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1、THEVIOLETFAIRYBOOKEditedbyANDREWLANGTOVIOLETMYERSISDEDICATEDTHEVIOLETFAIRYBOOKPREFACETheEditortakesthisopportunitytorepeatwhathehasoftensaidbefore,thatheisnottheauthorofthestoriesintheFairyBooks;thathedidnotinventthem'outofhisownhead.'Heisaccustomedtobeingasked,byladies,'Haveyouwrittenanythingelse
2、excepttheFairyBooks?'HeisthenobligedtoexplainthathehasNOTwrittentheFairyBooks,but,savethese,haswrittenalmosteverythingelse,excepthymns,sermons,anddramaticworks.ThestoriesinthisVioletFairyBook,asinalltheothersoftheseries,havebeentranslatedoutofthepopulartraditionaltalesinanumberofdifferentlanguages
3、.Thesestoriesareasoldasanythingthatmenhaveinvented.Theyarenarratedbynakedsavagewomentonakedsavagechildren.Theyhavebeeninheritedbyourearliestcivilisedancestors,whoreallybelievedthatbeastsandtreesandstonescantalkiftheychoose,andbehavekindlyorunkindly.Thestoriesarefulloftheoldestideasofageswhenscienc
4、edidnotexist,andmagictooktheplaceofscience.Anybodywhohasthecuriositytoreadthe'LegendaryAustralianTales,'whichMrs.LanglohParkerhascollectedfromthelipsoftheAustraliansavages,willfindthatthesetalesarecloselyakintoourown.Whowerethefirstauthorsofthemnobodyknows--probablythefirstmenandwomen.Evemayhaveto
5、ldthesetalestoamuseCainandAbel.Aspeoplegrewmorecivilisedandhadkingsandqueens,princesandprincesses,theseexaltedpersonsgenerallywerechosenasheroesandheroines.Butoriginallythecharacterswerejust'aman,'and'awoman,'and'aboy,'and'agirl,'withcrowdsofbeasts,birds,andfishes,allbehavinglikehumanbeings.Whenth
6、enoblesandotherpeoplebecamerichandeducated,theyforgottheoldstories,butthecountrypeopledidnot,andhandedthemdown,withchangesatpleasure,fromgenerationtogeneration.Thenlearnedmencollectedandprintedthecountrypeople'sstories,andthesewehavetranslated,toamusechildren.Theirtastesremainlikethetastesoftheirn
7、akedancestors,thousandsofyearsago,andtheyseemtolikefairytalesbetterthanhistory,poetry,geography,orarithmetic,justasgrown-uppeoplelikenovelsbetterthananythingelse.Thisisthewholetruthofthematter.Ihavesaidsobefore,a
