From Long Ago and Many Lands

288 Pages·2009·4.07 MB·English

From Long Ago and Many Lands

His teaching was done anywhere people wanted to sit together and talk.
From Long Ago
and Many Lands
Stories for Children Told Anew
by Sophia Lyon Fahs
With Teacher's Guide by Patricia Hoertdoerfer
Illustrated by Cyrus LeRoy Baldridge
Second Edition
Skinner House Books
Boston
Copyright © 1948 by Sophia Lyon Fahs and renewed 1976 by Dorothy Fahs Beck.
Teacher's Guide © 1995 by the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published by Skinner House Books. Skinner House Books is an imprint of the
Unitarian Universalist Association, a liberal religious organization with more than
1,000 congregations in the U.S. and Canada. 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108.
All rights reserved.
This book was written before our awareness of the need for gender-inclusive
language. In a few instances, the reader may wish to change a term to one that
is inclusive of both sexes.
Printed in Canada.
ISBN 0-933840-35-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fahs, Sophia Blanche Lyon.
From long ago and many lands : stories for children told anew / by Sophia Lyon
Fahs ; illustrated by Cyrus LeRoy Baldridge ; with teacher's guide by Patricia
Hoertdoerfer. — 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Originally published: Boston : Beacon Press, 1948.
Summary: A collection of folk tales, legends, fables, and religious stories from around
the world.
ISBN 0-933840-35-7 (alk. paper)
1. Tales. [1. Folklore.] I. Baldridge, Cyrus Leroy, 1889-1997, ill. II. Hoertdoerfer,
Pat. III. Title.
PZ8.1.F.17 Fr 2002
398.2 2002021671
12 11
07 06 05
Contents
Foreword............................................................................................. ix
Introduction ........................................................................................ xi
Introduction to First Edition.............................................................. xv
To Story Writers—Ancient and Modern .......................................... xix
The End Papers................................................................................ xxv
The Abiding Questions
1. The Picture on the Kitchen Wall............................................... 3
2. The Jewish Traveler and the Robbers....................................... 9
3. The Dog and the Heartless King............................................. 16
4. The Very Short Rule ............................................................... 20
5. The Boy Who Was Afraid to Try ............................................ 25
6. The Bell of Atri....................................................................... 31
7. The King Who Changed His Mind......................................... 37
8. The Naumburg Children's Festival......................................... 46
9. The Richest King in the World ............................................... 53
10. The Wind and the Sun........................................................... 59
11. The Persevering Ant.............................................................. 61
12. Gautama Finds Out for Himself ........................................... 65
13. The Fig Seed ......................................................................... 71
14. The Lump of Salt.................................................................. 74
15. The Questions of King Milinda ............................................ 77
Wonders of Birth and Mysteries of Death
16. The Birth of Jesus ................................................................. 83
17. The Birth of Buddha ............................................................. 92
18. The Birth of Confucius ......................................................... 98
19. The Mustard-Seed Medicine............................................... 103
20. A Musician and His Trumpet.............................................. 109
21. The Road to Olelpanti......................................................... 113
Human Universals
Ideals:
22. The Complaint Against the Stomach .................................. 121
23. The Trees Choose a King.................................................... 124
24. A Visit to the Land-of-Great-Men ...................................... 127
25. The Whale and the Big Bronze Statue................................ 133
Realities:
26. The Nervous Little Rabbit.................................................. 139
27. The Miller, His Boy and Their Donkey .............................. 144
28. The Wee, Wise Bird ............................................................ 146
29. Who Ate the Squabs?.......................................................... 150
30. The Two Cheats .................................................................. 154
31. The Old Bowl...................................................................... 157
Human Diversity
32. The Blind Men and the Elephant........................................ 165
33. A Ring-around of Temper................................................... 168
34. The Blind Man and the Lame Man..................................... 171
35. The Two Friends ................................................................. 173
36. King Saul Finds a Harpist................................................... 177
37. David and Jonathan Become Friends ................................. 182
38. The King's Spear and Water Jug......................................... 186
39. Damon and Pythias ............................................................. 191
40. The Camel Driver in Need of a Friend ............................... 195
41. Wise King Solomon ............................................................ 200
42. Jesus at a Wedding Party .................................................... 205
Teacher's Guide
How to Use These Stories......................................................... 211
Discussion Questions................................................................ 226
Foreword
This second edition of From Long Ago and Many Lands is dedicated to
Sophia Lyon Fahs
and
Florence Wolff Klaber
with profound gratitude for their leadership in liberal religious educa-
tion and with deepest respect for their inspiration, challenge and legacy
in Unitarian Universalist religious education.
From Long Ago and Many Lands: Stories for Children Told Anew origi-
nally was published in 1948 by Beacon Press. Reprinted six times, this
collection is a classic in our liberal religious community. A small
teacher's guide by Florence Wolff Klaber was also published in 1948 to
supplement From Long Ago and Many Lands. Klaber's guide has been
reprinted several times, but thirty years has lapsed since its last printing
in 1962.
This second edition attempts to honor the original intent and pur-
poses of Sophia Lyon Fahs and Florence Wolff Klaber by combining
their works in one volume. These two liberal religious educators were
truly pioneering leaders in many ways. They envisioned religious edu-
cation as a life-long experience, integrated wisdom from many reli-
gions and cultures into their works, promoted values that are currently
stated in our Purposes and Principles, nurtured a religious harmony of
spirituality and ethics and cooperated across the liberal religious com-
munity in educational pursuits and publications.
Patricia Hoertdoerfer
Children's Program Director
UUA Department of Religious Education