A Study of Fairy Tales | Page 8

the fairy tales, and the basis
for their universal appeal. The little child who is just entering life can

no more escape its attraction than can the aged veteran about to leave
the pathway. The little pig, Whitie, who with his briskly curling tail
goes eagerly down the road to secure, from the man who carried a load
of straw, a bit with which to build his easily destructible house; Red
Riding Hood taking a pot of jam to her sick grandmother; Henny Penny
starting out on a walk, to meet with the surprise of a nut falling on her
head--the biggest charm of all this is that it is life.
The familiar. The child, limited in experience, loves to come in touch
with the things he knows about. It soothes his tenderness, allays his
fears, makes him feel at home in the world,--and he hates to feel
strange,--it calms his timidity, and satisfies his heart. The home and the
people who live in it; the food, the clothing, and shelter of everyday life;
the garden, the plant in it, or the live ant or toad; the friendly dog and
cat, the road or street near by, the brook, the hill, the sky--these are a
part of his world, and he feels them his own even in a story. The
presents which the Rabbit went to town to buy for the little Rabbits, in
How Brother Rabbit Frightens his Neighbors; the distinct names, Miss
Janey and Billy Malone, given to the animals of In Some Lady's
Garden, just as a child would name her dolls; and the new shoes of the
Dog which the Rabbit managed to get in Why Mr. Dog Runs after
Brother Rabbit--these all bring up in the child's experience delightful
familiar associations. The tale which takes a familiar experience, gives
it more meaning, and organizes it, such as The Little Red Hen, broadens,
deepens, and enriches the child's present life.
The surprise. While he loves the familiar, nothing more quickly brings
a smile than the surprise. Perhaps the most essential of the fairy traits is
the combination of the familiar and the unfamiliar. The desire for the
unknown, that curiosity which brings upon itself surprise, is the charm
of childhood as well as the divine fire of the scientist. The naughty little
Elephant who asked "a new, fine question he had never asked before,"
and who went to answer his own question of "what the crocodile has
for dinner," met with many surprises which were spankings; and as a
result, he returned home with a trunk and experience. He is a very good
example of how delightful to the child this surprise can be. The essence
of the fairy tale is natural life in a spiritual world, the usual child in the

unusual environment, or the unusual child in the natural environment.
This combination of the usual and unusual is the chief charm of Alice
in Wonderland, where a natural child wanders through a changing
environment that is unusual. For an idle moment enjoy the task of
seeing how many ideas it contains which are the familiar ideas of
children, and how they all have been "made different." All children
love a tea-party, but what child would not be caught by having a
tea-party with a Mad Hatter, a March Hare, and a sleepy Dormouse,
with nothing to eat and no tea! Red Riding Hood was a dear little girl
who set out to take a basket to her grandmother. But in the wood, after
she had been gathering a nosegay and chasing butterflies, "just as I
might do," any child might say, she met a wolf! And what child's ears
would not rise with curiosity? "Now something's going to happen!" The
Three Bears kept house. That was usual enough; but everything was
different, and the charm is in giving the child a real surprise at every
step. The house was not like an ordinary house; it was in the wood, and
more like a play-house than a real one. There was a room, but not much
in it; a table, but there was not on it what is on your table--only three
bowls. What they contained was usual, but unusually one bowl of
porridge was big and hot, one was less big and cold, and one was little
and just right. There were usual chairs, unusual in size and very
unusual when Goldilocks sat in them. Upstairs the bedroom was usual,
but the beds were unusual when Goldilocks lay upon them. The Bears
themselves were usual, but their talk and action was a delightful
mixture of the surprising and the comical. Perhaps this love of surprise
accounts for the perfect leap of interest with which a child will follow
the Cock in The Bremen Town Musicians, as