The interpretation of Red Riding Hood—­which the children need not know—­is that the evening Sun goes to see her Grandmother, the Earth, who is the first to be swallowed up by the Wolf of Night and Darkness.  The red cloak is the twilight glow.  The Hunter may be the rising Sun that rescues all from Night. Red Riding Hood has been charmingly elaborated in Tieck’s Romantic Poems, and a similar story appears in a Swedish popular song, Jungfrun i’Blaskagen, in Folkviser 3; 68, 69.

VI, VII.  The Old Tale and the Modern Tale.

The old fairy tale is to be distinguished from the modern fairy tale.  Most of the tales selected have been old tales because they possess the characteristics suited to the little child.  The modern fairy tale may be said to begin with Andersen’s Fairy Tales.—­Since Andersen has been referred to frequently and as a study of The Tin Soldier has already been given, Andersen’s work can receive no more detailed treatment here.—­The modern fairy tale, since the time of Andersen, has yet to learn simplicity and sincerity.  It often is long and involved and presents a multiplicity of images that is confusing.  It lacks the great art qualities of the old tale, the central unity and harmony of character and plot.  The idea must be the soul of the narrative, and the problem is to make happen to the characters things that are expressive of the idea.  The story must hold by its interest, and must be sincere and inevitable to be convincing.  It must understand that the method of expression must be the method of suggestion and not that of detail.  The old tale set no boundaries to its suggestion.  It used concrete artistry; but because the symbol expressed less it implied more.  The modern tale is more definitely intentional and it often sets boundaries to its suggestion because the symbol expresses so much.  Frequently it emphasizes the satiric and critical element, and its humor often is heavy and clumsy.  To be literature, as has been pointed out, besides characters, plot, setting, and dialogue, a classic must present truth; it must have emotion and imagination molded with beauty into the form of language; and it must have the power of a classic to bestow upon the mind a permanent enrichment.  Any examination of the modern fairy tale very frequently shows a failure to meet these requirements.

The modern tale is not so poor, however, when we mention such tales as Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Oscar Wilde’s Happy Prince, Alice Brown’s Gradual Fairy, Frances Browne’s Prince Fairyfoot, Miss Mulock’s Little Lame Prince, Barrie’s Peter Pan, Jean Ingelow’s Mopsa, the Fairy and The Ouphe in the Wood, Field’s The Story of Claus, Stockton’s Old Pipes and the Dryad, Kingsley’s Water Babies, Ruskin’s King of the Golden River, Collodi’s Pinocchio,