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1、ONFAIRY-STORIESIPROPOSEtospeakaboutfairy-stories,thoughIamawarethatthisisarashadventure.Faerieisaperilousland,andinitarepitfallsfortheunwaryanddungeonsfortheoverbold.AndoverboldImaybeaccounted,forthoughIhavebeenaloveroffairy-storiessinceIlearnedtoread,andhaveattimesthoughtaboutthem,Ihavenotstudiedth
2、emprofessionally.Ihavebeenhardlymorethanawanderingexplorer(ortrespasser)intheland,fullofwonderbutnotofinformation.Therealmoffairy-storyiswideanddeepandhighandfilledwithmanythings:allmannerofbeastsandbirdsarefoundthere;shorelessseasandstarsuncounted;beautythatisanenchantment,andanever-presentperil;bo
3、thjoyandsorrowassharpasswords.Inthatrealmamanmay,perhaps,counthimselffortunatetohavewandered,butitsveryrichnessandstrangenesstiethetongueofatravellerwhowouldreportthem.Andwhileheisthereitisdangerousforhimtoasktoomanyquestions,lestthegatesshouldbeshutandthekeysbelost.Thereare,however,somequestionstha
4、tonewhoistospeakaboutfairy-storiesmustexpecttoanswer,orattempttoanswer,whateverthefolkofFaëriemaythinkofhisimpertinence.Forinstance:Whatarefairy-stories?Whatistheirorigin?Whatistheuseofthem?Iwilltrytogiveanswerstothesequestions,orsuchhintsofanswerstothemasIhavegleaned—primarilyfromthestoriesthemselv
5、es,thefewofalltheirmultitudethatIknow.FAIRY-STORYWhatisafairy-story?InthiscaseyouwillturntotheOxfordEnglishDictionaryinvain.Itcontainsnoreferencetothecombinationfairy-story,andisunhelpfulonthesubjectoffairiesgenerally.IntheSupplement,fairy-taleisrecordedsincetheyear1750,anditsleadingsenseissaidtobe(
6、a)ataleaboutfairies,orgenerallyafairylegend;withdevelopedsenses,(b)anunrealorincrediblestory,and(c)afalsehood.Thelasttwosenseswouldobviouslymakemytopichopelesslyvast.Butthefirstsenseistoonarrow.Nottoonarrowforanessay;itiswideenoughformanybooks,buttoonarrowtocoveractualusage.Especiallyso,ifweacceptth
7、elexicographer'sdefinitionoffairies:“supernaturalbeingsofdiminutivesize,inpopularbeliefsupposedtopossessmagicalpowersandtohavegreatinfluenceforgoodorevilovertheaffairsofman.”Supernaturalisadangerousan
