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 MEMORY POLITICS AND
TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE
Series Editors: Maria Guadalupe Arenillas and
Jonathan Allen

MEMORY POLITICS,
IDENTITY AND
CONFLICT

Historical Memory
as a Variable

Zheng Wang
Memory Politics and Transitional Justice

Series editors
Jasna Dragovic Soso
London, United Kingdom

Jelena Subotic
Dept of Pol Sci, 1018 Langdale Hall
Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA, USA

Tsveta Petrova
Columbia University
New York, NY, USA
The interdisciplinary fields of Memory Studies and Transitional Justice
have largely developed in parallel to one another despite both focus-
ing on efforts of societies to confront and (re-)appropriate their past.
While scholars working on memory have come mostly from historical,
literary, sociological, or anthropological traditions, transitional justice
has attracted primarily scholarship from political science and the law.
This series bridges this divide: it promotes work that combines a deep
understanding of the contexts that have allowed for injustice to occur
with an analysis of how legacies of such injustice in political and historical
memory influence contemporary projects of redress, acknowledgment,
or new cycles of denial. The titles in the series are of interest not only to
academics and students but also practitioners in the related fields. The
Memory Politics and Transitional Justice series promotes critical dialogue
among different theoretical and methodological approaches and among
scholarship on different regions. The editors welcome submissions from
a variety of disciplines – including political science, history, sociology,
anthropology, and cultural studies – that confront critical questions at
the intersection of memory politics and transitional justice in national,
comparative, and global perspective.

More information about this series at

http://www.springer.com/series/14807
 Zheng Wang

Memory Politics,
Identity and Conflict
Historical Memory as a Variable
Zheng Wang
School of Diplomacy and International Relations
Seton Hall University
South Orange, NJ, USA

Memory Politics and Transitional Justice

ISBN 978-3-319-62620-8 ISBN 978-3-319-62621-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62621-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017948311

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights
of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction
on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and
information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication.
Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied,
with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have
been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published
maps and institutional affiliations.

Cover illustration: © saulgranda/Getty

Printed on acid-free paper

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature

The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
For Xiaojuan, Anya and Ailynn
 Contents

1 Historical Memory as an Omitted Variable? 1

2 Collective Memory and National Identity 11

3 Memory, Perception, and Policy Making 27

4 Memory, Education, and Textbooks 41

5 The Four Dimensions of Historical Memory 57

6 Researching Historical Memory 73

Bibliography 93

Index 99

vii
 List of Figures

Fig. 2.1 Chosenness–Myths–Trauma (CMT) complex 16

Fig. 3.1 Historical memory as a lens 29
Fig. 5.1 Four contexts of historical memory 59
Fig. 5.2 Four contexts of historical memory: China as an example 71
Fig. 6.1 The 10th Japan–China joint opinion poll 87
Fig. 6.2 Changes in the unification-Independence stances
of Taiwanese (1994–2016) 88

ix
 List of Tables

Table 2.1 Three approaches to the formation of collective memory 14

Table 2.2 Types of identity content 19
Table 2.3 Historical memory as a collective identity 21
Table 3.1 Three causal pathways of collective memories 36
Table 6.1 Memory sites in five Chinese provinces 77

xi
 CHAPTER 1

Historical Memory as an Omitted Variable?

Abstract This chapter introduces the main content and organization of

the book. It outlines the difficulties of using historical memory as a vari-
able for social science research. This chapter also discusses why the func-
tions of historical memory are overlooked as an omitted variable and the
reasons behind the lack of integrated research on historical memory.

Keywords Historical memory · Research methods · Variable

Mission Impossible?
In Andrei Markovits and Simon Reich’s research on how Germany’s past
influences present policies, they found an interesting phenomenon: Even
though collective memory is “the biggest factor mitigating the exercise
of German power,” it is “an element many political scientists usually
avoid but any journalist working in Germany regularly sees in action.”1

The politics of collective memory—impossible to quantify, hard to meas-

ure with the methods of survey research, yet still very real—is a major
ingredient of the political arena, the public discourse, and the policy set-
ting in every country. It circumscribes the acceptable. It defines such key
ingredients as pride, shame, fear, revenge, and comfort for a large number
of a country’s citizens. It is central to an understanding of the forces of
­nationalism.2

© The Author(s) 2018 1

Z. Wang, Memory Politics, Identity and Conflict, Memory Politics
and Transitional Justice, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62621-5_1
2 Z. Wang

Research methodology is indeed a major reason why political scientists

usually avoid using historical memory as a variable in their research.
There are concerns that historical memory cannot be researched scien-
tifically because, in social life, the past does not exist as a hard, objective,
or factual reality to be grasped and appropriated.3 Historical memory is
a fluid set of ideas often reshaped by time, emotion, and the politically
savvy, not something solid, immutable, or truly measurable.
Not only a problem for political scientists, how ideational factors
affect human behavior and social relationships have been one of the
most bewildering puzzles for scholars in different disciplines. Progress
in incorporating cognitive variables into empirical research on decision-
making has been relatively slow and uneven.4 Scholars who have strug-
gled with this question list three factors that may pose difficulties to
research that uses identity as a variable.
First, the existence of identity as a universal but largely implicit con-
cept makes it difficult to isolate and understand.5 This is because iden-
tities and perceptions are only one variable cluster within a rich and
complex causal framework for decision-making; identities and percep-
tions influence, but do not unilaterally determine decision-making
behavior.6 Second, it is extremely difficult to find a one-to-one cor-
relation between perceptions and behavior.7 Third, when identities are
measured, the techniques used (large-N surveys, interviews with policy
makers, ethnographic field work) are typically not available to social sci-
entists who study elites in closed or semi-closed states.
One of the important reasons why few scholars have used historical
memory as a variable in their research is because it does not fit neatly
in one specific academic discipline; the subject and its implications are
scattered throughout many academic fields. Insights into its theories are
strewn across diverse bodies of literature on anthropology, culture, his-
tory, literature, politics, psychology, and sociology. Each discipline cites
its own reason for not attending to historical memory. In the field of his-
tory, Roudemetof argues that the discipline’s tradition of seeking “sci-
entific objectivity,” has not until recently allowed the examination of
historical writing in relationship to the articulation of collective mem-
ory.8 In sociology and anthropology, the legacy of pioneers such as Emile
Durkheim and Maurice Halbwachs were “eclipsed in mid-twentieth­cen-
tury by the more empirically oriented and positivist tradition of U.S.
mainstream sociology.”9
 1 HISTORICAL MEMORY AS AN OMITTED VARIABLE? 3

Does historical memory matter in international relations? To what

extent, do collective memory and its social narrative influence a coun-
try’s relationship with another state and with regional security? For
mainstream international relations specialists, discussing how histori-
cal memory directly influences foreign policy behavior would likely be
considered extraneous to serious analysis. Scholars may believe that his-
torical memory matters, but only influences emotions or relates to the
actor’s psychology and attitudes. Others may think historical memory
as a social narrative is mainly created and manipulated by political elites
as a tool to mobilize people to work in their own interests. In general,
ideas (including historical memory and other ideational factors) have
been underestimated—if not entirely ignored—in the field of interna-
tional relations.10 This is because the most current and widely accepted
systemic approaches to the study of international relations (IR) are real-
ism and liberal institutionalism. Both approaches take rationalist models
as the starting point and focus on how structures affect the instrumen-
tal rationality of actors. In such models, actors’ preferences and causal
beliefs are given. Most analysts who rely on such approaches have rel-
egated ideas to only a minor role.11 In this regard, as Ian Johnston has
argued, the concepts of historical memory, even though not completely
missing from transatlantic IR, are “theoretically and empirically among
the least developed questions in transatlantic IR.”12 Furthermore, East
Asian international relations in recent years have served to suggest that
transatlantic IR theory faces “a major omitted-variable problem.”13
However, the concepts of historical memory are not unique to East
Asia IR. While exploring the sources, dynamics and structures of con-
temporary conflict, scholars of different regions have paid special atten-
tion to historical memory’s power over human thoughts, feelings, and
actions. For example, according to Polish historian Jerzy Jedlicki, “the
twentieth century history of Eastern Europe is a perfect laboratory to
observe how the genuine or apparent remembrances of the past may
aggravate current conflicts and how they themselves are modified in the
process.”14 Victor Roudometof of the University of Cyprus believes that
“the conflicting ethnocentric national narratives of the different sides
have generated the Greek-Bulgarian-Macedonian dispute of 1990s.”15
And Irish historian Ian McBride writes that “in Ireland, the interpre-
tation of the past has always been at the heart of national conflict.”16
From Europe to the Middle East, these case studies illustrate that many
4 Z. Wang

intractable conflicts are deeply rooted in the involved parties’ history and
memory.

Objectives and Organization
This book is about conducting research on historical memory. It aims to
contribute to the theoretical and methodological discussion concerning
the use of historical memory as a variable to explain the political action
and social movement. Definition and measurement are two main barri-
ers to a more systematic incorporation of historical memory (and other
ideational factors) as a variable in helping to explain the political action.
Based on theories and research from multiple fields of study, such as
political science, international relations, sociology, and conflict resolu-
tion, this book proposes a series of analytic frameworks for the purpose
of conceptualizing the functions of historical memory. A series of ques-
tions are asked to define and/or measure whether and how the contents
of historical memory serve as specific functions.
By creating the analytic frameworks for research, the author hopes to
provide a model by which researchers can conduct a more rigorous study
of historical memory. These frameworks can help categorize, measure,
and subsequently demonstrate the effects of historical memory. Even
though this research focuses on using historical memory as a collective
identity, the framework can also be used for researching other types of
social identity. The focus here is on understanding the function of his-
torical memory in group identity formation and how historical memory
influences actors’ perceptions, interpretations, and decision-making pro-
cesses. These analytical frameworks can be used to (1) help researchers
determine which aspects of an event are worth considering; (2) generate
research questions; (3) provide researchers the tools for analyzing empir-
ical data; (4) guide categorizing and measuring the effects of historical
memory.
The chapters of the book conceptualize the relationship between his-
torical memory and national identity formation, perceptions, and policy
making. The book also discusses the function of formal history education
and social discourse in the formation of collective memory and national
identity. It particularly analyzes how contested memory and the related
social discourse can lead to nationalism and international conflict. The
purposes of these analyses are to provide theory-based analytic frameworks
 1 HISTORICAL MEMORY AS AN OMITTED VARIABLE? 5

for determining the content and scope of historical memory, and for cat-
egorizing and measuring the effects of historical memory.
This chapter Historical Memory as an Omitted Variable introduces the
main content and organization of the book. It outlines the difficulties
of using historical memory as a variable for social science research. This
chapter also discusses why the functions of historical memory are over-
looked as an omitted variable and the reasons behind the lack of inte-
grated research on historical memory.
Chapter 2 Collective Memory and National Identity analyzes the
important function of historical memory in collective identity forma-
tion. Ethnic, national, or religious identities are built on historical myths
that define who a group member is, what it means to be a group mem-
ber, and typically, who the group’s enemies are. These myths are usually
based on truth but are selective or exaggerated in their presentation of
history. This chapter provides frameworks to understand how historical
memory can serve as a constitutive, relational, cognitive, and purporsive
content for group identity. Each of these four types of identity content
implies an alternate causal pathway between this collective identity and
policy behaviors or practices. Particular questions are posed in an effort
to measure the content and contestation of historical memory as a col-
lective identity. This chapter also reviews the three main approaches to
looking at historical memory in identity formation: primordialism, con-
structivism, and instrumentalism. As Anthony D. Smith has argued “no
memory, no identity, no identity, no nation,” it is this collective memory
of the past that binds a group of people together.17 On the national level,
identity determines national interests, which in turn determines policy
and state action. Understanding a group of people’s collective memory
can help us better understand their national interests and political actions.
Chapter 3 Memory, Perceptions, and Policy Making discusses how his-
torical memory influences the actor’s interpretation and understanding
of the external world in a specific situation and the conditions where his-
torical memory influences the decision-making process. Although history
and memory are rarely by themselves the direct causes of conflict, they
provide the “lens” by which we view and bring into focus our world;
through the lens, differences are refracted and conflict pursued. The lens
of historical memory helps both the masses and elites interpret the pre-
sent and decide on policy. Frameworks are developed to conceptualize
the function of historical memory as the lens and motivational tool.
6 Z. Wang

This chapter also provides frameworks for conducting research to

identify the functions of historical memory in policy making. It identi-
fies three “causal pathways” when ideas can act as causal factors in influ-
encing policy behavior: (1) as road maps and/or filters that limit policy
choices and can also provide compelling ethical or moral motivations for
actions; (2) when in the absence of unique equilibrium, they may serve
as focal points that define cooperative solutions or act as coalitional glue
to facilitate the cohesion of particular groups; (3) once ideas become
embedded in rules and norms—that is, once they become institutional-
ized—they constrain public policy. In order to discern whether historical
memory acts as road maps and/or focal points in a group’s policy and
practice behavior, three groups of questions were designed to examine
the three aspects.
Chapter 4 Memory, Education, and Textbooks analyzes the important
role of school history education and social discourse in forming collec-
tive memories. The powerful link between collective memory and his-
tory is particularly salient in the educational system. Forging a country’s
collective memory is an integral part of nation building, and schools are
the primary social institutions that transmit national narratives about the
past. Through examples from different countries, this chapter analyzes
the important functions of historical education and textbooks as (1) “the
modern version of village storytellers,” (2) authoritative narratives and
“supreme historical court,” (3) tools of ideology for glorifying, consoli-
dating, legitimizing, and justifying, and (4) chronicling relations with
others. History education is important to every country, democratic, and
authoritarian. It not only has shaped the younger generation’s under-
standing of their own country, but also deeply influenced their view of
the outside world.
For the purpose of understanding a country, the orthodox research
approach focuses on collecting political, socioeconomic, and security
data and then conducting macro-analysis of institutions, policies, and
decision-making. Such an approach, however, has critical limitations for
understanding the deep structure and dynamics of the country. This
chapter argues that to understand a country, one should visit the coun-
try’s primary schools and high schools and read their history textbooks.
A nation’s history is not merely a recounting of its past; what individu-
als and countries remember and what they choose to forget are telling
indicators of their current values, perceptions, and future objectives.18
This chapter uses examples of history textbooks from China, Germany,
 1 HISTORICAL MEMORY AS AN OMITTED VARIABLE? 7

France, and Japan to discuss research methods of using history textbooks

and social discourse as data and sources for research.
Chapter 5 The Four Dimensions of Historical Memory presents a frame-
work to understand the functions of historical memory in different polit-
ical and cultural settings. Because historical memory means different
things in different regions and countries, it would be important for us
to understand the contexts of historical memory. By measuring the lev-
els of the high or low context of historical consciousness, political usage
of historical memory, reconciliation between historically feuding parties,
and openness and diversity of opinions regarding historical issues, it will
help identify how historical memory affects a particular state and society.
Different levels and compilations of these four dimensions would provide
indicators to understand the function of historical memory and the level
of potential conflict between different states.
Chapter 6 Researching Historical Memory focuses on methods of
conducting research on historical memory, including how to use pub-
lic opinion polls, textbooks, important texts, and documents (official
speeches and documents, memoirs, etc.), and monuments and memory
sites for conducting research to examine the functions of historical mem-
ory. It gives concrete examples from published books or research articles
of how researchers from different disciplines have conducted research on
historical memory. Particularly, it discusses discourse analysis and nar-
rative analysis. This chapter also discusses research methods regarding
perception and attitude, especially how to identify and measure the influ-
ences of historical memory in actors’ perceptions.
Historical memory is indeed a very special subject of research. Because
it functions as preconscious or subconscious patterns of thinking and
ideas, collective memory is very often our “collective unconscious.” As
a group of people’s national “deep culture,” historical memory is not
objective knowledge and very often cannot be explicitly learned. While
the idea of historical memory shaping identity is generally acknowledged,
scholars have not found effective means of measuring or analyzing its
effects. This chapter also attempts to integrate the main points empha-
sized throughout the book, especially regarding conducting research
using historical memory as a variable.
As mentioned in the beginning of this chapter, historical memory has
been a subject that many political scientists usually avoid, despite the fact
that it continues to be a hot topic in daily newspapers, novels, and the
performing arts.19 This is because it is much easier to tell stories about
8 Z. Wang

history than to measure the effects of historical memory in a society.

Because of the research method challenges, issues of political memory
are theoretically and empirically among the least developed questions.
The author hopes that the frameworks and concepts developed in this
book can serve as a useful manual for conducting research on historical
memory.

Notes
1. Andrei S. Markovits and Simon Reich, The German Predicament (Ithaca:
Cornell University Press, 1997), 9.
2. Ibid.
3. T.H.R., “The Uses of the Past,” The Hedgehog Review 9: 2 (2007): 5.
4. Alexander George, “The Casual Nexus Between Cognitive Beliefs and
Decision-Making Behavior,” in Psychological Models in International
Politics, ed. L. Falkowski (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1979), 95–124.
5. Peter Bruland and Michael Horowitz, “Research Report on the Use
of Identity Concepts in Comparative Politics,” (Manucript, Harvard
Identity Project, Wheatherhad Center for International Affairs: Harvard
University, 2003).
6. George, “The Causal Nexus Between Cognitive Beliefs and Decision-
Making Behavior,” 95–124.
7. Jianwei Wang, Limited Adversaries: Post-Cold War Sino-American Mutual
Images (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 28.
8. Victor Roudometof, Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic
Conflict: Greece, Bulgaria and the Macedonian Question (Westport, CT:
Praeger, 2002), 6–7.
9. Ibid.
10. Zheng Wang, “The Legacy of Historical Memory and China’s Foreign
Policy in the 2010s,” in Misunderstanding Asia: International Relations
Theory and Asian Studies Over Half a Century, ed. Gilbert Rozman (New
York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), 227–240.
11. Judith Goldstein and Robert Keohane, “Ideas and Foreign Policy: An
Analytical Framework,” in Ideas and Foreign Policy, ed. J. Goldstein and
R. Keohane (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993), 3–30.
12. Alastair Iain Johnston, “What (If Anything) Does East Asia Tell Us About
International Relations Theory?” Annual Review of Political Science 15
(2012), 53–78.
13. Ibid.
14. Jerzy Jedlicki, “Historical Memory as a Source of Conflicts in Eastern
Europe,” Communist and Post-Communist Studies 32 (1999), 226.
 1 HISTORICAL MEMORY AS AN OMITTED VARIABLE? 9

15. Roudometof, Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict, 5.

16. Ian Mcbride, ed., History and Memory in Modern Ireland (Cambridge
University Press, 2001), 1.
17. Anthony D. Smith, Ethnic Origins of Nations (Oxford, UK: Basil
Blackwell, 1986), 383.
18. Gerrit W. Gong, ed., Memory and History in East and Southeast Asia
(Washington, DC: The CSIS Press, 2001), 26.
19. Markovits and Reich, The German Predicament, 9.
 CHAPTER 2

Collective Memory and National Identity

Abstract This chapter analyzes the important functions of historical

memory in collective identity formation. Ethnic, national, or religious
identities are built on historical myths that define who a group member
is, what it means to be a group member, and typically, who the group’s
enemies are. This chapter provides a few frameworks to understand how
historical memory can serve as a constitutive, relational, and purpo-
sive content for group identity. Each of these types of identity content
implies an alternate causal pathway between this collective identity and
policy behaviors or practices. Understanding a group of people’s collec-
tive memory can help us to better understand their national interests and
political actions.

Keywords Historical memory · Collective identity · Types of identity

content · Causal pathway

As a group of people’s national “deep culture” and “collective uncon-

sciousness,” historical memory is not objective knowledge and very
often cannot be explicitly learned. Some scholars may believe that his-
torical memory matters, but only influences emotions or relates to the
actor’s psychology and attitudes. Some think of historical memory as a
social narrative that is mainly created and manipulated by political elites
as a tool to mobilize people to work in their own interests. However,

© The Author(s) 2018 11

Z. Wang, Memory Politics, Identity and Conflict, Memory Politics
and Transitional Justice, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62621-5_2
12 Z. Wang

these beliefs overlook the important function of historical memory as a

key element in the construction of national identity.
This chapter conceptualizes the relationship between historical mem-
ory and national identity formation. As Anthony D. Smith has argued,
the prime raw material for constructing ethnicity is history.1 Ethnic,
national, or religious identities are built on historical myths that define
who a group member is, what it means to be a group member, and
typically who the group’s enemies are.2 These myths are usually based
on truth but are selective or exaggerated in their presentation of his-
tory. Historical memory as an identity content can shape or influence
policy behavior in several ways. It could work as a constitutive norm,
specifying rules or norms that define a group. Moreover, it constitutes
references and comparisons to other groups, especially the ones with his-
torical problems with the group. Third, it affects the way a group inter-
prets and understands the world. Finally, it provides the group with the
future roles and tasks to perform.3 On the national level, identity deter-
mines national interests, which in turn determine policy and state action.
Understanding people’s collective memory can help us better understand
their national interests and political actions. This chapter analyzes the
important function of historical memory in collective identity formation.
It also reviews the main approaches to looking at historical memory in
identity formation.

Primordialism, Constructivism, and Instrumentalism

Since sociological constructivism’s rise during the 1990s, not only have
issues of collective memory and identity received more attention, but
literature featuring political memory’s role in group membership and
identity formation has also risen.4 Some scholars focus their research on
exploring how ethnic, national or religious identities are built on his-
torical myths that define who a group member is, what it means to be
a group member, and typically, who the group’s enemies are.5 These
myths are usually based on truth but are selective or exaggerated in their
presentation of history. There are three main approaches to looking at
the formation of group identity and the function of historical memory in
this process: primordialism, constructivism, and instrumentalism.
Primordialists assert that collective memory and identity are formed
based on the primordial ties of blood, kinship, language, and common
history. In other words, memory is passed intergenerationally. As Gerrit
Another random document with
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producing a lovely colored light. These glow-worms are somewhat
rare in this country, but are common in England, where our fire-fly is
unknown. The glow-worms of tropical countries are as large as
good-sized caterpillars, and give out a light of corresponding size.
Some of the beetles of tropical countries are much more radiant
than the glow-worms. They have a bright ring around their bodies,
which sheds such a light that it is said that the negroes use them for
lamps. These negroes we are told by travelers make small round
cages of thin wooden slats placed near each other, and closed at the
top and bottom. In these they put several beetles, and thus light up
their rooms free of cost.

THE GREAT LANTERN FLY.

But the most splendidly illuminated insect in the world is the great
lantern fly. Its monstrous head is a blaze of light. When it flies
through the air it is like a streamer of fire. When it alights upon a leaf,
with its beautiful wings outstretched, and its head gleaming with star-
like rays, that light up everything for some little distance, it is a
gorgeous sight indeed.
But, although this insect is so bright-headed it is not so wise as
some others whose heads are not brilliant at all. Perhaps this head is
like some shops we have seen, where pretty much all the furniture is
on the outside.
 OWLS ON A FROLIC.

THE OWLS UPSETTING THE LAMP.

The owls are abroad on a mad carouse,

Waking the echoes far and wide;
They whirl in a crowd through the ruined church,
 Or up to the belfry glide.

The little screech-owl makes a horrid din;

While the great white owl looks wise;
And the horned owl nods his head, and blinks;
As around the lamp he flies.

The lamp is a cup, half filled with oil,

That swings from a broken beam;
And, over the traveler sleeping below,
It throws but a dusky gleam.

The owls have no fear of the burning wick—

’Tis only a cotton loop—
They’re after the oil in the swinging cup,
And down on its brim they swoop.

The weary traveler, sound asleep,

Hears naught of the noise o’erhead,
A rickety chair as a bedstead serves,
His overcoat is his bed.

With the sweep of the wings the lamp upsets,

While the gurgling oil o’erflows
With a drip, and a rush, on the great owl’s tail,
A splash on the traveler’s nose.

He’s up in a trice, and, seizing a broom,

He arms himself for a fight.
But all is still in the ruined church;
For the owls are out—and his light.
 COMMON AND UNCOMMON SPONGES.

A FINE SPONGE.
They are all wonderful enough, no matter how common they may
be. It takes thousands and thousands of minute creatures, to make a
sponge, and these creatures are so little understood that about all
we know of them is that they must belong to the very lowest order of
animal life, and that they do build sponges. That is not much to
know, but it is not long since the sponge was first known to be an
animal production at all, and our scientific men may yet find out
something more definite about these curious little architects.
Perhaps they may have lately found out something, and I have not
heard of it. This would be the least wonderful thing about sponges.
The ordinary form of the sponge is familiar to nearly everybody
who has ever been washed, and this picture gives a good idea of a
fine large one, as it is found growing at the bottom of the sea. I say
growing, because it seems to be growing there, like a vegetable. But
it does not grow, in the ordinary sense of the word, any more than a
wasp’s nest grows.
But there are sponges with which we are not at all familiar, and
which are curious, apart from the manner of their construction. Such
a one is the sponge called the “Cup of Neptune.”
This is several feet high, and is formed like a great goblet. It would
make a very good cup for Neptune, if he drank brandy or rum, for it
would soak up all that he poured into it, and he could not get a drop,
unless he squeezed his cup pretty hard—and even then the liquor
might all run out of the bottom.
As a rule, civilized and well educated people are more easily
surprised and astonished at uncommon and wonderful works of
nature than uncivilized or ignorant people, for the latter do not know
enough to be astonished. They see nothing strange in the
development of a plant from its seed—nothing grand in a high
mountain, nor anything very beautiful in a flower. They look at these
things as a child looks at his hand. The hand is a very curiously
constructed instrument, full of intricate mechanism, but the child
does not know or think of that. It is not until he grows older and his
mind is cultured that he appreciates the wonderful construction and
the varied action of his hand.
So it is with savages. They do not comprehend that many strange
works of nature are worthy of admiration, and they take it for granted
that things are as they are because they ought to be, just as they
think of their own bodies, if they think of them at all.
 THE CUP OF NEPTUNE.
But this great goblet-like sponge is strange enough to astonish
even a savage.
 MAGHAR’S LEAP.

It chanced upon a time, a very great many years ago, while fairies
and magicians still dwelt upon earth, that a youth and maiden—
brother and sister—were walking in a forest, talking about their
recent misfortunes, and laying plans for their future. The youth was
clad in armor, according to the warlike fashion of those times. But he
had under his arm a book, which was not in accordance with the
fashion of those times. The maiden wore a dress of some coarse
woolen stuff; and, in her hands she held a sheet of parchment, and a
pen.
Suddenly there broke into their quiet talk the sound of clashing
arms, and the mad plunging of horses. Sybil, the maiden, stopped
terrified.
“Oh!” she cried, “it is the noise of battle! Too well I know those
sounds. Let us go quickly back!”
“Let us go forward a little way,” said Maghar, the youth, “to yon
opening in the woods. Or, stop here, if you fear, and I will go alone
and look out.”
“No,” said Sybil, “if you go I will follow.”
Together they looked out upon the open plain. Two hostile armies
had met unexpectedly, and a fierce conflict had commenced.
“Alas!” said Sybil, shuddering. “There are the savage infidels that
laid waste our home!”
“Yes,” said Maghar, excitedly, “and here, on this side, are our
countrymen, and neighbors! I must bear a hand in this fight!”
“And leave me alone!” cried Sybil. “I have only you left! Your single
arm will not count for much in a battle!”
“It would be a shame to me,” said Maghar, “to sneak off, like a
coward, and leave our friends and Christian soldiers, when their
forces are few, and every warrior counts. Have I not my armor? I
shall find shield and spear on the battle-field on some poor fellow
who has already fallen in the fray. Do not fear, sister! Go back to
Christern’s cottage. There you will be safe; and I will return in a few
hours.”
So saying, he led Sybil back into the forest to the path leading to
Christern’s cottage; gave the book into her hands; and, kissing her
good-bye, he ran out of the woods as fast as the weight of his armor
would allow.

SYBIL’S WATCH.

But Sybil did not return to the cottage. She was too anxious about
her brother; and, going to the entrance of the wood, she crouched
among the trees, where she was hidden from view, and watched the
progress of the fight. She was ready to fly if the tide of battle brought
the armies too near. But they seemed to be gradually moving away
from her. She soon singled out her brother. He had secured a spear
and shield, and mounted a riderless horse. In a few minutes he was
lost in the throng, and she saw him no more.
Her mind was filled with sad forebodings. This Infidel army had
invaded the country, and laid it waste; had killed her parents, and
overthrown, and utterly ruined the beautiful castle that had been her
home. A few things had been saved by old Christern, a much loved
servant of the family, and these constituted the property of Maghar
and Sybil. Old Christern’s cottage, in the depths of the forest, was
the refuge of the orphans. There they had lived for several weeks,
and no way of retrieving their fortunes seemed open to them.
Maghar was a fine scholar. His father had had him taught to read his
own language and Latin, and to write a very beautiful hand. That was
the extent of his knowledge; and it was a great deal at a time when
very few of the richest people knew their letters.
And now, in their poverty, there seemed to be very little use for his
learning. Nobody cared anything about it. He might copy manuscript
for some learned man, and get a living this way, for printing and
paper had not then been invented; and all books were written on
parchment. But Maghar had a contempt for a clerk, as he called a
copyist, and did not fancy this method of supporting his sister and
himself. Nevertheless, the two were that day on their way to the
abode of a great and learned man to see if he wished anything of
this kind done; and if he would buy their only book—a Latin volume,
written on parchment, and beautifully illuminated and bound in
wooden covers.
Sybil went over these things in her mind as she watched the
battle, trying, in vain, to distinguish the form of her brother. She soon
saw to her dismay, that the Infidel forces had turned the flank of the
Christian army, and that the ranks of the latter were broken, and they
were retreating, closely followed by their enemies. She stood up
now, and strained her eyes to watch them until they had all
disappeared over the crest of a hill. Then she sadly returned to
Christern’s cottage to tell the old man of this new and terrible
misfortune.
 Days passed away, and Maghar did not return. Christern learned
that the Christian army was broken, and the soldiers scattered.
Some had returned to their homes. The wounded were cared for
among their friends. The dead were buried. But Maghar was with
none of these. No one could tell anything about him, except that he
had fought bravely.
Then Sybil determined to seek out the great and learned man to
whom Maghar had intended to offer his services as copyist. She was
somewhat afraid of him, for he was known to be a powerful
magician. But he could, no doubt, tell her the fate of Maghar, and
she would try to overcome her fears.
She took off the coarse peasant’s dress she had been wearing,
and arrayed herself in her best robe of fine white cashmere, which
was one of the things that Christern had managed to save. She
loosened her beautiful hair, which fell nearly to her feet. This last she
did to show the deep sorrow she was in. She also took with her the
Latin volume, as a present, to propitiate the powerful magician.
The great man lived in the simplest manner in a rocky cavern.
Sybil found him outside his dwelling, seated on a mossy stone,
sorting some plants that lay in his lap. He did not look up as she
approached, and she had a good opportunity to study his
countenance, which was so sweet and gentle that her fear of him
vanished; and she came forward quite boldly, greeted him, and
presented her book.
But the magician waved the volume aside. “I know why you seek
me, sister of Maghar,” he said, kindly.
“Oh, can you tell me aught of my brother?” cried Sybil.
“I know not where he is. The oracles would not enlighten me
without your presence. Come into my dwelling, and we will consult
them.”
So saying he conducted her into his cave through a low, dark
passage way. Great was Sybil’s astonishment when she found
herself in a vast room, with a lofty ceiling. Around the circular walls
was a continuous row of lamps, kept constantly burning. Their light
was reflected from myriads of stalactites that hung from the roof,
glowing with all the colors of the rainbow, making the rough, rocky
chamber as brilliant and gorgeous as a fairy palace. In the centre of
the room stood a brazier, filled with burning coals, and near it, a
large iron harp, with silver strings, and a sort of cupboard, made of
iron. A few rough couches were scattered around. And this was all
the furniture the room contained.
The magician invited Sybil to take a seat. He then proceeded to
place on his head a crown, woven of vines of magical virtues. He
took from the cupboard some singular-looking vessels, and mixed in
them various powders and liquids. Then, pouring all their contents
into a copper pot, he placed it on the coals, seated himself on a
stone near it, drew his harp in front of him, and motioned to Sybil to
stand before it. He looked so pleasantly upon her she did not feel
afraid, but her heart beat fast, not knowing what fearful thing she
might see.
She saw nothing whatever but the harp, and the old man; for, as
soon as the clouds of fragrant white smoke that poured out from the
brazier, had completely enveloped the two, the magician swept his
fingers over his harp, and began to sing. Then Sybil forgot
everything else, for his chant was of Maghar.
 SYBIL AND THE MAGICIAN.
He sang of the great deeds Maghar had done in the battle, and
how he had made himself famous. He was the last prisoner taken by
the Infidels; and was now confined in a castle several leagues
distant. The Infidel army was there encamped. They would like to
slay Maghar outright, but were afraid of the vengeance of the
Christian armies near them if they murdered a man held in such
esteem. He was at present undisturbed, but the probability was that,
after a time, they would decide to starve him to death, and give out
word that he had died from sickness. His sister had thus a little time
in which to work to save him.
Here the song ended, and the weeping girl begged the great
magician to save her brother. This he said was not in his power. She
must find a good fairy, and make it her friend. The small creature
could get into the castle, see her brother, and, together, they could
devise a way of escape. He might, perhaps, be able to help them
then. He told her what roads to follow to reach the castle; and,
assuring her that such a good girl would surely find a good fairy to
assist her in her trouble, he dismissed her with his blessing.
That very day Christern and Sybil set out for the castle. They
reached the place after three days’ journey. They told no one what
their errand was in that part of the country; and there were so many
homeless people in the land that their appearance excited no
surprise. Christern soon found employment among the wood-cutters,
and fitted up a deserted hut as a temporary dwelling.
But though they could, every day, look upon the walls of the castle
in which Maghar was confined, they seemed no nearer to him than
before. He was in the hands of the cruel infidels, and where were
there any fairies? There were plenty in that part of the country, the
wood-cutters said, which, at first, was encouraging. But, on inquiry, it
turned out that not one of them had ever seen a fairy, or knew
anybody who ever had seen one. Sybil was in despair as the days
went by, and she blamed her friend, the magician, that he had given
her no help, after all.
She often walked through the woods, near nightfall, to meet
Christern. One evening, as the two were returning together to their
hut, they saw a large wild boar approaching, followed by several
young ones. As this creature is very savage when it has its young to
defend, Christern and Sybil thought it wise to step aside among the
trees, and leave the path to the boar and its interesting family. After
these had passed they continued their way, but had not gone far
when they saw a young boar lying in the path. Christern stooped
over to examine it.
 THE BOAR FAMILY.

“It got in with that litter,” said he, “and did not belong to it, so the
old boar has gored it badly. But it is not dead. I’ll take it home, make
a sty for it, and, if it lives, I’ll fatten it, and kill it when it is fit for
eating.”
The wounded animal lifted an appealing glance to Sybil. Its eyes
wore an almost human expression of suffering, and a most
beseeching plea for help. The girl’s heart was touched.
“It is not badly hurt,” she said. “Its flesh is torn, but if I wash its
wounds, and bind them up, and find a nice place in the woods,
where I can make it comfortable, and feed it, it will get well. It is a
free, wild creature, and must not be shut up in a close sty. Think of
my dear brother shut up when he wants to be free!”
Christern thought Sybil’s plan a foolish one, but this last argument
silenced him. He had not a word to say in reply. So the girl washed
off the blood from the boar’s wounds with her fine cambric
handkerchief, which she then tore into strips to bind them up. She
found, in a secluded place, a soft cushion of moss on which she laid
him, and partly covered him with leaves to keep him warm. She then
brought from the hut some of her own scanty supper, and gave it to
the little boar.
After this she visited her patient two or three times a day, nursing
and feeding him. But, on the afternoon of the fourth day, he had
disappeared, and Sybil returned to the hut feeling quite lonely at the
loss of the little creature that had been so glad to see her.
The next night, as Christern was returning late from his work,
trudging slowly through the forest, with his lantern swinging in his
hand, and his wallet slung over his back on the end of his walking
stick, something brushed close by the old man’s ear with a buzzing
of tiny wings.
“That dragon-fly is out late,” said the old man to himself.
Very soon the wings brushed by him again with a louder whizzing.
“It is a bat!” said the old man, shaking his head. “Shoo! shoo!” But
the third time the whirring wings flew almost into his face.
“Good evening, old Christern!” said a tiny voice, such as might
come from a humming-bird, if it could speak.
The startled old man stopped and flashed the light of his lantern
around among the trees. And there, with wee wings outspread, was
a fairy skimming through the air! Christern had never seen a fairy,
but he knew this was one as soon as he saw him. And a jolly,
rollicking fellow he was!
 CHRISTERN AND THE FAIRY.

“You don’t know me, old fellow?” said the fairy.

Christern shook his head.
“Wanted to shut me up in a sty, and fatten me, eh? I wouldn’t be
much of a mouthful now, would I? Don’t you wish you could get me?”
And the saucy fellow soared high up among the trees.
Christern nearly dropped his lantern in his astonishment. “You
don’t ever mean to tell me that boars are fairies?” he said, at last.
“I mean to say nothing of the kind!” cried the fairy, indignantly.
“Your horrid, beastly boars are no relations of ours, even! I’ll tell you
how it was,” he said, coming nearer Christern, and speaking in a
confidential tone. “Our fairies all have wings, and can fly, but there
are other kinds without wings. Some of these are good, but some are
bad, and they are full of spite against us because we are better off
than they. I offended a tribe of these not long ago, and they had
influence with a wicked old witch who changed me into a little boar. I
was to remain in that shape for a week. She would have made the
time longer, if she could. But they all thought I would be killed in that
time. And so I should have been but for your Sybil. And there was
another thing worse than death. If I was deprived of my liberty during
that week, I could never again regain my natural shape. So, if you
had put me in your sty, I would have been eaten up one of these
days as a boar. From this awful fate your Sybil saved me. So I am
doubly indebted to her, and I want to do something for her.”
“Oh, you are the good fairy, who is to save our Maghar!” cried the
old man, joyfully.
Thereupon he related the whole sad story, and the fairy told him
he would consult with his tribe that night; and, if he and Sybil would
come to that spot on the following night he would let them know what
could be done.
Sybil’s delight was unbounded. She now felt sure that her brother
would be saved. But, nevertheless she accompanied Christern to the
place of meeting, half fearing that the frisky fairy would play her
some trick. But he was there, before them, and had dressed himself
in his best suit of green in honor of the occasion.
As soon as they appeared he began chattering as fast as ever he
could.
“We fairies have hit upon a splendid plan,” he said. “But there is no
time to lose. Sybil, I have seen your brother, but he did not see me. I
was at the castle this morning before cock-crow. I flew in through a
loop-hole. Nobody saw me. It took me a long time to find out in what
room your brother was kept, but, at last, I made it out. I intended to
stay until I did. He is in a room, high up in the north tower. He has
been pretty well, but now his jailers have begun the plan of starving
him; and he will soon be too weak to save himself as we propose,
which is the only way open to him. It requires steady nerves, and
great courage. But do not weep, for we will save him, only it must be
done speedily. Do you, Christern, be ready to go with me to the
castle at break of day. Pretend you are a beggar. There are so many
of these you will pass unsuspected. I will point out to you a small
postern door at the back of the castle, stay about that; and I will hide
near it. I could slip inside easily enough, and tell Maghar what to do,
but he does not know me, and would not trust me. So you must get
inside the castle some way and see him. And, not only that, but you
must get out again. And this is our plan for doing this. We fairies
have three magical cocks. At a signal from me these cocks will
appear on the crest of the hill at the back of the castle, and will sing
a song. This will so astonish the sentinels that they will be thrown off
their guard. I will then slip in through a loop-hole, unlock the postern
door, and let you in. We will tell Maghar how he can escape. Then
the cocks will appear again, and while the attention of the guards is
distracted, we will get out of the castle. Remember now to be here at
daybreak.”
And the fairy disappeared, much to Sybil’s regret, who had a
hundred questions to ask him about her brother’s appearance, and
treatment. He had not even told her what his plan was for her
brother’s escape. But he did not come back, and she was obliged to
be satisfied with the information she had.
The programme was carried out in every particular. Christern
acted his part of beggar so well that he managed to get near the
postern door, unsuspected, with the fairy snugly tucked into a fold of
his ragged dress. On arriving at the place the fairy concealed himself
in some vines. At the appointed signal three magnificent cocks
appeared abreast on the top of the hill.
 THREE MAGICAL COCKS.

The like of these cocks had never been seen in that country, and
they immediately attracted the attention of everybody. But when they
opened their mouths, and began to sing the words of a war song, the
sentinels forgot everything, and deserted their posts to get as near
the wonderful songsters as possible without alarming them.