so much to its value:

"I never realized before," she said, "how glad the Greeks must have
been to sit down even inside a horse, when they had been standing for
eleven years."

3. _The danger of introducing unfamiliar words_ is the very opposite
danger of the one to which I have just alluded; it is the taking for
granted that children are acquainted with the meaning of certain words
upon which turns some important point in the story. We must not
introduce, without at least a passing explanation, words which, if not
rightly understood, would entirely alter the picture we wish to present.

I had once promised to tell stories to an audience of Irish peasants,
and I should like to state here that, though my travels have brought
me in touch with almost every kind of audience, I have never found one
where the atmosphere is so "self-prepared" as in that of a group of
Irish peasants. To speak to them, especially on the subject of fairy-
tales, is like playing on a delicate harp: the response is so quick
and the sympathy so keen. Of course, the subject of fairy-tales is
one which is completely familiar to them and comes into their everyday
life. They have a feeling of awe with regard to fairies, which is
very deep in some parts of Ireland.

On this particular occasion I had been warned by an artist friend who
had kindly promised to sing songs between the stories, that my
audience would be of varying age and almost entirely illiterate. Many
of the older men and women, who could neither read nor write, had
never been beyond their native village. I was warned to be very
simple in my language and to explain any difficult words which might