E-text prepared by Sigal Alon, Marcia Brooks, Sunflower,
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
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FAMOUS TALES OF
FACT AND FANCY
MYTHS AND LEGENDS
OF THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD
RETOLD FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY
LOGAN MARSHALL
ILLUSTRATED
WITH ORIGINAL PLATES
PHILADELPHIA
THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
Book CoverL. F. Myers
PREFACE
The myths and legends here gathered together have appealedand will continue to appeal to every age. Nowhere in therealm of fiction are there stories to compare with those whichtook form centuries ago when the race was in its childhood—storiesso intimately connected with the life and history andreligion of the great peoples of antiquity that they have becomean integral part of our own civilization, a heritage ofwealth to every child that is born into the world.
The historic basis of the tales is slight; yet who can think ofthe Greeks without remembering the story of Troy, or ofRome without a backward glance at Æneas, fabled founderof the race and hero of Virgil's world-famous Latin epic?Any understanding of German civilisation would be incompletewithout knowledge of the mythical prince Siegfried, hero ofthe earliest literature of the Teutonic people, finally immortalizedin the nineteenth century through the musical dramasof Wagner. Any understanding of English civilization wouldbe similarly incomplete without the semi-historic figure ofKing Arthur, glorified through the accumulated legends ofthe Middle Ages and made to live again in the melodic idyllsof the great Victorian laureate. And so one might go on.In many ways the mythology and folklore of a country are atruer index to the life of its people than any of the pages ofactual history; for through these channels the imaginationand the heart speak. All the chronicles of rulers and governingbodies are as dust in comparison.
The imagination of the ancients had few if any bounds, and[Pg ii]even Athens in the height of her intellectual glory acceptedthe fabulous tales of gods and half-gods. Today we read andwonder. But the child, who in his brief lifetime must liveover in part at least the history of the whole race, delightsin the myths and legends which made his ancestors admireor tremble. They are naturally not so real to him as theywere to his forefathers; yet they open up a rich and gorgeouswonderland, without excursions into which every child mustgrow up the poorer in mind and spirit.
To the children of America, wherever they may be, thisbook is dedicated. It is sure to bring enjoyment, becauseits stories have stood the test of time.
Then Arthur drew out the sword and was proclaimed king.