The Story of My Life
built centuries ago, in the reign of King Glacier. At a little distance
from the palace we might easily mistake it for a mountain whose peaks
were mounting heavenward to receive the last kiss of the departing
day. But on nearer approach we should discover our error. What we had
supposed to be peaks were in reality a thousand glittering spires.
Nothing could be more beautiful than the architecture of this
ice-palace. The walls are curiously constructed of massive blocks of ice
which terminate in cliff-like towers. The entrance to the palace is at
the end of an arched recess, and it is guarded night and day by twelve
soldierly-looking white Bears.
But, children, you must make King Frost a visit the very first
opportunity you have, and see for yourselves this wonderful palace. The
old King will welcome you kindly, for he loves children, and it is his
chief delight to give them pleasure.
You must know that King Frost, like all other kings, has great treasures
of gold and precious stones; but as he is a generous old monarch, he
endeavours to make a right use of his riches. So wherever he goes he
does many wonderful works; he builds bridges over every stream, as
transparent as glass, but often as strong as iron; he shakes the forest
trees until the ripe nuts fall into the laps of laughing children; he
puts the flowers to sleep with one touch of his hand; then, lest we
should mourn for the bright faces of the flowers, he paints the leaves
with gold and crimson and emerald, and when his task is done the trees
are beautiful enough to comfort us for the flight of summer. I will tell
you how King Frost happened to think of painting the leaves, for it is a
strange story.
One day while King Frost was surveying his vast wealth and thinking what
good he could do with it, he suddenly bethought him of his jolly old
neighbour, Santa Claus. "I will send my treasures to Santa Claus,"
said the King to himself. "He is the very man to dispose of them
satisfactorily, for he knows where the poor and the unhappy live, and
his kind old heart is always full of benevolent plans for their relief."
So he called together the merry little fairies of his household and,
showing them the jars and vases containing his treasures, he bade them
carry them to the palace of Santa Claus as quickly as they could. The
fairies promised obedience, and were off in a twinkling, dragging the
heavy jars and vases along after them as well as they could, now and
then grumbling a little at having such a hard task, for they were idle
fairies and loved to play better than to work. After awhile they came to
a great forest and, being tired and hungry, they thought they would rest
a little and look for nuts before continuing their journey. But thinking
their treasure might be stolen from them, they hid the jars among the
thick green leaves of the various trees until they were sure that no one
could find them. Then they began to wander merrily about searching for
nuts, climbing trees, peeping curiously into the empty birds' nests, and
playing hide and seek from behind the trees. Now, these naughty fairies
were so busy and so merry over their frolic that they forgot all about
their errand and their master's command to go quickly, but soon they
found to their dismay why they had been bidden to hasten, for although
they had, as they supposed, hidden the treasure carefully, yet the
bright eyes of King Sun had spied out the jars among the leaves, and
as he and King Frost could never agree as to what was the best way of
benefiting the world, he was very glad of a good opportunity of playing
a joke upon his rather sharp rival. King Sun laughed softly to himself
when the delicate jars began to melt and break. At length every jar and
vase was cracked or broken, and the precious stones they contained were
melting, too, and running in little streams over the trees and bushes of
the forest.
Still the idle fairies did not notice what was happening, for they were
down on the grass, and the wonderful shower of treasure was a long time
in reaching them; but at last they plainly heard the tinkling of many
drops falling like rain through the forest, and sliding from leaf to
leaf until they reached the little bushes by their side, when to their
astonishment they discovered that the rain-drops were melted rubies
which hardened on the leaves, and turned them to crimson and gold in
a moment. Then looking around more closely, they saw that much of the
treasure was already melted, for the oaks and maples were arrayed in
gorgeous dresses of gold and crimson and emerald. It was very beautiful,
but the disobedient fairies were too frightened to notice the beauty of
the trees. They were afraid that King Frost would come and punish
them. So they hid themselves among the bushes and waited silently for
something to happen. Their fears were well founded, for their long
absence had alarmed the King, and he mounted North Wind and went out
in search of his tardy couriers. Of course, he had not gone far when he
noticed the brightness of the leaves, and he quickly guessed the cause
when he saw the broken jars from which the treasure was still dropping.
At first King Frost was very angry, and the fairies trembled and
crouched lower in their hiding-places, and I do not know what might have
happened to them if just then a party of boys and girls had not entered
the wood. When the children saw the trees all aglow with brilliant
colors they clapped their hands and shouted for joy, and immediately
began to pick great bunches to take home. "The leaves are as lovely as
the flowers!" cried they, in their delight. Their pleasure banished the
anger from King Frost's heart and the frown from his brow, and he, too,
began to admire the painted trees. He said to himself, "My treasures are
not wasted if they make little children happy. My idle fairies and my
fiery enemy have taught me a new way of doing good."
When the fairies heard this, they were greatly relieved and came
forth from their hiding-places, confessed their fault, and asked their
master's forgiveness.
Ever since that time it has been King Frost's great delight to paint the
leaves with the glowing colors we see in the autumn, and if they are not
covered with gold and precious stones I cannot imagine what makes them
so bright, can you?
If the story of "The Frost Fairies" was read to Helen in the summer of
1888, she could not have understood very much of it at that time, for
she had only been under instruction since March, 1887.
Can it be that the language of the story had remained dormant in her
mind until my description of the beauty of the autumn scenery in 1891
brought it vividly before her mental vision?
I have made careful investigation among Helen's friends in Alabama and
in Boston and its vicinity, but thus far have been unable to ascertain
any later date when it could have been read to her.
Another fact is of great significance in this connection. "The Rose
Fairies" was published in the same volume with "The Frost Fairies," and,
therefore, was probably read to Helen at or about the same time.
Now Helen, in her letter of February, 1890 (quoted above), alludes to
this story of Miss Canby's as a dream "WHICH I HAD A LONG TIME AGO WHEN
I WAS A VERY LITTLE CHILD." Surely, a year and a half would appear "a
long time ago" to a little girl like Helen; we therefore have reason to
believe that the stories must have been read to her at least as early as
the summer of 1888.
HELEN KELLER'S OWN STATEMENT
(The following entry made by Helen in her diary speaks for itself.)
'1892. January 30. This morning I took a bath, and when teacher came
upstairs to comb my hair she told me some very sad news which made me
unhappy all day. Some one wrote to Mr. Anagnos that the story which I
sent him as a birthday gift, and which I wrote myself, was not my story
at all, but that a lady had written it a long time ago. The person said
her story was called "Frost Fairies." I am sure I never heard it. It
made us feel so bad to think that people thought we had been untrue and
wicked. My heart was full of tears, for I love the beautiful truth with
my whole heart and mind.
'It troubles me greatly now. I do not know what I shall do. I never
thought that people could make such mistakes. I am perfectly sure I
wrote the story myself. Mr. Anagnos is much troubled. It grieves me to
think that I have been the cause of his unhappiness, but of course I did
not mean to do it.
'I thought about my story in the autumn, because teacher told me about
the autumn leaves while we walked in the woods at Fern Quarry. I thought
fairies must have painted them because they are so wonderful, and
I thought, too, that King Frost must have jars and vases containing
precious treasures, because I knew that other kings long ago had, and
because teacher told me that the leaves were painted ruby, emerald,
gold, crimson, and brown; so that I thought the paint must be melted
stones. I knew that they must make children happy because they are
so lovely, and it made me very happy to think that the leaves were so
beautiful and that the trees glowed so, although I could not see them.
'I thought everybody had the same thought about the leaves, but I do not
know now. I thought very much about the sad news when teacher went to
the doctor's; she was not here at dinner and I missed her.'
I do not feel that I can add anything more that will be of interest.
My own heart is too "full of tears" when I remember how my dear little
pupil suffered when she knew "that people thought we had been untrue and
wicked," for I know that she does indeed "love the beautiful truth with
her whole heart and mind."
Yours truly, ANNIE M. SULLIVAN.
So much appears in the Volta Bureau Souvenir. The following letter from
Mr. Anagnos is reprinted from the American Annals of the Deaf, April,
1892:
PERKINS INSTITUTION AND MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND SO. BOSTON,
March 11, 1892. TO THE EDITOR OF THE ANNALS.
Sir: In compliance with your wishes I make the following statement
concerning Helen Keller's story of "King Frost." It was sent to me as a
birthday gift on November 7th, from Tuscumbia, Alabama. Knowing as well
as I do Helen's extraordinary abilities I did not hesitate to accept
it as her own work; nor do I doubt to-day that she is fully capable of
writing such a composition. Soon after its appearance in print I was
pained to learn, through the Goodson Gazette, that a portion of the
story (eight or nine passages) is either a reproduction or adaptation
of Miss Margaret Canby's "Frost Fairies." I immediately instituted an
inquiry to ascertain the facts in the case. None of our teachers or
officers who are accustomed to converse with Helen ever knew or heard
about Miss Canby's book, nor did the child's parents and relatives at
home have any knowledge of it. Her father, Captain Keller, wrote to me
as follows on the subject:
"I hasten to assure you that Helen could not have received any idea of
the story from any of her relations or friends here, none of whom can
communicate with her readily enough to impress her with the details of a
story of that character."
At my request, one of the teachers in the girls' department examined
Helen in regard to the construction of the story. Her testimony is as
follows:
"I first tried to ascertain what had suggested to Helen's mind the
particular fancies which made her story seem like a reproduction of one
written by Miss Margaret Canby. Helen told me that for a long time she
had thought of Jack Frost as a king, because of the many treasures which
he possessed. Such rich treasures must be kept in a safe place, and so
she had imagined them stored in jars and vases in one part of the royal