A Study of Fairy Tales by Laura F. Kready
page 32 of 391 (08%)
page 32 of 391 (08%)
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the animal world what a rose-bud is in a garden." In the
same way it might be said of fairy tales: No tale is quite suited to the little child unless in it there is at least one animal. Such animal tales are _The Bremen Town Musicians, Henny Penny, Ludwig and Marleen_ and _The Elephant's Child_. The episode of the hero or heroine and the friendly animal, as we find it retained in Two-Eyes and her little Goat, was probably a folk-lore convention--since dropped--common to the beginning of many of the old tales. It indicates how largely the friendly animal entered into the old stories. _A portrayal of human relations, especially with children_. In _Cinderella_ the child is held by the unkind treatment inflicted upon Cinderella by her Stepmother and the two haughty Sisters. He notes the solicitude of the Mother of the Seven Kids in guarding them from the Wolf. In the _Three Bears_ he observes a picture of family life. A little child, on listening to _The Three Pigs_ for the first time, was overwhelmed by one thought and cried out, "And didn't the Mother come home any more?" Naturally the child would be interested especially in children, for he is like the older boy, who, when looking at a picture-book, gleefully exclaimed, "That's me!" He likes to put himself in the place of others. He can do it most readily if the character is a small individual like Red Riding Hood who should obey her mother; or like Goldilocks who must not wander in the wood; or like Henny Penny who went to take a walk and was accosted by, "Where are you going?" In _Brother Rabbit and the Little Girl_ the Little Girl takes the keenest enjoyment in putting |
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