a back full of bristles like Mr. Porcupine's; I wish I had a
pair of red rubbers like Miss Puddleduck's." At last, when
he beheld the tiny red-bird at the Wishing-Pond, he said,
"Oh, I wish I had a pair of little red wings!" Then, after
getting his wings, when he came home at night and his Mammy
no longer knew him, he repeated to Mr. Bushy Tail, Miss
Puddleduck, and old Mr. Ground Hog, the same petition to
sleep all night, "Please, kind Mr. Bushy Tail, may I sleep
in your house all night?" etc. Repetition here aids the
child in following the characters, the story, and its
meaning. It is a distinct help to unity and to clearness.

_The Elephant's Child_ is an example of how the literary
artist has used this element of repetition, and used it so
wonderfully that the form is the matter and the tale cannot
be told without the artist's words. "'Satiable curtiosity,"
"the banks of the great, grey-green, greasy, Limpopo River,
all set about with fever-trees," and "'Scuse me," are but a
few of those expressions for which the child will watch as
eagerly as one does for a signal light known to be due. The
repetition of the one word, "curtiosity," throughout the
tale, simply makes the point of the whole story and makes
that point delightfully impressive.

Rhythm and repetition also make a bodily appeal, they appeal
to the child's motor sense and instinctively get into his
muscles. This is very evident in _Brother Rabbit's
Riddle_:--

De big bird bob en little bird sing;