ild realizes
the meaning of particular tales. He learns: that _Cinderella_ means
that goodness brings its own reward; that _Three Pigs_ means that the
wise build with care and caution, with foresight; that _Star Dollars_
means compassion for others and kindness to them; and that _Red Riding
Hood_ means obedience.

The power of the contemplative imagination is based on the
indistinctness of the image. It suggests, too, the relation between
cause and effect, which reason afterwards proves; and therefore it is
a direct aid to science. In the tales there are expressed facts of
truth symbolically clothed which science since then has discovered.
And now that folk-lore is being studied seriously to unfold all it
gives of an earlier life, perhaps this new study may reveal some new
truths of science hidden in its depths. The marvels of modern shoe
manufacture were prophesied in _The Little Elves_, and the power of
electricity to hold fast was foretold in _Dummling and his Golden
Goose_. The wonders of modern machinery appeared in the magic axe of
Espen that hit at every stroke; and the miracle of modern canals sees
a counterpart in the spring which Espen brought to the giant's
boiling-pot in the wood. The magic sleep from which there was an
awakening, even after a hundred years, may have typified hypnotism and
its strange power upon man. These are realizations of some of the
wonders of fairyland. But there may be found lurking in its depths
many truths as yet undiscovered by science. Perhaps the dreams of
primitive man may suggest to the present-day scientist new
possibilities.--What primitive man has done in fancy present-day man
can do in reality.

(3) A basis of truth. All fine emotional effects arise from truth. The
tale must hold the mirror and show an image of life. It must select
and combine facts which will suggest emotion but the facts must be a
true expression of human nature. The tale, whether it is realistic in
emphasizing the familiar, the commonplace, and the present, or
romantic in emphasizing the strange, the heroic, and the remote, must
be idealistic to interpret truly the facts of life by high ideals. If
the tale has this basis of truth the child will gain, through his
handling of it, a body of facts. This increases his knowledge and
strengthens his intellect. And it is to be remembered that, for the
child's all-round development, the appeal of literature to the
intellect is a value to be emphasized equally