The characters of this tale are usual, a poor Shoemaker and his Wife; and unusual, the dainty Elves who made shoes in a twinkling.  But the commonplace peasants become interesting through their generosity, kindness, and service to the Elves; and the Elves become human in their joy at receiving gifts.  The structure of the tale is so distinct as to be seen a thing itself, apart from the story.  The framework is built on what happens on two nights and following nights, the conversation of the next day, and what happens on Christmas Eve.  The climax evidently is what the Shoemaker and his Wife hid in the corner to see—­the entrance of the Elves on Christmas Eve—­which episode has been interpreted charmingly by the English illustrator, Cruikshank.  The joy of the Elves and of the two aged people, the gifts received by the one and the riches won by the other, form the conclusion, which follows very closely upon the climax.  The commonplace setting, the poor room with its simple bed and table, becomes transformed by the unusual happenings in the place.  If we should take away this setting, we see how much the tale would suffer.  Also without the characters the tale would be empty.  And without the interesting, human, humorous, and pleasing plot, characters and setting would be insufficient.  Each element of the short-story contributes its fair share to the tale, and blends harmoniously in the whole.

Various standards for testing the folk-tale have been given by writers.  One might refer to the standards given by Wilman in his Pedagogische Vortraege and those mentioned by William Rein in Das Erste Schuljahr.  We have seen here that the fairy tale must contain the child’s interests and it must be able to stand the test of a true classic.  It must stand the test of literature in its appeal to emotion and to imagination, in its appeal to the intellect through its basis of truth, and to the language-sense through its perfection of form; it must stand the test of the short-story and of good narration and of description.  Let us now examine a few of the old tales to see how they stand the complete test:—­

How the Sun, Moon, and West Wind went out to Dinner

This story of How the Sun, Moon, and West Wind Went out to Dinner appeals to the children’s interest in a family dinner—­they went to dine with their Uncle and Aunt, Thunder and Lightning.  The characters are interesting to the child, for they are the inhabitants of his sky that cause him much wonder:  the star, the sun, the moon, the thunder, and the lightning.  To the little child, who as she watched a grown-up drying her hands, remarked, “I wouldn’t like to be a towel, would you?” the idea of the moon, sun, and wind possessing personality and going to a dinner-party will amuse and please.  The theme of the story finds a place in the experience of children who go to a party; and secretly they will enjoy making comparisons.  When they go to