Child Stories from the Masters Being a Few Modest Interpretations of Some Phases of the Master Works Done in a Child Way   By: Maud Menefee

BY

MAUD MENEFEE

BEING A FEW MODEST INTERPRETATIONS OF SOME PHASES OF THE MASTER WORKS DONE IN A CHILD WAY

ILLUSTRATED

[Illustration]

RAND, McNALLY & COMPANY CHICAGO NEW YORK LONDON

[Illustration: By Jean François Millet

THE SPINNER]

COPYRIGHT, 1899, 1901 By MAUD MENEFEE

TO ANDREA HOFER

FOREWORD.

In writing these stories, no attempt has been made to follow the plot or problem of the poems, which in almost every case lies beyond the child's reach. The simple purpose as found in the whole, or the suggestion of only a stanza or scene, has been used as opportunity for picturing and reflecting something of the poetry and intention of the originals.

As story teller to the same circle of children for several years, it became necessary to draw upon the great literary fount for suggestion, and it was found that "Pippa," the art child of industry, could add a poetic impulse toward the handwork of spinning, thread winding, weaving, the making of spinning wheels, winders, and looms, without too great violence to the original poem itself.

"Mignon," as the creature of an art that exists for art's sake, was set to contrast with Pippa, who through service finds a song to heal and to inspire.

"Siegfried" and "Parsifal," as knight stories, were given with their musical motifs .

The writer hopes for "Child Stories" that it may serve to suggest to teachers how they may utilize the great store of poetry and art at hand. To do this they are themselves under the joyful necessity of keeping close to the great sources. On this last point Mr. Wm. T. Harris says: "A view of the world is a perpetual stimulant to thought, always prompting one to reflect on the immediate fact or event before him, and to discover its relation to the ultimate principle of the universe. It is the only antidote for the constant tendency of the teacher to sink into a dead formalism, the effect of too much iteration and of the practice of adjusting knowledge to the needs of the feeble minded by perpetual explanation of what is already simple ad nauseam for the mature intelligence of the teacher. It produces a sort of pedagogical cramp in the soul, for which there is no remedy like a philosophical view of the world, unless, perhaps, it be the study of the greatest poets, Shakespere, Dante, and Homer."

MAUD MENEFEE.

Chicago, August, 1901.

THE TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

PIPPA Robert Browning 9 From "Pippa Passes."

MIGNON Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 17 From "Wilhelm Meister."

SIEGFRIED Richard Wagner 27 From "Niebelungen Ring."

A FISH AND A BUTTERFLY Robert Browning 39 From "Amphibian."

HOW MARGARET LED FAUST THROUGH THE PERFECT WORLD Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 45 From "Faust."

BEATRICE Dante Alighieri 55 From "The Inferno."

PARSIFAL Richard Wagner 61 From "Parsifal."

THE ANGELUS 67 About the painting by Jean François Millet.

FRIEDRICH AND HIS CHILD GARDEN 73

THE HOLY NIGHT 79 About the painting by Antonio Allegri da Correggio.

SAUL AND DAVID Robert Browning 95 From "Saul."

A GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION 103

A WORD LIST 103