of her bare feet, she +reached the jessamine that was growing by the window, and by this +she swung herself to the ground. + +Away she sped over the dew-drenched meadows till she came to the running +brook, and with all her longing in her outstretched hands, she kneeled +down by the crooked willows among all the comfry and the loosestrife, +and the yellow irises and the reeds. + +Then she slid into the wide, cool stream. + + From "THE CHILDREN AND THE PICTURES." + PAMELA TENNANT (LADY GLENCONNER). + + + +THE BLUE ROSE. + +There lived once upon a time in China a wise Emperor who had one +daughter. His daughter was remarkable for her perfect beauty. Her +feet were the smallest in the world; her eyes were long and slanting +and bright as brown onyxes, and when you heard her laugh it was like +the listening to a tinkling stream or to the chimes of a silver bell. +Moreover, the Emperor's daughter was as wise as she was beautiful, and +she chanted the verse of the great poets better than anyone in the +land. The Emperor was old in years; his son was married and had +begotten a son; he was, therefore, quite happy with regard to the +succession to the throne, but he wished before he died to see his +daughter wedded to someone who should be worthy of her. + +Many suitors presented themselves to the palace as soon as it became +know that the Emperor desired a son-in-law, but when they reached the +palace they were met by the Lord Chamberlain, who told them that the +Emperor had decided that only the man who found and brought back the +blue rose should marry his daughter. The suitors were much puzzled by +this order. What was the blue rose and where was it to be found? In +all, a hundred and fifty at once put away from them all thought of +winning the hand of the Emperor's daughter, since they considered the +condition imposed to be absurd. + +The other hundred set about trying to find the blue rose. One of them-- +his name was Ti-Fun-Ti--he was a merchant and was immensely rich, at +once went to the largest shop in the town and said to the shopkeeper, +"I want a blue rose, the best you have." + +The shopkeeper, with many apologies, explained that he did not stock +blue roses. He had red roses in profusion, white, pink and yellow +roses, but no blue roses. There had hitherto been no demand for +the article. + +"Well," said Ti-Fun-Ti, "you must get one for me. I do not mind how +much money it costs, but I must have a blue rose." + +The shopkeeper said he would do his best, but he feared it would be an +expensive article and difficult to procure. Another of the suitors, +whose name I have forgotten, was a warrior, and extremely brave; he +mounted his horse, and taking with him a hundred archers and a +thousand horsemen, he marched into the territory of the King of the +Five Rivers, whom he knew to be the richest king in the world and the +possessor of the rarest treasures, and demanded of him the blue rose, +threatening him with a terrible doom should he be reluctant to give +it up. + +The King of the Five Rivers, who disliked soldiers, and had a horror +of noise, physical violence, and every kind of fuss (his bodyguard was +armed solely with fans and sunshades), rose from the cushions on which +he was lying when the demand was made, and, tinkling a small bell, said +to the servant who straightway appeared, "Fetch me the blue rose." + +The servant retired and returned presently bearing on a silken cushion +a large sapphire which was carved so as to imitate a full-blown rose +with all its petals. + +"This," said the king of the Five Rivers, "is the blue rose. You are +welcome to it." + +The warrior took it, and after making brief, soldier-like thanks, he +went straight back to the Emperor's palace, saying that he had lost no +time in finding the blue rose. He was ushered into the presence of +the Emperor, who as soon as he heard the warrior's story and saw the +blue rose which had been brought sent for his daughter and said to +her: "This intrepid warrior has brought you what he claims to be the +blue rose. Has he accomplished the quest?" + +The Princess took the precious object in her hands, and after examining +it for a moment, said: "This is not a rose at all. It is a sapphire; +I have no need of precious stones." And the warrior went away in +discomfiture. + +The merchant, hearing of the warrior's failure, was all the more anxious +to win the prize. He sought the shopkeeper and said to him: "Have you +got me the blue rose?" I trust you have; because, if not, I shall most +assuredly be the means of your death. My brother-in-law is chief +magistrate, and I am allied by marriage to all the chief officials in +the kingdom." + +The shopkeeper turned pale and said: "Sir, give me three days and I +will procure you the rose without fail." The merchant granted him the +three days and went away. Now the shopkeeper was at his wit's end as +to what to do, for he knew well there was no such thing as a blue +rose. For two days he did nothing but moan and wring his hands, and +on the third day he went to his wife and said, "Wife, we are ruined." + +But his wife, who was a sensible woman, said: "Nonsense. If there +is no such thing as a blue rose we must make one. Go to the chemist +and ask him for a strong dye which well change a white rose into a +blue one." + +So the shopkeeper went to the chemist and asked him for a dye, and +the chemist gave him a bottle of red liquid, telling him to pick a +white rose and to dip its stalk into the liquid and the rose would +turn blue. The shopkeeper did as he was told; the rose turned into +a beautiful blue and the shopkeeper took it to the merchant, who at +once went with it to the palace saying that he had found the blue rose. + +He was ushered into the presence of the Emperor, who as soon as he saw +the blue rose sent for his daughter and said to her: "This wealthy +merchant has brought you what he claims to be the blue rose. Has he +accomplished the quest?" + +The Princess took the flower in her hands and after examining it for a +moment said: "This is a white rose, its stalk has been dipped in a +poisonous dye and it has turned blue. Were a butterfly to settle upon +it it would die of the potent fume. Take it back. I have no need of +a dyed rose." And she returned it to the merchant with many elegantly +expressed thanks. + +The other ninety-eight suitors all sought in various ways for the blue +rose. Some of them traveled all over the world seeking it; some of +them sought the aid of wizards and astrologers, and one did not +hesitate to invoke the help of the dwarfs that live underground; but +all of them, whether they traveled in far countries or took counsel +with wizards and demons or sat pondering in lonely places, failed to +find the blue rose. + +At last they all abandoned the quest except the Lord Chief Justice, +who was the most skillful lawyer and statesman in the country. After +thinking over the matter for several months he sent for the most +famous artist in the country and said to him: "Make me a china cup. +Let it be milk-white in colour and perfect in shape, and paint on +it a rose, a blue rose." + +The artist made obeisance and withdrew, and worked for two months at the +Lord Chief Justice's cup. In two months' time it was finished, and the +world has never seen such a beautiful cup, so perfect in symmetry, so +delicate in texture, and the rose on it, the blue rose, was a living +flower, picked in fairyland and floating on the rare milky surface of +the porcelain. When the Lord Chief Justice saw it he gasped with +surprise and pleasure, for he was a great lover of porcelain, and never +in his life had he seen such a piece. He said to himself, "Without +doubt the blue rose is here on this cup and nowhere else." + +So, after handsomely rewarding the artist, he went to the Emperor's +palace and said that he had brought the blue rose. He was ushered +into the Emperor's presence, who as he saw the cup sent for his +daughter and said to her: "This eminent lawyer has brought you what he +claims to be the blue rose. Has he accomplished the quest?" + +The Princess took the bowl in her hands, and after examining it for +a moment said: "This bowl is the most beautiful piece of china I have +ever seen. If you are kind enough to let me keep it I will put it +aside until I receive the blue rose. For so beautiful is it that no +other flower is worthy to be put in it except the blue rose." + +The Lord Chief Justice thanked the Princess for accepting the bowl +with many elegantly turned phrases, and he went away in discomfiture. + +After this there was no one in the whole country who ventured on the +quest of the blue rose. It happened that not long after the Lord +Chief Justice's attempt a strolling minstrel visited the kingdom of +the Emperor. One evening he was playing his one-stringed instrument +outside a dark wall. It was a summer's evening, and the sun had sunk +in a glory of dusty gold, and in the violet twilight one or two stars +were twinkling like spearheads. There was an incessant noise made by +the croaking of frogs and the chatter of grasshoppers. The minstrel +was singing a short song over and over again to a monotonous tune. +The sense of it was something like this: + + + I watched beside the willow trees + The river, as the evening fell, + The twilight came and brought no breeze, + Nor dew, nor water for the well. + + When from the tangled banks of grass + A bird across the water flew, + And in the river's hard grey glass + I saw a flash of azure blue. + + +As he sang he heard a rustle on the wall, and looking up he saw a +slight figure white against the twilight, beckoning him. He walked +along under the wall until he came to a gate, and there someone was +waiting for him, and he was gently led into the shadow of a dark cedar +tree. In the dim twilight he saw two bright eyes looking at him, and +he understood their message. In the twilight a thousand meaningless +nothings were whispered in the light of the stars, and the hours fled +swiftly. When the East began to grow light, the Princess (for it was +she) said it was time to go. + +"But," said the minstrel, "to-morrow I shall come to the palace and +ask for your hand." + +"Alas!" said the Princess, "I would that were possible, but my father +has made a foolish condition that only he may wed me who finds the +blue rose." + +"That is simple," said the minstrel. "I will find it." And they said +good night to each other. + +The next morning the minstrel went to the palace, and on his way he +picked a common white rose from a wayside garden. He was ushered into +the Emperor's presence, who sent for his daughter and said to her: +"This penniless minstrel has brought you what he claims to be the blue +rose. Has he accomplished the quest?" + +The Princess took the rose in her hands and said: "Yes, this is without +doubt the blue rose." + +But the Lord Chief Justice and all who were present respectfully +pointed out that the rose was a common white rose and not a blue +one, and the objection was with many forms and phrases conveyed to +the Princess. + +"I think the rose is blue," said the Princess. "Perhaps you are all +colour blind." + +The Emperor, with whom the decision rested, decided that if the +Princess thought the rose was blue it was blue, for it was well +known that her perception was more acute than that of any one +else in the kingdom. + +So the minstrel married the Princess, and they settled on the sea +coast in a little seen house with a garden full of white roses, and +they lived happily ever afterwards. And the Emperor, knowing that +his daughter had made a good match, died in peace. + MAURICE BARING. + + + +THE TWO FROGS. + +Once upon a time in the country of Japan there lived two frogs, one +of whom made his home in a ditch near the town of Osaka, on the sea +coast, while the other dwelt in a clear little stream which ran +through the city of Kioto. At such a great distance apart, they had +never even heard of each other; but, funnily enough, the idea came +into both their heads at once that they should like to see a little +of the world, and the frog who lived at Kioto wanted to visit Osaka, +and the frog who lived at Osaka wished to go to Kioto, where the great +Mikado had his palace. + +So one fine morning in the spring, they both set out along the road +that led from Kioto to Osaka, one from one end and the other from +the other. + +The journey was more tiring than they expected, for they did not know +much about travelling, and half-way between the two towns there rose +a mountain which had to be climbed. It took them a long time and a +great many hops to reach the top, but there they were at last, and +what was the surprise of each to see another frog before him! They +looked at each other for a moment without speaking, and then fell +into conversation, and explained the cause of their meeting so far +from their homes. It was delightful to find that they both felt the +same wish--to learn a little more of their native country--and as +there was no sort of hurry they stretched themselves out in a cool, +damp place, and agreed that they would have a good rest before they +parted to go their ways. + +"What a pity we are not bigger," said the Osaka frog, "and then we +could see both towns from here and tell if it worth our while going +on." + +"Oh, that is easily manage," returned the Kioto frog. "We have only +got to stand up on our hind legs, and hold on to each other, and then +we can each look at the town he is travelling to." + +This idea pleased the Osaka frog so much that he at once jumped up and +put his front paws on the shoulder of his friend, who had risen also. +There they both stood, stretching themselves as high as they could, +and holding each other tightly, so that they might not fall down. The +Kioto frog turned his nose towards Osaka, and the Osaka frog turned +his nose toward Kioto; but the foolish thing forgot that when the +stood up their great eyes lay in the backs of their heads, and that +though their noses might point to the places to which they wanted to +go, their eyes beheld the places from which they had come. + +"Dear me!" cried the Osaka frog; "Kioto is exactly like Osaka. It is +certainly not worth such a long journey. I shall go home." + +"If I had had any idea that Osaka was only a copy of Kioto I should +never have travelled all this way," exclaimed the frog from Kioto, and +as he spoke, he took his hands from his friend's shoulders and they +both fell down to the grass. + +Then they took a polite farewell of each other, and set off for home, +again, and to the end of their lives they believed that Osaka and +Kioto, which are as different to look at as two towns can be, were +as like as two peas. + THE VIOLET LOVING BOOK. + + + +THE WISE OLD SHEPHERD. + +Once upon a time a Snake went out of his hole to take an airing. He +crawled about, greatly enjoying the scenery and the fresh whiff of the +breeze, until, seeing an open door, he went in. Now this door was the +door of the palace of the King, and inside was the King himself, with +all his courtiers. + +Imagine their horror at seeing a huge Snake crawling in at the +door. They all ran away except the king, who felt that his rank +forbade him to be a coward, and the King's son. The King called out +for somebody to come and kill the Snake; but this horrified them still +more, because in that country the people believed it to be wicked to +kill any living thing, even snakes and scorpion and wasps. So the +courtiers did nothing, but the young Prince obeyed his father, and +killed the Snake with his stick. + +After a while the Snake's wife became anxious and set out in search of +her husband. She too saw the open door of the palace, and in she +went. O horror! there on the floor lay the body of her husband all +covered with blood and quite dead. No one saw the Snake's wife crawl +in; she inquired of a white ant what had happened, and when she found +that the young prince had killed her husband, she made a vow that, as +he had made her a widow, so she would make his wife a widow. + +That night, when all the world was asleep, the Snake crept into the +Prince's bedroom, and coiled round his neck. The Prince slept on, +and when he awoke in the morning, he was surprised to find his neck +encircled with the coils of a snake. He was afraid to stir, so there +he remained, until the Prince's mother became anxious and went to see +what was the matter. When she entered his room, and saw him in this +plight, she gave a loud shriek, and ran off to tell the king. + +"Call the archers," said the King. + +The archers came in a row, fitted the arrows to the bows, the bows +were raised and ready to shoot, when, on a sudden, from the Snake +there issued a voice which spoke as follows: + +"O archers, wait, wait and hear me before you shoot. It is not fair +to carry out the sentence before you have heard the case. Is not this +a good law: an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth? Is it not so, +O King?" + +"Yes," replied the King, "that is our law." + +"Then," said the snake, "I plead the law. Your son has made me a +widow, so it is fair and right that I should make his wife a widow." + +"That sounds right enough," said the King, "but right and law are not +always the same thing. We had better ask somebody who knows." + +They asked all the judges, but none of them could tell the law of the +matter. They shook their heads, and said they would look up all their +law-books, and see whether anything of the sort had ever happened +before, and if so, how it had been decided. That is the way judges +used to decide cases in that country, though I dare say it sounds to +you a very funny way. It looked as if they had not much sense in +their own heads, and perhaps that was true. The upshot of it all was +that not a judge would give an opinion; so the King sent messengers +all over the countryside, to see if they could find somebody somewhere +who knew something. + +One of these messengers found a party of five shepherds, who were +sitting upon a hill and trying to decide a quarrel of their own. They +gave their opinions so freely, and in language so very strong, that +the King's messenger said to himself, "Here are the men for us. Here +are five men, each with an opinion of his own, and all different." +Posthaste he scurried back to the King, and told him that he had found +at last some one ready to judge the knotty point. + +So the King and the Queen, and the Prince and Princess, and all the +courtiers, got on horseback, and away they galloped to the hill +whereupon the five shepherds were sitting, and the Snake too went +with them, coiled around the neck of the Prince. + +When they got to the shepherds' hill, the shepherds were dreadfully +frightened. At first they thought the strangers were a gang of robbers, +and when they saw it was the King their next thought was that one of +their misdeeds had been found out; and each of them began thinking +what was the last thing he had done, and wondering, was it that? + +But the King and the courtiers got off their horses, and said good +day, in the most civil way. So the shepherds felt their minds set at +ease again. Then the King said: + +"Worthy shepherds, we have a question to put to you, which not all the +judges in all the courts of my city have been able to solve. Here is +my son, and here, as you see, is a snake coiled round his neck. Now, +the husband of this Snake came creeping into my palace hall, and my +son the Prince killed him; so this Snake, who is the wife of the other, +says that, as my son has made her a widow, so she has a right to widow +my son's wife. What do you think about it?" + +The first shepherd said: "I think she is quite right, my Lord the +King. If anyone made my wife a widow, I would pretty soon do the +same to him." + +This was brave language, and the other shepherds shook their heads and +looked fierce. But the King was puzzled, and could not quite understand +it. You see, in the first place, if the man's wife were a widow, the +man would be dead; and then it is hard to see that he could do anything. +So to make sure, the King asked the second shepherd whether that was his +opinion too. + +"Yes," said the second shepherd; "now the Prince has killed the Snake, +the Snake has a right to kill the Prince if he can." But that was not +of much use either, as the Snake was as dead as a doornail. So the +King passed on to the third. + +"I agree with my mates," said the third shepherd. "Because, you see, +a Prince is a Prince, but then a Snake is a Snake." That was quite +true, they all admitted, but it did not seem to help the matter much. +Then the King asked the fourth shepherd to say what he thought. + +The fourth shepherd said: "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; +so I think a widow should be a widow, if so be she don't marry again." + +By this time the poor King was so puzzled that he hardly knew whether +he stood on his head or his heels. But there was still the fifth +shepherd left; the oldest and wisest of them all; and the fifth +shepherd said: + +"King, I should like to ask two questions." + +"Ask twenty, if you like," said the King. He did not promise to +answer them, so he could afford to be generous. + +"First. I ask the Princess how many sons she has." + +"Four," said the Princess. + +"And how many sons has Mistress Snake here?" + +Seven," said the Snake. + +"Then," said the old shepherd, "it will be quite fair for Mistress +Snake to kill his Highness the Prince when her Highness the Princess +has had three sons more." + +"I never thought of that," said the Snake. "Good-bye, King, and all +you good people. Send a message when the Princess has had three more +sons, and you may count upon me--I will not fail you." + +So saying, she uncoiled from the Prince's neck and slid away among +the grass. + +The King and the Prince and everybody shook hands with the wise old +shepherd, and went home again. And the Princess never had any more +sons at all. She and the Prince lived happily for many years; and if +they are not dead they are living still. + From "THE TALKING THRUSH." + + + +THE FOLLY OF PANIC. + +And it came to pass that the Buddha (to be) was born again as a Lion. +Just as he had helped his fellow-men, he now began to help his fellow- +animals, and there was a great deal to be done. For instance, there +was a little nervous Hare who was always afraid that something +dreadful was going to happen to her. She was always saying: "Suppose +the Earth were to fall in, what would happen to me?" And she said +this so often that at last she thought it really was about to happen. +One day, when she had been saying over and over again, "Suppose the +Earth were to fall in, what would happen to me?" she heard a slight +noise: it really was only a heavy fruit which had fallen upon a +rustling leaf, but the little Hare was so nervous she was ready +to believe anything, and she said in a frightened tone: "The Earth +is falling in." She ran away as fast as she could go, and presently +she met an old brother Hare, who said: "Where are you running to +Mistress Hare?" + +And the little Hare said: "I have no time to stop and tell you +anything. The Earth is falling in, and I am running away." + +"The Earth is falling in, is it?" said the old brother Hare, in a tone +of much astonishment; and he repeated this to _his_ brother hare, and +_he_ to _his_ brother hare, and he to his brother hare, until at last +there were a hundred thousand brother hares, all shouting: "The Earth is +falling in." Now presently the bigger animals began to take the cry up. +First the deer, and then the sheep, and then the wild boar, and then the +buffalo, and then the camel, and then the tiger, and then the elephant. + +Now the wise Lion heard all this noise and wondered at it. "There are +no signs," he said, "of the Earth falling in. They must have heard +something." And then he stopped them all short and said: "What is +this you are saying?" + +And the Elephant said: "I remarked that the Earth was falling in." + +"How do you know this?" asked the Lion. + +"Why, now I come to think of it, it was the Tiger that remarked it +to me." + +And the Tiger said: "I had it from the Camel," and the Camel said: "I +had it from the Buffalo." And the buffalo from the wild boar, and the +wild boar from the sheep, and the sheep from the deer, and the deer +from the hares, and the Hares said: "Oh! _we_ heard it from _that_ +little Hare." + +And the Lion said: "Little Hare, _what_ made you say that the Earth +was falling in?" + +And the little Hare said: "I _saw_ it." + +"You saw it?" said the Lion. "Where?" + +"Yonder, by that tree." + +"Well," said the Lion, "come with me and I will show you how---" + +"No, no," said the Hare, "I would not go near that tree for anything, +I'm _so_ nervous." + +"But," said the Lion, "I am going to take you on my back." And he +took her on his back, and begged the animals to stay where they were +until they returned. Then he showed the little Hare how the fruit had +fallen upon the leaf, making the noise that had frightened her, and +she said: "Yes, I see--the Earth is _not_ falling in." and the Lion +said: "Shall we go back and tell the other animals?" And they went +back. The little Hare stood before the animals and said: "The Earth +is _not_ falling in." And all the animals began to repeat this to one +another, and they dispersed gradually, and you heard the words more and +more softly: + +"The Earth is _not_ falling in," etc., etc., etc., until the sound died +away altogether. + From "EASTERN STORIES AND LEGENDS." + + + [NOTE:--This story I have told in my own words, using the language + I have found most effective for very young children.] + + + +THE TRUE SPIRIT OF A FESTIVAL DAY. + +And it came to pass that the Buddha was born a Hare and lived in a +wood; on one side was the foot of a mountain, on another a river, on +the third side a border village. + +And with him lived three friends: a Monkey, a Jackal and an Otter; +each of these creatures got food on his own hunting ground. In the +evening they met together, and the Hare taught his companions many +wise things: that the moral law should be observed, that alms should +be given to the poor, and that holy days should be kept. + +One day the Buddha said: "To-morrow is a fast day. Feed any beggars +that come to you by giving food from your own table." They all +consented. + +The next day the Otter went down to the bank of the Ganges to seek his +prey. Now a fisherman had landed seven red fish and had buried them +in the sand on the river's bank while he went down the stream catching +more fish. The Otter scented the buried fish, dug up the sand till he +came upon them, and he called aloud: "Does any one own these fish?" +And, not seeing the owner, he laid the fish in the jungle where he +dwelt, intending to eat them at a fitting time. Then he lay down, +thinking how virtuous he was. + +The Jackal also went off in search of food, and found in the hut of a +field watcher a lizard, two spits, and a pot of milk-curd. + +And, after thrice crying aloud, "To whom do these belong?" and not +finding an owner, he put on his neck the rope for lifting the pot, and +grasping the spits and lizard with his teeth, he laid them in his own +lair, thinking, "In due season I will devour them," and then he lay +down, thinking how virtuous he had been. + +But the Hare (who was the Buddha-to-be) in due time came out, thinking +to lie (in contemplation) on the Kuca grass. "It is impossible for me +to offer _grass_ to any beggars who may chance to come by, and I have +no oil or rice or fish. If any beggar comes to me, I will give him (of) +my own flesh to eat." + +Now when Sakka, the King of the Gods, heard this thing, he determined +to put the Royal Hare to the test. So he came in disguise of a Brahmin +to the Otter and said: "Wise Sir, if I could get something to eat, I +would perform _all_ my priestly duties." + +The Otter said: "I will give you food. Seven red fish have I safely +brought to land from the sacred river of the Ganges. Eat thy fill, O +Brahmin, and stay in this wood." + +And the Brahmin said: "Let it be until to-morrow, and I will see to +it then." + +Then he went to the Jackal, who confessed that he had stolen the food, +but he begged the Brahmin to accept it and remain in the wood: but the +Brahmin said: "Let it be until the morrow, and then I well see to it." + +Then the Brahmin went to the wise Hare, and the Hare said: "Behold, I +will give you of my flesh to eat. But you must not take life on this +holy day. When you have piled up the logs I will sacrifice myself by +falling into the midst of the flames, and when my body is roasted you +shall eat my flesh and perform all your priestly duties." + +Now when Sakka heard these words he caused a heap of burning coals +to appear, and the Wisdom Being, rising from the grass, came to the +place, but before casting himself into the flames he shook himself, +lest perchance there should be any insects in his coat who might +suffer death. Then, offering his body as a free gift, he sprang up, +and like a royal swan, lighting on a bed of lotus in an ecstasy of +joy, he fell on the heap of live coals. But the flame failed even to +heat the pores or the hair on the body of the Wisdom Being, and it was +as if he had entered a region of frost. Then he addressed the Brahmin +in these words: "Brahmin, the fire that you have kindled is icy cold; +it fails to heat the pores of the hair on my body. What is the +meaning of this?" + +"O most wise Hare! I am Sakka, and have come to put your virtue to +the test." + +And the Buddha in a sweet voice said: "No god or man could find in me +an unwillingness to die." + +Then Sakka said: "O wise Hare, be thy virtue known to all the ages +to come." + +And seizing the mountain he squeezed out the juice and daubed on the +moon the signs of the young hare. + +Then he placed him back on the grass that he might continue his +Sabbath meditation, and returned to Heaven. + +And the four creatures lived together and kept the moral law. + + From "EASTERN STORIES AND LEGENDS." + + + +FILIAL PIETY + +Now it came to pass that the Buddha was reborn in the shape of a +parrot, and he greatly excelled all other parrots in his strength and +beauty. And when he was full grown his father, who had long been the +leader of the flock in their flights to other climes, said to him: "My +son, behold, thou shalt rest. I will lead the birds." And the +parrots rejoiced in the strength of their new leader, and willingly +did they follow him. Now from that day on, the Buddha undertook to +feed his parents, and would not consent that they should do any more +work. Each day he led his flock to the Himalaya Hills, and when he +had eaten his fill of the clumps of rice that grew there, he filled +his beak with food for the dear parents who were waiting his return. + +Now there was a man appointed to watch the rice-fields, and he did +his best to drive the parrots away, but there seemed to be some secret +power in the leader of this flock which the keeper could not overcome. + +He noticed that the parrots ate their fill and then flew away, but +that the Parrot-King not only satisfied his hunger, but carried away +rice in his beak. + +Now he feared there would be no rice left, and he went to his master, +the Brahmin, to tell him what had happened; and even as the master +listened there came to him the thought that the Parrot-King was +something higher than he seemed, and he loved him even before he saw +him. But he said nothing of this, and only warned the Keeper that +he should set a snare and catch the dangerous bird. So the man did +as he was bidden: he made a small cage and set the snare, and sat +down in his hut waiting for the birds to come. And soon he saw the +Parrot-King amidst his flock, who, because he had no greed, sought +no richer spot, but flew down to the same place in which he had fed +the day before. + +Now, no sooner had he touched the ground than he felt his feet caught +in the noose. Then fear crept into his bird heart, but a stronger +feeling was there to crush it down, for he thought: "If I cry out the +Cry of the Captured, my Kinsfolk will be terrified, and they will fly +away foodless. But if I lie still, then their hunger will be satisfied, +and may they safely come to my aid." Thus, was the parrot both brave +and prudent. + + +But alas! he did not know that his Kinsfolk had nought of his brave +spirit. When _they_ had eaten their fill, though they heard the +thrice-uttered cry of the captured, they flew away, nor heed the sad +plight of their leader. + +Then was the heart of the Parrot-King sore within him, and he said: +"All these my kith and kin, and not one to look back on me. Alas! +what sin have I done?" + +The watchman now heard the cry if the Parrot-King, and the sound of +the other parrots flying through the air. "What is that?" he cried, +and leaving his hut he came to the place where he had laid the snare. +There he found the captive parrot; he tied his feet together and +brought him to the Brahmin, his master. Now, when the Brahmin saw the +Parrot-King, he felt his strong power, and his heart was full of love +to him, but he hid his feelings, and said in a voice of anger: "Is thy +greed greater than that of all other birds? They eat their fill, but +thou canst takest away each day more food than thou canst eat. Doest +thou this out of hatred for me, or dost thou store up the food in same +granary for selfish greed?" + +And the Great Being made answer in a sweet human voice: "I hate thee +not, O Brahmin. Nor do I store the rice in a granary for selfish greed. +But this thing I do. Each day I pay a debt which is due--each day I +grant a loan, and each day I store up a treasure." + +Now the Brahmin could not understand the words of the Buddha (because +true wisdom had not entered his heart) and he said: "I pray thee, O +Wondrous Bird, to make these words clear unto me." + +And then the Parrot-King made answer: "I carry food to my ancient +parents who can no longer seek that food for themselves: thus I pay +my daily debt. I carry food to my callow chicks whose wings are +yet ungrown. When I am old they will care for me--this my loan to +them. And for other birds, weak and helpless of wing, who need +the aid of the strong, for them I lay up a store; to these I give +in charity." + +Then was the Brahmin much moved and showed the love that was in his +heart. "Eat thy fill, O Righteous Bird, and let thy Kinsfolk eat, +too, for thy sake." And he wished to bestow a thousand acres of land +upon him, but the Great Being would only take a tiny portion round +which were set boundary stores. + +And the parrot returned with a head of rice, and said: "Arise, dear +parents, that I may take you to a place of plenty." And he told them +the story of his deliverance. + From "EASTERN STORIES AND LEGENDS." + + + +THREE STORIES FROM HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN.[53] + +THE SWINEHERD. + + +There was once a poor Prince. He owned a Kingdom--a very small one, +but it was big enough to allow him to marry, and he was determined +to marry. Now, it was really very bold on his part to say to a King's +daughter: "Will you marry me?" But he dared to do so, for his name +was known far and wide, and there were hundreds of princesses who would +willingly have said: "Yes, thank you." But, would _she_? We shall +hear what happened. + + +On the grave of the Prince's father, there grew a rose-tree--such +a wonderful rose-tree! It bloomed only once in five years, and then +it bore only one rose--but what a rose! Its perfume was so sweet +that whoever smelt it forgot all his cares and sorrows. The Prince +had also a nightingale which could sing as if all the delicious +melodies in the world were contained in its little throat. The rose +and the nightingale were both to be given to the Princess, and were +therefore placed in two great silver caskets and sent to her. The +Emperor had them carried before him into the great hall where the +Princess was playing at "visiting" with her ladies-in-waiting--they +had nothing else to do. When she saw the caskets with the presents in +them, she clapped her hands with joy. + +"If it were only a little pussy-cat," she cried. But out came a +beautiful rose. + +"How elegantly it is made," said all the ladies of the court. + +"It is more than elegant," said the Emperor, "It is _neat_. + +"Fie, papa," she said, "it is not made at all; it is a _natural_ rose." + +"Let us see what the other casket contains before we lose our temper," +said the Emperor, and then out came the little nightingale and sang so +sweetly that at first nobody could think of anything to say against it." + +"_Superbe, superbe_," cried the ladies of the court, for they all +chattered French, one worse than the other. + +"How the bird reminds me of the late Empress' musical-box!" said an +old Lord-in-Waiting. "Ah, me! the same tone, the same execution." + +"The very same," said the Emperor, and he cried like a little child. + +"I hope it is not a real bird," said the Princess. + +Oh, yes! it is a real bird," said those who had brought it. + +"Then let the bird fly away," she said, and she would on no account +allow the Prince to come in. + +But he was not to be disheartened; he smeared his face with black and +brown, drew his cap over his forehead, and knocked at the Palace door. +The Emperor opened it. + +"Good day, Emperor," he said. "Could I get work at the Palace?" + +"Well, there are so many wanting places," said the Emperor; "but let +me see!--I need a Swineherd. I have a good many pigs to keep." + +So the Prince was made Imperial Swineherd. He had a wretched little +room near the pig-sty and here he was obliged to stay. But the whole +day he sat and worked, and by the evening he had made a neat little +pipkin, and round it was a set of bells, and as soon as the pot began +to boil, the bells fell to jingling most sweetly and played the old +melody: + + + "Ach du lieber Augustin, + Alles is weg, weg, weg!"[54] + + +But the most wonderful thing was that when you held your finger in +the steam of the pipkin, you could immediately smell what dinner was +cooking on every hearth in the town. That was something very +different from a rose. + +The Princess was walking out with her ladies-in-waiting, and when she +heard the melody, she stopped short, and looked pleased, for she could +play "Ach du lieber Augustin" herself; it was the only tune she knew, +and that she played with one finger. "Why, that is the tune I play," +she said. "What a cultivated Swineherd he must be. Go down and ask +him how much his instrument costs." + +So one of the ladies-in-waiting was obliged to go down, but she put on +pattens first. + +"How much do you want for your pipkin?" asked the Lady-in-waiting. + +"I will have ten kisses from the Princess," said the Swineherd. + +"Good gracious!" said the Lady-in-waiting. + +"I will not take less," said the Swineherd. + +"Well, what did he say?" asked the Princess. + +"I really cannot tell you," said the Lady-in-waiting. "It is too +dreadful." + +"Then you must whisper it," said the Princess. + +So she whispered it. + +"He is very rude," said the Princess, and she walked away. But she +had gone only a few steps when the bells sounded so sweetly: + + + "Ach du lieber Augustin + Alles ist weg, weg, weg!" + + +"Listen," said the Princess, "ask him whether he will have his kisses +from my Ladies-in-waiting." + +"No, thank you," said the Swineherd. "I will have ten kisses from the +Princess, or, I will keep my pipkin." + +"How tiresome!" said the Princess; "but you must stand round me, so +that nobody shall see." + +So the ladies-in-waiting stood round her and they spread out their +skirts. The Swineherd got the kisses, and she got the pipkin. + +How delighted she was. All the evening and the whole of the next day, +that pot was made to boil. And you might have known what everybody +was cooking on every hearth in town, from the Chamberlain's to the +shoemaker's. The court ladies danced and clapped their hands. + +"We know who is to have fruit-soup and pancakes, and we know who is +going to have porridge, and cutlets. How very interesting it is!" + +"Most interesting, indeed," said the first Lady-of-Honor. + +"Yes, but hold your tongues, for I am the Emperor's daughter." + +"Of course we will," they cried in one breath. + +The Swineherd, or the Prince, nobody knew that he was not a real +Swineherd, did not let the day pass without doing something, and +he made a rattle which could play all the waltzes, and the polkas +and the hop-dances which had been know since the creation of the +world. + +"But this is _superbe_!" said the Princess, who was just passing: +"I have never heard more beautiful composition. Go and as him what +the instrument costs. But I will give no more kisses." + +"He insists on a hundred kisses from the Princess," said the ladies- +in-waiting who had been down to ask. + +"I think he must be quite mad," said the Princess, and she walked +away. But when she had taken a few steps, she stopped short, and +said: "One must encourage the fine arts, and I am the emperor's +daughter. Tell him he may have ten kisses, as before, and the rest he +can take from my ladies-in-waiting." + +"Yes, but we object to that," said the ladies-in-waiting. + +"That is nonsense," said the Princess. "If I can kiss him, surely you +can do the same. Go down at once. Don't I give you board and wages?" + +So the ladies-in-waiting were obliged to go down to the Swineherd again. + +"A hundred kisses from the Princess, or each keeps his own." + +"Stand round me," she said. And all the ladies-in-waiting stood round +her, and the Swineherd began to kiss her. + +"What can all the crowd be down by the pig-sty?" said the Emperor, +stepping out onto the balcony. He rubbed his eyes and put on his +spectacles. "It is the court ladies up to some of their tricks. I +must go down and look after them." He pulled up his slippers, for +they were shoes which he had trodden down at heel. + +Gracious goodness, how he hurried! As soon as he came into the +garden, he walked very softly, and the ladies-in-waiting had so +much to do counting the kisses, so that everything could be done +fairly, and that the Swineherd should get neither too many nor +too few, that they never noticed the Emperor at all. He stood +on tip-toe. + +"What is this all about?" he said, when he saw the kissing that was +going on, and he hit them on the head with his slipper, just as the +Swineherd was getting the eighty-sixth kiss. "Heraus!" said the +Emperor, for he was angry, and both the Princess and the Swineherd +were turned out of his Kingdom. + +The Princess wept, the Swineherd scolded, and the rain streamed down. + +"Oh! wretched creature that I am," said the Princess. "If I had only +taken the handsome Prince! Oh, how unhappy I am!" + +Then the Swineherd went behind a tree, washed the black and brown off +his face, threw of his ragged clothes, and stood forth in his royal +apparel, looking so handsome that she was obliged to curtsey. + +"I have learned to despise you," he said. "You would not have an +honorable Prince. You could not appreciate a rose or a nightingale, +but for a musical toy, you kissed the Swineherd. Now you have your +reward." + +So he went into his Kingdom, shut the door and bolted it, and she had +to stand outside singing: + + + "Ach, du lieber Augustin, + Alles is weg, weg, weg!" + + + +THE NIGHTINGALE. + +In China, you must know, the Emperor is a Chinaman, and all those +around him are Chinamen, too. It is many years since all this +happened, and for that very reason it is worth hearing, before it +is forgotten. + +The Emperor's palace was the most beautiful in the world; built all +of fine porcelain and very costly, but so fragile that it was very +difficult to touch, and you had to be very careful in doing so. The +most wonderful flowers were to be seen in the garden, and to the most +beautiful silver bells, tinkling bells were tied, for fear people +should pass by without noticing them. How well everything had been +thought out in the Emperor's garden! This was so big, that the +gardener himself did not know where it ended. If you walked on and on +you came to the most beautiful forest, with tall trees and big lakes. +The wood stretched right down to the sea which was blue and deep; +great ships could pass underneath the branches, and here a nightingale +had made its home, and its singing was so entrancing that the poor +fisherman, though he had so many other things to do, would lie still +and listen when he was out at night drawing in his nets. + +"How beautiful it is!" he said; but then he was forced to think about +his own affairs, and the Nightingale was forgotten. The next day, +when it sang again, the fisherman said the same thing: "How beautiful +it is!" + +Travellers from all the countries of the world came to the emperor's +town, and expressed their admiration of the palace and the garden, +but when they heard the Nightingale, they all said: "This is the +best of all!" + +Now, when these travellers came home, they told of what they had seen. +And scholars wrote many books about the town, the palace and the garden, +but nobody left out the Nightingale; it was always spoken of as the most +wonderful of all they had seen. And those who had the gift of the Poet, +wrote the most delightful poems all about the Nightingale in the wood +near the deep lake. + +The books went round the world, and in the course of time some of them +reached the Emperor. He sat in his golden chair, and read and read, +nodding his head every minute; for it pleased him to read the beautiful +descriptions of the town, the palace and the garden. + +"But the Nightingale is the best of all," he read. + +"What is this?" said the Emperor. "The Nightingale! I now nothing +whatever about it. To think of there being such a bird in my Kingdom-- +nay in my very garden--and I have never heard it. And to think one +should learn such a thing for the first time from a book!" + +Then he summoned his Lord-in-Waiting, who was such a grand personage +that if anyone inferior in rank ventured to speak to him, or ask him +about anything, he merely answered "P," which meant nothing whatever. + +"There is said to be a most wonderful bird, called the Nightingale," +said the Emperor; "they say it is the best thing in my great Kingdom. +Why have I been told nothing about it?" + +"I have never heard it mentioned before," said the Lord-in-Waiting. +"It has certainly never been presented at court." + +"It is my good pleasure that it shall appear to-night and sing before +me!" said the Emperor. "The whole world knows what is mine, and I +myself do not know it." + +"I have never heard it mentioned before," said the Lord-in-Waiting. +"I will seek it, and I shall find it." + +But where was it to be found? The Lord-in-Waiting ran up and down all +the stairs, through halls and passages, but not one of all those whom +he met had ever heard a word about the Nightingale; so the Lord-in- +Waiting ran back to the Emperor and told him that it must certainly +be a fable invented by writers of books. + +"Your Majesty must not believe all that is written in books. It is +pure invention, something which is called the Black Art." + +"But," said the Emperor, "the book in which I have read this was sent +to me by His Majesty, the Emperor of Japan, and therefore this cannot +be a falsehood. I will hear the Nightingale. It must appear this +evening! It has my Imperial favor, and if it fails to appear the Court +shall be trampled upon after the Court has supped." + +"Tsing-pe!" said the Lord-in-Waiting, and again he ran up and down all +the stairs, through all the passages, and half the Court ran with him, +for they had no wish to be trampled upon. And many questions were +asked about the wonderful Nightingale, of whom all had heard except +those who lived at Court. + +At last, they met a poor little girl in the kitchen. She said: "Oh, +yes! The Nightingale! I know it well. How it can sing! Every evening +I have permission to take the broken pieces from the table to my poor +sick mother who lives near the sea-shore, and on my way back, when I +feel tired, and rest a while in the wood, then I hear the Nightingale +sing, and my eyes are filled with tears; it is as if my mother kissed +me." + +"Little kitchen-maid," said the Lord-in-Waiting, "I will get a permanent +place for you in the Court Kitchen and permission to see the Emperor +dine, if you can lead us to the Nightingale; for it has been commanded +to appear at Court to-night." + +So they started off all together where the bird used to sing; half the +Court went, too. They were going along at a good pace, when suddenly +they heard a cow lowing. + +"Oh," said a Court-Page. "There it is! What a wonderful power for so +small a creature! I have certainly heard it before." + +"No, those are the cows lowing," said the little kitchen-maid. "We +are a long way from the place yet." + +Then the frogs began to croak in the marsh. "Glorious," said the Court- +Preacher. "Now, I hear it--it is just like little church-bells." + +"No, those are the frogs," said the little kitchen-maid. "But now I +think we shall soon hear it." + +And then the Nightingale began to sing. + +"There it is," said the little girl. "Listen, listen--there it +sits!" And she pointed to a little gray bird in the branches. + +"Is it possible!" said the Lord-in-Waiting. "I had never supposed it +would look like that. How very plain it looks! It has certainly lost +its color from seeing so many grand folk here." + +"Little Nightingale," called out the little kitchen-maid, "our gracious +Emperor wishes you to sing for him." + +"With the greatest pleasure," said the Nightingale, and it sang, and +it was a joy to hear it. + +"It sounds like little glass bells," said the Lord-in-Waiting; "and +just look at its little throat, how it moves! It is astonishing to +think we have never heard it before! It will have a real _success_ +at Court." + +"Shall I sing for the Emperor again?" asked the Nightingale, who +thought that the Emperor was there in person. + +"Mine excellent little Nightingale," said the Lord-in-Waiting, "I have +the great pleasure of bidding you to a Court-Festival this night, when +you will enchant His Imperial Majesty with your delightful warbling." + +"My voice sounds better among the green trees," said the Nightingale. +But it came willingly when it knew the Emperor wished it. + +There was a great deal of furbishing up at the palace. The walls and +ceiling which were of porcelain, shone with the light of a thousand +golden lamps. The most beautiful flowers of the tinkling kind were +placed in the passages. There was a running to and fro and a great +draught, but that is just what made the bells ring, and one could not +hear oneself speak. In the middle of the great hall where the Emperor +sat, a golden rod had been set up on which the Nightingale was to +perch. The whole Court was present, and the little kitchen-maid +was allowed to stand behind the door, for she had now the actual +title of Court Kitchen-Maid. All were there in their smartest +clothes, and they all looked toward the little gray bird to which +the Emperor nodded. + +And then the Nightingale sang, so gloriously that tears sprang into +the Emperor's eyes and rolled down his cheeks, and the Nightingale +sang even more sweetly. The song went straight to the heart, and the +Emperor was so delighted that he declared that the Nightingale should +have his golden slipper to hang round its neck. But the Nightingale +declined. It had already had its reward. + +"I have seen tears in the Emperor's eyes. That is my greatest reward. +An Emperor's tears have a wonderful power. God knows I am sufficiently +rewarded," and again its sweet, glorious voice was heard. + +"That is the most delightful coquetting I have ever known," said the +ladies sitting round, and they took water into their mouths, in order +to gurgle when anyone spoke to them, and they really thought they were +like the Nightingale. Even the footmen and the chambermaids sent word +that they were satisfied, and that means a great deal, for they are +always the most difficult people to please. Yes, indeed, there was no +doubt as to the Nightingale's success. It was to stay at Court, and +have its own cage, with liberty to go out twice in the daytime, and +once at night. Twelve footmen went out with it, and each held a silk +ribbon which was tied to the bird's leg, and which they held very +tightly. There was not much pleasure in an outing of that sort. The +whole town was talking about the wonderful bird, and when two people +met, one said: "Nightin--" and the other said "gale," and they sighed +and understood one another. Eleven cheese-mongers' children were called +after the bird, though none of them could sing a note. + +One day a large parcel came for the Emperor. Outside was written the +word: "Nightingale." + +"Here we have a new book about our wonderful bird," said the Emperor. +But it was not a book; it was a little work of art which lay in a box-- +an artificial Nightingale, which looked exactly like the real one, but +it was studded all over with diamonds, rubies and sapphires. As soon +as you wound it up, it could sing one of the songs which the real bird +sang, and its tail moved up and down and glittered with silver and +gold. Round its neck was a ribbon on which was written: "The Emperor +of Japan's Nightingale is poor indeed, compared with the Emperor +of China's." + +"That is delightful," they all said, and on the messenger who had +brought the artificial bird, they bestowed the title of "Imperial +Nightingale-Bringer-in-Chief." + +"Let them sing together, and _what_ a duet that will be!" + +And so they had to sing, but the thing would not work, because the +real Nightingale could only sing in its own way, and the artificial +Nightingale went by clockwork. + +"That is not its fault," said the band-master. "Time is its strong +point and it has quite my method." + +Then the artificial Nightingale had to sing alone. It had just as +much success as the real bird, and it was so much handsomer to look +at; it glittered like bracelets and breast-pins. It sang the same +tune three and thirty times, and still it was not tired; the people +would willingly listen to the whole performance over again from the +start, but the Emperor suggested that the real Nightingale should sing +for a while--where was it? Nobody had noticed it had flown out +of the open window back to its green woods. + +"But what is the meaning of all this?" said the Emperor. All the +courtiers railed at the Nightingale and said it was a most ungrateful +creature. + +"We have the better of the two," they said, and the artificial +Nightingale had to sing again, and this was the thirty-fourth time +they had heard the same tune. But they did not know it properly +event then because it was so difficult, and the band-master praised +the wonderful bird in the highest terms and even asserted that it +was superior to the real bird, not only as regarded the outside, +with the many lovely diamonds, but the inside as well. + +"You see, ladies and gentlemen, and above all your Imperial Majesty, +that with the real Nightingale, you can never predict what may happen, +but with the artificial bird, everything is settled beforehand; so it +remains and it cannot be changed. One can account for it. One can +rip it open, and show the human ingenuity, explaining how the cylinders +lie, how they work, and how one thing is the result of another." + +"That is just what we think," they all exclaimed, and the bandmaster +received permission to exhibit the bird to the people on the following +Sunday. The Emperor said they would hear it sing. They listened and +were as much delighted as if they had been drunk with tea, which is +Chinese, you know, and they all said: "Oh!" and stuck their forefingers +in the air, and nodded their heads. But the poor fisherman who had +heard the real Nightingale, said: "It sounds quite well, and a little +like it, but there is something wanting, I do not know what." + +The real Nightingale was banished from the Kingdom. + +The artificial bird had its place on a silken cushion close to the +Emperor's bed. All the presents it had received, the gold and +precious stones, lay all round it, and it had been honored with the +title of High-Imperial-Bed-Room-Singer--in the first rank, on the +left side, for even the Emperor considered that side the grander on +which the heart is placed, and even an Emperor has his heart on the +left side. + +The band-master wrote twenty-five volumes about the wonderful artificial +bird. The book was very learned and very long, filled with the most +difficult words in the Chinese language, and everybody said they had +read and understood it, for otherwise they would have been considered +stupid, and would have been trampled upon. + +And thus a whole year passed away. The Emperor, the Court, and all +the Chinamen knew every little gurgle in the artificial bird's song, +and just for this reason, they were all the better pleased with it. +They could sing it themselves--which they did. + +The boys in the street sang "Iodizing," and, "cluck, cluck," and even +the Emperor sang it. Yes, it was certainly beautiful! + +But one evening, while the bird was singing, and the Emperor lay in +bed listening to it, there was a whirring sound inside the bird, and +something whizzed; all the wheels ran round, and the music stopped. + +The Emperor sprang out of bed and sent for the Court Physician, but +what could he do? Then they sent for the watch-maker, and after much +talk and examination, he patched the bird up, but he said it must be +spared as much as possible, because the hammers were so worn out--and he +could not put new ones in so that the music could be counted on. This +was a great grief. The bird could only be allowed to sing once a year, +and even that was risky, but on these occasions, the band-master would +make a little speech, full of difficult words, saying the bird was just +as good as ever--and that was true. + +Five years passed away, and a great sorrow had come to the country. +The people all really cared for their Emperor, and now he was ill and +it was said he could not live. A new Emperor had been chosen, and the +people stood about the streets, and questioned the Lord-in-Waiting +about their Emperor's condition. + +"P!" he said, and shook his head. + +The Emperor lay pale and cold on his great, gorgeous bed; the whole +Court believed that he was dead, and they all hastened to pay homage +to the new Emperor. The footmen hurried off to discuss matters, and +the chambermaids gave a great coffee-party. Cloth had been laid down +in all the rooms and passages, so that not even a footstep should be +heard and it was all so very quiet. But the Emperor was not yet dead. +He lay stiff and pale in the sumptuous bed, with its long velvet +curtains and heavy gold tassels; high above was an open window, and +the moon shone in upon the Emperor and the artificial bird. The poor +Emperor could hardly breathe; he felt as if someone were sitting on +his chest; he opened his eyes and saw that it was Death sitting on his +chest, wearing his golden crown, holding in one hand his golden sword, +and in the other his splendid banner. And from the folds of the +velvet curtains strange faces peered forth; some terrible to look on, +others mild and friendly--these were the Emperor's good and bad deeds, +which gazed upon him now that Death sat upon his heart. + +"Do you remember this?" whispered one after the other. "Do you remember +that?" They told him so much that the sweat poured down his face. + +"I never knew that," said the Emperor. "Music! music! Beat the great +Chinese drum!" he called out, "so that I may not hear what they are +saying!" + +But they kept on, and Death nodded his head, like a Chinaman, at +everything they said. + +"Music, music," cried the Emperor. "You precious little golden bird! +Sing to me, ah! sing to me! I have given you gold and costly treasure. +I have hung my golden slipper about your neck. Sing to me. Sing to me!" + +But the bird was silent; there was no one to wind him up, and therefore +he could not sing. Death went on, staring at the Emperor with his great +hollow eyes, and it was terribly still. + +Then suddenly, close to the window, came the sound of a lovely song. +It was the little live Nightingale perched on a branch outside. It had +heard of its Emperor's need, and had therefore flown hither to bring him +comfort and hope, and as he sang, the faces became paler and the blood +coursed more freely through the Emperor's veins. Even Death himself +listened and said: "Go on, little Nightingale. Go on." + +"Yes, if you will give me the splendid sword. Yes, if you will give +me the Imperial banner! Yes, if you will give me the Emperor's crown!" + +And Death gave back all these treasures for a song. And still the +Nightingale sang on. He sang of the quiet churchyard, where the white +roses grow, where the elder flowers bloom, and where the grass is kept +moist by the tears of those left behind, and there came to Death such +a longing to see his garden, that he floated out of the window, like a +could white mist. + +"Thank you, thank you," said the Emperor. "You heavenly little bird, +I know you well! I banished you from the land, and you have charmed +away the evil spirits from my bed and you have driven Death from my +heart. How shall I reward you?" + +"You have rewarded me," said the Nightingale. "I brought tears to your +eyes the first time I sang, and I shall never forget that. Those are +the jewels which touched the heart of the singer; but sleep now, that +you may wake fresh and strong. I will sing to you." Then it sang +again, and the Emperor fell into a sweet sleep. + +The sun shone in upon him through the window, when he woke the next +morning feeling strong and well. None of his servants had come back, +because they thought he was dead, but the Nightingale was still singing. + +You will always stay with me," said the Emperor. "You shall only sing +when it pleases you, and I will break the artificial Nightingale into +a thousand pieces." + +"Do not do that," said the Nightingale. "It has done the best it +could. Keep it with you. I cannot build my nest in a palace, but let +me come just as I please. I well sit on the branch near the window, +and sing to you that you may both joyful and thoughtful. I will sing +to you of the happy folk, and of those that suffer; I will sing of +the evil and of the good, which is being hidden from you. The little +singing bird flies hither and thither, to the poor fisherman, to the +peasant's hut, to many who live far from your Court. Your heart is +dearer to me than your crown, and yet the crown has a breath of +sanctity, too. I will come, I will sing to you! But one thing +you must promise me!" + +"All that you ask," said the Emperor, and stood there in his imperial +robes which he had put on himself, and held the heavy golden sword on +his heart. + +"I beg you, let no one know that you have a little bird who tells you +everything. It will be far better so!" + +Then the Nightingale flew away. + +The servants came to look upon their dead Emperor. Yes, there they +stood; and the Emperor said: "Good morning!" + + + +THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA. + +There was once a Prince who wished to marry a Princess, but she must +be a _real_ Princess. He travelled all over the world to find +one, but there was always something wrong. There were plenty of +Princesses, but whether they were _real_ or not he could not be +sure. There was always something that was not quite right. So he +came home again, feeling very sad, for he was so anxious to have a +real Princess. + +One evening there was a terrible storm; it lightened and thundered, and +the rain came down in torrents; it was a fearful night. In the midst +of the storm there came a knocking at the town-gate, and the old King +himself went down to open it. There, outside stood a princess. But +what a state she was in from the rain and the storm! The water was +running out of her hair on to her clothes, into he shoes and out at +the heels; and yet she said she was a _real_ Princess. + +"We shall soon find out about that," thought the old Queen. But she +said never a word. She went into the bedroom, took off all the +bedclothes and put a pea on the bedstead. Then she took twenty +mattresses and laid them on the pea and twenty eider-down quilts on +the mattresses. And the Princess was to sleep on the top of all. + +In the morning they came to her and asked her how she had slept. + +"Oh! wretchedly," said the Princess. "I scarcely closed my eyes the +whole night long. Heaven knows what could have been in the bed! I +have lain upon something hard, so that my whole body is black and +blue. It is quite dreadful." + +They could see now that she was a _real_ Princess, because she +had felt the pea through twenty mattresses and twenty eider-down +quilts. Nobody but a real Princess could be so sensitive. + +So the Prince married her, for now he knew that he had found a _real_ +Princess, and the pea was sent to an Art Museum, where it can still be +seen, if nobody has taken it away. + +Now, mark you: This is a true story. + + + + +PART III. LIST OF STORIES. BOOKS SUGGESTED TO THE STORY-TELLER + AND BOOKS REFERRED TO IN THE LIST OF STORIES. + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE:-- + + I had intended, in this section, to offer an appendix of titles of + stories and books which should cover all the ground of possible + narrative in schools; but I have found so many lists containing + standard books and stories, that I have decided that this original + plan would be a work of supererogation. What is really needed is + a supplementary list to those already published--a specialized list + which is the result of private research and personal experience. + I have for many years spent considerable time in the British Museum + and some of the principal libraries in America. I now offer the + fruit of my labor. + + + +LIST OF STORIES. + +CLASSICAL STORIES. + + THE STORY OF THESEUS. From Kingsley's "Heroes." + How Theseus lifted the stone. + How Theseus slew the Corynetes. + How Theseus slew Sinis. + How Theseus slew Kerkyon and Procrustes. + How Theseus slew the Medea and was acknowledged the + son of Aegeus. + How Theseus slew the Minotaur. To be told in six parts + as a series. + + THE STORY OF CROESUS. + + THE CONSPIRACY OF THE MAGI. + + ARION AND THE DOLPHIN. + From "Wonder Tales from Herodotus," by N. Barrington D'Almeida. + These stories are intended for reading, but could be shortened + for effective narration. + + CORIOLANUS. + + JULIUS CAESAR. + + ARISTIDES. + + ALEXANDER. + From "Plutarch's Lives for Boys and Girls," by W. H. Weston. + These stories must be shortened and adapted for narration. + + THE GOD OF THE SPEARS: THE STORY OF ROMULUS. + + HIS FATHER'S CROWN: THE STORY OF ALCIBIADES. + From "Tales from Plutarch," by F. J. Rowbotham. These stories + may be shortened and told in sections. + + + +EAST INDIAN STORIES. + + THE WISE OLD SHEPHERD. + + THE RELIGIOUS CAMEL. + From "The Talking Thrush," by W. H. D. Rouse. + + LESS INEQUALITY THAN MEN DEEM. + From "Old Deccan Days," by Mary Frere. + + THE BRAHMAN, THE TIGER AND THE SIX JUDGES. + This story may be found in "The Fairy Ring," edited by Kate + Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith; also in "Tales of + the Punjab," by F. A. Steel, under the title of "The Tiger, + the Brahman and the Jackal." + + TIT FOR TAT. + From "Old Deccan Days," by Mary Frere. This story may be + found in "The Fairy Ring," edited by Kate Douglas Wiggin + and Nora Archibald Smith. + + "PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL." + + HARISARMAN. + From "Indian Fairy Tales," by Joseph Jacobs. + + THE BEAR'S BAD BARGAIN. + + LITTLE ANKLEBONE. + + PEASIE AND BEANSIE. + From "Tales of the Punjab," by F. A. Steel. + + THE WEAVER AND THE WATERMELON. + + THE TIGER AND THE HARE. + From "Indian Nights Entertainment," by Synnerton. + + THE VIRTUOUS ANIMALS. + This story should be abridged for narration. + + THE ASS AS SINGER. + + THE WOLF AND THE SHEEP. + From "Tibetan Tales," by F. A. Schiefner. + + A STORY ABOUT ROBBERS. + From "Out of the East," by Lafcadio Hearn. + + DRIPPING. + From "Indian Fairy Tales," by Mark Thornhill. + + THE BUDDHA AS TREE-SPIRIT. + + THE BUDDHA AS PARROT. + + THE BUDDHA AS KING. + From "A Collection of Eastern Stories and Legends," + by M. L. Shedlock. + + RAKSHAS AND BAKSHAS. + This story may be found in "Tales of Laughter," edited by + Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith, under the + title of "The Blind Man, the Deaf Man and the Donkey." + + THE BREAD OF DISCONTENT. + From "Legendary Lore of all Nations." + + A GERM DESTROYER. + + NAMGARY DOOLA. + A good story for boys, to be given in shortened form. + From "The Kipling Reader," by Rudyard Kipling. + + A STUPID BOY. + + THE CLEVER JACKAL. + One of the few stories wherein the Jackal shows skill + combined with gratitude. From "Folk Tales of Kashmir," + by J. H. Knowles. + + WHY THE FISH LAUGHED. + From "Folk Tales of Kashmir," by J. H. Knowles. + + + +MYTHS, LEGENDS, AND FAIRY TALES. + + HOW THE HERRING BECAME KING. + + JOE MOORE'S STORY. + + THE MERMAID OF GOB NY OOYL. + + KING MAGNUS BAREFOOT. + From "Manx Tales," by Sophia Morrison. + + THE GREEDY MAN. + From "Contes Populaires Malgaches," by Gariel Ferrand. + + ARBUTUS. + + BASIL. + + BRIONY. + + DANDELION. + From "Myths and Legends of Flowers, Trees, Fruits, and Plants," + by C. M. Skinner. + + THE MAGIC PICTURE. + + THE STONE MONKEY. + + STEALING PEACHES. + + THE COUNTRY OF GENTLEMEN. + + FOOTBALL ON A LAKE. + From "Chinese Fairy Tales", by H. A. Giles. + + THE LIME TREE. + + INTELLIGENCE AND LUCK. + + THE FROST, THE SUN AND WIND. + From "Sixty Folk Tales from Slavonic Sources," + by O. H. Wratislaw. + + THE BOY WHO SLEPT. + + THE GODS KNOW. + From "Chinese Fairy Stories," by N. A. Pitnam. This + story must be shortened and adapted for narration. + + THE IMP TREE. + + THE PIXY FLOWER. + + TOM TIT TOT. + + THE PRINCESS OF COLCHESTER. + From "Fairy Gold," by Ernest Rhys. + + THE ORIGIN OF THE MOLE. + From "Cossack Fairy Tales," by R. N. Bain. + + DOLLS AND BUTTERFLIES. + From "Myths and Legends of Japan," by F. H. Davis. + + THE CHILD OF THE FOREST. + + THE SPARROW'S WEDDING. + + THE MOON MAIDEN. + From "Old World Japan," by Frank Rinder. + + THE STORY OF MERLIN. + From "Stories of Early British Heroes," by C. G. Hartley. + + THE ISLE OF THE MYSTIC LAKE. + From "The Voyage of Maildun," in "Old Celtic Romances," + by P. W. Joyce. + + THE STORY OF BALDUR. + From "Heroes of Asgard," by M. R. Earle. + In three parts for young children. + + ADALHERO. + From "Evenings with the Old Story Tellers." + + MARTIN THE PEASANT'S SON. + From "Russian Wonder Tales," by Post Wheeler. This is + more suitable for reading. + + THE LEGEND OF RIP VAN WINKLE. + From "Rip Van Winkle," by Washington Irving. + + URASHIMA. + From "Myths and Legends of Japan," by F. H. Davis. + + THE MONK AND THE BIRD. + From "The Book of Legends Told Over Again," + by H. E. Scudder. + + CAROB. + From "Myths and Legends of Flowers, Trees, Fruit + and Plants," by C. M. Skinner. A Talmud legend. + + THE LAND OF ETERNAL YOUTH. + From "Child-Lore." + + CATSKIN. + + GUY OF GISBORNE. + + KING HENRY AND THE MILLER. + From "A Book of Ballad Stories," by Mary Macleod. + + THE LEGEND OF THE BLACK PRINCE. + + WHY THE WOLVES NO LONGER DEVOUR THE LAMBS OF CHRISTMAS NIGHT. + From "Au Pays des Legendes," by Eugene Herepin. + + THE COYOTE AND THE LOCUST. + + THE COYOTE AND THE RAVENS WHO RACED THEIR EYES. + From "Zuni Folk Tales," by F. H. Cushing. + + THE PEACEMAKER. + From "Legends of the Iroquois," by W. V. Canfield. + + THE STORY OF THE GREAT CHIEF OF THE ANIMALS. + + THE STORY OF LION AND LITTLE JACKAL. + From "Kaffir Folk Tales," by G. M. Theal. + + THE LEGEND OF THE GREAT ST. NICHOLAS. + + THE THREE COUNSELS. + From "Bulletin De Folk Lore, Liege." + + THE TALE OF THE PEASANT DEMYAR. + + THE MONKEY AND THE POMEGRANATE TREE. + + THE ANT AND THE SNOW. + + THE VALUE OF AN EGG. + + THE PADRE AND THE NEGRO. + + PAPRANKA. + From "Tales of Old Lusitania," by Coelho. + + KOJATA. + + THE LOST SPEAR. (To be shortened.) + + THE HERMIT. (By Voltaire.) + + THE BLUE CAT. (From the French.) + + THE SILVER PENNY. + + THE THREE SISTERS. + + THE SLIPPERS OF ABOU-KAREM. + From "The Golden Fairy Book." + + THE FAIRY BABY. + From "Uncle Remus in Hansaland," by Mary and Newman Tremearne. + + WHY THE SOLE OF A MAN'S FOOT IS UNEVEN. + + THE WONDERFUL HAIR. + + THE EMPEROR TROJAN'S GOAT EARS. + + THE LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS. + + HANDICRAFT ABOVE EVERYTHING. + + JUST EARNINGS ARE NEVER LOST. + + THE MAIDEN WHO WAS SWIFTER THAN A HORSE. + From "Servian Stories and Legends." + + THE COUPLE SILENCIEUX. + + LE MORT PARLANT. + + LA SOTTE FIANCEE. + + LE CORNACON. + + PERSIN AU POT. + From "Contes Populaires du Pays Wallon," by August Gittee. + + THE RAT AND THE CAT. + + THE TWO THIEVES. + + THE TWO RATS. + + THE DOG AND THE RAT. + From "Contes Populaires Malgaches," by Gabriel Ferrand. + + RUA AND TOKA. + From "The Maori Tales," by Baroness Orczy and Montagu + Marstow. This story is given for the same purpose as + "A Long Bow Story" from Andrew Lang's "Olive Fairy Book." + + LADY CLARE. + + THE WOLF-CHILD. + From "Tales from the Land of Grapes and Nuts," + by Charles Sellers. + + THE UNGRATEFUL MAN. + + THE FAITHFUL SERVANT. (In part.) + + JOVINIAN, THE PROUD EMPEROR. + + THE KNIGHT AND THE KING OF HUNGARY. + + THE WICKED PRIEST. + + THE EMPEROR AND CONRAD AND THE COUNT'S SON. + From the "Gesta Romanorum." + + VIRGIL, THE EMPEROR AND THE TRUFFLES. + From "Unpublished Legends of Virgil," + collected by C. G. Leland. + + SEEING THAT ALL WAS RIGHT. (A good story for boys.) + + LA FORTUNA. + + THE LANTERNS OF THE STOZZI PALACE. + From "Legends of Florence," by C. G. Leland. + + THE THREE KINGDOMS. + + YELENA THE WISE. + + SEVEN SIMEONS. + + IVAN, THE BIRD AND THE WOLF. + + THE PIG, THE DEER AND THE STEED. + + WATERS OF YOUTH. + + THE USELESS WAGONER. + From "Myths and Folk Tales of the Russians, Western + Slavs and Magyars," by Jeremiah Curtin. These stories + need shortening and adapting. + + THE COMICAL HISTORY OF THE KING AND THE COBBLER. + This story should be shortened to add to the dramatic power. + [From a Chap Book.] + + THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE. + From "Fairy Tales," by Hans Christian Andersen. + + HEREAFTER THIS. + From "More English Fairy Tales," by Joseph Jacobs. This story + and "The Fisherman and his Wife" are great favorites and could + be told one after the other, one to illustrate the patient life, + and the other the patient husband. + + HOW A MAN FOUND HIS WIFE IN THE LAND OF THE DEAD. + This is a very dramatic and pagan story, to be used with discretion. + + THE MAN WITHOUT HANDS AND FEET. + + THE COCKEREL. + From "Papuan Fairy Tales." by Annie Ker. + + THE STORY OF SIR TRISTRAM AND LA BELLE ISEULT. + From "Cornwall's Wonderland," by Mabel Quiller-Couch. + To be told in shortened form. + + THE CAT THAT WENT TO THE DOCTOR. + + THE WOOD ANEMONE. + + SWEETER THAN SUGAR. + + THE RASPBERRY CATERPILLAR. + From "Fairy Tales from Finland," by Zachris Topelius. + + DINEVAN, THE EMU. + + GOOMBLE GUBBON, THE BUSTARD. + From "Australian Legendary Tales," by Mrs. K. L. Parker. + + THE TULIP BED. + From "The English Fairy Book," by Ernest Rhys. I have been + asked so often for this particular story I am glad to be + able to provide it in very poetical language. + + + +STORIES FROM GRIMM AND ANDERSEN. + + THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE. + + THE WOLF AND THE KIDS. + + THE ADVENTURES OF CHANTICLEER AND PARTLET. + + THE OLD MAN AND HIS GRANDSON. + + RUMPELSTILTSKIN. + + THE QUEEN BEE. + + THE WOLF AND THE MAN. + + THE GOLDEN GOOSE. + From Grimm's Fairy Tales, edited by Mrs. Edgar Lucas. + + OLE-LUK-OIE. Series of seven stories. + + WHAT THE OLD MAN DOES IS ALWAYS RIGHT. + + THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA. + + THUMBELINA. + For younger children. From Andersen's Fairy Tales. + + IT'S QUITE TRUE. + + FIVE OUT OF ONE POD. + + GREAT CLAUS AND LITTLE CLAUS. + + JACK THE DULLARD. + + THE BUCKWHEAT. + + THE FIR-TREE. + + THE LITTLE TIN SOLDIER. + + THE NIGHTINGALE. + + THE UGLY DUCKLING. + + THE SWINEHERD. + + THE SEA SERPENT. + + THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL. + + THE GARDENER AND HIS FAMILY. + For older children. From Andersen's Fairy Tales. The two + best editions of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales are + the translation by Mrs. Edgar Lucas and the only complete + English edition by W. A. and J. K. Craigie. + + + +STORIES FROM THE FAIRY BOOK SERIES. + EDITED BY ANDREW LANG. + + THE SERPENT'S GIFTS. + + UNLUCKY JOHN. + From "All Sorts of Stories Book," by Mrs. L. B. Lang. + + MAKOMA. + From "The Orange Fairy Book." A story for boys. + + THE LADY OF SOLACE. + + HOW THE ASS BECAME A MAN AGAIN. + + AMYS AND AMILE. + + THE BURNING OF NJAL. + + OGIER THE DANE. + From "The Red Romance Book." + + THE HEART OF A DONKEY. + + THE WONDERFUL TUNE. + + A FRENCH PUCK. + + A FISH STORY. + From "The Lilac Fairy Book." + + EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON. + As a preparation for Cupid and Psyche. + From "The Blue Fairy Book." + + THE HALF CHICK. + + THE STORY OF HOK LEE AND THE DWARFS. + From "The Green Fairy Book". + + HOW TO FIND A TRUE FRIEND. + From "The Crimson Fairy Book." To be given in shorter form. + + A LONG-BOW STORY. + From "The Olive Fairy Book." This story makes children learn + to distinguish between falsehood and romance. + + KANNY, THE KANGAROO. + + THE STORY OF TOM THE BEAR. + From "The Animal Story Book." + + THE STORY OF THE FISHERMAN. + + ALADDIN AND THE LAMP. + This story should be divided and told in two sections. + + THE STORY OF ALI COGIA. + From "The Arabian Nights Entertainment," edited by Andrew Lang. + + + +STORIES ILLUSTRATING COMMON-SENSE RESOURCEFULNESS AND HUMOR. + + THE THIEF AND THE COCOANUT TREE. + + THE WOMAN AND THE LIZARD. + + SADA SADA. + + THE SHOP-KEEPER AND THE ROBBER. + + THE RECITER. + + RICH MAN'S POTSHERD. + + THE SINGER AND THE DONKEY. + + CHILD AND MILK. + + RICH MAN GIVING A FEAST. + + KING SOLOMON AND THE MOSQUITOES. + + THE KING WHO PROMISED TO LOOK AFTER TENNAL RANAN'S FAMILY. + + VIKADAKAVI. + + HORSE AND COMPLAINANT. + + THE WOMAN AND THE STOLEN FRUIT. + From "An Indian Tale or Two," by William Swinton. + + + +STORIES DEALING WITH THE SUCCESS OF THE YOUNGER CHILD. + + [This is sometimes due to a kind action shown to some + humble person or to an animal.] + + THE THREE SONS. + From "The Kiltartan Wonder Book," by Lady Gregory. + + THE FLYING SHIP. + From "Russian Fairy Tales," by F. B. Bain. + + HOW JESPER HERDED THE HARES. + From "The Violet Fairy Book," by Andrew Lang. + + YOUTH, LIFE AND DEATH. + From "Myths and Folk Tales of the Russians, Western Slavs + and Magyars," by Jeremiah Curtin. + + JACK THE DULLARD. + From "Fairy Tales," by Hans Christian Andersen. + + THE ENCHANTED WHISTLE. + From "The Golden Fairy Book." + + THE KING'S THREE SONS. + + HUNCHBACK AND BROTHERS. + From "Legends of the French Provinces." + + THE LITTLE HUMPBACKED HORSE. + From "Russian Wonder Tales," by Post Wheeler. This story is + more suitable for reading than telling. + + THE QUEEN BEE. + From Grimm's Fairy Tales, edited by Mrs. Edgar Lucas. + + THE WONDERFUL BIRD. + From "Roumanian Fairy Tales," by J. M. Percival. + + + +STORIES FROM THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS. + + THE STORY OF SAINT BRANDONS. Vol. 7, page 52. + + THE STORY OF SAINT FRANCIS. Vol. 5, page 125. + + THE STORY OF SANTA CLARA AND THE ROSES. + + SAINT ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY. Vol. 6, page 213. + + SAINT MARTIN AND THE CLOAK. Vol. 6, page 142. + From the "Legenda Aurea." + + THE LEGEND OF SAINT MARJORY. + From "Tales Facetiae." + + MELANGELL'S LAMBS. + From "The Welsh Fairy Book," by W. J. Thomas. + + OUR LADY'S TUMBLER. + Twelfth Century Legend Done Out of Old French into English, + by J. H. Wickstead. This story may be shortened and adapted + without sacrificing too much of the beauty of the style. + + THE SONG OF THE MINISTER. + From "A Child's Book of Saints," by William Canton. This + should be shortened and somewhat simplified for narration, + especially in the technical, ecclesiastical terms. + + THE STORY OF SAINT KENELM, THE LITTLE KING. + + THE STORY OF KING ALFRED AND SAINT CUTHBERT. + + THE STORY IF AEDBURG, THE DAUGHTER OF EDWARD. + + THE STORY OF KING HAROLD'S SICKNESS AND RECOVERY. + From "Old English History for Children," by E. A. Freeman. + I commend all those who tell these stories to read the + comments made on them by E. A. Freeman himself. + + + +MODERN STORIES. + + THE SUMMER PRINCESS. + From "The Enchanted Garden," by Mrs. M. L. Molesworth. This + may be shortened and arranged for narration. + + THOMAS AND THE PRINCESS. + From "Twenty-six Ideal Stories for Girls," by Helena M. Conrad. + A fairy tale for grown-ups, for pure relaxation. + + THE TRUCE OF GOD. + From "All-Fellows Seven Legends of Lower Redemption," + by Laurence Housman. + + THE SELFISH GIANT. + From "Fairy Tales," by Oscar Wilde. + + THE LIGEND OF THE TORTOISE. + From "Windlestraw, Legends in Rhyme of Plants and Animals," + by Pamela Glenconner. From the Provencal. + + FAIRY GRUMBLESNOOKS. + + A BIT OF LAUGHTER'S SMILE. + From "Tales for Little People," Nos. 323 and 318, + by Maud Symonds. + + THE FAIRY WHO JUDGED HER NEIGHBORS. + From "The Little Wonder Box," in "Stories Told to a Child," + by Jean Ingelow. + + LE COURAGE. + + LE'ECOLE. + + LE JOUR DE CATHERINE. + + JACQUELINE ET MIRANT. + From "Nos Enfants," by Anatole France. + + THE GIANT AND THE JACKSTRAW. + From "The Book of Knight and Barbara," by David Starr Jordan. + For very small children. + + THE MUSICIAN. + + THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS ROSE. + From "The Girl from the Marshcroft," by Selma Lagerlof. + Both stories should be shortened and adapted for narration. + + + I trust that the grouping of my stories in this section + may not be misleading. Under "Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales" + I have included many stories which contain valuable ethical + teaching, deep philosophy and stimulating examples for conduct + in life. I regret that I have been unable to find a good + collection of stories from history for narrative purposes. + I have made a careful and lengthy search, but the stories + are all written from the _reading_ point of view rather + than the _telling_. + + + + +BOOKS SUGGESTED TO THE STORY-TELLER AND BOOKS REFERRED TO + IN THE LIST OF STORIES. + + + ANDERSEN, HANS CHRISTIAN + Fairy Tales; translated by Mrs. Edgar Lucas. Dutton. + Fairy Tales; edited by W. A. and J. K. Craigie. Oxford + University Press. + + BABBITT, E. C. + Jataka Tales. Century. + + BAIN, R. N. + Cossack Fairy Tales. Burt. + Russian Fairy Tales. Burt. + + BRIANT, EGBERT + History of English Balladry. Badger. + + BUDDHA + The Jataka; or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births; + translated from the Pali by Various Hands. In Six Volumes. + University Press. + + BUCKLEY, E. F. + Children of the Dawn. Stokes. + + BULLETIN, OF FOLK LORE. Liege. + + CALTHORPE, DION C. + King Peter. Duckworth. + + CANFIELD, W. W. + The Legends of the Iroquois. Wessels. + + CANTON, WILLIAM + A Child's Book of Saints. Dutton. + A Child's Book of Warriors. Dutton. + + CHILD LORE. Nimmo. + + CHODZKO, A. E. B. + Slav Fairy Tales; translated by E. J. Harding. Burt. + + CLARK, K. M. + Maori Tales. Nutt. + + COELHO, + Tales of Old Lusitania. Swan Sonnenschein. + + CONRAD, JOSEPH + Twenty-six Ideal Stories for Girls. Hutchinson. + + COUCH, MABEL QUILLER- + Cornwall's Wonderland. Dutton. + + CURTIN, JEREMIAH + Myths and Folk Tales of the Russians, Western Slavs + and Magyars. Little. + + CUSHING, F. H. + Zuni Folk Tales. Putnam. + + DARTON, E. J. H. + Pilgrim Tales; from Tales of the Canterbury Pilgrims. Dodge. + Wonder Book of Old Romance. Stokes. + + DASENT, SIR, G. W. + Norse Fairy Tales. Putnam. + + DAVIDS, T. W. RHYS + Buddhist Birth Stories. Trubner. + + DAVIS, F. H. + Myths and Legends of Japan. Crowell. + + EARLE, M. R. + Heroes of Asgard. Macmillan. + Evenings with the Old Story Tellers. Leavitt and Allen. + + EWALD, CARL + The Queen Bee and Other Nature Tales; translated + by C. C. Moore-Smith. Nelson. + + FERRAND, GABRIEL + Contes Populaires Malgaches. Leroux. + + FIELDE, ADELE + Chinese Nights' Entertainment. Putnam + + FRANCE, ANATOLE + Nos Enfants. Hachette. + + FREEMAN, E. A. + Old English History for Children. Dutton. + + FRERE, MARY + Old Deccan Days. Murray. + + FROISSART + Stories from Froissart; edited by Henry Nebolt. Macmillan. + + GESTA ROMANORUM. Swan Sonnenschein. + + GILES, H. A. + Chinese Fairy Tales. Gowans. + + GITTEE, AUGUST + Contes Populaires du Pays Wallon. Vanderpooten. + + GLENCONNER, LADY (PAMELA TENNANT) + Windlestraw, Legends in Rhyme of Plants and Animals. + Chiswick Press. + + GOLDEN FAIRY BOOK. Hutchinson. + + GREGORY, LADY AUGUSTA + The Kiltartan Wonder Book. Dutton. + + GRIMM, J. L. K. AND W. K. + GRIMM Fairy Tales; translated by Mrs. Edgar Lucas. Leppincott. + + HARRIS, JOEL CHANDLER + Uncle Remus; His Songs and His Sayings. Appleton. + + HARTLEY, C. G. + Stories of Early British Heroes. Dent. + + HEARN, LAFCADIO + Out of the East. Houghton. + + HERODOTUS + Wonder Storied from Herodotus; edited by N. Barrington D'Almeida. + Harper. + + HERPIN, EUGENE + Au Pays Du Legendes. Calliere. + + HIGGINS, M. M. + Stories from the History of Ceylon for Children. Capper. + + HOUSMAN, LAURENCE + All-Fellows Seven Legends of Lower Redemption. Kegan Paul. + + INGELOW, JEAN + The Little Wonder Box. Griffeths, Farren and Company. + Stories Told to a Child. Little. + + IRVING, WASHINGTON + Rip Van Winkle. Macmillan. + + JACOBS, JOSEPH + Indian Fairy Tales. Putnam. + More English Fairy Tales. Putnam. + + JORDAN, DAVID STARR + The Book of Knight and Barbara. Appleton. + + JOYCE, P. W. + Old Celtic Romances. Longmans. + + KEARY, ANNIE AND ELIZA + Heroes of Asgard. Macmillan. + + KER, ANNIE + Papuan Fairy Tales. Macmillan. + + KINGSLEY, CHARLES + Heroes. Macmillan. + + KIPLING, RUDYARD + The Jungle Book. Macmillan. + The Kipling Reader. Appleton. + The Second Jungle Book. Macmillan. + + KNOWLES, J. H. + Folk Tales of Kashmir. Trubner. + + LAGERLOF, SELMA + The Girl from Marshcroft. Little. + + LANG, ANDREW + Arabian Nights' Entertainment. Longmans. + The Blue Fairy Book. Longmans. + The Crimson Fairy Book Longmans. + The Green Fairy Book. Longmans. + The Lilac Fairy Book. Longmans. + The Olive Fairy Book. Longmans. + The Orange Fairy Book. Longmans. + The Red Fairy Book. Longmans. + The Violet Fairy Book. Longmans. + + LANG. L. B. + All Sorts of Stories Book. Longmans. + + LEGENDA AUREA. + + LELAND, C. G. + Legends of Florence. Macmillan + Unpublished Legends of Virgil. Stock. + + MACKENZIE + Indian Myths and Legends. Gresham Publishing House. + + MACLEOD, MARY + A Book of Ballad Stories. Stokes. + + MOLESWORTH, MRS. M. L. + The Enchanted Garden. Unwin. + + MONCRIEFF, A. H. HOPE + Classic Myths and Legends. Gresham Publishing House. + + MORRISON, SOPHIA + Manx Fairy Tales. Nutt. + + NAAKE, J. T. + Slavonic Fairy Tales. King. + + NOBLE, M. E. AND K. COOMARASWAMY + Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists. Holt. + + ORCZY, BARONESS AND MONTAGU BARSTOW + Old Hungarian Fairy Tales. Dean. + + PARKER, MRS. K. L. + Australian Legendary Tales. Nutt. + + PEARSE, W. G. + The Children's Library of the Saints. Jackson. + + PERCIVAL, J. M. + Roumanian Fairy Tales. Holt. + + PERRAULT, CHARLES + Fairy Tales. Dutton. + + PITMAN, N. H. + Chinese Fairy Stories. Crowell. + + PLUTARCH + Plutarch's Lives for Boys and Girls; retold by W. H. Weston. Stokes + Tales from Plutarch, by F. J. Rowbotham. Crowell. + + RAGOZIN, Z. A. + Tales of the Heroic Ages; Frithjof, Viking of Norway, and Roland, + Paladin of France. Putnam. + Tales of the Heroic Ages; Siegfried, Hero of the North, and + Beowulf, Hero of Anglo-Saxons. Putnam. + + RATTRAY, R. S. + Hansa Folk Lore, Customs, Proverbs, etc. Clarendon Press. + + RHYS, ERNEST + The English Fairy Book. Stokes. + Fairy Gold. Dutton. + The Garden of Romance. Kegan Paul. + + RINDER, FRANK + Old World Japan. Allen. + + ROBINSON, T. H. + Tales and Talks from History. Caldwell. + + ROUSE, W. H. D. + The Talking Thrush. Dutton. + + SCHIEFNER, F. A. + Tibetan Tales. Trubner. + + SCUDDER, H. E. + The Book of Legends Told Over Again. Houghton. + + SELLERS, CHARLES + Tales from the Land of Grapes and Nuts. Field and Tuer. + + SERVIAN STORIES AND LEGENDS. + + SHEDLOCK, M. L. + A Collection of Eastern Stories and Legends. Dutton. + + SKINNER, C. M. + Myths and Legends of Flowers, Fruits and Plants. Lippincott. + + SMITH, J. C. AND G. SOUTAR + Book of Ballads for Boys and Girls. Oxford University Press. + + STEEL, MRS. F. A. + Tales of the Punjab. Macmillan. + + STRICKLAND, W. W. + Northwest Slav Legends and Fairy Stories. Erben. + + SWINTON + An Indian Tale or Two; Reprinted from Blackheath Local Guide. + + SWINTON AND CATHCART + Legendary Lore of all Nations. Ivison, Taylor & Company. + + SYNNERTON + Indian Nights' Entertainment. Stock. + + TALES FACETLAE. + + TENNANT, PAMELA (LADY GLENCONNER) + The Children and the Pictures. Macmillan. + + THEAL, G. M. + Kaffir Folk Lore. Swan Sonnenschein. + + THOMAS, W. J. + The Welsh Fairy Book. Stokes. + + THORNHILL, MARK + Indian Fairy Tales. Hatchard. + + TOPELIUS, ZACHRIS + Fairy Tales from Finland. Unwin. + + TREMEARNE, MARY AND NEWMAN + Uncle Remus in Hansaland. + + WHEELER, POST + Russian Wonder Tales. Century. + + WICKSTEAD, J. H. + Our Lady's Tumbler; Twelfth Century Legend Done Out of Old French + into English. Mosher. + + WIGGIN, KATE DOUGLAS AND NORA ARCHIBALD SMITH + The Fairy Ring. Doubleday. + Tales of Laughter. Doubleday. + + WILDE, OSCAR + Fairy Tales. Putnam. + + WILSON, RICHARD + The Indian Story Book. Macmillan. + + WRATISLAW, A. H. + Sixty Folk Tales from Exclusively Slavonic Sources. Stock. + + + + +FOOTNOTES. + +1. I venture to hope (at this long distance of years) that my + language in telling the story was more simple than appears + from this account. + +2. This difference of spelling in the same essay will be much + appreciated by those who know how gladly children offer an + orthographical alternative, in hopes that one if not the other + may satisfy the exigency of the situation. + +3. See "List of Stories." + +4. At the Congressional Library in Washington. + +5. Letters of T. E. Brown, page 55. + +6. Page 55. + +7. In further illustration of this point see "When Burbage + Played," Austen Dobson, and "In the Nursery," Hans Andersen. + +8. "Les jeux des enfants," page 16. + +9. A noted Greek gymnast struck his pupil, though he was applauded + by the whole assembly. "You did it clumsily, and not as you ought, + for these people would never have praised you for anything really + artistic." + +10. For further details on the question of preparation of the story, + see chapter on "Questions Asked by Teachers." + +11. Sully says that children love exact repetition because of the + intense enjoyment bound up with the process of imaginative realization. + +12. At the Summer School at Chautauqua, New York, and at Lincoln + Park, Chicago. + +13. There must be no more emphasis in the second manner than the first. + +14. From "Education of an Orator," Book II, Chapter 3. + +15. One child's favorite book bore the exciting title of "Birth, Life + and Death of Crazy Jane." + +16. This does not imply that the child would not appreciate in the + right context the thrilling and romantic story in connection with + the finding of the Elgin marbles. + +17. One is almost inclined to prefer Marjorie Fleming's little + innocent oaths. + + + "But she was more than usual calm, + She did not give a single dam." + + +18. Published by John Loder, bookseller, Woodbridge, in 1829. + +19. From "Literary Values." + +20. A story is told of Confucius, who, having attended a funeral, + presented his horse to the chief mourner. When asked why he + bestowed this gift, he replied: "I wept with the man, so I felt + I ought to _do_ something for him." + +21. This experiment cannot be made with a group of children for + obvious reasons. + +22. From an address on "The Cultivation of the Imagination." + +23. "The House in the Wood" (Grimm), is another instance of + triumph for the youngest child. + +24. See list of stories under this heading. + +25. To be found in Andrew Lang's "The Violet Fairy Book." + +26. To be found in Jacob's "More English Fairy Tales." + +27. From the "Thabagata." + +28. For selection of suitable stories among legends of the Saints, + see list of stories under the heading, "Stories from the Lives of + the Saints." + +29. These words have been set most effectively to music by Miss + Margaret Ruthven Lang. + +30. From "The Use of Fairy Tales," in "Moral Instruction of Children". + +31. See Chapter on Questions asked by Teachers. + +32. From "Talks to Teachers," page 93. + +33. An excellent account of this is to be found in "The Song of Roland," + by Arthur Way and Frederic Spender. + +34. Njal's Burning, from "The Red Book of Romance," by Andrew Lang. + +35. From "Studies of Childhood." + +36. England. + +37. From "The Lockerbie Book," by James Whitcomb Riley, copyright, 1911. + Used by special permission of the publishers, The Bobbs-Merril Company. + +38. From "Virginibus Puerisque." + +39. See "Long Bow Story;" "John and the Pig." + +40. Published by George Allen & Co. + +41. This is even a higher spirit than that shown in the advice given in + the "Agamemnon" (speaking of the victor's attitude after the taking of + Troy): + + + "Yea, let no craving for forbidden gain + Bid conquerors yield before the darts of greed." + + +42. It is curious to find that the story of Puss-in-Boots in its + variants is sometimes presented with a moral, sometimes without. + In the Valley of the Ganges it has _none_. In Cashmere it has + one moral, in Zanzibar another. + +43. From Hans Christian Andersen, in "Childhood in Literature and Art." + +44. "Sartor Resartus," Book III, page 218. + +45. From "Childhood in Literature and Art." + +46. See "Eastern Stories and Fables," published by Routledge. + +47. See Chapter I. + +48. In this matter I have, in England, the support of Dr. Kimmins, + Chief Inspector of Education in the London County Council, who is + strongly opposed to the immediate reproduction of stories. + +49. These remarks refer only to the illustrations of stories told. + Whether children should be encouraged to self-expression in drawing + (quite apart form reproducing in one medium what has been conveyed + to them in another), is too large a question to deal with in this + special work on story-telling. + +50. I give the following story, quoted by Professor Ker in his Romanes + lecture, 1906, as an encouragement to those who develop the art of + story-telling. + +51. The melody to be crooned at first and to grow louder at each + incident. + +52. "The punishment that can most affect Merfolk is to restrict their + freedom. And this is how the Queen of the Sea punished the Nixie of + our tale." + +53. The three stories from Hans Christian Andersen have for so long + formed part of my repertoire that I have been requested to include + them. I am offering a free translation of my own from the Danish + version. + +54. Alas! dear Augustin, + All is lost, lost! + + + +NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT + +My thanks are due to: + +Mrs. Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon, for permission to use an extract + from "The Madness of Philip," and to her publishers. + +To Messrs. Houghton Mifflin, for permission to use extract from "Thou + Shalt Not Preach," by Mr. John Burroughs. + +To Messrs. Macmillan and Co., for permission to use, "Milking Time," + of Miss Rossetti. + +To Mrs. William Sharp, for permission to use passage from "The Divine + Adventure," by Fiona MacLeod. + +To Miss Ethel CLifford, for permission to use the poem of "The Child." + +To Mr. James Whitcomb Riley and the Bobbs Merrill Co., for permission + to use "The Treasure of the Wise Man." + +To Professor Ker, for permission to quote from "Sturla the Historian." + +To Mr. John Russell, for permission to print in full, "A Saga." + +To Messrs. Longmans, Green, and Co., for permission to use "The Two + Frogs," from the Violate Fairy Book, and "To Your Good Health," from + the Crimson Fairy Book. + +To Mr. Heinemann and Lady Glenconner, for permission to reprint + "The Water Nixie," by Pamela Tennant, from "The Children and + the Pictures." + +To Mr. Maurice Baring and the Editor of _The Morning Post_, for + permission to reprint "The Blue Rose" from _The Morning Post_. + +To Dr. Walter Rouse and Mr. J. M. Dent, for permission to reprint from + "The Talking Thrush" the story of "The Wise Old Shepherd." + +To Rev. R. L. Gales, for permission to use the article on "Nursery + Rhymes" from the _Nation_. + +To Mr. Edmund Gosse, for permission to use extracts from "Father + and Son." + +To Messrs. Chatto & Windus, for permission to use "Essay on Child's + Play" (from _Virginibus Puerisque_) and other papers. + +To Mr. George Allen & Co., for permission to use "Ballad for a Boy," + by W. Cory, from "Ionica." + +To Professor Bradley, for permission to quote from his essay on + "Poetry and Life." + +To Mr. P. A. Barnett, for permission to quote from "The Commonsense + of Education." + +To Mr. James Stephens, for permission to reprint "The Man and the Boy." + +To Mr. Harold Barnes, for permission to use version of the "The + Proud Cock." To Mrs. Arnold Glover, for permission to print + two of her stories. + +To Miss Emilie Poulson, for permission to use her translation of + Bjornsen's Poem. + +To George Routledge & Son, for permission to use stories from + "Eastern Stories and Fables." + +To Mrs. W. K. Clifford, for permission to quote from "Very Short + Stories." + +To Mr. W. Jenkyn Thomas and Mr. Fisher Unwin, for permission to use + "Arthur in the Cave" from the Welsh Fairy Book. + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Art of the Story-Teller, by Marie L. Shedlock + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ART OF THE STORY-TELLER *** + +This file should be named 5957.txt or 5957.zip + +This etext was created by Doug Levy, _literra scripta manet_. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +https://gutenberg.org or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/5957.zip b/5957.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6675f6c --- /dev/null +++ b/5957.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..97399d1 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #5957 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5957) |