Perhaps that friend who has done most to keep the world still interested in marionettes is Gordon Craig. He is a great English artist who sees them not as so much wood and cloth pulled about by a few strings at the whim of careless people, but rather as real creatures, human or more than human, quiet and dignified, as the gods of old. It has been his delight to give them again the great rôles of literature. He, too, invited the greatest actors of Europe to come and learn from them. Possibly you are asking what it is that gives such friendships to the marionette. Perhaps none of its great friends could answer. The marionette is quiet, submissive, dignified, and mysterious. It becomes a different thing in every hand. It expresses every mood, thought, and fancy of the one who pulls the strings. What will it do in your hands? [Illustration: PATHOS SENTIMENT MIRTH] [Illustration: [Boy]] CHAPTER III Choosing Your Play It may not always be easy to find just the play you wish for your marionettes. If you should go to your library and ask for a marionette play, it is possible that the librarian would have very little to offer you. But if you should go to her and ask for a good story that you could make into a marionette play, you would probably be surprised to see how many books she would place before you. You might even feel confused when you came to make your choice. Suppose that you wish to give a humorous play. Begin by making a list of the very best of the humorous books: _Alice in Wonderland_—Carroll _Alice, Through the Looking Glass_—Carroll _Gulliver’s Travels_—Swift _Pinocchio, The Story of a Marionette_—Lorenzini _Don Quixote_—Cervantes _Midsummer Night’s Dream_—Shakespeare _Peter and Wendy_—Barrie _Rip Van Winkle_—Irving _Just-So Stories_—Kipling _Arabian Nights_—Edited by Colum _Uncle Remus_—Harris _Rose and the Ring_—Thackeray _Tom Sawyer_—Clemens _Wind in the Willows_—Grahame _Tales of Laughter_—Wiggin and Smith You will find that it is not at all difficult to turn the vivid and amusing characters of these books into marionettes. Neither is it difficult to turn these stories into marionette plays. First: Make a list of the most important incidents in the story. Second: Decide upon the number of scenes that you think necessary for your play. Third: Decide upon the number of characters required for these scenes. These three things you must do if your play is to be only the simplest kind of a Burattini play, if it is to be a shadow play, or a marionette play.