In these selections, an animal plays an important role in the action or plot of the story. The animals in these stories are real or are stand-ins for humans: Sredni Vashtar by Saki (H. H. Munro) Kholstomer, The Story of a Horse by Leo Tolstoy A Dark-Brown Dog by Stephen Crane Kashtanka by Anton Chekhov The Cat That Walked By Himself by Rudyard Kipling The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe The Fly Katherine Mansfield The Boar-Pig by Saki (H. H. Munro) The Tiger Guest by Pu Songlbying Jackals and Arabs by Franz Kafka

Herein are 63 illustrated true stories about animals which every child will enjoy! In this book you will find stories about bears, otters, eagles, horses, dogs, dolphins, ants, frogs, elephants, parrots, snakes, lions, Cayman, weasels and many, many more besides. "The Animal Story Book" will delight both old and young, as one may find therein pen-portraits of most of the remarkable animals that have interested the world since primitive times. Herein are stories like: Saï The Panther The Buzzard And The Priest A Rat’s Tale The Dog Of Montargis The Taming of an Otter The Adventures Of Pyramus The Dancing Dog Monkey Stories The War Horse Of Alexander Madame Théophile And The Parrot plus many, many more. The 66 pen and ink illustrations by H J Ford give added life to the stories. Unlike his fairy collections, these tales compiled by Andrew Lang are all "true" with some species descriptions coming from nature journals of the time and others being more personal memoir/anecdote type stories of individual's pets. Not as well known today, was that the author Alexandre Dumas maintained a veritable menagerie, as did the artist Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps, and Andrew Lang has featured many stories about the various animals in their menageries. But, if anyone believes that style does not appeal to the young readers, let him open this book and read to any intelligent child of nine years Dumas’ description of Mysouf the cat, and Pritchard the dog. ============= KEYWORDS/TAGS: Children’s stories, Childrens, Folklore, Fairy, Folk, Tales, bedtime story, legends, storyteller, fables, moral tales, myths, happiness, laughter, Animal, story book, Andrew Lang, H J Ford, H. J. Ford, Illustrated, illustrations, Tom, adventure, bear, paris, Saï, panther, buzzard, priest, Cowper, hares, rat’s tale. Tail, Snake, elephant, dog, montargis, beaver, build a house, war horse, Alexander, ants, taming, otter, Androcles, lion, Monsieur, Alexander Dumas, beasts, Pyramus, weasel, wolves, highland dogs, sally, zoo, cayman, fido, siege, Mr. Gully, pliny, history of cagnotte, Still waters, deep; dancing dog, Theo, horses: jane, betsy, blanche, Madame théophile, parrot, battle of the mullets, dolphins, Monkey, ship, desert, home, rather be, Nests, Fire-eating, djijam, Oscar, Dolphin, play, starling, segringen, Grateful, Gazelle, tortoise, Cockatoo, otter, cat, Builders, weavers, faithful, favour, turtles, cod, Bungey, jacko, Signora, lori, linnet, popinjay, Patch, chickens, fierce, falcon scotch, scots, terrier, raven, funeral, strange, tiger, Halcyons, biographer, frog, woodpecker, tapping, hollow, oak tree, water, capocier, mate, Owls, marmots, Eagle, nest

Owing to the different conditions of time, language, country, and race under which the various books of the Holy Scriptures were written, it is impossible that they should be rightly understood at the present day without some study of the customs and manners of Eastern peoples, as well as of the countries in which they lived. The Oriental character of the scriptural writings causes them to abound with metaphors and symbols taken from the common life of the time. They contain allusions to the trees, flowers, and herbage, the creeping things of the earth, the fishes of the sea, the birds of the air, and the beasts which abode with man or dwelt in the deserts and forests. Unless, therefore, we understand these writings as those understood them for whom they were written, it is evident that we shall misinterpret instead of rightly comprehending them. The field which is laid open to us is so large that only one department of Natural History—namely, Zoology—can be treated in this work, although it is illustrated by many references to other branches of Natural History, to the physical geography of Palestine, Egypt, and Syria, the race-character of the inhabitants, and historical parallels. The importance of understanding the nature, habits, and uses of the animals which are constantly mentioned in the Bible, cannot be overrated as a means of elucidating the Scriptures, and without this knowledge we shall not only miss the point of innumerable passages of the Old and New Testaments, but the words of our Lord Himself will often be totally misinterpreted, or at least lose part of their significance. The object of the present work is therefore, to take in its proper succession, every creature whose name is given in the Scriptures, and to supply so much of its history as will enable the reader to understand all the passages in which it is mentioned.

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