you, take possession of it. To take possession of the story,
(1) Seek its spirit and intention.
(2) Grasp its elements; its setting, its action, its characters.
(3) Master its workmanship, or its composition and style.
Its spirit and intention. Students of folklore
hesitate to impose on the folk tales ethical or æsthetical
motive; but they would not object to our seeing
in them, in addition to certain primitive ideas,
this or that playful fancy or more serious reflection
of life; in "The Elves and the Shoemaker,"
for example, hearty testimony to the worth of
honest effort, the record raised to some degree of
æsthetic merit by the charm of elfin appreciation;
in "Star Dollars," crude sketch of childlike goodness
and faith, the picture touched into beauty by
the benediction of heaven; lovely symbol of gentle
living, like "Diamonds and Toads"; sweet blossom
of immortal beauty and goodness blighted by
the withering poison of envy, yet triumphantly
blooming, like "Snow White;" simple appreciation
of kindness of heart, like the "Hut in the
Wood;" idyl of the beauty and integrity of goodness,
like "Beauty and the Beast;" in "The
Straw, the Coal, and the Bean," naïve history of a
