Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

Really Old Stories

Now that I’m so into Kindle, I have been reading the old favorites. The one on the menu is The Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde, written in 1888. I must have forgotten how entertaining they were, being fable-like and all, since I am just as entertained as when I was a child and my mother read them to me. I remember way back when I bawled my eyes out over The Nightingale and the Rose, not understanding why the nightingale had to die. Even at this time, the story had a similar effect on me, and I am by no means a crybaby.

On hindsight, I am so glad I was introduced to the likes of Oscar Wilde and Rumi at a young age for they gave me a balanced view of the world, and not the one of “happily ever after” and Santa-and-Tooth-Fairy-will-like-you-whatever-you-do. Instead the morals like “don’t be selfish” and “love truly” were introduced underhandedly but firmly through tales of astute writers.

Oscar Wilde combines wit and joy with sadness, but for all the suffering, he shows the way to salvation, too, and with delightful and almost magical descriptions. For our time, some of the stories may not sound ‘politically correct’ for young children since they project the understanding of the world by the English in the nineteenth century, but they still would make wonderful stories to read to children, provided an adult checks them first.

ASIN: B0082ZICI2	The Happy Prince and Other Tales Product Type: Kindle Store
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