Once upon a time the King of Troy's son was called Paris. And he
went over to _Greace_ to see what it was like. And here he saw the
beautiful Helen_er,_ and likewise her husband Menela_yus_. And one
day, Menelayus went out hunting, and left Paris and Helener alone,
and Paris said: "Do you not feel _dul_ in this _palis_?"_[2] And
Helener said: "I feel very dull in this _pallice_," and Paris said:
"Come away and see the world with me." So they _sliped_ off together,
and they came to the King of Egypt, and _he_ said: "Who _is_ the
young lady"? So Paris told him. "But," said the King, "it is not
_propper_ for you to go off with other people's _wifes_. So Helener
shall stop here." Paris stamped his foot. When Menelayus got home,
_he_ stamped his foot. And he called round him all his soldiers,
and they stood round Troy for eleven years. At last they thought it
was no use _standing_ any longer, so they built a wooden horse in
memory of Helener and the Trojans and it was taken into the town.


Now, the mistake I made in my presentation was to lay any particular
stress on the reason for elopement by my careful readjustment, which
really called more attention to the episode than was necessary for
the age of my audience; and evidently caused confusion in the minds
of some of the children who knew the story in its more accurate
original form.

While traveling in America, I was provided with a delightful appendix
to this story. I had been telling Miss Longfellow and her sister the
little girl's version of the Siege of Troy, and Mrs. Thorpe made the
following comment, with the American humor the dryness of which adds