The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought: Studies of the Activities and Influences of the Child Among Primitive Peoples, Their Analogues and Survivals in the Civilization of To-DayChamberlain, Alexander Francis
Science
The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought: Studies of the Activities and Influences of the Child Among Primitive Peoples, Their Analogues and Survivals in the Civilization of To-Day
Chamberlain, Alexander Francis
Child rearing; Children -- Folklore; Folklore and children
"Jennie had a beautiful new box of paints; and, in the afternoon, while
her mother was gone, she painted all the chairs in the parlour, so as to
make them look nice for her mother. When her mother came home, Jennie
ran to meet her, and said, 'Oh mamma! come and see how pretty I have
made the new parlour'; but her mamma took her paints away and sent her
to bed. If you had been her mother, what would you have done or said to
Jennie?"
From this extensive and most ingenious investigation, the following
results are thought to have been obtained: "Young children are less
merciful than older ones. When they appear cruel and resentful, we know
that they are exercising what they honestly consider the right of
revenge. Boys are less merciful than girls. Young children judge of
actions by their results, older ones look at the motives which prompt
them. If a young child disobeys a command and no bad result follows, he
doesn't see that he has done wrong. Punishments which, have in them the
idea of restitution are common to all ages. Girls consider the why more
than boys; they explain to Jennie oftener than boys do. Threats and
forced promises do not impress children" (341. 96).
_Jurisprudence of Child's Play_.
Pitré, the great Italian folklorist, has made a special study, though a
very brief one, of the judgments rendered by children in games and
plays,--the jurisprudence of child's play (323). His essay, which is
devoted to the island of Sicily, touches upon a field which is likely to
yield a rich harvest all over the world. The rules of the game; who
shall play and who shall not; what is "out," "taw," "in"; when is one
"it," "caught," "out"; what can one "bar," and what "choose,"--all these
are matters which require the decisions of the youthful judiciary, and
call for the frequent exercise of judgment, and the sense of justice and
equity. Of the "Boy Code of Honour" some notice is taken by Gregor (246.
21-24). Mr. Newell thus describes the game of "Judge and Jury," as
played at Cambridge, Massachusetts (312.123): "A child is chosen to be
judge, two others for jurors (or, to speak with our little informant,
_juries_), who sit at his right and left hand. Each child must ask
the permission of the judge before taking any step. A platter is brought
in, and a child, rising, asks the judge, 'May I go into the middle of
the room?' 'May I turn the platter?' 'On which side shall it fall?' If
the platter falls on the wrong side, forfeit must be paid." In Germany
and Switzerland there is a game of the trial of a thief. In the former
country: "There is a king, a judge, an executioner, an accuser, and a
thief. The parts are assigned by drawing lots, but the accuser does not
know the name of the thief, and, if he makes an error, has to undergo
the penalty in his stead. The judge finally addresses the king,
inquiring if his majesty approves of his decision; and the king replies,
'Yes, your sentence entitles you to my favour'; or, 'No, your sentence
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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