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Page 1
First, that there are ideas and types, occurring in the myths of all
countries, which are common properties, to use which does not lay the
teller of fairy tales open to the charge of plagiarism. Such as the
idea of the weak outwitting the strong; the failure of man to choose
wisely when he may have his wish; or the desire of sprites to exchange
their careless and unfettered existence for the pains and penalties of
humanity, if they may thereby share in the hopes of the human soul.
Secondly, that in these household stories (the models for which were
originally oral tradition) the thing most to be avoided is a
discursive or descriptive style of writing. Brevity and epigram must
ever be soul of their wit, and they should be written as tales that
are told.
The degree in which, if at all, the following tales fulfil these
conditions, nursery critics must decide.
There are older critics before whom fairy tales, as such, need excuse,
even if they do not meet with positive disapprobation.
On this score I can only say that, for myself, I believe them to
be--beyond all need of defence--most valuable literature for the
young. I do not believe that wonder-tales confuse children's ideas of
truth. If there are young intellects so imperfect as to be incapable
of distinguishing between fancy and falsehood, it is surely 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.
Moreover fairy tales have positive uses in education, which no
cramming of facts, and no merely domestic fiction can serve.
Like Proverbs and Parables, they deal with first principles under the
simplest forms. They convey knowledge of the world, shrewd lessons of
virtue and vice, of common sense and sense of humour, of the seemly
and the absurd, of pleasure and pain, success and failure, in
narratives where the plot moves briskly and dramatically from a
beginning to an end. They treat, not of the corner of a nursery or a
playground, but of the world at large, and life in perspective; of
forces visible and invisible; of Life, Death, and Immortality.
For causes obvious to the student of early myths, they foster sympathy
with nature, and no class of child-literature has done so much to
inculcate the love of animals.
They cultivate the Imagination, that great gift which time and
experience lead one more and more to value--handmaid of Faith, of
Hope, and, perhaps most of all, of Charity!
It is true that some of the old fairy tales do not teach the high and
useful lessons that most of them do; and that they unquestionably deal
now and again with phases of grown-up life, and with crimes and
catastrophes, that seem unsuitable for nursery entertainment.
As to the latter question, it must be remembered that the brevity of
the narrative--whether it be a love story or a robber story--deprives
it of all harm; a point which writers of modern fairy tales do not
always realize for their guidance.
The writer of the following tales has endeavoured to bear this
principle in mind, and it is hoped that the morals--and it is of the
essence of fairy tales to have a moral--of all of them are beyond
reproach.
For the rest they are committed to the indulgence of the gentle
reader.
Hans Anderssen, perhaps the greatest writer of modern fairy tales, was
content to say:
"FAIRY TALE NEVER DIES."
J.H.E.
CONTENTS.
PAGE GOOD LUCK IS BETTER THAN GOLD
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