When two or more steps can be covered in a single stride, one makes
the stride. When a necessary explanation is unduly long, or is woven into
the story in too many strands, one disposes of it in an introductory
statement, or perhaps in a side remark. If there are two or more threads
of narrative, one chooses among them, and holds strictly to the one
chosen, eliminating details which concern the others.
In order to hold the simplicity of plot so attained, it is also desirable
to have but few personages in the story, and to narrate the action from
the point of view of one of them,--usually the hero. To shift the point of
view of the action is confusing to the child's mind.
When the analysis and condensation have been accomplished, the whole must
be cast in simple language, keeping if possible the same kind of speech as
that used in the original, but changing difficult or technical terms to
plain, and complex images to simple and familiar ones.
All types of adaptation share in this need of simple language,--stories
which are too short, as well as those which are too long, have this
feature in their changed form. The change in a short story is applied
oftenest where it becomes desirable to amplify a single anecdote, or
perhaps a fable, which is told in very condensed form.
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