Children's Literature Part 53

La Motte-Fouque, F. de, _Undine_.

Lang, Andrew, _Prince Prigio_.

Kingsley, Charles, _The Water Babies_.

Maeterlinck, Maurice, _The Blue Bird_.

Macdonald, George, _The Princess and the Goblin_.

Macdonald, George, _At the Back of the North Wind_.

Pyle, Katherine, _In the Green Forest_.

Raspe, Rudolph Erich, _Baron Munchausen's Narrative_.

Richards, Laura E., _The Story of Toto_.

Richards, Laura E., _The Pig Brother_.

Ruskin, John, _The King of the Golden River_.

Stockton, Frank R., _Fanciful Tales_.

Swift, Jonathan, _Gulliver's Travels_.

Thackeray, William Makepeace, _The Rose and the Ring_.

Wilde, Oscar, _The Happy Prince, and Other Stories_.

Wilkins, Mary E., _The Pot of Gold_.

SECTION IV: FAIRY STORIES--MODERN FANTASTIC TALES

INTRODUCTORY

The difficulties of cla.s.sification are very apparent here, and once more it must be noted that ill.u.s.trative and practical purposes rather than logical ones are served by the arrangement adopted. The modern fanciful story is here placed next to the real folk story instead of after all the groups of folk products. The Hebrew stories at the beginning belong quite as well, perhaps even better, in Section V, while the stories at the end of Section VI shade off into the more modern types of short tales. Then the fact that other groups of modern stories are to follow later, ill.u.s.trating more realistic studies of life and the very recent and remarkably numerous writings centering around animal life, limits the list here. Many of the animal stories might, with equal propriety, be placed under the head of the fantastic.

_The child's natural literature._ The world has lost certain secrets as the price of an advancing civilization. It is a commonplace of observation that no one can duplicate the success of Mother Goose, whether she be thought of as the maker of jingles or the teller of tales. The conditions of modern life preclude the generally nave att.i.tude that produced the folk rhymes, ballads, tales, proverbs, fables, and myths. The folk saw things simply and directly. The complex, a.n.a.lytic, questioning mind is not yet, either in or out of stories. The motives from which people act are to them plain and not mixed.

Characters are good or bad. They feel no need of elaborately explaining their joys and sorrows. Such experiences come with the day's work.

"To-morrow to fresh woods, and pastures new." The zest of life with them is emphatic. Their humor is fresh, unbounded, sincere; there is no trace of cynicism. In folk literature we do not feel the presence of a "writer" who is mightily concerned about maintaining his reputation for wisdom, originality, or style. Hence the freedom from any note of straining after effect, of artificiality. In the midst of a life limited to fundamental needs, their literature deals with fundamentals. On the whole, it was a literature for entertainment. A more learned upper cla.s.s may have concerned itself then about "problems" and "purposes," as the whole world does now, but the literature of the folk had no such interests.

Without discussing the limits of the culture-epoch theory of human development as a complete guide in education, it is clear that the young child pa.s.ses through a period when his mind looks out upon the world in a manner a.n.a.logous to that of the folk as expressed in their literature.

Quarrel with the fact as we may, it still remains a fact that his nature craves these old stories and will not be satisfied with something "just as good."

_The modern fairy story._ The advance of civilization has been accompanied by a wistful longing for the simplicities left by the way.

In some periods this interest in the past has been more marked than in others. When the machinery of life has weighed too heavily on the human spirit, men have turned for relief to a contemplation of the "good old times" and have preached crusades of a "return to nature." Many modern writers have tried to recapture some of the power of the folk tale by imitating its method. In many cases they have had a fair degree of success: in one case, that of Hans Christian Andersen, the success is admittedly very complete. As a rule, however, the sharpness of the sense of wonder has been blunted, and many imitators of the old fairy tale succeed in keeping only the sh.e.l.l. Another cla.s.s of modern fantastic tale is that of the _pourquoi_ story, which has the explanation of something as its object. Such tales grow out of the attempt to use the charm of old stories as a means of conveying instruction, somewhat after the method of those parents who covered up our bitter medicine with some of our favorite jam. Even "Little Red Riding Hood," as we saw, has been turned into a flower myth. So compelling is this pedagogical motive that so-called nature myths have been invented or made from existing stories in great numbers. The practical results please many teachers, but it may be questioned whether the gain is sufficient to compensate children for the distorting results upon masterpieces.

_Wide range of the modern fairy tale._ The bibliography will suggest something of the treasures in the field of the modern fanciful story.

From the delightful nonsense of _Alice in Wonderland_ and the "travelers' tales" of _Baron Munchausen_ to the profound seriousness of _The King of the Golden River_ and _Why the Chimes Rang_ is a far cry.

There are the rich fancies of Barrie and Maeterlinck, at the same time delicate as the promises of spring and brilliant as the fruitions of summer. One may be blown away to the land of Oz, he may lose his shadow with Peter Schlemihl, he may outdo the magic carpet with his Traveling-Cloak, he may visit the courts of kings with his Wonderful Chair; Miss m.u.f.fet will invite us to her Christmas party, Lemuel Gulliver will lead us to lands not marked in the school atlas; on every side is a world of wonder.

_Some qualities of these modern tales._ Every age produces after its own fashion, and we must expect to find the modern user of the fairy-story method expressing through it the qualities of his own outlook upon the world. Interest in the picturesque aspects of landscape will be emphasized, as in the early portions of "The Story of Fairyfoot" and, with especial magnificence of style, throughout _The King of the Golden River_. There will appear the saddened mood of the modern in the face of the human miseries that make happiness a mockery, as in "The Happy Prince." The destructive effects of the possessive instinct upon all that is finest in human nature is reflected in "The Prince's Dream."

That the most valuable efforts are often those performed with least spectacular settings may be discerned in "The Knights of the Silver Shield," while the lesson of kindly helpfulness is the burden of "Old Pipes and the Dryad." In many modern stories the reader is too much aware of the conscious efforts of style and structure. The thoughtful child will sometimes be too much distressed by the more somber modern story, and should not hear too many of the gloomy type.

_Andersen the consummate master._ Hans Christian Andersen is the acknowledged master of the modern story for children. What are the sources of his success? Genius is always unexplainable except in terms of itself, but some things are clear. To begin, he makes a mark--drives down a peg: "There came a soldier marching along the high road--_one, two! one, two!_" and you are off. No backing and filling, no jockeying for position, no elaborate setting of the stage. The story's the thing!

Next, the language is the language of common oral speech, free and unrestrained. The rigid forms of the grammar are eschewed. There is no beating around the bush. Seeing through the eyes of the child, he uses the language that is natural to such sight: "Aha! there sat the dog with eyes as big as mill-wheels." In quick dramatic fashion the story unrolls before your vision: "So the soldier cut the witch's head off. There she lay!" No agonizing over the cruelty of it, the lack of sympathy. It is a joke after the child's own heart, and with a hearty laugh at this end to an impostor, the listener is on with the story. The logic is the logic of childhood: "And everyone could see she was a real princess, for she was so lovely." When Andersen deals with some of the deeper truths of existence, as in "The Nightingale" or "The Ugly Duckling," he still manages to throw it all into the form that is natural and convincing and simple to the child. He never mounts a pedestal and becomes a grown-up philosopher. Perhaps Andersen's secret lay in the fact that some fairy G.o.dmother invested him at birth with a power to see things so completely as a child sees them that he never questioned the dignity of the method.

In few of his stories is there any evidence of a constraint due to a conscious attempt to write down to the understandings of children.

SUGGESTIONS FOR READING

The most valuable discussion of the difficulties to be mastered in writing the literary fairy tale, and the story of the only very complete mastery yet made, will be found in the account of Hans Christian Andersen in _Eminent Authors of the Nineteenth Century_, by Georg Brandes. Now and then hints of importance on such stories and their value for children may be found in biographies of the more prominent writers represented in the section and mentioned in the bibliography, and in magazine articles and reviews. These latter may be located by use of the periodical indexes found in most libraries. For the proper att.i.tude which the schools should have toward fiction and fanciful writing in general, nothing could be better than two lectures on "Children's Reading," in _On the Art of Reading_, by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch.

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The rabbis of old were good story-tellers. They were essentially teachers and they understood that the best sermon is a story. "They were fond of the parable, the anecdote, the apt ill.u.s.tration, and their legends that have been transmitted to us, all aglow with the light and life of the Orient, possess perennial charm."

It is possible to find in rabbinical sources a large number of brief stories that have the power of entertaining as well as of emphasizing some qualities of character that are important in all ages. The plan of this book does not include the wonderful stories of the Old Testament, which are easy of access to any teacher and may be used as experience directs.

The Hebrew stories following correspond very nearly to the folk anecdote and are placed in this section because of their literary form.

Dr. Abram S. Isaacs (1851--) is a professor in New York University and is also a rabbi. The selection that follows is from his _Stories from the Rabbis_. (Copyrighted. Used by special permission of The Bloch Publishing Company, New York.) Taking advantage of the popular superst.i.tion that a four-leaved clover is a sign of good luck, Dr. Isaacs has grouped together four parable-like stories, each of which deals with wealth as a subject. The editors are responsible for the special t.i.tles given. The messages of these stories might be summarized as follows: If you would be lucky, (1) be honest because it is right to be honest, (2) value good friends more highly than gold, (3) let love accompany each gift of charity, and (4) use common sense in your business ventures.

A FOUR-LEAVED CLOVER

ABRAM S. ISAACS

1. THE RABBI AND THE DIADEM

Great was the alarm in the palace of Rome, which soon spread throughout the entire city. The Empress had lost her costly diadem, and it could not be found. They searched in every direction, but it was all in vain.

Half distracted, for the mishap boded no good to her or her house, the Empress redoubled her exertions to regain her precious possession, but without result. As a last resource it was proclaimed in the public streets:

"The Empress has lost a priceless diadem. Whoever restores it within thirty days shall receive a princely reward. But he who delays, and brings it after thirty days, shall lose his head."

In those times all nationalities flocked toward Rome; all cla.s.ses and creeds could be met in its stately halls and crowded thoroughfares.

Among the rest was a rabbi, a learned sage from the East, who loved goodness and lived a righteous life, in the stir and turmoil of the Western world. It chanced one night as he was strolling up and down, in busy meditation, beneath the clear, moonlit sky, he saw the diadem sparkling at his feet. He seized it quickly, brought it to his dwelling, where he guarded it carefully until the thirty days had expired, when he resolved to return it to the owner.

He proceeded to the palace, and, undismayed at sight of long lines of soldiery and officials, asked for an audience with the Empress.

"What dost thou mean by this?" she inquired, when he told her his story and gave her the diadem. "Why didst thou delay until this hour? Dost thou know the penalty? Thy head must be forfeited."

"I delayed until now," the rabbi answered calmly, "so that thou mightst know that I return thy diadem, not for the sake of the reward, still less out of fear of punishment; but solely to comply with the Divine command not to withhold from another the property which belongs to him."

"Blessed be thy G.o.d!" the Empress answered, and dismissed the rabbi without further reproof; for had he not done right for right's sake?