The Baker's Daughters
"They say the owl was a baker's daughter. Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be." William Shakespeare, Hamlet (Ophelia) Act 4, Scene 5 In school, I was surprised to encounter this quote and not need the teacher's explanation. Not only did I know what Shakespeare was getting at, but also his original source. I had read the story of the baker's daughter many years before in the folktales I read for entertainment. That I could share some common knowledge with an Elizabethan poet (some would say The Elizabethan poet) was interesting, but it shows how these stories, told again and again to children, are a thread that runs through time. Shakespeare's reference may have contributed to keeping the story alive in my age, but that doesn't negate the significance. It reinforces it. We lift up the stories from our childhood and throw them forward for future generatio...