The Art of the Story-Teller Part 25

The sun shone in upon him through the window, when he woke the next morning feeling strong and well. None of his servants had come back, because they thought he was dead, but the Nightingale was still singing.

You will always stay with me," said the Emperor. "You shall only sing when it pleases you, and I will break the artificial Nightingale into a thousand pieces."

"Do not do that," said the Nightingale. "It has done the best it could. Keep it with you. I cannot build my nest in a palace, but let me come just as I please. I well sit on the branch near the window, and sing to you that you may both joyful and thoughtful. I will sing to you of the happy folk, and of those that suffer; I will sing of the evil and of the good, which is being hidden from you. The little singing bird flies. .h.i.ther and thither, to the poor fisherman, to the peasant's hut, to many who live far from your Court. Your heart is dearer to me than your crown, and yet the crown has a breath of sanct.i.ty, too. I will come, I will sing to you! But one thing you must promise me!"

"All that you ask," said the Emperor, and stood there in his imperial robes which he had put on himself, and held the heavy golden sword on his heart.

"I beg you, let no one know that you have a little bird who tells you everything. It will be far better so!"

Then the Nightingale flew away.

The servants came to look upon their dead Emperor. Yes, there they stood; and the Emperor said: "Good morning!"

THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA.

There was once a Prince who wished to marry a Princess, but she must be a _real_ Princess. He travelled all over the world to find one, but there was always something wrong. There were plenty of Princesses, but whether they were _real_ or not he could not be sure. There was always something that was not quite right. So he came home again, feeling very sad, for he was so anxious to have a real Princess.

One evening there was a terrible storm; it lightened and thundered, and the rain came down in torrents; it was a fearful night. In the midst of the storm there came a knocking at the town-gate, and the old King himself went down to open it. There, outside stood a princess. But what a state she was in from the rain and the storm! The water was running out of her hair on to her clothes, into he shoes and out at the heels; and yet she said she was a _real_ Princess.

"We shall soon find out about that," thought the old Queen. But she said never a word. She went into the bedroom, took off all the bedclothes and put a pea on the bedstead. Then she took twenty mattresses and laid them on the pea and twenty eider-down quilts on the mattresses. And the Princess was to sleep on the top of all.

In the morning they came to her and asked her how she had slept.

"Oh! wretchedly," said the Princess. "I scarcely closed my eyes the whole night long. Heaven knows what could have been in the bed! I have lain upon something hard, so that my whole body is black and blue. It is quite dreadful."

They could see now that she was a _real_ Princess, because she had felt the pea through twenty mattresses and twenty eider-down quilts. n.o.body but a real Princess could be so sensitive.

So the Prince married her, for now he knew that he had found a _real_ Princess, and the pea was sent to an Art Museum, where it can still be seen, if n.o.body has taken it away.

Now, mark you: This is a true story.

PART III. LIST OF STORIES. BOOKS SUGGESTED TO THE STORY-TELLER AND BOOKS REFERRED TO IN THE LIST OF STORIES.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:--

I had intended, in this section, to offer an appendix of t.i.tles of stories and books which should cover all the ground of possible narrative in schools; but I have found so many lists containing standard books and stories, that I have decided that this original plan would be a work of supererogation. What is really needed is a supplementary list to those already published--a specialized list which is the result of private research and personal experience.

I have for many years spent considerable time in the British Museum and some of the princ.i.p.al libraries in America. I now offer the fruit of my labor.

LIST OF STORIES.

CLa.s.sICAL STORIES.

THE STORY OF THESEUS. From Kingsley's "Heroes."

How Theseus lifted the stone.

How Theseus slew the Corynetes.

How Theseus slew Sinis.

How Theseus slew Kerkyon and Procrustes.

How Theseus slew the Medea and was acknowledged the son of Aegeus.

How Theseus slew the Minotaur. To be told in six parts as a series.

THE STORY OF CROESUS.

THE CONSPIRACY OF THE MAGI.

ARION AND THE DOLPHIN.

From "Wonder Tales from Herodotus," by N. Barrington D'Almeida.

These stories are intended for reading, but could be shortened for effective narration.

CORIOLa.n.u.s.

JULIUS CAESAR.

ARISTIDES.

ALEXANDER.

From "Plutarch's Lives for Boys and Girls," by W. H. Weston.

These stories must be shortened and adapted for narration.

THE G.o.d OF THE SPEARS: THE STORY OF ROMULUS.

HIS FATHER'S CROWN: THE STORY OF ALCIBIADES.

From "Tales from Plutarch," by F. J. Rowbotham. These stories may be shortened and told in sections.

EAST INDIAN STORIES.

THE WISE OLD SHEPHERD.

THE RELIGIOUS CAMEL.

From "The Talking Thrush," by W. H. D. Rouse.

LESS INEQUALITY THAN MEN DEEM.

From "Old Deccan Days," by Mary Frere.

THE BRAHMAN, THE TIGER AND THE SIX JUDGES.

This story may be found in "The Fairy Ring," edited by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith; also in "Tales of the Punjab," by F. A. Steel, under the t.i.tle of "The Tiger, the Brahman and the Jackal."

t.i.t FOR TAT.

From "Old Deccan Days," by Mary Frere. This story may be found in "The Fairy Ring," edited by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith.