Special Method in Primary Reading and Oral Work with Stories Part 7

THE MYTHICAL STORIES

In the third grade we wish to bring a number of the mythical stories vividly before the children. The cla.s.sical myths which belong to the literature of Europe are the fund from which to select the best. Not all, but only a few of the simple and appropriate stories can be chosen.

Only two recitation periods a week are usually set apart for the oral treatment of these old myths. But later in the progress of the reading lessons other similar stories should be treated. The few recitation periods used for oral work are rather designed to introduce children to the spirit of this literature, to get them into the appreciative mind.

This body of ancient myths comes down to us, sifted out of the early literature of the active-minded Greeks. They have found their way as a simple and charming poetry into the national literature of all the European countries. Is this the material suited to nine- and ten-year-old children? It will not be questioned that these myths belong to the best literary products of Europe, but are they suited to children?

It is evident that some of our best literary judges have deemed them appropriate. Hawthorne has put them into a form designed especially for the young folk. Charles Kingsley wrote of the Greek myths for his children: "Now I love these old h.e.l.lens heartily, and they seem to me like brothers, though they have all been dead and gone many a hundred years. They are come to tell you some of their old fairy tales, which they loved when they were young like you. For nations begin at first by being children like you, though they are made up of grown men. They are children at first like you--men and women with children's hearts; frank, and affectionate, and full of trust, and teachable, loving to see and learn all the wonders around them; and greedy also, too often, and pa.s.sionate and silly, as children are."

Not a few other authors of less note have tried to turn the cla.s.sical myths of the old Greek poets into simple English for the entertainment and instruction of children. Scarcely any of these stories that have not appeared in various children's books in recent years. Taken as a whole, they are a storehouse of children's literature. The philosopher, Herbart, looked upon poems of Homer as giving ideal expression to the boyhood of the race, and the story of Ulysses was regarded by him as the boy's book,--the Greek Robinson Crusoe. For the child of nine years he thought it the most suitable story.

Kingsley says in his Introduction: "Now you must not think of the Greeks in this book as learned men, living in great cities, such as they were afterwards, when they wrought all their beautiful works, but as country people, living on farms and in walled villages, in a simple, hard-working way; so that the greatest kings and heroes cooked their own meals and thought it no shame, and made their own s.h.i.+ps and weapons, and fed and harnessed their own horses. So that a man was honored among them, not because he happened to be rich, but according to his skill and his strength and courage and the number of things he could do. For they were but grown-up children, though they were right n.o.ble children too, and it was with them as it is now at school, the strongest and cleverest boy, though he be poor, leads all the rest."

In the introduction to the "Wonder Book" we find the following: "Hawthorne took a vital interest in child life. He was accustomed to observe his own children very closely. There are private ma.n.u.scripts extant which present exact records of what his young son and elder daughter said or did from hour to hour, the father seating himself in their playroom and patiently noting all that pa.s.sed. To this habit of watchful and sympathetic scrutiny we may attribute in part the remarkable felicity, the fortunate ease of adaptation to the immature understanding, and the skilful appeal to the fresh imaginations which characterize his stories for the young." Hawthorne himself says: "The author has long been of the opinion that many of the cla.s.sical myths were capable of being rendered into very capital reading for children.... No epoch of time can claim a copyright on these immortal fables. They seem never to have been made, and so long as man exists they can never perish; but by their indestructibility itself they are legitimate subjects, for every age to clothe with its own garniture of manners and sentiment, and to imbue with its own morality.... The author has not always thought it necessary to write downward in order to meet the comprehension of children. He has generally suffered the theme to soar, whenever such was its tendency. Children possess an unestimated sensibility to whatever is deep or high in imagination or feeling so long as it is simple likewise. It is only the artificial and the complex that bewilder them."

A brief a.n.a.lysis of the qualities which render these myths so attractive will help us to see their value in the education of children.

The astonis.h.i.+ng brightness of fanciful episode and of pure and clear-cut imagery has an indestructible charm for children. They can soar into and above the clouds on the s.h.i.+ning wings of Pegasus. With Eolus they shut up the contrary winds in an ox-hide, and later let them out to plague the much-suffering Ulysses. They watch with astonishment as Jason yokes the fire-breathing oxen and strews the field with uprooted stumps and stones as he prepares the soil for the seed of dragon's teeth. Each child becomes a poet as he recreates the sparkling brightness of these simple pictures. And when a child has once suffered his fancy to soar to these mountain heights and ocean depths, it will no longer be possible to make his life entirely dull and prosaic. He has caught glimpses of a bright world that will linger unfading in the uplands of his memory. And while they are so deep and lofty they are still, as Hawthorne says, very simple. Some of the most cla.s.sic of the old stories are indeed too long for third grade children; too many persons and too much complexity, as in the "Tales of Troy." But on the other hand, many of the most beautiful of the old myths are as plain and simple to a child as a floating summer cloud. High in the sky they may be or deep in the reflection of some lake or spring, but clear and plain to the thought of a little child. These stories in their naive simplicity reflect the wonder and surprise with which a person first beholds grand and touching scenery, whether it be the oppressive grandeur of some beetling mountain crag, or the placid quiet of a moonlit stream. The stories selected for this grade should be the simplest and best: "The Golden Touch," "Perseus," "The Chimaera," of Hawthorne, the episodes of the "Golden Fleece," with others similar.

In one form or another they introduce us to the company of heroes, or, at least, of great and simple characters. Deeds of enterprise and manliness or of unselfishness and generosity are the climax of the story. To meet danger and hards.h.i.+p or ridicule for the sake of a high purpose is their underlying thought. Perseus and Jason and Ulysses are all ambitious to prove their t.i.tle to superior shrewdness and courage and self-control. When we get fairly into the mythical age, we find ourselves among the heroes, among those striving for mastery and leaders.h.i.+p in great undertakings. Physical prowess and manly spirit are its chief virtues. And can there be any question that there is a time in the lives of children when these ideas fill the horizon of their thought? Samson and David and Hercules, Bellerophon and Jason, are a child's natural thoughts or, at least, they fit the frame of his mind so exactly that one may say the picture and the frame were made for each other. The history of most countries contains such an age of heroes.

Tell in Switzerland, Siegfried in Germany, Bruce in Scotland, Romulus and Horatius at Rome, Alfred in England, are all national heroes of the mythical age, whose deeds are heroic and of public good. The Greek stories are only a more cla.s.sic edition of this historical epoch, and should lead up to a study of these later products of European literature.

Several forms of moral excellence are objectively realized or personified in these stories.

As the wise Centaur, after teaching Jason to be skilful and brave, sent him out into the world, he said: "Well, go, my son; the throne belongs to thy father and the G.o.ds love justice. But remember, wherever thou dost wander, to observe these three things:

"Relieve the distressed.

"Respect the aged.

"Be true to thy word."[6]

[6] _Jason's Quest_ (Lowell), p. 55.

And many events in Jason's life ill.u.s.trate the wisdom of these words.

The miraculous pitcher is one whose fountain of refres.h.i.+ng milk bubbled always because of a gentle deed of hospitality to strangers. King Midas, on the other hand, experiences in most graphic form the punishment which ought to follow miserly greed, while his humble penitence brought back his daughter and the homely comforts of life. Bellerophon is filled with a desire to perform a n.o.ble deed that will relieve the distress of a whole people. After the exercise of much patience and self-control he succeeds in his generous enterprise. Many a lesson of worldly wisdom and homely virtue is brought out in the story of Ulysses' varied and adventuresome career.

These myths bring children into lively contact with European history and geography, as well as with its modes of life and thought. The early history of Europe is in all cases shrouded in mist and legend. But even from this historically impenetrable past has sprung a literature that has exercised a profound influence upon the life and growth of the people. Not that children are conscious of the significance of these ideas, but being placed in an atmosphere which is full of them, their deeper meaning gradually unfolds itself. The early myths afford an interesting approach for children to the history and geography of important countries. Those countries they must, sooner or later, make the acquaintance of both geographically and historically, and could anything be designed to take stronger hold upon their imagination and memory than these charming myths, which were the poetry and religion of the people once living there?

It is a very simple and primitive state of culture, whose s.h.i.+ps, arms, agriculture, and domestic life are given us in clear and pleasing pictures. Our own country is largely lacking in a mythical age. Our culture sprang, more than half-grown, from the midst of Europe's choicest nations, and out of inst.i.tutions that had been centuries in forming. The myths of Europe are therefore as truly ours as they are the treasure of Englishmen, of Germans, or of Greeks. Again, our own literature, as well as that of European states, is full of the spirit and suggestion of the mythical age. Our poets and writers have drawn much of their imagery from this old storehouse of thought, and a child will better understand the works of the present through this contact with mythical ages.

In method of treatment with school cla.s.ses, these stories will admit of a variation from the plan used with "Robinson Crusoe." One unaccustomed to the reading of such stories would be at a loss for a method of treatment with children. There is a charm and literary art in the presentation that may make the teacher feel unqualified to present them.

The children are not yet sufficiently masters of the printed symbols of speech to read for themselves. Shall the teacher simply read the stories to children? We would suggest first of all, that the teacher, who would expect to make use of these materials, steep himself fully in literature of this cla.s.s, and bring his mind into familiar acquaintance and sympathy with its characters. In interpreting cla.s.sical authors to pupils, we are justified in requiring of the teacher intimate knowledge and appreciative sympathy with his author. Certainly no one will teach these stories well whose fancy was never touched into airy flights--who cannot become a child again and partake of his pleasures. No condescension is needed, but ascension to a free and ready flight of fancy. By learning to drink at these ancient fountains of song and poetry, the teacher might learn to tell a fairy story for himself. But doubtless it will be well to mingle oral narrative and description on the part of the teacher with the fit reading of choice parts so as to better preserve the cla.s.sic beauty and suggestion of the author.

Children are quite old enough now to appreciate beauty of language and expressive, happy turns of speech. In the midst of question, suggestion, and discussion between pupil and teacher, the story should be carried forward, never forgetting to stop at suitable intervals and get such a reproduction of the story as the little children are capable of. And indeed they are capable of much in this direction, for their thoughts are more nimble, and their power of expression more apt, oftentimes, than the teacher's own.

We would not favor a simple reading of these stories for the entertainment of pupils. It should take more the form of a school exercise, requiring not only interest and attention, but vigorous effort to grasp and reproduce the thought. The result should be a much livelier and deeper insight into the story than would be secured by a simple reading for amus.e.m.e.nt or variety. They should prepare also for an appreciative reading of other myths in the following grades.

After all, in two or three recitation periods a week, extending through a year, it cannot be expected that children will make the acquaintance of all the literature that could be properly called the myth of the heroic age in different countries. All that we may expect is to enter this paradise of children, to pluck a few of its choicest flowers, and get such a breath of their fragrance that there will be a child's desire to return again and again. The school also should provide in the succeeding year for an abundance of reading of myths. The same old stories which they first learned to enjoy in oral recitations should be read in books, and still others should be utilized in the regular reading cla.s.ses of the fourth and fifth grades. In this way the myths of other countries may be brought in, the story of Tell, of Siegfried, of Alfred, and of others.

In summarizing the advantages of a systematic attempt to get this simple cla.s.sic lore into our schools, we recall the interest and mental activity which it arouses, its power to please and satisfy the creative fancy in children, its fundamental feeling and instincts, the virtues of bravery, manliness, and unselfishness, and all this in a form that still further increases its culture effect upon teacher and pupil. It should never be forgotten that teacher and pupil alike are here imbibing lessons and inspirations that draw them into closer sympathy because the subject is worthy of both old and young.

In addition to the earlier Greek myths we may mention the following subjects as suitable for oral treatment:

The story of Ulysses has been much used in schools with oral presentation, and is one of the best tales for this purpose in all literature. A somewhat full discussion of the value of this story for schools is found in the Special Method in Reading of Complete English Cla.s.sics.

The Norse mythology has also received much attention from teachers who have used the oral mode of treatment. Several of the best books of Norse mythology are mentioned in the appended list. Also the great story of Siegfried.

Some of the old traditional stories in the early history of Rome, of France, Germany, and England, have been used for oral narration and reading to children.

The "Seven Little Sisters" and its companion book "Each and All," and the "Ten Boys on the Road from Long Ago to Now," by Jane Andrews, published by Ginn & Co., have been employed extensively for oral and reading work in the third and fourth years of school. The "Seven Little Sisters" is valuable in connection with the beginnings of geography.

BOOKS FOR THIRD YEAR OF SCHOOL

The Wonder Book of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

The following stories are especially recommended: The Gorgon's Head, The Golden Touch, The Miraculous Pitcher, and The Chimaera.

One should preserve as much as possible of the spirit and language of the author. Perhaps in cla.s.ses with children the other stories will be found equally attractive: The Paradise of Children and the Three Golden Apples. Published by Houghton, Mifflin, & Co., Boston.

Kingsley's Greek Heroes.

The stories of Perseus, the Argonauts, and Theseus, especially adapted to children. It may be advisable for the teacher to abbreviate the stories, leaving out unimportant parts, but giving the best portions in the fullest detail. Published by Ginn & Co.; The Macmillan Co.

Story of the Iliad and Story of the Odyssey (Church).

Simple and interesting narrative of the Homeric stories. The Macmillan Co.

Jason's Quest (Lowell).

The story of the Argonauts with many other Greek myths woven into the narrative. This book is a store of excellent material.

The teacher should select from it those parts specially suited to the grade. Published by Sibley & Ducker, Chicago.

Adventures of Ulysses (Lamb).

A small book from which the chief episodes of Ulysses' career can be obtained. Published by Ginn & Co., Boston.

The Story of Siegfried (Baldwin). Published by Scribner's Sons.

Peabody's Old Greek Folk Stories.

Simple and well written. A supplement to the Wonder Book.

Published by Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.

Tales of Troy (De Garmo).

The story of the siege of Troy and of the great events of Homer's Iliad. This story, on account of its complexity, we deem better adapted to the fourth grade. Published by the Public School Publis.h.i.+ng Co., Bloomington, Ill.

Stories of the Old World (Church).

Stories of the Argo, of Thebes, of Troy, of Ulysses, and of aeneas. Stories are simply and well told. It is a book of 350 pages, and would serve well as a supplementary reader in fourth grade. Published by Ginn & Co.