The Talking Beasts
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Authors
Smith, Nora Archibald
Wiggin, Kate Douglas Smith
Issue Date
1911
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Type
Book, Whole
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Abstract
After I had searched for years, Wendy and I found this book at almost the same time: see my comments on the 1911 edition. This book is a little treasure. As against the earlier edition, this edition has the dust-jacket's picture also pasted on its cover; larger size because of its larger margins; Gay quoted two pages after the title page; and only five illustrations (dropped are those facing 302 and 340 of the first edition), done in black-and-white. The editions share common pagination and an AI of titles at the end. The tellings are generally very good; they show a storyteller's eye and ear. No separate morals are offered. The Aesop section wisely begins with Demades. The stork among the cranes has broken his leg (31). New to me in Aesop : The Discontented Ass (10), The Falcon and the Capon (43); The Chameleon (50); The Eagle, Jackdaw, and Magpie (52; the eagle gives the great rule, that the greater fool shall have precedence); The Country-Fellow and the River (57); and The Spectacles (60). The Bidpai section is told in very flowery language. The Snake and the Sparrows (65) uses fire, not a necklace. This section gives a new twist on FM (92): a crow lifts both aloft. Many stories in the Bidpai section are new to me. Particularly good are two from Yriarte: The Bear, the Monkey, and the Pig (342-3) and The Duck and the Serpent (345).
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Publisher
Doubleday Doran & Company, Inc.,
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Identifier
1561 (Access ID)