Importance of Fairy Tales

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'It's a funny thing about children,' Margherita sighed.

'When they're here, we're painfully aware about their presence; and when they're gone we're just as painfully aware of the hole they've left behind them'

.........House that Nino built

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My July score of blogs so far, the blogspot says, is 21; and it is only 15th today.

Generally I scramble to post something everyday; KGPhians are so demanding.

But the last fortnight I have been posting madly at all hours of the day @ 1.5 blogs a day.

Reason: Couple of weeks back Ishani left for Nellore with her mom.

And the vacuum tells.

She is retuning in a couple of days to take over...

She is just 1.6 years old; and I am waiting for her to attain the glorious 2-year-old-age. For I am bubbling with enthu to tell her all sorts of Fairy Tales, with top spin as I go.

Why?

Listen to Margherita's take once again:

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"...Our neighbour, Signora Marcella, was at our house on the day of departure, and heard the Duchess (6) remark;

'If the cat turns out to be a boy, it doesn't matter. But if it turns out to be a girl and lays eggs, please let me know.'

After the Duchess had gone, Signora Marcella gave vent to considerable indignation.

'That child has reached the age of reason. She is a mother of a family!' she exclaimed. 'To think that she can't distinguish a tomcat from a tabby, and imagine that felines lay eggs, like hens or canaries! There are certain essential facts that ought to be made clear even to the very young.'

But Margherita wasn't in the least worried.

'As long as the cat is in the know, that's all that matters. I don't mind if my child is ignorant of certain essential facts, but of course it won't do for the cat to behave like a chicken.'

I found the statement both logical and reassuring, but Signora Marcella didn't agree.

'It's a great mistake to keep children in the dark,' she insisted. 'Even the most old-fashioned educators believe that they ought to be instructed.'

Margherita has a limited number of ideas, but they are all crystal-clear.

'Even the most old-fashioned educators are a filthy-minded lot,' she replied. 'That cat never had any sexual instruction, but she'll know what to do when the time comes. No one ever talked very much to me about these things, but when I grew up, it never occurred to me to lay eggs like a hen or a canary.'

Signora Marcella isn't the sort to appreciate Margherita's reasoning.

'If you bring up a girl on fairy tales, how can she cope with the crude realities of life when they impinge upon her?'

Margherita was not in the least perturbed.

'How did you cope with them yourself?' she asked. 'After all, you and I were brought up on fairy tales, weren't we?'

Signora Marcella said that times had changed, but Margherita insisted that the famous 'facts of life' were just the same now as twenty years ago.

'I can't think of anything more criminal than taking away the illusions of a child. Fairy tales, as you call them, are like the foundations of a house. You may not see them, but they hold it up through the years.'

This was too much for Signora Marcella.

'What's criminal is to foster these illusions. If a girl's brought up on milk and honey, just think what a shock she'll receive when she learns babies aren't brought by the stork, for instance.'

'It wasn't too much of a shock to me,' said Margherita.

Signora Marcella had a great many things to say, the usual theories put forth by the 'sexual planners' the world over.

'I intend to tell my children fairy tales until they're at least twenty years old,' concluded Margherita. 'I still remember the ones that were told to me, and even if I've learned that they aren't true, I continue to get pleasure and some comfort from them.'

Signora Marcella insinuated that Margherita wasn't very bright, and Margherita insinuated even more serious things in return, and the discussion ended. The cat turned out to be a girl, and having attended no courses in eugenics, ignorantly laid a batch of eggs...."


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