Page:A Study of Fairy Tales.djvu/103

Rh Change in setting. Great rock. A sly Fox.

Fox said,. . . . . . . . . . . . . "See the spot on my tail."

Robin replied,. . . . . . . . "You bit the wee lambie."

Change in setting. Banks of a rivulet. A small Boy.

Boy said,. . . . . . . . . . . . "See the crumbs in my pocket."

Robin replied,. . . . . . . . "You caught the goldfinch."

Change in setting. King's palace. The window sill. The King at the window.

Robin sang,. . . . . . . . . . "A song for the King."

King replied,. . . . . . . . . "What shall we give Robin?"

3. Conclusion.

No change in setting. King's palace. The window sill. The King at the window.

King. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Filled a plate and set it on the window sill.

Robin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ate, sang a song again, and flew away.

Here, not only the sequence of the tale is held largely by the change in setting, but also the pleasure in the tale is due largely to the setting, the pictures of landscape beauty it presents, and the feelings arising from these images.

A Japanese tale, in which the setting is a large part of the tale, and a large element of beauty, is Mezumi, the Beautiful, or The Rat Princess.

A Grimm tale in which the setting is a very large element of pleasure and in which it preserves the sequence of the tale, is The Spider and the Flea, a lively accumulative tale that deserves attention for several reasons.—A Spider and a Flea dwelt together. One day a number of unusual occurrences happened, so that finally a little Girl with a water-pitcher broke it.