“The fault is mine alone,” said the lay brother, “and I will gladly die for it; but first I must deliver a message from Abbot Hans.” And he drew forth the Bishop’s letter and told the man that he was free. “Hereafter you and your children shall play in the Christmas straw and celebrate your Christmas among people, just as Abbot Hans wished to have it,” said he. Then Robber Father stood there pale and speechless, but Robber Mother said in his name, “Abbot Hans has indeed kept his word, and Robber Father will keep his.” When the robber and his wife left the cave, the lay brother moved in and lived all alone in the forest, in constant meditation and prayer that his hard-heartedness might be forgiven him. But Göinge forest never again celebrated the hour of our Saviour’s birth; and of all its glory, there lives to-day only the plant which Abbot Hans had plucked. It has been named CHRISTMAS ROSE. And each year at Christmastide she sends forth from the earth her green stalks and white blossoms, as if she never could forget that she had once grown in the great Christmas garden at Göinge forest. Selma Lagerlöf, _The Girl from the Marsh Croft_. By permission of the publishers, Little, Brown & Company. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF LEGENDS AND TALES The editors have found these additional selections very useful in teaching the writing of legends and tales: Beck, L. Adams. _The Building of the Taj Mahal_. _The Atlantic Monthly_, March, 1921. Canton, William. _A Child’s Book of Saints_ (almost any chapter). The Everyman Library, E. P. Dutton & Company. Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Prioress’ Tale, _Hugh of Lincoln_. Frazer, Lady. _Leaves from the Golden Bough_. The Macmillan Company. Irving, Washington. _Tales of the Alhambra_, particularly _The Legend of the Moor’s Legacy_. Keats, John. _The Eve of St. Agnes_, _The Pot of Basil_. Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. _Tales of a Wayside Inn_, particularly _The Falcon of Ser Federigo_, _King Robert of Sicily_, and _The Vision Beautiful_. CHAPTER VI _Fairy Tales, Allegories, Parables and Fables_ In this section are included several types of stories which, though different in certain particulars, are clearly related to one another. In general, they are fictitious stories, often of supernatural events, told to teach a moral lesson. To modern ears, this is not an attractive description, but the stories, nevertheless, remain perennial favorites. La Fontaine, the great French writer of fables, says: “Fables in sooth are not what they appear; Our moralists are mice, and such small deer. We yawn at sermons, but we gladly turn To moral tales, and so amused, we learn.” From earliest times, fables, parables, and fairy tales have been popular devices for teaching without provoking yawns.