Stories are the harp strings of history, transforming the past into melody and rhythm. The best stories live forever in the human mind. They greet us in the Latin, Teutonic, and Celtic tongues, surprise us in the ancient Greek, Arabic, and Hindoo literature, and astonish us in the rude folk tales of primitive peoples who have no written language. The demand for a good story is as wide, as unsatisfied, as human longing, and the search for a new one as difficult and elusive as the discovery of a new element in nature.