Famous Stories Every Child Should Know | Page 3

toys, games, playgrounds, because stories meet one of the normal
needs of their natures. But these stories, like the food given to the body,
ought to be intelligently selected, not only for their quality but for their
adaptation. There are many good books which ought not to be in the
hands of children because children have not had the experience which
interprets them; they will either fail to understand, or if they understand,
they will suffer a sudden forcing of growth in the knowledge of life
which is always unwholesome.
Only stories which are sound in the views of life they present ought to
be within the reach of children; these stories ought to be well
constructed and well written; they ought to be largely objective stories;
they ought not to be introspective, morbid or abnormal in any way.
Goody-good and professionally "pious" stories, sentimental or unreal
stories, ought to be rigorously excluded. A great deal of fiction
specially written for children ought to be left severely alone; it is cheap,
shallow and stamped with unreality from cover to cover. It is as unwise
to feed the minds of children exclusively on books specially prepared
for their particular age as to shape the talk at breakfast or dinner
specially for their stage of development; few opportunities for
education are more valuable for a child than hearing the talk of its
elders about the topics of the time. There are many wholesome and
entertaining stories in the vast mass of fiction addressed to younger

readers; but this literature of a period ought never to exclude the
literature of all periods.
The stories collected in this volume have been selected from many
sources, because in the judgment of the editor, they are sound pieces of
writing, wholesome in tone, varied in interest and style, and interesting.
It is his hope that they will not only furnish good reading, but that they
will suggest the kind of reading in this field that should be within the
reach of children.
HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE

FAMOUS STORIES
CONTENTS



CHAPTER
I.
A Child's Dream of a Star By CHARLES DICKENS
II. The King of the Golden River or, The Black Brothers By JOHN
RUSKIN
III. The Snow Image: A Childish Miracle By NATHANIEL
HAWTHORNE
IV. Undine By FRIEDRICH, BARON DE LA MOTTE FOUQUÉ
V. The Story of Ruth FROM THE BOOK OF RUTH

VI. The Great Stone Face By NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
VII. The Diverting History of John Gilpin By WILLIAM COWPER
VIII. The Man Without a Country By EDWARD EVERETT HALE
IX. The Nürnberg Stove By LOUISE DE LA RAMÉE ("Ouida")
X. Rab and His Friends By JOHN BROWN, M.D.
XI. Peter Rugg, the Missing Man By WILLIAM AUSTIN

STORIES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW

I
A CHILD'S DREAM OF A STAR
There was once a child, and he strolled about a good deal, and thought
of a number of things. He had a sister, who was a child too, and his
constant companion. These two used to wonder all day long. They
wondered at the beauty of the flowers; they wondered at the height and
blueness of the sky; they wondered at the depth of the bright water;
they wondered at the goodness and the power of God who made the
lovely world.
They used to say to one another, sometimes, supposing all the children
upon earth were to die, would the flowers, and the water, and the sky be
sorry? They believed they would be sorry. For, said they, the buds are
the children of the flowers, and the little playful streams that gambol
down the hill-sides are the children of the water; and the smallest bright
specks playing at hide and seek in the sky all night, must surely be the
children of the stars; and they would all be grieved to see their
playmates, the children of men, no more.
There was one clear shining star that used to come out in the sky before

the rest, near the church spire, above the graves. It was larger and more
beautiful, they thought, than all the others, and every night they
watched for it, standing hand in hand at a window. Whoever saw it first
cried out, "I see the star!" And often they cried out both together,
knowing so well when it would rise, and where. So they grew to be
such friends with it, that, before lying down in their beds, they always
looked out once again, to bid it good-night; and when they were turning
round to sleep, they used to say, "God bless the star!"
But while she was still very young, oh very, very young, the sister
drooped, and came to be so weak that she could no longer stand in the
window at night; and then