{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_39022/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_39022","id":"gutenberg_39022","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39022","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Plays/Films/Dramas","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Teaching & Education","Children's plays","Drama in education","Religious education"],"text":"Produced by Curtis Weyant, Diane Monico, and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE DRAMATIZATION OF BIBLE STORIES\n\n\n\n\nTHE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS\nCHICAGO, ILLINOIS\n\nTHE BAKER & TAYLOR COMPANY\nNEW YORK\n\nTHE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS\nLONDON\n\nTHE MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA\nTOKYO, OSAKA, KYOTO, FUKUOKA, SENDAI\n\n[Illustration: A SHEPHERD]\n\n\n\n\nTHE DRAMATIZATION\nOF BIBLE STORIES\n\nAN EXPERIMENT IN THE RELIGIOUS\nEDUCATION OF CHILDREN\n\n_By_\n\nELIZABETH ERWIN MILLER\n\n(_Elizabeth Miller Lobingier_)\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS\nCHICAGO, ILLINOIS\n\n\n\n\nCOPYRIGHT 1918 BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO\nALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PUBLISHED APRIL 1918\nSIXTEENTH IMPRESSION OCTOBER 1934\n\nCOMPOSED AND PRINTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS\nCHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A.\n\n\n\n\nTO MY LITTLE FRIENDS, THE CHILDREN IN THE\nDRAMATIC CLUB OF THE HYDE PARK CHURCH OF DISCIPLES,\nTHIS BOOK IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED\n\n\n\n\nGENERAL PREFACE\n\n\nThe progress in religious education in the last few years has been\nhighly encouraging. The subject has attained something of a status as a\nscientific study, and significant investigative and experimental work\nhas been done. More than that, trained men and women in increasing\nnumbers have been devoting themselves to the endeavor to work out in\nchurches and Sunday schools the practical problems of organization and\nmethod.\n\nIt would seem that the time has come to present to the large body of\nworkers in the field of religious education some of the results of the\nstudies and practice of those who have attained a measure of\neducational success. With this end in view the present series of books\non \"Principles and Methods of Religious Education\" has been undertaken.\n\nIt is intended that these books, while thoroughly scientific in\ncharacter, shall be at the same time popular in presentation, so that\nthey may be available to Sunday-school and church workers everywhere.\nThe endeavor is definitely made to take into account the small school\nwith meager equipment, as well as to hold before the larger schools the\nideals of equipment and training.\n\nThe series is planned to meet as far as possible all the problems that\narise in the conduct of the educational work of the church. While the\nSunday school, therefore, is considered as the basal organization for\nthis purpose, the wider educational work of the pastor himself and that\nof the various other church organizations receive due consideration as\nparts of a unified system of education in morals and religion.\n\n                                              THE EDITORS\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                                 PAGE\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS                                            xiii\n\nINTRODUCTION BY EDWARD SCRIBNER AMES                                1\n\nCHAPTER\n\nI. EDUCATIONAL AIMS IN DRAMATIZATION                                5\n\nII. THE METHOD OF DRAMATIZATION                                     9\n\nIII. THE DRAMATIZATION OF \"JOSEPH\"                                 17\n\nIV. THE DRAMATIZATION OF \"DAVID AND GOLIATH\"                       44\n\n V. THE DRAMATIZATION OF \"MOSES IN THE BULRUSHES\"                  52\n\nVI. THE DRAMATIZATION OF \"RUTH\"                                    59\n\nVII. THE DRAMATIZATION OF \"QUEEN ESTHER\"                           68\n\nVIII. THE DRAMATIZATION OF \"ABRAHAM AND THE THREE GUESTS\"          84\n\nIX. THE DRAMATIZATION OF \"DANIEL IN THE LIONS' DEN\"                93\n\nX. THE DRAMATIZATION OF NEW TESTAMENT PARABLES                     98\n\nXI. THE DRAMATIC QUALITIES IN A GOOD STORY                        109\n\nXII. BIBLE STORIES SUITABLE FOR DRAMATIZATION                     113\n\nXIII. STAGE SETTING AND PROPERTIES                                130\n\nXIV. COSTUMING                                                    144\n\nXV. THE ORGANIZATION OF A CHURCH DRAMATIC CLUB                    152\n\nINDEX                                                             161\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\nA SHEPHERD                                               Frontispiece\n\nFIGURE                                                           PAGE\n\n1. PHARAOH'S COURT                                                 42\n\n2. A SCENE FROM DAVID AND GOLIATH                                  47\n\n3. ESTHER AND MORDECAI                                             73\n\n4. ESTHER DANCES BEFORE THE KING                                   75\n\n5. THE KING HOLDS OUT THE SCEPTER TO ESTHER                        79\n\n6. QUEEN ESTHER PLEADS FOR HER PEOPLE                              81\n\n7. THE THREE GUESTS BLESS ABRAHAM AND SARAH                        88\n\n8. THE WISE AND FOOLISH VIRGINS                                   101\n\n9. THE GOOD SAMARITAN                                             104\n\n10. WATER JUGS AND OTHER CLAY UTENSILS                            132\n\n11. WOMAN CARRYING WATER JUG                                      133\n\n12. ANCIENT WELLS IN PALESTINE                                    134\n\n13. ANCIENT WEAPONS                                               135\n\n14. A SHEPHERD'S SLING AND LOOM FOR WEAVING SLING                 136\n\n15. SICKLES                                                       137\n\n16. SCEPTER                                                       138\n\n17. SHIELDS                                                       139\n\n18. TRUMPETS                                                      140\n\n19. SIGNET RING                                                   141\n\n20. LAMP                                                          141\n\n21. EGYPTIAN DESIGNS                                              142\n\n22. HELMETS AND CROWNS                                            143\n\n23. A GROUP OF CHILDREN, SHOWING COSTUMES AND A TRUMPET           145\n\n24. THE COSTUME OF ABRAHAM                                        147\n\n25. TWO KINDS OF COSTUMES--THE RICH SHEPHERD AND THE SERVANT      148\n\n26. COSTUMES SHOWING SANDALS MADE BY THE CHILDREN                 149\n\n27. COSTUMES                                                      150\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nBY EDWARD SCRIBNER AMES\n\n\nThis book is its own best commendation, for it is a most convincing\nrecord of an important experiment in education. It is the more\ninteresting because it is a real contribution to educational method\nfrom the field of religious education, which too often only\nappropriates and imitates what has been achieved elsewhere.\n\nThis experiment is founded upon the powerful dramatic impulse of\nchildren and upon the educative value of the natural expression of that\nimpulse under the mutual self-criticism of the participating group. The\nfunction of the leader has been that of an unobtrusive member of the\ngroup contributing such suggestions from a wider experience and deeper\ninsight as would naturally elicit and guide that criticism. That this\nfine art of teaching has been realized with unusual skill in this\nexperiment will be apparent to the discerning readers of this record,\nas it has been by those who have watched the progress of the work\nitself.\n\nToo much emphasis cannot be given to the fact that the primary aim of\nthis use of dramatization is the education of the children and not the\nentertainment of spectators, although, when such dramatization is\nrightly estimated, nothing could be more genuinely entertaining. Those\nwho are expecting to find here ready-made plays for children, with\ndirections for staging them, will be properly disappointed, while those\nwho are seeking illustrations of vital methods of education through the\ncultivation and use of the dramatic impulse will be amply rewarded.\n\nThe latter will appreciate the frank portrayal of the early and cruder\nefforts of the children and their own critical reactions due to further\nreflection and experimentation. These will understand something of the\nability and patience that Miss Miller has employed in allowing the\nnative impulse to develop naturally and to mature through the reactions\nof the children themselves. They will realize that the little people\nactually formulated the scenes and the lines of the dramas even if it\nrequired many weeks in some cases to do so; that it is better for the\nactors to make their own costumes and stage properties, however simple\nthey may be; that it is more educative for each child to be familiar\nwith all of the parts, and thus with the drama as a whole, than to be\ncoached ever so cleverly to impersonate a single character; and that\nfacility and power in dramatization are thus attained which are\npermanent sources of pleasure and understanding.\n\nIt need scarcely be added that the biblical stories are exceptionally\nwell suited to such use and that when so employed they yield their\nprofound religious quality directly in deep and lasting impressions.\nThe children who have been so fortunate as to belong to this dramatic\nclub not only \"know\" these stories, but they have lived them in an\nintimate and durable experience.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nEDUCATIONAL AIMS IN DRAMATIZATION\n\n\nDramatization is not commonly recognized as a means of vitalizing the\nreligious education of children. The public school has found it to be\none of the most effective methods for enriching the pupil's ideas of\ngiven units of subject-matter and for leading to the establishment of\npermanent interests and of habitual modes of action.\n\nThe use of dramatization in the school in order to accomplish these\nends finds its justification in certain fundamental principles of\nteaching. Subject-matter is so presented that the important ideas stand\nout clearly. These ideas are mastered by utilizing them in some form of\nactivity which leads to self-expression on the part of the children.\nJudgments are formed and conclusions are reached when children enter\nactively into a situation which presents a problem; ideas become their\nown through experience. Through dramatization children give expression\nto these ideas in the light of their own interpretation. The\nformulation of standards, the placing of values, and the realization of\ntruths and ideals follow as direct results of actively entering into\nthe life-experience of others.\n\nFrom a psychological point of view ideas and ideals, whether religious\nor secular, are developed according to the same general laws.\nFurthermore, the principles of teaching which are effective in the\ndaily classroom must be equally significant in religious training. It\nfollows, therefore, that dramatization and other forms of\nself-expression are as valuable in attaining the aims of the Sunday\nschool as they are in teaching the curriculum of the day school.\nThrough dramatizing a Bible story children come into a comprehension of\nthe life-experiences of a highly religious people; they are forming\ntheir own standards and ideals through meeting and solving the simple\nlife-problems of the Hebrews. Each child has as great an opportunity\nfor self-expression through dramatizing a Bible story as that afforded\nthrough dramatizing any other story. He not only develops his\nindividuality, but through this kind of work he must necessarily come\ninto the realization of his place within the group, as is the case in\nall well-directed dramatization.\n\nThe period is rapidly passing in which dramatics is looked upon by\nchurch members as being sinful and not in any way to be connected with\nthe church. This view is a relic of a conception of religion in which\nall forms of freedom and pleasure were considered evil. People\ninterested in religious education are now realizing that dramatization\nis not an activity foreign to children, but that it is an outgrowth of\nthe play interest which is natural to all children. They are aware of\nthe fact that dramatization becomes evident in the earliest stages of\nchildhood through the desire of children to imitate in play the\nsurrounding social activities. Many churches have already made use of\nthese natural tendencies by incorporating organized play as one of\ntheir activities. Since dramatization is but a specialized form of\norganized play, and inasmuch as it can be used very effectively in\nvitalizing the religious training which all children should receive, it\ndeserves a wider recognition and adoption.\n\nThis book contains a description of a children's dramatic club which\nhas been conducted as a part of the work of the Sunday school of the\nHyde Park Church of Disciples, Chicago, Illinois, for the purpose of\naccomplishing the ends stated above. Before this dramatic club was\norganized a small amount of dramatization was attempted in certain of\nthe classes during the Sunday-school period. The enthusiastic response\nfrom the children to this new phase of the work revealed the need for\nmore of this kind of activity, and as a consequence it was decided to\ndevote one hour each Sunday afternoon to the dramatization of Bible\nstories. The membership of the club included children ranging from six\nto fourteen years of age. The average attendance has been from twenty\nto thirty children each Sunday throughout these four years of the\nclub's existence.\n\nThis organization was attempted more or less as an experiment with the\nhope that definite results could be accomplished. The practical\nproblems which have arisen, the details of method of procedure, and the\nresults which have been secured will be discussed in the following\nchapters.\n\nSeveral of the stories are given in the dramatic form which the\nchildren have worked out. This is done for the sake of showing what\nkind of a result may be secured. It is hoped that these plays, as they\nare written here, will not be given to children to learn and act; such\na procedure would be entirely contrary to the spirit and purpose in\nwhich this experiment is set forth.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nTHE METHOD OF DRAMATIZATION\n\n\nTwo very different aims are revealed in the present-day employment of\ndramatization. Children are often required to give a dramatic\nproduction at some entertainment or social event. For this purpose a\nstory is selected which has already been put into dramatic form. The\nparts are assigned by the leader, and the children are asked to\nmemorize these parts in exact form and order. The children are then\ntrained to give their parts according to directions. Throughout the\npreparation of the play the finished production is the goal of\nendeavor. In such instances as this the children are a means to an end,\nand their own training and development are usually sacrificed in the\nleader's attempt to secure a highly finished product.\n\nIn contrast to the case just mentioned, dramatization is looked upon as\nan important educational factor in the development of children. From\nthis point of view dramatization is utilized in developing on the part\nof the child intense and permanent interests in the words and deeds of\nnoble characters, in developing power of natural expression in them as\nindividuals and as members of a group, and in raising standards of\naction to higher levels by giving forceful expression to worthy ideals.\nThese aims are realized through the use of informal methods which give\nthe children abundant opportunity for initiative and choice. The\nchildren themselves prepare their dramatization under the guidance of a\nleader who has a vision of the results which may be secured and who is\nskilful in directing the activities toward these ends.\n\nThe little dramatic club herein described adopted at the outset the\npoint of view outlined in the preceding paragraph. Its organization was\nbased on the belief that the development of boys and girls is a much\nmore vital consideration than the development of a dramatic production.\nThroughout its history the chief purpose of the club has been to\npromote the growth of children through the free, spontaneous\ndramatization of Bible stories. In order to accomplish this aim, an\ninformal method of working out dramatizations has been used. The public\npresentation of a play is only incidental to the children; there is no\nneed for them to act out a story that has been dramatized by someone\nelse. Their aim is realized in the joy of actually living the story\nover each time they play it, though this may result in the highest form\nof entertainment. That children should \"speak lines\" given them to\nmemorize for the sake of entertainment is deadly--to the child as well\nas to the audience.\n\nThere is some difference of opinion as to the value of the classic\nlanguage of the Bible for children, and many advocate the use of modern\nor simplified versions. If, however, the children have made their own\nefforts to dramatize the story, using first of all their own words, it\nis easy to help them to adopt much of the beautiful classic language in\nputting the work into its final form. The biblical wording helps to\ngive the play its proper dignity and atmosphere, at the same time\nacquainting the children with the exact language of a piece of good\nliterature.\n\nThe method of procedure which is followed in leading children to work\nout their own dramatizations varies slightly according to circumstances\nbut in the main is as follows:\n\nA story is chosen by the leader which includes the elements essential\nfor a good dramatization, and it is told to the children in such a way\nthat the action or events are emphasized. Direct discourse is used in\nthe telling, and an effort is made to develop simple and vivid mental\npictures. The children divide the story into its most important\npictures or scenes. They then suggest in detail what should take place\nin the first scene, and some of them are asked to act it out as they\nthink it should be done. This first presentation is sometimes stiff\nand more or less self-conscious. The leader raises such questions as,\n\"Which parts did these children do best?\" \"Why?\" \"Where can they\nimprove it?\" \"What would you do to make the part better?\" \"What do you\nthink should have been said here?\" This leads to constructive criticism\nof the scene by the children themselves rather than by the leader in\ncharge. Each child is eager to offer suggestions at this point and is\nanxious for an opportunity to give his own interpretation of the part\nby acting it out. He formulates his words as he acts. He forgets\nhimself in the genuine interest which arises as he relives the\nexperience of someone else. Each scene is developed in a similar\nmanner.\n\nThe leader encourages freedom in individual interpretation, yet she is\never keeping before the children the fact that they are trying to give\na true portrayal of the characters or conditions. It is often valuable\nto have a discussion of individual characters for the purpose of\nsecuring clear ideas concerning them. After all have tried various\nparts and have offered many suggestions, they may be led to choose that\ninterpretation which seems most adequate, or they may all work out the\ninterpretation of a part which will involve the ideas of many. After\nthe story has been played through a few times, each child should be\nable to assume any character. It is an essential part of this method\nto see that every child has a different part each time.\n\nVery often, when the play develops to this stage, some one child, or\nseveral, will suddenly become aware of repetitions in the scenes and\nwill suggest that some scenes are unnecessary. It is then the time to\nrefer to the number of scenes in a good drama, and to lead the children\nto realize that in any good play much is left to the imagination of the\naudience, and that only the essential scenes need be shown. By means of\ndiscussions the play is worked over again, and it is finally reduced to\nthe three or four scenes that seem absolutely necessary.\n\nIn many instances the dramatization needs no further development. None\nof the words have been accepted as definite, for, although the thought\ngiven is the same each time, exactly the same words are never said\ntwice. The story is interpreted slightly differently with each\nperformance. This interpretation, without obtaining a highly finished\nresult, is best for short stories or incidents. Fables and parables may\nbe used well in this way. The action follows continuously with the\ndevelopment of the thought.\n\nIn the case of a story which has a more detailed plot and which\ninvolves more complicated situations the development may go further:\nthe wording is carefully worked out by the children and the language of\nthe Bible is employed. The words which are finally used by the\nchildren may be composite results developed by the group as a whole, or\nafter they have gone as far as they can with them the leader, or a\ncommittee composed of several children with the leader, may suggest a\nfinal form which is good from a literary standpoint.\n\nChildren either volunteer or are chosen by the others to take finally\ncertain parts. There is a marked socializing influence evident in the\nfact that a child is chosen by the other children for the good of the\ngroup and not for self-aggrandizement or partiality toward a friend. It\nis always the case after a few rehearsals that each child knows every\npart and can easily adapt himself to the part of any character. There\nis no trouble about a substitute when one or two children fail to\narrive. Each child has lived the story until it has become a very vital\npart of him. The finished product belongs to the children; they have\ndeveloped it; it is not the production of someone else which they have\nlearned by heart.\n\nAt the final presentation of the play the children invite parents and\nfriends. This is not thought of as a climax toward which they have been\nworking; it is hardly more important than any of the rehearsals; it is\nsimply an opportunity for others to enjoy the story with them. The\nencouragement of this attitude toward the public presentation of a\nplay is important in that it does away with the self-conscious feeling\nof a child that he is acting before people, or that people are\ninterested in him rather than in the character that he portrays. Much\nharm can be done by allowing a child to feel that he is \"showing off\"\non a stage.\n\nThis mode of procedure in developing a dramatization illustrates the\ngeneral method which is employed in order to secure the results herein\ndiscussed. It should be helpful as a method which may be varied or\nbuilt upon according to the circumstances. Detailed descriptions of\nexact modes of procedure in presenting different kinds of Bible stories\nto the dramatic club will follow. Costumes and stage settings have\nalways been of the simplest nature and will be discussed at length in a\nseparate chapter.\n\nIn order that this method may be of greatest practical value to those\nwho are unfamiliar with it, a summary may give the steps in logical\nsequence. This outline is not to be taken as unchangeable, but merely\nas a working basis for the beginner.\n\n     1. Select a story with care; then adapt it for telling.\n\n     2. Tell the story, emphasizing the essential parts.\n\n     3. Let the children divide the story into pictures or scenes.\n\n     4. Have a discussion of what should take place in each\n     scene.\n\n     5. Let volunteers from among the children act out one scene\n     as they think it should be done, using their own words.\n\n     6. Develop criticism by the other children with suggestions\n     for improvement.\n\n     7. Have a second acting of the scene for improvement.\n\n     8. Let each of the other scenes be worked out in the same\n     manner.\n\n     9. See that every child has the chance to try out many parts.\n\n     10. Play the story through many times. Change it often\n     according to the criticism, until the children recognize the\n     result as a product of their best effort.\n\n     11. With the help of the children change the words into\n     biblical form.\n\n     12. Let the group assign definite parts to be learned for the\n     final performance.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nTHE DRAMATIZATION OF _JOSEPH_\n\n\nAs will be noted in the following chapter, it is well in beginning\ndramatic work with children to use for the first efforts very simple\nstories. _Joseph_ is too long and complicated for an early experiment.\nWe may begin our exposition of method with this story, however, as it\nillustrates especially well the details of the developing process.\n\nAt the first meeting the story was told in terms that followed closely\nthe Bible version. The children were asked to select the big events, or\npictures, in Joseph's life. They readily spoke of his life in Canaan as\na boy; his being put into the pit and sold to the merchants; his life\nin Egypt with Potiphar; the prison experience and the interpretation of\nPharaoh's dream; the change of fortune in becoming ruler of the land;\nthe famine and the visits of his brothers; and, finally, his kindness\nto his father and brothers in giving them a home in Egypt.\n\nThe story was told to the children very much as follows:\n\n     Jacob was an old man, too old to care for his large flocks.\n     He sat in the door of his tent day after day, and sent his\n     twelve sons off with the sheep and goats to find grassy\n     fields.\n\n     Now of all the twelve sons Jacob loved Joseph, a lad of\n     seventeen years, the best. Joseph was next to the youngest\n     and often stayed with his father while the older brothers\n     went away. Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors and\n     showed him often that he was the favorite. This made the\n     older brothers very jealous of Joseph, and they began to\n     dislike him.\n\n     Once Joseph dreamed a dream, which he told to his brothers,\n     and it made them hate him all the more. He said to them,\n     \"Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: Behold,\n     we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf\n     arose, and stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood\n     round about and bowed down to my sheaf.\" Then his brothers\n     said to him, \"Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou\n     have power over us?\"\n\n     Then Joseph dreamed yet another dream, and he told it again\n     to his father and brothers, and said, \"Behold, the sun and\n     moon and the eleven stars bowed down to me.\" And his father\n     said unto him, \"What is this dream that thou hast dreamed?\n     Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow\n     down ourselves to thee?\" And the brothers remembered what\n     their father had said, and they wished that harm might come\n     to Joseph.\n\n     It happened soon after this that Jacob sent his ten older\n     sons with the flocks to Shechem, a place some distance away\n     where there was good grass. Now the brothers were gone for\n     so long a time that their father became anxious and decided\n     to send Joseph after them. He said to Joseph, \"Do not thy\n     brethren feed the flock in Shechem? Go, I pray thee, see\n     whether it be well with thy brethren and well with the\n     flocks; and bring me word again.\" So Joseph took money and\n     food in his bag, and his staff in his hand, and went out to\n     find his brothers.\n\n     At Shechem there were no brothers to be seen. Joseph was\n     wondering what he should do next, when he saw a man coming\n     toward him over the field. \"What seekest thou?\" said the\n     man. And Joseph answered, \"I seek my brethren; tell me, I\n     pray thee, where they feed their flocks.\" \"They have\n     departed from here,\" said the man, \"and have gone to\n     Dothan.\" Then Joseph went after his brothers and found them\n     at Dothan.\n\n     Now when the brothers saw Joseph afar off, they knew that it\n     was he from his coat of many colors, and they plotted\n     against him. One of them said, \"Behold, this dreamer cometh.\n     Come, now, let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and\n     we will say unto our father that some evil beast hath\n     devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his\n     dreams.\" Reuben, one of the brothers, felt more kindly\n     toward Joseph than did the others and said to them, \"Let us\n     not kill him, but let us cast him into this pit that is\n     near.\" Reuben thought that he would come back later after\n     the brothers had gone and help Joseph out of the pit and\n     take him to his father.\n\n     When Joseph came to his brothers, they quickly took the coat\n     of many colors from him and bound him and cast him into an\n     old well which was dry. Then they sat down to eat bread.\n     They had hardly become settled when one of them cried out,\n     \"Behold, I see a caravan! It is a company of Ishmaelites,\n     with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going\n     down to Egypt.\" Then Judah said, \"Why do we slay our brother\n     and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to these\n     Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our\n     brother and our flesh.\" The brothers were content to do as\n     Judah had said. They drew Joseph up out of the well, and\n     when the Ishmaelites came near they sold him to them for\n     twenty pieces of silver. And the brothers went away to kill\n     a goat so that they might dip Joseph's coat into the blood,\n     that their father might think that he had been killed by\n     some wild animal.\n\n     Reuben did not know that Joseph had been sold, and returned\n     unto the pit after the brothers had left. When he saw that\n     Joseph was not there, he rent his clothes, and ran after the\n     others, crying, \"The child is not, and I, whither shall I\n     go?\"\n\n     And when the brothers brought Joseph's coat to their father,\n     they said, \"This we have found, thou knowest if it be thy\n     son's coat.\" And Jacob knew it, and said, \"It is my son's\n     coat; an evil beast hath devoured him.\" Then Jacob put on\n     sackcloth and ashes and mourned for Joseph many days.\n\n     Now the Ishmaelites brought Joseph down into Egypt and sold\n     him to Potiphar, a captain of King Pharaoh's guard. And\n     Joseph was faithful and served the Lord, and Potiphar saw\n     that he could be trusted with great responsibility and made\n     him ruler over his household. But Potiphar's wife grew\n     jealous of Joseph and disliked him, and told Potiphar things\n     which were untrue about Joseph. After awhile Potiphar began\n     to believe his wife and he decided that Joseph was not a\n     good man, so he had Joseph cast into prison.\n\n     And it came to pass that the butler and the baker of the\n     king of Egypt were put into prison at the same time that\n     Joseph was there, and they were placed in his ward. One\n     morning Joseph found them both very sad and he said unto\n     them, \"Wherefore look ye so sadly today?\" And they said, \"We\n     have dreamed a dream and there is no one to interpret it.\"\n     Then Joseph said, \"Do not interpretations belong to God?\n     Tell me your dreams, I pray you.\" And they told him their\n     dreams, and he gave them the meaning thereof. To the chief\n     butler he said, \"Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up\n     thine head and restore thee to thy place.\" But to the chief\n     baker he said, \"Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up\n     thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree.\" And\n     it came to pass that on the third day Pharaoh gave a feast\n     to his servants, and he restored the chief butler to his\n     place, but he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had\n     interpreted.\n\n     At the end of two years Pharaoh dreamed a dream. He was\n     greatly troubled, and sent for all the wise men of the land\n     to tell him the meaning of his dream, but there was none\n     that could interpret it unto Pharaoh. Then the chief butler\n     spoke to the king and said, \"I do remember this day, that\n     when Pharaoh was wroth with his servants and put both me and\n     the chief baker into the prison, that we each dreamed dreams\n     in one night; and there was a young man there, a Hebrew, who\n     interpreted to us our dreams, and they came to pass as he\n     interpreted, for the chief baker was hanged and I was\n     restored to my office.\"\n\n     Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they brought him in\n     hastily out of the dungeon. And Pharaoh said, \"I have\n     dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it,\n     and I have heard say of thee that thou canst understand a\n     dream to interpret it.\" And Joseph answered Pharaoh, \"It is\n     not in me; God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.\" Then\n     Pharaoh said, \"In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of\n     a river; and there came up out of the river seven fat cows,\n     and they fed in a meadow. And, behold, seven other cows came\n     up after them, lean and ill favored; and the lean and\n     ill-favored cows did eat up the fat and well-favored cows.\n     Then I dreamed again, and, behold, seven full ears of corn\n     came upon one stalk, and then seven ears, withered and thin,\n     came up after them, and devoured the good ears.\"\n\n     And Joseph said to Pharaoh, \"God hath shewed Pharaoh what he\n     is about to do. This is the thing which he is about to do:\n     Behold, there will come seven years of plenty throughout the\n     land of Egypt; and there shall rise up after them seven\n     years of famine, and the famine shall consume the land. Now,\n     therefore, let Pharaoh look out a man, discreet and wise,\n     and set him over the land of Egypt, and let him gather up\n     all the food during the years of plenty and lay it up in the\n     cities, so that the land shall not perish in the famine.\"\n     And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and he said,\n     \"Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the spirit\n     of God is? Forasmuch as God has shewed thee all this, there\n     is none so discreet and wise as thou art; thou shalt be over\n     my house, and according to thy word shall all my people be\n     ruled.\" Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and clothed\n     him in fine linen and put a golden chain around his neck.\n\n     Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went over\n     all the land of Egypt. He gathered up the food for seven\n     years, and laid up the food in the cities. And the seven\n     years of plenteousness that were in all the land of Egypt\n     were ended, and the seven years of famine began, and there\n     was famine in all the lands. Then Joseph opened the\n     storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, and other countries\n     sent to buy grain from Joseph because they had stored none.\n\n     Now in Canaan Jacob and his eleven sons were suffering from\n     the famine. They heard that there was food in Egypt, so\n     Jacob sent down all the brothers, except Benjamin, to buy\n     food. When they came before Joseph and bowed themselves to\n     the earth, they knew him not. But Joseph saw his brothers,\n     and he made himself strange unto them, and treated them\n     roughly, that they should not know him. And when they bowed\n     before him Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed\n     of them. \"Ye are spies,\" he said, \"ye are come to see the\n     bareness of the land.\" They answered him, \"We are true men,\n     we are no spies. Thy servants are twelve brothers, the sons\n     of one man in Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day\n     with our father, and one is not.\" \"Hereby ye shall be\n     proved,\" said Joseph, \"if ye be true men; let one of your\n     brethren be bound in the prison while ye go and carry grain\n     to your father's house, but bring back your youngest brother\n     to me.\"\n\n     The brothers took the food back to Canaan, to their father's\n     tent, and told him what the ruler in Egypt had said. Jacob\n     mourned and was loath to let Benjamin, his youngest son, go\n     back to Egypt with them. \"My son shall not go down with\n     you,\" he said; \"for his brother is dead and he is left\n     alone: if mischief befall him, then shall ye bring down my\n     gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.\" But the famine was\n     great in the land, and they had eaten up all the grain which\n     they brought from Egypt. The brothers would not go down\n     again until Jacob had consented to let them take Benjamin\n     with them. And Judah said unto his father, \"Send the lad\n     with me and we will rise and go, that we may live and not\n     die. I will be surety for him; if I bring him not back unto\n     thee, then let me bear the blame forever.\" Then Jacob\n     answered, \"If it must be so, do this: take the best of the\n     fruits in the land, and carry down the man a present, a\n     little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts,\n     and almonds and take double money, and take also your\n     brother, and arise and go unto the man; and God Almighty\n     give you mercy before the man, that he may send you away\n     with your other brother and Benjamin.\"\n\n     And the men took the present and double the money and\n     Benjamin, and went down into Egypt, and stood before Joseph.\n     When Joseph saw Benjamin, he ordered that the men be brought\n     to his home, and that a feast be made ready, and that the\n     other brother be brought out of the prison. But the men were\n     afraid because they were brought into Joseph's home, and\n     they bowed themselves to the earth before him and presented\n     their gifts. Then Joseph was greatly moved and said unto\n     them, \"Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is\n     he yet alive?\" And they answered, \"Thy servant, our father,\n     is in good health; he is yet alive.\" And they bowed down\n     their heads. Then Joseph lifted up his eyes and saw\n     Benjamin, his mother's youngest son, and said, \"Is this your\n     younger brother of whom ye spake unto me?\" And he said to\n     Benjamin, \"God be gracious unto thee, my son.\" Joseph was so\n     overcome by his love for Benjamin that he hastened out of\n     the room where he could weep alone. And he washed his face\n     and composed himself and commanded that the food be served.\n     They all ate and were merry, and Joseph helped Benjamin to\n     five times as much as he did the others.\n\n     Then Joseph commanded the steward to fill the men's sacks\n     with food, and to put each man's money back into his sack,\n     and to put his silver cup into the sack of the youngest. As\n     soon as the morning was light the men were sent away. And\n     when they were gone out of the city and were not yet far\n     off, Joseph sent a servant after them to search their sacks\n     for his silver drinking-cup, and he sent word that the one\n     who had it should be brought back to him.\n\n     Now the brothers were greatly distressed and protested that\n     they knew nothing of the cup. What was their astonishment at\n     finding their money in their sacks and the cup in Benjamin's\n     sack! Then they rent their clothes and returned to the city.\n     And Judah came to Joseph and fell on the ground and said,\n     \"What shall we say unto my lord? or how shall we clear\n     ourselves? God hath found out our sin, behold we are my\n     lord's servants.\" Then Joseph said, \"Get up and go in peace\n     unto thy father; I shall keep for my servant only the man in\n     whose sack the cup was found.\" And Judah came near to Joseph\n     and besought him that he allow Benjamin to return to their\n     father; he told him that he had promised his father to bring\n     the lad back safely, and that it would kill the old man if\n     they returned without Benjamin. \"Now therefore, I pray\n     thee, let thy servant abide as a bondman, instead of the\n     lad.\" Then Joseph could not refrain himself, and he wept\n     before his brothers and made himself known to them. \"I am\n     Joseph, do ye not know me? Is my father yet alive?\" And the\n     brothers were troubled, and they did not know how to answer\n     him. \"Come near, I pray you.\" And they came near, and he\n     said again, \"I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into\n     Egypt. Now be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that ye\n     sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve\n     your lives. Haste ye, go up to my father, and tell him that\n     Joseph, his son, still liveth, and bring him down unto me.\"\n     And Joseph fell upon Benjamin's neck and kissed him, and he\n     kissed all his brothers, and they were astonished, for they\n     knew now that this was Joseph whom they had sold.\n\n     Now the word was spread over Pharaoh's house that Joseph's\n     brethren had come, and it pleased Pharaoh greatly. He came\n     in where they were and said unto Joseph, \"This do ye: Say to\n     your brethren that they are commanded to go back into\n     Canaan, and to pack all their household goods, and to bring\n     their father and their families, and all their flocks, and\n     to return into the land of Egypt, for all the good of the\n     land shall be theirs.\"\n\n     Then the brothers were joyful, and gave thanks unto Pharaoh\n     and to their brother, Joseph, and they left the city to go\n     back to their father. And when they came unto Jacob and told\n     him all, and showed him the wagons which Joseph had sent to\n     bring him down into Egypt, his soul rejoiced, and he said,\n     \"It is enough; Joseph, my son, is still alive: I will go and\n     see him before I die.\"\n\nThe children decided that it would take a great many scenes in order to\nact out the story adequately. At first they mentioned seven or eight.\nOne child was asked to describe the first scene as he thought it ought\nto be, and several others added to the description. Volunteers were\nthen called upon to act it out then and there.\n\nThe first scene was placed in front of Jacob's tent. Jacob is anxiously\nawaiting the return of his ten sons with the flocks. He becomes worried\nbecause they do not come, so he sends Joseph to seek his brothers.\nJoseph accepts the command and leaves the tent.\n\nThis scene was acted very naturally and spontaneously by several groups\nof children. Each time it was changed, for no two groups of children\ninterpreted the action or words alike.\n\nThe children who were not acting were made to feel their responsibility\nalso, for they were asked to make note of the best parts. A general\ndiscussion was held at the end of each presentation, in which the good\npoints were emphasized and suggestions were given as to improvement.\nThe criticism in all of this work comes for the most part from the\nchildren; the leader in charge directs it, but keeps from imposing her\nopinions.\n\nAs the meetings of this dramatic club last but one hour, nothing more\ncould be done than work out one scene at this first time. The children\nwere asked to think the story over and to come the next Sunday prepared\nto suggest the second and third scenes in detail.\n\nAt the next meeting the second and third scenes were worked out in the\nsame manner as the first.\n\nThe second scene places Joseph at Shechem. Here he meets the man who\ntells him that his brothers have gone to Dothan.\n\nIn the third scene the brothers are seated on the ground eating and\nresting, with their shepherd staffs beside them; they begin to talk\nabout Joseph and to tell of his dream and their hatred of him. Just at\nthis point Joseph runs in and gives his father's message. He also tells\nof his experience in Shechem in not finding them there. Then the\nbrothers take him and bind him and throw him into the pit. The caravan\ncomes along and Joseph is sold and taken away. After the brothers\ndepart, Reuben, not knowing that Joseph has been sold, comes back to\nthe pit, hoping to help him out. When he finds the boy gone, he weeps\nand goes sorrowfully away. (A doorway which leads off from the stage at\nthe back was used for the pit. There were no camels in the caravan; the\nmen walked by.)\n\nDuring the next hour scenes which describe Joseph's life in Egypt were\nroughly blocked out. The children made up their words as they acted the\nparts. The language at this stage was very modern, but for the time\nbeing the emphasis was placed upon the thought expressed and upon the\naction.\n\nSeveral of the older girls volunteered to write out the first few\nscenes in order to bring the language into better form. At the fourth\nmeeting these were brought in and discussed by the children. The\nfollowing is a version of the first scene just as it was written by a\ngirl of twelve years. It is given here that the contrast may be seen\nbetween this as a piece of work which may be made better and the final\nplay at the end of the chapter.\n\n\n     SCENE I\n\n     _Jacob:_ It is time my sons are returning with their flocks.\n     See if thou canst see them coming.\n\n          [_Exit servant._]\n\n     _First Lady:_ Yes, they have been gone a long time. We have\n     only Joseph and Benjamin with us.\n\n          [_Enter servant._]\n\n     _Jacob:_ What didst thou see?\n\n     _Servant:_ Master, I saw nothing of your sons.\n\n     _Jacob:_ I shall send Joseph after them. Bring Joseph\n     hither. [_Turns to another servant._] Bring a bag of food\n     for him to take with him on his journey.\n\n          [_Servants leave._ JACOB _looks away, hoping to see his\n          sons._]\n\n     _Jacob:_ I do not see them. What can be the matter?\n\n          [_Enter_ JOSEPH _with servant._]\n\n     _Second Lady:_ Joseph will be sure to find them.\n\n     _Jacob:_ Joseph, my son, I am sending thee after thy\n     brethren. Take this food to Shechem and bring thy brethren\n     back to me.\n\n     _Joseph:_ I will do as thou bidst.\n\n          [JACOB _stands and puts his hand on Joseph._]\n\n     _Jacob:_ May the Lord go with thee.\n\n     END\n\nThe third scene was written by a girl of eleven years and was as\nfollows:\n\n\nSCENE III\n\n          [_All brothers look down the road._]\n\n     _All Brothers:_ What shall we do with him?\n\n     _Seventh Brother:_ I know; let's kill him!\n\n     _All except Reuben:_ Yea! Yea!\n\n     _Reuben:_ Nay, do not kill him; let's put him in a deep pit.\n\n     _Tenth Brother:_ Well, all right.\n\n          [JOSEPH _appears; exit_ REUBEN.]\n\n     _Joseph:_ Ah, I have found ye at last, my brethren.\n\n          [_All grab_ JOSEPH.]\n\n     _Joseph:_ What have I done to deserve this?\n\n     _Fourth Brother:_ Get some rope!\n\n          [_Exit sixth brother and brings some rope back with him.\n          Eighth and ninth brothers bind_ JOSEPH _with ropes. All\n          take hold of him and push him into the pit._]\n\n     _Tenth Brother:_ But what shall we tell our father?\n\n     _Eighth Brother:_ Let's tell him that Joseph was killed by a\n     wild beast.\n\n     _Ninth Brother:_ We will take his coat of many colors, which\n     our father gave him, and dip it in the blood of a goat.\n\n     _All:_ Yea! Yea!\n\n          [_Seventh brother sees some merchants._]\n\n     _Seventh Brother:_ I see merchants in the distance. Let's\n     sell Joseph to them.\n\n          [_One brother goes after the merchants, while the\n          others bring_ JOSEPH _from the pit. Merchants enter._]\n\n     _Tenth Brother:_ What will ye give us for this lad?\n\n     _Merchant:_ I guess we can give ye about twenty pieces of\n     silver.\n\n          [_Merchants take_ JOSEPH _with them. Brothers go on\n          their way. Enter_ REUBEN _after his brothers have gone.\n          He runs to the pit._]\n\n     _Reuben:_ Joseph! Joseph! Where art thou? The lad is gone.\n     Whither shall I go?\n\n          [REUBEN _goes away, sobbing and wringing his hands._]\n\n     END\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAt the meeting when these were read the children began to criticize the\nlength of the play. One little boy made the remark, \"We keep telling\nthe same things over; why can't we leave out that second scene? It is\nso short, and Joseph could tell his brothers in the third scene that he\ndidn't find them at Shechem.\" This suggestion was readily accepted, and\nas a consequence the second scene was omitted. Then the entire group\nconsciously worked on the play to see what parts were unnecessary.\nSeveral children had recently been to the theater and had seen some\ngood plays. They told the others that there were few scenes and that\nthere was much left to the imagination of the audience. The result was\nthat this long-drawn-out play was cut down to three essential scenes.\nThe first scene was placed at Dothan, and was much the same as the\noriginal scene iii. The second scene was placed at Pharaoh's palace\nwhere Joseph was brought to interpret the king's dream. The third\nrepresented the brothers coming to Joseph with Benjamin, the youngest,\nending with Joseph's forgiveness of them and his sending for Jacob,\ntheir father.\n\nAfter these three scenes were decided upon, the older children were\nasked to begin writing them out in final form.\n\nAt the fifth meeting of the club all the children sat in a circle with\nBibles and pencils and paper and, together with the leader, they\nformulated the speeches, making them conform as nearly as possible to\nthose in the Bible. The work that had been done outside was discussed\nand built upon. This part of the procedure did not take as long a time\nas it may seem, because the children knew so well what thoughts they\nwanted to express--they had lived the story so many times. They\npracticed after this, using the words they had decided upon.\n\nFor the next meeting or two the children acted out the play, trying\neach time to improve it by better interpretations of the parts. The\nfact that they had learned definite words did not in the least check\nthe freedom of the action or cause the play to lose the spontaneity\nwhich first characterized it, for the reason that the story had quite\nbecome a part of the children before they decided upon the set\nspeeches.\n\nThe question arose as to which children should take certain parts. In\nsome instances several wanted to learn the part of one particular\ncharacter. They were each given the opportunity of learning it, and\nthen at the next meeting each acted it as best he or she could before\nthe group. The other children were judges and decided upon the one who\nseemed to represent the character best. Whenever this method of\nchoosing characters has been employed there has never been any hard\nfeeling on the part of a child because he was not chosen. The justice\nof the choice is quickly recognized when it comes in this way rather\nthan from the leader.\n\nThere were many little children in this club who were scarcely old\nenough to learn a part or to say very much. They were easily worked\ninto the caravan, or they took such parts as servants in Pharaoh's\ncourt. Each child was made to feel that one part was just as important\nas another and that those who had nothing to say were very essential\nelements because of their acting.\n\nEight or nine meetings were needed before the play was entirely\nfinished. The children had very simple slips for costumes which they\nhad been wearing at each rehearsal. Bright-colored sashes and\nheaddresses they brought from home. Pharaoh was more gaily dressed than\nthe others. The child who took the part made for himself many ornaments\nfrom gilt paper.\n\nVery little attention was given to stage setting, what was used was\nextremely simple. A few of the older girls made designs from the\nEgyptian lotus to stand around the walls of Pharaoh's palace or to be\ncarried by the servants. Colored illustrations of Bible stories by\nTissot were suggestive helps in these details. The ten brothers made\nthemselves shepherd staffs from limbs of trees. This small amount of\nstage setting and costuming was used at many rehearsals and was all\nthat was necessary to produce the right atmosphere.\n\nAs soon as the children felt that the play represented their best\neffort they invited their parents and friends and presented it before\nthem one Sunday afternoon at the time for the regular meeting.\n\nIt happened that a few days before the final presentation four of the\nprincipal characters were taken ill with measles and chicken-pox. Four\nothers, who had not given special attention to these parts, but who had\nminor parts, assumed the important roles and went straight through the\nplay with no trouble whatever. The audience never knew the difference\nand the children thought that it was entirely natural that they should\nbe able to do this. The play all the way through was characterized by a\nspirit of dignity and seriousness.\n\nAs direct results of this work in dramatization it was noted that all\nthe children had acquired a certain freedom of expression, a\nself-confidence, without conceit or too much sureness, and the ability\nto work harmoniously with the group. One or two timid children learned\nto forget themselves, and one overconfident child was helped by seeing\nthat others could learn to do the part even a little better than\nherself.\n\nThe children who took part in this little play of _Joseph_ will never\nforget it. Several years after the play was given they were frequently\nreferring to it with great happiness. Joseph is one of their favorite\ncharacters because they have lived through his experiences with him.\n\nThe following is the play as it was given in its final form. It is not\nto be taken as a play which may be given to children to be learned as\nit is; it is given here that there may be some idea of the standard\nwhich may be reached.\n\n\n\n\n     JOSEPH\n\n\n     SCENE I\n\n          PLACE: Dothan.\n\n          CHARACTERS: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar,\n          Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph, Several\n          Ishmaelitish Merchants.\n\n          [_The ten brothers are sitting and lounging on the\n          ground, eating bread._]\n\n     _Reuben:_ Shall we stay longer in this place? Our flocks\n     have fed well in Shechem and Dothan. Let us return again\n     unto Canaan and to the tent of our father, Jacob.\n\n     _Judah:_ Oh, why should we go back? Our father loveth us\n     not! It is Joseph, our younger brother, that he favoreth!\n\n     _Levi:_ Yes, this Joseph! This dreamer of dreams! He\n     thinketh he is greater than we. He thinketh he shall rule\n     over us!\n\n     _Judah:_ Ye heard him when he said, \"Hear this dream which I\n     have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field,\n     and, lo, my sheaf arose, and stood upright; and, behold,\n     your sheaves stood round about, and bowed down to my sheaf.\"\n\n     _Simeon:_ Ha! Shall he indeed reign over us? Or shall he\n     have dominion over us?\n\n     _Levi:_ Yea, and he dreamed yet another dream, for he said,\n     \"Behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars bowed\n     down unto me.\"\n\n     _Dan:_ What is this dream which he has dreamed? Shall his\n     mother and father and eleven brethren indeed come to bow\n     down themselves to him?\n\n     _Simeon:_ Joseph and his dreams are hateful unto me! I was\n     glad when our father said to us, \"Take the flocks to feed in\n     Shechem,\" for now we are free of him.\n\n     _Levi:_ It seemeth to me that I see this Joseph, this\n     dreamer whom we hate. He is yet afar off, but he surely\n     approacheth us!\n\n     _Reuben:_ Can it be he?\n\n     _Dan:_ Yes, for I see the coat of many colors, the coat our\n     father made for his favorite son.\n\n     _Levi:_ Why should he come to us? Cannot our father trust\n     the flocks to our hands without sending this Joseph to spy\n     on us?\n\n     _Dan:_ It is he! It is Joseph!\n\n     _Simeon:_ What shall we do?\n\n     _Judah:_ Our time is come. We despise him; let us slay him.\n\n     _Reuben:_ Nay, thou dost not mean to slay him!\n\n     _Several:_ Nay! Nay!\n\n     _Judah:_ We must surely slay him. We must rid ourselves of\n     this dreamer. Think how he said he should reign over us! Let\n     us be rid of him!\n\n     _Simeon:_ Yes, thou art right--we must slay him.\n\n     _Several:_ Yea, yea, slay him! Destroy him! He shall dream\n     no more such dreams!\n\n     _Simeon:_ Behold, this dreamer cometh near! Come, now, and\n     let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will\n     say, \"Some evil beast hath devoured him,\" and we shall see\n     what will become of his dreams.\n\n     _Reuben:_ Let us not kill him. Shed no blood, but cast him\n     into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand\n     upon him.\n\n          [REUBEN _goes away._]\n\n          [JOSEPH _runs up._ GAD _lays one hand roughly on his\n          shoulder._]\n\n     _Gad:_ How comes it that thou art here? What is thy\n     business?\n\n     _Joseph:_ My father commanded me and said, \"Go, I pray thee,\n     and see whether it be well with thy brethren and well with\n     the flocks; and bring me word again.\" So he sent me out of\n     the vale of Hebron, and I came to Shechem. And you were not\n     there, and I came on after you and found you here. What\n     troubleth you? Hath aught happened to the flocks?\n\n     _Simeon:_ Hear his tale! This dreamer of dreams! So he would\n     reign over us, would he! Strip him of his coat of many\n     colors! This favored son!\n\n          [_Brothers bind_ JOSEPH _and cast him into the pit._]\n\n     _Joseph:_ What have I done to deserve this?\n\n          [_Brothers sit down again to eat their bread._]\n\n     _Gad:_ Behold, I see a caravan!\n\n     _Simeon:_ From what country?\n\n     _Gad:_ It is a company of Ishmaelites, from Gilead, with\n     their camels, bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going down\n     into Egypt.\n\n     _Judah:_ What doth it profit if we slay our brother and\n     conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to these\n     Ishmaelites and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our\n     brother and our flesh.\n\n     _Several:_ So be it.\n\n     _Gad:_ Hail the caravan, and bargain with these men.\n\n     _Simeon_ [_salutes the head man of the caravan; the brothers\n     listen attentively;_ GAD _brings_ JOSEPH _out of the pit_]:\n     What wilt thou give us in exchange for this lad? We would\n     sell him.\n\n     _Merchant_ [_looks_ JOSEPH _over, then consults with his\n     men_]: Twenty pieces of silver will we give for him.\n\n     _Simeon_ [_to the brothers_]: These merchants will give us\n     twenty pieces of silver for this dreamer.\n\n     _All:_ Sell him! Sell him!\n\n          [JOSEPH _is taken over by the merchants and they all\n          move on. The brothers are dividing out the money._]\n\n     _Gad:_ The lad is gone with the merchants, but what excuse\n     shall we make unto our father?\n\n     _Simeon:_ Say unto him that a wild beast hath devoured him.\n     Here is his coat of many colors--we will kill a goat and dip\n     the coat in the blood! Then our father, Jacob, will grieve\n     for his son!\n\n     _All:_ As thou sayest, so let us do!\n\n          [_Brothers move off stage, discussing the money._ REUBEN\n          _comes back. He runs and looks in the pit. He tears his\n          clothes when he finds that_ JOSEPH _is not there._]\n\n     _Reuben:_ The child is not, and I, whither shall I go?\n\n\n     SCENE II\n\n          PLACE: Egypt. In Pharaoh's palace.\n\n          CHARACTERS: Pharaoh, Joseph, Wise Men, Chief Butler,\n          Servants.\n\n          [_Pharaoh is sitting on his throne; many wise men come\n          in and bow down before him._]\n\n     _Pharaoh:_ Arise, O wise men of Egypt! I have sent for you\n     this day because of a dream which troubleth me.\n\n          [_Men stand up._]\n\n     _Wise Men:_ What is thy dream, O King?\n\n     _King:_ I dreamed, and, behold, I stood by a river, and\n     there came up out of the river seven fat cows, and they fed\n     in a meadow. And, behold, seven other cows came up after\n     them out of the river, ill-favored and lean. And the\n     ill-favored and lean cows did eat up the seven well-favored\n     and fat cows. Then did I awake, but the second time I slept\n     and dreamed. And, behold, seven good ears of corn came up\n     upon one stalk, and, behold, seven thin ears sprung up after\n     them, and the seven thin ears devoured the seven full ears.\n     And I awoke again, and, behold, it was a dream. Now, is\n     there one among you who can tell me the meaning of these\n     dreams, for my spirit is troubled because of them?\n\n          [_The wise men in turn come out and bow before the king\n          and say_]:\n\n     _First Wise Man:_ O my lord King, thy dream troubleth me,\n     but I am not able to interpret it.\n\n     _Second Wise Man:_ O King, also, I cannot tell thee the\n     meaning of thy dream.\n\n     _Third Wise Man:_ Most gracious King, I, also, am unable to\n     interpret thy dream.\n\n     _Fourth Wise Man:_ O great Pharaoh, I regret that I am\n     unable to help thee.\n\n     _Pharaoh_ [_angrily_]: Are ye called the wise men of Egypt,\n     and yet are ye not able to interpret a dream?\n\n          [_The chief butler comes forward and falls before the\n          king._]\n\n     _Butler:_ O great King, I am only thy chief butler, but I\n     beg of thee allow me to speak.\n\n     _King:_ Speak, butler, what wouldst thou say?\n\n     _Butler:_ O King, I do remember my faults this day. When\n     Pharaoh was wroth with his servants and put me in prison,\n     both me and the chief baker, behold, we dreamed a dream in\n     one night, and there was a young man, a Hebrew, and we told\n     him, and he interpreted to us our dream. And it came to pass\n     as he interpreted unto us, for I was restored unto mine\n     office and the baker was hanged.\n\n     _Pharaoh:_ Send for this young Hebrew; bring him into my\n     presence. [_Servant goes out for_ JOSEPH.] Butler, who is\n     this boy that interpreted thy dream?\n\n     _Butler:_ His name is Joseph, O King. He was brought down\n     from Canaan by a caravan and was sold to Potiphar, the\n     captain of Pharaoh's guard. But he displeased Potiphar, so\n     he was thrown into prison at the time thy servants were\n     there.\n\n          [_Enter_ JOSEPH. _He falls on his face before_ PHARAOH.]\n\n     _Pharaoh:_ I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that\n     can interpret it, and I have heard say of thee that thou\n     canst understand a dream to interpret it.\n\n          [JOSEPH _rises._]\n\n     _Joseph:_ It is not in me; God shall give Pharaoh an answer\n     of peace.\n\n     _Pharaoh:_ [_Repeats his dream to_ JOSEPH.]\n\n          [JOSEPH _comes nearer to_ PHARAOH.]\n\n     _Joseph:_ What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh:\n     Behold, there will come seven years of great plenty\n     throughout all the land of Egypt. And there shall arise\n     after them seven years of famine. And all the plenty shall\n     be forgotten throughout Egypt, and the famine shall consume\n     the land, and it shall be very grievous. Now therefore let\n     Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise and set him over\n     the land of Egypt, and let him appoint officers over the\n     land. And let them gather all the food of those good years\n     that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh. And\n     let them keep food in the cities. And that food shall be\n     stored against the seven years of famine, that the land may\n     not perish through famine.\n\n     _Pharaoh:_ This plan seemeth good unto me. Can we find such\n     a one as this is, a man in whom the spirit of God is?\n\n     _The Wise Men:_ Nay, O King, he is most wise.\n\n     _Pharaoh:_ Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, thou\n     shalt be over my house, and according to thy word shall all\n     my people be ruled, only in the throne will I be greater\n     than thou. See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.\n     [_To his servants:_] Bring a golden chain, and fine raiment\n     for this man.\n\n          [_He puts a ring on_ JOSEPH'S _hand. When the clothes\n          are brought they are put around him, the chain on his\n          neck, etc._]\n\n     _Pharaoh:_ Thou shalt ride in the second chariot and all my\n     people shall bow the knee unto thee. [_All people in the\n     room bow._] I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift\n     up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.\n\n     _Joseph:_ May the Lord God give me power to do his will.\n\n\n     SCENE III\n\n          PLACE: Pharaoh's palace.\n\n          CHARACTERS: Joseph, His Eleven Brothers, Servants,\n          Pharaoh.\n\n          [JOSEPH _is seated on his high seat. A servant comes\n          in._]\n\n     _Servant:_ Master, the men that came down from Canaan to buy\n     food of thee have returned and would have a word with thee.\n\n     _Joseph:_ Bring them in. [_To another servant_]: Go see that\n     a feast is prepared for these men.\n\n          [_The brothers enter bringing_ BENJAMIN. _They all fall\n          on their faces._]\n\n     _Joseph:_ Arise! And have you returned bringing with you\n     your youngest brother?\n\n     _Reuben:_ O sir, we have brought our youngest brother; he is\n     here.\n\n          [BENJAMIN _is led forward._ JOSEPH _goes near and puts\n          his hand on_ BENJAMIN.]\n\n     _Joseph:_ And is this your younger brother of whom ye spake\n     unto me? God be gracious unto thee, my son! [_To the\n     brothers:_] Is your father well, the old man of whom ye\n     spake? Is he yet alive?\n\n     _Levi:_ Thy servant, our father [_all bow heads_], is in\n     good health; he is yet alive.\n\n          [JOSEPH _turns away and begins to weep; he leaves them\n          abruptly and walks to the other side of the room._]\n\n     _Joseph_ [_to the servants_]: Cause every man to go out from\n     me! [_All begin to leave the room, brothers included._] [_To\n     the brothers. He walks quickly after them and holds his arms\n     out toward them._] Stay! I am Joseph; doth my father yet\n     live? Come near to me, I pray you. [_They come somewhat\n     nearer and fall to the ground._] I am Joseph, your brother,\n     whom ye sold into Egypt. Now, therefore, be not grieved nor\n     angry with yourselves, that ye sold me thither, for God did\n     send me before you to preserve life. For these two years\n     hath the famine been in the land; and yet there are five\n     years more. God hath sent me before you to save your lives.\n     Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, \"Thus\n     saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt.\n     Come down unto me, and tarry not. And thou shalt be near\n     unto me, thou and thy children, and thy flocks, and thy\n     herds and all thou hast. Oh, do you not see that I am Joseph\n     that speak unto you?\" [_He weeps again and turns away._]\n\n     [Illustration: FIG. 1--Pharaoh's court]\n\n     _Brothers:_ Joseph, our brother Joseph! Can he forgive us?\n\n          [PHARAOH _enters here_]\n\n     _Joseph:_ O King, these are my brethren, and from my\n     father's tent.\n\n     _Pharaoh:_ Say unto thy brethren: \"This do ye: Go back unto\n     the land of Canaan and take your father and your household\n     goods, and come unto me. And I will give you the good of the\n     land of Egypt, and ye shall eat of the fat of the land. Now\n     ye are commanded: This do ye: Take ye wagons out of Egypt\n     for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your\n     father, and come, for the good of the land shall be yours.\"\n\n     _One Brother:_ We thank thee, O great Pharaoh, and our\n     brother Joseph. This is greater than we deserve. We will\n     bring our father down straightway.\n\n     _Joseph:_ Praise be to God who has done this good thing!\n\n     END\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nTHE DRAMATIZATION OF _DAVID AND GOLIATH_\n\n\nWhen beginning dramatic work with a group of children who have never\nhad the training before, it is always well to select as the first story\nto be dramatized one that is short, simple in structure, and full of\naction. If children undertake a long story which involves complicated\nsituations, they easily become discouraged and lose the joy and\nspontaneity which are essential elements in successful dramatizations.\nFables, such as \"The Boy and the Wolf\" or \"The Fox and the Grapes,\" are\nexcellent to begin with, because they contain the necessary qualities\nwhich make up a good short story. Situations as simple as those which\nare presented in these fables are entered into with great freedom, and\nthey seem to pave the way for more ambitious dramatizations.\n\nThe story of _David and Goliath_ is short, simple, and yet contains\nvivid action. It was chosen as one of the first stories to be given to\nthe dramatic club because of these qualities. After the children had\ngone through the experience of dramatizing it they had gained a\nself-confidence and a realization of their own power in interpreting a\nstory through dramatization.\n\nThe methods employed in presenting _David and Goliath_ were much the\nsame as those described in connection with _Joseph._ The point that\nmust be kept in mind in all of this work is that the dramatization of a\nstory begins with the action and that the words are developed. The play\nis never written first and acted afterward.\n\nWhile telling the story the leader placed much emphasis upon the\nactivities and ideals of the shepherd life of the Hebrews in the time\nof David. The children made their own armor--helmets, swords,\nshields--from cardboard and colored papers. Pictures and descriptions\nwhich they secured helped them to get correct ideas as to shapes and\ndecorations.\n\nThe costumes were simple little slips that could be belted in at the\nwaist, and came only to the knees. The children helped to plan and make\nthem. David made his shepherd staff from a limb of a tree, and the\nsoldiers made their spears by fastening gilded points to long sticks.\n\nA question arose as to how the sling was made. The children found, upon\nlooking up this point, that the sling was woven from different colored\nwools. From a good picture they constructed looms from cardboard and\nactually wove several slings like David's. Fig. 14 shows a diagram of\nthe loom as the children worked it out.\n\nA very great value was derived from this construction work, in that it\ncame entirely from the children; it was an outgrowth of their genuine\ninterest in the subject. They were reliving the same experiences and\nsolving the same problems that had confronted David.\n\nThe gentle spirit of David had a direct influence upon the whole group.\nIt made no difference what part a child interpreted--whether that of\nGoliath or of one of the brothers--it was evident that David's high\nideals and sweetness of character called forth admiration.\n\nFig. 2 gives one of the scenes from _David and Goliath._ The play\nfollows as it was given.\n\n\n     DAVID AND GOLIATH\n\n          CHARACTERS: David, David's Three Brothers, King Saul,\n          Goliath, Israelite Soldiers, Philistine Soldiers.\n\n\n     SCENE I. THE CHALLENGE\n\n          PLACE: On the battlefield.\n\n     _First Brother:_ Have ye seen this Philistine who is come\n     up, this giant who has defied the armies of the living God?\n\n     _Second Brother:_ Who has seen him?\n\n     _Third Brother:_ I have seen him; he is verily a giant. His\n     height is six cubits and a span. He weareth an helmet of\n     brass upon his head, and he is armed with a coat of mail,\n     and he hath greaves of brass upon his legs, and the staff of\n     his spear is like the weaver's beam; and one bearing a\n     shield goeth before him. Our soldiers are truly afraid. They\n     flee as he approacheth.\n\n     [Illustration: FIG. 2.--A scene from _David and Goliath_]\n\n     _Goliath_ [_apart from the king and soldiers_]: Why are ye\n     come out to gather your armies to battle? Am I not a\n     Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? Choose you a man for\n     you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight\n     with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants; but\n     if I prevail against him and kill him, then shall ye be our\n     servants and serve us. I defy the armies of Israel this day;\n     give me a man, that we may fight together.\n\n          [_Some of the soldiers turn and flee._]\n\n     _Saul:_ Hear the words of this Philistine. I know not what\n     we can do. Have we no man among us with the strength or\n     boldness to fight this giant? I will enrich him with great\n     riches.\n\n     _Second Brother:_ In truth, he is a mighty giant, O King.\n     Our soldiers are greatly dismayed; no one will accept this\n     challenge.\n\n          [_The king and two soldiers go out. Enter_ DAVID. _He\n          runs up to his brothers and salutes them._]\n\n     _First Brother:_ This is David, our younger brother! How\n     cometh it that thou art here?\n\n     _Second Brother:_ I thought we left thee tending the sheep.\n\n     _Third Brother:_ What news dost thou bring of our father? Is\n     all well with him?\n\n     _David:_ My father commanded me, saying, \"Take now for thy\n     brethren this parched corn and these ten loaves, and run to\n     the camp of thy brethren; and carry these ten cheeses unto\n     the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren\n     fare.\" And I rose up early in the morning, and left the\n     sheep with a keeper, and came as my father commanded.\n\n          [_Brothers take food from_ DAVID.]\n\n     _Goliath:_ Why are ye come out to gather your armies to\n     battle? Am I not a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul?\n     Choose you a man for you and let him come down to me. If he\n     be able to fight with me and to kill me, then will we be\n     your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him,\n     then shall ye be our servants and serve us. I defy the\n     armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight\n     together.\n\n          [DAVID _listens. The soldiers seem disturbed and\n          frightened._]\n\n     _David:_ What meaneth this?\n\n     _Soldier_ [_walks up to_ DAVID]: Have ye seen this man who\n     is come up? Surely to defy Israel is he come up. And it\n     shall be that the man who killeth him the king will enrich\n     with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make\n     his father's house free in Israel.\n\n     _David:_ Who is this Philistine that he should defy the\n     armies of the living God?\n\n     _First Brother_ [_showing anger against_ DAVID]: Why camest\n     thou hither? And with whom hast thou left those few sheep in\n     the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thy\n     heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the\n     battle.\n\n     _David:_ What have I now done? [_He turns from his brothers\n     and speaks to the people._] What shall be done with the man\n     that killeth this Philistine and taketh away the reproach\n     from Israel? For who is this Philistine that he should defy\n     the armies of the living God? I will fight him, and if I\n     prevail against him and kill him, then will the Philistines\n     be our servants and serve us. The Lord God of Israel will\n     deliver him into my hands.\n\n     _Soldiers:_ Saul, the king, shall hear these words!\n\n\n     SCENE II. DAVID BEFORE SAUL\n\n          PLACE: Saul's tent.\n\n     _David_ [_comes in and salutes the king_]: Let no man's\n     heart fail because of this giant; thy servant will go and\n     fight with this Philistine.\n\n     _Saul:_ Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to\n     fight with him; for thou art but a youth, and he a man of\n     war from his youth.\n\n     _David:_ Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and when there\n     came a lion or a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock, I\n     went out after him and smote him, and delivered it out of\n     his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I caught him by\n     the beard and smote him and slew him. Thy servant slew both\n     the lion and the bear; and this Philistine shall be as one\n     of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.\n     The Lord that hath delivered me out of the paw of the lion,\n     and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of\n     the hand of this Philistine.\n\n     _Saul:_ Go, and the Lord go with thee. [_To soldiers_]:\n     Bring forth armor; this youth must be ready to meet the foe.\n\n          [_The soldiers bring armor._ SAUL _puts the armor, a\n          helmet and a coat of mail, on_ DAVID. DAVID _puts on his\n          sword, then walks a few steps. He suddenly throws the\n          sword down and begins to take off the armor._]\n\n     _David:_ I cannot go with these, for I have not proved them.\n     [_He takes the armor off and keeps only his shepherd's staff\n     and sling._] The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of\n     the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me\n     out of the hand of this Philistine.\n\n          [_He bows to the king and goes out._]\n\n\n     SCENE III. THE BATTLE\n\n          PLACE: The battlefield.\n\n          [DAVID _picks up five smooth stones and puts them into\n          his shepherd bag._ GOLIATH _comes toward him. He is\n          dressed in armor, and the man that bears his shield\n          comes before him._ GOLIATH _looks surprised and\n          disgusted when he sees_ DAVID.]\n\n     _Goliath:_ Am I a dog that thou comest to me with staves?\n     Come to me and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the\n     air and unto the beasts of the field.\n\n     _David:_ Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear\n     and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the\n     Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, whom thou hast defied.\n     This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I\n     will smite thee, and take thy head from thee; and I will\n     give the bodies of the Philistines unto the fowls of the\n     air, and unto the beasts of the field, that all may know\n     that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall\n     know that the Lord saveth not with the sword and with the\n     spear, for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you\n     into our hands!\n\n          [DAVID _puts his hand into his bag and takes out a\n          stone and slings it, so that it hits the giant in the\n          forehead. The giant falls. The Philistines flee._ DAVID\n          _stands with his foot on the body of the giant._]\n\n     _Israelite Soldiers with David:_ The battle is the Lord's!\n\n     END\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nTHE DRAMATIZATION OF _MOSES IN THE BULRUSHES_\n\n\nThe method of presenting the story of _Moses in the Bulrushes_ differed\nsomewhat from that employed with _Joseph._ There was little need to\ntell the story at the beginning, for every child already knew it in\ndetail. Consequently the leader had the children tell most of it, while\nshe supplemented and directed attention to important parts.\n\nIn this case the entire play was planned roughly before any of it was\nacted. The story was criticized by the children as to its organization\nand unity, and as a result they made up an ending (Act III) which they\nfelt was needed to make the story complete. Experience with the other\nplays had led the children to feel the necessity for having a\nsatisfactory ending after the climax.\n\nAt the second meeting several girls brought in the scenes as they had\nwritten them out. They had tried to embody the points which the\nchildren had decided upon as the general plan of the play. The final\nplay varies very little from these scenes thus written by the girls\nthemselves.\n\nThere was no difficulty in solving the problem as to what they would do\nfor a baby in the first part of the play. Many dolls were brought in,\nand the choice fell upon the one that received the largest number of\nvotes because of his likeness to the baby Moses. A woven basket served\nfor the cradle of bulrushes. There were many rehearsals when there was\nno doll or cradle, but the children never felt the lack. Their\nimaginations can supply all needs.\n\nA few big Egyptian designs were made for the first and last scenes,\nwhich were placed in the king's court. These were fastened on the walls\nand around the king's seat, as was done in the play of _Joseph._\n\nBefore the play was given before parents and friends the children\ndecided to call it _The Childhood of Moses._ An older boy in the church\nprinted programs for the occasion that the audience might better\nunderstand the play. They read as follows:\n\n     THE CHILDHOOD OF MOSES\n\n     Dramatized and Presented by the Children's Dramatic Club of\n     the Hyde Park Church of Disciples\n\n            CHARACTERS\n\n     PHARAOH           King of Egypt\n     PRINCESS          Pharaoh's Daughter\n     MOSES             A Hebrew Boy\n     HEBREW WOMAN      Mother of Moses\n     MIRIAM            Sister of Moses\n     AARON             Brother of Moses\n     WISE MEN          Advisers of Pharaoh\n     Soldiers, Attendants to the Princess, Servants\n\n\n     SYNOPSIS OF SCENES\n\n     Act I. Pharaoh orders the killing of Hebrew boys.\n\n     Act II, Scene 1. In the home of a Hebrew family.\n\n             Scene 2. A Hebrew mother hides her child\n                      among the bulrushes.\n\n             Scene 3. The child is found by Pharaoh's\n                      daughter.\n\n     Act III. Moses is brought to Pharaoh's court.\n\nThe following is the play as it was given:\n\n\n     THE CHILDHOOD OF MOSES\n\n     ACT I\n\n          CHARACTERS: King, Wise Man, Chief Adviser, Queen,\n          Maids, and Soldiers.\n\n     _King:_ Behold, the people of the children of Israel are\n     more and mightier than we. Come, let us do wisely with them\n     lest they rise up and make war against us.\n\n     _Chief Adviser:_ What more can we do than we have already\n     done? We have made their lives bitter with hard service, and\n     we have made them carry our brick and mortar and work in our\n     fields.\n\n     _Wise Man:_ O King Pharaoh, I beg thee to let me speak.\n\n     _King:_ Speak, Wise Man.\n\n     _Wise Man:_ O King, I pray thee to be kind to these people.\n     When these Hebrews first came down from the land of Canaan,\n     a young man named Joseph saved our land from great famine.\n     These Israelites are his children's children and we should\n     treat them kindly.\n\n     _King:_ Treat them kindly! We have been kind to them long\n     enough; we must destroy them. I will command that every\n     Hebrew boy baby be killed!\n\n          [_Exeunt_ KING _and courtiers followed by soldiers._]\n\n     _Princess:_ O most gracious father, have mercy upon them.\n\n\n     ACT II\n\n     SCENE I\n\n          PLACE: The home of a Hebrew family.\n\n          CHARACTERS: Moses, Mother of Moses, Miriam, Aaron.\n\n          [_The mother is singing to the baby in her lap._ AARON\n          _is playing on the floor._ MIRIAM _runs in._]\n\n     _Miriam:_ O mother! The king has commanded that all the boy\n     babies be thrown in the river! How can we save our baby?\n\n     _Mother:_ Where shall we take him? I have hidden him for\n     these three months, but he is so big now and his cries are\n     so loud that they will be sure to find him wherever we go.\n\n     _Miriam:_ Come quickly, mother; we will go to the river and\n     hide him nearby. Pharaoh cannot find him there, for he will\n     think that he has been thrown in the water.\n\n     _Mother:_ O my poor baby!\n\n          [_The three run out._]\n\n\n     SCENE II\n\n          PLACE: The river bank.\n\n          CHARACTERS: Moses, Mother of Moses, Miriam.\n\n          [_The mother appears with the baby in her arms._ MIRIAM\n          _follows._]\n\n     _Miriam:_ O mother! We can hide him in these tall grasses!\n\n     _Mother:_ But I must have something to put him in. Gather\n     these rushes and I will weave a little cradle for him.\n\n          [_They both pick bulrushes and the mother weaves the\n          basket._]\n\n     _Mother:_ How can I leave him here alone? My little\n     daughter, will you stay and watch and bring me word quickly\n     if anything happens? We will hide the baby in this basket\n     among the flags, here at the edge of the water.\n\n     _Miriam:_ Good! Mother, I will hide nearby and see that no\n     harm comes to our baby.\n\n          [_The mother kisses the baby and puts him in the basket,\n          then rises and turns away._]\n\n     _Mother:_ Keep watch until I return.\n\n          [_Exit mother;_ MIRIAM _hides._]\n\n\n     SCENE III\n\n          PLACE: The river bank.\n\n          CHARACTERS: The Princess, Her Maidens, Soldiers, Moses,\n          Mother of Moses, and Miriam.\n\n          [_Several soldiers walk across the stage. Enter_\n          PRINCESS _and her maids._]\n\n     PRINCESS [_looking around_]: What beautiful clear water for\n     my bath!\n\n     _First Maid:_ Yea, Princess. Will you bathe here?\n\n          [_A baby's cry is heard._]\n\n     _Princess:_ What is it I hear? It sounds like a baby crying!\n     Look about, maidens! Is there something here?\n\n          [_All look about._]\n\n     _Second Maid_ [_finds baby; all come running up to her_]:\n     See what is here!\n\n     _Princess:_ A baby hidden in a basket! Bring him to me!\n\n          [_Third maid hands basket to_ PRINCESS, _who takes the\n          baby out._]\n\n     _Princess:_ Oh, what a beautiful baby! He is mine, for I\n     have found him! A Hebrew baby! His mother has hidden him in\n     the bulrushes to save his life.\n\n          [MIRIAM _runs out._]\n\n     _Miriam:_ Lady, would you like a nurse for that baby?\n\n     _Princess:_ A nurse for him? Yes, I do need a nurse.\n\n     _Miriam:_ I can get you one very quickly.\n\n     _Princess:_ Go bring her, child; I will wait here.\n\n          [MIRIAM _goes away running._]\n\n     _Princess:_ He is my boy, and I will call him Moses, for I\n     drew him out of the water.\n\n          [_Enter the mother and_ MIRIAM.]\n\n     _Miriam:_ Here is the nurse, lady.\n\n     _Princess:_ Will you take good care of this baby for me\n     until he becomes a youth? I will pay you wages. I am the\n     Princess, King Pharaoh's daughter. I will see that he is\n     educated as a prince in my father's court.\n\n          [PRINCESS _and her maids go out._]\n\n     _Mother:_ My boy is saved! My boy is saved!\n\n\n     ACT III\n\n     SCENE I\n\n          PLACE: Pharaoh's palace.\n\n          CHARACTERS: King Pharaoh, Princess, Maids, Soldiers,\n          Wise Men, Mother of Moses, Moses, Miriam, Aaron.\n\n          [_King sits on his throne, wise men and soldiers around.\n          Enter messenger._]\n\n     _Messenger:_ O King, the Princess awaits without and would\n     have speech with thee.\n\n     _King:_ Bid her enter.\n\n          [_Enter_ PRINCESS _and a few attendants._]\n\n     _Princess:_ O gracious King and father, I have a request,\n     and I beg that you grant it.\n\n     _King:_ Speak, my Princess; do I not always grant what you\n     ask?\n\n     _Princess:_ Yes, father, and I know that you will grant me\n     this. Several years ago I adopted a son and I ask that you\n     allow him to be educated in your palace.\n\n     _King:_ Adopted a son! What can be the meaning of this? I\n     never heard of this! Where did you get the boy?\n\n     _Princess:_ I found him, a little baby, hidden among the\n     rushes by the river bank.\n\n     _King:_ Why was he hidden? That is strange!\n\n     _Princess:_ He is a Hebrew boy, O father.\n\n     _King:_ A Hebrew boy! Did I not command that every Hebrew\n     boy should be killed?\n\n     _Princess:_ I must take the blame; I had his life spared.\n     Will you not let him be brought here?\n\n     _King:_ No, I will not! No Hebrew boy shall be brought here!\n\n     _Princess:_ If you would only see him, he is so beautiful,\n     you would love him as I do. He is without; permit me to show\n     him to you.\n\n     _King:_ Bring him in.\n\n          [_Maid goes to get_ MOSES. MOSES _enters with his\n          mother_, MIRIAM, _and_ AARON. PRINCESS _leads him to\n          the_ KING.]\n\n     _Princess:_ This is my son. Is he not a wonderful boy?\n\n     _King:_ He is fair to look upon, but yet he is a Hebrew.\n\n     _Princess:_ O my father, forget that he is a Hebrew and\n     remember only that he is my son.\n\n     _King:_ O my Princess, for your sake, I accept this boy. I\n     leave his training to you. May he grow up to be a prince\n     worthy of the house of Pharaoh.\n\n     END\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nTHE DRAMATIZATION OF _RUTH_\n\n\n_Ruth_ was dramatized by the club during the fall of the year because\nit is a story of the Hebrew harvest time. In order fully to interpret\nthe life of Ruth it was necessary for the children to secure\ninformation concerning the barley harvest in ancient Palestine, and\nalso to become familiar with the old customs involved in the story.\nMany children brought pictures which illustrated the points under\ndiscussion, and some of them contributed by telling what they had been\nable to read at home. Independence on the part of the children in\nlooking up data was always encouraged by the leader; the information\nwhich she had to give enriched and supplemented that which was brought\nin by them.\n\nDuring the process of this dramatization constant comparisons were made\nwith our own harvest time, and the study of the Hebrew harvest feasts\nand festivals served to increase the understanding and appreciation of\nour one harvest festival at Thanksgiving.\n\nThe method of procedure in presenting this story for dramatization\nfollows closely that described in connection with _Joseph._ The Bible\nversion of _Ruth_ is so simply and beautifully told that it needed\nvery little adapting. When it was first given to the children parts of\nit were read and parts were told by the leader. Many scenes were then\nplanned, but these were soon cut down to the three necessary scenes.\nFrom the first the children used much of the Bible language as they\nacted the story. The beauty and the poetry of it caused them to\nremember readily the exact wording in many cases.\n\nSeven meetings were required before the group was satisfied with the\nplay as a product of their best effort. As was the case with the other\nplays given by the club, the children who were to take the parts in the\nfinal presentation were selected by the group and not by the leader in\ncharge. Every child knew each part and could represent any character,\nbut children were chosen for specific parts because they seemed to\nrepresent certain characters unusually well.\n\nThe dramatization of this story called for much construction work. The\nreapers made their sickles of cardboard and covered them with gold or\nsilver paper or painted them. They found pictures which gave the shape,\nand from these they cut the patterns (Fig. 15). One little girl brought\na real sickle which had once belonged to a Filipino. It gave her\nhappiness to reap with it, but the others were just as content to use\nthe sickles from cardboard.\n\nThe need for a harvest song was felt, and in consequence a little song\nthat most of the children knew was decided upon. The reapers sang it as\nthey reaped and while Boaz was walking through his grain field. There\nwas no real grain nor anything to represent it, the children deciding\nto leave this to the imagination. The action of the reapers and the\nwords that were spoken gave evidence enough that grain was growing\nthere.\n\nThere was very little stage setting used in the play. The stage was\nbare in the first scene in order to represent the road from Moab to\nBethlehem. In the second scene a big earthenware jar was needed from\nwhich the reapers could drink. The third scene required a box which\nrepresented a seat by the city gate; the door which led off the stage\nat the side was used for the gate.\n\nThe action and the grouping of people in the third scene required\ncareful planning by the children. Women came through the gate and\npassed down the street with water jugs on their shoulders; men gathered\nin groups to discuss bits of news; Boaz walked toward the gate and sat\nwaiting for his kinsman. Finally, when the cousin appeared, Boaz hailed\nhim and had him sit down. The citizens who were standing near were\nasked to be witnesses in this business transaction. That one man should\ntake off his shoe and hand it to another was a custom that created much\ninterest among the children. They began to examine pictures for the\nkinds of shoes that were worn, and this led many of them to wear their\nown sandals, which approached most nearly to those seen in the\npictures. The children who did not own sandals tried to make them with\ncardboard and strips of cloth (see Fig. 26).\n\nThe costuming was very simple. The reapers wore the same little brown\nslips which had been worn in every play that had been given. Boaz\nenriched his costume by wearing brighter colors in his headdress and\ngirdle and by wearing a slip that was longer than the others.\n\nThe play follows as it was finally given.\n\n\n     RUTH\n\n\n     SCENE I\n\n          PLACE: In Moab, on the road to Judah.\n\n          CHARACTERS: Naomi, Ruth, Orpah.\n\n          SETTING: Naomi, Ruth, Orpah, are on the road going\n          toward Judah.\n\n          [NAOMI _stops and faces about._]\n\n     _Naomi:_ Turn back, my daughters-in-law; return each of you\n     to your mother's house. You have come with me far enough. I\n     must take the rest of my journey alone.\n\n     _Orpah and Ruth:_ Oh, do not send us back! We will not leave\n     thee!\n\n     _Naomi:_ Yea, you must leave me now. I am going home to my\n     own country and my own people, to Bethlehem, Judah! It is\n     ten long years since I left there to come to dwell in your\n     land of Moab. But now that the famine is over I must\n     return.\n\n     _Orpah:_ But, Naomi, our mother-in-law, we love thee. Do not\n     thou leave us!\n\n     _Naomi:_ I must go. I came to this country happy--with my\n     husband and two sons--but misfortune has dealt bitterly with\n     me. My husband first died, and now my two sons, your\n     husbands, are taken from me. I am old and sad. I have no one\n     left to comfort me. I must go back to mine own people. Leave\n     me, my daughters, and God bless you!\n\n          [_Both daughters weep._]\n\n     _Orpah_ [_weeping and kissing_ NAOMI]: If thou wilt be\n     happier, then thou must leave us. I will return to my\n     mother's house as thou sayest. [_She goes off slowly,\n     weeping._]\n\n          [RUTH _still stands by weeping. Takes hold of_ NAOMI'S\n          _hand._]\n\n     _Naomi:_ Behold, Orpah, thy sister-in-law, has gone back to\n     her people and unto her gods; return thou after thy\n     sister-in-law.\n\n     _Ruth:_ Intreat me not to leave thee, nor to return from\n     following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and\n     where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my\n     people, and thy God my God: where thou diest, will I die,\n     and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more\n     also, if aught but death part thee and me.\n\n     _Naomi:_ Since thou art so steadfastly minded to go with me,\n     Ruth, I will cease urging thee. Come, thou mayest go with me\n     to Bethlehem.\n\n\n     SCENE II\n\n          PLACE: In the barley fields of Boaz.\n\n          TIME: The harvest season.\n\n          CHARACTERS: Boaz, Ruth, Head Reaper, Reapers, Gleaners.\n\n\n          [_The reapers come in with their sickles, followed by\n          the gleaners._]\n\n     _Head Reaper:_ Truly we have a wonderful harvest this year!\n\n     _First Reaper:_ Yea, we will have food enough for ourselves\n     and for all the poor in our city of Bethlehem.\n\n     _Head Reaper:_ It is the great God that hath given us this\n     bounty.\n\n          [_All sing harvest song as they reap. While they are\n          singing_ RUTH _comes in and begins to pick up the\n          grain._]\n\n     _Second Reaper_ [_looking toward the entrance to the\n     field_]: The master is coming, the great Boaz!\n\n          [_All reapers look in that direction as they stand,\n          resting their sickles on the ground._ BOAZ _enters._]\n\n     _Boaz:_ The Lord be with you!\n\n     _Reapers:_ The Lord bless thee!\n\n          [_All go to work again, singing as before._ BOAZ _walks\n          among them; he sees_ RUTH _and watches her._]\n\n     _Boaz_ [_to the_ HEAD REAPER]: My good man, I would speak a\n     word with thee; come hither.\n\n     _Head Reaper:_ Speak, O master!\n\n     _Boaz:_ Whose damsel is this that gathereth grain after the\n     reapers?\n\n     _Head Reaper:_ My master, she is Ruth, the Moabitish damsel\n     that came back with Naomi, thy kinswoman. She hath been\n     gleaning here since early morning.\n\n     _Boaz:_ Go, bid the reapers not to harm her, and bid them\n     let fall purposely some of the handfuls of grain for her.\n\n          [_The_ HEAD REAPER _bows low and goes back among the\n          reapers._]\n\n     _Boaz_ [_to_ RUTH]: Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to\n     glean in another field, but stay here by my reapers. Let\n     thine eyes be on the reapers, and do thou glean that which\n     they leave behind. When thou art athirst, go unto the\n     vessels and drink that which the young men have drawn.\n\n     _Ruth_ [_bows to the ground_]: Why have I found such favor\n     in thine eyes, seeing that I am a stranger in the land?\n\n     _Boaz:_ It has been told me of thy great kindness to thy\n     mother-in-law, Naomi; how thou didst leave thine own people\n     to come with her and be among strangers; and how thou didst\n     leave thy gods to take the God of the children of Israel.\n     The Lord will bless thee for this.\n\n     _Ruth:_ I thank thee, O great Boaz, for thou hast comforted\n     me and thou hast spoken friendly words unto me.\n\n     _Boaz:_ Come hither at meal times and eat of the bread and\n     dip thy morsel in the vinegar with my reapers.\n\n          [_The reapers have departed._ BOAZ _goes off._]\n\n     _Ruth:_ The Lord God is truly good unto me!\n\n\n     SCENE III\n\n          PLACE: At the gate of the city.\n\n          CHARACTERS: Boaz, a Cousin of Naomi, Ten Citizens, Ruth,\n          Naomi.\n\n          [_Several citizens stand in groups, talking._ BOAZ\n          _enters._]\n\n     _Boaz_ [_speaks to one of the group_]: Hast thou seen my\n     cousin pass this way? I am seeking him.\n\n     _First Citizen:_ Nay, good sir, I have not seen him.\n\n     _Boaz:_ I must speak with him; I will wait here by the city\n     gate; perchance he will come soon.\n\n          [_One or two citizens pass by and speak to_ BOAZ,\n          _saying, \"Good-day, sir.\" Enter_ KINSMAN.]\n\n     _Boaz:_ Ho, Kinsman, turn aside! I would have a word with\n     thee. Sit thee down.\n\n          [KINSMAN _sits down._]\n\n     _Kinsman:_ What wilt thou, Cousin?\n\n     _Boaz:_ I would speak about a matter of importance; wait\n     thou here until I can bring witnesses. [_He turns to\n     citizens._] A piece of land is about to be sold; will ten\n     citizens witness this deed?\n\n     _Citizens:_ Aye, indeed. [_They come forward._]\n\n     _Boaz:_ Sit ye down here. [_They sit down._] [_To_ KINSMAN]:\n     Dost thou remember Naomi, our kinswoman, who went with her\n     husband and two sons to the land of Moab?\n\n     _Kinsman:_ Yea, I do know Naomi.\n\n     _Boaz:_ She selleth a parcel of land which was her\n     husband's. Now, thou art nearest of kin to Naomi, so I\n     thought to advise thee that thou mayest have the first\n     chance to redeem the land in the presence of the elders of\n     the city. If thou dost not care to redeem it, then the right\n     to redeem it cometh to me, for I am next of kin. What wilt\n     thou do?\n\n     _Kinsman:_ I will buy the land from our kinswoman, Naomi.\n\n     _Boaz:_ On the day that thou buyest the field from the hand\n     of Naomi, thou also takest Ruth, the Moabitess, for thy\n     wife, according to our custom and law.\n\n     _Kinsman:_ Then I will not redeem the land, for I cannot\n     take Ruth for my wife. Take thou my right to redeem it and\n     buy it for thyself.\n\n     _Boaz_ [_taking off his shoe and giving it to the_ KINSMAN,\n     _he says to the witnesses_]: Ye are witnesses this day that\n     I have bought this parcel of land from Naomi and that I buy\n     also, as my wife, Ruth, the daughter-in-law of Naomi. Of all\n     this ye are witnesses.\n\n     _Citizens:_ We are witnesses. [_Bow._]\n\n          [KINSMAN _returns shoe to_ BOAZ _and walks off._ RUTH\n          _and_ NAOMI _come through the street._]\n\n     _Boaz:_ Ye are well met, Naomi, my kinswoman, and Ruth. I\n     have good news for you; I have bought your land and I can\n     now take Ruth for my wife. Come, all ye fellow-citizens, for\n     the wedding feast is prepared at my house!\n\n          [_Takes_ RUTH _by the hand._]\n\n     _Naomi:_ Blessed am I that I should live to see this good\n     thing come to pass! The Lord hath been most gracious unto\n     me!\n\n     END\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nTHE DRAMATIZATION OF _QUEEN ESTHER_\n\n\nThe story of Esther involves a much more complicated situation than any\nof the others here described. It is not too difficult for\ndramatization, however, if it is taken after such stories have been\nworked out as _David and Goliath_ and _Joseph._\n\nIn the case of this dramatic club the story of Esther was told to the\nchildren after they had had much experience with other plays. The\ninteresting plot and the beauty and richness of the court made so great\nan appeal to them that they were eager to begin the dramatization. The\nstory was first simplified and adapted by the leader, and then told in\nsuch a manner as to emphasize the main events. The method of procedure\nfollowed that described in chapter iii in connection with the story of\nJoseph. After the telling of the story the scenes were selected. These\nwere acted out very freely at first, little thought being given to the\nwords. Many pictures were brought in, and descriptions of the court of\nKing Ahasuerus were read by the children from the Bible and from books\nof Bible stories.\n\nIn the second scene the children decided to have the maidens dance\nbefore the King. Several little girls who were trying out the part of\nEsther made up dances for themselves. This feature made this scene\nespecially attractive.\n\nThis play was longer than those that had previously been dramatized,\nand it therefore took a longer period of time to bring it into final\nshape. There is no reason to hurry a dramatization. If the aim of this\nkind of work is kept in mind, there will be growth on the part of the\nchildren at each meeting. The value lies, not in how many stories can\nbe dramatized during a year, but in how thoroughly the children are\nreliving a few good stories.\n\nThe play of _Queen Esther_ made it necessary to construct several\narticles. Gold dishes of various kinds were made by covering cardboard\nwith gold paper. These were used at the Queen's banquet. From the many\nscepters that were submitted the King chose the one for final use.\nElaborate gowns and headdresses were gathered; beads and jewels of all\ndescriptions were made from brilliantly colored papers.\n\nThe children took the responsibility of the costuming. The majority of\nthem planned their own garments and either brought things from home or\nselected some suitable costume from those which the club had on hand.\nTwo of the older girls took entire charge of the younger ones and saw\nto it that each had some simple slip to wear in the play.\n\nThe play follows as it was finally worked out by the children.\n\n\n     THE STORY OF QUEEN ESTHER\n\n     SCENE I\n\n          PLACE: The King's palace--Shushan.\n\n          CHARACTERS: King Ahasuerus (king of Media and Persia),\n          Haman (chief counselor), Persian Princes, Servants.\n\n          [_The_ KING _is seated on his throne, princes seated\n          before the_ KING, _and_ HAMAN _is seated by the_ KING'S\n          _side. Servants are bringing drinks in golden vessels._]\n\n     _King:_ The seventh day of this feast hath come, and on this\n     day will I bring my beautiful Queen, Vashti, before you. The\n     princes of my land must depart, bearing a good report of my\n     fair Queen as well as of the great riches of my court.\n     Chamberlains, come forth! [_The servants come before the_\n     KING _and bow._] I command you to bring Vashti, the Queen,\n     before my presence. [_Servants withdraw._]\n\n     _First Prince:_ O King, this is a great honor that thou\n     bestowest upon us!\n\n     _Second Prince:_ Yea, Vashti, the Queen, is already known\n     over the land for her wondrous beauty. We are most happy\n     that thou wilt allow thy servants to behold her.\n\n     _Third Prince:_ What wonderful tidings we will spread over\n     thy provinces, O King. Thy people do not know the half of\n     thy riches and thy wonderful greatness and generosity.\n\n          [_Enter servants. They bow low._]\n\n     _King:_ Rise; what is thy message?\n\n          [_They do not rise._]\n\n     _First Servant:_ O King, be merciful unto us!\n\n          [_They bow lower._]\n\n     _King:_ What meaneth this? Speak! [_in astonishment_] I\n     command thee. Where is the Queen?\n\n     _Second Servant:_ O great King, we delivered thy message as\n     thou didst command, but the Queen has refused to come before\n     thy presence.\n\n          [_All the princes and the_ KING _show surprise and\n          anger._]\n\n     _King:_ Refused to obey me? This is impossible! Are ye\n     certain that she understood the meaning of my command?\n\n     _Servants:_ We are, O King.\n\n     _King:_ She hath refused! It cannot be! [_He looks absently\n     away._] She must be punished.\n\n     _Haman:_ What shall we do to Queen Vashti according to the\n     law, because she hath not performed the commandment of King\n     Ahasuerus?\n\n     _First Prince:_ She hath not done wrong to the King only,\n     but also to all the princes of the land, for this deed of\n     the Queen shall become known unto all the women of Media and\n     Persia and they shall despise the command of their husbands:\n     \"Because,\" they shall say, \"King Ahasuerus commanded Vashti,\n     the Queen, to be brought before him and she came not.\"\n\n     _Second Prince:_ What shall we do? This will cause great\n     trouble and disobedience.\n\n     _King:_ What thinkest thou, Haman, my chief counselor?\n\n     _Haman:_ If it please the King, let there go forth a royal\n     commandment and let it be written among the laws of the\n     Medes and Persians that Vashti come no more before\n     Ahasuerus, and let the King give her royal estate to\n     another that is better than she. Then when this decree\n     shall become known all wives shall give honor unto their\n     husbands.\n\n     _King:_ This saying pleaseth me greatly. I shall do\n     accordingly. [_To servants_]: Send letters unto every\n     province to every people, which shall state this decree, so\n     that every man shall know it.\n\n     _Haman:_ O King, I pray thee, let there be fair maidens\n     brought before thee from which thou shalt choose another\n     which shall be thy Queen.\n\n     _King:_ So be it! See that fair maidens from every province\n     be brought here to my palace; and the one that pleaseth me\n     best, I will take her for my Queen.\n\n          [_All bow._]\n\n\n     SCENE II\n\n          PLACE: At Shushan, the palace.\n\n          CHARACTERS: King Ahasuerus, Mordecai, Maidens, Haman,\n          Servants, Courtiers.\n\n          [_Two servants are standing in the court room of  the\n          palace. Enter a messenger followed by_ ESTHER _and_\n          MORDECAI.]\n\n     _Messenger_ [_announces to the servants in the room_]: This\n     maiden has come to see the King.\n\n          [_He goes out._]\n\n     _First Servant:_ This is the place. Wait thou here. [_To_\n     MORDECAI]: What art thou here for? Thou wilt have to depart.\n\n     _Mordecai:_ I only brought this maiden. I beg of thee let me\n     have a few words with her; then I will withdraw.\n\n     _First Servant:_ Speak then quickly, before the King cometh.\n\n          [_Servants withdraw to another part of the room._]\n\n     [Illustration: FIG. 3.--Esther and Mordecai]\n\n     _Mordecai_ [_taking_ ESTHER'S _hand_]: Esther, my child,\n     thou art like my very child, for although I am but thy uncle\n     I have been as a father to thee. I bid thee farewell now,\n     for it seemeth to me that the King will surely choose thee\n     to be his Queen--thou art so fair. This one thing remember,\n     tell him not that thou art a Jewess. Fare thee well, Esther!\n     May the Lord bless thee!\n\n     _Esther:_ Farewell to thee, Mordecai!\n\n          [MORDECAI _goes out. Other maidens come in announced by\n          the messenger._]\n\n     _Messenger:_ These maidens would see the King.\n\n          [_The servants show them where to sit. Enter second\n          messenger._]\n\n     _Second Messenger:_ The King! The King!\n\n          [_Enter_ KING _and_ HAMAN. KING _sits on his throne._]\n\n     Second Servant [_bowing before the_ KING]: O King, the\n     maidens from all parts of the country have arrived and await\n     thy pleasure.\n\n     _King:_ Let them come before my presence one at a time, and\n     I will choose from among them the one that seemeth most\n     fair.\n\n          [_The musicians begin playing and, one by one, the\n          maidens come out. They bow and dance._ ESTHER _comes\n          last of all. As_ ESTHER _dances the_ KING _speaks._]\n\n     _King:_ What marvelous beauty! Surely this maiden is fair\n     enough to be my Queen.\n\n     _Haman:_ Yea, O King, thou art right; she should be thy\n     Queen.\n\n     _King_ [_takes_ ESTHER'S _hand_]: What is thy name, fair\n     maid?\n\n     _Esther:_ My name is Esther, O King.\n\n     _King:_ Esther, I do here take thee to be my Queen. Bring\n     the royal crown and the Queen's robes!\n\n          [_Servants come immediately and put them on her._]\n\n     [Illustration: FIG. 4.--Esther dances before the king]\n\n     _King_ [_leading_ ESTHER _out_]: Come unto the wedding feast\n     which is now prepared. All are welcome!\n\n\n     SCENE III\n\n          PLACE: The palace gate.\n\n          CHARACTERS: Haman, Mordecai, Servants, Esther.\n\n          [_Servants are standing and walking by the gate. Women\n          come by carrying water jars._ MORDECAI _stands apart\n          from the crowd._ HERALD _comes in._]\n\n     _Herald:_ Bow the knee, bow the knee. The chief counselor,\n     Haman, approacheth! Thus saith the King.\n\n          [HAMAN _comes in. All bow to him except_ MORDECAI.]\n\n     _Haman_ [_pointing to_ MORDECAI]: Who is this man who doth\n     not bow the knee to me?\n\n     _First Servant:_ He is Mordecai, the Jew, my lord. [_To_\n     MORDECAI]: Why dost thou break the King's commandment?\n\n     _Haman:_ Thou Jew! Dost thou think that thou art mightier\n     than I, whom the King hath set above all the princes of the\n     land? Thou shalt suffer for this. [_Turns to servant._] Send\n     letters unto all the King's provinces, to destroy, to kill,\n     and to cause to perish all Jews, both young and old, little\n     children and women, in one day--even upon the thirteenth day\n     of the twelfth month, and to take the spoil of them for\n     prey.\n\n          [_Servant bows and goes away._ HAMAN _passes on,\n          leaving_ MORDECAI _with two servants._ MORDECAI, _in\n          deep thought, walks anxiously up and down._]\n\n     _Mordecai:_ I must see Queen Esther. Canst thou not take me\n     to the Queen?\n\n     _Second Servant_ [_laughing scornfully_]: Thinkest thou that\n     the Queen will see thee?\n\n     _Mordecai:_ Give the Queen this paper and say to her that I,\n     Mordecai, the Jew, bid her come to me.\n\n          [_Servant withdraws._]\n\n     _Mordecai_ [_walking, talks to himself_]: Israel, O Israel,\n     my people! You shall not perish. Esther, your Queen, will\n     save you.\n\n          [_Enter_ ESTHER.]\n\n     _Esther:_ Mordecai, my uncle, why art thou here? Thou\n     lookest unhappy. Hath aught happened to thee?\n\n     _Mordecai:_ Yea, Esther, I am unhappy. I have sorrowful news\n     to tell thee.\n\n     _Esther:_ Chamberlains, withdraw! Speak, Mordecai; tell me\n     quickly. It may be that I can help thee.\n\n     _Mordecai:_ Esther, thou canst help me, and thou art the\n     only one who can. Haman, the King's counselor, hateth the\n     Jews--thy people and mine. He hath sent a decree over all\n     the country commanding that every Jew, both old and young,\n     little children and women, be killed on the thirteenth day\n     of the twelfth month. Esther, thou must save thy people and\n     thyself? Thou must go before the King and beg of him that he\n     spare thy people.\n\n          [ESTHER _shows great distress._]\n\n     _Esther:_ Oh, what shall I do? Dost thou not know that for\n     one who dareth to go before the presence of the King, if the\n     King hath not called him, there is certain death; except to\n     whom the King shall hold out the golden scepter--he may\n     live? I have not been called to come in unto the King these\n     thirty days. He will surely put me to death for such\n     boldness.\n\n     _Mordecai:_ Thou must go unto the King even so. Think not\n     that thou wilt escape death from Haman because thou art in\n     the King's house. Who knoweth but that thou hast been made\n     Queen for such a time as this!\n\n     _Esther_ [_after thinking deeply_]: Go, gather together all\n     the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me,\n     and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day, I\n     also and my maidens will fast likewise--and so I will go in\n     unto the King, which is not according to the law, and if I\n     perish, I perish.\n\n     _Mordecai:_ May the Lord go with thee!\n\n\n     SCENE IV\n\n          PLACE: In the court of the King's palace.\n\n          CHARACTERS: King Ahasuerus, Esther, Haman, Courtiers,\n          Servants.\n\n          [_The King sits on his throne._ QUEEN ESTHER _enters\n          and bows before the_ KING. _The_ KING _looks at her in\n          astonishment._]\n\n     _Courtiers_ [_in loud whispers_]: The Queen! It is the\n     Queen!\n\n     _King:_ Esther, hast thou dared to come before my presence\n     when I have not called thee? Thou surely dost not know what\n     thou art doing! This act of boldness can mean thy death! But\n     thou art so beautiful, Esther, I cannot be hard with thee.\n     Rise! [_He holds out the golden scepter._] What is the\n     request that has brought thee here? It shall be given thee,\n     even though it be half of my kingdom.\n\n          [ESTHER _touches the scepter and rises._]\n\n     _Esther:_ If it seemeth good unto the King, let the King and\n     Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared\n     for them.\n\n          [_She turns and goes out._]\n\n     _King:_ Hearest thou, Haman? Make haste and let us do as\n     Esther hath said. Come, we will prepare for this banquet.\n\n          [HAMAN _bows. The_ KING _and_ HAMAN _go out. Others\n          follow._]\n\n     [Illustration: FIG. 5.--The king holds out the scepter to\n     Esther]\n\n\n     SCENE V\n\n          PLACE: The Queen's apartment.\n\n          CHARACTERS: Queen Esther, King Ahasuerus, Haman,\n          Servants, Mordecai.\n\n          [_The servants are preparing the feast. Enter_ ESTHER.]\n\n     _Esther:_ See ye that the feast is in readiness, for the\n     King will soon arrive.\n\n          [_Servants bow._]\n\n     _Servant:_ The King cometh!\n\n     _Esther_ [_going to meet the_ KING _as he enters_]: Welcome,\n     my lord!\n\n          [_The_ KING _sits upon a throne prepared for him._]\n\n     _King:_ I am happy to be with thee, my fair Queen. Thou must\n     have a request which thou desirest to make--speak, be not\n     afraid. I will grant it though it be half of my kingdom.\n\n     _Esther:_ If I have found favor in thy sight, O King, and if\n     it please the King, let my life be saved and the lives of my\n     people--the Hebrew people. We are to be destroyed, to be\n     slain and to perish.\n\n     _King:_ Thy people? The Hebrew people? Who is this and where\n     is he that dareth in his heart to do this thing to thy\n     people?\n\n     _Esther:_ The enemy is thy chief counselor, this wicked\n     Haman.\n\n     _King:_ Did Haman do this deed? How didst thou know of his\n     plan?\n\n     _Esther:_ O King, Mordecai, the Jew, my uncle, hath shown me\n     the letter which Haman hath sent over the country. The Jews\n     are to be killed on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month.\n     I am begging thee for my life and for the lives of my\n     people!\n\n     [Illustration: FIG. 6.--Queen Esther pleads for her people]\n\n     _King:_ Fear not, Esther; thy people shall be saved.\n     Mordecai, the Jew, hath once done me a great service. He\n     hath not been rewarded for this. He shall have honor, for he\n     deserveth it.\n\n     _Servant:_ The great Haman hath come, O Queen.\n\n          [HAMAN _enters; they seat themselves, and the feast is\n          served._]\n\n     _King:_ Haman, what shall be done unto the man whom the King\n     delighteth to honor?\n\n     _Haman_ [_aside_]: Whom would the King like to honor more\n     than myself? [_To the_ KING]: For the man whom the King\n     delighteth to honor, let the royal apparel be brought which\n     the King useth to wear, and the horse which the King rideth\n     upon, and the royal crown which is set upon his head; and\n     let these be given the man whom the King delighteth to\n     honor; and let him ride on horseback through the streets of\n     the city; and proclaim before him, \"Thus it shall be done\n     unto the man whom the King delighteth to honor!\"\n\n     _King:_ Make haste and take the royal apparel and the horse\n     as thou hast said and do even so unto Mordecai, the Jew,\n     that sitteth at the King's gate. Let nothing fail of all\n     that thou hast spoken.\n\n          [HAMAN _bows his head low and goes out to_ MORDECAI.]\n\n     _Servant:_ O King, Haman hath built a gallows upon which to\n     hang Mordecai, the Jew, this day.\n\n          [HAMAN _returns with_ MORDECAI _and puts on the crown,\n     etc._]\n\n     _King:_ Let him who hath made the gallows hang upon it!\n\n          [_Servant takes_ HAMAN _out._]\n\n     _King:_ Come near, Mordecai. Thou hast found great favor in\n     mine eyes. From henceforth thou shalt be my chief counselor,\n     and thou shalt rule the land in Haman's place. Thy people\n     shall be spared, and letters shall be sent over all the\n     land and into every province which shall state that the\n     Hebrew people shall not be destroyed, but instead they shall\n     be honored and have joy and feasting.\n\n     _Mordecai:_ I thank thee, O King and Esther, my Queen, for\n     the great deliverance and for this great honor to me. May\n     the Lord give me strength to deal wisely with these peoples.\n\n     _Esther:_ This is a great happiness which thou hast bestowed\n     upon me, O King.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nTHE DRAMATIZATION OF _ABRAHAM AND THE THREE GUESTS_\n\n\nThis incident should be simplified and adapted before it is told to\nchildren. The dramatization is best worked out in the form of a short,\nfree play which involves only one act. It is unnecessary to carry it to\nthe point of fixed words and actions. The emphasis should be placed\nupon the customs of the times which are so well brought out in the\nstory; for example, the hospitality of Abraham to the strangers\nrepresents the feeling toward strangers among the nomad peoples, and\nthe manner in which he showed his hospitality makes children acquainted\nwith customs peculiar to those people. There is excellent opportunity\nhere for enriching the children's understanding of the life of a\nshepherd people, of which the Israelites are an example.\n\nDescriptions and pictures of the kind of tent the people lived in are\nnecessary. It is important that children should get the idea of the\ncorrect shape of the Arab tent and not confuse it with the Indian\nwigwam. No stage scenery need be used; it is best to leave that to the\nimagination. A curtain may be put up to represent the front of the\ntent, but nothing more.\n\nThere is much of this incident that should be left out in the telling;\nby no means should it be read directly from the Bible to children. The\nstory may be told so that the following points are emphasized:\n\nAbraham is sitting at the door of his tent. Three men appear; he runs\nto meet them and bows to the ground. He invites them to rest under the\nshade of the tree and offers to get food and to have their feet washed.\nThe strangers sit and talk together, then Abraham comes with the food.\nThey all eat and are rested, and as they rise to depart they ask for\nSarah, Abraham's wife. The strangers tell Sarah and Abraham that they\nare to have a son whose name shall be Isaac and whom God shall bless\nand who shall be the father of many people. Abraham and Sarah are\ngreatly astonished and pleased. They fall upon their knees to thank\nGod, and when they arise they find that the strangers have departed.\nThe scene closes with their exclamation, \"Surely these were angels from\nthe Lord who have visited us!\"\n\nThis story was dramatized by the children of the dramatic club after\nthey had had experience with many other dramatizations. During the\nfirst hour after the story was told the children succeeded in getting\nthe play into very nearly its final form. Two of the older girls,\nundertaking to write out the scenes as they thought they should be,\nbrought in their versions at the second meeting. Each one was read\naloud, the other children being asked to remember the parts that seemed\nespecially good. Then by combining, adding to, or taking from, a\ncomposite result was obtained. Several children wrote down the final\ndecisions at the dictation of the group.\n\nBelow is given the version which one child worked out by herself, and\nfollowing that is the final form of the play which the group as a whole\ndecided upon. The leader purposely left this play entirely in the hands\nof the children; the product is wholly their own.\n\n\n     THE PLAY EXACTLY AS ONE CHILD WROTE IT\n\n     _Abraham:_ The day is hot and I am weary. I will rest myself\n     from the heat of the day. [_He seats himself in the shade of\n     the tent._]\n\n     _Sarah:_ It is indeed hot, and I will bring thee food and\n     drink that thou mayest refresh thyself. [SARAH _retires into\n     the tent._]\n\n     _Abraham_ [_rises to his feet and shades his eyes with his\n     hands_]: Sarah, come hither! Yonder are strangers who are in\n     need of rest. [SARAH _comes out, and she and_ ABRAHAM _kneel\n     before them._] Welcome, strangers, seat yourselves that ye\n     may rest. My wife, Sarah, will bring you food, and water\n     that you may wash your feet.\n\n     _First Stranger:_ The Lord bless thee, Abraham. [_Sarah_\n     _and the servants withdraw, and_ ABRAHAM _and the three men\n     seat themselves before the tent._ SARAH _returns with water\n     and food. The strangers wash their feet and eat._]\n\n     _Sarah_ [_offering them food_]: Drink thou this fresh milk,\n     and refresh thyself with this fruit, for ye look weary.\n     [_They finish eating and_ SARAH _and the servants retire._]\n\n     _Second Stranger:_ We bring thee good tidings and would\n     speak with thee and thy wife. [SARAH _comes from within the\n     tent._]\n\n     _Third Stranger:_ We are messengers from the Lord to tell\n     thee that thou wilt have a son.\n\n     _First Stranger:_ He will be the father of many men and\n     thousands will respect him. Ye shall name him ISAAC.\n\n     _Sarah:_ That cannot come to pass! For many years I have\n     been childless, and the Lord will not give me a son.\n\n     _Abraham_ [_falling on his knees_]: Thanks be to the Lord! A\n     son at last!\n\n     _Sarah:_ Can it be that these tidings are true? If so, it is\n     indeed a message from the Lord! [_She too falls on her knees\n     before them. The three men quietly leave, and when_ SARAH\n     _and_ ABRAHAM _rise to their feet they are out of sight._]\n\n     _Abraham:_ They were angels from heaven! Our wish has been\n     granted at last!\n\n     END\n\n\nThe following is the play as it was finally presented:\n\n\n     ABRAHAM AND THE THREE GUESTS\n\n          PLACE: In front of the tent of Abraham.\n\n          CHARACTERS: Abraham, a Shepherd; Sarah, His Wife; Three\n          Strangers; Four Servants.\n\n          [ABRAHAM _and_ SARAH _come out of the tent._]\n\n     _Abraham:_ The day is hot, and I am weary; I will sit down\n     and rest in the shade of this tree.\n\n     _Sarah:_ Yea, it is hot. I will bring thee drink and food\n     that thou mayest refresh thyself, my good husband.\n\n          [SARAH _goes into the tent._ ABRAHAM _sees three\n          strangers approaching. He stands up, shades his eyes\n          with his hands, and looks out over the desert. He calls\n          to_ SARAH.]\n\n     [Illustration: FIG. 7.--The three guests bless Abraham and\n     Sarah]\n\n     _Abraham:_ Sarah, my wife, come hither! Lo, I see three\n     strangers approaching over the desert.\n\n          [SARAH _comes out of the tent and looks also._]\n\n     SARAH: They will be weary and in need of rest. I will hasten\n     and prepare food and drink for them also.\n\n          [SARAH _goes away._ ABRAHAM _rises to meet the strangers:\n          he falls on the ground before them._]\n\n     _Abraham:_ Welcome, strangers, to the tent of Abraham! If I\n     have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee!\n     Let now a little water be fetched and wash your feet, and\n     rest yourselves under the tree; and I will fetch a morsel of\n     bread, and this will strengthen your hearts; after that ye\n     shall pass on.\n\n     _The Three Strangers:_ So do as thou hast said, good\n     Abraham.\n\n          [ABRAHAM _turns to the servants who are standing near._]\n\n     _Abraham:_ Haste ye, bring water; fetch a calf, tender and\n     good. [_Servants hasten away._] [_To the strangers_]: Sarah,\n     my wife, will make ready three measures of fine meal and\n     knead it into cakes.\n\n     _First Stranger:_ Our host, Abraham, is a true servant of\n     the Lord.\n\n     _Second Stranger:_ We are indeed weary; we have journeyed\n     far across the desert.\n\n          [_Servants appear with water and food._ SARAH _also\n          brings food to them._]\n\n     _Sarah:_ Drink thou this fresh milk, and refresh thyself\n     with these dates, for ye look weary.\n\n     _Third Stranger:_ This is indeed a rest.\n\n          [SARAH _goes into the tent and the strangers finish\n          eating. The strangers rise to go._]\n\n     _Abraham:_ Tarry yet awhile with us.\n\n     _First Stranger:_ We thank thee, good Abraham, but we must\n     be on our way.\n\n     _Second Stranger:_ We would speak with thee and thy wife,\n     Sarah. Where is thy wife?\n\n     _Abraham:_ Sarah, come hither.\n\n          [SARAH _appears._]\n\n     _Third Stranger:_ We bring you a message from the Lord. You\n     shall have a son, and his name shall be Isaac. He shall be\n     the father of many men, and thousands shall respect him.\n\n     _Sarah:_ Surely, this cannot come to pass!\n\n     _Abraham:_ Thanks be to God for this great gift!\n\n          [SARAH _and_ ABRAHAM _fall down on their knees before\n          the strangers. The strangers stretch out their hands to\n          bless them._]\n\n     _Three Strangers:_ The Lord will bless you, Sarah and\n     Abraham!\n\n          [_The strangers depart._ ABRAHAM _and_ SARAH _arise._]\n\n     _Abraham and Sarah:_ Surely these were angels from the Lord!\n\n     END\n\nAs this play was very short, the suggestion was made that we might\nlengthen the program, as well as make it more interesting, by having\nsome of the children tell the audience just how we worked up the\ndramatization. The two older girls undertook this and decided entirely\nby themselves just what they would say. One of them wrote with great\ncare a description of the method of procedure. She read it to the club\nfor approval, then she learned it by heart and gave it in an\ninteresting manner to the audience on the day the play was given. The\nother girl wrote a poem about it, and recited it just before the play\nwas given. The description and poem are as follows:\n\n\n     THE INTRODUCTION\n\n     BY MARGARET MILLER\n\n\n     The play which the children are now going to give--_Abraham\n     and the Three Guests_--has been worked out and practiced at\n     the dramatic club. This club meets every Sunday afternoon\n     from three until four o'clock, and is composed of any of the\n     children of the Sunday school who wish to belong.\n\n     The first Sunday Miss Miller told the story to the members,\n     and then they, knowing it, acted it out, making up the parts\n     as they went along. This they did several times until they\n     knew the story perfectly.\n\n     The two oldest girls did not take part in the acting of the\n     play, but became assistants and helped Miss Miller direct\n     it. During the next week the assistants wrote out the\n     speeches very much as the children had made them up. These\n     were read before the club and discussed, and after a number\n     of suggestions had been added by all the children present\n     the scene was finally written as it now is.\n\n     The children each took home a part to learn, and the\n     following Sunday they all tried the different speeches.\n     Before the final characters were chosen each child was able\n     to represent any one of them. The final characters were\n     decided upon by the group and were chosen according to their\n     preferences and their ability to enact the different parts.\n\n     Unfortunately, most of the costumes which the club had on\n     hand were much too small for the children this year. We\n     therefore held a sewing-bee during the week, and lengthened\n     the old ones or made new ones where we found it necessary.\n\n     We have worked on this play for five meetings, which\n     represents altogether five hours, except for a little work\n     that the assistants did outside.\n\n     We have had much fun with this play, and we are hoping that\n     you will enjoy it too.\n\n\n     POEM\n\n     BY MELBA PYLE\n\n     Before you soon you shall see\n     The story of _Abraham and the Strangers Three._\n     The partakers, they have worked;\n     The assistants, they have shirked--\n     But not as much as you would think,\n     For they have helped to join each link.\n     As day by day passed quickly away\n     We read the Bible and wrote the play.\n     Each child helped as best he could,\n     And thus we worked in brotherhood.\n     Word with word we did neatly join,\n     Then home we went, our parts to learn,\n     Next to the box where the costumes lay,\n     And straight to sewing and not to play.\n     And 'tis our happy aim, you see,\n     To make you joyous as can be!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nTHE DRAMATIZATION OF _DANIEL IN THE LIONS' DEN_\n\n\nThe story of _Daniel in the Lions' Den_ was dramatized by the members\nof the club according to the same methods as those which were used in\nconnection with the story of _Abraham and the Three Guests._\n\nThis play is given here in order to show how a story which deals with a\nmiraculous event may be treated. When Daniel was thrust into the den of\nlions, he was in reality put out of the door which opens at the side of\nthe stage. The children readily came to the decision that it was\nunnecessary to show Daniel actually in the den of lions on the stage.\nIn telling the story no explanation was made or asked for concerning\nthe miracle which happened. The children accepted it and enjoyed it as\nthey would any other good story.\n\nThe final play which follows represents entirely the children's\ninterpretation; the product is their own.\n\n\n     DANIEL IN THE LIONS' DEN\n\n\n     SCENE I\n\n          PLACE: The court room of King Darius.\n\n          CHARACTERS: King Darius, Daniel, Four Conspirators,\n          Soldiers, Servants.\n\n          [KING DARIUS _is seated on his throne. Soldiers and\n          attendants stand nearby. The conspirators are talking\n          together at one side._ DANIEL, _followed by two\n          soldiers, comes in and kneels before the_ KING.]\n\n     _Daniel:_ King Darius, live forever!\n\n     _King Darius:_ Good Daniel, I have sent for thee that thou\n     mayest know my will. It has pleased me to set over my\n     kingdom one hundred and twenty princes, and over these\n     princes have I set three rulers. Thou hast been so faithful\n     and true that I wish to make thee the first of these three\n     rulers. Thou shalt have great responsibility, and thou shalt\n     report to me when thou thinkest it well to do so.\n\n     _Daniel:_ Thou art kind and gracious unto me, O King! May\n     the Lord, Jehovah, help me to do this.\n\n     _King Darius:_ Come unto the feast, Daniel, and have the\n     royal robe placed on thee.\n\n          [DANIEL _bows to the_ KING _and they both go out,\n          followed by the soldiers and servants._]\n\n          [_The conspirators are left alone in the room. They\n          show great anger and begin talking to each other._]\n\n     _First Conspirator:_ See how this Daniel has found favor in\n     the King's sight! He is not of our country, he belongs to\n     the Hebrew people; but the King has appointed him over us\n     all! We must destroy this Daniel.\n\n     _Second Conspirator:_ Yea, thou art right. What can we do?\n\n          [_They all walk back and forth in deep thought._]\n\n     _Third Conspirator:_ I can think of nothing against him!\n\n     _Fourth Conspirator:_ Thou sayest the truth; he hath no\n     fault. He is faithful and doth nothing wrong.\n\n     _First Conspirator:_ I can think of nothing, save that we\n     find it against him concerning his God.\n\n     _Fourth Conspirator:_ Ah, that is true; Daniel worshipeth a\n     different God; I have seen him praying thrice in one day.\n\n     _Second Conspirator:_ Let us influence the King to make a\n     firm decree that whosoever shall worship any God or man,\n     save the King, for thirty days, he shall be cast into the\n     den of lions.\n\n     _Third Conspirator:_ That soundeth well! If Daniel be\n     faithful to his God, he will surely disobey this decree; and\n     if the King once signeth it, the law of the Medes and the\n     Persians saith that it cannot be altered.\n\n     _First Conspirator:_ Ah, this will surely be Daniel's ruin\n     now!\n\n     _Fourth Conspirator:_ Come, let us hasten to the King and\n     have him establish and sign this decree. He will be pleased;\n     he will not think of Daniel.\n\n     _Third Conspirator:_ Yea, we will hasten before the setting\n     of the sun.\n\n\n     SCENE II\n\n          PLACE: The same as in scene i.\n\n          CHARACTERS: The same as in scene i.\n\n          TIME: Several days after the events in scene i.\n\n          [_The_ KING _is seated on his throne. The four\n          conspirators come before the_ KING _and kneel._]\n\n     _The Conspirators:_ Great King Darius, live forever!\n\n     _King Darius:_ Arise, my friends!\n\n     _First Conspirator:_ O King, hast thou not signed a decree\n     that he who shall pray to any God or man within thirty days,\n     save to thee, shall be cast into the den of lions?\n\n     _King Darius:_ This thing is true, according to the law of\n     the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.\n\n     _Second Conspirator:_ A man in thy kingdom regardeth not\n     this law, and doth pray to his God three times a day--we\n     have seen him!\n\n     _King_ [_with anger_]: Who is this man that breaketh my\n     laws?\n\n     _First Conspirator:_ He is Daniel, whom thou hast favored\n     and made ruler!\n\n     _King Darius_ [_with surprise and sadness_]: Daniel! It\n     cannot be! Daniel must not die, for I love him.\n\n     _Third Conspirator:_ Thou knowest, O King, that the law of\n     the Medes and Persians is that no decree which the King\n     establisheth may be changed.\n\n     _King_ [_sadly_]: Thou sayest truly; the King's word may not\n     be broken. Bring Daniel hither.\n\n          [_Soldiers go for_ DANIEL. _The_ KING _walks back and\n          forth in great distress._]\n\n     _King_ [_talking to himself_]: Oh, I would that this had not\n     happened!\n\n          [DANIEL _appears and bows before the_ KING.]\n\n     _King:_ Why hast thou disobeyed my law, Daniel? Wherefore\n     didst thou pray to thy God when thou knewest of my decree?\n\n     _Daniel:_ Great King Darius, my God, the God to whom I pray,\n     is the true God, and I shall worship no other. Do with me\n     what thou wilt.\n\n     _King:_ Daniel, I would that thou hadst not done this thing,\n     for I love thee. Thou art a brave and bold man! Thy God whom\n     thou servest continually, he will deliver thee! [_To the\n     soldiers_]: Take this man from me; cast him into the den of\n     lions.\n\n          [_Soldiers take_ DANIEL _and thrust him into the den.\n          The door is closed, and the_ KING _seals it with his\n          signet. The_ KING _and attendants withdraw. The\n          conspirators are alone._]\n\n     _First Conspirator:_ Daniel has fallen at last! No longer\n     will he be the King's favorite!\n\n     _Fourth Conspirator:_ We, instead, will be the favored ones!\n\n          [_They leave the room in high spirits._]\n\n\n     SCENE III\n\n          PLACE: The same as in scene i.\n\n          CHARACTERS: The same as in scene i.\n\n          TIME: The next morning after the events in scene ii.\n\n          [_The_ KING _hastens to the door of the lions' den._]\n\n     _King_ [_calling eagerly_]: O Daniel, servant of the living\n     God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to\n     deliver thee from the lions?\n\n     _Daniel_ [_from within_]: O King, live forever! My God hath\n     sent his angel and hath shut the lions' mouths, and they\n     have not hurt me, for the Lord knoweth that I have done no\n     wrong, either before him or thee, O King!\n\n     _King_ [_to servants who have followed him into the room_]:\n     Come hither, servants! Quickly bring Daniel out that I may\n     see him!\n\n          [_The door is opened, and_ DANIEL _comes out. The_ KING\n          _shows great joy in greeting him._]\n\n     _King:_ Thy God is truly the living God! Bring forth the men\n     that have done Daniel this wrong. Cast them into the lions'\n     den.\n\n          [_The conspirators are standing in the room, looking\n          at_ DANIEL _in astonishment. The soldiers seize them\n          and push them down into the den. As they go they cry\n          to the_ KING.]\n\n     _Conspirators:_ O King, spare us!\n\n     _King:_ I will now sign a decree that in every dominion of\n     my kingdom men shall bow before the God of Daniel, for he is\n     the only true God. He delivereth and rescueth and worketh\n     great wonders; he hath saved Daniel from the power of the\n     lions.\n\n     _Daniel:_ The Lord God will surely bless thee for this good\n     thing!\n\n     END\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nTHE DRAMATIZATION OF NEW TESTAMENT PARABLES\n\n\nMany of the New Testament parables present interesting problems for\ndramatization. The selection should be limited to those which involve\ndramatic situations and unity of structure. The simplicity and\nconciseness of words and actions in many of the parables are qualities\nwhich call forth a ready and free response from children.\n\nAmong the parables which have been worked out by the dramatic club are\n_The Good Samaritan_, _The Wise and Foolish Virgins_, _The Great\nSupper_, _The Talents_, _The Prodigal Son._\n\nIn the case of these short parables the story was not told first, but\nthe parable was read to the children directly from the Bible. There was\nno discussion as to the truths supposed to be taught, the emphasis\nbeing placed entirely upon the story element involved. The customs of\nthe times and the division of the story into scenes were discussed as\nfully as was done with other stories. Usually one or two meetings were\nall that were necessary for working one of these parables into dramatic\nform. When it was completed, the result was not a finished product, as\nthe words and action had been interpreted with slight variations each\ntime. The children learned the story by heart, as it is given in the\nBible. This influenced their words when they were dramatizing.\n\nSeveral parables were given together at the meeting when parents and\nfriends were invited. One child recited the Bible version just before\nthe play was given. This feature added interest and dignity to the\noccasion.\n\nThe parables were given in the following order:\n\n\n     THE WISE AND FOOLISH VIRGINS\n\n          [_Ten virgins with their lamps are waiting for the\n          bridegroom._]\n\n     _First Virgin:_ The bridegroom tarries; let us rest here\n     awhile.\n\n     _Other Virgins:_ Yea, let us rest.\n\n          [_They all sit down and go to sleep._]\n\n     _A Cry Without:_ Behold, the bridegroom cometh! Go ye out to\n     meet him!\n\n          [_All the virgins get up hurriedly. The five wise ones,\n          with oil in their lamps, stand in readiness. The five\n          foolish ones are in great confusion._]\n\n     _First Foolish Virgin:_ We have no oil! Our lamps are gone\n     out!\n\n     _Second Foolish Virgin_ [_speaking to the five wise\n     virgins_]: Give us of your oil--we have none.\n\n     _First Wise Virgin:_ Not so, lest there be not enough for\n     ourselves and for you. But go ye rather to them that sell,\n     and buy for yourselves.\n\n          [_The foolish virgins hasten away._]\n\n     _A Cry Without:_ Behold, the bridegroom cometh! Go ye out to\n     meet him!\n\n          [_The_ BRIDEGROOM _comes in, followed by a few\n          attendants. He walks by, and the five wise virgins\n          follow him. They go in a door which is closed after\n          them. The foolish virgins come hurriedly back and rush\n          to the door. They beat on it and call out several\n          times._]\n\n     _Foolish Virgins:_ Lord, Lord, open unto us!\n\n          [_The door opens and the_ BRIDEGROOM _stands there._]\n\n     _Bridegroom:_ Depart, I know you not!\n\n     END\n\nDuring the work on this play the question arose as to the kind of lamps\nthat were used at the time of the story. The children looked up\npictures and descriptions, and from these they made themselves lamps\nout of plasticene or clay. Fig. 8 is a photograph of one of the scenes\ntaken out of doors. The lamps can be seen, also the simple costumes\nwhich the children worked out.\n\n\n     THE GREAT SUPPER\n\n          [_The_ MASTER _of the feast stands in his door and\n          speaks to his servant._]\n\n     _The Master:_ Go, bid my friends come to the supper, for all\n     things are now ready!\n\n          [_The servant bows; the_ MASTER _goes into the house.\n          The servant walks down the street, and as he meets\n          people he delivers his_ MASTER'S _message._]\n\n     _Servant_ [_to the men as they come by_]: My Master bids\n     thee come to his feast, for all things are now ready!\n\n     [Illustration: FIG. 8.--The wise and foolish virgins]\n\n     _First Man:_ Say to thy Master that I have bought a piece of\n     land and must needs go and see it. I pray thee have me\n     excused.\n\n          [_The servant bows and the man passes on. The servant\n          delivers the message to the second man._]\n\n     _Second Man:_ I have bought five yoke of oxen; I must go to\n     prove them. I pray thee have me excused.\n\n     _Third Man:_ I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot\n     come.\n\n          [_The servant goes back to his_ MASTER'S _house; the_\n          MASTER _comes out to meet him._]\n\n     _Servant_ [_falls on his knees before his_ MASTER]: O sir, I\n     did as thou commandedst, but one by one they made excuse,\n     and would not come to thy supper. One man had just bought a\n     piece of land and must go to see it; another had bought five\n     yoke of oxen, and was on his way to prove them; and another\n     had just married a wife. All begged that thou excuse them.\n\n     _Master_ [_shows great anger_]: What! They that are bidden\n     refuse to come to my feast! Go out quickly into the streets\n     and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the maimed, and\n     the halt, and the blind!\n\n          [_The_ MASTER _goes into his house, and the servant\n     again walks down the street._]\n\n     _Servant_ [_as he meets the lame, the halt, and the blind_]:\n     Come! My Master invites you to a great supper, which is now\n     prepared at his house!\n\n          [_Each person, or group of persons, bows and thanks him\n          with such remarks as_]--\n\n     _Maimed, Halt, Blind:_ We thank thee; we will be there. We\n     gladly accept this invitation.\n\n          [_The_ MASTER _stands in the door to receive his guests\n          as they come. When they are all in, the servant comes\n          back to his_ MASTER.]\n\n     _Servant:_ Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet\n     there is room.\n\n     _Master:_ Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel\n     them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto\n     you that none of those men that were bidden shall taste of\n     my supper!\n\n          [_The servant bows_; _the_ MASTER _goes in._]\n\n     END\n\n\n     THE GOOD SAMARITAN\n\n\n     SCENE I\n\n          PLACE: The road from Jerusalem to Jericho.\n\n          CHARACTERS: A Traveler, Thieves, a Priest, a Levite, a\n          Samaritan.\n\n          [_A man comes along the road carrying his bundle over\n          his back. Many thieves rush out from ambush and attack\n          him. Some knock him down and rob him, while others are\n          looking anxiously up and down the road. After beating\n          and cutting the man they go off, thinking that he is\n          dead._\n\n          _As the traveler lies groaning and begging for water, a\n          priest comes along the road, but when he sees the man he\n          passes by on the other side of the road. Also a Levite\n          comes along, and after looking at the man passes by on\n          the other side of the road._\n\n          _Then a Samaritan comes along, and as soon as he hears\n          the groans he hastens over to the man. He kneels down\n          and looks at him and speaks._]\n\n     _Good Samaritan:_ What is this--a man! Hast thou been hurt,\n     my friend?\n\n     _Man:_ Oh, help me! Thieves fell upon me and took all I had,\n     and have left me here to die.\n\n     [Illustration: FIG. 9.--The Good Samaritan]\n\n     _Good Samaritan:_ I will help thee, my good friend; thy\n     wounds shall be bound. Drink this wine. It may help thee.\n     Art thou able to get on this beast of mine? I will take thee\n     to the inn where thou wilt be cared for. [_He helps the man\n     to rise and supports him as he hobbles off. They both go\n     out._]\n\n\n     SCENE II\n\n          PLACE: The Inn.\n\n          CHARACTERS: The Samaritan, the Traveler, the Innkeeper.\n\n          [_The_ GOOD SAMARITAN _brings the man to the door of\n          the inn and knocks. The_ INNKEEPER, _appears._]\n\n     _Innkeeper:_ Good day, sir.\n\n     _Good Samaritan:_ Here is a wounded man. Take care of him.\n     Here is money, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I\n     come again I will repay thee. [_He gives the_ INNKEEPER\n     _some money. The_ INNKEEPER _takes the man._]\n\n     _Traveler_ [_to_ GOOD SAMARITAN]: God bless you, my friend!\n\n     END\n\n\n     THE PRODIGAL SON\n\n\n     ACT I\n\n          PLACE: In the father's home.\n\n          CHARACTERS: The Younger Brother, the Father, the Elder\n          Brother, Servants.\n\n          [_The_ FATHER _and_ ELDER SON _come into the room\n          together. The_ YOUNGER SON _comes in from another door._]\n\n     _Younger Son:_ Father, give me the portion of goods that\n     falleth unto me. I am weary of living at home. I will go\n     into some far country and make my fortune.\n\n     _Father:_ My son, why is it that thou desirest this? Hast\n     thou not everything at home?\n\n     _Younger Son:_ Yea, father, but I beg of thee to divide thy\n     living between us. I must have my share.\n\n     _Father:_ Thou art very foolish; nevertheless I will do as\n     thou askest. [_To servant_]: Bring my money bags. [_To_\n     ELDER SON]: And dost thou intend to take thy living also,\n     and leave thy father?\n\n     _Elder Son:_ Nay, father, I am fully content to live with\n     thee; I do not want my portion.\n\n          [_Servant returns with money bags._ FATHER _gives money\n          to his younger son._]\n\n     _Father:_ This is thy share--use it wisely.\n\n     _Younger Son:_ I thank thee, father. I shall become a rich\n     man with this; but now I must leave thee; I can stay here no\n     longer.\n\n     _Father:_ This grieves me, my son, for I know that thou art\n     foolish--but go and learn thy lesson.\n\n          [_He stretches out his hands toward his son as if\n          blessing him._]\n\n     ACT II\n\n\n     SCENE I\n\n          PLACE: Along the roadside in a distant country.\n\n          CHARACTERS: The Prodigal Son, a Farmer.\n\n          [_The_ PRODIGAL SON _comes down the road, tired and\n          hungry. He sits on a rock and talks._]\n\n     _Prodigal Son:_ Would that I had something to eat! My money\n     is all spent, and there is famine in the land. What shall I\n     do? I am sick, and feel that I may soon die. If I could but\n     find something to do that I might get a little food.\n\n          [_A man comes along. The_ PRODIGAL SON _goes toward him\n          and falls down before him._]\n\n     _Prodigal Son:_ O sir, I am starving unto death. Wilt thou\n     give me any task to do that I may make enough to keep me\n     alive?\n\n     _Man:_ I have no work to be done--unless it be to take care\n     of my swine. Thou wilt find them in yon field; they need a\n     keeper.\n\n     _Prodigal Son:_ I will gladly do this.\n\n          [_He goes off joyfully._]\n\n\n     SCENE II\n\n          PLACE: In the field with the swine.\n\n          CHARACTER: The Prodigal Son.\n\n          [_The_ PRODIGAL SON _comes in driving the pigs. He sits\n          down._]\n\n     _Prodigal Son:_ How horrible is this life; I am dying of\n     hunger. No man will give me anything--all I get to eat is\n     the food that I give the pigs. Oh, I wish that I had never\n     left home! How many hired servants of my father's have bread\n     enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise\n     and go to my father, and will say unto him, \"Father, I have\n     sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy\n     to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants.\"\n\n          [_He rises and goes away hurriedly._]\n\n\n     ACT III\n\n\n     SCENE I\n\n          PLACE: In front of the father's home.\n\n          CHARACTERS: The Father, the Prodigal Son, the Servants.\n\n          [_The_ FATHER _stands looking for his son._]\n\n     _Father:_ It seemeth to me that I see my son coming home! I\n     knew that he would come! I will go to meet him! [_He meets\n     him._] It is my son! [_The_ FATHER _shows great joy. The_\n     SON _falls on his knees before his father._]\n\n     _Prodigal Son:_ Father, I have sinned against heaven and\n     before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.\n\n     _Father:_ Bring forth the best robe and put it on him; and\n     put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring\n     hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and be\n     merry, for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was\n     lost and is found!\n\n\n     SCENE II\n\n          PLACE: In the field, near the father's house.\n\n          CHARACTERS: Elder Son, Servant, the Father.\n\n          [_The_ ELDER SON _is hoeing in the field. A servant\n          comes out. The_ ELDER SON _calls to him._]\n\n     _Elder Son:_ I hear music and dancing in the house; what do\n     these things mean?\n\n     _Servant:_ Thy brother is come; thy father hath killed the\n     fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.\n     Thy father sendeth for thee to come in. [_The_ ELDER BROTHER\n     _shows anger._]\n\n     _Elder Brother:_ I will not go in. Why should he make merry\n     over my brother who has wasted his living?\n\n          [_The_ FATHER _comes out._]\n\n     _Father:_ My son, wilt thou come unto the feast? Thy lost\n     brother hath returned!\n\n     _Elder Son:_ Lo, these many years do I serve thee; neither\n     have I at any time disobeyed thee, yet thou never gavest me\n     a kid that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon\n     as thy son was come, which hath wasted thy living, thou hast\n     killed for him the fatted calf.\n\n     _Father:_ Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is\n     thine. It was meet that we should make merry and be glad,\n     for this thy brother was dead and is alive again; he was\n     lost and is found. Come thou in to greet thy brother!\n\n          [_They both go in._]\n\n     END\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nTHE DRAMATIC QUALITIES IN A GOOD STORY\n\n\nThe stories in the Bible, if taken just as they are given, present a\nbody of material which is complicated by a historical background and a\nreligious symbolism that is remote from the young child's experience.\nThey embody the historical incidents as well as the myths and folklore\nof ancient Hebrew life, and for the most part they express the highest\nidealism of the Hebrew people. There is no reason, however, why good\nstories and appropriate incidents may not be given to children from\nthis body of material through selecting from and simplifying the\nbiblical version. A great deal of what is in the Bible should not be\nused, but there is much that is highly dramatic and becomes valuable\nfor dramatization.\n\nIt is possible to adapt an incident by simplifying, and in a measure\nreorganizing, the parts, and yet to keep the dignity and integrity of\nthe story as it is given in the Bible. The attitude of the children,\ncreated by contact with this type of story, should be one of reverence\nand dignity, coupled with a consciousness of the high ideals of the\npeople they are impersonating.\n\nBefore any attempt is made to select parts of the Bible narrative for\ndramatization the leader, or director of the children, should have well\nin mind standards which will help in making the part that is chosen a\nwell-organized story. When any good story is analyzed it is found to be\nbuilt upon an underlying basic structure. There is always a beginning\nor setting; a middle part, where the incidents rise to a climax; and an\nend, where the events of the story are satisfactorily worked out. There\nshould be a feeling of movement straight through the story; the\nincidents should develop; there should be action that leads to some\nend. A unity must underlie the whole story--there must be no part which\nis not essential to the working out of the plan. The end of the story\nshould give a sense of completeness, of satisfaction.\n\nIt is often the case that the three essential parts of the story call\nfor three acts when the story is dramatized. In some of our modern\ndramas five acts, but in many only three acts, are required in order to\ncomplete the structure. Sometimes, however, all three parts of a story\nmay be given in a one-act dramatization. Before a story is dramatized\nit is very necessary that it be told so clearly that the children are\nconscious of these parts; otherwise the resulting drama will lack in\norganization. No matter how elaborate or simple the story, the children\nshould have a feeling for the basic structure, which should guide the\nform of the dramatization.\n\nThe leader in charge of a dramatic club in which Bible stories are used\nmust take the responsibility of changing the Bible version so as to\nmake an organic unit of the story and yet keep the spirit and big\nmeaning. There are many parts of the Bible narrative which already\nembody this simple organization--or division into related elements--if\nall of the heavy, unnecessary incidents are omitted.[1]\n\nAlthough the main purpose of these dramatizations is not that an\nartistic result be secured, yet that is an important factor, and should\nbe recognized by both the leader and the children. The product many\ntimes will be necessarily crude and lacking in the aesthetic element,\nbut nevertheless there should be an attempt, even though gradually, to\ntrain the children toward a recognition and an appreciation of the\nartistic qualities of the literary production they put forth, as well\nas of the stage groupings and effects.\n\nCare must be taken that the stories chosen are ethically sound. The\nstory of Jacob is one that may well be omitted. Jacob deceives, and yet\nall the good things in life come to him--he takes them away from those\nwho rightfully have earned them. This injustice in the story always\nraises a question in the minds of the children, and for this reason it\nis not a good story. The stories of Samson, Jephthah, Jael, and others\non this order should be eliminated for similar reasons. They are each\nbased upon attitudes toward society and standards of friendship which\nare now outgrown. There are so many simple episodes in the Bible that\ncan easily be readjusted into well-constructed stories, about which\nthere can be no question of the moral value, that no time need be\nwasted in considering any story about which there is the least\nsuggestion of an unethical quality when judged by our present-day\nstandards.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[Footnote 1: As a matter of fact, it is often the later editorial\nadditions to the simple old stories that have produced the cumbrous\neffect. When the original story is recovered, it lends itself much\nbetter to the purpose here discussed. Such a reorganization of the\nstories with a preservation of the biblical language has been made in\nSoares' _Heroes of Israel_ (The University of Chicago Press), where\nalso there is much illustrative material interpretative of the\nsituations.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nBIBLE STORIES SUITABLE FOR DRAMATIZATION\n\n\nThe stories which have been taken for dramatization in the previous\nchapters were not chosen because they are the best ones for that\npurpose, but because they represent different kinds of stories and\nillustrate the opportunity for various methods of presentation. There\nare many other stories and incidents in the Bible which are equal to,\nor better than, those described.\n\nA list of some of these stories is given below, together with a few of\nthe most essential points which should be considered in dramatizing\neach. No attempt is made to give the story in full or to elaborate the\ndramatization; the plan for each is merely suggestive.\n\n\nI. SAMUEL\n\nI SAMUEL, CHAPTERS 2 AND 3\n\nThe story of Samuel may be worked into a short play of one or two\nscenes. The most interesting and dramatic incident is the familiar one\nof the Voice Calling Samuel at Night. The first part of the story,\nhowever, is beautiful, and may be used along with this incident.\n\nIn scene i Hannah brings little Samuel to the temple and dedicates him\nto the Lord. Eli, the old priest, takes the child to live with him in\nthe temple so that he may train him to serve the Lord.\n\nScene ii takes place several years later. It is night time, and the\nchild Samuel is sleeping near the old priest, Eli. He thinks he hears a\nvoice calling him, and he runs to Eli to ask what he wants. Eli has not\ncalled him and tells him to lie down again. Three times he runs to Eli,\nthinking that he hears him calling. Then the priest tells him that it\nmust be the Lord who has spoken and tells Samuel what to say the next\ntime he is called. Samuel hears the message from the Lord and, upon\nEli's request, tells him what he has heard. Eli realizes that the Lord\nhas spoken truly, and accepts his fate as just. He praises Samuel and\ntells him that he will soon leave the care of the temple and of the\npeople of Israel to him.\n\nNeither in this play, nor in any other play, should there be an attempt\nto represent the Lord's voice. The child may listen as if he were\nhearing someone speaking, and from what he says and does the audience\nwill be aware of what is happening. For the sake of the result, from an\nartistic point of view, such parts as this should always be left to the\nimagination, no attempt being made to interpret them literally.\n\n\n2. THE QUEEN OF SHEBA'S VISIT TO SOLOMON\n\nI KINGS, CHAPTER 10\n\nThe visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon furnishes a unit of work for\na short one-act dramatization. There is no plot or complicated\nsituation involved and there is very little activity suggested. The\nattention of the children may well be directed, however, to the\ndescription of Solomon's court and of the rich gifts which were\nexchanged. This is an excellent opportunity to have the children do\nconstruction work. They should make many things which will help to give\nthe impression of richness to the court. They may also make their own\ncostumes richer by adding jewels and bright-colored sashes and\nheaddresses.\n\nThis little dramatization will include many children. A number will be\nneeded to come in with the Queen of Sheba, and there should be many\nattendants upon King Solomon. The conversation will be for the most\npart between Solomon and the Queen, heralds and servants making\nannouncements.\n\nThe play opens with the Queen of Sheba's arrival at the court of\nSolomon. Messengers announce her to the King. Solomon talks with the\nQueen and she tells him that she admires his great wisdom and his\nwealth. Then Solomon commands that the feast be served, and while they\neat the Queen presents her gifts to Solomon. When the Queen takes her\nleave Solomon gives her wonderful presents. The play will end with the\nexit of the Queen and her attendants.\n\nUnless the children put much thought upon the stage setting and the\nconversation, this incident may prove uninteresting. It has, however,\ngreat possibilities for the working out of a beautiful picture.\n\n\n3. JOSHUA AND THE GIBEONITES\n\nJOSHUA, CHAPTER 9\n\nThe story of Joshua and the Gibeonites is so simply told in the Bible\nthat children of nine or ten years of age can read it as it is given\nand dramatize it directly from that version.\n\nThe dramatization of this narrative calls for many characters. The\nolder children may take the parts of Joshua and the leaders of the\nGibeonites, while the younger ones are needed for Israelite soldiers\nand citizens of Gibeon. All the characters in the play will need to do\nmuch acting even though they do not enter into the conversation.\n\nAlthough the dramatization should be a product of the children's work,\nyet the leader should have well in mind the three main divisions of the\nstory that she may guide the children by her questions. This story may\nbe worked into one of the more elaborate productions. The Bible\nlanguage should Be used and the result should be full of dignity and\nspirit. For detail in the method of presentation compare that employed\nin the story of Joseph (chapter iii).\n\nThe story may be given so that the following divisions or scenes are\nemphasized:\n\n     SCENE I\n\n          PLACE: At Gibeon. Street scene.\n\n     The inhabitants are discussing the victories of the\n     Israelites. They are afraid of Joshua, the leader.\n     Messengers report that he is advancing toward Gibeon. The\n     Gibeonites plan to make a league with him so that he will\n     not destroy their city. They decide to deceive Joshua by\n     dressing as strangers from a far country, wearing old\n     garments and taking moldy bread and wine.\n\n     SCENE II\n\n          PLACE: Joshua's tent at the camp of Gilgal.\n\n     The men from Gibeon come to Joshua and tell him that they\n     are from a far country. They say that they have heard of his\n     great victories and wish to make a league with him. The\n     conversation between Joshua and these strangers is\n     interestingly given in the Bible and may be quoted almost\n     exactly. Joshua makes the treaty with them.\n\n     SCENE III\n\n          PLACE: At Gibeon.\n\n     The Israelite soldiers rush into Gibeon to take it, but find\n     that the inhabitants are the same ragged strangers with whom\n     they made the league. The Israelites reproach them, but\n     cannot go back on their word, so spare their lives. In\n     order to punish the Gibeonites for their deception, Joshua\n     makes them slaves of the Israelites.\n\nThere is much opportunity for construction work in the dramatizing of\nthis story. Costumes, pieces of armor, and weapons may be made in a\nsimple manner by the children.\n\n\n4. ISAAC AND REBEKAH\n\nGENESIS, CHAPTER 24\n\nThe story of Isaac and Rebekah is unusually valuable for dramatization.\nIt involves a well-worked-out plot which is beautifully and simply told\nin the Bible, and which brings the children in contact with many\ninteresting customs among the shepherd people. The story needs little\nchanging; it may be given almost as it is written.\n\nThe following outline for the divisions of the story is merely\nsuggestive:\n\n     ACT I\n\n     SCENE I\n\n          PLACE: Abraham's tent in Canaan.\n\n     Abraham is lying down in his tent. He is talking to Isaac,\n     his son, about the wife he wishes him to have. He calls a\n     servant and bids him go to Mesopotamia, his old home, and\n     bring a wife for Isaac from his own kinsfolk. Abraham makes\n     the servant swear that he will do as he has been told.\n     Perhaps Abraham has his hand on Isaac while he is talking,\n     and Isaac will take some small part in the conversation.\n\n\n     ACT II\n\n     SCENE I\n\n          PLACE: Mesopotamia.\n\n     The messenger, with his servants, comes to the well just\n     outside of the city walls, where the women draw water. There\n     should be no attempt to represent the camels. These may be\n     indicated by the conversation and left to the imagination.\n     The messenger, through praying to God, decides how he shall\n     know which young woman to choose for Isaac. When Rebekah\n     comes with her pitcher she offers to give water to him and\n     to his camels also. The man is sure then that Rebekah is\n     sent by God, and therefore he arranges to go to her father's\n     house for the night.\n\nThis scene should be made very picturesque as well as interesting. The\nchildren may look up pictures of the wells of those times and then\nconstruct something that will serve the purpose. Pieces of pottery may\nbe brought in on the shoulders of the women to represent water jugs.\n(Compare with the street scene described in the story of Ruth, chapter\nvi.)\n\n\n     SCENE II\n\n          PLACE: Rebekah's home.\n\n     In this scene comes the discussion of Rebekah's leaving home\n     to become the wife of Isaac. The messenger makes known to\n     the family that it is Abraham, their kinsman, who is sending\n     for Rebekah. He gives Rebekah the gifts which his master has\n     sent--earrings, bracelets, and the like. The family finally\n     decide that Rebekah may go back to Canaan, but they ask the\n     servant to let her stay with them for ten days longer. He\n     is unwilling to wait, and the question is therefore put to\n     Rebekah. She answers that she will go with him now.\n\n\n     ACT III\n\n     SCENE I\n\n          PLACE: Canaan. A field near Isaac's home.\n\n     Isaac walks alone in the field at sunset. He is constantly\n     looking into the distance, and he is wondering when the\n     messenger will return with a wife for him. At length he sees\n     the camels approaching and hastens to meet them. This is all\n     indicated by his soliloquy--no camels must be shown. The\n     servant and Rebekah have dismounted and come to meet Isaac.\n     The servant gives Rebekah to Isaac who embraces her and\n     shows his joy at receiving such a beautiful wife. The play\n     should end where Isaac turns toward his father's tent with\n     Rebekah.\n\nWhile the children are playing this story there should be much detailed\ndiscussion which will give them an adequate background for\nunderstanding the customs upon which the story is based; and there\nshould be shown many illustrations which will insure correct mental\npictures.\n\n\n5. ELIJAH AND THE WIDOW'S MEAL\n\nI KINGS, CHAPTER 17\n\nThis may be used as a very simple incident of two scenes, or it may be\nelaborated into a longer play.\n\nThe first scene is placed by the gate of the city of Zarephath. As\nElijah comes toward the gate he asks a woman, who is gathering sticks,\nfor a drink of water. She gives him the water and he asks for bread.\nThe conversation between them brings out the facts that there is famine\nin the land, and that the widow has hardly enough meal left in the\nhouse to make bread for herself and for her son. She agrees to divide\nwith Elijah, however, and takes him into her house. The wording for\nthis scene may be taken almost directly as it is given in the Bible.\n\nThe second scene is placed in the house of the widow. The woman and her\nson are eating with Elijah. From what they say to each other it is\napparent that the meal and oil have lasted for many days, and the three\npeople have had plenty to eat during the famine. The widow is convinced\nthat a miracle has been wrought by her guest. She begs him to tell her\nwho he is. The stranger answers that he is Elijah, the prophet of the\nLord, and that it is through the Lord's care of them that they have had\nfood enough. The play may well end here with the final speech from the\nwidow as it is given in the Bible: \"Now by this I know that thou art a\nman of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.\"\n\nIn case the part of the story which gives the raising of the widow's\nson is used, a third scene may be added, and the widow's speech would\ncome at the end of that scene.\n\n\n6. ELISHA AND THE SHUNAMMITE\n\nII KINGS, CHAPTER 4\n\nThis incident is similar to the story of Elijah and the widow's meal,\nand may be dealt with in the same manner. It should be simplified by\nselecting certain parts for dramatization. The emphasis throughout\nfalls upon the generous qualities of the two characters--Elisha, ever\nready to help others, and the woman, who always kept a room for the\nprophet because she admired his goodness.\n\n\n7. DANIEL INTERPRETS THE KING'S DREAM\n\nDANIEL, CHAPTERS 1 AND 2\n\nThe stories about Daniel have unusually interesting possibilities for\ndramatization. They need very little explanation. They are so vividly\nand beautifully told in the Bible that the children will understand\nthem readily and have no difficulty in interpreting them. A few\nhistorical facts may be given to make the setting clear. The following\ndivisions are suggested for the first story:\n\n     SCENE I\n\n     King Nebuchadnezzar brings four Israelites into his court in\n     order to have them trained as councilors. He appoints them a\n     daily provision of the king's meat and wine.\n\n\n     SCENE II\n\n     The King dreams a dream and forgets it. He calls all of his\n     wise men and demands that they tell him what his dream was\n     and also interpret it. The wise men declare that this is an\n     impossibility and refuse to obey. Nebuchadnezzar is furious\n     and orders that they all be put to death.\n\n     Daniel then comes before the King and asks that the King\n     give him time that he may interpret the dream. The King\n     grants this.\n\n\n     SCENE III\n\n     Daniel appears before the King again. The King asks if he is\n     able to tell what the dream was and to interpret it. Daniel\n     answers that he is able to tell him, not, however, by his\n     own power, but by the power of God in heaven who revealeth\n     secrets. Then Daniel gives in detail the dream and tells\n     King Nebuchadnezzar the meaning thereof. The King is so\n     affected that he falls on his face and worships Daniel. He\n     recognizes the God of Daniel, and commands that Daniel be\n     made governor of Babylon. At Daniel's request he also makes\n     the three other Israelites rulers of certain provinces.\n\nThis story may be treated in the same manner as the story of Joseph\n(chapter iii).\n\n\n8. SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABED-NEGO IN THE BURNING FIERY FURNACE\n\nDANIEL, CHAPTER 3\n\nThis story may be read to children directly from the Bible. After they\nhave worked it over several times the final product will include three\nscenes of the following character:\n\n     SCENE I\n\n     The heralds come through the streets crying aloud that King\n     Nebuchadnezzar commands all people to bow down when they\n     shall hear the musical instruments and worship the image of\n     gold which he has set up. Those who do not obey will be put\n     into a burning fiery furnace. The instruments of music sound\n     and all the people fall to the ground to worship except the\n     three Israelites, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Some of\n     the men notice that the Jews do not obey, and go off\n     immediately to tell the King.\n\n\n     SCENE II\n\n     The men come before the King and begin their story by\n     saying, \"O King, live forever!\" The Bible language may be\n     used directly here in the conversation which follows. The\n     King is very angry at what these men tell him. He orders\n     that the three Jews be brought before him. They are brought\n     in and the King tells them that they will have to be put\n     into the fiery furnace if they do not obey. The Jews are not\n     afraid and reply that their God will take care of them. The\n     King then orders them to be bound and to be taken out to the\n     furnace, which has been heated seven times hotter than\n     usual. Men come running back to the King to tell him that\n     the servants which thrust the Jews into the furnace were\n     burnt up by the heat, but that the Jews were not harmed.\n     Another man runs in and tells the King that a fourth person\n     is in the furnace, and that he resembles the Son of God.\n     Nebuchadnezzar commands that the three men be brought out\n     from the furnace. They come before him, with no mark of the\n     fire on them. The King is so greatly impressed that he makes\n     a decree that no one shall speak against the God of\n     Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. He then appoints these\n     three men to positions of greater trust than ever before.\n\n\n9. BELSHAZZAR AND THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL\n\nDANIEL, CHAPTER 5\n\nThis story, like the others from Daniel, is so dramatically told in the\nBible that it may be taken almost exactly as it is given. It should be\nworked into a one-act play. Much attention should be given to the\nsetting, and the children may make many things which will give some\nidea of the richness of the banquet hall.\n\nThe play opens with the feast of Belshazzar. The people are making\nmerry in the midst of all the pomp and luxury of the court. Suddenly\nthe handwriting appears on the wall. The King and the people see it and\nare terrified. The children should not attempt to show the handwriting,\nbut from the words and actions of the King and the people the audience\nmust be made aware of what is happening. None of the wise men present\nis able to interpret the handwriting. The Queen comes before the King\nand begs that he send for Daniel, the Jew. Daniel is brought in, and\nafter a little thought gives the interpretation. The scene should end\nwith the recognition of Daniel's power. The scarlet robe is placed on\nhim and the golden chain is put around his neck, and the King\nproclaims that Daniel shall be the third ruler in the land.\n\n\n10. THE STORY OF JOB\n\nTHE BOOK OF JOB\n\nThe most majestic piece of literature in the Bible, and one of the\nworld's masterpieces, is the Book of Job. The Prologue and Epilogue are\nin the prose epic style, which characterizes the best narrative\nportions of the Bible. The main part of the book is actually dramatic\nin form, and the deep problem of human suffering is discussed in the\nloftiest poetic language. The theme is so profound and the imagery so\nelevated that it is quite beyond the ability of small children.\nHigh-school students might well present the drama. Many of the speeches\nmay be abbreviated, while the Prologue can easily be dramatized. Job\nhas been so presented with great success by children of high-school age\nat All Souls' Church, Chicago. It may be noted that the voice of the\nLord was given in an elevated monotone by a person unseen.\n\n\n11. THE PROPHETS\n\nFor the older children many of the Prophets make interesting characters\nfor dramatization. The great value of a study of the Prophets lies in\ntheir appeal as beautiful pieces of literature and expressions of the\ndeepest spiritual feeling, rather than in the dramatic situations\npresented. If a study is made of the life of the Prophets, and of the\ntimes in which they lived, ample material will be discovered which may\nserve as a background for the dramatization of these characters. This\nmaterial is not entirely available from the Bible, but should be\nreinforced by outside references, such as _The Prophets of Israel_ by\nC. H. Cornill, _The Modern Reader's Bible_ by R. G. Moulton, _The\nHebrew Prophets_ by Chamberlin.\n\nThe prophet Amos may be taken as an example of what can be done with\nthis material. The Children of Israel are celebrating their autumn\nfestival with great joy and abandon. As the mirth is at its highest an\nunknown man makes his way through the crowd. He silences the festivity\nby chanting his dirgelike reproof to the merrymakers. The astonishment\nof the people at this sensational interruption is great. The high\npriest hurries toward him and demands an explanation for this unusual\ndisturbance. He orders Amos to cease speaking and to go back to the\nhills and mind his sheep. Amos answers that he is sent by the Lord to\nreprove the people of Israel, and he continues to intone his\nlamentations. The most beautiful and vivid selections for use in\ndramatization are found in chapters 8 and 9. While the final beautiful\nwords of the prophecy are regarded as an editorial appendix, there can\nbe no impropriety in using them as a dramatic climax. The people may\nthen be represented as subdued in spirit, accepting the upbraiding as\nbeing the word of God.\n\nIsaiah, Jeremiah, and other Prophets may be worked out in like manner.\nThe result in each case, however, should insure the utmost dignity and\nbeauty; otherwise the dramatization should never be attempted.\n\nThe many Prophets with their various messages suggest the possibility\nof their use in a pageant. This form of dramatization may be given to\nadvantage by a group of children as a climax to their detailed study of\nthe Prophets.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFrom each of the following subjects several dramatizations may be\ntaken. They suggest many short one-act plays, and also some excellent\nlong ones.\n\n     Saul Chosen and Anointed King of Israel. I Sam., chaps. 9\n     and 10.\n\n     Samuel Anoints David. I Sam., chap. 16.\n\n     David and Jonathan. I Sam., chaps. 18-20.\n\n     David Spares Saul's Life. I Sam., chap. 24.\n\n     Moses Begs Pharaoh to Allow the Children of Israel to Leave\n     Egypt. Exod., chaps. 5-13.\n\nIt may be well to state, in connection with the selection of stories\nfrom the Bible for dramatization, that other stories outside of the\nBible may be dramatized by these same methods and will accomplish the\nsame results. It is not best to allow children to dramatize in\nsuccession too many of the heavier type of stories, such as the Bible\nstories represent. They may become tired if they work too long at the\nsame kind of dramatization. Children need stories which will lighten\nand relieve the extreme seriousness and dignity which they necessarily\nhave to express in playing the Bible stories. There is a host of fairy\ntales, folk-tales, and historical incidents that may well be adapted\nfor this purpose.\n\n_The Children's Educational Theatre_, by Alice Minnie Herts, describes\ndramatic work with children older than those who made the plays in this\nbook. It is an interesting experiment in education which uses\ndramatization as a means for accomplishing certain aims.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII\n\nSTAGE SETTING AND PROPERTIES\n\n\nThe point has been emphasized in the preceding chapters that very\nlittle stage setting and only a few properties are used in connection\nwith these dramatizations. It is always best that as much as possible\nshould be left to the imagination, and that only such setting and\nproperties be used as the children themselves can construct and as are\nneeded to produce the atmosphere of the play. This point of view\ninfluences any consideration of these matters.\n\nIt is frequently true that, after the children have made the articles\nthey find a need for, the results are very crude, and there is yet much\nopportunity for free play of the imagination. Great benefit is derived,\nhowever, through the construction of these objects. The children gain a\nclearer understanding and a keener appreciation of them after they have\nhad the experience of trying to express the shape or form through some\nmedium, such as clay-modeling, paper-cutting, drawing.\n\nCare should be taken that children make nothing in the nature of stage\nscenery, such as trees, grass, bulrushes, and other bits of landscape.\nThe only stage setting which seems at all necessary for them to make\ninvolves very simple designs which show the characteristic\nornamentation of the times, for example, the lotus and papyrus designs\nin Pharaoh's court.\n\nDrawings and descriptions of a few of the most essential stage\nproperties and settings are given below, with suggestions as to where\nand how each may be used.\n\n_Water jugs and dishes._--In the earlier stages of Hebrew history--as\nis found to be the case with all primitive shepherd people--skins and\nwooden bowls were used for holding water, milk, and food. Clay vessels\nwere probably not in general use during the nomadic period. When\ndramatizing the stories of Abraham and Isaac, and others of that\nperiod, this fact should be taken into account, and only vessels of\nwood and skin should be used.\n\nMost of the clay utensils, which are mentioned in the stories of a\nlater time, were shaped like those shown in Fig. 10. Many of the water\njugs had small handles, though some were without handles. Fig. 11 shows\nthe position in which a Hebrew woman usually carried her water jug.\n\nThe Hebrews had little interest in the aesthetic except in the realm of\nliterature, and the lack is very evident in their pottery. The water\njugs are far from having the beauty of line and proportion which is\nfound in Greek pottery. Whenever any of these vessels are needed for\nuse in a dramatization, it is well to have the children bring jars and\nbowls from home which conform as nearly as possible to the shapes here\ngiven. Earthenware bowls and jars may be used effectively.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 10.--WATER JUGS, DRINKING BOTTLE, MILK JUG,\nCOOKING POT, DISH, WATER JUG]\n\n_Wells._--The importance of wells in the life of the early Hebrews\ncannot be overemphasized. The scarcity of water in the desert made the\ndigging of wells a necessity for the survival of people and of flocks.\nAs much of the land was rocky, wells could be dug only at certain\nplaces. These favorable places were the means of determining where the\ntents were to be pitched. In most of the stories of the nomadic life\nwells play a conspicuous part.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 11.--WOMAN CARRYING WATER JUG]\n\nChildren should have correct mental pictures of those ancient wells, so\nthat they do not confuse them with the modern wells. The wells of\nPalestine usually had low stone walls around them, and often big flat\nstones for covers. The rocks were piled high enough to keep animals\nfrom falling in. In some of the wells the water was so low in the\nground that people had to go down steps on the inside in order to get\nit. In other wells the vessels were let down by means of ropes. The\nwomen of the land were always required to draw and carry the water.\n\nThe simplest way for children to represent a well on the stage is by\npiling up rocks to resemble the outside or by using something that will\nlook like a great stone. Fig. 12 shows two kinds of wells in Palestine.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 12.--ANCIENT WELLS IN PALESTINE]\n\n_Staff and rod._--The shepherd boy always had with him a rod and a\nstaff (Fig. 13). The rod was about two and a half feet long and was\nused for protection. The thick knob at the end was cut out of the tree\nfrom which the limb came, and was frequently covered with knots or\nnails to make it more terrible as a weapon. The children may find\npieces of wood which will serve the purpose, or if they live near a\nforest they may make their own rods.\n\nThe staff was usually about five feet long. The shepherd used it to\nhelp him climb hills and mountains and also to keep the sheep from\nstraying. Some staffs were nothing more than the straight limbs of\ntrees; others had a fork or crook at the end so that they could more\neasily catch into the wool of the sheep when they needed guiding.\nChildren may use long sticks or branches from trees when they represent\nstaffs.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 13.--SPEARS, SWORDS, STAFF, ROD, ARROWS, BOW]\n\n_Sling._--The sling which was used in David's time was frequently woven\nof rushes, hair, or sinews; sometimes it was made from soft leather.\nFrom Fig. 14 it will be seen that the shape of the woven part is wider\nin the middle and comes to a point at the end. A string was tied to\neach end and the stone was placed in the wide part. The sling was\nwhirled around over the head, and as one string was let loose the stone\nflew out. When the sling is used in a dramatization, the stone may be\nleft to the imagination.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 14.--A SHEPHERD'S SLING, A SIMPLE LOOM--MADE FROM\nCARDBOARD]\n\nChildren take great pleasure in trying to weave this sling. A diagram\nof a simple cardboard loom is given in Fig. 14. The shape should be\ndrawn on the cardboard, then holes made for the thread which strings up\nthe loom. Coarse woolen yarn may be used for the weaving.\n\n_Shepherd bag._--The shepherd bag which was used by David was carried\nby every shepherd boy along with the staff, rod, and sling. It was\nmade from a piece of skin with a cord at each end. The cords were\nfastened to the girdle so that the skin formed a kind of bag. Pebbles\nfor the sling were carried in it, and often supplies of food. A piece\nof leather or of brown cloth may be easily made into one of these bags\nfor the children to use.\n\n_Sickles._--Sickles were of two kinds--those made of metal and those\nmade of wood. The wooden ones were toothed with sharp pieces of flint.\nFig. 15 gives the characteristic shapes.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 15.--SICKLES]\n\nChildren may represent these sickles by cutting the shapes from stiff\ncardboard and coloring them some dark color to make them look as if\nthey were wood or metal. Some of the boys may be interested in cutting\nsickles directly out of wood.\n\n_Scepter._--The scepter was used by kings in the later history of the\nHebrews. It was nothing more than a development of the rod used in the\nshepherd period. As a rod it was a means of protection and power over\nenemies, and as a scepter it was a symbol of the same power. Scepters\nwere sometimes short, with much ornamentation; others were long,\nprobably five feet in length. They were all characterized by a ball at\nthe end, and in many cases the kings had them made from gold, or\nrichly ornamented with gold. The Persian kings used the long scepter,\nwhich therefore is the kind most appropriate for the play of Esther\n(see Fig. 16).\n\n_Tents._--The ancient Hebrew tent was much like the modern Bedouin\ntent. It was low and spread out over the ground, and was made of black\ngoat's hair cloth. This cloth was usually stretched over nine poles,\narranged in rows of three and from six to seven feet in height. The\ninside of the tent was divided into two parts by a long curtain which\nhung across the middle.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 16.--SCEPTER]\n\nA tent may be represented on the stage by placing a big thick cloth (a\nblanket or canvas or dark curtain) over poles or screens.\n\n_Shields._--There were two kinds of shields found among the Hebrews.\nOne was very large and covered a man from head to foot; it was usually\ncarried by a shield-bearer. The other was small and was sometimes\ncalled a buckler. Many different shapes were found in both kinds of\nshields; some were like the Egyptian--long, broad, and straight at the\nbottom; others were round and oblong. All shields were convex with\nhandles on the inside to hold them by. The kings had shields covered\nwith gold, or decorated with gold and precious stones; but the common\nsoldier had a shield of wood or stiff leather. Leather formed the basis\nof the shields that were decorated. Fig. 17 will show drawings of some\nof the typical shapes. Children can easily make shields out of\ncardboard; some may be covered with gold paper or with dark-brown\npaper. A handle may be glued or sewed in the inside so that the shield\nmay be held without trouble.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 17.--SHIELDS, FRONT AND SIDE VIEWS]\n\n_Swords._--The sword was always hung from the left side of the\nsword-belt. It was made from bronze or iron, and was about seventeen\ninches long. Fig. 13 shows some of the usual shapes. Many swords were\ntwo-edged and had leather sheaths in which they were carried. Children\nmay make these out of stiff cardboard, or out of thin wood. They should\nbe colored a dark color, and the hilts may be decorated with bright\ncolors to represent jewels.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 18.--TRUMPETS]\n\n_Spears._--Spears averaged about five feet in length. The javelin was a\nlong, heavy spear used for casting; the lance was a lighter spear used\nfor defense. All spears had a shaft of wood and a metal or stone point.\nFig. 13 gives several of the characteristic shapes of spear-points.\nSpears may be made by fastening cardboard points to long sticks, or by\ncutting the point directly out of the wood.\n\n_Bows and arrows._--The bows and arrows of the Hebrews were very much\nlike those of all other primitive peoples. The bows were often four or\nfive feet long and the arrows were pointed with sharp flint or metal.\nIllustrations of the shapes are found in Fig. 13. Children need little\ndirection in the making of these weapons, a string and some pliable\nwood being all that is necessary.\n\n_Trumpets._--Fig. 18 illustrates the kinds of trumpets used. The small\nram's-horn trumpet was associated with the feasts and other public\ncelebrations, while the long metal horn was used for the most part by\nthe priests. These metal trumpets were frequently made from hammered\nsilver. Children can make them out of stiff paper or thin cardboard and\ncover them with silver paper.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 19.--SIGNET RING]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 20.--LAMP]\n\n_Signet ring._--A signet ring is something that the kings were never\nwithout. In the earlier times it was worn on a chain which hung from\nthe neck; later it was worn on the finger. Fig. 19 gives a drawing of a\nsignet ring. The design was raised so that it left an imprint. The king\nused this imprint as his royal signature instead of signing his name.\nWhen a signet ring is needed in a dramatization, as is the case in\n_Daniel in the Lions' Den_, any large ring may be used, or the\nchildren may be interested in making a ring from paper or cardboard.\n\n_Lamps._--Fig. 20 shows one of the simpler types of lamps used at the\ntime of Christ. This was probably the kind referred to in the parable\nof the Wise and Foolish Virgins. The lamps were terra cotta and held a\nvery little oil. Children will be interested in making these lamps out\nof clay or plasticene. They are almost in the shape of a shallow bowl\nwith a handle.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 21.--EGYPTIAN DESIGN]\n\n_Egyptian design._--In the scenes placed in Pharaoh's court a few\ndecorations suggestive of the Egyptian will add interest. Fig. 21 gives\nsome of the simpler designs which the children may use for\nornamentation. The servants may carry the large fan-shaped designs,\nwhich they make on stiff paper. These designs were made from the lotus\nand the papyrus plants; the leaves were usually a blue-green, and red,\nblue, yellow, white, and black were used in many designs. Fig. 21 shows\nsome of these designs that were made by the children and used in\nrepresenting Pharaoh's court.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 22.--HELMETS, CROWNS, ASSYRIAN, EGYPTIAN, EGYPTIAN]\n\nAs it may be of interest to those who have access to a library to know\nwhere more definite and detailed information may be secured concerning\nthe articles that are but briefly described here, the following works\nare recommended: The _New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious\nKnowledge_; Hastings' _Dictionary of the Bible_; the _Jewish\nEncyclopedia_; Kitto, _Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature_; three books\nby W. M. Thomson--_Central Palestine and Phoenicia_, _Southern\nPalestine and Jerusalem_, _Lebanon, Damascus, and beyond Jordan_;\nElmendorf, _A Camera Crusade through the Holy Land._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV\n\nCOSTUMING\n\n\nThe question of costuming may be dealt with in much the same manner as\nthat of stage setting and properties. Costumes are unnecessary in many\nof the simpler plays, and even where they are used they should be so\ntreated that they are of minor importance in the minds of the children.\nIt is nearly always the case that the very smallest suggestion of a\ncostume--a sash or a cloth around the head--is satisfying and\nsufficient to produce the proper atmosphere of the play. There is\ndanger of placing so much emphasis upon this phase of the work that the\nchildren attach undue importance to it and thus lose the real spirit of\nthe dramatization.\n\nIf costumes are used they should not be saved for the final\nperformance, but the children should have the pleasure of wearing them\nat each practice where they are actually living over and over the lives\nof other people. Children should get their ideas of the dress of the\ntimes from pictures and descriptions and then in very simple ways try\nto represent what they have observed. The simplicity of the costumes\namong the Hebrew people makes the problem comparatively simple.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 23.--A group of children, showing costumes and a\ntrumpet]\n\nThere is very little definite knowledge about the exact costume of the\nancient Israelites, for they have left no records. The only sources of\ninformation on the subject are the few references to dress in the Old\nTestament and the few Jewish figures found among the Egyptian,\nAssyro-Babylonian, and Persian carvings. The conclusion has been\nreached, however, that the ancient Hebrew costume was in general\nsimilar to that of the modern Arab.\n\nIt is fairly certain that among the earliest tribes a simple slip or\nshort tunic, with close-fitting sleeves, was worn. Later a big loose\nmantle was usually thrown over this slip. The little under-garment was\nwhite, woven from wool, or sometimes made out of skins; the outer\ngarment was frequently striped, a bright color with white. Among the\nold patriarchs the outside cloak reached to the ground. It was often in\nthe shape of a blanket, and was draped by throwing one end over the\nleft shoulder, then passing it across the front of the body and under\nthe right arm, then across the back, and to the left shoulder again.\n\nAt a still later period there was the long gown, which reached to the\nankles and was belted in at the waist by a girdle. This was sometimes\ncovered by an outside robe which was like a cape. Frequently these\ngarments were brought over the heads in order to protect their wearers\nfrom the sun.\n\nAs a rule the servants and lower class of people wore only the one\ngarment--a short tunic, with or without a girdle. The richer men wore\nthe outside cloaks. Kings and nobles had many kinds of cloaks which\nwere very elaborately decorated. They had silk girdles, while the\npoorer men wore leather girdles. See Figs. 23-27 for costumes made by\nthe children.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 24.--The costume of Abraham]\n\nThe women's dress was very much the same as that worn by the men. All\ngarments may have been a little longer, but the draping and the kinds\nof garments were the same. Great ladies had beautiful veils and shawls.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 25.--Two kinds of costumes--the Rich Shepherd and\nthe Servant.]\n\nBoth men and women wore sandals. The soles were made of leather or\nthick woven cords. They were fastened to the feet by means of strings\nof leather, linen, or of papyrus. Two straps were usually attached to\nthe back of the sandal, then crossing from the back over the instep\nthey were tied to a third strap which was fastened at the front and\ncame between the great and second toe. Fig. 26 shows sandals which were\nmade by the children.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 26.--Costumes, showing sandals made by the\nchildren]\n\nThe headdress in the earlier days was nothing more than a piece of\nsquare cloth, folded diagonally and placed over the head with the long\npoint at the back; the two ends were then crossed under the chin and\nthrown back over the shoulders. A cord was tied around the head to keep\nthe cloth on. Later a kind of turban was worn which had no loose ends,\nbut which projected over the face enough to protect one from the sun.\nFigs. 23-25 give examples of different kinds of headdress made by the\nchildren.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 27.--Costumes]\n\nThe crowns which the kings wore were frequently of gold, studded with\njewels, although the Persian king had a stiff cap of felt or cloth,\nencircled by a blue and white band. Fig. 22 gives a few of the typical\nshapes for crowns.\n\nThe helmets which were worn by the soldiers were varied. The shapes\nemployed by the Assyrians and the Egyptians were probably used among\nthe Hebrews. See Fig. 22 for drawings of some of the best-known\nhelmets. Children may make these easily by using cardboard and gilt\npaper.\n\nThe Hebrew men and women had many personal ornaments, such as\nnecklaces, armlets, bracelets, rings. Children delight in making all\nkinds of bracelets and chains from gold and silver paper. They may\nbring all the bright-colored beads that they can get for the enrichment\nof the costume.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV\n\nTHE ORGANIZATION OF A CHURCH DRAMATIC CLUB\n\n\nThe kind of dramatics described in this book may be undertaken with\nsuccess in connection with any Sunday school. The most necessary\nelement is a leader in charge who is wide awake to the aims and\npurposes of such work and who has the ability to deal with little\nchildren. A trained teacher is preferable.\n\nThis dramatization can be most effectively presented to children\nbetween the ages of six and thirteen. In case the Sunday school is very\nlarge and more children join than can be easily managed by one leader,\nit would be best to divide the members into two or three smaller\ngroups, each with a competent leader in charge. One person should be\nable to handle well from twenty to twenty-five children.[2]\n\nThis training ought not to stop with younger children, but may well be\ncarried on with pupils of high-school age. This would involve problems\nslightly different from those here presented, but on the whole the\nsame aims may be achieved.\n\nIt is sometimes the case that a few of the children outgrow the club.\nThey begin to realize that they are much larger than the others, and\nthey decide that they do not care to take part in the acting, yet they\nare still interested enough to come to the meetings. If there is no\nother dramatic club into which they may go, then they may be used as\nassistants in the younger club and made to feel that they are a\nnecessary part of it. There are many ways in which they can be of\nvaluable help to the leader, at the same time experiencing a\ndevelopment through the training.\n\nDuring one year in the history of the dramatic club here described\nthree girls of fourteen came regularly to the meetings. They could not\nbe persuaded to take part in the dramatizations, but they expressed an\neagerness to help in the direction. They entered into the discussion\nand criticism of the plays that were being acted each Sunday, and their\nsuggestions were always very much to the point. They had the ability of\nexplaining what they meant to the children so that it was easily\nunderstood. These girls would write out the scenes, sometimes while the\nchildren were actually giving them; or, again, they would write them at\nhome and bring them for discussion at the next meeting. They took\nentire charge of the costuming, and would meet outside at sewing-bees,\nwhere they mended, pieced, or made over the costumes on hand. Then at\nthe plays they always took the responsibility of dressing the little\nchildren, putting on their headdresses, tying their sashes, and seeing\nthat their costumes were draped in the right way.\n\nWhen a dramatic club is first started, it is advisable to dignify the\norganization by electing a president and secretary from among the\nchildren. The president may take charge of the meetings and then turn\nthem over to the director, and may help in many ways to keep the club\ntogether. The secretary may call the roll and be responsible for\nsending notices to the members. Children always delight in this amount\nof formality, and through it each one becomes a much more vital part of\nthe group; the responsibility as far as possible is placed upon the\nchildren, and they usually rise to meet it.\n\nIt is hardly practical in most cases to attempt to hold more than one\nmeeting a week. The time should be set according to the convenience of\nthe majority of the members. Sunday afternoon was found to be the best\ntime for this little club to meet, but any week day will do as well.\nOccasionally, just before a play is to be given, a few call meetings\nmay be necessary.\n\nIt is desirable that the club own the simple costumes which the members\nwear. A costume box is a convenient place for keeping them. The same\ngarments may be used over and over again, and should be kept where they\nmay be easily obtained at each meeting. The older girls in the group\nwill be glad to take charge of the costume box, and they should see\nthat all of the garments are kept in order. The supply of costumes will\ngrow, for children will be constantly bringing new things to add to it.\n\nThere are various methods of getting a number of costumes on hand. The\nchildren may bring from home old sheets and bright-colored shawls and\nribbons, which may be used to advantage. Often the Sunday school will\nappropriate a small sum in order to help buy materials. A very small\namount of money need be spent, for the costumes must be extremely\nsimple and they should be planned and made by the children.\n\nThe construction work which the children do in connection with the\ndramatization is an important part in the working out of a play. As\nalready noted, the greatest value of it lies in the fact that it\nrepresents the efforts of the children. There is hardly time at one of\nthe regular meetings to have the construction work done. A discussion\nof the articles needed may be necessary, after which the children\nshould be encouraged to make them at home. The older ones are able to\nlook up pictures and descriptions which will help, while the younger\nones need to have the matter frequently talked over in order to give\nthem the correct mental pictures of what they are to make. It is always\nsurprising to see how readily children take hold of this kind of work.\nThey bring in very many interesting things which they have made--often\nthings which they have thought out for themselves and which they had\nnot been asked to make. There are times when all the members are\nworking on the same problem, such as lamps for the Wise and Foolish\nVirgins. It may be best under these circumstances to have a meeting\noutside where they all work together. (Descriptions of these\nconstructed articles may be found in a previous chapter.)\n\nA word of warning may be in place at this point. Parents of the\nchildren are usually anxious and eager to help in making costumes and\nthe constructed objects. The very best aid that they can give is to see\nthat the children have the opportunity for making these things\nthemselves; they may encourage and guide wisely, but the finished\nproduct must be the child's, not the mother's. Some mothers have\nthought that they were doing the right thing to have a carpenter make\nthe spears and other weapons for the soldier. The boy derives more\nbenefit if he looks around for some sticks which will serve his\npurpose, no matter how crude they may be.\n\nThe order in which plays are given in this book should not be taken as\nthe proper sequence for a dramatic club. The story of _Joseph_ is\ndescribed in detail first because the method used there may be followed\nwith any of the shorter or longer stories. This particular story,\nhowever, should not be the first one presented to children who have\nnever had such work before. Such stories as _David and Goliath_,\n_Abraham and the Three Guests_, or any of the parables should come\nfirst. _Joseph_, _Ruth_, and _Esther_ are well worked out by children\nafter they have had a little experience with dramatization.\n\nAs a final summary, let it be ever kept in mind that this dramatization\nfunctions as a factor in religious education only when the highest\ndevelopment of the children is the aim. It should be so conducted that\nit forms an essential part of the religious training of the Sunday\nschool, and also one of the valuable activities of the church.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[Footnote 2: In church schools which are organizing on the most\napproved methods of the correlation of all educational activities the\ndramatic club may be a regular part of the junior department, similar\nclubs being integral parts of the other departments.]\n\n\n\n\nINDEX\n\n\n\n\nINDEX\n\n\nAaron, 55\n\n_Abraham_, the dramatization of, 84-92, 118\n\nAhasuerus, king of Media and Persia, 70-83\n\nAims of dramatization, 5, 9-10\n\nAmos, the prophet, 127\n\nAngels, 85, 90\n\nArmor and weapons, 50, 138-140, 151\n\n\nBag, shepherd, 136\n\nBanquet, Queen Esther's, 69, 80\n\nBelshazzar, 125\n\nBoaz, 64-66\n\nBow and arrow, 140\n\n\nCardboard, use of, 45, 60, 151\n\nCitizens of Bethlehem, 65\n\nClay, use of, 100, 131, 142\n\nCloak, outer garment, 146\n\nConspirators, 94-97\n\nConstruction work, 45, 60, 130-143\n\nCostumes, 45;\n  the making of, 144-151;\n  the method of obtaining, 155\n\nCrowns, 150\n\n\n_Daniel_, the dramatization of, 93-97, 122, 125\n\nDarius, 93-95\n\n_David_, 44;\n  the dramatization of, 46-51, 128\n\nDesign, Egyptian, 142\n\nDiagram of loom, 45, 136\n\nDishes, 131\n\n\nEducation, religious, 6-8, 157\n\nElijah, 120-121\n\nElisha, 122\n\n_Esther_, the dramatization of, 68-83\n\n\nFeast, 80, 115-116\n\nFiery furnace, 123-124\n\n\nGibeonites, 116-117\n\nGirdle, 146\n\nGleaners, 63\n\nGoliath, 44, 48, 51\n\n\nHaman, 71-74\n\nHarvest, 59, 61\n\nHeaddress, 69, 144, 150\n\nHelmet, 143, 151\n\n\nInnkeeper, 105\n\nIsaac, 118-120\n\nIsaiah, 128\n\n\nJacob, 18, 112\n\nJael, 112\n\nJephthah, 112\n\nJeremiah, 128\n\nJericho, 103\n\nJerusalem, 103\n\nJob, 126\n\nJonathan, 128\n\n_Joseph_, the story of, 17-25;\n  the dramatization of, 34-43\n\nJoshua, 116\n\n\nLamps, 99-100, 142\n\nLions, den of, 93, 96-97\n\nLoom, 45, 136\n\n\nMethod of presenting dramatization, formal, 9;\n  informal, 10-16\n\nMiriam, 55\n\nMoab, the land of, 63\n\nMordecai, 72-74\n\n_Moses_, the dramatization of, 52-56, 128\n\n\nNaomi, 62-63, 66-67\n\nNebuchadnezzar, 122-123\n\n\nOrganization, of dramatic club, 7, 8, 152-157;\n  of stories, 110-111\n\nOrnaments, personal, 151\n\n\nPapyrus, 142, 149\n\nParables, the dramatization of, 98-108\n\nPerformance, public, 14, 33, 90\n\nPharaoh, 21, 39, 54, 57-58\n\nPharaoh's daughter, 55-58\n\nPictures, the use of, 45, 84\n\nPlasticene, 100, 142\n\nPresident of the club, 154\n\n_Prodigal Son, The_, dramatization of, 105-108\n\nProphets, the, 126-127\n\n\nQueen of Sheba, 115-116\n\n\nReapers, 63-64\n\nRebekah, 118-120\n\nRing, signet, 141\n\n_Ruth_, the dramatization of, 59-67\n\n\n_Samaritan, The Good_, the dramatization of, 103-104\n\nSamson, 112\n\nSamuel, 113-114, 128\n\nSandals, 62, 148-149\n\nSarah, 85\n\nSaul, 48, 128\n\nScepter, 69, 78, 137\n\nSecretary of the club, 154\n\nServant, 100, 108\n\nShepherd customs, 84\n\nShield, 45, 138\n\nSickles, 60, 137\n\nSling, 45, 51, 135-136\n\nSoldier, 49, 96\n\nSolomon, 115-116\n\nSpears, 45, 140\n\nStaff, 45, 134\n\nStage setting, 84, 130\n\nSupper, The Great, 100\n\nSwords, 45, 139\n\n\nTents, 84, 138\n\nTrumpets, 141\n\nTunic, 146-147\n\nTurban, 150\n\n\n_Virgins, The Wise and Foolish_, the dramatization of, 99-100\n\n\nWater jugs, 131-132\n\nWells, 133\n\nPRINTED IN THE U.S.A.\n\n\n\n\nPRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION\n\n_Edited by_ W. C. BOWER, EDWIN E. AUBREY, and W. C. GRAHAM\n\n\n_A Survey of Religious Education in the Local Church._ By William C.\nBower.\n\n_The Junior: Life-Situations of Children Nine to Eleven Years of Age._\n(Revised edition, 1932.) By Ernest J. Chave.\n\n_Out of Doors with Youth._ By J. W. F. Davies.\n\n_The Sunday-School Building and Its Equipment._ By Herbert F. Evans.\n\n_Recreation and the Church._ By Herbert W. Gates.\n\n_Character Building through Recreation._ By Kenneth L. Heaton.\n\n_Graded Social Service for the Sunday School._ By William N. Hutchins.\n\n_A Summer Program for the Church School._ By Miles H. Krumbine.\n\n_World-Friendship through the Church School._ By John Leslie Lobingier.\n\n_Projects in World-Friendship._ By John Leslie Lobingier.\n\n_The Dramatization of Bible Stories._ By Elizabeth Erwin Miller\n(Elizabeth Miller Lobingier).\n\n_Dramatization in the Church School._ By Elizabeth Erwin Miller\n(Elizabeth Miller Lobingier).\n\n_Far Peoples._ By Grace D. Phillips.\n\n_Church School Projects._ By Erwin L. Shaver.\n\n_The Project Principle in Religious Education._ By Erwin L. Shaver.\n\n_A Project Curriculum for Young People._ By Erwin L. Shaver.\n\n_Handwork in Religious Education._ By Addie Grace Wardle.\n\n\nTHE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTranscriber's Notes\n\nMade minor punctuation and formatting changes, e.g., indentations.","title":"The Dramatization of Bible Stories: An experiment in the religious education of children","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":34416}