Today on Project Gutenberg: "The Topaz Story Book"
Legends of Autumn (and Halloween, too).
Today on Project Gutenberg, we have...
The Topaz Story Book by Various Authors
As I write these words, we are right in the middle of Fall with that most glorious of holidays, Halloween, only a few days away. It's the season of golden leaves and pumpkin spice lattes, jack-o-lanterns and spooky skeletons. So in the spirit of that season, I decided to spotlight a Project Gutenberg text that was all about Halloween. The book which caught my eye wasn't all about Halloween, per se, but it encompasses that subject and includes even more.
You see, the official title of today's book is The Topaz Story Book: Stories and Legends of Autumn, Hallowe'en and Thanksgiving. Originally published in 1917, it's an anthology of Autumn-related folktales from around the world. The editors/compilers of this anthology were Ada and Eleanor Skinner; I can't dig up that much information about them, but I can tell you that Eleanor was a high school English teacher in Columbus, Ohio, while Ada taught at a school in New York City. They clearly had a passion for folklore and children's literature, because they compiled several anthologies like this: stories related to spring, summer and winter are presented in the Emerald, Turquoise and Pearl Story Books, respectively.
There are several dozen stories and poems included in the Topaz Story Book, forming an impressive selection of authors and sources. While the Skinners' focus is mainly on tales from Western Europe, the collection is more eclectic than it first appears. Several of the stories originate from Native American sources (or at least claim to), while two other stories are listed as Japanese legends. Other entries originate from Britain, France, Germany, Hungary, Denmark and the region of Tyrol in northern Italy/southern Austria. The stories themselves are a combination of original retellings and existing texts borrowed from previous publications. The latter category includes short stories and poems from recognizable names like Louisa May Alcott, Robert Louis Stevenson and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The original material, meanwhile, is largely written by Ada and Eleanor themselves.
Most of the writing in the Topaz Story Book is simplistic, as you would expect from a book directed at young children. Because of that, the language is still easily accessible to modern readers. Looking at the Skinners' contributions, for example, the prose is straightforward and charming—just the thing to read to an audience of kids, preferably with silly voices for all the characters.
"I'll help you search for them, Jolly Little Witch," said the pixie. "I suppose I must give up my laugh, for I don't know anyone else to ask about it. Please tell me what your goggles look like."
"They are two round glass windows, which I wear over my eyes when I ride through the air," said the little Witch.
Away started the pixie to search for them. He looked carefully around every ragweed stalk in the meadow, but he could see nothing which looked like 'two little round glass windows.'
"Perhaps one cannot find anything which has been lost on Hallowe'en," he said to himself.
Slowly he walked back to the place where he had left the Jolly Little Witch. When he reached her he stared sharply at something on top of her head.
"Please tell me more about your goggles," said Twinkling Feet. "Are they like the two glass windows across the front of your hat?"
"Across the front of my hat!" exclaimed the witch, putting her hands up to find out what the little elf meant. Then she burst out laughing, and said, "Well, well! What strange things do happen on Hallowe'en! Come, Jack-o-Lantern! Come! The pixie has found my goggles. They were on top of my head all the time!"
(Pages 293-294)
That passage is from "Twinkling Feet's Hallowe'en," written by Eleanor and based on a folktale from Cornwall. In it, a pixie named Twinkling Feet contracts rapid onset clinical depression—I mean, loses his laugh on Halloween and has until midnight to get it back, otherwise it'll be lost forever. It's one of the six stories/poems in the section of the book titled "All Hallowe'en," which focuses specifically on that holiday rather than Fall in general. Other sections focus on trees, animals, the harvest and other seasonal topics. Looking at the Halloween section, we find Robert Louis Stevenson's poem "Shadow March," two original poems about jack-o-lanterns, and some British folktales that take place on Halloween. One of them, "The Elfin Prince," is recognizable as a watered-down version of the Scottish ballad "Tam Lin."
The Topaz Story Book is a great choice if you're looking for an enjoyable seasonal book that you can easily peruse and read in bite-sized chunks. Though it's obviously not as substantial as a serious anthology of folklore would be, the stories contained within are entertaining nonetheless. So if you like folk tales and children's literature, consider curling up with a pumpkin spice latte and a black cat and immersing yourself in these autumnal legends.
And that's what we found Today on Project Gutenberg. See you next time!
—Dana
