Excerpt from A Book of Short Stories: A Collection for Use in High Schools, Compiled and Edited, With Introduction and Notes, and Biographies of the Authors In all ages and countries mankind has told stories, each age and country finding reflection in the type of narrative best suited to mirror the life and the ideals of the people. Oriental tales which have descended to us are frequently of a moralizing or didactic nature. The fables of zesop, as every reader knows, are told to point a truth or to enjoin a. Precept. The story of the stork and the fox counsels courtesy; that of the lion and the mouse illustrates that the great may be aided by the humble. So Scriptural narratives convey an underlying truth or idealize a virtue. The story of David and Jonathan apotheosizes brotherly love; the very name of Job epitomizes patience. In short, there usually occurs in Oriental narrative - whatever else may exist - the didactic ele ment, with emphasis on the moral or spiritual. The ideal of truth is Hebraic. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.