OXEN FORDING THE STREAM After the Painting by Heinrich von Zugel. ful being. He meets Red Ridinghood on the way, and they chat confidentially together. He appears rather in the light of a trickster. But, it is objected, that he devours the grandmother, and later on, Red Ridinghood herself. Very true; but the curious fact is that, when his belly is cut open, the grandmother and Red Ridinghood come out intact. They have evidently not been injured. Children have very defective notions of the human body, with the exception of such external parts as hands, feet, and face. In an examination recently conducted by Professor G. Stanley Hall in regard to the contents of children's minds at the time they enter school, it was found that ninety per cent of those questioned had no idea where the heart is located, eighty-one per cent did not know anything about the lungs, ninety per cent could not tell where their ribs are situated, etc. Of the internal organs children have no idea. Hence when the story says that the grandmother is swallowed by the wolf, the impression created is that she has been forced down into a sort of dark hole, and that her situation, while rather uncomfortable, no doubt, is not otherwise distressing. The ideas of torn and mangled flesh are not suggested. Hence the act of devouring rouses no feeling of horror, and the story of Red Ridinghood, that prime favorite of all young children, may be related without any apprehension as to its moral effect. STORIES OF BRAVERY Then there are stories, such as that of the man who went abroad to learn the art of shuddering—an excellent example of bravery; the story of the seven Suabians-a persiflage of cowardice; the story of the Marienkind which contains a wholesome lesson Vol. V.-19 against obstinacy, etc. I have not, of course, attempted to cover the whole ground, but only to mention a few examples sufficient to show along what lines the selection may be made. The ethical interests peculiar to childhood are the heads under which the whole material can be classified. The value of the fairy tales is that they stimulate the imagination; that they reflect the unbroken communion of human life with the life universal, as in beasts, fishes, trees, flowers and stars; and that incidentally, but all the more powerfully on that account, they quicken the moral sentiments. Let us avail ourselves freely of the treasures which are thus placed at our disposal. Let us welcome the Märchen into our course of moral training, that with its gentle bands, woven of "morning mist and morning glory," it may help to lead our children into the bright realms of the ideal. XXXI LESSONS OF CERTAIN FABLES* FELIX ADLER Founder of the New York Society for Ethical Culture PART from the collection which figures under the name of Esop, there are other fables, notably the so-called Jataka tales, which deserve attention. The Jataka tales contain deep truths, and are calculated to impress lessons of great moral beauty. The tale of the Merchant of Seri, who gave up all that he had in exchange for a golden dish, embodies much the same idea as the parable of the Priceless Pearl, in the New Testament. The tale of the Measures of Rice illustrates the importance of a true estimate of values. The tale of the Banyan Deer, which offered its life to save a roe and her young, illustrates self-sacrifice of the noblest sort. The Kulavaka-Gataka contains the thought that a forgiving spirit toward one's enemies disarms even the evil minded. The tale of the Partridge, the Monkey, and the Elephant teaches that the best seats belong not to the nobles or to the priests, to the rich, or the learned, not even to the most pious, but that reverence and service and respect and civility are to be paid according to age, and for the aged the best seat, the best water, the best rice, are to be reserved. The tale of Nanda, or the Buried Gold, is a rebuke to that base insolence which vulgar natures often exhibit when they possess a temporary advantage. The tale *From the Moral Education of Children," by permission of D. Appleton and Co. |