Part 3

“It is interesting to observe how the mind of the child is developed. At first, many can keep their attention on a story only a short time, but they soon learn the power of application and can listen breathlessly for an hour and then ask for another story, even though they know the time is up. After their attention has once been gained, children will listen to stories as long as the story teller will continue.

LIBRARIANS ENTHUSIASTIC

“After a year or more of story telling in the public libraries, I believe in the power of the story more than ever. Between the settlements and the libraries, over 1,200 children come to listen to me each week, and besides I have been conducting a normal class to teach young librarians how to tell stories themselves.

“All the librarians appear to be enthusiastic over the story hour, and although it adds to their cares and confusion, they welcome me each week with a friendliness that is truly genuine.

“But the real inspiration comes from the children themselves. They never seem to tire, and sometimes keep me for an hour and a quarter with ‘A little more, please, just a few minutes. We want to know what became of Oliver,’ or ‘Didn’t Siegfried come to life again?’

THE STONE LION

A Tibetan story, retold from the excellent collection of Captain O’Connor. Although a fairy-tale in form, it has the well marked purposive quality so characteristic of Eastern stories. Adapted from Folk-Tales from Tibet, by Captain W. P. O’Connor.

This story was voted to be the best story told during two years to a class of younger children at Bancroft School, Worcester. Twenty-two children whispered their votes to the story teller. Ten chose The Stone Lion, while no other story received more than four votes.

This story, by permission of authors and publishers, is taken from Story Telling in School and Home, by Emelyn Newcomb Partridge and George E. Partridge. Sturgis & Walton Company, New York.

Once there were two brothers who lived with their mother in a large house on a farm. Their father was dead. The older brother was clever and selfish; but the younger was kind and gentle. The older brother did not like the younger because he was honest, and never could get the best of a bargain; so one day he said to him:

“You must go away. I cannot support you any longer.”

So the younger brother packed all his belongings, and went to bid his mother good-bye. When she heard what the older brother had done, she said:

“I will go with you, my son. I will not live here any longer with so hard-hearted a man as your brother.”

The next morning the mother and the younger brother started out together. Toward night they came to a hut at the foot of a hill. It was empty except for an axe, which stood behind the door. But they managed to get their supper, and stayed in the hut all night.

In the morning they saw that on the side of the hill near the hut was a great forest. The son took the axe, and went up on the hill side and chopped enough wood for a load to carry to the town on the other side of the hill. He easily sold it, and with a happy heart brought back food and some clothing to make them both comfortable.

“Now, mother,” he said, “I can earn enough to keep us both, and we shall be happy here together.”

Day after day he went out and cut the wood, and at night carried it to the village and sold it; and they always had plenty to eat and what they needed to make them happy and comfortable.

One day the boy went further up the hill than he had ever gone before in search of better timber. As he climbed up the steep hillside, he suddenly came upon a lion carved from stone.

“O!” thought the boy, “this must be the guardian deity of this mountain. I will make him some offering tomorrow.”

That night he bought two candles, and carried them to the lion. He lighted them and put one on each side of the lion, praying that his own good fortune might continue.

As he stood there, suddenly the lion opened his great stone mouth, and said:

“What are you doing here?”

The boy told him all the story of his hard-hearted brother, and how he and his mother had left home, and were living in the hut at the foot of the hill.

When he had heard all of the story, the lion said:

“If you will bring a bucket here tomorrow, and put it under my mouth, I will fill it with gold for you.”

The next day the boy brought the bucket and put it under the lion’s mouth.

“You must be very careful to tell me when it is nearly full,” said the lion, “for if even one piece of gold should fall to the ground, great trouble would be in store for you.”

The boy was very careful to do exactly as the lion told him, and soon he was on his way home to his mother with a bucketful of gold.

They were so rich now that they bought a great, beautiful farm, and went there to live. Everything the boy undertook seemed to prosper. He worked hard, and grew strong; and before many years had passed he was old enough to marry, and bring a bride to the home. But the mother still lived with them, and they were all very contented and happy.

At last the hard-hearted brother heard of their prosperity. He too had married, and had a little son. So he took his wife and the little boy, and went to pay his younger brother a visit. It was not long before he had heard the whole story of their good fortune, and how the lion had given them all the gold.

“I will try that, too,” he said.

So he took his wife and child and went to the very same hut his brother had lived in, and there they passed the night.

The very next morning he started out with a bucket to visit the Stone Lion.

When he had told the lion his errand, the lion said:

“I will do that for you, but you must be very careful to tell me when the bucket is nearly full; for even if one little piece of gold touches the ground, great misery will surely fall upon you.”

Now the elder brother was so greedy that he kept shaking the bucket to get the gold pieces closer together. And when the bucket was nearly full he did not tell the lion, as the younger brother had done, for he wanted all he could get.

Suddenly one of the gold pieces fell upon the ground.

“O,” cried the lion, “a big piece of gold is stuck in my throat. Put your hand in and get it out. It is the largest piece of all.”

The greedy man thrust his hand at once into the lion’s mouth—and the lion snapped his jaws together.

And there the man stayed, for the Lion would not let him go. And the gold in the bucket turned into earth and stones.

When night came, and the husband did not come home, the wife became anxious, and went out to search for him. At last she found him, with his arm held fast in the lion’s mouth. He was tired, cold and hungry. She comforted him as best she could, and brought him some food.

Every day now the wife must go with food for her husband. But there came a day when all the money was gone, and the baby was sick, and the poor woman herself was too ill to work. She went to her husband and said:

“There is no more food for you, nor for us. We shall all have to die. O! if we had only not tried to get the gold.”

The lion was listening to all that was said, and he was so pleased at their misfortune that he began laughing at them. And as he laughed, he opened his mouth, and the greedy man quickly drew out his hand, before the lion had a chance to close his jaws again!

They were glad enough to get away from the place where they had had such ill luck, and so they went to the brother’s house once more. The brother was sorry for them, and gave them enough money to buy a small place, and there the hard-hearted brother took his family and lived.

The younger brother and his wife and his mother lived very happily in their beautiful home, but they always remembered the Stone Lion on the hillside, who gave them their good fortune.

THE OYSTER AND ITS CLAIMANTS

(From Walter Thornbury’s translation of Esop’s Fables, made into verse by M. De La Fontaine. Fable CLXXII. Page 501—“La Fontaine’s Fables.”)

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There is something so grand in this species of composition, that many of the Ancients have attributed the greater part of these fables to Socrates; selecting as their author that individual amongst mortals who was most directly in communication with the gods. I am rather surprised that they have not maintained that these fables descended direct from heaven.... The fable is a gift which comes from the immortals; it if were the gift of man, he who gave it to us would deserve a temple. From Preface to La Fontaine’s Fables.

Two travellers discovered on the beach An Oyster, carried thither by the sea. ’Twas eyed with equal greediness by each; Then came the question whose was it to be. One, stooping down to pounce upon the prize, Was thrust away before his hand could snatch it. “Not quite so quickly,” his companion cried; “If _you’ve_ a claim here, _I’ve_ a claim to match it; The first that saw it has the better right To its possession; come, you can’t deny it.” “Well,” said his friend, “my orbs are pretty bright, And I, upon my life, was first to spy it.” “You? Not at all; or, if you _did_ perceive it, I _smelt_ it long before it was in view; But here’s a lawyer coming—let us leave it To him to arbitrate between the two.” The lawyer listens with a stolid face, Arrives at his decision in a minute; And, as the shortest way to end the case, Opens the shell and eats the fish within it. The rivals look upon him with dismay:— “This Court,” says he, “awards you each a shell; You’ve neither of you any costs to pay, And so be happy. Go in peace. Farewell!”

How often, when causes to trial are brought, Does the lawyer get pelf and his client get nought! The former will pocket his fees with a sneer, While the latter sneaks off with a flea in his ear.

THE PSYCHO-THERAPEUTIC VALUE OF STORY TELLING

_FRANCES E. FOOTE_

The Story telling Movement is growing with such gigantic strides that a magazine which will keep the Missionaries in this movement in touch with one another seems most desirable, if not absolutely necessary.

Many writers have voiced many opinions as to the benefits to be derived from the exercise of the Art of Story telling, but there is one which I have never seen in black and white, about which I feel impelled to write. It is the _Psycho-Therapeutic value of Story telling_.

Pain is a real thing, and will hold us in his clutches and claim all our attention if allowed to do so.

Sorrow is absorbing, and will bow our heads and break our spirits if unhindered.

Upon what, then, may we concentrate our attention, that pain may grow weary of pressing his claim?

With what may we so absorb our minds that sorrow will fade away?

One of the fundamental principles of Story telling is that the oral interpreter of Literature, must so vividly _see_ the pictures described in the story, that he will cause his hearers to feel that they, too, see.

He must _feel_ the impulses and emotions of the characters in the story so truly that the hearts of his hearers will thrill with the same feeling.

Since this is true, that the mind must be absorbed in the distant scenes of Story Land, pain in due course of time must grow tired of urging his claim and will ultimately depart.

The emotions dominant in stories which we tell are altruistic for the most part. We prefer to dwell upon themes in which evil is overcome by good; those in which sorrow flees away and joy comes with the morning.

Isn’t it true that the person who, day after day, creates these altruistic emotions in the hearts of his hearers will find his sorrow, deep-seated though it may be, growing dimmer day by day as he brightens the lives of his hearers?

There are many cases which I could give you to prove my point. One, of a little child with spinal trouble, who was treated by a great surgeon. He would call upon her two or three days out of the week and each time tell her a story. He required her, meanwhile, to make up similar stories. For instance, he would tell her the story of “Little Green Cap.” Then he would say, “Now, by Tuesday I want you to have a story ready for me. It must be about a poor little girl, a princess and a magic ring.” So absorbed did the child become in such work that the pain in the poor little back grew less and less insistent until she ceased to be an invalid and was able to attend school. She was one of the happiest children I ever knew. She said she didn’t mind the pain any more, she had such lovely things to think about.

Another was the case of a young woman upon whom sorrow laid a heavy hand. Prostrated by grief, she lay for several days in a darkened room. Then rousing herself she went to a hospital and secured permission from the superintendent to visit daily the friendless patients who seemed lonely. For months she reported daily to the superintendent, was given directions as to which patients to visit, and for three hours she would go from one to the other telling humorous stories. The morning hours she spent hunting for artistic, mirth-provoking stories and her afternoons in bringing smiles to sad faces. The result was inevitable. People everywhere welcomed her as a ray of sunshine.

One more case—that of a young woman who, while making a brave struggle to recover from one serious operation, suddenly found herself facing another even more serious. With nerves racked by persistent pain, courage well nigh gone, pursued by that dread foe insomnia, she turned to her one accomplishment, Story telling. Though able to sit up but a few hours at a time, she held large audiences in many cities two or three times a week, until she once more went under the knife. Then within two months she was on the platform again, bringing herself back to health by compelling her mind to dwell in Storyland. I knew all the particulars of this case, the physical torture she endured for two years, the struggle she made to live, and knowing what I do, forces me to believe that if Story telling did not save her life, it certainly saved her reason.

It is a law of life that the only thing which we may always _keep_, is the thing we _give_. If then, the prime function of Story telling is the giving of _Joy_, then _Joy_ is the thing which the Story teller may have.

To those who “travail and are heavy laden” I commend the Art of Story telling.

STORY TELLING FOR MOTHERS

Interesting accounts were recently published in the _Herald_, _Sun_ and other New York papers of Miss Georgene Faulkner’s story telling for mothers and children at the Waldorf-Astoria, New York and St. Mary’s Parish House, Brooklyn.

The story telling at the Waldorf-Astoria was given under the auspices of Mrs. William Rogers Chapman, President of the Rubenstein Musical Club, to an audience of fourteen hundred, of which about seven hundred were children.

Miss Faulkner, in Mother Goose attire, told the children Mother Goose stories, assisted by singers who presented ballads to accompany the stories. Much to the amusement of the children, Miss Faulkner would sometimes change the text of the Mother Goose rhymes, and the children were not backward about crying out corrections of these errors. Miss Faulkner would say:

“Jack and Jill went up the hill, Like a dutiful son and daughter; Now Jack is sick, and Jill is ill, They did not boil the water.”

This would be greeted by a chorus of, “No, No, that isn’t the way it goes!” and other exclamations.

Later, Miss Faulkner, in German costume, told the fairy story of “Hansel and Gretel.”

The “Gingerbread Man,” otherwise known as “Johnny Cake” and “The Wee Bunnock,” gave more pleasure to the children than any other story, perhaps because it was accompanied by Gingerbread Men in neat boxes, which were given to the children as souvenirs of the occasion.

Through the courtesy of Mrs. Chapman and with the assistance of Mrs. Arthur Elliot Fish, one hundred crippled children, from the Industrial School for Crippled Children, participated in the delights of the “Mother Goose” matinee.

The story telling at St. Mary’s Parish House, was arranged primarily for mothers, under the auspices of Miss Mabel McKinney, Superintendent of the Kindergartens in the Borough of Brooklyn.

“What kind of a story,” said Miss Faulkner, “should the mother tell to her children? Any good interesting story will lend itself to the spoken narrative. Many mothers are so careless about what their children read —thinking that almost any book which they get from the library will answer the need. This is a great mistake. If the mother will only take care to direct the young mind into the right channels at the impressionable period she would lay a firm foundation on which to build the future life of the child. Not only are many books from Public Libraries pernicious, but from the Sunday-School Libraries as well. Many mothers make a practice of filling the minds of their little children with a hodge-podge of information, superstition, fear and other ideas which have had a bad effect upon the children’s mind. They think it makes little difference what they put into the child’s thought so long as it is a story. In reality it makes all the difference in the world.

“With the great storehouse of classical and folk-lore stories within easy reach; stories of brave deeds well done; of self-sacrifice; of love and duty and other high ideals, the mind of the child is easily guided into channels of right thinking, and if mothers only realized it more fully, it is in their power through the medium of these stories to fill the little mind with ideals, which will have a most important bearing through life in the development of character. Through the simple art of story telling the mother possesses the key to the hidden nature of the child if she could only be made to appreciate and understand the value of the story influence.”

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The Story Tellers’ League at the Alabama Girls’ Technical Institute, Montevallo, is divided into chapters: The Poe Chapter; the Uncle Remus Chapter, and the Wyche Chapter. The Poe Chapter deals with the Edgar Allen Poe stories, Kipling, Hawthorne, and Irving, while the Uncle Remus Chapter deals with the Arabian Nights, Robin Hood, Uncle Remus, Folk and Fairy Tales. The Wyche Chapter deals with the Stories of King Arthur; the Opera stories—Magic Flute, Hansel and Gretel; the Beowulf Story, and Stories of Knighthood by J. H. Cox. The Chapters meet once a week separately, throughout the school year, and occasionally they have a joint meeting. The programme of the League as well as other societies in the school are published by the Institute, and may be had for the asking. The Story Tellers’ League, with its three chapters, has a combined membership of one hundred and twenty-five, making it one of the strongest organizations in the school. One Chapter of the League devotes time to the playing of folk games at the recreation hour, in the afternoon, on the lawn.

THE BEOWULF CLUB OF WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY

BY JOHN HARRINGTON COX

The above-named organization is the story telling club of the University. Its formation grew out of the enthusiasm of four young women who were studying the great Anglo-Saxon epic, of course, in the original. Their eagerness to master the famous tale, to be able to retell it with at least somewhat of its original vigor, picturesqueness, and fascination, was worthy of a permanent record. Their zeal was to make the story something more than a mere name. They thought that this priceless bit of literary heritage should be gotten off the printed page and down into the hearts of people far and wide throughout our State.

As the idea developed its possibilities began to be more fully realized. Here was an opportunity of enlisting the sympathies of some of the brightest young men and young women of the University, in the great stories of the world; stories of all ages and all countries; prose and verse, ranging from the fairy tale to the Iliad. And, moreover, it was thought that the interest would not be a passing one, but permanent. The necessity of mastering the outlines of a story, the practice in recreating it by memory and imagination, the vivifying of it through the emotions and the personality of the teller, was believed to furnish an exercise in many ways more pleasurable and profitable than those obtained in the usual recitation.

The result more than fulfilled all expectations. The club was formed on the Twenty-ninth of February, Nineteen hundred and eight. Since that time it has not missed a single meeting. The membership averages about twelve from year to year. Most of these on leaving the University become teachers and carry the work into their schools, teachers’ institutes, and public entertainments. Several times the club has been invited to give a public performance. Invitations to its meetings are eagerly welcomed and the young people who tell the stories never lack for an appreciative audience.

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Detroit, Michigan, has recently organized a Story Tellers’ League. Miss Mary Conover is President, and Miss Alice M. Alexander, Secretary. The first program is devoted to Irish stories; the second evening Folk stories. Hero tales for another meeting, with Bible and Animal stories to make up the programs for two meetings. The League meets at the College Club rooms, and has a membership of thirty.

HOW TO ORGANIZE A STORY TELLERS’ LEAGUE

“I have just read an article in the March number of _The World’s Work_, on the Story Tellers’ League movement, have heard of the Story Tellers’ League, or read a chapter in Mr. Wyche’s book, ‘Some Good Stories and How to Tell Them,’ on the Story Tellers’ League, and should like to organize such a league in my community. How shall I go about it?”

This is a question that comes almost every day to some officer of the Story Tellers’ League.

The method of procedure in organizing a Story Tellers’ League is a very simple one. The first step is to call a meeting of as many prospective members as can be gotten together. A chairman and secretary _pro tem_ should then be elected and the meeting called to order. The organizer should then state the purpose of the meeting, ask for the enrollment of the names and addresses of those who wish to join and have these recorded by the secretary.

The next step is the nomination and election of permanent officers, usually a President, First Vice-President, Second Vice-President, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer. Upon the election of these officers, the chairman and secretary pro tem resign in favor of the elected officers, and the League is then duly organized for business.

The adoption of the Constitution and By-Laws is next in order. The Constitution deals with the name, object, membership, officers, etc., of the League; while the By-Laws provide for the dates of meetings, dues, time and mode of the election of officers, and such other rules and regulations for the conduct of the League as may be deemed desirable. An Executive Committee may then be appointed to look after the general business of the League, such as the arrangement of programmes at the meetings; the planning of entertainments and special exercises, and various other matters of this nature. The officers of the League are usually _ex officio_ members of the Executive Committee.

The League when organized should be reported to the President of the National Story Tellers’ League, with the name and address of its President and Secretary, so that it may be enrolled with similar Leagues throughout the United States.