The Little Engine That Could ~ Watty Piper & Loren Long

The Once and Future King ~ T. H. White

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

The Bible

What a difficult task to choose a favorite book! There are many mystery, adventure and thriller novels that have made my adrenaline flow, kept me awake at night, carried me away to other worlds. And there have been many other books filled with information and ideas about mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics, genetics, pathology and medicine that brought me the same type of satisfaction as putting together the pieces of a puzzle, or going on a treasure hunt, as bits and pieces of knowledge were brought together for me to satisfy some deep desire to understand how the world and the things in it are made. As you can see, I could not choose just one book. In the end, there were four I could not put back on the shelf—four that have been favorites from the first time I found them. While they do contain adventure and mystery as well as facts, I have returned to them again and again for something else.

The Little Engine That Could is a children’s book read to me many times by my mother, when I was a small child. The story is about a train of cars carrying toys to children in another town over a mountain. The train is stranded at the bottom of the mountain because its engine has broken down. The toy passengers ask for help from several newer and more powerful train engines who pass by. But—for the sake of time, loftier ambitions or image—the new and more powerful engines do not stop to help. A little engine comes along who is touched by the plight of the toys and stops to help. Not concerned with those who don’t believe it has the power to pull the train of cars over the mountain, the little train sets to work. My grandfather, who had read this story to my mother when she was small and later read it to me, was station master for the railway, so I’d had several trips on the trains and could feel as well as hear the ratcheted chug-a-chug, chug-a-chug, chug-a-chug sounds of the little train as it strained to do what seemed impossible, rhythmically imprinting the message of this wonderful story: that if ‘I think I can, I think I can, I think I can,’ I really can.

The Once and Future King is a rendition of the legend of King Arthur. This story emphasizes Merlin’s unorthodox education of the Wart, an apparent orphan boy, who was raised as a servant in the household of Sir Hector, but was destined, as Merlin knew, to draw Excalibur from the stone and become Arthur, King of England. Merlin turns the Wart into many different animals, including a falcon, a fish, an ant and a migratory goose. At the end of his training, Merlin sends him to visit the badger, for his last lesson. “Well,” says the badger, “I can only teach you two things—to dig, and love your home. These are the true end of philosophy.” From these varied experiences with the animals and their different perspectives, the Wart learned much about how to build a new and better kind of human society. He learned that we all need to dig: we are differentiated by what tools we choose to dig with—perhaps it will be a shovel, mathematics, a test tube, a pen or a piano, but we are each fulfilled by digging our own paths. He learned that we all need a home, should cherish it and fight to protect it. He also realized there were some unique problems for human societies. For example, he came to understand that humans, with very few exceptions, are alone in killing their own kind and in killing for reasons other than food or the right to procreate. These lessons imparted a special wisdom to Arthur that would later guide him through the difficult dilemmas he faced as he created Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table and ushered in a new era where might is not right, but protects what is right.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare became a favorite of mine in college and to this day I continue to be amazed by the depth and breadth of his understanding of human nature. In the sonnets he deals with the most important human concerns of love and mortality. Through the comedies he explores human nature, our fitness for marriage and society, and the unforeseeable impact of the choices we make. In the histories, with real persons, he highlights the worst and the best of human natures in England’s kings. Better than a hundred current books on leadership is his play about Henry V, who, in Shakespeare’s words, was “the mirror for all Christian kings.” The young Hal, known for his former frivolity, suddenly becomes King on his father’s death. Understandably, there is a lack of support within England and a lack of respect across the English channel. The young King must deal swiftly and decisively with treachery from those within England who owed him their allegiance. He is forced to wage war to reclaim England’s rightful lands held illegally by France. In traversing French soil, he exercises mercy and friendship to the defenseless French, but swift retribution for disobedience among his troops. Finally, when his troops are demoralized with fatigue, illness and hunger, and all that could go wrong has gone wrong, he finds himself and his troops on the field of Agincourt, engaged and outnumbered 5 to 1, by healthy, well-fed, well-rested French troops. To the demoralized lament of his companions who foresee certain death and wish for more soldiers and better circumstances, he responds emphatically that no, he would not wish for one man more nor any more favorable odds, but rather this day and the very odds they faced. If it was God’s will they die, then die they would, but their loss would be felt. If it was God’s will they triumph, then he wished to share the glory with no others than the few standing with him, because they would be forever remembered in history, and envied by those not fortunate enough to be counted with them that day. The speech so moved his troops that they attained what they had not imagined possible—a victory against impossible odds that is still revered today in English history.

Finally, the last book is the Bible. Those of Jewish or Christian faith will recognize the infinite and sufficient wisdom of our God and the principles laid down in this book. Herein are examples of every possible human relationship, circumstance or dilemma that one might face, with time tested wisdom to guide us. No matter how many times I open this book, there is always something helpful, whether I am digging, or on my way home. For those of other faiths, there will be other books that offer a conduit to your Higher Power and wisdom that outlasts knowledge to light your home and your path.

Photo by: Dwight Bennett, Ned Davis & Martine Horrell
HSC Libraries