The magic words _Fābulam vōbīs nārrābō_
never fail to arouse just that tingle of excitement
and rapt attention in the class-room
which their English equivalents have always
occasioned in the nursery. This collection
may be used as an occasional reading-book for
lower forms, when it will be found, I trust,
no less interesting than those generally in
use. Many teachers have found that it is
often very profitable to have an additional
reading-book to be used intermittently for the
sake of avoiding boredom. This is especially
the case with young pupils who are apt to
get tired of continually reading from one
book. Those who so use this book will not, of
course, follow the order of the stories. Many
of the shortest and simplest are in the middle
of the book. Those who teach Latin on the
_Direct Method_ will find here a large number
of stories which I have myself found useful for
telling to my classes. If so used, the stories
should be _told_ and not _read_. Some of the
shorter ones are suitable for a quite elementary
stage, and many of the longer ones
can be told in two parts. A knowledge of
the chief syntax constructions is assumed.
Should the class not have this, it would be
advisable to read first _Pōns Tīrōnum_, a
fourth-term book, which Messrs. Bell have
recently published for Mr. W. H. S. Jones
and myself.
For material I have drawn extensively
upon Hyginus for the commoner classical
stories and upon Apuleius for the magical
element. Fulgentius and the summary of
the arguments of Ovid's _Metamorphoses_ by
the scholiast Placidus have also been of particular
use, but the stories are really gathered
from a variety of sources. Pliny the elder,
Plutarch, Herodotus, Pausanias, Valerius Maximus,
Diogenes Laertius, Zenobius, Erasmus,
and the dictionaries of Suidas and Stephanus
have all been laid under contribution.
I am indebted to Dr. W. H. D. Rouse and
Mr. W. H. S. Jones for their great kindness
in reading through the proofs; what accuracy
of scholarship the book contains is very
largely due to their vigilance. For the
mistakes I alone am responsible.