![]() ![]() It represents the first time that the full history of Reynard, which originally appeared in the mid-twelfth century in the Latin poem The Ysengrimus, before making its way into the French ( Le Roman de Renart), German ( Reinhart Fuchs) and Dutch ( Reynaert de Vos) traditions, appeared in English. And Reynard is certainly a master manipulator! His unerring sense of what tack to use, in persuading others to do as he wishes, makes for a number of humorous passages.Ĭaxton's Reynard is an important book for many reasons. that it provides a warning about the cunning villains in this world, who, like Reynard, use their subtle wiles to manipulate others and get their way. The moral ambiguity of the tale is early hinted at, in the introductory passage quoted above, as Caxton (and presumably his source before him, the Dutchman Gheraert Leeu), directs his readers toward the 'correct' interpretation of the tale: i.e. Recommended primarily to those interested in children's Reynard retellings (if there are any, save myself)."And this booke is maad for nede and prouffyte of all god folke / As fer as they in redynge or heeryng of it shall mowe vnderstande and fele the forsayd subtyl deceytes that dayly ben vsed in the worlde / not to thentente that men shold eschewe and kepe hym from the subtyl and false shrewis that they be not deceyuyd." And so begins William Caxton's 1481 translation of the medieval beast epic concerning Reynard the Fox, in which the cunning vulpine hero triumphs over his enemy, Isegrim the Wolf, and is twice exonerated in the court of King Noble the Lion, despite overwhelming odds against him. Whether it is desirable or not to create the ending that the readers want, is up for debate, but the book certainly marks a new chapter in Reynard retellings, one in keeping with new developments in educational theory in the early 20th century. This is a very interesting book, from a pedagogical perspective, as it marks the first time that educators, as well as other adults involved with children's reading, thought beyond the moral messages they were seeking to inculcate with the Reynard story, and considered the views of the child reader on the subject. A primary school teacher, she gave her third grade pupils the task of writing the ending of the duel between the fox and wolf, and found that "the class, with one exception, punished the recreant Fox severely, - even cruelly, - and the majority with death." The ending here, in which the wolf is also allowed to shave and oil himself, taking away Renard's advantage in their duel, was written by an unnamed eight-year-old girl, a pupil of Ms. Told by the Pictures of Aldert Van Everdingen and David Vedder's The Story of Reynard the Fox: A New Version for earlier examples - she is the first to tie this to child development, and the child reader's own desires and instincts. Although Smythe is not the first author to amend the ending of the tale - see Felix Summerly's The Pleasant History of Reynard the Fox. Whatever the case may be, although I didn't enjoy the book personally, it was certainly of interest to me in my research for my masters dissertation, written on three centuries of children's retellings of Reynard in the Anglophone world. Perhaps it is that interest, and my knowledge of so many other editions, that was the problem. There have definitely been early readers I have found well written, but this one simply didn't appeal to me, despite my interest in the subject. ![]() Louise Smythe's Reynard the Fox quite wanting, from a textual stand point, which is not that surprising, given the intended use of the book. The ending has been changed, so that Reynard's wolf adversary defeats him in their final combat, leading to his death. The book covers all of the major incidents of the traditional tale, but in an extremely paired down manner, utilizing no more than 400 different words, many of them common in the primers of the day. Frederic Burk of the San Francisco State Normal School (a teaching college) explains in his introductory note, the book is intended to have three features helpful to the beginning reader: repetition of words, action of intrinsic interest, and a continuous story. ![]() The story of Reynard the Fox is retold for beginning readers in this American publication from 1903. ![]()
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