CHAPTER V NARRATION 221. Description makes a picture. If it deals with moving objects, it arrests them; it presents them as a tableau. But narration makes a story. It deals with happenings, actions. Things in action are not arrested, but kept going. There may be bits of description in a narrative, but they should be only bits. The skilful narrator does not stop to tell all about the appearance of his hero; he lets you catch glimpses of the tall form as the man rises to go, or the flash of his blue eye as he turns away, or the wrinkles on his broad forehead as he shakes his head and knots his brow. The narrator gives touches of description, picturing a thing at the point where it is needed in the story. 222. Historical narrative attempts to give an exact account of what actually took place. This is no easy thing to do. The historian Kinglake tells us that the most truthful bystanders give very different reports of incidents in a battle. When the Prince Imperial of France was killed in the Zulu war, several eye-witnesses remembered the events differently. One said that the Prince had given the order to mount before the Zulus fired; another, that he gave the order directly after; a third that he never gave the order at all. The extracts in section 230 are examples of exact historical narrative, by trained eye-witnesses. 223. Narrative should be interesting, of course. If a story is to be told, it should be one that is worth the attention of the audience. You must have noticed that a good story-teller selects his stories according to his audience. What will interest a group of elderly people will not usually interest a group of children. And in any story some parts are always more interesting than others. The wise man skips lightly over the dull parts and lingers over the fascinating. 224. It follows that, next to choosing a good subject and being able to report actions vividly, the important thing for the story-teller is to secure a good proportion of parts. If he has five minutes in which to tell how he killed a bear, he will not take four minutes to recount the journey to the huntingground. If he has two hundred words in which to narrate a ball-game, he will not give a hundred to the first inning. 225. Yet one inning might deserve more space than another. The sixth, for example, might be the best part of the game, hotly contested, full of excitement and hopes and fears. The art lies in perceiving what needs full treatment, and what only summary treatment. In one story a dinner might deserve half the whole space, in another a couple of sentences, and in a third mere mention. Study the examples in section 231. Tell how much time. each covers. Say whether the authors have devoted more space to any subject than is interesting to you personally, or whether you find it all good reading. 66 226. A little narrative that is complete in itself is called an anecdote. Anecdotes are supposed to be historical, though I fear we oftener ask ourselves if the story is interesting than if it is true. The anecdote deals with the actions of persons or animals, often with some striking act or saying of a famous person. A good anecdote always has a definite point." This is revealed at the end, and when it is stated the story stops abruptly. Many storytellers are too slow in leading up to the point. It is wise to give no more of an introduction than is necessary, though everything must be told which is necessary to understanding the "point." But above all, be sure that your story has a point. Half the anecdotes printed in the newspaper are mere rubbish. It is not an anecdote to say that the famous General Blank walked down the street with his two legs, that he stopped before a house and rang the bell, that a servant came and let him in, that he sent up his card by the servant, that the lady came down and welcomed him, that he stayed to tea and had two |