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 Introduction This second edition of From Long Ago and Many Lands encom- passes and expresses the Principles of our Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, including: The inherent worth and dignity of every person Justice, equity and compassion in human relations Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations A free and responsible search for truth and meaning The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. The stories in this collection are drawn from the many sources of our living tradition: Direct experiences of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures Words and deeds of prophetic women and men Wisdom from the world's religions Jewish and Christian teachings Humanist teachings Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions. This new edition includes forty-one stories from Fahs's origi- nal collection, plus a new tale, "The Road to Olelpanti," from the Wintu Indians of North America. "The Road to Olelpanti" seemed a necessary and appropriate addition to honor Native American culture. Originally it was included in Beginnings: Earth, Sky, Life, Death by Fahs and Dorothy Spoerl, and they acknowledged its source from Creation Myths of Primitive America by Jeremiah Curtin (Boston: Little Brown and Co., 1898, pp. 163-174). To help parents and educators introduce Fahs's work to today's children, this second edition also includes a teacher's guide for building a religious education program around these timeless tales. The guide includes story summaries and discussion questions, many of which honor the focus and original words of Florence Klaber. It is flexible and depends on teachers or parents to choose discussion questions and activities most significant and meaning- ful to their particular child, class and congregation, and to their teaching style and skills. The stories in this collection are a treasury of folktale, scrip- ture and children's literature culled from many ages and civiliza- tions. They illustrate basic and universal themes that are of the deepest significance to a child's