Even
here, however, a great deal is left to the pupil's thought and
decision.

How much chance there may be for such individual thought and decision
in a finished play written by a careful dramatist may be illustrated
by _Fame and the Poet_ by Lord Dunsany. One of the characters is a
Lieutenant-Major who calls upon a poet in London. Nothing is said
about his costume. In one city an actor asked the British consul. He
said officers of the army do not wear their uniforms except when in
active service, but on the British stage one great actor had by his
example created the convention of wearing the uniform. In another city
at exactly the same time the author himself was asked the same
question. He said that by no means should the actor wear a uniform.

In the next exercises you are to represent characters with whom you
have become acquainted in books. You will therefore know something
about their dispositions, their appearance, and their actions. Your
task will be to give life-like portraits which others will recognize
as true to their opinions of these same people. For all who have read
the books the general outlines will be identical. The added details
must not contradict any of the traits depicted by the authors.
Otherwise they may be as original as you can imagine.

In the _Odyssey_, the great old Greek poem by Homer, the wandering
hero, Odysseus (also called Ulysses), is cast up by the sea upon a
strange shore. Here he meets Nausicaa (pronounced Nau-si'-ca-a) who
offers to show him the way to the palace of her father, the Bang. But
as she is betrothed she fears that if she is seen in the company of an
unknown man some scandalous gossip may be carried to her sweetheart.
So she directs that when they near the town Odysseus shall tarry
behind, allowing her to enter alone. In this naive incident this much
is told in detail by the poet. We are not told whether any gossip does
reach the lover's ears. He does not appear in the story. We are not
told even his name. Nor are we told how either she or he behaved when
they first met, after she had conducted the stranger to the palace.

If you enact this scene of their meeting you will first have to find a
name for him. You are free to create all the details of their behavior
and conversation. Was he angry? Was he cool towards her? Had he heard
a false account?

Before attempting any of the following exercises decide all the
matters of interpretation as already indicated in t