room next to it, about the middle of the night Ubbe was awakened, and
thought he saw a light on the other side of the door. “What's this?” he
said to himself. “What mischief are they up to in there?” And he got up
to see if everything was all right with his new friend the chapman.
Now when Ubbe peeped through a crack in the door, he saw a strange
sight. For there was Havelok peacefully sleeping, and over his head
there gleamed the miraculous light that Goldborough had seen and that
had caused Grim to spare his life when he was a little child. And
looking closer, Ubbe saw something more. For the cover was thrown
back, and he saw on Havelok's shoulder the royal birthmark, and he
knew immediately that this was the son of his old friend and king,
Birkabeyn, and the rightful heir to the throne of Denmark. Eagerly he
broke open the door and ran in and fell on his knees beside Havelok,
acknowledging him as his lawful lord.
As soon as Havelok realized that he was not dreaming, he saw that good
fortune had at last put him in the way of winning back his rights.
And it had indeed, for Ubbe immediately set to work getting together
an army for Havelok. It was not long before Havelok had a fine body of
fighters ready to follow wherever he led them, and then he thought it
was time to seek out his old enemy, Earl Godard. Before this, however,
there was another thing to be done, and that was to make knights of
Robert and William and Hugh. They were given the stroke on the shoulder
with the flat of the sword by Earl Ubbe and thus were dubbed knights.
They were granted land and other fee, and they became as brave and
powerful barons as any in Denmark.
When Havelok had his plans all made, he set out to find Earl Godard. It
was Robert the Red who had the good fortune first to meet with him. But
Godard was no coward, and was not to be taken without struggle for his
freedom. He defended himself as best he could, but his followers soon
became frightened and took to their heels, leaving the wretched Godard
a helpless prisoner in the hands of Robert. Havelok was glad enough
to have Godard in his power at last, but he made no effort to punish
Godard for the injuries he had done to him personally. It was as a
traitor to his king and his country that Godard was now held prisoner.
When the time of the trial came, by the judgment of his peers, Godard
was convicted of treason and sentence of death was passed upon him.
When peace had again been restored throughout Denmark, then the
people all joyfully accepted Havelok as their king and the beautiful
Goldborough as their queen.
One thing still remained for Havelok to do in England after affairs had
all been settled in Denmark--there still remained an accounting with
Earl Godrich. And so, as soon as he had got his army together, Havelok
and Goldborough went on board ship and sailed over the sea, and soon
they were again back at Grimsby. The earl was ready for him, too, for
he had heard of Havelok's arrival in England, and he thought he could
make quick work of his former kitchen-boy. But Havelok the man, with
a Danish army at his back, was a quite different person from Havelok
the boy, who carried the cook's baskets from market and distinguished
himself only by his record at putting the stone. And this difference
Earl Godrich was soon to discover.
It was Ubbe, this time, who had the first meeting with Godrich. Ubbe
claimed Godrich as his prisoner, but Godrich immediately drew his
sword in self-defense. They fought long and fiercely, and Godrich was
decidedly getting the better of it, when Havelok fortunately appeared
upon the scene. Havelok demanded that Godrich should yield himself as
his prisoner, but for answer Godrich only rushed at Havelok all the
more fiercely with his drawn sword, and so violent was his attack, that
he succeeded in wounding Havelok. At this, Havelok's patience gave out,
and exerting all his powerful strength, in a short time he overcame
Godrich and disarmed him and bound him hand and foot. Then Havelok had
Godrich carried before a jury of his peers in England, where he was
made to answer to the charge of treason, just as Godard had been made
to do in Denmark.
All the English barons acknowledged that Goldborough was their true
queen, and that Godrich was a tyrant and usurper. And since not only
plain justice, but also the welfare of the kingdom, demanded it, the
barons passed the sentence of death upon the traitorous Earl Godrich.
With much feasting and celebration, Havelok and Goldborough were taken
in triumph to London, and there were crowned king and queen of England.
Thus Goldborough's dream had come to pass, for she was now queen and
lady and Havelok was lord and king over both Denmark and England.
But since Havelok could not be in both countries at one time, and
since his Danish friends were eager to get back again to Denmark, now
that their work in England was finished, Havelok made Ubbe ruler over
Denmark in his place, and he remained in England. Moreover there were
other old friends who were also richly deserving of reward. Of these,
one was Bertram the cook, Havelok's former master, who had fed him when
he was starving. Bertram was made a rich baron, and he was married to
one of Grim's daughters, who were still living at Grimsby, but who, of
course, had now become great ladies. The other daughter was married to
Reynes, Earl of Chester, who was a brave young bachelor and glad enough
to get so beautiful and so highly favored a wife as Havelok gave him.
Robert the Red and William Wendout and Hugh the Raven all remained
in England, where they married rich and beautiful wives, and became
Havelok's right-hand men in the good government of the country.
And you can be sure the country was now again well governed. As in
the days of the good King Athelwold, a traveler might bear a bag full
of red gold on his shoulder from one end of England to the other, and
be as safe as though he were guarded by an army of soldiers. Loved
by their subjects and feared by their enemies, thus in peace and
contentment King Havelok and Queen Goldborough dwelt together many a
long year in England, and their children grew up around them. They had
passed through their trials and tribulations, and at last only good
days were in store for them.
This is the end.
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS
1. What advantage does the author gain by using a somewhat archaic
style?
2. Why does he tell the story with almost the same simplicity that
marks the original story?
3. What events show the character of Havelok?
4. What is the character of Grim?
5. What is the character of Goldborough?
6. In what respects are Earl Godrich and Earl Godard alike?
7. Show that the story is like some of the familiar nursery
legends.
8. Outline the principal events of the narrative.
9. Which events are most impressive?
10. Point out local allusions in the story.
11. In what respects is Havelok truly royal?
12. Point out any uses of the supernatural.
13. Is Bertram a realistic or a romantic character?
14. Point out exceedingly human touches in the story.
15. Point out the emphasis of noble characteristics.
16. Show how description adds to the effectiveness of the story.
17. Show how the story resembles other stories you have read.
18. What reasons have made the story live for a thousand years?
SUBJECTS FOR WRITTEN IMITATION
1. Uncle Tom's Cabin 11. Robinson Crusoe
2. Washington's Boyhood 12. Rip Van Winkle
3. The Story of Treasure Island 13. The Story of Portia
4. The Story of Ivanhoe 14. The Story of Rosalind
5. The Vision of Sir Launfal 15. The Story of Viola
6. Lancelot and Elaine 16. Silas Marner
7. Robin Hood and His Men 17. The Ancient Mariner
8. Huckleberry Finn 18. The Black Knight
9. Tom Sawyer 19. King Arthur
10. Ben Hur 20. Joan of Arc
DIRECTIONS FOR WRITING
You are to re-tell an old story. Select one with which you are
entirely familiar. Tell it very simply and plainly, but try very hard
to give it the quality of human interest. Make your readers sympathize
with your hero and heroine. Tell a number of dramatic
episodes, selecting those that do most to emphasize character. Make
your story move very quickly, and make its action very vivid and
intense. Give emphasis to good characteristics.
THE STORY ESSAY
POLITICS UP TO DATE
By FREDERICK LEWIS ALLEN
_(1890-). A contributor to many magazines. At different times he
served as Instructor in English at Harvard, and as a member of the
editorial staff of_ The Atlantic Monthly, _and of_ The Century.
=The short story and the essay may be combined in what may be called
the story-essay or the dialogue-essay. Many of Addison's _Sir Roger
de Coverley_ essays illustrate such a combination.=
=_Politics Up To Date_ is really a critical essay, directed against
certain tendencies in political campaigns in the United States,
but it is presented in the form of a dialogue between a young
politician and an old politician. It is very effective in its
satire.=
“So you've come to me for advice, have you?” said the Old Politician to
the Young Politician. “You want to know how to succeed in politics, do
you?”
The Young Politician inclined his head.
“I do,” he replied. “Will you tell me?”
The Old Politician was silent for a moment.
“Times change,” he said at last, “and I dare say there are new issues
now in politics that there weren't in the good old days. The technic is
somewhat different, too. However, the basic principles remain the same,
and, after all, the issues don't really matter; it's what you say about
them that counts, and I can tell you what to say about them. Very well,
I'll advise you. First of all, if you're running for office in these
days, you must run as a hundred-per-cent. American candidate.”
The Young Politician's eye clouded with perplexity.
“What is Americanism,” he asked, “and how does one figure it on a
percentage basis?”
The Old Politician brought down his fist on the table with a crash.
“You aspire to political office, and ask questions like that!” he
exclaimed in a voice of wrath. “Never question what hundred-per-cent.
Americanism is, even to yourself. If you do, somebody else will
question, too. Nothing could be more fatal. Don't try to define
it; assert it. Say you're hundred per cent. and your opponent
isn't. Intimate that if George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and
Abraham Lincoln went over your opponent with a slide rule and an
adding-machine, they couldn't make him add up to more than ninety-nine
per cent. If he's out for a seven-cent fare or a new set of municipal
waterworks, tell the people that such things are un-American. Say that
he's dodging the issue, and the issue is Americanism.” He paused. “If
you were my opponent, and asked what Americanism is, I'd double you up.
'Think of it, my fellow-citizens! He doesn't even know what Americanism
is! Is that the kind of man to hold office in the country of Washington
and Lincoln?'”
The Young Politician looked round uneasily to make sure that they were
indeed alone, for the Old Politician was almost shouting.
“Please,” said the Young Politician, “not so loud. I won't ask that
question again. I see your point. What else do you advise?”
“You must learn,” continued the Old Politician, “to be a good
denouncer.”
“A good what?”
“Denouncer. Keep your eyes open for objects of popular disapproval,
and when you're sure you've got hold of something that is heartily
disapproved by the great majority of the people, denounce it. At
present I should advise you to denounce the high cost of living, the
profiteers, and the Bolshevists. Next year, of course, the list may be
quite different, but for the present those three are the best objects
of denunciation.”
“What bothers me,” suggested the Young Politician in a hesitating
voice, “is that it may be rather hard to drag those things into the
campaign. Suppose, for example, I'm pledged to broaden the Main Street
of the city upon my election to the city council. Won't it be rather
hard to tie the Main Street and the Bolshevists together?”
The Old Politician looked upon the troubled face of the Young
Politician with disgust.
“You're a great politician, you are,” he said wearily. “Tie them
together? Don't be so ridiculously logical.” He rose to his feet, and
as he did so he smote the table once more with his fist. “Gen-tle-men,”
he cried hoarsely, surveying an imaginary audience with his glittering
eye, “there is a movement on foot in this very county, this very State,
nay, this very city, to undermine our Congress, to topple over the
Constitution, to put a bomb under our President! Confronted by such a
menace to our democratic institutions, what, gentlemen, shall be our
answer? Let us broaden Main Street, as Washington would have broadened
it, as Lincoln would have broadened it, and let us put down the red
flag wherever it shows its head!”
“Its mast,” corrected the Young Politician, visibly moved. “Thank you
for those courageous, those hundred-per-cent. words. I shall try to
strike that note. But there is something else I want to ask. Suppose
I am elected. What shall I do while I hold office in order that I may
become ultimately eligible for still higher office?”
“In that case,” replied the old man, who by this time had subsided into
his chair, “you must not merely denounce the high cost of living, the
profiteers, and the Bolshevists; you must campaign against them.”
“But suppose I am a commissioner of roads or an attorney-general,”
queried the Young Politician. “In that case, clearly such things lie
outside my province. How can I campaign against them?”
“My dear young man,” said the Old Politician, with a weary smile,
“don't bother about your province, as you call it. Your job will
undoubtedly be uninteresting and the public won't know anything about
it or care anything about it, and the test of your success will be
your ability to conduct campaigns which have nothing to do with your
job, and therefore stand some chance of interesting the public. There
is no reason why even an attorney-general shouldn't campaign against
anything, provided he handle his campaign right.
“The principal thing to bear in mind is that you must begin your
campaigns noisily and end them so quietly that the sound of their
ending is drowned in the noise of the next campaign's beginning. Let's
say you begin with a campaign against the high cost of living. First
come out with a statement that you, as attorney-general or commissioner
of roads or what not, are going to knock the high cost of living to
bits, and the whole force of the Government will be behind you. That
will put you on the front page once. Then send out telegrams calling
a conference to take steps against the cost of living. That will put
you on the front page again. Then when the conference meets, address
them, and tell them they've got to make conditions better, simply got
to. By the way, you ought to have a couple of able secretaries to help
you with these speeches, or, better still, to do the routine work of
your office so that there will be nothing to divert your mind from your
campaigns. Then, after you have the conference well started, step out.
Don't stay with them; they may begin asking you for constructive ideas.
Step clear of the thing, and start a new campaign.
“I can't over-emphasize the fact that when the conference is well
started, you must help the public to forget about it, and stir up
interest in something new. Flay the profiteer for a month or two,
and get a conference going on profiteers. Rap the Bolshevists, and
telegraph for a crowd of citizens to come and probe the Bolshevists
while you're deciding what your next campaign shall be. Don't let the
people's minds run back to the high cost of living, or they'll be
likely to notice that it hasn't gone down. Refer constantly to the
success of your own campaigns, and keep the public mind moving.”
The Young Politician was visibly impressed, but apparently a doubt
still lingered in his mind.
“There's one thing I'm afraid I don't quite understand,” he said at
last. “All this denouncing and rapping and probing--isn't it likely
to look rather destructive? Will people want to vote for a man whose
pleasantest mood is one of indignation?”
“My dear young man,” replied the Old Politician, “I fear that you
misunderstood me. A politician must be always pleasant to the people
who are about him, and denounce only persons who are not present. You
should compliment your audience when speaking. Be sure to make the
right speech in the right place; don't get off your profiteer speech to
the Merchants' Association, or they may begin to wonder whether they
agree with you, but draw their hearts to yours with your anti-Bolshevik
speech; assure them that you and they are going to save the nation from
red ruin. Denunciation is pleasant if it's somebody else who is getting
denounced. Tell the merchants or the newspaper publishers or the party
committeemen, or whoever it is that you are addressing, that they are
the most important element in the community and that the war could not
have been won if they had not stepped forward to a man and done their
duty. That's good to hear.
“Finally, give them a little patriotic rapture. Tell them this is
a new age we're in. Picture to them the capitalist and working-man
walking hand in hand with their eyes on the flag. Make the great heart
of America throb for them. Unpleasant? Why, if you top off with a
heart-throb, you can make the most denunciatory speech delightful for
one and all.”
The Young Politician rose.
“I see,” he said. “Thank you. Have you any other advice?”
“Merely one or two minor hints,” said the Old Politician. “If the
photographers want to take your picture teaching your baby to walk, let
them do it; the public loves the home life of its leader. Always be
affable to the reporters, but never state your views explicitly, or you
may find them embarrassing at some later date. Stick to generalities.
I think that's all.”
“Thank you again,” said the Young Politician, putting out his hand.
“You are very good. You're--” An idea seemed to seize his mind, and
his bearing perceptibly altered. “You, sir, are a good American. I'm
always delighted to have an evening with a man who is absolutely
one-hundred-per-cent. patriotic American to the core.”
“Good night,” said the Old Politician. “You're getting it very nicely.
I think you'll do well.”
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS
1. What advantage is gained by presenting the thought through the
medium of dialogue?
2. What is the character of the Old Politician?
3. Explain the writer's satire of the use of “Americanism.”
4. What are the Old Politician's principles concerning
denunciation?
5. What are the writer's principles?
6. In what ways does the writer satirize the American public?
7. How does the writer satirize political campaigns?
8. How does the writer satirize hypocrisy in political life?
9. How would the writer have a political campaign conducted?
10. How would the writer have an office holder act?
SUBJECTS FOR WRITTEN IMITATION
1. The Good American 11. The Right Kind of Leader
2. Campaign Speaking 12. Testing Political Speeches
3. Political Beliefs 13. Good Citizens
4. Honesty in Public Life 14. How to Vote Conscientiously
5. A Worthy Office Holder 15. A Genuine Statesman
6. Political Methods 16. Patriotic Speeches
7. Denunciation 17. Soap-box Orators
8. A Political Campaign 18. Diverting Attention
9. Sincerity 19. Public Servants
10. Deceiving the Public 20. The American People
DIRECTIONS FOR WRITING
Think of a series of principles in which you strongly believe.
Imagine two people who will represent definite attitudes toward the
principles that you have in mind. Write a dialogue between the
two people, presenting your real thought in the disguise of satire.
Let your work represent both the beginning and the ending of the
conversation. As in all other writing, make the ending effective.
FREE!
By CHARLES HANSON TOWNE
_(1877--). Managing editor of_ McClure's Magazine. _He has written
many delightful books, among which are:_ The Quiet Singer, and
Other Poems; Jolly Jaunts with Jim; Autumn Loiterers; Shaking Hands
with England.
=Over two hundred years ago Joseph Addison imagined a character
whom he called “The Spectator” meeting with various friends and
discussing with them the life of the times. Through what was said
by these imaginary beings Addison gave his own shrewd comments on
foibles and follies. Mr. Towne's “young-old philosopher” is a sort
of modern “Spectator.” He talks of the drudgery of work, and the
glowing joy of a holiday, and comes to the sudden realization that
the world is a world of work in which every one must play his part
if he is to have real contentment. The essay is Mr. Towne's comment
both on a life of unvaried drudgery and on a life of idleness.=
=“I have wondered what it would seem like to be ... jogging along
with nowhere to go save where one pleased.”=
The young-old philosopher was speaking.
“I had a strange experience yesterday. To have spent twenty years or so
at office work, and then suddenly to arrange one's affairs so that a
portion of the week became one's own--that is an experience, isn't it?”
We admitted that it was an achievement to be envied.
“How did you manage it?” was the natural question.
“That is a detail of little importance,” he replied. “Let the fact of
one's sudden liberty be the point dwelt upon. I found myself walking
up the avenue at the miraculous hour of eleven in the morning, and not
going to a desk! I was headed for the park, where I knew the trees had
long since loaded their branches with leaves, and the grass was so
green that it made the heart ache with its loveliness. You know how
perfect yesterday was, a summer day to remember and to be grateful for.
“To you who have never known what it is to drudge day in and day out,
this may seem a trifling thing to speak of. For myself, a miracle
had happened. I could not believe that this golden hour was mine
completely. I had never seen shop-windows with quite this slant of the
sun on them. Always I had viewed them early or late, or wistfully at
noon, when the streets were so crowded with other escaped office men
that I could take no pleasure in what I beheld. Shop-windows at eleven
in the morning were for the elect of the earth. That hour had always
heretofore meant for me a manuscript to be read or edited, a conference
to be attended, a telephone call to be answered, a visit from some one
seeking advice--something, at any rate, that made it impossible for me
to call it my own. I have looked often from a high window at that hour,
and seen the people in the streets as they trailed like ribbons round
and round the vast city, and I have wondered what it would seem like
to be one of them, not hurrying on some commercial errand, but jogging
along with nowhere to go save where one pleased.
“At last my dream had come true, and when I found myself projected upon
that thrilling avenue, and realized that I had nothing, absolutely
nothing, to do until luncheon-time, and I could skip that if I wished,
I could scarcely believe that it was I who had thus broken the traces.
“The green of the park greeted me, and, like Raleigh's cloak,[55] a
gay pattern of flowers was laid at the entrance for even my unworthy
feet metaphorically to tread. And to think that these bright blooms
unfolded here day after day and I had so seldom seen them! An old man
dozed on a bench near at hand, oblivious to the beauty around him; and
a septuagenarian gardener leaned over the circular border, just as
Narcissus[56] looked into the pool. Perhaps he saw some image of his
youth in the uplifted face of a flower.
“I know that I saw paths and byways everywhere that reminded me of
my vanished boyhood; for I am one of those who have always lived in
Manhattan, and some of the happiest days I ever spent were those in
the park as a child, seeing the menagerie, feeding the squirrels, and
rolling a hoop on a graveled pathway.
“I remembered Rossetti's line,[57] 'I have been here before,' as I
walked along on this exultant morning; and it indeed seemed as if
in some previous incarnation, and not in this life, I had known my
footsteps to take this perfumed way. For in the hurry of life and
in the rush of our modern days we forget too soon the leisure of
childhood, plunging as we do into the rough-and-tumble of an agonized
manhood.