where they stood. When they were told that the great beast was before
them, they asked the driver to let him stop so that they might see
him.
Of course they could not see him with their eyes; but they thought
that by touching him they could learn just what kind of animal he was.
The first one happened to put his hand on the elephant's side. "Well,
well!" he said, "now I know all about this beast. He is ex-act-ly like
a wall."
The second felt only of the elephant's tusk. "My brother," he said,
"you are mistaken. He is not at all like a wall. He is round and
smooth and sharp. He is more like a spear than anything else."
The third happened to take hold of the elephant's trunk. "Both of you
are wrong," he said. "Anybody who knows anything can see that this
elephant is like a snake."
The fourth reached out his arms, and grasped one of the elephant's
legs. "Oh, how blind you are!" he said. "It is very plain to me that
he is round and tall like a tree."
The fifth was a very tall man, and he chanced to take hold of the
elephant's ear. "The blind-est man ought to know that this beast is
not like any of the things that you name," he said. "He is ex-act-ly
like a huge fan."
The sixth was very blind indeed, and it was some time before he could
find the elephant at all. At last he seized the animal's tail. "O
foolish fellows!" he cried. "You surely have lost your senses. This
elephant is not like a wall, or a spear, or a snake, or a tree;
neither is he like a fan. But any man with a par-ti-cle of sense can
see that he is exactly like a rope."
Then the elephant moved on, and the six blind men sat by the roadside
all day, and quar-reled about him. Each believed that he knew just how
the animal looked; and each called the others hard names because they
did not agree with him. People who have eyes sometimes act as
foolishly.
MAXIMILIAN AND THE GOOSE BOY.
One summer day King Max-i-mil´ian of Ba-va´ri-a was walking in the
country. The sun shone hot, and he stopped under a tree to rest.
It was very pleasant in the cool shade. The king lay down on the soft
grass, and looked up at the white clouds sailing across the sky. Then
he took a little book from his pocket and tried to read.
But the king could not keep his mind on his book. Soon his eyes
closed, and he was fast asleep.
It was past noon when he awoke. He got up from his grassy bed, and
looked around. Then he took his cane in his hand, and started for
home.
When he had walked a mile or more, he happened to think of his book.
He felt for it in his pocket. It was not there. He had left it under
the tree.
The king was already quite tired, and he did not like to walk back so
far. But he did not wish to lose the book. What should he do?
If there was only some one to send for it!
While he was thinking, he happened to see a little bare-foot-ed boy in
the open field near the road. He was tending a large flock of geese
that were picking the short grass, and wading in a shallow brook.
The king went toward the boy. He held a gold piece in his hand.
"My boy," he said, "how would you like to have this piece of money?"
"I would like it," said the boy; "but I never hope to have so much."
"You shall have it if you will run back to the oak tree at the second
turning of the road, and fetch me the book that I left there."
The king thought that the boy would be pleased. But not so. He turned
away, and said, "I am not so silly as you think."
"What do you mean?" said the king. "Who says that you are silly?"
"Well," said the boy, "you think that I am silly enough to believe
that you will give me that gold piece for running a mile, and
fetch-ing you a book. You can't catch me."
"But if I give it to you now, perhaps you will believe me," said the
king; and he put the gold piece into the little fellow's hand.
The boy's eyes spar-kled; but he did not move.
"What is the matter now?" said the king. "Won't you go?"
The boy said, "I would like to go; but I can't leave the geese. They
will stray away, and then I shall be blamed for it."
[Illustration: "Crack the whip!"]
"Oh, I will tend them while you are away," said the king.
The boy laughed. "I should like to see you tending them!" he said.
"Why, they would run away from you in a minute."
"Only let me try," said the king.
At last the boy gave the king his whip, and started off. He had gone
but a little way, when he turned and came back.
"What is the matter now?" said Max-i-mil-ian.
"Crack the whip!"
The king tried to do as he was bidden, but he could not make a sound.
"I thought as much," said the boy. "You don't know how to do
anything."
Then he took the whip, and gave the king lessons in whip cracking.
"Now you see how it is done," he said, as he handed it back. "If the
geese try to run away, crack it loud."
The king laughed. He did his best to learn his lesson; and soon the
boy again started off on his errand.
Maximilian sat down on a stone, and laughed at the thought of being a
goose-herd. But the geese missed their master at once. With a great
cac-kling and hissing they went, half flying, half running, across the
meadow.
The king ran after them, but he could not run fast. He tried to crack
the whip, but it was of no use. The geese were soon far away. What was
worse, they had gotten into a garden, and were feeding on the tender
veg-e-ta-bles.
A few minutes after-ward, the goose boy came back with the book.
"Just as I thought," he said. "I have found the book, and you have
lost the geese."
"Never mind," said the king, "I will help you get them again."
"Well, then, run around that way, and stand by the brook while I drive
them out of the garden."
The king did as he was told. The boy ran forward with his whip, and
after a great deal of shouting and scolding, the geese were driven
back into the meadow.
"I hope you will pardon me for not being a better goose-herd," said
Maximilian; "but, as I am a king, I am not used to such work."
"A king, indeed!" said the boy. "I was very silly to leave the geese
with you. But I am not so silly as to believe that you are a king."
"Very well," said Maximilian, with a smile; "here is another gold
piece, and now let us be friends."
The boy took the gold, and thanked the giver. He looked up into the
king's face and said,--
"You are a very kind man, and I think you might be a good king; but if
you were to try all your life, you would never be a good gooseherd."
THE INCHCAPE ROCK.
In the North Sea there is a great rock called the Inch-cape Rock. It
is twelve miles from any land, and is covered most of the time with
water.
Many boats and ships have been wrecked on that rock; for it is so near
the top of the water that no vessel can sail over it without striking
it.
More than a hundred years ago there lived not far away a kind-heart-ed
man who was called the Abbot of Ab-er-broth-ock.
"It is a pity," he said, "that so many brave sailors should lose their
lives on that hidden rock."
So the abbot caused a buoy to be fastened to the rock. The buoy
floated back and forth in the shallow water. A strong chain kept it
from floating away.
On the top of the buoy the abbot placed a bell; and when the waves
dashed against it, the bell would ring out loud and clear.
Sailors, now, were no longer afraid to cross the sea at that place.
When they heard the bell ringing, they knew just where the rock was,
and they steered their vessels around it.
"God bless the good Abbot of Ab-er-broth-ock!" they all said.
One calm summer day, a ship with a black flag happened to sail not far
from the Inch-cape Rock. The ship belonged to a sea robber called
Ralph the Rover; and she was a terror to all honest people both on sea
and shore.
There was but little wind that day, and the sea was as smooth as
glass. The ship stood almost still; there was hardly a breath of air
to fill her sails.
Ralph the Rover was walking on the deck. He looked out upon the glassy
sea. He saw the buoy floating above the Inchcape Rock. It looked like
a big black speck upon the water. But the bell was not ringing that
day. There were no waves to set it in motion.
"Boys!" cried Ralph the Rover; "put out the boat, and row me to the
Inchcape Rock. We will play a trick on the old abbot."
The boat was low-ered. Strong arms soon rowed it to the Inchcape Rock.
Then the robber, with a heavy ax, broke the chain that held the buoy.
He cut the fas-ten-ings of the bell. It fell into the water. There
was a gur-gling sound as it sank out of sight.
"The next one that comes this way will not bless the abbot," said
Ralph the Rover.
Soon a breeze sprang up, and the black ship sailed away. The sea
robber laughed as he looked back and saw that there was nothing to
mark the place of the hidden rock.
For many days, Ralph the Rover scoured the seas, and many were the
ships that he plun-dered. At last he chanced to sail back toward the
place from which he had started.
The wind had blown hard all day. The waves rolled high. The ship was
moving swiftly. But in the evening the wind died away, and a thick fog
came on.
Ralph the Rover walked the deck. He could not see where the ship was
going. "If the fog would only clear away!" he said.
"I thought I heard the roar of breakers," said the pilot. "We must be
near the shore."
"I cannot tell," said Ralph the Rover; "but I think we are not far
from the Inchcape Rock. I wish we could hear the good abbot's bell."
The next moment there was a great crash. "It is the Inchcape Rock!"
the sailors cried, as the ship gave a lurch to one side, and began to
sink.
"Oh, what a wretch am I!" cried Ralph the Rover. "This is what comes
of the joke that I played on the good abbot!"
What was it that he heard as the waves rushed over him? Was it the
abbot's bell, ringing for him far down at the bottom of the sea?
WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT.
I. THE CITY.
There was once a little boy whose name was Richard Whit´ting-ton; but
everybody called him Dick. His father and mother had died when he was
only a babe, and the people who had the care of him were very poor.
Dick was not old enough to work, and so he had a hard time of it
indeed. Sometimes he had no break-fast, and sometimes he had no
dinner; and he was glad at any time to get a crust of bread or a drop
of milk.
Now, in the town where Dick lived, the people liked to talk about
London. None of them had ever been to the great city, but they seemed
to know all about the wonderful things which were to be seen there.
They said that all the folks who lived in London were fine gen-tle-men
and ladies; that there was singing and music there all day long; that
nobody was ever hungry there, and nobody had to work; and that the
streets were all paved with gold.
Dick listened to these stories, and wished that he could go to London.
One day a big wagon drawn by eight horses, all with bells on their
heads, drove into the little town. Dick saw the wagon standing by the
inn, and he thought that it must be going to the fine city of London.
When the driver came out and was ready to start, the lad ran up and
asked him if he might walk by the side of the wagon. The driver asked
him some questions; and when he learned how poor Dick was, and that he
had neither father nor mother, he told him that he might do as he
liked.
It was a long walk for the little lad; but by and by he came to the
city of London. He was in such a hurry to see the wonderful sights,
that he forgot to thank the driver of the wagon. He ran as fast as he
could, from one street to another, trying to find those that were
paved with gold. He had once seen a piece of money that was gold, and
he knew that it would buy a great, great many things; and now he
thought that if he could get only a little bit of the pave-ment, he
would have everything that he wanted.
Poor Dick ran till he was so tired that he could run no farther. It
was growing dark, and in every street there was only dirt instead of
gold. He sat down in a dark corner, and cried himself to sleep.
When he woke up the next morning, he was very hungry; but there was
not even a crust of bread for him to eat. He forgot all about the
golden pavements, and thought only of food. He walked about from one
street to another, and at last grew so hungry that he began to ask
those whom he met to give him a penny to buy something to eat.
"Go to work, you idle fellow," said some of them; and the rest passed
him by without even looking at him.
"I wish I could go to work!" said Dick.
II. THE KITCHEN.
By and by Dick grew so faint and tired that he could go no farther. He
sat down by the door of a fine house, and wished that he was back
again in the little town where he was born. The cook-maid, who was
just getting dinner, saw him, and called out,--
"What are you doing there, you little beggar? If you don't get away
quick, I'll throw a panful of hot dish-water over you. Then I guess
you will jump."
Just at that time the master of the house, whose name was Mr.
Fitz-war´ren, came home to dinner. When he saw the ragged little
fellow at his door, he said,--
"My lad, what are you doing here? I am afraid you are a lazy fellow,
and that you want to live without work."
"No, indeed!" said Dick. "I would like to work, if I could find
anything to do. But I do not know anybody in this town, and I have not
had anything to eat for a long time."
"Poor little fellow!" said Mr. Fitz-war-ren. "Come in, and I will see
what I can do for you." And he ordered the cook to give the lad a good
dinner, and then to find some light work for him to do.
Little Dick would have been very happy in the new home which he had
thus found, if it had not been for the cross cook. She would often
say,--
"You are my boy now, and so you must do as I tell you. Look sharp
there! Make the fires, carry out the ashes, wash these dishes, sweep
the floor, bring in the wood! Oh, what a lazy fellow you are!" And
then she would box his ears, or beat him with the broom-stick.
At last, little Alice, his master's daughter, saw how he was treated,
and she told the cook she would be turned off if she was not kinder to
the lad. After that, Dick had an eas-i-er time of it; but his
troubles were not over yet, by any means.
His bed was in a garret at the top of the house, far away from the
rooms where the other people slept. There were many holes in the floor
and walls, and every night a great number of rats and mice came in.
They tor-ment-ed Dick so much, that he did not know what to do.
One day a gentleman gave him a penny for cleaning his shoes, and he
made up his mind that he would buy a cat with it. The very next
morning he met a girl who was car-ry-ing a cat in her arms.
"I will give you a penny for that cat," he said.
"All right," the girl said. "You may have her, and you will find that
she is a good mouser too."
Dick hid his cat in the garret, and every day he carried a part of his
dinner to her. It was not long before she had driven all the rats and
mice away; and then Dick could sleep soundly every night.
III. THE VENTURE.
Some time after that, a ship that belonged to Mr. Fitzwarren was about
to start on a voyage across the sea. It was loaded with goods which
were to be sold in lands far away. Mr. Fitzwarren wanted to give his
servants a chance for good fortune too, and so he called all of them
into the parlor, and asked if they had anything they would like to
send out in the ship for trade.
Every one had something to send,--every one but Dick; and as he had
neither money nor goods, he staid in the kitchen, and did not come in
with the rest. Little Alice guessed why he did not come, and so she
said to her papa,--
"Poor Dick ought to have a chance too. Here is some money out of my
own purse that you may put in for him."
"No, no, my child!" said Mr. Fitzwarren. "He must risk something of
his own." And then he called very loud, "Here, Dick! What are you
going to send out on the ship?"
Dick heard him, and came into the room.
"I have nothing in the world," he said, "but a cat which I bought some
time ago for a penny."
"Fetch your cat, then, my lad," said Mr. Fitzwarren, "and let her go
out. Who knows but that she will bring you some profit?"
Dick, with tears in his eyes, carried poor puss down to the ship, and
gave her to the captain. Everybody laughed at his queer venture; but
little Alice felt sorry for him, and gave him money to buy another
cat.
[Illustration]
After that, the cook was worse than before. She made fun of him for
sending his cat to sea. "Do you think," she would say, "that puss will
sell for enough money to buy a stick to beat you?"
At last Dick could not stand her abuse any longer, and he made up his
mind to go back to his old home in the little country town. So, very
early in the morning on All-hal-lows Day, he started. He walked as far
as the place called Hol-lo-way, and there he sat down on a stone,
which to this day is called "Whit-ting-ton's Stone."
As he sat there very sad, and wondering which way he should go, he
heard the bells on Bow Church, far away, ringing out a merry chime. He
listened. They seemed to say to him,--
"Turn again, Whittington, Thrice Lord Mayor of London."
"Well, well!" he said to himself. "I would put up with almost
anything, to be Lord Mayor of London when I am a man, and to ride in a
fine coach! I think I will go back and let the old cook cuff and scold
as much as she pleases."
Dick did go back, and he was lucky enough to get into the kitchen, and
set about his work, before the cook came down-stairs to get
break-fast.
IV. THE CAT.
Mr. Fitzwarren's ship made a long voyage, and at last reached a
strange land on the other side of the sea. The people had never seen
any white men before, and they came in great crowds to buy the fine
things with which the ship was loaded. The captain wanted very much to
trade with the king of the country; and it was not long before the
king sent word for him to come to the palace and see him.
The captain did so. He was shown into a beautiful room, and given a
seat on a rich carpet all flow-ered with silver and gold. The king and
queen were seated not far away; and soon a number of dishes were
brought in for dinner.
They had hardly begun to eat when an army of rats and mice rushed in,
and de-voured all the meat before any one could hinder them. The
captain wondered at this, and asked if it was not very un-pleas-ant to
have so many rats and mice about.
"Oh, yes!" was the answer. "It is indeed un-pleas-ant; and the king
would give half his treas-ure if he could get rid of them."
The captain jumped for joy. He remembered the cat which little
Whittington had sent out; and he told the king that he had a little
creature on board his ship which would make short work of the pests.
Then it was the king's turn to jump for joy; and he jumped so high,
that his yellow cap, or turban, dropped off his head.
"Bring the creature to me," he said. "If she will do what you say, I
will load your ship with gold."
The captain made believe that he would be very sorry to part with the
cat; but at last he went down to the ship to get her, while the king
and queen made haste to have another dinner made ready.
The captain, with puss under his arm, reached the palace just in time
to see the table crowded with rats. The cat leaped out upon them, and
oh! what havoc she did make among the trou-ble-some creatures! Most of
them were soon stretched dead upon the floor, while the rest
scam-pered away to their holes, and did not dare to come out again.
The king had never been so glad in his life; and the queen asked that
the creature which had done such wonders should be brought to her. The
captain called, "Pussy, pussy, pussy!" and the cat came up and rubbed
against his legs. He picked her up, and offered her to the queen; but
at first the queen was afraid to touch her.
However, the captain stroked the cat, and called, "Pussy, pussy,
pussy!" and then the queen ventured to touch her. She could only say,
"Putty, putty, putty!" for she had not learned to talk English. The
captain then put the cat down on the queen's lap, where she purred and
purred until she went to sleep.
The king would not have missed getting the cat now for the world. He
at once made a bargain with the captain for all the goods on board the
ship; and then he gave him ten times as much for the cat as all the
rest came to.
The captain was very glad. He bade the king and queen good-by, and the
very next day set sail for England.
V. THE FORTUNE.
One morning Mr. Fitzwarren was sitting at his desk in his office. He
heard some one tap softly at his door, and he said,--
"Who's there?"
"A friend," was the answer. "I have come to bring you news of your
ship 'U-ni-corn.'"
Mr. Fitzwarren jumped up quickly, and opened the door. Whom should he
see waiting there but the captain, with a bill of lading in one hand
and a box of jewels in the other? He was so full of joy that he lifted
up his eyes, and thanked Heaven for sending him such good fortune.
The captain soon told the story of the cat; and then he showed the
rich present which the king and queen had sent to poor Dick in payment
for her. As soon as the good gentleman heard this, he called out to
his servants,--
"Go send him in, and tell him of his fame; Pray call him Mr.
Whittington by name."
Some of the men who stood by said that so great a present ought not to
be given to a mere boy; but Mr. Fitzwarren frowned upon them.
"It is his own," he said, "and I will not hold back one penny from
him."
Dick was scouring the pots when word was brought to him that he should
go to the office.
"Oh, I am so dirty!" he said, "and my shoes are full of hob-nails."
But he was told to make haste.
Mr. Fitzwarren ordered a chair to be set for him, and then the lad
began to think that they were making fun of him.
"I beg that you won't play tricks with a poor boy like me," he said.
"Please let me go back to my work."
"Mr. Whittington," said Mr. Fitzwarren, "this is no joke at all. The
captain has sold your cat, and has brought you, in return for her,
more riches than I have in the whole world."
Then he opened the box of jewels, and showed Dick his treasures.
The poor boy did not know what to do. He begged his master to take a
part of it; but Mr. Fitzwarren said, "No, it is all your own; and I
feel sure that you will make good use of it."
Dick then offered some of his jewels to his mistress and little Alice.
They thanked him, and told him that they felt great joy at his good
luck, but wished him to keep his riches for himself.
[Illustration]
But he was too kind-heart-ed to keep everything for himself. He gave
nice presents to the cap-tain and the sailors, and to the servants in
Mr. Fitz-warren's house. He even remembered the cross old cook.
After that, Whittington's face was washed, and his hair curled, and he
was dressed in a nice suit of clothes; and then he was as handsome a
young man as ever walked the streets of London.
Some time after that, there was a fine wedding at the finest church in
London; and Miss Alice became the wife of Mr. Richard Whittington. And
the lord mayor was there, and the great judges, and the sher-iffs, and
many rich mer-chants; and everybody was very happy.
And Richard Whittington became a great merchant, and was one of the
foremost men in London. He was sheriff of the city, and thrice lord
mayor; and King Henry V. made him a knight.
He built the famous prison of New-gate in London. On the arch-way in
front of the prison was a figure, cut in stone, of Sir Richard
Whittington and his cat; and for three hundred years this figure was
shown to all who visited London.
CASABIANCA.
There was a great battle at sea. One could hear nothing but the roar
of the big guns. The air was filled with black smoke. The water was
strewn with broken masts and pieces of timber which the cannon balls
had knocked from the ships. Many men had been killed, and many more
had been wounded.
The flag-ship had taken fire. The flames were breaking out from below.
The deck was all ablaze. The men who were left alive made haste to
launch a small boat. They leaped into it, and rowed swiftly away. Any
other place was safer now than on board of that burning ship. There
was powder in the hold.
But the captain's son, young Ca-sa-bi-an´ca, still stood upon the
deck. The flames were almost all around him now; but he would not stir
from his post. His father had bidden him stand there, and he had been
taught always to obey. He trusted in his father's word, and be-lieved
that when the right time came he would tell him to go.
He saw the men leap into the boat. He heard them call to him to come.
He shook his head.
"When father bids me, I will go," he said.
And now the flames were leaping up the masts. The sails were all
ablaze. The fire blew hot upon his cheek. It scorched his hair. It was
before him, behind him, all around him.
"O father!" he cried, "may I not go now? The men have all left the
ship. Is it not time that we too should leave it?"