aste of his time for
"morals" by adding more or less playful ones in
verse to his stories. Here is a prose rendering
of a portion of the _Moralite_ attached to
"Puss-in-Boots": "However great may be the
advantage of enjoying a rich inheritance coming
down from father to son, industry and ingenuity
are worth more to young people as a usual thing
than goods acquired without personal effort."
In relation to this moral, Ralston says, "the
conclusion at which an ordinary reader would
arrive, if he were not dazzled by fairy-land
glamor, would probably be that far better than
either tact and industry on a master's part is
the loyalty of an unscrupulous retainer of an
imaginative turn of mind. The impropriety of
this teaching is not balanced by any other form
of instruction. What the story openly
inculcates is not edifying, and it does not
secretly convey any improving doctrine." But on
the other hand it may be argued that the
"moral" passes over the child's head. Miss
Kready, in her _Study of Fairy Tales_ (p. 275),
makes a very elaborate and proper defense of
"Puss-in-Boots" as a story for children. There
is delight in its strong sense of adventure, it
has a hero clever and quick, there is loyalty,
love, and sacrifice in Puss's devotion to his
master, the tricks are true to "cat-nature,"
there are touches of nature beauty, a simple
and pleasing plot, while we should not forget
the delightful Ogre and his transformations
into Lion and Mouse. The story is found in many
forms among many different peoples. Perhaps the
great stroke of genius which endears Perrault's
version is in the splendid boots with which his
tale provides the hero so that briers may not
interfere with his doings. (Extended studies of
this tale and its many parallels may be found
in Lang's _Perrault's Popular Tales_; in
McCulloch's _Childhood of Fiction_, chap. viii;
in an article by Ralston in the _Nineteenth
Century_, January, 1883, reprinted in _Living
Age_, Vol. CLVI, p. 362.)

PUSS-IN-BOOTS

There was once a miller who left no more estate to the three sons he had
than his mill, his ass, and his cat. The pa