Of Stories and Essays

”Bree said, ’And now, Tarkheena, tell us your story. And don’t hurry it – I’m feeling comfortable now.’

”Aravis immediately began, sitting quite still and using a rather different tone and style from her usual one. For in Calormen, story-telling (whether the stories are true or made up) is a thing you’re taught, just as English boys and girls are taught essay writing. The difference is that people want to hear the stories, whereas I never heard of anyone who wanted to read the essays.”

– C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy

The True Order of Knowledge

"It is better to be a simpleton and to approach God with love than to be a know-it-all and, at the same time, be an enemy of God." These are the words of the priest-martyr, St. Iraneaus of Lyon. The truth of these words have been confirmed at all times and is also confirmed in our time. One thing must be added to this, namely, that the lovers of God are not simpletons because they know God well enough that they are able to love Him. Of all human knowledge, this knowledge is more important and greater. To this must be added that the enemies of God cannot be more knowledgeable, even though they consider themselves as such, because their knowledge is unavoidably chaotic, for it does not have a source and does not have order. For the source and order of all knowledge is God. Some of the saints, such as Paul the Simple, did not know how to read or write yet with the strength of their spirit and divine love surpassed the entire world. Whosoever approaches God with love, that person is not capable of crime. Knowledge without love toward God is motivated by the spirit of criminality and war. St. Euthymius the Great taught: "Have love; for what salt is to food, love is to every virtue." Every virtue is tasteless and cold if it is not seasoned and warmed by divine love.

(source:  The Prologue from Ohrid, April 2)

A Sinful Monk Who Died Joyfully

This monk was lazy, careless, and lacking in his prayer life; but throughout all of his life, he did not judge anyone. While dying, he was happy. When the brethren asked him how is it that with so many sins, you die happy? He replied, "I now see angels who are showing me a letter with my numerous sins. I said to them, Our Lord said: `stop judging and you will not be judged' (St. Luke 6:37). I have never judged anyone, and I hope in the mercy of God that He will not judge me." And the angels tore up the paper. Upon hearing this, the monks were astonished and learned from it. (from the Prologue of Ochrid)

Greek and Latin in the 18th Century

From Letter XLIX of Lord Chesterfield's Juvenile letters:

"Pray mind your Greek particularly; for to know Greek very well is to be really learned : there is no great credit in knowing Latin, for everybody knows it; and it is only a shame not to know it."

A Classical Education through Email?

About a year ago I began to email my son the juvenilia of Lord Chesterfield (a letter per week).  Lord Chesterfield wrote hundreds of letters to his son in the middle of the 18th century.  His early letters were an attempt to give his son a classical education while they were apart.  Chesterfield's juvenilia includes basic instruction in history, myth, geography, chronology, poetry, oratory, and virtue.  It reminds me of Famous Men of Rome or Fifty Famous Stories Retold, but with a personal touch.  Most are appropriate for children around the age of ten (I have only had to censor one letter in the first forty seven)        


The letters can be found in the back of volume II of Lord Chesterfield's Letters to His Son (page 341ff)  . I downloaded a free pdf of the book and then took snapshots of the individual letters and sent them to my son through email.  It's kind of like getting a letter from the 18th century.  I've included a couple of examples at the beginning and end of this post (click on them to make them more readable).  It's a painless and fun way to approach some basic classical knowledge.

A Princess of Mars - 1917 versus 2012

Original Artwork - 1917

 Dejah Thoris - 2012

My 11 year old son enjoyed reading the Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian Tales, so I took him to see the new movie of the first book in the series, John Carter of Mars.  We both enjoyed the movie and weren't too put off by the plot changes made in order to make it to the big screen.  More interesting to me than the plot changes, however, was the way that the characters were changed to make them suitable to a modern audience. 

John Carter, the protagonist of the books, is portrayed in the movie as an adventurous, though none-too-bright, disgruntled and angry civil war veteran, who is mostly out for himself until he falls for the Princess of Mars.  In the book he is a southern gentleman, who though a man of war, is filled with virtue and compassion, he even teaches the green men of Mars to treat their beasts of burden with kindness.

The contrast between the 1917 princess and the 2012 version is even more striking and is captured in the two poses found in the images above.  The modern princess is a warrior in her own right in contrast to the Dejah from 1917.  The following quote from the book also illustrates how "far" she has come:  "I am happy here. I do not know why it is that I should always be happy and contented when you, John Carter, a stranger, are with me; yet at such times it seems that I am safe and that, with you, I shall soon return to my father's court and feel his strong arms about me and my mother's tears and kisses on my cheek."  Alas, not the stuff of the modern princess.

An 11 year old boy's favorites

One year ago I asked my 10 year old son to give me a list of his favorite books, and it proved to be a quite popular post.  So, I asked him to give me another list this year and here it is:

1. The Hobbit
2. Here There Be Dragons (series)
3. Harry Potter (series)
4. 100 Cupboards (series)
5. The Precious Pearl
6. The Boy's King Arthur
7. Swallows and Amazons (series)
8. Redwall (series)
9. Martian Tales Trilogy