CHILDREN'S QUESTIONS. 239 



wonder, therefore, if in their struggle for knowledge, and the 

 efforts they make to leari| from the experience of their elders, their 

 whole being becomes, as it were, one big, interminable question ! 



At times, of course, it can not be denied, the questions become 

 irksome, but who would wish a child to ask no questions ? Julius 

 Sturm tells, in one of his pretty fairy tales, how a grandfather, 

 driven into impatience by the constant questionings of his grand- 

 child, exclaimed, " I wish your tongue were out of joint ! " but 

 when, unexpectedly, his wish was fulfilled, and the child became 

 dumb, how he joyfully exchanged one of the two years which an 

 angel had prophesied he was yet to live for the privilege of hear- 

 ing the little one's prattle again. 



A child whose questions are not answered by its parents will 

 either turn to others who are willing to gratify its desire for knowl- 

 edge, but who perhaps are unable to distinguish between what 

 is good for a child to know and what is not, or else it will lose its 

 fine natural susceptibility, and learn to look upon life in a dull, 

 spiritless way, without interest or curiosity. Worse, however, 

 than not answering a child's questions is to ridicule them. Noth- 

 ing wounds a child so deeply as finding its inexperience abused 

 and its earnestly-meant questions made the subject of mockery. 

 How common a thing it is to hear a child's question impatiently 

 and even contemptuously condemned as " silly " I Yet, in most 

 cases of the kind, the silliness is not with the child, but with the 

 older person who fails to understand how a child's mind works. 

 Every child has involuntarily a feeling of distrust for grown-up 

 people, which is only expelled through trust in the love of its 

 parents. This trust once thoughtlessly abused and shaken may 

 perhaps never be restored to its original purity and strength ; and 

 who could have the heart deliberately to impair such sweet con- 

 fidence ? 



It is true children sometimes ask questions which it is not easy 

 to answer, at least not in the short, simple form suited to the 

 mind of the questioner. For example : 



"Do the little sparrows know they are sparrows ? " 



" Do animals go to heaven, too ? " 



" Can God do everything ? 



" Can he make my birthday come twice in one year ? " 



Or, again : 



" Why does the fire burn ? " 



"Why is ice cold?" 



To answer such questions may baffle our knowledge, but we 

 should at least make an honest and patient effort to say something 

 helpful. If we can not give all the light we could wish, we can at 

 least give sympathy and encouragement. Translated for The Pop- 

 ular Science Monthly from the German, by F. M. J. 



