The Gorgon's Head (From: "A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys") E-Book

Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Herausgeber: Booksell-Verlag
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

In "The Gorgon's Head," part of Nathaniel Hawthorne's enchanting "A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys," the author weaves a captivating narrative that intertwines mythology with moral lessons, reflecting the Romantic literary style prevalent in the 19th century. Hawthorne's prose is rich with vivid imagery and allegorical depth, inviting young readers to immerse themselves in the ancient tale of Perseus and Medusa. The story serves not only to entertain but also to provoke contemplation on themes such as bravery, transformation, and the consequences of hubris, situating it beautifully within the broader context of American literature's exploration of myth and morality. Nathaniel Hawthorne, a key figure in American fiction, was deeply influenced by his Puritan ancestry and the complexities of human nature. His childhood experiences, steeped in the legacy of morality and guilt, shaped his keen interest in allegory and the exploration of human flaws. Hawthorne's reverence for classical myths, combined with his desire to impart ethical lessons to youth, enlivens this work with a sense of purpose and introspection. I highly recommend "The Gorgon's Head" to readers of all ages, as it is a poignant introduction to classic mythology and moral philosophy. Hawthorne's blending of enchanting storytelling with profound themes ensures that this tale will resonate with both children and adults alike, offering timeless lessons that remain relevant in contemporary discourse.

Leseprobe

Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Gorgon's Head (From: "A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys")

Published by Good Press, 2022

[email protected]

EAN 4057664587732

Table of Contents

THE GORGON’S HEAD

TANGLEWOOD PORCH

THE GORGON’S HEAD.

TANGLEWOOD PORCH.

THE GORGON’S HEAD

Table of Contents

CONTENTS:TANGLEWOOD PORCH—Introductory to “The Gorgon’s Head"THE GORGON’S HEADTANGLEWOOD PORCH—After the Story

The author has long been of opinion that many of the classical myths were capable of being rendered into very capital reading for children.

In the little volume here offered to the public, he has worked up half a dozen of them, with this end in view. A great freedom of treatment was necessary to his plan; but it will be observed by every one who attempts to render these legends malleable in his intellectual furnace, that they are marvellously independent of all temporary modes and circumstances. They remain essentially the same, after changes that would affect the identity of almost anything else.

He does not, therefore, plead guilty to a sacrilege, in having sometimes shaped anew, as his fancy dictated, the forms that have been hallowed by an antiquity of two or three thousand years. No epoch of time can claim a copyright in these immortal fables. They seem never to have been made; and certainly, so long as man exists, they can never perish; but, by their indestructibility itself, they are legitimate subjects for every age to clothe with its own garniture of manners and sentiment, and to imbue with its own morality. In the present version they may have lost much of their classical aspect (or, at all events, the author has not been careful to preserve it), and have, perhaps, assumed a Gothic or romantic guise.

In performing this pleasant task,—for it has been really a task fit for hot weather, and one of the most agreeable, of a literary kind, which he ever undertook,—the author has not always thought it necessary to write downward, in order to meet the comprehension of children. He has generally suffered the theme to soar, whenever such was its tendency, and when he himself was buoyant enough to follow without an effort. Children possess an unestimated sensibility to whatever is deep or high, in imagination or feeling, so long as it is simple, likewise. It is only the artificial and the complex that bewilder them.

Lenox, July 15, 1851.

THE GORGON’S HEAD

TANGLEWOOD PORCH

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTORY TO “THE GORGON’S HEAD.”

Beneath the porch of the country-seat called Tanglewood, one fine autumnal morning, was assembled a merry party of little folks, with a tall youth in the midst of them. They had planned a nutting expedition, and were impatiently waiting for the mists to roll up the hill-slopes, and for the sun to pour the warmth of the Indian summer over the fields and pastures, and into the nooks of the many-colored woods. There was a prospect of as fine a day as ever gladdened the aspect of this beautiful and comfortable world. As yet, however, the morning mist filled up the whole length and breadth of the valley, above which, on a gently sloping eminence, the mansion stood.

This body of white vapor extended to within less than a hundred yards of the house. It completely hid everything beyond that distance, except a few ruddy or yellow tree-tops, which here and there emerged, and were glorified by the early sunshine, as was likewise the broad surface of the mist. Four or five miles off to the southward rose the summit of Monument Mountain, and seemed to be floating on a cloud. Some fifteen miles farther away, in the same direction, appeared the loftier Dome of Taconic, looking blue and indistinct, and hardly so substantial as the vapory sea that almost rolled over it. The nearer hills, which bordered the valley, were half submerged, and were specked with little cloud-wreaths all the way to their tops. On the whole, there was so much cloud, and so little solid earth, that it had the effect of a vision.

The children above-mentioned, being as full of life as they could hold, kept overflowing from the porch of Tanglewood, and scampering along the gravel-walk, or rushing across the dewy herbage of the lawn. I can hardly tell how many of these small people there were; not less than nine or ten, however, nor more than a dozen, of all sorts, sizes, and ages, whether girls or boys. They were brothers, sisters, and cousins, together with a few of their young acquaintances, who had been invited by Mr. and Mrs. Pringle to spend some of this delightful weather with their own children, at Tanglewood. I am afraid to tell you their names, or even to give them any names which other children have ever been called by; because, to my certain knowledge, authors sometimes get themselves into great trouble by accidentally giving the names of real persons to the characters in their books. For this reason, I mean to call them Primrose, Periwinkle, Sweet Fern, Dandelion, Blue Eye, Clover, Huckleberry, Cowslip, Squash-blossom, Milkweed, Plantain, and Buttercup; although, to be sure, such titles might better suit a group of fairies than a company of earthly children.

It is not to be supposed that these little folks were to be permitted by their careful fathers and mothers, uncles, aunts, or grandparents, to stray abroad into the woods and fields, without the guardianship of some particularly grave and elderly person. O no, indeed! In the first sentence of my book, you will recollect that I spoke of a tall youth, standing in the midst of the children. His name—(and I shall let you know his real name, because he considers it a great honor to have told the stories that are here to be printed)—his name was Eustace Bright. He was a student at Williams College, and had reached, I think, at this period, the venerable age of eighteen—years; so that he felt quite like a grandfather towards Periwinkle, Dandelion, Huckleberry, Squash-blossom, Milkweed, and the rest, who were only half or a third as venerable as he. A trouble in his eyesight (such as many students think it necessary to have, nowadays, in order to prove their diligence at their books) had kept him from college a week or two after the beginning of the term. But, for my part, I have seldom met with a pair of eyes that looked as if they could see farther or better than those of Eustace Bright.