This second part of “Märchen und Erzählungen” is intended to continue
the work begun in the first, and to bridge over the remaining space
between German for Americans and German for Germans. The stories
are carefully graded so as to enlarge the pupils’ vocabulary and to
familiarize them with many new idioms, while introducing most of the
terms used in the first part.
It is provided with a complete vocabulary, and can hence be used either
as an independent reader, or in the manner indicated in Part I; but the
questions have been omitted, as at this stage teachers prefer to frame
their own questions, which they can best adapt to the age and needs of
their pupils.
None of the tales in this little collection are original, but all
have been completely rewritten and modified to suit the purpose for
which they are intended. “Der Weihnachtsabend,” “Rosa von Tannenburg,”
“Das hölzerne Kreuz,” and “Die Taube,” can be found, related at great
length, in Christoph Schmidt’s collection of mediæval tales. “In
sicherer Hut” and “Das Neujahrslied” are two of the popular stories of
Johanna Spyri, a writer who in German literature holds about the same
place as Miss Alcott does here.
“Barbarossa” and “Anekdoten” are semi-historical folk tales of Germany,
“Der Bauer und der Advokat” is a proverb-story, and “Die zehn Feeen,”
“Tisch, Sack und Pack,” “Der Lange, der Breite und der Scharfäugige,”
and “Rübezahl” are genuine northern fairy-tales from various sources.
In the last tale only--which is by Hoffmann--have I retained a few
sentences of the original, but it has been greatly shortened to sustain
the interest of young readers, who weary of long descriptions. All
these stories can be used to advantage with more advanced pupils for
rapid sight-reading and for reproduction.
The collection of poems at the end of this little volume represents the
most famous poets of Germany; and while the most usual pieces are not
given here, care has been exercised to select such as can be easily
memorized and are suitable for pupils of all ages.
To sustain the reader’s interest and to secure sufficient incident and
action, several mediæval tales have been told in this volume. They have
not been related in the conventional mediæval style, however, because
at this stage of the pupil’s advancement it is of paramount importance
that every word and idiom should be such as can be put to immediate
use. Hence “Sie” and “Du” are used in preference to all other forms in
the conversation, the former being introduced even more freely than the
latter, because it is the person which the pupils will have the most
occasion to employ.
The stories in this reader are a means and not an end. They are merely
intended as stepping-stones to guide beginners across what often seems
to them the almost impassable Slough of Despond, which divides the two
languages, and to lead them safely to the attractive field of true
German literature.
It is in the hope that pupils will learn to love and appreciate the
standard German works all the sooner, that these efforts have been made
to shorten and simplify the preliminary stages, which have hitherto
been proverbially hard.
The writer is specially indebted to Miss Eva von Blomberg for the
kindly interest she has shown in the work, and for her help in the
reading of the proof-sheets.
Inhalt.