Tales From Silver Lands

Tales from Silver Lands is a collection of folk tales and myths from South America.  Strength, bravery and quick-thinking characterize many of the tales.  Some witch, giant or other type of monster comes to a land and the strong young men have to find a way to defeat the foe, often with help from old grandmothers or mysterious travellers.  "For the brave one is not he that does not fear, but rather he that fears and yet does the thing that he has set out to do." (p.204)  "Many there are, Na-Ha, who live not to know of the good that they do." (p. 35)

Another theme that runs through many of the stories is that the simple life and hard work are best.  "This is a land where men believe in gold alone, and much blood is spilled because of it.  Far better is it that men should choose that which is in the earth." (p. 25)  "Little things left undone soon become big things." (p. 163)  "The trouble is, you can't be happy when everything is done for you." (p. 169)  In the October 2010 General Conference, Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, "There is a beauty and clarity that comes from simplicity that we sometimes do not appreciate in our thirst for intricate solutions." (Ensign, Nov. 2101, p. 20)

Good triumphs over evil.  "But evil, though it may touch the good, cannot for ever bind it." (p. 19)

Two of the stories dealt with wishing, and how our wishes can be our undoing.  "Wishes are no good and he who wishes, risks.  For why?  Whenever you wish, you leave out something that should not be left out, and so things go wrong." (p. 127)  "For you must know that no man knows the thing that is best for him and for his welfare, and many are apt to see some little things as desirable, the which in time work out for their own undoing." (p. 185)

The author, Charles J. Finger, spent time in South America.  At the beginning of several of the stories, he describes the setting in which he heard the story being told.  I enjoyed learning how he heard them as much as I enjoyed the stories themselves, and wish he had told how he heard each one of them.

My favorite story was "The Wonderful Mirror," probably because it seems most like the fairy tales of the West.  There is a magical mirror, an evil step-mother, a beautiful maiden, a brave young man, a white two-headed toad.  (Okay, the evil toad is not in any fairy tale I remember.) 

One final quote to wish you all a happy day.  "It is well enough to have a good cry, but it is better to be gay and have a good laugh." (p. 60)

Finger, Charles J. Tales from Silver Lands.  Doubleday, 1924.

The Dark Frigate

First question--What exactly is a frigate?  Dictionary.com says "1. a fast naval vessel of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, generally having a lofty ship rig and heavily armed on one or two decks."  This novel happens to be set in the early 17th century, but that definition seems to fit the ship in question. 

The protagonist, nineteen-year-old Philip Marsham, on the death of his father is left nearly penniless and wholly friendless.  His father had been a sailor and Philip has the sea in his blood.  Upon running away from a mishap in London, Philip meets two sailors inland.  He joins with one of them, Martin, walking to a port to find work on a ship.  A dodgy character this Martin turned out to be.  They find work on the Rose of Devon, but they give help to a stranded band of sailors on the high seas who turn out to be pirates!!

It is quite the adventure story.  Being a tale of the high seas, much of the vocabulary was dealing with sailing vessels.  Either look up words like ketch, mizzenmast, boatswain, halyard, scuppers, etc., to find their meaning, or you could do like I did and just skim over those words.  The story is still good without knowing the technicalities of masted sailing vessels.

The pirates who take over the ship are like the pirates we see in movies (well, not Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow).  They are selfish, mean, murderous men who scheme, cheat, lie and kill on a whim.  This passage describes the murder of the captain of the Rose of Devon by the pirates.  "Thereupon, turning like a flash, Captain Candle spitted the scoundrel with his sword.  But the man lying in wait on the right of the door saw his fellow's blow fail and perceived the reason, and leaping on the captain from behind, he seized his oiled hair with one hand and hauled back his head, and reaching forward with the other hand, drove a knife into the captain's bare throat." (p. 112)

We find some good morals in The Dark Frigate.  One that crops up often is the peril of strong drink.  "He had a keen mind and strong will, and his head had long resisted the assaults of the wine; but wine is a cunning, powerful foe and not easily discouraged, which by sapping and mining can accomplish the fall of the tallest citadel." (p. 32)  Then, there is a whole chapter beginning on page 144, entitled "A Wonderful Excellent Cook," which mocks the man who over indulges, and also shows the cruelty of the pirate captain, the Old One.

Another moral is to choose your friends wisely.  Philip chose to stay with Martin even though he sees and hears things that make him dubious of the honesty of his new "friend."  If he had parted company with Martin when first suspicious, this book would have been much shorter and rather boring.  But in real life, choosing friends who will help you keep your integrity is very important and can be one of the best decisions you ever make.

This passage describes one of the leaders of the pirate crew.  "His light, incisive speech, so unlike the boisterous ranting of the Old One, in its own way curiously influenced even the Old One himself.  A man who has a trick of getting at sound reasons, unmoved my bluster or emotion, can hold his own in any company; and many a quiet voice can fire a ship's crew to action as a slow match fires a cannon." (p. 129)  I include this for a couple of reasons.  It gives a flavor for Hawes' writing style.  Maybe a bit difficult for younger readers, but I liked it because it made me think about what I was reading and its meaning.  I also appreciated the sentiment.  Sometimes when me meet someone who talks over much, or is too loud or emotional, we don't give as much heed to them as someone who says little, but when they do speak, it is something worth hearing.

In conclusion, I very much enjoyed The Dark Frigate, although I think it better for middle or high school readers and recommend it to readers who want a good adventure tale.

Hawes, Charles Boardman. The Dark Frigate. Little, Brown and Company, 1971.

(Did anyone notice I figured out how to include a picture of the book cover?)

The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle

Hugh Lofting first wrote of Doctor Dolittle in letters home to his family while serving in the trenches of World War I.  He was from England, but later moved to the United States.  The character he created became the famous Dr. Dolittle.  The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, the second in the Dr. Dolittle series, is narrated by his travelling companion, Tommy Stubbins.  Tommy Stubbins accompanied the doctor when he was a young boy and explains in the prologue that he is writing as an old man and may not remember everything perfectly, but if he has a question, he simply has to ask Polynesia, the parrot, to clarify.

So begins the fantastical story of Doctor Dolittle, which I really enjoyed reading.  Maybe it was the sharp contrast between it and The Story of Mankind that made it so fun.  Dr. Dolittle is patient, smart, responsible, persistent and lucky. He never lets his feathers get ruffled, even when the ship runs into the bank before they are out of the village; stowaways are discovered on board; or when he is made king against his will.  (If any of you are familiar with Bob the Builder, you might get an idea of his calm manner, but with more smarts and fewer annoying characteristics.) 

This book teaches kids that if they persevere in their dreams, they will succeed.  For example, the doctor was at long last able to crack the code to the shellfish language, and Tommy realized his dream of becoming a naturalist despite coming from a very humble background.

We also learn to treat others with kindness and to find the good and talents in others.  When Dr. Dolittle is invited to Tommy's home to ask his parents if Tommy can come be his apprentice, he gladly agrees and spends an evening with his family.  They later put up a plaque something to the effect "Dr. Dolittle once played the flute here in 1840," kind of like "George Washington slept here."

I would definitely recommend this book to the young and young at heart.

Lofting, Hugh.  The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle.  Grosset & Dunlap Publishers.  276.  Print.

(So how do you notate the year published when you can't find it in the book?  There was an illustrations copyright 1998 by Sonja Lamut, but I don't see book copyright date.  Well, I tried.)

The Story of Mankind

Yes.  The whole story of mankind!!  Author Hendrik Van Loon takes us from primordial soup to post World War II (with the help of his son, Willem).  Van Loon, born in the Netherlands in 1882,  moved to the United States in 1902 to attend Cornell University.  He became a citizen of the U.S. in 1919.  In the introduction to the book, Van Loon states, "History is the mighty Tower of Experience, which Time has built amidst the endless fields of bygone ages.  It is no easy task to reach the top of this ancient structure, and get the benefit of the full view.  There is no elevator, but young feet are strong and it can be done."  This gives the basic reason behind taking on the task of writing a history of mankind (definite focus on the Western world).  When we can get the big picture of the past, we will be able to better see the path to the future.

From my point of view, having earned a BA in history, it was difficult to really enjoy such a superficial study.  Van Loon dealt with such a vast subject matter that he could not put much detail into any one topic.  From the point of view of a child there are a couple of things to consider.  First, the sheer size of the book would be daunting.  Second, the very subject matter would be rather off-putting to most children.  Third, if a child did pick this up to read, they would probably get a bit confused.  It wasn't too bad for me since I have a background in history, but I think it would be hard for a child to read it without having to ask a lot of questions, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it would make reading it frustrating for them.

Newbery wanted to help children be "strong, hardy, healthy, virtuous, wise and happy." I definitely think a  knowledge of history is important, but I'm not sure if a crash course like this book is the best way.  There were several nuggets I pulled out of the book.  My favorites I will quote below:

• Why should we ever read fairy stories, when the truth of history is so much more interesting and entertaining? (p. 154)
• For tolerance, is of very recent origin and even the people of our own so-called "modern world" are apt to be tolerant only upon such matters as do not interest them very much. (p. 264)
• Try to discover the hidden motives behind every action and then you will understand the world around you much better and you will have a greater chance to help others, which (when all is said and done) is the only truly satisfactory way of living. (p. 370)
• But in practical politics, it does not matter what is true, but everything depends upon what the people believe to be true. (p. 382)
• Most likely we will follow a dozen wrong tracks before we find the right direction. And in the meantime we are fast learning one very important lesson--that the future belongs to the living and that the dead ought to mind their own business. (p. 482)

Quite entertaining at times, Van Loon seemed to feel no qualms about inserting his opinion about the subject.  And he seemed to have had a thing about personal grooming.  In writing of the fall of Rome, he states, "The rich people had been thrown out of their villas which were now inhabited by evil-smelling and hairy barbarians." (p. 129)  Referring to the Norsemen, "The Northmen were very intelligent.  They soon learned to speak the language of their subjects and gave up the uncivilised ways of the early Vikings who had been very picturesque but also very unwashed and terribly cruel." (p. 151)  One last example, about the Tartar control of Russia he says, "No Russian could hope to survive unless he was willing to creep before a dirty little yellow man who sat in a tent somewhere in the heart of the steppes of southern Russian and spat at him." (p. 305)

Quotes I laughed at.

• Thereafter the Romans enjoyed one great advantage over the Greeks.  They managed the affairs of their country without making too many speeches. (p. 94)
• But if they followed this advice of the distant Pope and were caught, they were hanged by their near-by Liege Lord and that too was very unpleasant. (p. 164)

Van Loon, Hendrik.  The Story of Mankind. New & Enlarged. Liveright Publishing Corp., 1951. 540. Print.