{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_63067/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_63067","id":"gutenberg_63067","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63067","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Journalism/Media/Writing","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Teaching & Education","Storytelling -- Periodicals"],"text":"Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\nObvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.\n\nItalics are represented thus _italic_.\n\n\n\n\n                           THE STORY HOUR\n\n                       A Magazine of Methods and\n                      Materials for Story Tellers\n\n                 VOL. I      NOVEMBER, 1908      NO. 1\n\n       Published Monthly (ten times a year) at Washington, D.\u202fC.\n\n        Copyright, 1908, by M.\u202fE. Sloane. All rights reserved.\n\n\n                  WILLIAM C. RUEDIGER, Ph. D., Editor\n         _Division of Education, George Washington University_\n\n                  RICHARD T. WYCHE, Consulting Editor\n              _President National Story Tellers\u2019 League_\n\n               MERSENE E. SLOANE, Founder and Publisher\n\n\n  Subscription: One Dollar a year (ten numbers), in advance.\n                Single and Sample Numbers, Fifteen Cents.\n\n  Advertising rates given on application.\n\n\n  Address all communications to\n\n                          THE STORY HOUR,\n                             406 FIFTH STREET, N. W.,\n                                       WASHINGTON, D.\u202fC.\n\n\n  Make remittances by money order, draft or registered letter, payable\n  to Mersene E. Sloane, Publisher. Sender risks unregistered money.\n  Manuscripts on story-telling, and of stories for telling, are desired.\n  When ordering change of address be sure to give the former address.\n\n\n      PRESS OF THE COLONIAL PRINTING COMPANY OF WASHINGTON, D.\u202fC.\n\n\n\n\n                       OFFICERS OF THE NATIONAL\n                         STORY-TELLERS\u2019 LEAGUE\n\n\n              _Honorary President_, HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE\n     _President_, RICHARD T. WYCHE, 501 W. 120th Street, New York\n         _Secretary_, DR. RICHARD M. HODGE, Teachers\u2019 College,\n                     Columbia University, New York\n           _Treasurer_, MR. W.\u202fH. KEISTER, Harrisonburg, Va.\n\n\n                          EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE\n\n                  DR. P.\u202fP. CLAXTON, Knoxville, Tenn.\n              _Professor Education, University of Tenn._\n              _Superintendent Summer School of the South_\n\n                   MISS ANNIE LAWS, Cincinnati, Ohio\n             _President Ohio Federation of Women\u2019s Clubs_\n\n                  MISS MAUD SUMMERS, Cincinnati, Ohio\n             _Superintendent Kindergarten Training School_\n\n                   MISS ANNA C. TYLER, New York City\n                        _Children\u2019s Librarian_\n\n                         DR. RICHARD M. HODGE\n                           MR. W.\u202fH. KEISTER\n                         MR. RICHARD T. WYCHE\n\n\n                            ADVISORY BOARD\n\n            DR. G. STANLEY HALL, President Clark University\n               DR. HENRY VAN DYKE, Princeton University\n            MISS ELIZABETH BROWN, City Schools, Washington\n    DR. JENNIE B. MERRILL, Supervisor Kindergartens, New York City\n            DR. A. FORTIER, Tulane University, New Orleans\n                DR. C.\u202fW. KENT, University of Virginia\n    WHARTON S. JONES, Assist. Supt. Public Schools, Memphis, Tenn.\n     DR. J.\u202fE. MCKEAN, Home Study Courses, Northwestern University\n         SUPT. B.\u202fC. GREGORY, Supt. of Schools, Chelsea, Mass.\n      MISS ELIZABETH HARRISON, Pres. Chicago Kindergarten College\nMISS MARIAN S. HENCKLE, Kindergarten Training School, Charleston, S.\u202fC.\n                 MISS PEARL CARPENTER, Covington, Ky.\n             MRS. A.\u202fW. COOLEY, University of North Dakota\n              MISS ELIZABETH J. BLACK, Greensboro, N.\u202fC.\nDR. W.\u202fC. RUEDIGER, Division of Education, George Washington University\n\n\n\n\n                            THE STORY HOUR\n\n                 VOL. I      NOVEMBER, 1908      NO. 1\n\n\n                    EDITOR\u2019S AND PUBLISHER\u2019S NOTES\n\n\nWith this issue a new magazine under the title of THE STORY HOUR begs\nleave to enter the arena of Journalism. It is published in the cause of\nstory-telling in the home, school, Sunday School, playground and social\ngathering.\n\nAlthough the art of story-telling is old, its general recognition as an\neducational agency is new. Many teachers are already making good use of\nit and we do not hesitate in saying that its usefulness will increase\nand will henceforth occupy a permanent place in teaching.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTHE STORY HOUR owes its origin to an editorial in _The World\u2019s Work_\nof last July, giving a brief account of the Story Tellers\u2019 League\nmovement. The attention of the publisher was called to that editorial\nas something in which he would be especially interested. Having been\na teacher, and also a newspaper man and a publisher, he at once saw\nthe field for a magazine to give a definiteness and coherence to the\nstory-telling movement that could hardly obtain without a periodical\nrepresentative.\n\nThe plan of such a publication was at once outlined, and after some\nindirect correspondence he got in communication with Mr. Richard T.\nWyche, president of the National Story Tellers\u2019 League. Mr. Wyche came\nto Washington and after several interviews the magazine was launched\nwith William C. Ruediger, of George Washington University, as Editor,\nand Mr. Wyche as consulting editor.\n\nThe detailed labor required to start a new magazine is greater than\nmay appear on the surface. But it is a work in which all three of the\nstaff are earnestly interested, and the labor is cheerfully done. No\nsalaries are attached, and the subscription price barely covers the\ncost of publication. Our reward is in the satisfaction of furthering a\ngood cause, until such time as later developments may bring something\nmore.\n\nThe co-operation of all League people is confidently anticipated. A\nhigh standard will be maintained throughout. There may be some delays\nincident to the starting of a new project, but when an ample supply of\nmaterial is in hand, as there soon will be, the magazine will go out\npromptly.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe informational feature of this issue has trespassed on the space\nbelonging to stories and to special articles, but this will not be\nthe case in the future. Particular attention will be given to the\nclassic stories from all times and places, but new or modern stories\nsuitable for telling will not be neglected. So far as we can, we shall\nconcentrate the stories of each number about single topics. The next\nnumber will contain several Christmas stories, one being from the pen\nof Mr. Wyche. Other numbers will be devoted respectively to Bible\nstories, Japanese stories, nature myths, star myths, Norse tales,\nhistory stories, Indian legends, etc.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nReaders of THE STORY HOUR will appreciate the statement that Mr.\nRichard T. Wyche, President of the National Story Tellers\u2019 League,\nwill present a series of articles to run through the year, on \u201cStories\nand How to Use Them,\u201d of which the first installment appears in this\nnumber. Mr. Wyche is an acknowledged leader in the new story-telling\nmovement. His ability and experience insure a series of articles of\nprime importance to the cause, and of rare interest and value to all\nwho are engaged in story-telling in any of its forms.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThis initial number of THE STORY HOUR, as announced in advance, is\ndesigned for special informational use. People in all parts of the\ncountry are learning of the new educational story-telling movement\nand are making inquiry regarding details. This number of the magazine\nanswers many of the questions, and further information will appear in\nsucceeding numbers.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe importance of story-telling as a factor in the uplift of the young\nis recognized by the leaders in the great playground movement. At\nthe Second Annual Congress of the Playground Association of America,\nheld in New York City, September 8-12, this year, some prominence was\ngiven to the story-telling feature of playground work. A special joint\ncommittee composed of members of the National Playground Association\nand the National Story Tellers\u2019 League had the consideration of this\ntopic. Of this committee Miss Maude Summers was chairman, and Dr. Grant\nKarr was secretary.\n\nIt was one of the most enthusiastic committees of the Congress. So\ninterested were its members, that long after the hour for adjournment\nit continued in session. An extra meeting was held one evening for\nstory-telling.\n\nMiss Summers gave an address before a general meeting of the Congress.\nSeveral of her remarks made a noticeable impression, and the press\nof the country has since then been quoting and commenting on certain\nthings she said, particularly wherein she scored the Sunday comic\nsupplements and urged the telling of good stories instead.\n\nThrough the courtesy of Miss Summers, THE STORY HOUR is enabled,\nin this number, to present the text of her paper read before the\nplayground congress.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe article on \u201cThe Traveling Story Tellers of the Northland,\u201d by Anna\nBogenholm Sloane, is the forerunner of several contributions promised\nfrom her pen. Her familiarity with the lore of the Northland is\nfirst-hand.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn our next number there will be an article on the origin and growth of\nJunior Leagues that will be helpful in suggestions to those who wish to\nestablish such leagues among the children.\n\n\n                       ANNOUNCEMENT BY MR. WYCHE\n\nDuring the past year, a number of letters of inquiry have come to me in\nresponse to articles that have appeared in magazines and newspapers,\nasking for information in regard to the National Story Tellers\u2019 League.\nSo numerous have been the letters asking for information and circulars\nthat it has been impossible to supply the demand, and the issuing\nof a booklet or publication of some kind by the League has become a\nnecessity.\n\nAmong the letters that came to me in August was one from Mersene E.\nSloane of Washington, D. C., offering to publish in the interest of\nthe League movement, a little magazine. I immediately took up the\nmatter with him and after several visits to Washington we secured in\nWilliam C. Ruediger, of the Division of Education, George Washington\nUniversity, an editor for the proposed magazine.\n\nWhen we think of the thousands of teachers, kindergartners, children\u2019s\nlibrarians, Sunday School teachers, playground workers and parents,\nwhose high privilege it is to tell stories to children, surely there\nseems a field for such a magazine as is here proposed. Since the\nbeginning of the National League, we have felt the need of just such a\nmedium of communication.\n\nI shall do all I can for the magazine and assist in keeping it up\nto the highest and best in life and literature. I commend to League\nmembers, local and national, and all interested, the efforts of editor\nand publisher. Their work in behalf of the magazine is, and will be for\nsome time, largely a labor of love. I ask that you send in not only\nyour subscriptions, but reports from your Leagues, items of interest,\nstories and papers on story-telling. What you are doing will be\nsuggestive and inspiring to others, especially those just beginning the\nwork.\n\nIn merging the booklet that the National League was to issue into the\nmagazine, I trust it will have the hearty support of all the Leagues\nand further the cause of The Story Hour.\n\n                           RICHARD THOMAS WYCHE,\n                              President, National Story Tellers\u2019 League.\n\n\n\n\n                      STORIES AND HOW TO USE THEM\n\n                        BY RICHARD THOMAS WYCHE\n               PRESIDENT, NATIONAL STORY TELLERS\u2019 LEAGUE\n\n                          ARTICLE NUMBER ONE\n\n\nOnce upon a time the writer undertook to teach a little school in a\nfar-off seacoast town in the South. The little village was on a sandy\nbluff overlooking the sound and the sea. Cut off from the main land by\nan impossible swamp in the rear, yet shut out from the great Atlantic\nby an ever-shifting sand bar that lay for leagues along the sea coast,\nit gave the little town an ideal harbor of shallow water, the home of\nfishermen and oystermen whose cottages were scattered for miles along\nthe sea coast.\n\nBeing isolated the inhabitants were compelled to rely upon themselves\nand in doing this had developed a solidarity of community life and a\nmanhood and womanhood of purity and simplicity that was as refreshing\nas the breezes that ever swept its shores.\n\nAmid such surroundings I began to teach, and it was my first\nexperience. Not having libraries or lectures to help me, I too must\ndepend on self.\n\nI had never studied pedagogy and knew nothing of teaching except that\nwhich I had seen in the university lecture rooms. The teacher who\npreceded me \u201cheard\u201d lessons and the children \u201csaid\u201d lessons. That\nseemed an easy proposition, for the questions were in the book and the\nchildren could memorize and say the answers.\n\nBut I soon discovered that the children found no interest in the fact\nthat one word was a verb and another a noun. They memorized the rules\nand repeated the lessons, but they were not at all interested in the\nsubject. They were bored by this mechanical process, and so was the\nteacher. Something must be done. One day I told the class the story of\n\u201cHiawatha\u2019s Fishing.\u201d Every child listened with rapt attention. I had\nfound something that they were interested in. I requested the children\nto write the story out for their lessons the next day. The majority\nof them did so, and read the story as they had understood and written\nit down. One little fellow said, \u201cI ain\u2019t got no pencil,\u201d\u2014which meant\nthat he didn\u2019t write it. \u201cTell it then,\u201d I said. He told it in such a\nvivid and realistic way that the class applauded. I had found something\nthat the child liked. The second day I told the story of \u201cHiawatha\u2019s\nFasting,\u201d then \u201cHiawatha\u2019s Friends,\u201d and so on, two stories a week,\nuntil we had told the whole story of Hiawatha.\n\nBut you ask \u201cWhat did that have to do with grammar?\u201d From the story we\ngot the nouns and verbs we studied and the sentences that the advanced\nclasses analyzed and studied. (The whole school heard the story, it\nbeing an ungraded school with classes ranging from primary to high\nschool.)\n\nWhat else did we do with the story? Let us see. When the children told\nthe story orally or on paper it was creative work, and better for\nexpression than memorizing \u201cMary had a little lamb.\u201d The child received\na mental picture. He heard the story, and retelling it in his own words\nhe created afresh the picture, thereby becoming a creator and an artist\nhimself. In reciting \u201cMary had a little lamb\u201d he was dealing with\nwords. In telling the story he was dealing with mental images.\n\nOne day I saw the children playing out on the campus, and on making\ninquiries they said, \u201cWe are playing Hiawatha and Mondamin and Old\nNokomis.\u201d They were dramatizing the story. It was taking effect. Had I\nbeen a trained teacher I would have let them do it in class as a part\nof their work. Twice a week we got the words for our spelling lesson\nfrom the story. The children were so much interested in Hiawatha that\nthey wanted to make pictures of Hiawatha. Then I let them illustrate\nthe story, writing in their composition books the story, and\nillustrating it. As we studied geography, the upper Mississippi Valley\nand the Lake Regions all took on new meaning because Hiawatha had once\nlived, toiled, and suffered there.\n\nBut what had I done for those children most of all? I had fed their\nsouls,\u2014given them a masterpiece of literature. Starting with the\nchildhood of Hiawatha we had followed him and admired him. We had\nroamed through that fairy land of dark green forest; heard the\nwhispering pines, saw Hiawatha when he caught the King of Fishers,\n\u201cSlew the Pearl Feather,\u201d prayed and fasted for his people, punished\n\u201cPau-puk-kee-wis,\u201d wooed and won Minnehaha, and when his task was done,\nsailed away into the fiery sunset.\n\nThat something inexpressibly sweet and beautiful that I felt in the\nvision hour, and longed to impart to the children and heretofore had\nnot been able to, I had at last found incarnate in a hero, while the\nmusic, meter, and imagery of poetry had awakened the sense of the\nbeautiful and revealed a new world to the children. New life had come\ninto the school. It had been born again and born from above.\n\nTwo months had passed. I had tried an experiment. It had succeeded.\nGrammar, language, composition, spelling, drawing, story-telling had\nbeen taught by that method. Formal language had become linked to\nliterature and thereby to life. The formal had become an expression of\nthe spiritual.\n\nWhere could I find another such story? The little goody-goody\nsissy-prissy stories could not interest us. They all seemed tame in\ncomparison to the sustained effort of a story like Hiawatha. I had\ndiscovered that the children could fully appreciate a great story told\nto them in a living, creative way, and that interest grew each day as\nwe told the long story in sections to the end. The only other hero\nin literature that I knew in these first years of my experience in\nteaching was revealed in the story of King Arthur which I had recently\nstudied in a university; but, were the Idyls of the King suited to the\nchildren? That was the only source of the story available to me at\nthat time and it was more modern, more complicated in every way, and\nfar more difficult to tell than the one we had just finished. After\nhearing a number of the Hiawatha stories the children could and did\nread Longfellow\u2019s versions, but not so with the Idyls of the King.\nWhile the children fully enjoyed the stories of the Idyl, the style of\nTennyson was not suited nor intended for children. All the imagery,\nheroic deeds and idealism of Hiawatha were there, but in telling this\nstory much must be omitted. Involved plots must be made direct, and\nthe story simplified. This required much more preparation on the part\nof the teacher, but we must have another story. It would not do to let\nthe school fall back into the dead rut of lesson hearing, and though I\nfeared they could not appreciate the Arthurian story yet I would try. I\nbegan with the finding of a naked babe on the beach, the childhood of\nArthur, Merlin\u2019s work, the sword Excalibur, and Arthur\u2019s coronation.\n\nAt first the children were not so much interested. Their minds were\nstill on Hiawatha and his deeds; they were loath to leave him. But\ngradually as I told of Arthur and his deeds, Gareth and Lynette,\nGeraint and Enid, Lancelot and Elaine, the Quest of the Holy Grail,\nThe Flight of Guinevere, the Passing of Arthur, the interest grew,\nand at times became intense, especially among the larger boys and\ngirls. The story was coming home to them. King Arthur was a man like\nourselves, of our own race. The whole story had brought the children\nface to face with a great ideal, Arthur, the blameless man. Pure\nhimself, he demanded it in his knights, and bound them by vows of\nobedience to their conscience and their king. He defended the weak\nagainst the wicked; broke up the robbers\u2019 dens and cleansed the land;\nled his knights in brave deeds, for it is said that when the fire of\nGod filled him none could stand against him in battle. He enjoyed the\nathletic sports and the tourneys, yet was so gentle, they said his ways\nwere sweet.\n\nAs with Hiawatha the story was reproduced, illustrated, correlated with\nEnglish history and geography, and at the same time it furnished the\nmost excellent material for ethical and \u00e6sthetic culture. After the\nlast story was told, the Passing of Arthur, and the children saw with\nSir Bedivere, the King pass with the three tall queens in a barge over\nthe sea, they stood in wonder gazing on the splendor of his passing.\nDefeated in the last weird battle in the West, yet he was victorious in\nhis ideals for he became the spiritual king of his race.\n\n\u201cFrom the great deep to the great deep he goes,\u201d the children heard\nbut did not quite understand. It was the better for that because it\nawakened in the child something of the mystery of life and death. In\nthat it served the highest purpose. It helped the child to realize that\nthere are things in life that eye has not seen nor ear heard. Let it\nnot be forgotten that while we use these great stories for formal work,\nthe formal was always the result of the creative. \u201cThe letter killeth;\nthe spirit giveth life.\u201d Thus it was that children and teacher left the\nlow plains of the \u201clesson hearer\u201d and hand in hand walked the upland\npastures of the soul.\n\nThis is not offered as a model method for teaching, but it is given to\nreveal the writer\u2019s view-point and the source of his inspiration for\nthese chapters.\n\n\n                       THE STORY IN FORMAL WORK\n\nThe formal must be an expression of the spiritual else it is not art.\nThis is true whether the idea is expressed in words, wood or iron. To\ndo formal work whether it be oral retelling, composition, illustrating\nor dramatization of a story apart from the spirit is deadening to the\nchild. The letter killeth, the spirit giveth life is true in language\nand literature as well as religion. Herein is the great possibility for\nthe development of individuality,\u2014letting the child\u2019s life develop\nafter the laws of its nature and not after arbitrary laws forced upon\nhim from above. This is the pivotal point in all our work.\n\nNo poet, painter, sculptor, builder, musician, writer or worker of\nany kind has ever done abiding work who did it apart from the spirit.\nIt is a child\u2019s nature to sing, play, dance or reproduce in some way\nthat which impresses him. Impressions must be expressed in order to\nbecome a part of us. If the deeds of Siegfried, King Alfred or George\nWashington impressed the child he will tell about the hero that he\nadmires. Here the wise teacher finds a basis for his formal work. The\ninterest the child has in the deeds of his hero will tide him over the\notherwise drudgery of spelling, composition and language forms. The\nheroic spirit of the hero has become his and he is not afraid of the\ntask. Furthermore, the love he has for the hero makes the story he\ntells, writes, or the picture he makes of him a sacred task. He must\ndo justice to the ideal hero. The teacher who telling a story has not\ngotten so near to the hero that he feels the sacredness of his life\nhas not reached the heart of his story. There is no pattern process or\nmethod by which this may be done. Day after day as he tells the life\nstory of a great hero he will catch something of the spirit of the man.\n\nTo retell a story is not to reproduce the language word for word, just\nas it was first told, but to recreate it from your view point. When\nthe child tells a story therefore do not stop him and say, \u201cyou did\nnot mention so and so,\u201d breaking up the mental picture process and\nconfusing the child with non-essential facts such as pronunciation,\nincorrect grammar and so on. Nothing could be more deleterious and\ndestructive to the creative spirit. Put yourself in the child\u2019s place.\nCould you tell a story if in your presence there was a superior to\ncriticise your words and pronunciation?\n\nNo, let the child have the floor. It is his audience. He is responsible\nfor their attention. Stand with head uncovered in the presence of\nthis child artist and orator. Through the story he is giving back to\nyou the world as he sees it and understands it, creating it afresh and\ntelling what it means to him. When you told the story to him it was\nyour message to him; now it is his message to you and to the class.\nGradually, as he retells and reproduces stories, the artistic sense\ngrows upon him,\u2014unity, essential points, climax, finish and so on.\nNaturally as the child gives back his story he will leave out some\npoints originally in the story, they are not essential to his purpose,\nhe is giving his interpretation, and enlarging upon others and actually\nbringing in new points not originally in the story, but essential to\nhis view point.\n\nThe teacher who with rude hands stops the child and says \u201cThat is not\nthe way it is in the book or the way I told it,\u201d makes of the child\nan imitator and not a creator; thwarts at the very outset one of the\ngreatest educational advantages of story reproduction. We do not want\nto make the child tell a story as the teacher would, but in his own\nway thereby giving to his work individuality. He is a separate ego and\nthrough his personality is giving a new relation of the Divine. Day by\nday as he hears the teacher and the children of his class tell stories\nhe will get standards of comparison by which he may measure his own\nwork and improve it. Correct grammar and pronunciation? yes, but not\nhere. The speaker, preacher or orator makes mistakes, but he would\ndespise you, and the audience would be disgusted, if you stopped him in\nhis speech to correct grammar. His message and the atmosphere he brings\nare the essentials. All else should be forgotten for the time. So it\nshould be with the child before the class. He is the orator to reveal\nto you and the class the world as he sees it. For the time being sit at\nhis feet and help him produce the atmosphere necessary for the telling\nof the story.\n\nArt comes from within, not from without. Do not force, do not fuss;\nbe quiet; wait for the child to hear the still small voice within.\nAt first he may be timid; it is an untried world for him. He, it is\ntrue, has caught glimpses of storyland, seen its beauty and felt its\nenchantment, but others were leading him. Now he must lead others. As\nhe tries he discovers that he and storyland are somehow very near to\neach other. As he spreads the wings of his imagination, to his delight,\nhe can fly like Peter Pan, leap and run in this storyland. And soon\nhe will be in the wigwam with Hiawatha or sailing the high seas with\nUlysses or slaying the dragon with Siegfried. Such work comes both to\nchild and teacher like a benediction. And the teacher remembers and\nsees new meaning in the words of the Hebrew prophet \u201cAnd a little child\nshall lead them.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                       EDUCATIONAL STORY TELLING\n\n                      BY DR. CHARLES A. McMURRAY\n\n\nGood story-telling is no longer a matter of mere entertainment. It is\nsteadily growing into an important instrument of education. Children in\nearlier years, before they can use books freely and independently, are\ncapable of receiving a strong contribution to their spiritual life and\nequipment by hearing the rehearsal in fitting form, of the world\u2019s best\nstories. It is not merely that in this manner many of the large culture\nideas can best be transmitted from generation to generation, but the\nmental awakening, the planting of seed-thoughts, the stimulation of\nmental energies are brought about. The monotony and drudgery of school\nwork are apt to produce a sluggish mental life; the oral handling of\nthe best stories is like a trumpet call to many a young soul awakening\nit out of its sluggishness and putting the vital forces into a stronger\nmovement. It is first of all necessary that teachers should catch this\nspirit and receive the full force of this awakening, but a study of the\nstories themselves have proven in many cases to produce this result.\n\n\n\n\n                       THE STORY TELLERS\u2019 LEAGUE\n\n                        ITS ORIGIN AND PURPOSE\n\n\nIn THE WORLD\u2019S WORK for July, 1908, was an editorial written from\nmaterials supplied by members of the National Story Tellers\u2019 League. As\nit gave an account of the starting of the movement, we quote part of it\nhere, answering thereby some of the queries that are constantly being\nreceived concerning the League. Further details on this subject will\nappear in subsequent numbers of this magazine. The editorial cited was\nas follows:\n\nThe Story Tellers\u2019 League had its beginning during the summer of 1903\nat the Summer School of the South, at the State University, Knoxville,\nTenn. Out of the more than 2,000 teachers there, a group frequently\nmet on the lawn at twilight to tell stories. These meetings had a\nserious purpose, but they were free and informal. The teachers sat\non the grass, and each one told a story as she might feel disposed.\nSuperintendent B. C. Gregory wrote subsequently:\n\n \u201cThe Summer School left many a pretty photograph on my memory but the\n sweetest is that of the Story Tellers\u2019 League. The fading twilight,\n the dreamy quiet of the hour, the overshadowing trees, the circle\n of faces, the repressed tone of voice of the story tellers appealed\n wonderfully to me.\n\n \u201cAnd the child, the being to whom the service was dedicated, was\n always in mind. When the darkness had fallen so that the form of the\n story teller was all but invisible, the effect was heightened. We\n always adjourned quietly as if we feared the gentle influences would\n vanish if we were noisy.\u201d\n\nThe attendance at these meetings grew from dozens to hundreds and\nbefore the Summer School closed a formal organization had been\neffected. The purpose of the league was to discover in the world\u2019s\nliterature, in story, and in life the best stories for education and\nto tell them with love and sympathy for the children, and to bring\ntogether in story circles those who love to hear and tell a good story,\nthe kindergartners, teachers, church workers, children\u2019s librarians,\nand those whose hearts are afire with this work that they might impart\nits spirit to others.\n\nDr. G. Stanley Hall, speaking of the movement soon after it was\norganized said:\n\n \u201cTeachers and parents are prone to forget that the education of the\n race in a very significant sense began with story telling. Before\n writing there was only oral tradition. We are assured that some of the\n Indian story tellers carry in their memory not less than one hundred\n thousand lines of poetry. Some of them are dull and uninteresting\n through the day, but when the camp-fires are lighted and they begin\n to weave the wondrous charm of \u2018once upon a time,\u2019 they take their\n hearers captive and lead them as with the magic flute of the Piper\n of Hamlin. Stories live from the tongue to the ear and not on the\n long circuit from the eye to the fingers as reading and writing do.\n Therefore they are more vital. Stories pre-form moral choices because,\n if they are good, desert is always rewarded. Moreover, a good story\n brings the mind of the hearer into more unity than almost anything\n else. A vast number of persons and incidents are woven together\n all subject to one dominant interest. In these days of correlation\n and co-ordination of educational material, the value of this can\n readily be appreciated. Most, if not all, of the best of the oldest\n literature that is classic, such as the Vedas, the work of Homer,\n the Nibelungenlied, the King Arthur cycle, lived and moved and had\n their being as stories and were thus slowly shaped into their present\n effective form. Indeed, I almost think that if I were Plato\u2019s wise\n tyrant and had to appoint teachers of the young, the first test,\n and if I could have but one, the only one to which I would subject\n candidates would be whether or not they could tell a good story; for\n this alone would test their sympathy and power of adaptation. There\n is a great possibility of development here, and in the few who are\n devoting themselves to it, as are the Story Tellers\u2019 League, I not\n only wish but predict a a very high degree of help and service.\u201d\n\nThose who went out from the inspiration of those meetings were quick to\nseize upon its educational possibilities, and returning home organized\ntheir friends and pupils into local leagues for similar work and\npleasure.\n\nOn visiting a Southern town the following winter, the Superintendent\nof the Schools declared that he had noticed a great improvement in\nthe teaching of history and literature among his teachers, and he\nattributed it to a league that they had organized. During the winter\nthey had made a study of Norse and Greek stories which they told\naround their firesides. Similar leagues sprang up in a number of\ntowns in the South, and at Corinth, Miss., there was a junior league,\ncomposed of children of the 5th grade. One girl, who is now in the\nhigh school made her home the popular resort of the children of the\nneighborhood who came to hear her tell stories. She told the better\nclass of stories too, in a spontaneous and creative way, as she would\nplay games. The work has made her life a radiant one.\n\nNow, there are dozens of such leagues, reaching from New York to Texas.\nThe interest the children take in the work reveals one of the greatest\neducational possibilities, for as a child likes to build a house with\nclay, sand, or wood, and in doing so educates himself, so he likes to\ntake a word here and a phrase there, and with voice and gesture build\nan ideal world, peopling it with life as he sees it. When a child\nor an adult retells stories that they have heard or read, they show\nreflection, meditation, self-reliance, creation, growth. A story never\nreally becomes your own until you tell it to someone else.\n\n[Illustration: Decoration]\n\n\n\n\n             THE TRAVELING STORY TELLERS OF THE NORTHLAND\n\n                       BY ANNA BOGENHOLM SLOANE\n\n\nEven before Magnus Ladulos introduced the titles and privileges\nof nobility as reward for service in war, which started the great\nbaronies in Sweden, a kind of feudal system had been in vogue there\nfrom oldest times. The topographical conditions of the country, with\nits smiling valleys and fertile plains interspersed with numerous\nstreams and rugged mountains was probably responsible for the origin\nof this system. For these natural barriers, in the absence of modern\nengineering skill in constructing bridges and tunnelled roads, were\nmore formidable then, and contributed to the isolation of the people\nand the formation of clans.\n\nThe population consisted of only two distinct classes, the freemen\nand the \u201cthrales,\u201d or serfs. The freemen, or \u201cOdalmen,\u201d as they\nwere called, owned the soil they tilled. The country was sparely\nsettled, so that there was some distance between the homesteads of the\nodalmen. These homesteads were somewhat imposing, housing not only\nthe odalman and his family, but also a number of house men, as they\nwere called\u2014fighting men and strong, a sort of guard of the fireside.\nBesides these were a number of thrales, or servants. Because of\ncontinual strife between the different petty kings of the country, the\nodalmen\u2019s homes were never safe from attack by one party or another,\nhence the necessity of having as large house guards as could be\nafforded.\n\nDuring the long and severe winter when fighting and warfare were\nimpracticable life in the odalmen\u2019s homesteads would have been\nmonotonous, were it not for the relief afforded by the traveling story\ntellers, or \u201cskalds,\u201d for that was long before the day of the school,\nthe book and the periodical. From the hall of the kings to the burgs\nof the jarls [corresponding to governors of small districts], from\nthe baronial castles to the odalmen\u2019s homesteads, traveled the skalds\nand the bards narrating old legends and relating the latest gossip,\nsinging old songs and improvising new ones, recounting the deeds of\nvalor and prowess on the battlefield and in the tournament, singing\nthe praises of beauty and chivalry, and rhyming on drinking bouts and\nfeasting. Not only within the bounds of Sweden did they travel, but\nover continental Europe as well, entertaining one people with the songs\nand legends and tales of another. Thus are the stories and lore of the\ndifferent European countries considerably intermixed. For, when the\nstories the traveling skalds told of the great deeds of other countries\nwere repeated by their listeners, much local coloring was added until\ngradually the stories of foreign lands became their own. In this way\nthe Swedes have adopted the stories of Germany and France, and in like\nmanner those countries have adopted some of the Swedish legends and\nhero tales until the old literature of nearly all European countries\nrecord nearly the same events, each nation giving to the stories the\ncharacteristics of its own temperament and environment.\n\nThe traveling story teller was the most welcome and honored guest in\nevery home. He was the newspaper, the theatre, the concert and music\nhall combined into one. He brought to the fireside glimpses of the\noutside world, wreathed weather-beaten faces with smiles and made the\nroof beams return the echo of hearty laughter. At the King\u2019s feasts the\nskald\u2019s place was next to his majesty. To him was handed the tallest\nbeaker and the fattest slice of pork. The story teller was always\ninvited to witness battles and bouts and tournaments, so that he might\nafterward recount the deeds of valor in war and the feats of feasting,\nmaking heroes live in song and story. It was very much the same as\nnow, when the newspaper reporter is invited to the baseball field or to\nfollow the armies of warring nations so as to publish to the world the\ncourse of events.\n\nThe personal magnetism of the skald went into the account and made\nthe story more vivid and its impression more lasting. Perhaps the\noverstepping of actual truth in the recounting was as common among the\nskalds of old as it is among our own modern newspaper reporters. Then\nas now a good story was wanted, and the better the story he could tell\nthe stouter was the drink the teller received at its ending. So now the\nmore sensational details the reporter can crowd into a murder story the\nnearer and surer is his promotion in rank and pay. But the old story\nteller was safer from being found out, and his story was accepted at\nits face value, which is not always the case with modern newspaper\nyarns. It is probable that to the tumultuous imagination of the old\nstory tellers is due the astounding deeds of valor and the exaggerated\nachievements accredited to our forefathers in the legacy of legends\nthat have been handed down from the ancient days.\n\nThe first story teller recorded in the Swedish lore is the maid Gifeon,\nin Odin\u2019s retinue. The tale regarding her is something as follows:\nWhen Odin was traveling from Asia to Sweden he stopped for a while in\nDenmark and in order to propitiate the Swedish King in advance sent\nGifeon in a canoe across the strait with instructions to visit King\nGylfe\u2019s court and tell the king the most wonderful stories she could\ncompose about the Asas [the Asiatics]. This she did, and so pleased\nwas King Gylfe with her stories that he offered her as a reward as\nmuch land, wherever she might choose in his domain, as she could plow\nin a day. Gifeon secretly obtained the assistance of two giants, who,\nchanging themselves into oxen plowed up all the land where Melar Lake\nnow is and carried the soil southward and dropped it into the sea, off\nthe coast of Scania [the most Southern province of Sweden]. Thus was\nformed the island of Sjelland, the eastern coast of which fits exactly\ninto the formation of the entrance to Lake Melar.\n\nWhen Gifeon returned to Odin and told him of her success with King\nGylfe, he was so delighted that he gave her his son Skjold for a\nhusband. Together Gifeon and Skjold ruled over the newly-made island\nand became the forbears of a long line of illustrious Danish Kings,\ncalled Skjoldungs. Odin went on to Sweden, and because of Gifeon\u2019s\nwonderful stories he was kindly received by King Gylfe and his people.\n\nThe last professional story teller of the old school I know anything\nabout was old man Bror. What his real name was I do not know, for\neverybody called him \u201cBror,\u201d the Swedish for brother, and received him\nas such. He never did anything but travel from place to place, telling\nthe oldest yarns and the latest gossip, interspersing it with fragments\nof old songs and new tunes from his old violin. Well do I remember the\nold man and his old white horse, Dollfoot. As a child I loved them\nboth and danced and skipped with glee at the sight of them. When I saw\nBror and Dollfoot turn from the country road to the lane leading to\nour farm, I used to run shouting the news, \u201cBror is coming, Bror is\ncoming!\u201d to everybody on the estate, and never a face did I see that\ndid not light up or put on a broader smile at my message.\n\nDear old man Bror! I can see him now sitting contentedly in his blue\ncariol [a Swedish two-wheeled cart] with the reins in his right hand\nand the other hand on the fiddle across his knee; his old white head\nroofed by a nearly equally old broad-brimmed hat, the right ear leaning\nconfidently towards the shoulder while he hums merrily the \u201cSea-King\u2019s\nPolska,\u201d and Dollfoot in slow trot keeping time to the beat of his\nmaster\u2019s hum! Bror always wore blue knee breeches, white hose, low\nshoes with silver buckles, and a long blue coat with buttons of silver.\nHis horse and his violin were the only loves, the only cares and the\nonly prides the old man had. The buckles of Dollfoot\u2019s harness shone\nlike the buttons of a new lieutenant\u2019s uniform, and the old violin\nalways nestled tenderly under Bror\u2019s left arm.\n\nSo long as Bror was able to mount the saddle he rode his horse. After\nthat he drove in the old cariol. For five and thirty years Bror and\nDollfoot were boon companions, known to every man, woman and child in\nthe province of the Dales. Then Dollfoot died and his octogenarian\nmaster survived but a year. All mourned the mysterious old man and\nmissed his stories. With him passed away, about thirty years ago, the\nlast of the old type of traveling story tellers in Sweden.\n\nWe children used to climb up into his lap as soon as he had sat down\nand clamor for a story. And the tales he told about the giants and\nfairies; angels and the white Christ; Odin and Thor; Knights and\nVikings, stand out like stars in the chaos of stories I have read\nsince. No matter how well-worded and poetic in setting a story may\nbe, its reading from the printed page does not produce as striking an\nimpress upon the young mind as does its oral rendering well done. The\nlife and vigor of the teller\u2019s interpretative inflections, intonations,\nmodulations and movements; the light of the eye and the expressions\nof feature add a vividness, a reality that deeply impress the child\u2019s\nmind. The details may be lost in time, but the general form will\nremain forever. This gives the story teller a very great influence in\nthe character building of the young; for the impulse to courage or\ngenerosity or kindliness incited by a story lauding these qualities\nwill never wholly die. On the other hand, evil stories contaminate\nyoung minds beyond all human power of effacement.\n\nFor the same reason that the phonograph and pianola can never take\nthe place of the singer and musician, the real story teller can not\nbe satisfactorily replaced by books. The personal element is large in\nthe equation. It would be an interesting study to inquire into the\ninfluence which the professional story tellers of European and other\ncountries exercised, by the coloring their own personalities gave to\ntheir stories, over the minds and conduct of the people who for so long\na time depended upon them for such mental stimulus as they had.\n\nBetween the maid Gifeon and the old man Bror was a long line of\nskalds of all descriptions\u2014gay and sad, humble and haughty; jovial\nand rollicking singers; courtly raconteurs and lively comedians. Some\nspread gaiety in the halls of kings and in the castles of barons.\nOthers carried news to the monastery and parsonage, and the humbler\nwere content to make the rounds of the odalmen\u2019s firesides. All were\nwelcomed with equal heartiness and sped with the same regrets. Perhaps\nno more picturesque persons have appeared among men, or held a more\nunique place in human esteem than the traveling story tellers of the\nNorthland.\n\n[Illustration: Decoration]\n\n\n\n\n                     STORY-TELLING IN PLAYGROUNDS\n\n                         BY MISS MAUDE SUMMERS\n\n\nThe playground movement is at its source. This is the time, therefore,\nto state the underlying principles and to formulate the ideals\nthat shall guide in carrying the movement forward. In the end, the\nplayground as a finished product should give beauty and perfection not\nonly to the body of the child but also to the soul. It should include\ntraining in the three H\u2019s of head, heart and hand, as well as training\nin the three R\u2019s of reverence, respect and responsibility. No lesser\nideal will satisfy those who see the possibilities of the playground\nin adding to the sum of child happiness and betterment. At present, in\nthe playground the chief emphasis is placed upon the development of the\nbody: the story reaches the Spiritual child.\n\nThe child learns in but one way by reproducing in his own activity the\nthing he wishes to be. By means of the imagination the child forms a\nmental picture which he holds in mind and strives to imitate. Therefore\nthe most vital purpose of the story is to give high ideals which are\nreproduced in character. In consequence, it is of the utmost importance\nthat the story for the child shall have at its heart a spiritual truth,\nor in other words that it shall have a right motive. This truth may be\nany one of the many virtues such as generosity; kindness, hospitality,\ncourage, heroism, chivalry, etc. It should be worked out in terms of\ncause and effect according to the immutable law of literature, whether\nthis be for the child or the adult. This is the law of compensation,\nwhich rewards the good, and retributive justice, which punishes the bad.\n\nThe comic supplement of the Sunday newspaper is lowering the standard\nof literary appreciation and debasing the morals of the children in\nthis country. Here evil is aggrandized and emphasis is placed upon\ndeceit, cunning and disrespect for gray hairs. This sheet teaches\nchildren to laugh when boys throw water from an upper window upon an\napple woman, or outwit an infirm old man. Humor has its place in the\nliterature of childhood and it would be well if gifted writers for\nchildren could be found capable of substituting genuine fun for the\ncoarse, vulgar type now so prominent.\n\nWhen story telling is an integral part of the playground, thoughtful\nmen and women will give careful consideration to story lists which will\nbe carefully compiled from the literature of every age and nation.\nAmerica has undertaken the mighty problem of the fusion of races. The\ngreat national stories that have nourished these people will also\nnourish the individual child. In consequence folk stories, fairy tales,\nand hero stories should form a fundamental part of these story lists.\nThese are universal stories which every girl and boy should know. The\ncharacters may vary with different ages and people but the fundamental\ntruth is of the spirit, and will outlast the centuries.\n\nChild study reveals the fact that there is the earlier period of\nchildhood, and also the later period of childhood. The games suitable\nto the needs of the younger children are not adapted to those of the\nolder ones. This same truth should be recognized in the selection\nof stories. Younger children require a different type of story from\nthat chosen for the older ones. The mathematical axiom that the whole\nincludes the parts explains the fact that the \u201cGrown up\u201d may enjoy\nand appreciate a child\u2019s story if it is true to the principles of\nliterary art. The young child, however, cannot comprehend the story\nfor the adult since the content is beyond his range of experience. It\nis necessary, therefore to divide the children into groups based upon\nage and mental development in order to have success in the art of story\ntelling.\n\nThe hours set apart for story-telling in the Playground will vary in\ndifferent localities and will, of course, depend upon the environment\nand provision made for this aspect of the work. Two story hours a day,\none in the morning, and one in the afternoon, might be a good average.\nIn a small city in the middle West it was the custom of the Playground\nDirector to take the youngest children apart about eleven o\u2019clock each\nmorning, to give them a glass of milk and a graham cracker. Immediately\nafter the luncheon the children grouped themselves around the Director\nfor a half hour or more of story telling. Meantime the older children\ncarried on without supervision their regular sports and games in\nthe playground. A second story hour might be set apart in the late\nafternoon for the older children. All who have tried it will testify to\nthe refining influence of this quiet hour upon girls and boys.\n\nIn the municipal playgrounds which have been built in so many cities,\nlarge and small, there is always a house known as the Recreation\nCenter. If the playground is in a noisy section of the city near\nrailroads, elevated trains, or factories, the children should be taken\ninto one of the rooms of this neighborhood house for the story hour. On\nthe contrary, where there is no shelter a tent or one of the portable\nschool houses now so frequently used could be provided to meet this\nneed. Here a group of children could cluster to listen to the story.\nTravelers who have been in Japan tell us that it is not an unusual\nsight to see a booth within which a professional story-teller takes his\nplace. Parents and children alike bring their pennies in payment and\nthen gather about this TELLER OF TALES to listen to the best stories in\nJapanese literature. These are chosen with the greatest care and are\ntold with beauty of diction, and with great emphasis placed upon purity\nof tone, in the use of language. We hear so much to-day of the American\nvoice and its strident quality, that this story hour might have a\nfar-reaching influence for good not only upon literary appreciation in\nregard to story contents, but also upon English conversation and the\nimprovement of the American voice.\n\nAn important question is, who shall tell these stories? The large\nmunicipal playgrounds provide for special teachers in the gymnastic\nwork, in swimming, and in the different branches of physical\ndevelopment for girls and boys. Why not also engage professional\nstory tellers to go to the playground at certain hours of the day?\nLibrarians, kindergartners, and social workers are now having excellent\ntraining in children\u2019s literature. From these sources story tellers can\nbe secured to meet the growing demand for story-telling as an integral\nfeature of the playground.\n\nAnother development of the story will be the dramatization of the\ngreat hero tales. The cheap theaters of the day are doing an untold\namount of harm by giving to children false ideals of life. The best\nway to overcome this evil is to recognize the need for dramatic\nexpression and allow children to set out their favorite stories. For\ninstance, if archery grounds are provided, the children will naturally\ngravitate toward them after listening to the Robin Hood Ballads. On a\nsummer afternoon a beautiful out-of-door pageant could be enacted by\nRobin Hood and his Merry Men. The stories of King Arthur, with proper\ntraining on the physical side, might lead to a tournament as the most\ninteresting event of the playground season. This close relation between\nimpression and expression finds a unifying centre in dramatization\nwhich appeals alike to young and old. Properly developed and directed,\nit will eventually create an appreciation for the good, the true, and\nthe beautiful in music, art and literature.\n\nThe playground is the key to the Democracy of art. Let us hope that\nthose interested in the playground movement will have that diffused,\nimaginative ardor of the Prophets of old, when young men saw visions\nand old men dreamed dreams.\n\n\n\n\n                      WINTER AND THE PINE TREE[1]\n\n[1] This story is freely translated from the German as told in Alues\nund Neues, a book of easy German stories by Karl Seeligman, published\nby Ginn and Co. (Ed.)\n\nWhen God the Lord had created the world, when the trees, fresh and\nbeautiful, stood in the forest and the flowers in the field, he called\nthe seasons and said: \u201cYou may divide the trees and flowers among\nyourselves, but you must love and care for them.\u201d This made the seasons\nvery happy and they played with the children of nature early and late.\n\nAll went very well for a time, but soon discord began to appear. Bold,\nrestless Spring could not get along with plodding thoughtful Winter;\nthe glowing Summer found Autumn phlegmatic; Autumn scolded Spring\nbecause she spoiled the flowers. The quarrel grew worse from day to day\nand all joy was at an end.\n\nThereupon Autumn said: \u201cThings can go on this way no longer; we cannot\nget along together. Come let us divide the earth among ourselves.\u201d And\nthis is what happened. The seasons divided the earth among themselves.\nWinter built himself two houses at the two poles; Summer encircled the\nearth at the middle, and Spring and Autumn took the realm in between.\nThe earth was now apportioned and each season had a realm of his own.\n\nBut fickle Spring soon brought to pass another change. She did not like\nthe idea of remaining always in one place and therefore called the\nseasons together and made them this proposition: \u201cWhy should we always\nremain in one place when the entire earth belongs to us? Would it not\nbe better if each of us had a definite time in which the entire earth\nbelonged to him alone?\u201d \u201cI should be satisfied,\u201d said Winter, \u201cif I\ncould keep the poles.\u201d As the other seasons were satisfied with the\nidea, the agreement was made. Spring wanted to begin her rule at once\nand so thoughtful winter said:\u2014\u201cIn order that one may not take all the\nbeauties of the earth for himself, let us divide them!\u201d\n\n\u201cGood,\u201d said Spring, \u201cI will take the buds.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo me shall belong the flowers,\u201d said Summer. \u201cThe fruits are mine!\u201d\ncried Autumn, \u201cand Winter shall have the leaves of the trees!\u201d\n\nWinter was satisfied, the agreement was made and Spring began her\nrule. She kissed the flowers till the buds came out and smiled at\nher. When the buds were opening, the rule of Summer began. But now\nsomething happened by means of which poor Winter came to be cheated. A\nwarm friendship began to spring up between the leaves on the trees and\nthe flowers in the grass. They often teased one another. When the sun\nwished to shine warm upon the flowers, the leaves of the trees placed\nthemselves between, but before the flowers thought of it, the leaves\nbent away so that the sun beams fell suddenly upon the flowers and\nblinded them. Or, during a cool rain, the leaves collected many drops,\nand when the flowers thought that the rain was over, they let the drops\nfall down. This startled the flowers and they shook their heads.\n\nIn the meantime the rule of Summer had come to an end. Autumn sat on\nthe throne of the earth and wished to pick the late flowers. Then the\nleaves came and begged Autumn to let them go down to the flowers. And\nAutumn granted their wish, even though he did not have the right to do\nso. He shook the trees so that the loose leaves all fell to the earth.\nAnd then a gay time began! Autumn played a wild melody, and the leaves\ndanced among the flowers, till they, tired and faint, let their heads\nhang. Soon the leaves themselves laid down for a long sleep.\n\nNow winter came. Bare and deserted, meadow and forest received him. The\nonly green that greeted him was the pine trees, because the flowers\nwould have nothing to do with their sharp needles. Winter was deeply\nmoved when he saw them, and while he was whipping off the last leaves\nwhich were still hanging on the trees here and there against their\nwill, he said to the pine trees: \u201cI will protect and guard you. When\nall other trees stand bare and desolate, you shall glisten in the\nfreshest green, because you were true to me!\u201d\n\nThis is the story of Winter and the Pine Tree.\n\n\n\n\n                         ARTHUR AND THE SWORD\n\n\nOnce there was a great king in Britain named Uther, and when he died\nthe other kings and princes disputed over the kingdom, each wanted it\nfor himself. But king Uther had a son, the rightful heir to the throne,\nof whom no one knew, for he had been taken away secretly while he was\nstill a baby, by a wise old man called Merlin, who had him brought up\nin the family of a certain Sir Ector, for fear of the malice of wicked\nknights. Even the boy himself thought Sir Ector was his father, and he\nloved Sir Ector\u2019s son, Sir Kay, like an own brother. The boy\u2019s name was\nArthur.\n\nWhen the kings and princes could not be kept in check any longer,\nMerlin had the archbishop of Canterbury send for them all to come to\nLondon. They came up to London at Christmas time, and in the great\ncathedral a solemn service was held, and prayer was made that some\nmiracle be given, to show who was the rightful king. When the service\nwas over, there appeared a strange stone in the churchyard, against the\nhigh altar. It was a great white stone, like marble, with something\nsunk in it that looked like a steel anvil; and in the anvil was driven\na great glistening sword. The sword had letters of gold written on it,\nwhich read: \u201cWhoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is\nrightwise king born of all England.\u201d\n\nAll wondered at the strange sword and its strange writing; and when the\narchbishop himself came out and gave permission, many of the knights\ntried to pull the sword from the stone, hoping to be king. But no one\ncould move it a hair\u2019s breadth.\n\n\u201cHe is not here,\u201d said the archbishop, \u201cthat shall achieve the sword;\nbut doubt not, God will make him known.\u201d\n\nThen they set a guard of ten knights to keep the stone, and the\narchbishop appointed a day when all should come together to try at the\nstone,\u2014kings from far and near. In the mean time, splendid jousts were\nheld, outside London, and both knights and commons were bidden.\n\nSir Ector came up to the jousts, with others, and with him rode Kay and\nArthur. Kay had been made a knight at Allhallowmas, and when he found\nthere was to be so fine a joust he wanted a sword, to join it. But he\nhad left his sword behind, where his father and he had slept the night\nbefore. So he asked young Arthur to ride for it.\n\n\u201cI will well,\u201d said Arthur, and rode back for it. But when he came to\nthe castle, the lady and all her household were at the jousting, and\nthere was none to let him in.\n\nArthur said to himself, \u201cMy brother Sir Kay shall not be without\na sword this day.\u201d And he remembered the sword he had seen in the\nchurchyard. \u201cI will ride to the churchyard,\u201d he said, \u201cand take that\nsword with me.\u201d He rode into the churchyard, tied his horse to the\nstile, and went up to the stone. The guards were all away at the\ntourney, and the sword was there alone.\n\nYoung Arthur went up to the stone, took the great sword by the handles,\nand lightly and fiercely he drew it out of the anvil.\n\nThen he rode straight to Sir Kay with it, and gave it to him.\n\nSir Kay knew instantly that it was the sword of the stone, and he rode\noff at once to his father and said, \u201cSir, lo here is the sword of the\nstone; I must be king of the land.\u201d But Sir Ector asked him where he\ngot the sword. And when Sir Kay said, \u201cFrom my brother,\u201d he asked\nArthur how he got it. When Arthur told him, Sir Ector bowed his head\nbefore him. \u201cNow I understand ye must be king of this land,\u201d he said to\nArthur. \u201cWherefore I?\u201d said Arthur.\n\n\u201cFor God will have it so,\u201d said Ector; \u201cnever man should have drawn out\nthis sword but he that shall be rightwise king of this land. Now let me\nsee whether ye can put the sword as it was in the stone, and pull it\nout again.\u201d\n\nStraightway Arthur put the sword back.\n\nThen Sir Ector tried to pull it out, and after him Sir Kay; but neither\ncould stir it. Then Arthur pulled it out. Thereupon Sir Ector and Sir\nKay kneeled upon the ground before him.\n\n\u201cAlas,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cmine own dear father and brother, why kneel ye to\nme?\u201d\n\nSir Ector told him, then, all about his royal birth, and how he was\nstolen away by Merlin. But when Arthur found Sir Ector was not truly\nhis father, he was so sad at heart that he cared not greatly to be\nking. And he begged his father and brother to love him still. Sir Ector\nasked that Sir Kay might be seneschal when Arthur was king. Arthur\npromised with all his heart.\n\nThen they went to the archbishop and told him that the sword had found\nits master. The archbishop appointed a day for the trial to be made\nin the sight of all men, and on that day the princes and knights came\ntogether, and each tried to draw out the sword, as before. But as\nbefore, none could so much as stir it.\n\nThen came Arthur, and pulled it easily from its place.\n\nThe knights and kings were terribly angry that a boy from nowhere in\nparticular had beaten them, and they refused to acknowledge him king.\nThey appointed another day, for another great trial.\n\nThree times they did this, and every time the same thing happened.\n\nAt last, at the feast of Pentecost, Arthur again pulled out the sword\nbefore all the knights and the commons. And then the commons rose up\nand cried that he should be king, and that they would slay any one who\ndenied him.\n\nSo Arthur became king of Britain, and all gave him allegiance.\n\n\n\n\n                           LOCAL LEAGUE WORK\n\n\n                       HOW ONE LEAGUE WAS FORMED\n\n                         BY MISS MABEL COOPER\n\n\nThe Story Teller\u2019s League, which has done so much towards reviving and\nencouraging the almost forgotten art of story-telling in the city of\nMemphis, owes its origin to Prof. Wharton S. Jones, one of the leading\neducators of Tennessee.\n\nProf. Jones is assistant superintendent of the Memphis City Schools\nand in November, 1907, he issued an invitation to his teachers to\nmeet him for the purpose of forming a Story Tellers\u2019 League. About\nforty teachers responded and the League was organized with Prof.\nJones as president; Mrs Fannie Landis, vice-president; Miss Mary\nHerron, secretary, and an executive committee composed of Miss Mable\nSolly, Mrs. L. B. Mitchell, Miss Florence Schloss and Miss Elizabeth\nShield. At this meeting it was decided that the membership should not\nbe limited to teachers in the city schools but to all interested in\ntelling or learning how to tell stories. The membership constantly\nincreased until at the close of the first year there were almost one\nhundred members, among which were many teachers from both public and\nprivate schools, Sunday schools, prominent club members and ministers.\n\nAt the second general meeting of the League the executive committee\nhad completed and ready for distribution a most attractive Year Book\nshowing an outline for the year\u2019s work. To defray the cost of printing\nthese year books, each member was asked to purchase two of them at\ntwenty-five cents each. No other dues were asked except an earnest\nco-operation and willingness to take part in the programs.\n\nThere is a special line of stories for study at each meeting and a\nleader who assigns the numbers and conducts the meetings. The numbers\non the program consist of two or three short papers on the origin,\ntime, place and value of the particular line of stories discussed, then\ntwo or three stories followed by a discussion. The meetings are held\nSaturday morning two weeks apart.\n\nOne of the most pleasing incidents connected with last year\u2019s meetings\nwas the visit of Dr. Richard T. Wyche, President of the National Story\nTellers\u2019 League. Dr. Wyche was most encouraging in his remarks to us\nand delighted us with several of his stories.\n\nThe Memphis League belongs to the National Story Tellers\u2019 League, and\nsent delegates to the Annual Convention held at Knoxville, Tenn., in\nJuly 1908. Last year\u2019s work was devoted principally to stories for\nprimary and intermediate grades. We will proceed along the same line\nthis year, giving more attention to stories suitable for higher grade\nchildren.\n\nThe executive committee is, at present, working on the year book for\n1908-9. On October 7, we held our first meeting.\n\nThe League is yet in its infancy, but it has gained a popularity most\nremarkable for so young an organization. It is recognized as a very\npowerful instrument for accomplishing good and its influence is felt\nfar beyond the city in which it thrives. Our year books have been\nsent, by request, to many parts of the country and we are ready to\ngive what help we can, by way of suggestions, to aid others in forming\nleagues. The power of story-telling is limitless. Story work stands\nto the children for what books, poetry, drama, sermon and art are to\nthe adult. The child should be constantly in touch with the best in\nLiterature,\u2014stories within his comprehension, stories that may be woven\ninto his experiences, that will arouse his emotions and lead him to a\nspontaneous expression of his ideas.\n\nTo this end the Story Tellers\u2019 League is seeking to develop splendid\nstory tellers of its grown-up members so that they may reach and help\nthe little child. Truly it has a noble ambition; for, as Philip Brooks\nsays, \u201cHe who helps a child helps humanity with a distinctness, with an\nimmediateness which no other help given to human creatures in any other\nstage of their human life can possibly give again.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                REPORTS FROM LEAGUES IN SUMMER SCHOOLS\n\n\n                       THE WOOSTER (OHIO) SCHOOL\n\nFour summers ago the writer called a meeting in one of the rooms of\nTaylor Hall\u2014one of the University buildings used by the Summer School.\n\nA tentative organization was formed and meetings held until permanent\norganization was effected. The meetings were then held in the evening\non the campus in front of Kanke Hall or the Memorial Chapel. A\nKindergartner was also engaged by the management of the school to tell\nstories for a day or two. Each summer since a similar arrangement has\nbeen made and now a regular story-hour in the Model School is planned\nfor in addition to weekly meetings of the League. This meets on the\nLibrary steps Saturday evenings at 6:30. Old familiar college and\nfolk songs are sung, then the story-teller or story-tellers tell their\nstories, other songs follow and then all go home happier and better.\n\nThe story hour is an event here\u2014several times within the past ten\nsummers five or six hundred listeners were seated in a circle round the\nstory-teller and we may safely predict that the League has a permanent\nplace in the Summer School program. Commercial reasons, if no other,\nwill compel it.\n\nThe attendance at the story hour is not confined to students in the\nSummer School\u2014many of the leading citizens and summer visitors make it\nconvenient to drop around at that time and join the magic circle. We\nhave been able to discover some splendid story-tellers each summer, and\nthe great myths and classics of the race have been splendidly told and\nadded much to the lives of many.\n\nKipling, Van Dyke, Dickens and other masters have been quoted and\nseveral interesting, original stories and adaptations of translations\nhave been given. The type of story has been the very highest. Much\nfolk-lore study and legendary investigation has been the outcome of it\nall. And if the writer had done nothing else during the four years he\nwas a member of the Faculty of Wooster Summer School than to organize\nand keep alive the Story Tellers\u2019 League, he would have no reason to be\nashamed.\n\nIt is now finally established on a high level, and will live as\nlong as the Summer School. It will serve as the inspiration to many\nteachers to learn the fine art, thus placing within the reach of the\nlittle children of the Republic the golden key to the world\u2019s great\nLiteratures, and will give to teachers the secret of making children\nfeel at home when at school and keeping them in touch with the heart\nstrings of the future citizens of our country. So mote it be.\n\n                                                 J. E. MCKEAN.\n\n\n                    FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA\n\nAmong the pleasantest hours of the week at the University of Virginia\nSummer School, last July, were the twilight story-telling hours on\nthe campus. Somehow there was the true Golden Age atmosphere, perhaps\nenhanced by the beautiful old academic building and grounds; the\ntrees and the birds; the soft air and genial spirit of the South. At\nany rate, men and women listened rapt to the \u201cOnce upon a time,\u201d and\nlost themselves in forgotten fairy tales, portions of the old epics,\nfolk-lore, personal anecdote, funny stories, and ghost stories. Of\ncourse, there were good story-tellers present, among them being Mr.\nWoodley of New Jersey, Miss Wiggins of North Carolina, Miss King of\nVirginia, Mr. Ruediger of Washington, D. C., and Mr. Augsburg of\nCalifornia. Best of all were the biblical and folk-lore stories by\nMr. Wyche, president of the Story Tellers\u2019 League. It is Mr. Wyche\u2019s\ndistinction to tell his stories with a simple Homeric directness\nimpossible to describe but which appeals alike to the child listener\nand to the jaded professor of English.\n\nOccasionally, when the spirit moved, old songs were sung out of the\nhearts of those present,\u2014Maryland, My Old Kentucky Home, Carry Me Back\nto Old Virginia, Annie Laurie, Suwanee River. Then more stories, and,\nfinally, dispersal over the campus in singing, chatting groups.\n\n                                                        A. S.\u202fB.\n\n\n                         FROM EMPORIA, KANSAS\n\nMeetings were held at Emporia, Kansas, in the State Normal Summer\nSchool during the second week in July. Sometimes as many as six hundred\nwould gather on the Campus just at sunset, play games for a while and\nthen sit on the grass and steps of the main building that opened to\nthe glow of the west. Here for an hour or more stories and songs were\nrendered. The stories were told largely by members of the faculty,\nwhile the students interspersed the program with the popular national\nairs and melodies. From this large audience, a small group have\norganized themselves into a League.\n\n\n                       FROM KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE\n\nAt the Summer School of the South, the birthplace of the League, the\nusual twilight meetings were held on Thursday and Sunday. The Summer\nSchool at Knoxville had an unusually large attendance and a very full\nschedule, with lectures every evening, yet the League always found time\nfor its meeting just after supper. On Sunday evening, there being no\nexercises in the school, the twilight meetings were unusually large\nand interesting. Programs of the great religious hymns and appropriate\nstories from the Bible and other sources were given.\n\nThe young people came in such large numbers to these twilight meetings\nthat it was found necessary to organize them into a Junior League. They\nwere enthusiastic, met nearly every evening and told their stories and\nsang their songs in a creative refreshing way.\n\nThe time set apart for the annual meeting of the National League, July\n17 at ten A. M. in Jefferson Hall, was devoted to a memorial to Joel\nChandler Harris, who was a charter member of the League. The President\nof the League called the meeting to order and introduced Supt. Claxton,\nwho presided and gave a brief talk.\n\nThe Georgia delegates, a hundred or more strong, sang \u201cMassa\u2019s in the\nCold, Cold Ground.\u201d Mrs. Legg, of Georgia, recited an original poem\nin memory of Harris. Dr. C. Alphonso Smith, Professor of English,\nUniversity of North Carolina, gave an address on Joel Chandler Harris\nand his place in literature. Mr. R. T. Wyche told one of the Uncle\nRemus stories written by Joel Chandler Harris. The attendance was about\ntwo thousand.\n\n\n                         BIG RAPIDS, MICHIGAN\n\nA large and enthusiastic league was formed at Ferris\u2019 Institute, Big\nRapids, Mich., July 1907, and held a number of meetings.\n\nDuring the past summer the meetings have continued. A picture of the\nLeague has reached us but no report.\n\n                                                         R. T.\u202fW.\n\n\n\n\n                             BOOK REVIEWS\n\n\nTELLING BIBLE STORIES. _By Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton; Scribners._\n\nIf, as we believe, the story is one of the best ways to reach and\nnourish the child\u2019s inner spiritual being, then we must go to the\ngreatest source of spiritual stories, the Bible. To those who have\nbeen imbued with modern thought, science and education, and yet feel\nthe wonderful power and value of the Bible, hardly knowing how to meet\nconditions as they exist, Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton\u2019s book, \u201cTelling\nBible Stories,\u201d will come as a welcome supply to a real need. She\npoints out how the literal accuracy takes care of itself, if the truth\nunderlying goes to the child\u2019s heart. The book is for adults, leading\nthem to analyze the stories and get at the real meaning, and with that\nknowledge to construct his own story to suit the needs of the child\nfrom three years of age to the adult period. It recognizes the child\u2019s\ngrowing knowledge of history, science, geography, myth, fable, poetry,\netc., and yet points out, however valuable and interesting this is,\nthat the Bible has this illuminating difference, that it is saturated\nwith God consciousness.\n\n                                                   PEARL CARPENTER.\n\n\nHOW TO TELL STORIES TO CHILDREN. _By Sara Cone Bryant; Houghton,\nMifflin Co.,1905; pp. vii, 260. $1.00_\n\nThis book is intended primarily for the teachers of the kindergarten\nand of the primary and intermediate grades. It opens with an\nintroduction on story telling in general, which is followed by chapters\nsuccessively on the purpose of story-telling in the school; selection\nof stories to tell; adaptation of stories for telling; how to tell the\nstory; and some specific schoolroom uses. The second half of the book\nis devoted to 32 selected stories arranged in three groups,\u2014one for\nthe kindergarten and grade I, and one for grades II and III, and one\nfor grades IV and V. The book closes with a bibliography for the story\nteller, which must prove to be a veritable gold mine for the teacher\nand parent and is easily one of the most helpful chapters in the\nbook. As a sample of the good things the book contains, we reproduce\nelsewhere in this number of the STORY HOUR one of the stories from the\nthird group entitled, \u201cArthur and the Sword.\u201d\n\n                                                            W. C.\u202fR.\n\n\n\n\n                     THE CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS\n                                OF THE\n                    NATIONAL STORY TELLERS\u2019 LEAGUE\n\n\n                              ARTICLE I.\n\n                                TITLE.\n\nThe official title of this association shall be \u201cTHE NATIONAL STORY\nTELLERS\u2019 LEAGUE.\u201d\n\n\n                              ARTICLE II.\n\n                                OBJECT.\n\nThe objects of the association shall be:\n\n1. To encourage the art of story-telling, and the use of classic and\nfolk-lore stories in schools and other educational centers.\n\n2. To foster creative work in the arranging and rewriting of stories\nfrom various classic and historic sources.\n\n3. To serve as a medium of exchange of stories and experiences in the\nuse of the story.\n\n4. To discover in the world\u2019s literature, in history, and in life the\nbest stories for education, and to tell them with love and sympathy for\nthe children, and to bring together in story circles those who love\nto hear and tell a good story, the kindergartners, teachers, church\nworkers, children\u2019s librarians, and those whose hearts are afire with\nthis work, that they might impart its spirit to others.\n\n\n                             ARTICLE III.\n\n                              MEMBERSHIP.\n\nAny person may become a member of the League by sending the name and\naddress with the annual fee to the Secretary and Treasurer of the\nLeague, or to the Vice-President of his State; or by joining a local\nleague and paying to the proper officer the fee due the National League.\n\n\n                              ARTICLE IV.\n\n                               OFFICERS.\n\n1. The general officers of the League shall be a President, a Secretary\nand Treasurer, and an Editor.\n\n2. There shall, in addition to the foregoing, be a Vice-President for\neach state or province having membership in the League.\n\n3. There shall be a Governing Board consisting of seven members, three\nof whom shall be the general officers of the League, and the other four\nmembers to be appointed by the President.\n\n\n                              ARTICLE V.\n\n                         ELECTION OF OFFICERS.\n\n1. The President shall be elected annually at a general meeting of the\nLeague at a place and time designated by the President after he shall\nhave consulted with the Governing Board. Any member present shall be\nconsidered a delegate, and shall be entitled to a vote in any of the\nproceedings of the meeting. The President so elected shall hold office\nfor one year, or until his successor shall have been elected.\n\n2. The President, as soon as may be after his election, shall appoint\nthe other officers therein before named, and these shall serve the same\nlength of term as the President.\n\n\n                              ARTICLE VI.\n\n                          DUTIES OF OFFICERS.\n\n1. The President. All the duties usually incumbent upon the office of\nPresident of any association shall devolve upon the President of this\nassociation. In addition to the usual duties of a presiding officer, he\nshall appoint all the other officers of the League.\n\n2. The Secretary and Treasurer shall perform all the duties usually\nincumbent upon such officers.\n\n3. The Editor shall select and edit all matter offered for publication,\nmake, in conjunction with the President, contracts with a publisher,\nand perform all other duties usually pertaining to such an office.\n\n4. The Governing Board shall have the power to make and adopt a\nconstitution and by-laws, and make laws and regulations in accordance\ntherewith for the government of the association; and shall perform all\nother duties of an advisory and executive nature.\n\n5. The Vice-President shall look after the interest of the League\nin their respective States, and endeavor to enlist the interest and\nco-operation of the teachers of their States. Each Vice-President shall\nexercise a general supervision of the local Leagues of his State, and\nadvise and assist in the organization of such Leagues. He shall be on\nthe alert to collect any folk-lore of his locality and State.\n\n\n                             ARTICLE VII.\n\n                 DUTIES OF MEMBERS AND LOCAL LEAGUES.\n\nIt shall be the duty of local Leagues and individual members everywhere\nto report to the President or Editor, or to the Vice-President of the\nState, any folk-lore they may find.\n\n\n                             ARTICLE VIII.\n\n                              AMENDMENTS.\n\nThis constitution may be amended by a majority vote of the Governing\nBoard and Vice-Presidents, or by a majority vote of the delegates\nin any annual meeting. Any member or local League may petition the\nGoverning Board for an amendment.\n\n\n                              ARTICLE IX.\n\nThis Constitution shall go into effect as soon as it shall have\nreceived the assent of a majority of the Governing Board.\n\n\n                              BY-LAWS[2]\n\n1. The annual membership fee of this association shall be half-dollar,\nto be paid to the Treasurer direct, or to the Vice-President of the\nState, or, if a member of a local League, then to the proper officer of\nsuch a League.\n\n2. Subordinate, or local, Leagues may be formed in any community in\naccordance with the regulations prescribed by the National League. Such\nlocal Leagues when organized may adopt their own laws and rules of\nprocedure, provided nothing shall be done which is not in accord with\nthe constitution of the National League.\n\nThe Governing Board shall devise and prescribe rules for the\norganization of subordinate Leagues.\n\n3. The Subordinate Leagues shall be responsible to the National League\nfor annual fee of ten cents a member due the National League by local\nmembers. For Junior Leagues there shall be no fee.\n\n4. The general officers shall make an annual report to the general\nmeeting of the League.\n\n5. No officer of the League shall draw a salary.\n\n6. The fees collected from members shall be devoted exclusively to\npaying the expenses which the general officers and vice-presidents have\nincurred in the exercise of their duties.\n\n\n[2] Subject to amendments at each annual meeting.","title":"The Story Hour, Vol. I, No. 1, November, 1908: A Magazine of Methods and Materials for Story Tellers","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":13472}