nature of things. Through fancy the child
cannot reach this central viewpoint since fancy deals only with
externals. Through the exercise of this power the child develops
insight, intuition, and a perception of spiritual values, and gains a
love of the ideal truth and a perpetual thirst for it. He develops
genuineness, one of the chief virtues of originality. He will tend not
to have respect for sayings or opinions but will seek the truth, be
governed by its laws, and hold a passion for perfection. This power of
imagination makes of him a continual seeker, "a pilgrim upon earth."
Through the penetrative imagination the child forgets himself and
enters into the things about him, into the doings of Three Pigs or the
adventures of Henny Penny.

(c) _The contemplative imagination_. This is that special phase of the
imagination that gives to abstract being consistency and reality.
Through the contemplative imagination the child gains the significance
of meaning and discerns the true message of the tale. When merely
external resemblance is caught, when the likeness is forced, and the
image created believed in, we have fancy. The contemplative
imagination interprets the past in the tale and relates it to the
future. It shows what is felt by indicating some aspect of what is
seen. Through the exercise of this power the child develops the
capacity to see. This capacity has received a high estimate from
Ruskin, who said, "Hundreds of people can talk for one who can think,
thousands can think for one who can see." For language-training the
capacity to see gives that ability to image words which results in
mental growth.

The labor of the spirit seeking the full message of the fairy tale,
often is rewarded with bits of philosophy which are the essence of its
personal wisdom. Even the Woman Suffragists of our day might be amused
to find, in _The Cat and Mouse in Partnership_, this side-light on one
of their claims. The Mouse said she did not know what to think of the
curious names, Top-off, Half-Out, and All-Out, which the Cat had
chosen. To which the Cat replied, "That is because you always stay at
home. You sit here in your soft gray coat and long tail, and these
foolish whims get into your head. It is always the way when one does
not go out in the daytime." Sometimes the philosophy of the tale is
expressed not at all directly. This is the case in Andersen's _The
Emperor's New Suit_, a gem in story-telling art--more suited to t