ls into the monotone.
Whimsicality always seeks variety of emphasis and movement. Let us apply
this to the reading of the fable called

THE CROW AND THE PITCHER

A crow, half dead with thirst, came upon a pitcher which had once
been full of water; but when the crow put his beak into the mouth
of the pitcher he found that only very little water was left in it,
and that he could not reach far enough down to get at it. He tried,
and he tried, but at last had to give up in despair. Then a thought
came to him, and he took a pebble and dropped it into the pitcher.
Then he took another pebble and dropped it into the pitcher. Then
he took another pebble and dropped that into the pitcher. Then he
took another pebble and dropped that into the pitcher. Then he took
another pebble and dropped that into the pitcher. Then he took
another pebble and dropped that into the pitcher. At last, at last,
he saw the water mount up near him; and after casting in a few more
pebbles he was able to quench his thirst and save his life.

Little by little does the trick.

How shall we avoid the monotony of the lines beginning "Then he took
another pebble and dropped it into the pitcher"? Note that this line is
followed by one in which but two words are changed, and then by a line
with but one change, and then by three lines with no change at all. Our
only hope lies in a variation of emphasis and movement--a whimsical
variation. Try it! Give "another" the particular stress in reading the
first of these lines. Pause at the close of the line as if to study the
effect of the pebble. In the next line "that," of course, takes the
emphasis. Pause before the word and give it a salient stress. The
movement of the voice through these two lines has been deliberate. On
the next line hasten it a little, and make the pause at the close of the
line shorter. With the fourth line let the tone settle down to work.
Give each of the first five words equal stress. With the fifth and last
line let us feel that you may "go on forever," and surprise us with a
very short pause and a joyful stress upon "at last, at last," and don't
fail to let the enthusiasm of your tone give us the full sense of the
relief which comes with the mounting of the water, and the delight in
the conclusion--"he was able to quench his thirst and save his life."
And now, most whimsically, let us voice the moral, "Little