STORY-TELLING 



5565 



STORY-TELLING 



not be particularly exciting, but there must be 

 something happening all the time. 



Much depends, too, on the beginning of the 

 story. It must be direct and simple, and must 

 locate the story at once in the child's mind. 

 This does not mean that a definite situation is 

 necessary the familiar "once upon a time" or 

 "in a wonderful far-off country" answers all re- 

 quirements, but the hearer must not be left to 

 "flounder." Introductory matter, unless of the 

 very briefest, should be omitted. Unless the 

 child's attention is held from the very first 

 word, it is difficult to gain later. 



No less important' is the ending. Stories for 

 grown-ups may present a "section of life," with 

 no solution of the problems raised, no definite 

 rounding-out of the lives of the characters, but 

 children will tolerate no such halfway meas- 

 ures. Everything must be settled, once and for 

 all, before the curtain falls. And the child is 

 perfectly correct, from his ov/n point of view, 

 in demanding a happy ending. He has an in- 

 nate feeling of justice which tells him that good 

 people should be rewarded and bad people pun- 

 ished, and unless the story works out in that 

 way, there is something wrong with the story. 

 He knows nothing of the complicated ethics of 

 later years, which finds it difficult to separate 

 right from wrong. 



One other point is worth remembering. The 

 story must have "points of contact" with the 

 children's experiences; that is, it must present 

 images of familiar objects, though these maybe 

 placed amid unfamiliar surroundings or tinged 

 with mystery. The children, for instance, have 

 never seen a princess; but as the story pro- 

 ceeds it is evident after all that a princess is 

 only a little girl who has to mind her father 

 and mother, just as they have to mind their 

 father and mother. There is enough difference 

 to lend interest, but enough similarity to make 

 comprehension possible. 



It is found by story-tellers everywhere that 

 children have a particular fondness for repeti- 

 tion of phrases or sentences within the stories. 

 In the nonsense tale of Epaminondas and His 

 Auntie, for instance, Mother's "Epaminondas, 

 you ain't got the sense you was born with" 

 never fails to evoke a delighted grin at every 

 repetition. There seems to be a charm in com- 

 ing across, in the midst of the newness, a phrase 

 or sentence that has been heard before. Of 

 course repetition is not really necessary to a 

 successful story, but it is highly desirable. 



The story-teller should remember, too, that 

 the vocabulary of the children and their ability 



to use English are certain to be influenced by 

 the stories to which they listen so absorbedly, 

 and she should choose only such as have a 

 pleasing English style. They need not, in fact 

 should not, be in formal, bookish English, but 

 they should make use of no expressions which 

 the child may not safely adopt. 



How to Tell a Story. The story may be told 

 for the most excellent of purposes, and it may 

 possess all the characteristics of the perfect 

 tale, but if it is not well told it cannot fulfil 

 its whole aim. This should not discourage any- 

 one from attempting to tell stories, however, 

 for while every one cannot be a natural story- 

 teller with the real "gift," every one may learn 

 to tell a story acceptably. Very much, of course, 

 depends on the personality, but there are cer- 

 tain rules which, if followed, are certain to 

 bring success. The actual telling is the dy- 

 namic, the creative, part of the story-teller's 

 art the part which can give her real joy, 

 whether she have an audience of one or of one 

 hundred. 



Know the Story Thoroughly. This might 

 seem an unnecessary warning, but the specta- 

 cle is painfully familiar of the story-teller who 

 knows her material only fairly well and who 

 finds it necessary to repeat, to go back and 

 pick up dropped threads, to make explanations 

 of points that should have been perfectly clear. 

 The story should be so familiar that the teller 

 does not have to think ahead, but can have her 

 mind on each point as she brings it out. 



This does not mean that the story should be 

 memorized; indeed, the memorized tale is al- 

 most certain to sound more like a recitation 

 than like a genuine "told" story. Nor does it 

 mean that the same words must always be 

 used. Probably there will be changes every 

 time the story is told, but if there are any of 

 those repetitions in which children delight, or 

 conversations or specially favored passages, 

 they should not be changed. 



Feel the Story. If the story-teller, after 

 careful study, feels that a certain story is dull 

 or silly, she should not attempt to tell it, no 

 matter how successfully others may have done 

 so. In some way or other the teller's feeling 

 in regard to the story communicates itself to 

 the hearers, and they will not enjoy to the full 

 a story which the teller is not enjoying. 



Be Natural. Many people make a mistake 

 in dealing with children by "talking down" to 

 them or babying them. Children like to feel 

 that the things that interest them are impor- 

 tant enough to be dealt with in a grown-up 



