A Study of Fairy Tales Part 7

The setting is the field where the old Woman placed the Ox and where she spun, the wood from which the animals came, and the peasant home. The characters are two poor people who need food and clothing and seek to secure both; and the animals of the forest. The peasants need the Bear for a coat, the Wolf for a fur cap, the Fox for a fur collar, and the Hare for mittens. This human need produces an emotional appeal so that we wish to see the animals caught. But when the plot unties itself, the plight of the animals appeals to us equally and we want just as much to see them win their freedom. Each animal works out his own salvation by offering the old people a worthy subst.i.tute. Each animal is true to his nature in the subst.i.tute he offers, he promises what is only natural for him to procure, and what he himself likes best. The conclusion is satisfying because in the end everybody is happy: the old people who have all they need; and the animals who have life and freedom. The distinct pictures offered to the imagination are the capture of the four animals and their return with their life-subst.i.tutes.

The form of the tale is a good example of folk-story style, with its vivid words, direct language, and repet.i.tion. This is one of the tales which is finer than at first appears because it has a strong sense of life. It touches the present-day problem: "How can the inhuman slaughter of animals for man's use be avoided?" Its underlying message is: Self-help is a good way out of a difficulty.--_The Straw Ox_ also answers the complete test of the tale with much satisfaction.

REFERENCES:

The Child:

Barnes, Earl: _Study of Children's Stories_. ("Children's Interests.")

Dewey, John: _Interest and Effort in Education_. Houghton.

King, Irving: _Psychology of Child Development_. University of Chicago Press.

Lawrence, Isabel: "Children's Interests in Literature." _N.E.A.

Report_, 1899, p. 1044.

McCracken, Elizabeth: "What Children Like to Read." _Outlook_, Dec, 1904, vol. 78.

Tyler, John M.: _Growth in Education_. Houghton.

Vostrovsky, Clara: "A Study of Children's Own Stories." _Studies in Education_, vol. i, pp. 15-17.

Literature:

Baldwin, Charles S.: _Specimens of Prose Description_. Holt.

Brewster, William T.: _English Composition and Style_. Century.

_Ibid.: Specimens of Prose Narration_. Holt.

Gardiner, John H.: _Forms of Prose Literature_. Scribner.

Matthews, Brander: _The Philosophy of the Short-Story_. Longmans.

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Sainte-Beuve, Charles A.: _Essays_. ("What is a Cla.s.sic?") Dutton.

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Emotion:

Bain, Alexander: _The Emotions and the Will_. Appleton.

Darwin, Charles: _Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals_. Appleton.

Imagination:

Colvin, Stephen: _The Learning Process_. Macmillan.

Curry, S.S.: _Imagination and the Dramatic Instinct_. Expression Co.

Ruskin, John: _Modern Painters_, vol. r. ("Of the Imagination.")

Children's Literature:

Baker, Franklin T.: _Bibliography of Children's Reading.

(Introduction.)_ Teachers College, Columbia University.

Day, Mary B., and Wilson, Elisabeth: _Suggestive Outlines on Children's Literature_. S. Illinois Normal, Carbondale.

Dodd, C.F.: "Fairy Tales in the Schoolroom." _Living Age_, Nov.

8, 1902, vol. 235, pp. 369-75.

Fay, Lucy, and Eaton, Anne: _Instruction in the Use of Books and Libraries_. (Chap, xv, "Fairy Tales.") Boston Book Co.

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_Ibid.: The Elementary Course in English_. University of Chicago.

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MacClintock, Porter L.: _Literature in the Elementary School_.

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