THE VESSEL WILL BE DASHED TO PIECES _G. Romney_




TO THE CHILDREN


This volume is made up of stories from seven famous books. These books
are as different as they can possibly be; and yet there are not many
boys and girls who do not like every one of them. The chief reason for
this is because they seem so true, so much more "real" than most other
stories. When you read about Tom Thumb, for instance, you do not
really believe that there ever was a little boy no bigger than his
mother's thumb; at least, you do not believe it in the same way that
you believe the sun shines or the wind blows; but when you read
"Robinson Crusoe," you feel as if every word of it must be true.

The first of these books is "The Pilgrim's Progress." In one way it is
a little like a fable; that is, when you read it the first time, it is
simply a good story. Afterwards--sometimes a long while
afterwards--you read it again or sit thinking about it, and suddenly
you see that it has another meaning, that it is more than the story of
a man who makes a wonderful journey. This book was written in jail by
a man named John Bunyan. The English laws of that time would not allow
any one to preach except clergymen of the Church of England. Bunyan,
however, felt that it would be wicked for him to obey these laws, so
he kept on preaching. He was thrown into prison, and the prisons of
those days were horrible places. "If you will promise not to preach