My mom is reading a very interesting book, it is by a gentleman named Laszlo Nogrady titled “Mese” (Story) published in 1917 by the “A MAGYAR GYERMEKTANULMÁNYI TÁRSASÁG.” (The Hungarian Child Studies Society I suppose would be the translation).
I just started reading what she sent me and a sentence struck me that the writer wrote about why stories are important to all of us:
“A mesének egész életünkre, egész lelki
fejlődésünkre nagy hatása van. A mese erkölcsi érték.”
For those who don’t speak Hungarian, saying something along the lines of: Stories have an affect on our entire life, it has a large influence on our inner self development. Stories have an ethical value [in society].
I can’t agree more. Stories to me as an adult bring back memories of a moment in time; my parents or grandparents reading to me or to my sister. Moments in time when I imagined the beautiful maiden like the one in our Rose story in her long gown walking a lone in the enchanted rose garden. Once in school when we were learning about the middle ages, I kid you not, I think one of the reasons I loved that period even with all the bloody wars, most people living in mud huts owned by Lords was because it reminded me of fairy tales. I saw kings and queens, smart maidens and enchanted castles as we learned about the Nagy Lajos (Louis the Great of Hungary) and Matyas Kiraly (King Matthias). I liked the idea of love conquering all. I liked the idea that the girl who cared for the rosemary bush and didn’t care for fancy dresses found her prince in the end. Even The Rooster and The Chick story that has a very sad ending didn’t make me sad. Instead every time I cheered for the Rooster to hurry with the water.
As Laszlo Nogrady points out, stories bring us closer to our ancestors. No matter where you are from, these stories passed on from mother to child need to be preserved. They tell us teachings of our ancestors, mixing in with local flavors. Maybe if more of us read The Rooster and The Chick as youngsters, we would know what our ancestors have tried to teach us; lend a hand without always asking for something in return. You may save a little Chick.
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