SERJEANT PARSING’S VISIT.
[Illustration: SERGEANT PARSING]
Serjeant Parsing paid a visit to Schoolroom-shire.
“My young friends,” he said, in his most amiable voice, “may I trouble
you with a little piece of business for Judge Grammar to-day. I have
here a story, and the Judge requests that you will kindly find out how
many of the words in it belong to Mr. Noun, how many to Mr. Pronoun,
and how often little ragged Article comes in. The best way to do this
is to get your slates, and mark off a piece for Mr. Noun, another for
Mr. Pronoun, and a corner somewhere for little Article. Write their
names in each. Now I will read the story, and whenever I come to a
noun, give Mr. Noun a mark; whenever I read a pronoun, give a mark to
Mr. Pronoun; and if I read an _a_, _an_, or _the_, put down a mark to
little Article. When it is finished we will count up and see who has
the most marks.”
Serjeant Parsing then read the following story:--
“Some sailors belonging to a ship of war had a monkey on board. The
monkey had often watched the men firing off a cannon, so one day when
they were all at dinner he thought he should like to fire it too. So
he took a match, as he had seen the men do, struck it, put it to the
touch-hole, and looked into the mouth of the cannon, to see the ball
come out. The ball did come out, and alas! alas! the poor little monkey
fell down dead.”
[Illustration]
[Illustration]