WOODLAND TALES
BY
ERNEST THOMPSON SETON
WITH 100 DRAWINGS
BY
THE AUTHOR
AUTHOR OF "WILD ANIMALS AT HOME," "WILD
ANIMALS I HAVE KNOWN," "TWO LITTLE SAVAGES,"
"BIOGRAPHY OF A GRIZZLY," "LIFE
HISTORIES OF NORTHERN ANIMALS," "ROLF IN
THE WOODS," "THE BOOK OF WOODCRAFT."
CHIEF OF THE WOODCRAFT LEAGUE OF AMERICA
GARDEN CITY NEW YORK
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
1922
ERNEST THOMPSON SETON
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF TRANSLATION
INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES, INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN
COPYRIGHT 1903, 1904, BY THE CENTURY COMPANY
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES
AT
THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y.
PREFACE
These Mother Carey Tales were written for children ofall ages, who have not outgrown the delight of a fairy tale.It might almost be said that they were written chiefly for myself,for I not only have had the pleasure of telling them tothe little ones, and enjoying their quick response, but havealso had the greater pleasure of thinking them and settingthem down.
As I write, I look from a loved window, across a landscapethat I love, and my eye rests on a tall beautiful pine plantedwith my own hands years ago. It is a mass of green fringes,with gem-like tips of buds and baby cones, beautiful, exquisitelybeautiful, whether seen from afar as a green spire,or viewed close at hand as jewellery. It is beautiful, fragileand—unimportant, as the world sees it; yet through its wind-wavedmass one can get little glimpses of the thing thatbacks it all, the storm-defying shaft, the enduring rigidliving growing trunk of massive timber that gives it thenobility of strength, and adds value to the rest; sometimesit must be sought for, but it always surely is there, ennoblingthe lesser pretty things.
I hope this tree is a fair image of my fairy tale. I knowmy child friends will love the piney fringes and the jewelcones, and they can find the unyielding timber in its underlyingtruth, if they seek for it. If they do not, it is enoughto have them love the cones.[vi]
All are not fairy tales. Other chapters set forth thingsto see, thing to do, things to go to, things to know, things toremember. These, sanctified in the blue outdoors, spell"Woodcraft," the one pursuit of man that never dies or palls,the thing that in the bygone ages gifted him and yet againwill gift him with the seeing eye, the thinking hand, the bodythat fails not, the winged soul that stores up precious memories.
It is hoped that these chapters will show how easy andalluring, and how good a thing it is.
While they are meant for the children six years of ageand upward, it is assumed that Mother (or Father) will beactive as a leader; therefore it is