2 Read the story, "The Prize of a Song," in Frost's "Tales from Wagner."

3 If possible, obtain a libretto (Italian for little book) of Wagner's opera, "The Mastersingers of Nuremberg," and read the

same.

4 Read and study carefully Longfellow's poem, "Nuremberg." 5 State in three or four sentences what you find of chief interest about (a) Walter von der Vogelweid and (b) Hans Sachs, looking in your school encyclopedias for information.

VI Suggested Oral: If you have in your school library "The Boy's Percy," or "Percy's Reliques," 1 Pick out one or more ballads which please you well, and name in class.

Adam Bell, Clym

2 Read aloud in class from the same (a) of the Clough, and William of Cloudesly;" (b) "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborn;" (c) "The Children in the Wood;" (d) "Sir Cauline;" (e) "The Modern and Ancient Ballads of ChevyChase;" (ƒ) as many more poems from "The Boy's Percy" as time will permit.

VII Suggested Oral: 1 If your school library or supplemental reading books have given you an outline of the Iliad and of the Odyssey, spend the lesson hour for a week in repeating myth tales taken from either of these great epics, or in reading the same. Remember that these epics long lived solely by word of mouth.

2 Daily for a week give a part of the recitation period to the repeating of any myths which relate to gods and heroes of Greece and of Rome, whether or not they are mentioned in these epics. Take up these mythical characters, one by one.

VIII Suggested Oral and Written: (1) Repeat in brief form one of the Indian legends embodied in "Hiawatha." (2) With pencil and wordbook list and very briefly outline these legends, one by one.

CHAPTER XVIII

STORY IN ANECDOTE

Very few persons practice today the art of ballad-making ; but the good story-teller is just as desirable a companion as in the days of Allan-a-Dale, even tho the tales are now said,

not sung.

Your baby brothers and sisters beg you often for "a story," I presume; and I hope you give all the pleasure you can in this way to the little ones who have not yet learned to read. If you can tell one good story and tell it well, your audience will get more pleasure by far from that one oft-repeated tale than from a dozen different ones that are ill-told.

The first step toward becoming a good story-teller is to learn to relate well simple anecdotes. These are the simplest form of story and recite single incidents, or happenings, of an interesting nature. An anecdote is brief and true, or at least is supposed to be true. Anecdote means unpublished, and anecdotes most often relate to personal matters. The story proper, however, may be true or fictitious, long or short, and may contain as many entertaining incidents as shall suit the writer's fancy.

Sometimes a mere incident is made into a story by adding many details in the way of attendant circumstances. I fancy you do not care much for a long story of this sort, in which most of the time "nothing happens."

To relate an anecdote well requires that emphasis be put upon the central features of the occurrence related, and that the main point or points be very clearly brought out in suitable language. If the incident told be in the nature of a joke, then more than ever

is it needful that the point of the joke be not lost. example of this:

A. to B.

B. to A.
A. to C.

Here is an old

"Short coat that is you are wearing, Bob!" "Yes, but it will be long enough before I get another!" "Bright chap, that boy Bob. I told him his coat was he said, Yes, but it would be a long time before he got a new one! Ha, ha, ha!"

too short, and

And A. wonders at C.'s failure to join in his laugh.

Quite as unfortunate in story-telling was the English lady who when visiting in America observed extensive peach orchards.

She asked a friend:

"What do you do with so much fruit?"

"Oh, we eat what we can and can what we can't," was the witty reply.

The lady was much delighted with this answer, and upon her return home said:

66

'I heard such a good joke in America. I asked what they did with all the fruit they raise, and my friend replied, 'We eat what we can and tin the rest'!'

Skill in story-telling may always be cultivated, and the poorest story-teller may by practice learn to avoid many common faults, thus telling his stories far better than he would otherwise have done. It is well known that many famous story-tellers practiced their art in private with much pains. Just as a really good impromptu, or unprepared, after-dinner speech is seldom given wholly on the spur of the moment, so the well-told story seldom is repeated in its best form until it has turned itself over many times in the mind of the teller, and has finally settled into permanent, polished form.

Since the only way to learn to do things is to begin to do them, I hope that you will from today on try to cultivate the

pleasing art of telling good stories and telling them well. For, any person who gives a really fresh and popular anecdote to the world adds just so much to the world's pleasure. Hence it is certainly a duty to pass on bright and amusing things whenever one can, for everywhere one may find hearts to be brightened and minds to be lightened of the cares of this workaday world. Of course, when some of you come to be professional story-tellers, earning your bread and butter by your pen,-as is always the case with at least a few persons in every town,- then you will probably bring your best stories to light in printed form. Even then, oral repetition will often be the best means for getting your short stories into good shape.

History is full of anecdotes which have little if any foundation in fact. Some of these are of very ancient origin and are known to have been related of various individuals. Thus the incident often told of William Tell's shooting the apple from the head of his son at the command of Gessler is a story much older than Tell himself. Folklore is made up of countless similar illusions which have gained a hold upon the popular mind and which might well have been true even if they are not.

Of all anecdotes, the most famous are biographical in character. Next to these would probably come those about animals, which are often of intense interest. Here is a famous anecdote about Benjamin Franklin, showing his ready wit:

Franklin was dining with a small party of distinguished gentlemen, when one of them said: "Here are three nationalities represented. I am French, and my friend here is English, and Mr. Franklin is an American. Let each one propose a toast."

He arose,

It was agreed to, and the Englishman's turn came first. and, in the tone of a Briton bold, said: "Here's to Great Britain, the sun that gives light to all nations of the earth.”

The Frenchman was rather taken aback at this; but he proposed:

"Here's to France, the moon whose magic rays move the tides of the world."

Franklin then arose with an air of quaint modesty, and said: "Here's to our beloved George Washington, the Joshua of America, who commanded the sun and moon to stand still and they obeyed."

Selected.

In order to get full enjoyment from any story, one must understand every allusion that is made. Hence, if you do not remember the original Scriptural account, according to which the sun and the moon obeyed the command of Joshua and stood still in the valley of Ajalon, you will not fully enjoy the anecdote just given. We are not moved to laugh at things we do not comprehend.

To enjoy the following story, one needs to know that in America" evening clothes" for gentlemen are understood to be a black dress suit with "swallow-tail" coat, and that in England the same are worn by the waiters at social functions. The story was first told by a writer in Harper's Magazine.

Ambassador Joseph Choate at an elaborate evening reception in London wore conventional evening clothes, all the other distinguished guests wearing rich uniforms brilliant with gold lace and orders. The ambassador was approached by a stranger who, mistaking Mr. Choate for a waiter, said peremptorily:

"Call me a cab."

"You are a cab," instantly responded the ambassador.

The stranger stared in astonishment, turned on his heel, and went to the host to complain of a waiter. The host, indignant, requested that the impudent menial be pointed out.

I will introduce you,'

"Why, that is the American ambassador. said the host. The crestfallen guest apologized, and Mr. Choate said pleasantly: "He told me to call him a cab, and I called him a cab. Had he been a little better looking I would have called him a hansom cab."