Narrate the story of "the story teller".

The short story ‘The Story-Teller’ by H.H. Munro is set in a train. We get introduced to a family of four, comprising an aunt with her two nieces and a nephew. The only other occupant is a bachelor. The story humorously refers to the difficulty of the aunt in keeping the children occupied and in ensuring that they do not disturb the other passengers. She is unable to answer their questions convincingly and hence, offers to narrate a story. But, even as a storyteller she fails as the children bombard her with questions.

It is at this point that the bachelor observes aloud that the aunt did not seem to be a good storyteller. The aunt retorts that it is difficult to narrate stories that are both understandable and entertaining to children. She also challenges the stranger to come up with an effective story.

The bachelor accepts the challenge and begins with a story. Though the story has the conventional beginning of a good girl named Bertha, it catches the attention of the children when the bachelor, while answering a question, remarks that the girl is not as pretty as the little girls in the compartment. He further amuses them by describing the girl as being horribly good. Never had the children come across an oxymoron such as ‘horribly good’.

The bachelor tells the children that the Prince of the country honours Bertha for being good by permitting her to walk in his park once a week. When the children want to know whether there are sheep in the park and are answered in the negative, they want to know the reason. The aunt is secretly happy thinking that the bachelor too would find it impossible to answer the ‘why’ questions.

But the bachelor exhibits his power of imagination by saying that there are no sheep or clock as the prince’s mother had a dream that the prince would meet his end because of a sheep or a clock. When the tricky question is asked whether the prince actually died because of either of the two, the bachelor uses his wit to avoid an inappropriate answer by saying that the prince is still alive and hence the question cannot be answered.

The bachelor exhibits his power of description while talking about the pigs, the fish and the wolf. The bachelor perhaps appeals to the children because he makes fun of Bertha in a subtle manner. We see that Bertha is elated at the opportunity of being in the park, but is disappointed that she cannot give further proof of her goodness by not touching the flowers in the park as there are no flowers.

The bachelor explains the absence of flowers by adding that the pigs in the park had eaten them all. The bachelor’s explanation that the prince had chosen pigs over flowers amuses the children as it is an unusual choice. The bachelor also gives an unexpected twist to the story by showing that Bertha meets with a tragic end because of her goodness.

A wolf comes to the park and spots Bertha because of her pinafore which is spotlessly white and is able to locate her in the thick bushes because of the sound made by the three medals that she had won for obedience, good conduct and punctuality. The good girl’s reward for goodness turns out to be the cause of her death.

The story, which is termed improper by the aunt, is highly appreciated by the children. The bachelor wryly responds to the aunt by saying that he was at least able to keep the children occupied for ten minutes. The chosen piece does not explicitly answer the question whether children need to be given morality in the form of stories- or whether it is acceptable for stories to uphold the value of entertainment alone. However, the piece clearly shows that storytelling is an art and children cannot be given silly answers to the questions that they raise.