Tales From The Enchanted Forest

Tales From the Enchanted Forest

A Book of Old-Fashioned Fairy Tales
Written by Deborah Khora Illustrated by Karen Hunziker
Copyright 2012 by Deborah Khora Illustrations copyright 2012 by Karen Hunziker
Fairy Tale ABCs by the McLoughlin Brothers are public domain.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher except for reviews.
ISBN 13: 978-1477542217 ISBN 10: 1477542213
This book is dedicated to: Erica, Lucien, Nicole, Bernadette & Justin, Heidi, Christopher, Eric, James, Ashleigh, Tayler, Aaron, Joshua, Thomas & Adam, Sean OBrien & Fallon. With special thanks to Charlie for his good faith and support.
In memory of Alva Hollander, elementary school principal (1929-2008) And David OBrien (1956-2009)
Table of Contents
Folklore: An Introduction to History, Art & Literature .................... xi The Little Shoeshine Boy...................................................................... 2 The Little White Kitten who Thought the Snow was Her Mother .... 6 The Wise Man & The Wishing Well .................................................. 12 The Code Word .................................................................................. 16 The Little Hamlet that Came to Life.................................................. 22 The Shepherd Girls Blanket .............................................................. 30 The Little Bird who Would Not Fly Free .......................................... 46 The History of the Monarch............................................................... 50 The Owl who Would Not Keep Quiet .............................................. 58 The Everlasting Garden ..................................................................... 62 Angels Always Dip Their Ink Pens in Honey .................................. 70 The Little Star that Refused to Shine ................................................. 74 Night Fall ............................................................................................ 78 Symbols ............................................................................................... 82 Glossary .............................................................................................. 88 End Notes ........................................................................................... 98 References ......................................................................................... 100
Table of Illustrations
F is for Fishermans Luck .................................................................. xi A Montage of Proverbs ................................................................... xxi Main Street .......................................................................................... 2 The Little Shoeshine Boy .................................................................... 4 The Little White Kitten....................................................................... 6 Shadow of the Hawk .......................................................................... 8 The Witch .......................................................................................... 12 The Wise Man ................................................................................... 14 The Warlock ...................................................................................... 16 Gertrude in the Forest ...................................................................... 18 Candlelight ....................................................................................... 22 The Fields Burst into Fruition .......................................................... 23 Ladybugs & Gentleman Bugs .......................................................... 24 The Ogre............................................................................................ 26 The Castle ......................................................................................... 30 The People Prepared for an Elaborate Celebration ........................ 32 Chess Pieces the Size of Small Children.......................................... 33 The Citizens Padded the Treasury .................................................. 34 Snow on the Dogwood Tree ............................................................ 36 The Shepherd Girls Blanket ............................................................ 38 The Beautiful Princess with the Golden Tresses ............................ 42 A Tell-tale Trail Through the Garden Gate..................................... 46 K is for King Lir ................................................................................ 50 The Snow upon the Mountain Top Melts into a River ................... 51 Windmill ........................................................................................... 52 The Monarch Butterfly ..................................................................... 56 The Owl who Would Not Keep Quiet ........................................... 58 Skull & Hands................................................................................... 59 Three Dry Beans ............................................................................... 62 Blue Jays ............................................................................................ 64 Plum Trees ........................................................................................ 66 Feather Quill ..................................................................................... 70 Sarahs Garden ................................................................................. 72 Starry Night ...................................................................................... 74 The Little Star that Refused to Shine ............................................... 76 Bedtime Stories ................................................................................. 78
F is for Fishermans Luck Fairy Tales ABCs McLoughlin Brothers, 1870s
Folklore: An Introduction to History, Art & Literature Although this book is intended for readers approximately ages 8-14 years old, this introduction is educational material for mature students, parents and teachers. It fills a known controversial gap between the history of classical childrens literature and education. 1 Fairy tales and folklore have their origins in the medieval dark ages when the masses, adults and children alike, were illiterate compared to a relatively small group of ruling elite. The European Renaissance which followed the medieval dark ages is a commonly accepted starting point from which to examine the masses so-called emergence from the darkness of ignorance and superstition to the enlightenment of education and the hope of economic, social and political mobility that came with it. Although official history as told by various conquerors reflects the development of trade routes and weapons to defend those trade routes, folklore by contrast is history told by common folk. It has deep roots in public education at a time when superstition was prevalent. As we shall see, there are reasons why this genre of wizards, witches, warlocks and
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elves has endured through the ages. The image at the beginning of this introduction, for instance, is how the illiterate were taught to read. Moreover, according to Nietzsche, folklore is the happy medium between communicating with the use of images and communication that does not use images, such as music. Nietzsche makes this a distinction between Apollonian and Dionysian art consecutively, both names of Greek rulers and gods. 2 History prior to the development of the printing press is classified by ages: the stone age, bronze age and iron age, the golden age of enlightenment during the 5th century, and the dark ages of the medieval period followed by the Renaissance of the 15th century. The European Renaissance was a revival of 5th century ideals with a new twist; the development of the printing press and literacy for the masses. This was followed by the industrial age to what may be currently described as the information age or the technological revolution due to the internet. As with the technological revolution, the development of the printing press was responsible for disseminating large amounts of information and education to the masses unprecedented in history. The development of trade routes and increasingly sophisticated weapons beginning with stone and iron to defend those routes, the invention of the printing press and the internet combined have created a global system of world trade and global education as well. Many forks in the road have occurred between official history, art and literature and that of the common folk as they gained skills in literacy. Well highlight some of those forks in the road, the schools of thought and art movements, their impact upon the common folk and how the folk impacted art. This book may be considered a form of folklore and folk art. We hope it will provide inspiration to the elementary artist and the child, as the Renaissance did to the newly literate masses. In some ways certain ages of antiquity were socially and artistically superior to our modern corporate culture. In a world without newspapers or books, there was a liveliness to the social climate of the first century we might find lacking on Main Street today. Dion Chrysostrom gives an account of city life in his day:
One may see in all the crowd and cram and crush everyone calmly doing his own business; the piper piping and teach-
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Folklore: An Introduction to History, Art & Literature ing to pipe often in the streets with his pupils, while the crowd passes by and does not interfere with him; the trainer producing his dancers for a stage play without noticing a few fights going on; most remarkable of all, schoolmasters sit in the streets with their boys, teaching or learning for all that multitudinous mob. I myself saw people doing all sorts of things there, piping, dancing, one giving a show, one reciting a poem, one singing, one reading a story or fable, and not one of them preventing anyone else from his own particular business. 3
As in the first century described above and the golden age of the fifth century as well (during which time lived Socrates and Confucius), education and literature were reserved for the wealthy elite during the middle ages between the fifth and fifteenth centuries. The masses were by comparison ignorant. Books were hand-written and too expensive to produce on a scale large enough to educate the masses. They were often bound in animal skin called vellum and written in Latin. Wealthy patrons hired artists to produce illustrated books of religious devotional material called illuminated manuscripts. The most famous of these is The Book of Hours produced by the three Limbourg brothers for the Duke of Berry. These artists were later commissioned to illustrate a Bible. A variation of a later version of an illuminated manuscript is the graphic found at the beginning of this introduction, Fairytale ABCs by the McLoughlin brothers. The cost of an illuminated manuscript today ranges from the hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The cost of the graphic at the beginning of this introduction is in the public domain due to copyright expiration and can be purchased for only a few dollars. The European Renaissance was a time of dynamic social change. It began with the proto-Renaissance (pre-Renaissance) of the 12-13th centuries followed by the Renaissance of the 14th century, and reached its peak during the High Renaissance of the 15th century, during which time Pope Julius commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. With the development of the Gutenberg printing press in Germany in 1440 the first Bible was mass produced called the Gutenberg Bible. Europe was in recovery from the bubonic plague which was viewed by many as punishment from God and used by the church to lead its flock to repentance. During this same time period Martin Luxiii
ther challenged the Catholic Church and the Protestant religion emerged. As the Protestant church moved in the direction of humanism, fewer angels were depicted in religious art. Catholic Michelangelo, however, did not waiver from his belief in angels nor his belief in God as a source of inspiration depicted in his masterpiece, Creation of Adam. But his contemporary, Raphael, pursued yet another school of thought; philosophy, which was a neo-Platonic revival of the golden age of the fifth century. He produced The School of Athens with mathematical precision according to Platos concept of universal geometry and dimension as an ideal form. This marked a significant fork in the road between official art sponsored by the government, religious art sponsored by the churches, and the landscape genre, a form of freelance art which came soon after. Some schools of thought practiced bringing order out of chaos as a form of idealism, while others practiced realism. In a charming example of the abhorrence for chaos written in the 1700s, a French Catholic missionary describes Niagara Falls as:
falling from a horrible precipice, foaming and boiling after the most hideous manner imaginable, and making an outrageous noise and dismal roaring, more terrible than thunder. 4
Such irreverence for nature would be unthinkable to those artists producing the landscape genre, but travel literature had emerged with the development of the printing press, and this piece was feasibly written to entertain an audience back home in France. Proto-Renaissance art progressed from flat-surfaced, one-dimensional paintings and sculpture to multi-dimensional works of art that included weather and atmosphere, light, shadows, perspective, gestures, and the folds of drapery. Even sculpture advanced to portraying the folds of drapery in marble. Some were offended by the attempts to portray divinity in art altogether and the iconoclast movement began as the Protestants moved toward humanism. Catholicism and Protestantism continued to use imagery to gain as yet illiterate converts and eventually both churches sought new converts in the Americas during a time period called the CounterRevolution,. Thus Europe brought its unresolved conflicts to the new world. America was viewed by the European immigrants as the promised land and a restored Garden of Eden, but not for the Indians who
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Folklore: An Introduction to History, Art & Literature
were subject to a genocide that reduced their population by more than a million people. These indigenous hunting and gathering societies were converted to cattle ranching and farming. As with the bubonic plague during the 1300s, rats, presumably barn rats, brought new diseases to the native inhabitants who were without prior exposure or immunity. The sacred texts of the indigenous populations were burned. The temples of the South American Incas, Aztecs and Mayans were superimposed with Western architecture and Christian churches were built upon the very ruins of the temples of the conquered tribes. In its ideal art form, architecture attracts business and tourism to the city of God, parishioners in the case of churches, and hospitals in the case of the Bubonic plague. 5 It also symbolizes mans conquest over nature. Meanwhile in the East, China, Japan and Korea found a happy medium in geometrical architecture surrounded by asymmetrical gardens and landscapes. Unfortunately, an in-depth study of Eastern art is outside the scope of this work. In fact, the earliest origins of the printing press are found in China and Korea, but our focus here is on the Western Renaissance. All great artists travelled to Italy. The city of Florence was a haven to which artists of every sort fled. During his pilgrimage across the mountains to Italy, Piter Bregel the Elder developed the landscape genre. He later merged his art with literary proverbs and another technique for educating the illiterate masses with images and morals was born. This work was called The Netherlandish Proverbs. In this piece, village peasants are engaged in a variety of proverbial activity associated with the underclass as perceived by the elite, such as one man beating his head against the wall. Our variation of this is called A Montage of Proverbs and it is located on the last page of this introduction. In his mastery of the landscape genre, Bregel used nature as the greater backdrop and common folk as the lessor subject matter in the forefront. In this manner he created the effect that man is subject to nature rather than the other way around. This created a popular worldupside-down debate amongst the artists of his day. There remains some question amongst scholars as to whos side Bregel was on, the peasantry or the elite. 6 The elite counteracted with an art movement of their own to keep the poor peasants in their place. To the elite, order meant obedience by the peasantry. They contributed to stereotyping the lower classes and xv
thwarting their upward mobility with images of war heroes, villains, shepherds, farmers and fools. Hogenberg and Ewout Muller of Amsterdam portrayed the activities of the peasantry and their heroic efforts to overcome their lot as foolish and subversive. 7 As a result, a popular theme that emerged was virtue versus folly. The peasantry sought to eliminate the stereotypes the elite cast upon them by creating the folk artist as hero and the elite as fraudulent, amoral villains. Folklore aimed at an egalitarian ethos. 8 Some scholars now view folklore as the social and unofficial history of the peasantry in their conflicts with the elite. 9 Meanwhile, Catholic priest Desiderius Erasmus challenged the Latin translation of the Bible, restored it to Greek, criticized the folly of the church and art altogether, and attempted to reform monks who were fond of wine, women and song and loathe to work. Folklore triumphed as a literary genre in the 1800s. Queen Elizabeth implemented the public school as social policy during the Protestant Reformation so the poor peasants might have as good an education as she did. By now the common folk could read and write. Hans Christian Anderson produced The Ugly Duckling, famous for its underlying message of the artist as social outcast until he is reunited with his true family of swans. Additionally he produced The Princess and the Pea, Thumbelina, and The Little Mermaid. The Grimms brothers produced Snow White, Hansel and Gretel and others until they were exiled from the Kingdom of Hanover for putting up a resistance to royal absolutism. The Berlin Academy of Sciences took them under their umbrella so they could produce a dictionary. 10 Since Socrates and Plato, childrens literature has never been without its social radicals and revolutionaries. Indeed, in keeping with Socratic tradition, both the neo-Platonic and Protestant elements of the Renaissance would challenge accusations of heresy against science, the monopoly of the publishing industry and literacy held by the priesthood, and the power the rulers held on the minds of the common folk. Niccolo Machiavelli, however, took full advantage of the usefulness of deception in war via the publishing industry and his history books, The Prince and The Art of War, which completely lack footnotes, live on in controversy and infamy to this day. The Prince is the second most widely read book next to the Bible. Early indications of folklore are found in The Pied Piper of Hamlin. Legend has it that a man hired himself to rid the village of rats during xvi
the plague and when he was not paid for his work, he returned to the village and lured children away with his flute. Factual support for this legend is found in the 15th century Luenenberg manuscript:
In the year of 1284, on the day of Saints John and Paul on 26 June, 130 children born in Hamelin (Hameln, Germany) were seduced by a piper dressed in all kinds of colors and lost at the place of execution near the koppen. 11
It is said that the childhood song ring around the rosies, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down was written about a village that had to be burned to the ground due to the plague. In Discovering the Global Past, author Merry Weisner suggests that the rhyme was intended to make certain future generations never forgot the plague. 12 There are those who dispute this, claiming the limerick was written in the 18th century. Many great artists died during the plague, including the Limbourg brothers who had produced illuminated manuscripts. Many nursery rhymes and fairy tales are believed to have been written about actual historical events. Mary, Mary, quite contrary is said to have been written about Mary Queen of Scots, Catholic, cousin to Protestant Queen Elizabeth. Mary Queen of Scots was convicted of treason for plotting to overthrow her cousin. The Emperors New Clothes by the brothers Grimm is said to have been written about Julius Caesar because Rome was then seen as a naked tyranny. According to child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim, the genie in the bottle originated from a German-Swiss doctor named Theophrastus Bombastus , the first doctor to put medicine in bottles. 13 The earliest printed version of Little Red Cape (Little Red Riding Hood) Is Charles Perraults 1697 version. Perrault was one of the first folk tale authors next to sop to draw from classical Greek literature and state an explicit moral at the end of his stories.
Children, especially attractive, well-bread young ladies, should never talk to strangers, for if they do so, they may well provide dinner for a wolf. I say wolf but there are various kinds of wolves. There are also those who are charming, quiet, polite, unassuming, complacent and sweet, who pursue young women at home and in the streets. And unfortunately it is these gentle wolves who are the most dangerous ones of all. 14
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Walter Crane created a wood-cut illustration for Little Red Cape (woodcuts were used for printing prior to the development of the printing press) and went on to both write and illustrate numerous folk tales including Sing A Song of Sixpence and One, Two, Buckle my Shoe. He added another quality to educating the illiterate in keeping with the neoPlatonic revival of the time: he made learning fun. Another well-known trick of the trade that developed was to eliminate adult intervention as far as possible, and allow children to discover creative solutions to difficult problems on their own. Hansel and Gretel, for instance, provides visual imagery of a childlike sense of abandonment. In spite of the fear factor, children are enchanted and filled with admiration at Hansels clever use of bread-crumbs and stones to trace his path home. Folk tales as art are external representations of internal psychological processes. They are often placed in pastoral settings with town-weary folk as celebrities, are larger than life, and represent struggles to overcome difficult circumstances. They are rife with social, political and economical absurdities which children relish. Witches, warlocks and ogres represent real dangers in the world, hostile forces , prejudices and obstacles which one must overcome to fulfill a goal. Identifying which forces are real and which are fictitious develops courage. 15 Then, as now, to many adults these figures are mere superstition but to others they are very real, thus the controversy surrounding J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. The moral at the end of folklore suggests if nothing else that there is something to be learned from reading. Although this technique was used by the church to both educate and teach the newly literate morals, other artists sought to liberate the peasantry from poverty by freeing their mind from the clutches of the priesthood and the rulers. The great moralist sop is alleged by some to have been a liberated Greek slave. Other scholars claim he is a legendary figure rather than a real person. Shortly after the development of the printing press, publishing companies began printing the best classical books at inexpensive prices. 16 A great deal of original material was lost in these translations, including translations of the Bible. The most famous work of art resulting from a Biblical mistranslation is Michelangelos Moses. The marble sculpture depicts Moses descending from Mount Sinai with two horns on his head, resembling a devil, rather than two rays of light emanating from his head, as described in the original text. 17
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It had always been the goal of the Church, Michelangelo especially, to prove the existence of God. The flat-surfaced one-dimensional paintings of the proto-Renaissance were now multi-dimensional and artists had indeed proven that there is more than meets the eye. This achievement of Renaissance artists may be compared to the recognition that a square has multiple dimensions in the form of a cube, rather than one. Literature, once called language art, is perceived as one-dimensional art, that is text on paper. But literature also uses literary images to demonstrate there is more than meets the eye. These images are most notably found in the Bible. Iconoclasts have not objected to this form of imagery, however, to any degree close to their objections to the portrayal of divinity in art . It may in fact be the hidden meaning, that which is not seen, that which is not spelled out, the second or third dimension, the ideal rather than the real, the symbols and the imagination that engage children to fairy tales and folk lore. Symbolism has always played a large role in art and although I have not discussed it here, I have included a list of commonly recognized symbols at the back of this book. A forest symbolizes a place of testing, for example. Crossing a bridge symbolizes making a transition. A cube symbolizes the end of a cycle of immobility. Once upon a time, long, long ago, I learned to read fairy tales and I decided I wanted to be a fairy-tale writer when I grew up. Many times I wondered if Hogenberg and Ewout Muller were right. Great folly has been committed in this pursuit on occasion, not the least of which is directly related to ignorance about mathematics and the unyielding specifications of the printing press. Ive actually awaken from a nightmare where columns of text were pillars of Roman architecture in symbol. It behooves the budding author, then, to learn a bit about the transition from illuminated manuscripts to the commercial printing press, lest midway through the process one is facing the ghost of Erasmus and his admonishments for playing with complex questions, and second childhoods. 18 It is entirely feasible that a whole new genre of horror stories can be written on this subject matter alone. I studied a bit of art in college and Id like to study it further. A great deal of my study on the folk genre has been supplemented by independent study. There is at least one fact I feel I can authoritatively conclude about the genre: a child who grows up in the company of Kings and
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Queens, paupers and fools has a far greater likelihood of pursuing a higher education and learning about monarchies, Queen Elizabeth I, public education versus private Catholic schools, the French Revolution, the American Revolution, the Native American Indian holocaust, The American Constitution, and so on. There is no question that the folklore genre has made a remarkable contribution to literacy and education. Ideally, I hope to inspire the same love of learning that was instilled in me when I learned to read, either by studying independently or pursuing a formal education. Indeed, the Public Library opened in 1571 courtesy of the Medici family of Florence that all might have access to learning via independent study; the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana. There is a vast field of treasure in medieval history for adults and children alike, far more than is within the scope of this work. Tutorials for the proper public behavior of Princes, as well as table manners for Princesses were written during this period. Work considered pagan, such as the fables of sop, were gradually shunned as well as works considered too moralizing. 19 These works retain great value for their insights into the life and times of the characters who graced their pages and the celebration of human achievement that is the humanities. In retrospect to my childhood, I cannot recall an educational bridge between fairy-tales, folklore, and real art history. I hope this book provides an elementary bridge. ~Deborah Khora~
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A Montage of Proverbs From top left to bottom right: Let sleeping dogs lie, laughter is the best medicine, money talks, dont cry over spilled milk, youll catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
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Main Street
The Little Shoeshine Boy
nce upon a time in the Enchanted Forest there lived a little boy who shined shoes for a penny at the village inn. If he did an extra fine job, a kind patron might toss him a quarter and say, Go home early today, boy. He was so very poor. Yet there was no end to the shoes in sight. As he gazed down Main Street at all the pedestrians strolling the walk he thought to himself, there is no end to the money I could make. The thought of it made him very happy. But in truth his employment rendered him only fifty cents each day. One hot summer afternoon the little shoeshine boy grew weary of his life of servitude. He realized he must take decisive action. He could walk away from it all. Leave Main Street behind. Start a new life. Never look back. So that is what he did. But as he ran
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free through the meadow to his cottage in the woods, the shoes he left unfinished came running after him. His eyes opened wide in horror as he raced faster toward home. He skipped across the stone bridge over the brook, out of breath, heart pounding, til he was safe inside. Then he heard a knockity-knock-knock. The shoes were kicking at the door. So what did the little shoeshine boy do? He grabbed a tin of shoeshine, some cheese cloth, and courageously opened the door. Then he finished shining the shoes. Moral of the story: Finish what you start, then you are free to move on.
The End
The Little Shoeshine Boy
As he ran through the meadow to his cottage in the woods, the shoes he left unfinished came running after him.
She knew she was not allowed out.
The Little White Kitten who Thought the Snow was Her Mother
nce there lived a brother and sister named Bingo and Sweetie. They wanted someone to play with. Sweetie asked her mother for a baby sister. Bingo asked for a baby brother. Mother explained that two children were enough for her to take care of but she would get them a kitten, so that is what she did. One day she brought home a pure white fluffy kitten with big blue eyes and a long tail. The kitten loved to play and raced through the house as fast as she could. She sounded like a little horse galloping across the floor. That was her best survival skill, running fast. She had funny ideas and invented games to play that made the children laugh. She turned her head upside down to
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watch television. She chased marbles and bells in the middle of the night. She unraveled the toilet paper. To the little white kitten, everything was alive. The curtains blowing in the wind were alive. She pounced on Sweeties toes under the blanket as though they were mice. She even attacked mothers fake fur coat! Mother put a collar on the kittens neck with a bell on it so birds would know when the little white kitten was near. One day the children were home from school during a snowstorm. The little white kitten sat on a window sill watching the snowfall. The snow is my mother, the little kitten thought wistfully, because it was pure white like she was. I want to go outside and play, she thought. Please, please let me out, her eyes pleaded. But of course no one would let the kitten out during a blizzard. All morning long the little white kitten sat on the windowsill watching the snow. We cannot let you out, said Bingo, as though he could read her mind. He told her again and again until she knew she was not allowed out. But that afternoon father came home from work early. He left the back door open a crack by accident while he stood on the back porch in his socks and shook off his boots. The little white kitten leapt from the windowsill and was out the door fast as lightening even though she knew she was not allowed out. Sweetie glanced out the window and saw the little white kitten leaping through the snow and into the forest of pine trees. Oh no! she cried to her brother. Bingo, the kitten is out in the blizzard. Wed better catch her, cried Bingo. So Bingo and Sweetie put on their snow boots and jackets and caps and hurried outside to search for the little white kitten. The little white kitten crawled through hollow logs, climbed trees, jumped from the branches, fell into a snow drift, was buried and dug a tunnel out. She was a baby. She did not know danger, only courage. Only Bingo and Sweetie knew the blizzard was dangerous.
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The Little White Kitten who Thought the Snow was Her Mother
He could see the shadow of the hawk on the pure white glistening snow.
Little white kitten! Little white kitten! called Bingo and Sweetie in the snowstorm. But the little white kitten raced farther and farther away from their voices. She climbed up hills, tumbled down hills, and sprang through the woods in glee. Before long, however, the little white kitten became cold and started to shiver. This snow is not my mother, thought the little white kitten. Now she knew why Bingo told her she could not go out. He was right! So she raced back toward the call of their voices. Sweetie scooped up the little white kitten and tucked her into her jacket. Once inside the children put the kitty on a soft, warm electric blanket so she could thaw out. The kitten was soon warm and purring. This blanket is my mother, thought the kitten happily, for it was pure white like she was, and she drifted off to sleep. Bingo and Sweetie gave the kitten a name at last. They named her Blizzard. As the snowstorm ceased, Bingo looked out the window and saw a hawk circling over head, just watching to swoop down and clutch a little animal in its claws and carry it off for a meal. He could see the shadow of the hawk on the pure white glistening snow. From the hawks view point, the little white kitten may have seemed only a small pile of snow. Her color was her camouflage. If she had been a tiger kitty with black and brown stripes she may have appeared to the hawk as a pile of sticks and leaves. Or, she might have been the hawks supper! He sure was glad the little white kitten was safe at home. Moral of the story: Take care of your pets, and wildlife, too. There are real dangers to our pets in the world. It could be speeding automobiles, clothes dryers, or getting lost.
The End
I wish for a book of rhymes. I wish for a book of reasons.
The Wise Man & the Wishing Well
eep in the woods where no one can see, there once lived a lazy old witch in a stone cottage with shutters that never opened. There was a wishing well outside her door. Her only neighbor was a poor old poet who lived in a hut made of branches and leaves. From time to time the witch would creep outdoors with a shiny penny in her hand, close her eyes, make a wish, and toss it into the wishing well. I wish for a pot of clay, colored blue, fired in a kiln, she said one day. I wish for a woven blanket for warmth, red and orange like the sun, said she on another. I wish for a book of rhymes. I wish for a book of reasons. I wish for a garden of purple petunias and the fragrance of spearmint flowing in the breeze. I wish for
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melodies played upon the flute and cithara. Her list went on and on until there were hundreds of pennies, maybe thousands, at the bottom of the well. One day her neighbor happened by on his way to the market to buy himself a loaf of bread, a stick of butter, and a bottle of wine. For that is what poor poets eat for supper. 20 As he passed by the witchs house he peeked into the well. My wish has come true! he cried when he saw all the pennies. For he had often wished for good fortune. So he removed the pennies and tossed a pearl into the well to teach the old witch wisdom. When the witch discovered her pennies were missing, she laced up her boots and trekked through the thicket to her neighbors house. What have you done with my pennies? If you spent them you must grant my wishes or I will hex and vex you. Good heavens, dear neighbor, is it any wonder the things you wish for have yet to exist? Good things only come by very hard work. I suppose you are right, she replied. Good things do not come by magic. So the peasant returned her pennies, and the witch returned his pearl. But instead of filling the wishing well with pennies again the witch used them to buy a potters wheel and a loom, garden seeds, and everything she needed to make her wishes come true. She even made a loaf of home-made bread for her neighbor and he chopped some wood for her fire, and they lived in peace. Moral of the story: Good comes by hard work and magic.
The End
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The Wise Man & the Wishing Well
My wish has come true, he cried when he saw all the pennies. For he had often wished for good fortune.
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You cannot pass through the forest unescorted. It is forbidden.
The Code Word
ertrude was late for supper. She had stayed at the library too long. Now there was only a faint orange glow above the tree tops. The evening sun was setting and the skies were growing darker by the moment. The crickets were creaking and the toads were croaking in the swamp alongside the long gravel road home. Her shoes crunched on the gravel path. In the distance a little light flickered through the trees that Gertrude knew was her home. How comforting it was, that light, way off in a wood of green. She had only to set her mind upon it and soon she would be there. She recalled her mother teaching her the address: 123 Pine Tree Street, 123 Pine Tree Street, 123 Pine Tree Street.
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If a stranger offers to take you home, do not go unless he says the code word, said Mother. What is a code word? asked Gertrude. It is a code that only you and I know, replied Mother. The code is home sweet home. Do not go with anyone unless they tell you the code. If they do not say home sweet home, Mother has not sent them and you must not go. If they say the code then Mother or Father has sent them and it is all right to go along with them. Okay, Gertrude promised. Imagine, will you, dear Gertrude trudging along the twilight path, a whisper of a child alone in the big dark forest. A wind might come along and blow her away. A bear or a mountain lion might devour her. The very thought should fill us with dread. But Gertrude was not afraid. She trudged merrily along singing rhymes and poems, looking forward to hugs and kisses when she arrived home. She crossed a stone bridge over a brook. She did not see the warlock waiting on the other side. He was leaning upon a carved wooden cane. A long blade of grass hung lazily from his lips. As Gertrude passed by the warlock hissed, come this way child. You cannot pass through the forest unescorted. It is forbidden. Those are the rules. What is the code word? Gertrude demanded to know. Dear child, codes are for the city. Here in the Enchanted Forest we go by rules, not codes. The rules are, you cannot pass through the forest unescorted. Now, take my hand and Ill see you through to the other side. Perplexed, Gertrude obeyed the warlock and took his hand. But she was suspicious. She felt she was in danger and she had to get away. Suddenly a crack of lightening pierced the sky and scorched the top of a Pine Tree. It began to rain. This way, child! the warlock hissed. They veered off the path at a fork in the road named Warlock Way. He led her to his cottage in the forest. Inside was a warm fire and a pot of stew simmering on the stove. He fed her hot biscuits and stew, then
17
The Code Word
Imagine, will you, dear Gertrude, alone in a big, dark forest.
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tucked her into a soft bed with feather pillows. You shall rest safely tonight, said the warlock. In the morning when the rain stops I shall return you home to your mother. But he was telling lies. That night while Gertrude slept the warlock took a shovel and begin to dig a grave beneath a tree. Then he clipped a lock of her golden hair. I will send this lock of hair to the childs mother for a one hundred thousand dollar ransom, muttered the warlock. If she does not pay this grave will be Gertrudes bed tomorrow night! He leaned upon his cane to catch his breath and hobbled slowly back to his cottage. He fell asleep by the fire, snoring happily as he dreamed of all the money he would make from the lock of golden hair. Meanwhile, Gertrudes mother paced the floor and wept. She sure did wish Gertrude was safely in her arms. Father called the library. It had closed hours ago. He tried to calm Gertrudes mother with embraces but it was no use. She would not be soothed until the child was safely at home. She called out in the night, Gertrude! Gertrude, honey, please come home! Her heart was utterly broken, as only a parent could know. One little star was shining in the forest that night. It had stopped raining. The crickets of the forest had fallen asleep and stopped chirping. The toads stopped croaking. The walls of the cottage stopped creaking. The wood in the stove lay in hot embers crackling. The warlock was snoring. The clock was ticking. Gertrude awoke in the middle of the night, as if from a bad dream. She peeked into the room where the warlock slept. She knew he couldnt walk without his cane, and he couldnt chase her without it, either. Suddenly she knew what to do. She tossed the cane by its handle into the fire. If he awoke and tried to retrieve it, his hands would burn. Then she unlatched the front door and dashed into the dark forest with only star light to guide her home. The warlock awoke and cried out after her, Oh no, not my cane! Suddenly it was worth $100,000.00.
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The Code Word
Gertrude burst through the door to her home and into her mothers arms. I will always remember the code word, she said to comfort her mother. Home sweet home! Moral of the story: Children should be home before dark and on time for supper.
The End
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He made the clerk stay past midnight until the last penny had been counted.
The Little Hamlet that Came to Life
nce upon a time in the Land of Make Believe, there lived a boy named Simon. Whenever he walked outdoors, the whole world came to life. Birds began to whistle. Flowers unfolded. Ponies ran across the meadow to see if he held an apple in his hand. Cats crawled out from their hiding places. Dogs began to bark and play, all vying for Simons attention. The ruler of the countryside was an ogre who cast a dark shadow over the land. But when Simon came out, he was like sunshine and a breath of fresh air. On this particular day, the poor of the hamlet were standing in line for cheese when heavy footsteps caused the ground to tremble as an earthquake and the sky grew dark as though covered with storm clouds. Indeed the
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The fields burst into fruition, fresh & resplendent, as after a spring rain.
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There were ladybugs and gentleman bugs.
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ogre spoke like thunder and in his very presence was gloom and doom. The skies had been dark so long under his dominion even the crops were sparse. No more cheese today! he bellowed. I am the ruler and these are the rules. He was fond of making great big rules without exception. First you work in the fields, and then you can have some cheese. If you do not work in the fields, then you cannot have any cheese! Next in line was a poor old widow. Please, good sir, she pleaded, I am too frail to work in the fields. All I can offer in exchange for some cheese are these tomatoes from my very own garden. She began to weep. Although he was not moved to pity, the ogre seized the tomatoes, weighed them on a scale and gave her a block of cheese of equal weight. Then he slammed the door to the cheese shoppe shut. So the poor peasants flocked to the fields to harvest potatoes and onions and bring them to market for cheese. Stupid people! the ogre said when they were out of the range of hearing. Then he went about the hamlet collecting all the pennies from the peasants wishing wells as they toiled in the fields. He arrived back at the cheese shoppe just as the clerk readied to leave. You wait! demanded the ogre. And he made the clerk stay past midnight counting the pennies that he had collected from the wishing wells. Just as the clerk was about to put the money in a safe, one shiny penny escaped from a hole in the bag. It rolled across the floor and into a mouse hole. Fearing the ogres wrath, the clerk stayed all night searching for the penny by candle-light. The next morning the peasants stood in line with only a small bag of produce. The clerk weighed the potatoes, onions, celery and herbs, and gave them an equal weight of cheese; hardly enough to feed them all. The crowd huddled together and readied for a riot. They were prepared to assault the ogre with darts and stones when he left the cheese shoppe. They would demand better working conditions,
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The weight from the bag of pennies caused the bridge to collapse beneath him.
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better morale, and most importantly fair wages, or else. They were fed up with his tyranny and domination. Then along came Simon. Butterflies were fluttering over his head and a white wooly lamb followed at his heels. Right before the peasants very eyes the fields burst into fruition, fresh and resplendent, as after spring rains. Bees were pollinating the crops. There were ladybugs and gentlemen bugs. Hip hip hooray! the peasants cheered. Simon saved the day! The peasants fled to the fields to harvest the crops. There were apples, peaches, pears, grapes, walnuts and figs to boil for jam and pies, and extra to store away in jars for the winter. The ogre passed by on his way to the bank with a big bag of pennies slung over his shoulder. This ogre had one arm and a hook for the other. Rumor had it a peasant had chopped off his had long ago when he was robbing wishing wells. As he crossed the bridge, the weight of his boots and the bag of money caused the bridge to collapse beneath him. The ogre cried out for his life and Simon came a-running. Drop the pennies! Simon cried, and plunged his hand into the rapids to pull that one-armed bandit out to safety. But the ogre would not let go of the bag of pennies and he sank to the bottom of the river from the weight. It was too late to save him. The ogre tumbled about the river bottom and drifted out to sea. But the bag of pennies tore on a stone and fell to the bottom of the river as they once lay in the wishing wells. And all of the peasants wishes came true in the end.
The End
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The castle appeared to be perched upon an island in the sky.
The Shepherd Girls Blanket
nce upon a time in the Land of Make Believe, the Prince was coming to town for a celebration and the poor little shepherd girl did not have a gift for him. But she did have a flock of lambs and thought to herself she could shear the wool and weave a fine blanket suitable for the Prince. Twas March and it was a fortnights journey down the mountainside to the village. The people were preparing for an elaborate celebration complete with minstrels and ballads, trumpets and troubadours, costumes and theater, jesters, jugglers, a chorus, a puppet show, and a banquet of gourmet food. Noble families would gather together. Young maidens would dance with swain. Scholars would play chess on a checkerboard with chess
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pieces the size of small children. This is how the village folk expressed their gratitude to the King for his protection from conquerors and tyrants. The Prince would soon succeed his aging and ailing father, and the citizens padded the treasury with gifts of gold, fine art, peacocks, and miniature horses. The Kings castle was perched on top of a mountain. From the valley below the castle appeared to be perched upon an island in the sky. This is because the lower part of the mountain was ever engulfed by a great white cloud and only the tippy top of the mountain could be seen from afar. The Prince, accompanied by two of the Kings companions, set off on a treacherous journey down the misty mountain slope beneath the castle walls. Meanwhile, the shepherd girl busied herself weaving a beautiful and delicate blanket of pure white wool, soft to the cheek and warm to the bone. One afternoon the royal trio stopped to rest their horses by the brook. The Kings companions fell asleep at their post, weary from their travels. The Prince took the opportunity to explore the forest of Cedars, Oaks and Pines, wild grapes, wild turkey, quail, deer, and natural springs of water that bubbled up from the earth in fountains. But as fate would have it, the Prince tangled his foot in some vines and he tumbled down the mountain slope until he hit his head upon a stone. When the Kings companions awoke from their nap their charge was nowhere to be found. Although they called and searched, they could not find the Prince. So they travelled on to the celebration, hoping he would be there. When the Prince awoke he had no memory of his former self. He vaguely knew he had somewhere to go but hed lost all sense of time and direction. He travelled on although he wasnt sure where he was going, or why. He only knew he had somewhere to go no matter how long it took. The poor Prince wandered long and far in this condition until he was ragtag and thin from a diet of wild fruit. One morning as he slept beneath a tree with only
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The people were preparing for an elaborate celebration.
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Scholars would play chess on a large checkerboard with chess pieces the size of small children.
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The citizens padded the treasury with gifts of gold, fine art, peacocks and miniature horses.
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leaves for covering it began to snow. It was a late snow; the kind that creeps into spring, a dreadful thing, certain to kill the new daffodils with frost. The mountain people say spring doesnt come their way until there is snow on the Dogwood tree. This proverb is sometimes true. Along came the little shepherd girl leading her flock of sheep as she happened across the Prince. Good grazing, she said. This fellow has suffered an injustice and an injury. He appears to be a vagabond but I perceive he is a nobleman. He is cold and near death. Alas, if I cover him with a blanket, I shall not have a gift for the Prince. Nevertheless she went home to her cottage to fetch her woolen blanket and a hot thermos of bree. Where are you off to so late in the day? cried her mother. The Prince is coming to town and you must busy yourself preparing a gift for him. This is no time for a celebration, dear Mother, exclaimed the little shepherd girl as she dashed off into the forest. There is a man lost in the woods. He has suffered an injustice and an injury. I must attend to him or he will perish. The shepherd girls mother sighed and shook her head at her daughters virtue. This child would never marry, she thought. She was destined to be a spinster and remain in the care of her mother or her auntie for the rest of her life. The shepherd girl searched through the forest. At the end of the day her efforts paid off. At last she found the Prince laying motionless beneath an oak tree. There was a large blue lump on his forehead the size of a hard-boiled egg. Awaken, milord, she said softly as she lay the white woolen blanket over him, which she had woven with the wool from her very own lambs. When he opened his eyes, she fed him sips of broth until he regained his strength. At last he was awake and alert, full of manly vigor and remembering he had somewhere to go. He leapt to his feet, draped the blanket over his shoulders as a cloak, then he dashed of into the woods on foot.
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The mountain people say spring doesnt come their way until there is snow on the Dogwood Tree.
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The celebration began on April Fools Day. It was to last three days and three nights. The little shepherd girl had no gift to bring to the Prince so she stayed at home with her mother. The nobility and the peasants mingled together in the common yard without a disturbance, having set aside their class wars for the coming of the Prince. The first morning he was nowhere to be found. The folk assumed he was late and carried on with the festivities. But by the second evening the crowd was irritable. As the people gathered together for theater, at last the Prince stumbled out from the Enchanted Forest, famished for food and drink. He sat himself down on a wooden bench in the back row of the theater alongside two elderly sisters. Lo, beside me is a wastrel, one sister hissed to the other. Why, dear sister, replied the kinder of the two, that is prejudice. For shame. Prejudice is when a person judges someone without hearing what he has to say, seeing what he can do, or without any evidence or witness of wrongdoing. Just see how rag-tag and thin he is. He is a vagabond without any visible means of employment or sustenance, said the wicked sister who only judged by eye-sight. But you cannot judge a book by its cover, said the other and the two began to bicker. The argument between the two sisters caught the attention of the Kings companions who were seated in the front row of the amphitheater. Alarmed at the blue lump on the Princes forehead they quickly rose from their seats. After much bumping knees and pardon mes the Kings companions reached the Prince. They each took him under one arm and led him to the infirmary. Then they laid him on a cot beneath a window with his head aligned to the moon and the stars so he could regain his sense of time. It was the best medieval medicine of the time. In the morning he was recovered. The festivities continued without further ado to the Princes good pleasure. When it was finished, the Kings companions accompanied him to the castle on the mountain.
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There was a large blue lump on his forehead the size of a hard-boiled egg.
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Shortly after the celebration, the King decided it was high time to marry the Prince off to start a family. As was the custom, the King sent out invitations whereby the fathers of the Kingdom and far away lands could visit the castle to offer a dowry and their daughters hand in marriage. In a neighboring kingdom lived a beautiful Princess with long, golden tresses. There was none as fair as the damsel with golden hair. Many knights and noblemen had asked for her hand in marriage. But as soon as they pledged eternal love for her beauty, they immediately turned to stone. And there are stone statues scattered about the land to this day. The Princess knew she had enormous power and in some strange way this turned her into a wicked Princess. She was determined to have her way in every matter, trampling upon any rule that prevented her from having all that she desired. She was wealthy and beautiful and anyone who gazed upon her would think she was quite a treasure. But her father knew better and was anxiously awaiting the day he could marry her off. When he received the Kings invitation he was certain no maiden could surpass his daughters beauty. But if the Prince pledged eternal love, he, too, would turn into stone. Somehow the curse must be kept secret and the Prince must be prevented from falling in love with the Princess. It would have to be a loveless marriage. An arranged marriage. Indeed, if these two married they would have the most beautiful grandchildren in all the Kingdom. This was how he planned to bargain with the Princes father. The appointed day arrived and the Prince sat in a tower gazing out a window at the fanfare that stretched for miles across the countryside. One by one the maidens climbed the spiral staircase with a dowry in hand to greet the Prince. The first maiden presented a Certificate of the Highest Authority, sealed with a gold stamp and signed by the King of France. Gold is the Highest Authority, the certificate stated. The
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Prince realized if he married this maiden he would possess the Highest Authority. It was a difficult proposal to resist. The second maiden presented a Little Black Book of Wisdom, detailing all the pitfalls of life and what to do about them, which was priceless. The Prince considered the Little Black Book of Wisdom of equal value to the Certificate of Highest Authority, and he could not decide between them. The third maiden offered a mountain of glowing gems and the miners who labored there day and night to bring forth rubies, emeralds, diamonds and sapphires. The fourth maiden offered her apothecary of medieval medicine containing remedies for all manner of ailments ranging from green thumbs to broken hearts. The fifth maiden offered 1,000 acres of her long cultivated garden, a generous wonderland of ecosystems teaming with fruits, nuts and game. And so it went on with the maidens of the Kingdom vying for the Princes hand. Then along came the little shepherd girl with her flock of lambs. and only her love to offer. The Prince recognized her immediately and remembered his promise to reward her for saving his life. Last came the most beautiful Princess with the golden tresses. The curse would only take effect if the Prince pledged eternal love for her beauty so her father sent his Squire to accompany her and whisper in the Princes ear that the beautiful Princess with the golden tresses had lost her true love in the war and could not offer her heart, for she was still in grief. But, she could offer him the most beautiful grandchildren in the kingdom so long as his Highness understood it could not be a union of love. Meanwhile the King was mingling about the fanfare, chatting with fathers who had accompanied their daughters and learning the details of his sons prospective brides. He was most intrigued by the bid for the most beautiful grandchildren in the Kingdom and when he saw the beautiful Princess with the golden tresses he made a decision. His son would marry the beautiful Princess with the golden tresses. The Prince would have to obey because
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he was an heir to the Kingdom. If he did not obey he would not inherit the Kingdom. The beautiful Princess with the golden tresses caught wind of this and thought for certain she would be the most powerful woman in the world once the Prince became enamored of her beauty, turned to stone, and she took control of the Kingdom. But the curse would only take effect if he fell in love with her beauty, and she was not privy to the agreement that love would not be a part of the contract. At evening the King and Prince sat on the balcony of the castle overlooking the kingdom. Torches lit the deck where they sat in view of the twinkling hamlets below. They were discussing the days events and the King wished to know his sons heart. There is a little known secret amongst nobility that a heros reward is a kiss, in this case, a heroine, the little shepherd girl. The Prince told his father how shed saved his life and of his pledge to reward her. It was she he wished to marry and reward with the heroines kiss. But the King would hear none of it. He urged the Prince to reconsider. He reasoned with him to be practical rather than romantic. He explained that he could unite his Kingdom with the father of the bride and the two lands would have peace. Moreover he desired the most beautiful grandchildren in the kingdom. Marriage is a business proposal, said the King. Love has nothing to do with it. He was referring to the well-known practice of marriages of convenience amongst royalty and rulers. But the Prince refused so the King resorted to coercion. The next morning at breakfast tea, the King delivered a decree to his son, rolled up on a scroll of parchment, penned in the finest handiwork, tied in a bow with a delicate ribbon of silk. It stated:
It is on this daye, 15 Maye, 1201, the Prince is hereby Ordered to wed the beautiful Princess with the golden tresses. according to the contract that she shall not give her heart to him, for it is taken already and she is in grief, having lost her said love in the war. Nevertheless
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A heros reward is the kiss of life, in this case, a heroine.
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she shall produce the most beautiful grandchildren in all the Kingdom. For her service she shall become Queen and heir to the Kingdom with the Prince. If the Prince refuses to marry the beautiful Princess with the golden tresses, he shall not inherit The Throne. Signed, The King
The Prince could barely eat or sleep in the weeks prior to the marriage. The Big Day arrived and he appeared disheveled. His hair was uncombed, he was unshaven, and his pantaloons were wrinkled as though he had slept in them. He appeared to have lost weight. His skin was pale and his hair clung to his brow in a light sweat. But all eyes were upon the beautiful Princess with the golden tresses. She came down the palace staircase in a magnificent gown with multi-colored rhinestones about the neck and breast and a veil of delicately embroidered flowers trailed behind her. Her beauty mesmerized the King. And suddenly, before all eyes of the wedding party, he turned into a statue of stone. The party gasped in horror. The wedding was off! The Prince fled the palace Cathedral and mounted his horse. He dashed off into the forest in search of the little shepherd girl. After many days he found her tending her sheep. He dropped to his knees and begged her hand in marriage. She said, yes, milord. So they gathered up her mother and went off to the palace where they married You may kiss the bride, said the Justice of the Peace. At long last the shepherd girl received the heros reward, and They lived happily ever after. Moral of the story: The best dowry a handmaiden can offer is her skill.
The End
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The gardener left a tell-tale trail of wet dew on the stepping stones to the garden gate.
The Little Bird who Would Not Fly Free
any moons and tides ago there lived a little yellow bird and every evening his keeper put a cloth about his golden cage so the poor little fellow would not feel as though he lived his life in a theater at all times. Some privacy is important to all of us, reasoned the master. Each morning the cloth was removed. As the gardener passed by the window, humming like a humming bird as he tended to the flowers, the little bird told him all his heart, and there was no mistaking the little birds troubles were heart-felt indeed. How dearly he longed to fly free. How very lonely he was. Why, even the flutter-bys, now called butterflies, were freer than he was. He longed to return to his motherland in the tropics. Plainly this cap46
tivity was unnatural. For every creature had a good deed to perform and his were hindered here. Could they, perhaps, work something out? Now, this was very long ago when messages were sent across the sea in bottles sealed with cork, or scraps of scrip tied about a birds ankle. The little bird was certain he could be put to better use than this singing for a supper of seed. But the gardener would only shake his head solemnly and advise him to inquire of the master. The spring blooms passed. The summer fruits came. Then one morning when the master was away on a long journey the gardener had pity on the little bird. Just before dawn, on his way to the squash patch, the gardener stuck his hand beneath the cloth and unlatched the door to the cage. If the master asked, he would say it was an accident. The cat had tipped the cage over, the latch popped open, and in a natural act of self-defense the bird flew away. Then the gardener tip-toed across the lawn and into the garden, leaving a tell-tale trail of wet dew on the stepping stones. As the day wore on, the gardener passed by again for a drink of water from the well. There was the little bird, still in his cage. Although the door to the cage was wide open, the little bird continued his usual grievances and pleadings. Could he please go free? Could not the gardener see how unfair it all was? This went on for several mornings. The gardener was baffled. Finally one morning it dawned on him; he was a bird. The cage was open. Birds do not have to ask permission to fly free. And so he did, off and away, in search of better things to do and good deeds to perform. Moral of the story: Use your free time wisely.
The End
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K is for King Lir, Fairy Tale ABCs. , McLoughlin Brothers, 1870s
The History of the Monarch
ne day a group of fishermen, farmers and natives were threatening to riot in the village square. Every spring, the snow upon the mountain tops melts into a river. The King was proposing a new reservoir and windmill project that would dam the river, put fishermen out of business, decrease water supplies to farmers, threaten wildlife habitats, and violate a treaty of 1677 with natives granting them control of this land. The farmers protested that floods and droughts would result. The fishermen protested the windmills would scare the fish. Since ancient times, Kings are believed to hold the power to harness a river. 21 Rivals are those who argue over a rivus, river, and water rights. 22 The King declared the dispute was far too sophisticated for the peasantry. So the task fell upon scholars, myself included, to re50
search his proposal and submit our findings to the public ministry to determine the benefits or detriments to society. After two weeks of study, my pursuit had yielded no conclusive results. I decided at the last moment the librarian would be the best source for the original material I needed to complete this task. So, I paid him a visit at his home after business hours. I do not recommend waiting until the last moment to complete an assignment, nor do I recommend visiting the librarian at his home. In this case, however, he lived in my neighborhood and that afforded me a special privilege of sorts, much the same way Mother might borrow an egg from the neighbors hen, or a cup of sugar from his wife, in a pinch. I rang the door to his home and the maid ushered me in to his private library and study. It was not the orderly place one might expect a librarian to dwell. Great piles of books yellowed with
The snow upon the mountain tops melts into a river each spring.
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The farmers protested flooding and drought. The fishermen protested the noise from the windmills would scare the fish away.
pipe tobacco were piled on every flat surface, including chairs. The light was not bright, and he used magnifying glasses when he needed to scrutinize his material. The maid cleared a space for us to sit and brought us each a cup of cocoa. As I sipped my cocoa, the librarian pulled books from his shelves, blew the dust off, coughed a bit, and began his lecture. The Royals are fond of recording their family lineage back to the chieftains of ancient days, 23 said the librarian, but well begin with the Dark Ages. After the Romans were driven from England, they took with them their superior knowledge of aqueducts, baths and sewage systems. As the water lines deteriorated from neglect and disrepair, people took fewer baths. This was a time of perfume and powder, not soap. 24 Sewage flowed directly into the rivers, especially the Fleet River.
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The abominable odors of the Fleet, complained the Monks of the White Friars, have overcome the frankincense burnt at the altar. 25
There was garbage in the streets. Folk tossed their toilet out of windows regardless of the pedestrians below. Rats began to multiply, bringing with them fleas and lice and increased unsanitary conditions. Diseases sprang up, including leprosy and the Black Plague. Many people died, although legend has it that some onion and garlic farmers were spared because their onions absorbed virus and bacteria. The practice continues to this very day. During this time, a young child named Richard II inherited his grandfathers throne at age ten. His uncle John of Gaunt ruled as King until Richard came of age. Meanwhile, Richard was educated in princely manners and public behavior. He was instructed not to engage in folly, not to waste time, not to engage in foolish or amorous behaviors, to shun costly projects that he was neither competent nor able to afford, and so on, that he might be a wise King rather than foolish. Even a poet was commissioned to instruct, edify and amuse him. Grateful to the royal family that he might exercise his art legitimately, the poet Gower wrote of the young King in flattering words:
A gentil heart his tunge stilleth That it malice non distillith But preyseth that is to be preised But that hath his word unpeysed And handleth (on wrong every thing I preye unto the hevene king For such tunges he made me shilde And nathles this world is wilde Of such jangling, and what be falle That I, in hope to deserve His thonk, ne shall his will observe 26 53
Translated, the poet was stating that the King was handsome and generous, he prayed the King would be kept safe from cruel criticism, and that the poet would prove himself worthy of his patronage. The poet was later criticized for flattery after Richard II was driven from power. When Richard II became King, he passed laws to prevent the folk from tossing their toilet water out the window during business hours. His edict is called the Writ of Statuto Quo Nul Ject Dung: no one is to dump dung. Meanwhile, physicians began to advocate for the healing properties of hot springs, baths, sanitary conditions and the restoration of water and sewage systems which the people had known under Roman rule. But it was too late for Richard II. The peasants revolted, the Kings companions were tried and convicted of treason, and Richard was sent to prison where he died. He had reigned from 1377-1399 and was replaced by the seventh child of his uncle John Gaunt, Henry IV. Henry IV reigned from 1399-1413, Henry V from 1413-1422, Henry VI from 1422-1461, Edward IV from 1461-1483 , Edward V from 1483-1483... 27 He reigned from 1483 to 1483? I asked, puzzled. The librarian hesitated, squinted, peered, and reached for his magnifying glass to closer examine his reference book. He read silently for a few moments, leaned back in his chair and inhaled long on his pipe, as though stalling for time. Then he sighed and explained. Richard III had locked his nephews in a tower and they perished. Edward V succeeded to the crown at age 12 in 1483, said the librarian solemnly. But his uncle, Richard III took him and his younger brother to the tower and usurped the throne. Two hundred years later, in 1674, two small skeletons were found in the tower, 28 he explained. Then he continued. Richard III reigned from 1483-1484, Henry VII from 14851509, Henry VIII, who had six wives, reigned from 1509-1547. His daughter is Queen Elizabeth I who started the public school.
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Edward VI reigned from 1547-1553. Jane was Queen for only nine days in 1553. Mary I, that is Mary Queen of Scots, reigned from 1553-1558 and Elizabeth I reigned from 1558-1603. She was the only surviving daughter of Henry VIII, known as the Queen who took a bath once a month whether she needed it or not. 29 James I reigned from 1603-1625. Charles I, Englands smartest King according to the Guinness Book of World Records, reigned from 1625-1649, Charles II from 1660-1685, James II from 16851688, and William III, also known as William of Orange was monarch from 1689-1702. 30 Once more the librarian squinted, peered and reached for his magnifying glass. Heres a treasure: Legend has it the monarch butterfly was named after Prince William of Orange. He showed me a picture of the Monarch butterfly. That, my friends, is the history of the monarch and irrigation. Thirteen more regents followed other than the ones I have mentioned here, each in turn perfecting the bath, sewage and water systems. The windmills were designed to provide electricity for the village in addition to water. Along with the protestors in the village square, lawyers were filing papers to prevent the reservoir and windmill project from moving forward. The lawyers claimed the additional water supply was not necessary; that the King merely wished for more water to wash coaches and water lawns. Moreover, the natives complained that in addition to violating their treaty, the tributaries of the rivers were ecosystems and interference would disturb the natural balance needed to support many interdependent forms of life. After I submitted my research to the public ministry, the project was tied up in litigation for many years. In the end the judges decided the current water and sanitation system was sufficient and the Kings proposal posed a detriment to the community that was greater than its benefits.
The End
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Legend has it the monarch butterfly was named after Prince William of Orange.
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Tu-whit-tu-whoo. Tu-whit-tu-whoo.
The Owl who Would Not Keep Quiet
nce upon a time in the days of yore, it was the darkest of night in the forest. The clouds covered the moon and there was only the sound of a lone owl. Tu-whit-tu-whoo, tu-whit-tu-whoo, called the bird. The owl was perched in an oak tree and below its branches, nestled in dry leaves, was a skull. Where are my hands? the skull asked. But the owl could only respond, Tu-whit-tu-whoo. Tu-whit-tu-whoo. Now, one would think the skulls hands would be the least of his concerns, but it was not, and all night long he cried out for his hands and the owl cried back. Just before morning the skull gave up, and fell asleep exhausted. The next night the clouds again covered the moon, the owl sounded, and the skull cried out for
58
Where are my hands?
59
The Owl who Would Not Keep Quiet
his hands. But this time when the skull called out, from a distance he heard a clapping noise, as if by hands. Clap- clap. Clap- clap. Tu-whit-tu-whoo. Tu-whit-tu-whoo. At first the skull was frightened by the claps, for he thought there was a stranger in the forest. But then he realized it was his hands and the more he called, the nearer came the clapping hands. The next night was a full moon and again the lone owl sounded through the forest. Tu-whit-tu-whoo. Tu-whit-tu-whoo. Where is my axe? the skull asked. Tu-whit-tu-whoo. Tu-whit-tu-whoo. Where is my axe? he asked again. Then the bright full moon cast a beam of light on the blade of an axe. The hands picked up the axe by its wooden handle and began to chop down the tree. Tu-whit-tu-whoo. Tu-whit-tu-whoo, protested the owl. Finally, just before morning, the tree fell. Crack! Pop! Snap! Woosh! Slam! Tremble! And the owl who would not keep quiet flew away. At long last I can get some sleep! said the skull. And there he rested for a long time.
The End
60
Three dry beans.
The Everlasting Garden
here once lived a young fellow named Mingus who had no mother and whose father was an ogre. In spite of his misfortune, however, he always managed to find the good in life. To Mingus, a sudden cold snap in the midst of summer was a good thing because it reminded him of winter and caused him to plan long ahead for cozy winter fires. So he filled his spare time chopping wood. He kept himself busy and made himself useful, and never worried a whit. When father complained, as he often did, Mingus found the silver lining behind the cloud. One day his father gave him five pennies and sent him to market for soup stock. Along the way an old woman called out to him, Sonny, could you lend a poor widow a hand? Naturally,
62
Mingus obliged. He helped carry some boxes of dusty old books up to the attic and loaded some junk into the bed of a trailer to be carted off to the dump. As he turned to leave and continue his errand, the poor widow stretched out her hand and in it was a potato. I cannot pay you for your kindness, child, but do take this potato. Cut out the eyes and plant them in your garden. Youll have potatoes for a life time. Mingus thanked the old woman, took the potato, and went on his way. As he continued toward the village, an old man waved a crooked cane and called out to him. Sonny, could you lend a hand? He asked Mingus to help pull some weeds from his flower bed, for his back hurt when he bent over, and if he got down on his knees he could not get back up. Mingus obliged and weeded his garden. One last thing, we need to re-seed the flower bed. He plucked a dead, dried out flower head and showed Mingus how to sprinkle the dry seeds in the soft, moist soil surrounding the mother plant. So Mingus went through the flower bed plucking the dead heads and regenerating the plants. When they were finished, the man winked mischievously and tucked a few flower heads into Mingus hand. Plant these in your garden, he said. Youll have plenty of flowers and pretty girl friends besides. Mingus thanked him politely and went on his way. Next he passed through a park where a little girl was gazing up at a tree. Hanging from a branch was a bird feeder full of sunflower seeds. The seeds were spilling over onto the ground and Blue Jays and squirrels fought each other for the seeds. By now Mingus was catching on. He gathered some sunflower seeds and decided he would plant them. Perhaps he could collect enough seeds so his father would never have to buy soup stock again. He passed a vacant lot of unattended cherry trees growing wild. The birds had pecked away at the fruit and cherry pits lay
63
fallen on the ground. In their midst an oak tree sprouted from an acorn, and beside that, a Christmas tree from a pine cone seed. Suddenly it occurred to him, there were seeds everywhere, all for the reaping and sowing. There were native seeds and non-native seeds, as though they had flown by wind across the seven seas. Or perhaps aristocrats had brought home exotic plants from their travels abroad. He knew his father had a watermelon tucked away at home. He thought about what he might do with the seeds inside. Why, the possibilities seemed as endless as the seeds themselves. Mingus arrived at the farmers market and he purchased the soup stock his father had sent him for; potatoes, onions, beans and parsley. When he arrived home and put the stock in the cellar, he found a bag of three dry beans. He decided to plant them. And so by the end of summer, with a sprig of this, and a sprig of
Blue Jays
64
that, a wildflower here and a wildflower there, this poor boy who started with nothing had the most exquisite garden. The flowers were so bright and beautiful and the nectar so sweet the bees chased away the hummingbirds. Mingus thought to himself, this wonderful garden was all he needed in the world, for it made him feel rich, although he was very poor. But then one day his ogre father happened by the garden. Fool of a child! Stop this nonsense, there is work to be done. For the ogre raised pigs to sell at the farmers market. Off to the barn with you! And so Mingus labored long through summers end and autumn. His days were dull with neither certainty nor surprise. The endless possibilities and the endless miracles ceased. The garden shriveled and died from neglect. He reaped no fruit nor berries for pie, no soup stock and no dessert. He toiled long through winter, waxing ill and pale and frail as he lost sight of the things that mattered the most. He forgot the fresh rain, the freshly turned earth, and the freshly unfolding flower of life. He hungered and thirsted for he knew not what. He began to feel an overall dissatisfaction with life. Mingus was becoming an ogre like his father. That was bad enough but then his father decided he would not tolerate an ogre for a child and sent poor Mingus off to live with distant relatives. Indeed, one night his father drank so much brandy wine he tipped to and fro as he walked. He babbled nonsense long into the night and burnt the evening meal. He could not see clearly for his eyes were bloodshot. He tripped upon his shoelaces and toppled to the ground. He carried on long and loud into the night and there was nothing Mingus could do about it. He was powerless. The next day, poor Mingus, who had once so admired his father was off on a bus to Muskogee. But even banishment proved to be a golden opportunity for this little boy who always managed to find the good in life. For as the bus meandered across the hot summer plains, Mingus spotted cotton fields blooming in the distance. When the bus
65
Sonny, could you lend a hand?
66
stopped at a rest stop, he leapt from his seat and dashed across the plains at full speed with dust flying at his heels. He plucked one single head of cotton with innumerable seeds stored inside. Of all things, surely this was his most prized possession, for it conjured up images of lace factories and wedding dresses. He was so excited he nearly fainted. When he arrived at his aunties house she had to take his temperature and rest the child for 24 hours. Meanwhile, his fathers life was even worse than it had been before. The evening sun set soon and dark with no reward or promise for tomorrow. His power waxed feeble as he clutched his heart in despair. He had no one to lead for there was no one to follow. Just as Mingus missed the garden, so the father missed the son. The spring rain came and a tender pea plant from last years garden clung to the fence. His father knew he could go on no more without his son, so he called his kin to send the child home. Its amazing what a dry pea can do: so tender, and yet so powerful. In time he sold the pig farm to pay for his sons education. He was no longer an ogre, but a frail and tender old man. Mingus went on to study botany and medicine. He occupied his days doing what he loved. Lucky Mingus. His interests expanded to art, literature, fine cuisine and entertaining family and friends. But his garden remained the foundation for all good things in life. With the passage of time, Mingus grew frail, as everyone does. One morning he gazed up at the plum tree growing in his garden. The tree was full of fruits and he was too frail to climb. But a child was passing through the garden so Mingus called out, Sonny could you lend a hand? And it started all over again.
The End
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The Angel dipped his feather quill in honey, to sweeten the message.
Angels Always Dip Their Ink Pens in Honey
nce there lived a little girl named Sarah who had a marvelous garden growing in her back yard. The corn stalks were tall, big yellow, red and orange sunflowers had burst open, there were lovely peace lilies and colorful asters. On earth asters are flowers. In heaven asters are stars. Now, an angel from heaven was gazing down upon the garden and noticed there were no fruit trees growing in it. But there had to be fruit trees because angels like to eat a certain fruit salad called ambrosia. At dinner time they like to burn candles and sweet smelling incense. They play music and set flowers on the table. They are careful not to drink too much nectar, only as much as it takes to relax from a hard days work, build up an ap70
petite and let the meat marinate. After supper they recite poetry, then go to sleep. Its all very romantic. So, the angel watching over Sarahs garden penned this poem, but first he dipped his feather quill in honey, to sweeten the message. Then the angel tied the note to a birds ankle and sent it into the garden.
The garden is loved because it is beautiful, tis beautiful because it is loved white roses for new love, red roses for true love a love that will endure the fertile zinnia, the tender begonia, verbenas to be sure The flower bed, a bed of flowers, a babys bed of love shade is sweet from the heat beneath a canopy above for sweet is just not complete without a tree or two three or four, maybe more, apple trees will do Avocado meat, peach cobbler treats, two cherry trees divine walnut fudge, banana pie, without trees well die!
I hope she gets the message, he said. Shed have to be a genius to read at her age. Good heavens, Sarah remarked when she got the message. Where am I going to get all the fruit trees from? The angel was listening. So he summoned his herald and whispered a secret in its ear. Off and away the bird flew. He returned shortly and flew into the garden. Plop. The bird had eaten a cherry and dropped the pit into the garden. Then he flew off and returned with another cherry pit, for a cherry tree must have a mate. But what about a peach tree? A bird cant carry a peach pit. Once again the angel was listening and summoned his messenger. Before long a deer wandered into the garden. Plop. A peach pit. Then a squirrel buried an acorn and an oak tree was
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Angels Always Dip Their Ink Pens in Honey
Sarahs Garden
72
planted for shade. Ants carried in apple seeds and dropped a seed or two, three or four, maybe more. The wind carried seed, and the creek carried seed. Before long all the trees the angels needed for ambrosia were planted in the garden. Bees went about the blossoms gathering nectar for honey. The angels used the honey to write poems, songs, stories, myths, fables, legends, messages, and fairy tales.
The End
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The stars shine even in daylight, but we cannot see them because the sun is so bright.
The Little Star that Refused to Shine
nce upon a time in the good heavens there lived a little star that refused to shine. Rise and shine, said Mother every morning. For you see, the stars shine even in day light, though we cannot see them because the sun is so bright. But this little star refused to shine, day or night. I do not wish to be a star today, Mother, he answered. The other stars will do it. I am too sleepy. Tomorrow I will do it. He had every excuse under the sun. On the morrow, another excuse. So Mother tried a new method. Will you shine for a shilling? I will not shine for a shilling. Will you shine for a ruble?
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I will not shine for a ruble. And the whole heaven wondered if there was any hope at all. Finally one day the little star confessed all his heart. Mother, I do not want to be a star. I wish to be the moon instead. Tsk, tsk, child. A star is what you are and always will be. Still the little star refused to shine. And so, the little star fell from the big blue sky into the deep blue sea. There he became a starfish and had to start all over again. Moral of the story: If you do not try, you cannot succeed.
The End
75
The Little Star that Refused to Shine
The little star fell from the big blue sky into the deep blue sea. There he became a star-fish and had to start all over again.
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Indoors stories are read to children in bed, of giants, and goblins, and elves.
Night Fall
By W. E. Colby (1905-1999) Reprinted by permission
Have you ever sat on a hill at the close of a day to watch the blanket of night as it spreads And heard the chirping word of a drowsy bird Counseling others to be in bed? Have you heard the murmur of leaves to a consoling breeze Protesting the sun has gone down? And in the distinct light of the gathering light Watched the lights popping on in a town?
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Now the darkness has weight as it grows ever late First it settles in canyon and glen And the light stays high touching hill top and sky Til the moon saunters out of its den. In the nights golden sheen cast by probing moon beams Romance invades the land by the old Grist mill at the foot of the hill Lovers stroll hand in hand Indoors stories are read to children in bed of giants and goblins and elves Folks seem to uncoil from the tensions of toil with time to take stock of themselves Then the lights flicker out and you know beyond doubt As your eyes scan the heavens above What ere might befall the night cradles all, the people, their homes and their love In the moons mellow glow the winking stars know as the blanket of night is unfurled that the rhythmic rhyme of the crickets time is the pulse of a sleeping world.
Good Night!
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Symbols
Symbols A
Anchor: Salvation, hope. Angel: Enlightenment. Invisible forces ascending between the source of
life and the world.
Ax: Severance. Independence, sometimes prematurely. Battle, work.
B
Bees: Workers. Symbol for royalty due to creative activity, industry
and wealth due to the production of honey.
Bird: Soul, spirit. Thoughts, ideas, thinking in advance. Blanket: To cover, overlook. Blue: Truth. Darkness made visible. Bottle: Salvation. Womb. Butterfly: Unconscious attraction to light. Rebirth. Joy and marital
bliss. Transformation.
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C
Cage: Captivity, slavery. Candle (extinguished): Presence of God. Candle-light: Spirit. Individual life versus universal, collective life. Canopy: Protection. Castle: Search for divine grace. Enclosure. Cherry trees: Mates. Cloak: Disguise. Superior dignity. Cut off from the world. Clock: Perpetual motion. Autonomy and independence. Clouds: Symbolic messenger. Cross roads: Mother symbol. Cube: Final stage of a cycle of immobility.
E
Earthquake: Sudden change. Echo: Twins.
F
Feather Quill: The word. The wind. Fields: Limitless possibilities. Spaciousness. Fish: Sea-bird. Wholeness. Flag: Victory. Self-assertion. Flock: Followers. Multiplicity. Fool: One who meddles in the affairs of others. One under multiple influences.
Foot-steps: The way of gods, saints, or demonic spirits. Foot-wear: Liberty. Slaves went bare-foot. Forest: Subconscious. Place of testing. Contrast to house and cultivated
land.
G
Gander: Hindu symbol for the Supreme Being. Capable of dwelling in
air, land or sea. Dual citizenship with nature and higher forms of existence. Compare to earthbound caterpillar which sheds its earthly existence and takes flight.
Garden: Consciousness versus the unconsciousness of the uncultivated

forest.
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Symbols
Gate: Entry to unknown. Green: Fertile fields. Spring hope.
H
Hands: Help. Protection. Authority, power and strength. To give blessings.
Haversack: The mind and its burdens. Hawk: An emblem of the soul. Hearth: Safety of home. Warmth, light food, protection. Honey: Wisdom. Rebirth. Change of personality. Self-improvement. Hour-glass: Passage of time.
I
Island: Solitude. Refuge from sea. Distance from crowd. Ivy: Need for protection. Evergreen. Eternal life.
J
Jewels: Spiritual truths. Intuitive knowledge. Lessons learned from experience rather than erudition or scholarship.
K
Key: Liberation. King: Authority, power. Ones own father.
L
Laurel wreath crown: Ancient symbol of victory and merit.
M
Mirror: Twins. Reflection of soul, does not lie. Moon: Intuition and imagination versus reason and solar objectivity. Mountain: Loftiness. Divine inspiration.
N
Net: Entanglement. Universal constellation. Not possible to escape net
of universe.
O
Ogre: Terrible father. Orange: Pride and ambition. Owl: Wisdom. Symbol for the printer.
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P
Peacock: Choice. Mates. Blending together all colors. Pearl: Wisdom. Life. Genius in obscurity. Perfection. Penny: Liberty. Pink: Emotion. Prince: First citizen. First in achievement. Hero.
R
Red: Love. Beauty. Military. Ruler: Dependence. Governing principle.
S
Scroll: Unfolds the passage of time. Shepherd: Leader. Leading to refreshment, rest and leisure. Shining shoes: Servitude. Menial employment. Shutters: Eyelids. Closing out the world. Blind ignorance. Refusing to
acknowledge. Windows and doors are symbols for openings, outlets, and hopes for salvation.
Shooting star: Angel. Skip across bridge or brook: Transition. Making a change in life. Skull: Mortality of man.
Stars: Eyes of the night. Presence of divinity. Stepping stones: Progress. Reconciliation with the self.
T
Tangled foot: Trap. Theater: The world stage. This world and the next world. Throne: Support. Exaltation. Hierarchy. Torch: Illumination, intelligence and spirituality. Tower: Power. Rising above the common level of society.
V
Violet: Memories and nostalgia.
W
Water: Flowing, life. Well: Life as a pilgrimage. Quenching thirst for higher knowledge.
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Symbols
Y
Yellow: Intellect.
86
Glossary
Glossary A
Abandon: To desert. To surrender to ones feelings or impulses. Leave
without intending to return.
Abdicate: To give up formally, renounce as a throne, power or rights.

Give up a possession, claim or right.
Abroad: Out of ones home. In foreign lands. Abundance: A plentiful , ample supply. Wealth. Bounty. Aesthetic: One who is very responsive to beauty in art or nature. Align: To place in line. Ambiguous: Having a double, doubtful or uncertain meaning. Cloudy. Ambrosia: The food of the gods giving immortality in mythology. Amorous: Loving, affectionate. Antiseptic: Preventing infection. Clean. Apothecary: An ancient pharmacy.
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Archaeologist: One who studies history from buried remains by excavation.
Aristocrat: Nobility. Self-government. Government by its best citizens. Artifact: Anything made by human work or art. Aster: A family of flowers. Greek for star.
B
Ballad: A sentimental poem or song. Banish: To expel, send away to a foreign place, exile. Deport. Bold: Taking risks, adventurous. Bombard: Originally hurling with stones. To attack with bombs. Botanist: One who studies plants. Bree: Broth. Bucolic: Characteristic of shepherds or herdsmen. Pastoral, country. Buffoon: One given to jokes or pranks. Italian for clown.
C
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation: To revive the heart and lungs by
injecting air and putting pressure on the heart.
Centralism: Concentration of control in a central authority. Charge: To entrust with a duty. To commit, pledge. Cithara: An ancient Greek stringed instrument. The poor mans harp. Citizen: A person owing loyalty to and protected by the government . Clew: Something that serves as a guide in solving a problem, usually
spelled clue.
Conservative: A political tendency to preserve the existing order of

things. Opposed to change.
Constitution: The composition of a thing. The fundamental laws that

govern a state.
Conquer: To overcome by force, as in war. Beat, best, defeat, master. Cordially: Warmly, heartily and sincerely. Courage: To meet danger or opposition fearlessly. Bravery. Criteria: A standard or rule by which a judgment can be made. Mark,
standard, yardstick.
D
Damsel: A young unmarried woman. Decisive: Ending uncertainty or dispute. Unquestionable.
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Glossary
Delectable: Delightful. Enchanting. Dionysus: Greek god of wine. Dowry: A natural talent. Also, the property a wife brings to her husband at marriage.
Dominion: Sovereign authority. The right to command, rule or judge.
E
Ecosystem: An interdependent system of production. Edify: To enlighten and benefit, especially morally and spiritually. Elixir: A sweetened, alcoholic medicinal preparation for prolonging life. Elucidate: To explain. To clarify something. Illustrate. Emerge: To come into view, as from a hiding place. Employment: Hired to work for another in return for wages or salary. Engulf: To swallow up, bury or overwhelm. Drown, flood, overwhelm. Enlighten: Revealing or increasing knowledge. Educate, inform. Enzyme: Protein able to hasten a chemical reaction. Epiphany: A sudden realization. Equestrian: A rider on horseback. Ethics: The philosophy of human conduct with emphasis on right and
wrong. A rule of habit or conduct.
Erudite: Extensive learning. Scholarship. Lettered. Excavate: To uncover by digging. Unearth. Break, turn over, remove
with a tool.
Exculpate: To free from blame, prove innocence. Exotic: Not native. Belonging to another part of the world. Expulsion: To drive out by force. Exquisite: Marked by rare and delicate beauty or excellence.
F
Fanfare: A noisy parade. Fte Galante: An outdoor celebration. In Rococo art, a place for upper
class amusements that does not exist.
Fictitious: Not genuine or real. False. Fanciful, made-up. Flatter: To praise excessively. To try to gain favor by praising. Butter
up. Sweet-talk.
Fortnight: Two weeks. Fragment: Parts broken off. A small detached portion. A separated bit.
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G
Gallant: Unafraid, possessing spirit, courage. Garb: Clothing, drapery. Italian for grace. Apparel, attire. Generous: Abundant and overflowing. Plenty. Handsome. Freely giving.
Genre: A particular category, especially a category of art or literature

characterized by a certain form, style or subject matter.
Genius: In ancient mythology, a supernatural being appointed to guide

a person throughout life. Unusual intelligence. Liveliness of imagination or talent.
Gourmet: Good food and drink.
H
Hamlet: A little village without a church. Handsome: Generous. Haversack: A bag for carrying rations on a hike. Herald: A messenger. Any bearer of important news. Announce, introduce, proclaim.
Humble: Free from pride or vanity. Modest, lowly, meek. Hullabaloo: A loud, confused noise. Uproar. Racket, din. Hypothesis: An unproved scientific conclusion drawn from known
facts. Theory.
I
Iconoclast: One who attacks conventional or cherished beliefs and institutions. One who opposes the use of religious images.
Idyll: A poem or prose piece, usually short, depicting simple scenes of

pastoral, domestic or country life.
Infirmary: A place for treatment of the sick. Inequity: Grievous violation of right or justice, wickedness, a wrongful
act.
Inspiration: The arousal of the mind with some idea, feeling or impulse, especially one that leads to creative action. Encouragement. Uplift.
Intent: Purpose, aim, goal, design, objective. Intrigue: Curiosity, interest or fascination. Secret plan.
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Glossary
J
Jester: One who provokes laughter. A court fool. Clown. Justice: The rendering of what is due or merited. Traditionally a system of reward and punishment.
K
Kaleidoscope: A swiftly changing scene or pattern. Kin: Kindred, alike. Ones relatives by blood, family.
L
Law: A rule of conduct, recognized by custom or decreed by formal
enactment, considered as binding on members of the community. Decree, edict.
Legend: An unauthenticated story from earlier times, preserved by

tradition and thought to be historical.
Leisure: Freedom from the demands of labor or duty. Liberal: Characterized by or inclining toward opinions or policies favoring progress or reform, as in politics or religion. Not intolerant, or prejudiced. Broad-minded.
Litigant: A participant in a lawsuit. Lo and Behold: See! Observe! Lofty: Having great or imposing height. Occupying a high position.
M
Marinate: Soak in brine. Pickle with wine, oil and spices. Tenderize. Meander: To wind and turn in a curving course. Wander aimlessly. Medicine: Any agent used in the treatment of disease, the relief of
pain, or to restore to health.
Minstrel: A wandering musician who sings and recites poetry. Moderate: Keeping or kept within reasonable limits. Temperate. Not
extreme.
Muse: To experience dreams or daydreams. Music. Eloquence. In

Greek mythology any of nine goddesses who presided over the arts and sciences.
N
Native: Natural rather than acquired. Born in a particular place or
region. Hereditary. 92
Noble: Having excellence or dignity. Displaying superior moral qualities. Elite.
Nullify: To make useless or ineffective. Undo. Put an end to.
O
Official: Arising from or derived from authority. Ogre: One who is brutal, hideous, feared. Ominous: Threatening. Foreshadowed by an omen or sign. Unlucky. Opus: A literary or musical work or composition.
P
Pantaloon: A tight fitting garment for hips and legs. Trousers, pants. Patron: One who protects, fosters, or supports some person, thing or
enterprise.
Peasant: Farmer or land laborer. Country person. Pedestrian: Moving on foot, walking. Common
people.
Pedantry: Slavish adherence to forms or rules. One who needlessly makes a point of his learning or who insists upon trifling points of scholarship.
Perspective: Viewpoint, vista, outlook. Persecute: To annoy or harass persistently. Treat unjustly. Plague: Any of various forms of virulent, febrile, highly contagious
diseases. Epidemic.
Pluck and guts: Pluck a strong heart. Guts a strong stomach and
stamina for disagreeable or frightening experiences.
Pomposity: Marked by boastfulness or self-importance. Ponder: To weigh in the mind, consider carefully. Precipitous: Fast moving, dark, carrying rain. Steep cliff.
R
Radical: Thoroughgoing, extreme, advocating widespread reforms. Recoil: To draw back, as in fear or loathing. Shrink. Regional: Geographical. Pertaining to a particular territory. Renounce: To give up, especially by a formal statement. Renaissance: The revival of letters and art in Europe, making the
transition from medieval to modern history. A new birth, resurrection, renew, revive.
Resemblance: The quality of similarity in nature or form.

93
Glossary
Resplendent: Shining with bright luster. Vividly bright, splendid,

gorgeous.
Ruble: A Russian silver coin.
S
Salvage: To save, as a ship or its cargo from wreck or capture. Save
from destruction or danger. Rescue, redeem.
Scholar: A person eminent for learning, usually elderly, noted for

wisdom.
Science: Known facts, ideas and skill. Scullery: Room where kitchen vegetables are cleaned and vegetables
are washed.
Sculptor: One who creates sculpture by carving wood, modeling clay

or plastics, working metal or chiseling stone, etc.
Servitude: Enslavement. Bondage. Duties of a servant. Menial service.
Shilling: British coin. A former coin of colonial America. Simpleton: A weak-minded or silly person. Sinister: Suspiciously wrong or wicked. Sociology: The science that treats of the origin and evolution of human society and social phenomena.
Specialty: A special occupation, craft or study. An article dealt in exclusively or chiefly.
Spectrum: The band of color observed when a beam of light is passed

through a prism that separates each component of the light according to wavelengths, ranging from long for red to short for violet.
Spinster: A woman who has remained unmarried, especially one no

longer young.
Sprig: A young shoot or sprout of a tree or plant. Subtle: Slight difference. Difficult to notice. Swain: A young country gallant. A lover., admirer, beau.
T
Temperance: The state or quality of being temperate, habitual moderation. Avoiding extremes.
Thatched: A covering of reeds or straw, etc. as for a roof. Theater: Stage. A place to present dramas, operas, lectures.
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Threadbare: Worn so that the threads show, as a rug or garment. Tattered. Showing signs of neglect.
Tinker: Loosely, one who does repairing work of any kind; a jack-ofall-trades. To fidget.
Translation: To express in another language. Re-state. Treacherous: Having a deceptive appearance. Unreliable, untrustworthy. Not true to duty.
Treasury: The place where public or private funds are kept. Where
valuables are kept.
Triumph: To win a victory. Be successful. Master. Troubadour: A singer, especially of love songs. French. Tu-whit-tu-whoo: The cry of an owl, as used by Shakespeare. Tyrant: One who rules oppressively or cruelly. Dictator.
V
Vagabond: One who wanders from place to place without visible
means of support. Nomad, vagrant.
Van Guard: The advance guard of an army. Those in the forefront of a

movement, as in art.
Vigor: Vital or natural power, as in a healthy animal. Virtue: Any admirable quality or trait. A love of what is right. Moral
excellence. Goodness, innocence.
W
Wane: To diminish in size and brilliance, as the moon. Less active or
intense.
Wax: To become full, especially of the moon. Wastrel: An idler, loafer, vagabond. Spending resources wastefully. Whit: The smallest particle or speck. Dot, dash, grain, speck. Wisdom: The power of true right and discernment. Conformity to a
course of action dictated by such discernment. Mature understanding. Thorough.
Woe: Overwhelming sorrow or grief. Agony, stress, pain.
Y
Yore: Old time. Days long past. Yester-year.
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End Notes
Snipes, Jack, Fairy Tale Discourse: Toward a Social History of the Genre, Introduction to Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion (N.Y., Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2006), pg. 1. Even though the fairy tale may be the most important cultural and social event in most childrens lives, critics and scholars have failed to study its historical development as a genre. 2 Benton, Janetta Rebold, Arts & Culture, ( Saddle River, Pearson Education, Inc., 2008), pg. 288. 3 Graves-Rouse, John Clive, Great Dialogues of Plato, (N.Y., The New American Library of World Lit.., Inc., 1956), pg. 7. 4 Artz, Frederick B., From the Renaissance to Romanticism, (Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1962), pg. 164. 5 Kleiner, Fred S., Gardners Art Through the Ages, (Boston, Thomson Higher Education, 2009), pg. 502.
1 6 Kunzle, David, Bruegels Proverb Painting and the World Upside Down, (Art Bulletine, June 77, vol. 59, Issue 2), pg. 202. 7 ibid, pg. 201. 8 Perrie, Maureen, Folklore as Evidence of Peasant Mentalitie: Social Attitudes and Values in Russian Popular Culture, (The Russian Review, 1989, vol. 48, No. 2), pg. 127. 9 ibid, pg. 119. 10 Damrosh, David, The Longman Anthology, World Literature, vol. D, (N.Y., Pearson Education, Inc., 2009), pg. 192. 11 Rerez-Cuervo, Maria, J., The Lost Children of Hamelin, Retrieved on Dec. 31, 2011, www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/3805/ the_lost_children_of_hamelin.html. 12 Weisner, Merry, Discovering the Global Past: A Look at the Evidence, (Boston, Houghlin Mifflin Co., 2007), pg. 379. 13 Bettelheim, Bruno, The Uses of Enchantment, (N.Y., Alfred A. Knopf, 1976), pg. 316. 14 Ashliman, D.L., Charles Perraults Mother Goose Tales, Retrieved on Dec. 31, 2011, www.pitt.edu/~dash/perrault02.html. 15 Sterling & Scott, Plato: The Republic, (N.Y., W.W. Norton & Co., 1985), p.p. 128-136. 16 Flemming, William, Arts & Ideas, (N.Y., Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc., 3rd Ed.), pg. 292. 17 ibid, pg. 271.
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Erasmus, Desiderus, The Praise of Folly, Retrieved on Dec. 31, 2011, www.information.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/ etexts05/7efly10.htm. 19 Kline, Daniel, Medieval Literature for Children, (N.Y., Routledge, 2003), pp.1-10. 20 Rogers, Ann, The New Cookbook for Poor Poets, (N.Y., Charles Scribners Sons, 1979), pg. 1. 21 Weisner, Merry, E., Discovering the Global Past: A Look at the Evidence, (Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007), pg. 3.
18
ibid., pg. 2. de La Tour Landry, Geoffroy, Book of the Knight of the Tower, retrieved on Dec. 31, 2011, www.quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/kntTourL/1:2?rgn=div1;view=fulltext., pg. x.
22 23
The History of Plumbing, Roman & English Legacy, retrieved on Dec. 31, 2011, www.plumbingsuppy.com/pmroman.html. 25 ibid. 26 Gower, John, Confessio Amantis, modern English translation by Richard Brodie, retrieved on Dec. 31, 2011, www.richardbrodie.com/ Prologue.html. 27 Blackburn, Nick, Kings & Queens, retrieved on Dec. 31, 2011 www.snap-dragon.com/kings_and_queens.htm. 28 ibid. 29 www.plumbingsupply.com. 30 Blackburn, Nick.
24
99
References
Africa, Thomas W., Rome of the Caesars, (N.Y., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1965). Artz, Frederick B., From the Renaissance to Romanticism, (Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1962). Aurelius, Marcus, Meditations, (N.Y., Walter J. Black, 1945). Benton, Janetta Rebold, Arts & Culture, (Upper Saddle River, Pearson Education, Inc., 2008), pg. 288. Bettelheim, Bruno, The Uses of Enchantment, (N.Y. Alfred A. Knopf, 1976). Blackburn, Nick, Kings & Queens, retrieved on Dec. 31, 2011, www.snap -dragon.com/kings_and_queens.htm. Browne, Lewis, This Believing World, (N.Y., The MacMillan Company, 1926). Bulliet, Richard, The Earth & Its Peoples, 4th Ed., (N.Y., Houghton Mifflin Co., 2009). Burns, Roger A., The Bandit Kings, (N.Y., Crown Publishers, 1995). Cirlot, J.E., A Dictionary of Symbols, (N.Y., Philosophical Library, Inc., 1972). Colish, Marsha L., Republicanism, Religion, and Machiavellis Savonarolan Movement, (Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 60, No. 4, Oct., 1999). Damrosh, David, The Longman Anthology, World Literature, (N.Y., Pearson Education, Inc., 2009). Dawson, Miles Meander, The Basic Thoughts of Confucius, (N.Y., Garden City Publishing Co., Inc., 1934). de La Tour Landry, Geoffroy, Book of the Knight of the Tower, retrieved on Dec. 31, 2011, www.//quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/ KntTour-L/1:2?rgn=div1;view=fulltext. Dietz, Mary G., Trapping the Prince: Machiavelli & the Politics of Deception, (The American Political Science Review, vol. 80, No. 3, Sept., 1986). Donaldson, Francis, Edward VIII, (London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Ltd., 1974). Durant, Will, Caesar & Christ, (N.Y., Simon & Schuster, 1944). ibid, The Life of Greece, (N.Y., Simon & Schuster, 1939). Erasmus, Desiderus, The Praise of Folly, Project Gutenberg, retrieved on Dec. 31, 2011, www.infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/ etext05/7efly10.htm.
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Estes, Clarissa Pinkola, PhD., Women Who Run With the Wolves, (N.Y., Ballantine Books, 1992). Fisher, David, Legally Correct Fairy Tales, (N.Y., Warner Books, Inc., 1996). Flemming, William, Arts & Ideas, 3rd Ed., (N.Y., Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc.). Fromm, Erich, Escape From Freedom, (N.Y, Henry Holt & Company, 1941). Garner, James Finn, Once Upon A More Enlightened Time, (N.Y., MacMillan, 1995). ibid, Politically Correct, The Ultimate Storybook, (N.Y., Smithmark Publishers, 1998). Gibbon, Edward, The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire, (N.Y., Wise & Co., 1943). Gibson, Walters, Bruegel, (N.Y., Thames & Hudson, Ltd., 1977). Giordano-Zecharya, Manuela, As Socrates Shows the Athenians Did Not Believe in gods, (Numen International Review for the History of Religions, 2005, vol. 52). Gower, John, Confessio Amantis, modern English translation, Richard Brodie retrieved on Dec. 31, 2011, ww.richardbrodie.com/ Prologue.html. Graves-Rouse, John Clive, Great Dialogues of Plato, (N.Y., The New American Library of World Literature, Inc., 1956). Hearn, Clark & Clark, Myth, Magic & Mystery, (Boulder, Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1996). Jensen, De Lamar, Machiavelli, Cynic, Patriot or Political Scientist?, (Boston, D.C. Heath & Co., 1960). Ji-Merlin, Oto-Bihal, Primitive Artists of Yugoslavia, (N.Y., McGraw Hill Book Co., 1964). Kacirk, Jeffrey, The Word Museum, (N.Y., Simon & Schuster, 2000). Katz, Solomon, The Decline of Rome & the Rise of Medieval Europe, (Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1955). Kleiner, Fred S., Gardners Art Through the Ages, 13th Ed., vol. 2, (Boston, Thomson Higher Education, 2009). Kline, Daniel, Medieval Literature for Children, (N.Y., Routledge, 2003).
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Kunzle, David, Bruegels Proverb Painting and the World Upside Down, (Art Bulletine, June 77, vol. 59, Issue 2). Levi, A.H.T., The Importance of the Praise of Folly, Retrieved on Dec. 31, 2011 at www.ourcivilization.com/smartboard/shop/erasmus/ intro/intro1.htm. Malloy, Michael, Experiencing the Worlds Religions, (N.Y., McGrawHill, 2008). Machiavelli, Niccolo, The Prince, (N.Y., Alfred A Knopf, 1992). Nietsche, Friedrich, Twilight of the Idols, (Chicago, The Great Books Foundation, 1966). Omar Kayaam, The Rubaiyat of Omar Kayaam, (N.Y., Walter J. Black, 1942). Pierre, Maureen, Folklore as Evidence of Peasant Mentalitie: Social Attitudes and Values in Russian Popular Culture, (The Russian Review, 1989, vol. 48). Protas, Allison, Symbolism Project, retrieved on Dec. 31, 2011, www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/symbolismproject/ symbolism.html/index.html. Rogers, Ann, The New Cookbook for Poor Poets, (N.Y., Charles Scribners Sons, 1979). Singh, Simon, The Code Book, (N.Y., Doubleday, 1999). Snipes, Jack, Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion, (N.Y., Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2006). Sochen, June, Herstory, (N.Y., Alfred Publishing Co., Inc., 1974). Sterling & Scott, trans., Plato: The Republic, (N.Y., Doubleday, 1999). Weisner, Merry, Discovery of the Global Past; A Look at the Evidence, (N.Y., Houghton Mifflin Co., 2007). Zinsser, Hans, Rats, Lice & History, (Boston, Little, Brown & Co., 1935).
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Author Deborah Khora is currently pursuing an Associates Degree in Arts & Humanities and Behavioral & Social Sciences at Folsom Lake College in California. For information on how to create your own book, visit deborahkhora.blogspot.com
Illustrator Karen Hunziker currently exhibits her work at Gold Country Artists Gallery in Placerville, California, and her home studio, The Secret Headquarters, in Pollock Pines, California.
The Secret Headquarters Art Studio P.O. Box 684 Pollock Pines, CA, 95726 (530) 644-4858

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