A Study of Fairy Tales Part 35

_Magpie_. "Next I take some twigs and arrange them about the mud."

_Blackbird_. "Now I know all about it. Here I go, I'm off to make my nest in the cherry-tree in Mr. Smith's cornfield!

"Sticks upon mud, mud upon sticks, Caw, caw! I'll make a nest for six!"

_Magpie_. "See, here I put another layer of mud over the twigs."

_Wise Owl_. "Oh! That's quite obvious. Strange I never thought of that before. Farewell, come to see me at the old elm-tree beside the gray church!

"Mud over twigs! To-whit, to-whoo!

No better nest than that ever grew!"

_Magpie_. "See these long twigs. I just twine them round the outside."

_Sparrow_. "The very thing. I'll do it this very day. I can pick some up on my way home. I'll choose the spout that looks down over the school-yard; then I can see the children at play. They must like me for they never chase me away or hit me.

"A nest with twigs twined round and round, Chip, chip! No fear that would fall to the ground!"

_Magpie_. "And see these little feathers and soft stuff. What a comfortable, cosy lining for the nest they make!"

_Starling_. "That suits me! Off I go, I like a cosy warm nest. It shall be in that old plum-tree in the orchard, on the side of the hill.

"Feathers and down to make cosy and warm, That's the nest to keep us from harm!"

_Magpie_. "Well, Birds, have you seen how I made my nest? Do you think you know how?--Why, where are all the Birds? They couldn't wait until I'd finished. Only you, Turtle-Dove, left!"

_Turtle-Dove_. "Take two, Taffy, take two--o--o--o!"

_Magpie_. "Here I put a twig across. But not two--one's enough!"

_Turtle-Dove_. "Take two, Taffy, take two--o--o--o!"

_Magpie_. "One's enough I tell you, do you not see how I lay it across?"

_Turtle-Dove_. "Take two, Taffy, take two--o--o--o!"

_Magpie_. "Here I fly away from my nest for awhile! I will teach no more Birds to build nests. I cannot teach a silly Turtle-Dove who will not learn. I heard him sing just now as I turned around,"

_Turtle-Dove_. "Take two, Taffy, take two--o--o--o, Take two, Taffy, take two--o--o--o!"

_Laura F. Kready_.

TYPES OF TALES

An Animal Tale[15]

_The Good-Natured Bear_

"I shall never forget the patience, the gentleness, the skill, and the firmness with which she first taught me to walk alone. I mean to walk on all fours, of course; the upright manner of my present walking was only learned afterwards. As this infant effort, however, is one of my earliest recollections, I have mentioned it before all the rest, and if you please, I will give you a little account of it."

"Oh! do, Mr. Bear," cried Gretchen; and no sooner had she uttered the words than all the children cried out at the same time, "Oh, please do, sir!"

The Bear took several long whiffs at his pipe, and thus continued,--

"My Mother took me to a retired part of the forest (of Towskipowski, Poland) where few animals ever came; and telling me that I must now stand alone, extended both paws, and slowly lowered me towards the earth. The height as I looked down, seemed terrible, and I felt my legs kick in the air, with fear of I did not know what, till suddenly I felt four hard things and no motion. It was the fixed earth beneath my four infant legs. 'Now,' said my Mother, 'you are what is called standing alone!' But what she said I heard as in a dream. With my back in the air as though it rested on a wooden trussel, with my nose poking out straight snuffing the fresh breeze and the many secrets of the woods, my ears p.r.i.c.king and shooting with all sorts of new sounds to wonder at, to want to have, to love, or to tumble down at,--and my eyes staring before me full of light and confused gold and dancing things, I seemed to be in a condition over which I had no power to effect the least change, and in which I must remain fixed till some wonderful thing happened. But the firm voice of my Mother came to my a.s.sistance and I heard her tell me to look upon the earth beneath me and see where I was. First I looked up among the boughs, then side-ways at my shoulder, then I squinted at the tip of my nose--all by mistake and innocence--at last I bent my nose in despair and saw my forepaws standing, and this of course was right. The first thing that caught my attention, being the first thing I saw distinctly, was a little blue flower with a bright jewel in the middle, which I afterwards found was a drop of dew. Sometimes I thought this little blue darling was so close that it almost touched my eyes and certainly the color of it was up in my head; sometimes I thought it was deep down, a long way off. When I bent my face towards it to give it a kiss it seemed just where it was though I had not done what I had thought to do.

"The next thing I saw upon the ground was a soft-looking little creature that crawled along with a round ball upon the middle of its back, of a beautiful white color, with brown and red curling stripes.

The creature moved very, very slowly, and appeared always to follow the opinion and advice of two long horns on its head, that went feeling about on all sides. Presently it slowly approached my right forepaw and I wondered how I should feel or smell or hear it as it went over my toes; but the instant one of the horns touched the hair of my paw, both horns shrunk into nothing and presently came out again, and the creature slowly moved away in another direction. While I was wondering at this strange proceeding--for I never thought of hurting the creature, not knowing how to hurt anything, and what should have made the horns think otherwise?--while then I was wondering at this, my attention was suddenly drawn to a tuft of moss on my right near a hollow tree trunk. Out of this green tuft looked a pair of very bright round small eyes, which were staring up at me.

"If I had known how to walk I should have stepped back a few steps when I saw those bright little eyes, but I never ventured to lift a paw from the earth since my Mother had first set me down, nor did I know how to do so, or what were the proper thoughts or motions to begin with. So I stood looking at the eyes and presently I saw that the head was yellow and that it had a large mouth. 'What you have just seen,' said my Mother, 'we call a snail; and what you now see is a frog.' The names however did not help me at all to understand. Why the first should have turned from my paw so suddenly and why this creature should continue to stare up at me in such a manner I could not conceive. I expected however that it would soon come slowly crawling forth and then I should see whether it would also avoid me in the same manner. I now observed that its body and breast were double some-how, and that its paws were very large for its size, but had no hair upon them, which I thought was probably occasioned by its slow crawling having rubbed it all off. I had scarcely made these observations and reflections, when a beam of bright light breaking through the trees, the creature suddenly gave a great hop right up under my nose; and I, thinking the world was at an end, instantly fell flat down on one side and lay there waiting!"--

With this glimpse of an old-time modern animal tale we shall have to say with "Mr. t.i.tmarsh," "Those who wish to know more about him must buy the book for themselves,"--and add: Or they must get some enterprising publisher to reprint it.

A Few Romantic Tales[16]

_Puss-in-Boots and Lord Peter_

_Puss-in-Boots_, a romantic tale suited to the first grade, delights with its strong sense of adventure and of the heroic. Puss is a Master-Cat, a hero clever and quick, and with fine imagination to see what would happen and prepare for it. He is successful, combining initiative and motivation delightfully. His devotion to his master seems like disinterested loyalty, love, and sacrifice. While it is true the plot is based on a lie, the moral effect is not bad because we recognize Puss as a match-making character similar to the matchmaking Jackal of India; and in love "all is fair." Moreover Puss-in-Boots was only true to his cat-nature in playing a trick, and we admire the cleverness of his trick in behalf of a master really deserving. The underlying philosophy of the tale, "That there is a power in making the best with what you possess," appeals to all, and has the ability to lend dignity and force to the light intrigue of the tale.

The setting in _Puss-in-Boots_ gives a touch of nature beauty. First we have the Miller's poor home, and from there we are led in succession to the brambles through which Puss scampered; the rabbits'

warren where he lay in waiting to bag the heedless rabbits; the palace to which he took the rabbits caught by the Marquis of Carabas; the cornfield where he bagged the partridges; the river-side where the Marquis bathed; the meadow where the countrymen were mowing; the cornfields where the good people were reaping; until at last we are escorted to the stately castle where the Ogre dwelt.

The plot of the tale is very pleasing as it easily arranges itself into a simple drama of three acts:--

Act I, Scene i. Revery of the Master. The Cat's promise to help.

Scene ii. Puss in the rabbits' warren with his bag.

Scene iii. Puss takes the rabbits to the King in his palace.

Act II, Scene i. Puss with his bag in the cornfield.

Scene ii. Puss takes partridges to the King.

Scene iii. Puss and his Master. Puss gives advice.

Act III, Scene i. The Marquis bathing and Puss by the river-side.

Scene ii. The Drive. Puss runs before and meets the mowers.

Scene iii. The Ogre's Castle. Puss's reception of the coach.

Marriage of the Marquis of Carabas. Puss becomes a Lord.

The tale possesses an appeal to the emotions, we want Puss-in-Boots to accomplish whatever scheme he invents, and we want the Miller's son to win the Princess. Its appeal to the imagination is an orderly succession of images, varied and pleasing. The invention of Puss and his successful adventures make the tale one of unusual interest, vivacity, and force. The transformation of the Ogre into a Lion and again into a Mouse, and the consequent climax of Puss's management of the Mouse, bring in the touch of the miraculous. A similar transformation occurs in Hesiod, where the transformed Metis is swallowed by Zeus. This transformation may be produced by a witch, when the help of another is needed, as in _Beauty and the Beast_ and in _Hansel and Grethel_; or the transformation may come from within, as in this case when the Ogre changes himself into a Mouse, or when a man changes himself into a Wolf. A situation which parallels the theme of Puss-in-Boots occurs in _The Golden Goose_ where Dummling gets as his share only a goose, but having the best disposition makes his fortune out of his goose. Grimm's _Three Feathers_ also contains a similar motif. D'Aulnoy's _White Cat_, the feminine counterpart of _Puss-in-Boots_, is a tale of pleasing fancy in which the hero wins the White Cat, a transformed Princess, who managed to secure for him, the youngest son, the performance of all the tasks his father had set for him.

But the most interesting parallel of _Puss-in-Boots_ is the Norse _Lord Peter_ told by Dasent in _Norse Tales_. Here the helpful Cat does not use a bag, but in true Norse fas.h.i.+on catches game in the wood by sitting on the head of the reindeer and threatening, "If you don't go straight to the King's palace, I'll claw your eyes out!" The Norse tale omits the bathing episode. The King wants to visit Lord Peter but the Cat manages that Lord Peter shall visit the King. The Cat promises to supply coach, horses and clothes, not by craft--their source is not given--but they are furnished on the condition that Peter must obey to say always, when he sees fine things in the Castle, that he has far finer things of his own. In the Norse tale Peter and the Cat work together, Peter is in the secret; while in the Perrault tale Puss does all the managing, Carabas is simply being entertained by the King. In the Norse tale, on the way home the coach meets a flock of sheep, a herd of fine kine, and a drove of horses. The Cat does not threaten that the caretakers shall be "chopped as fine as herbs for the pot,"

if they do not say all belongs to Lord Peter, but he cunningly bribes the shepherd with a silver spoon, the neat-herd with a silver ladle, and the drover with a silver stoop. In place of the Ogre's Castle, there is a Troll's Castle with three gates--one of tin, one of silver, and one of gold. The Norse Cat wins the victory by craftily playing upon the troll-nature. He gains the Troll's attention by meeting him at the gate and telling him about the secrets of agriculture, one of the secrets of men the trolls wanted to learn. Then at the height of interest, he plays upon his curiosity by getting him to look round.

Whereupon, the Troll, meeting the glare of the full sun, burst; for trolls cannot bear the sight of the sun, and live. In the Norse tale, the Cat, after Lord Peter at her request cuts off her head, becomes the Princess and marries Lord Peter. In Perrault's tale, the King, with French etiquette and diplomacy, invites the Marquis to be his son-in-law.