or, if they are not so to you, you must say, "Wake
up!" to your mind. It is the eager spirit of
inquiry that conquers difficulties and gains
knowledge. In another preface I reminded you that
in all the faery stories the youngest brother was
the one who always said, "I wonder!" and he it
was who triumphed over all the others. You are
holding between these crimson covers fables from
some of the oldest and most valuable books the
world has ever known. The "Hitopadesa" was
a very fountain of riches, as old as the hills
themselves, precious and inexhaustible. In its
innumerable translations it passed down the stream
of time, and the fables known as Aesop's made
their way among all races of people in the same
marvellous way. No one knows whether Aesop--through
the Assyrians with whom the Phrygians
had commercial relations--borrowed his stories
from the Orientals or whether they borrowed from
him. One thing is certain, nothing persists so
strongly and lives so long as a fable or folk tale.
They migrate like the birds and make their way
into every corner of the world where there are
lips to speak and ears to hear. The reasons are,
perhaps, because they are generally brief; because
they are simple; because they are trenchant and
witty; because they are fresh and captivating and
have a bite to them like the tang of salt water;
because they are strong and vital, and what is
thoroughly alive in the beginning always lives