Until the sun sinks through the trees.
And then they lay aside their cares,
And fold their hands to say their prayers,
And drop their tired little heads,
And go to sleep in clover beds.
Then when the day dawns clear and blue
They wake and wash their hands in dew;
And as the sun climbs up the sky
They hold them up and let them dry;
And then to work the whole long day:
For clovers have no time to play.
--HELENA LEEMING JELLIFFE.
_Copyright, 1902, The Outlook Company._
WHO TOLD THE NEWS?
Oh, the sunshine told the bluebird,
And the bluebird told the brook,
That the dandelions were peeping
From the woodland's sheltered nook;
So the brook was blithe and happy,
And it babbled all the way,
As it ran to tell the river
Of the coming of the May.
Then the river told the meadow,
And the meadow told the bee,
That the tender buds were swelling
On the old horse-chestnut tree;
And the bee shook off its torpor,
And it spread each gauzy wing,
As it flew to tell the flowers
Of the coming of the spring.
[Illustration]
AIR
squeeze crevice surrounds gust
motion nothing furniture weigh
We say that a room with no furniture in it is empty. But this is not
exactly true. There is one thing that the room is full of to its very
top. It is something that you can not see. But it is as real a thing
as the furniture. This thing is air.
If you take all of your books out of the box in which you keep them,
you say there is nothing left in it. But the box is full of air. When
you shut it up and put it away, you put away a box full of air. When
the books were in it, it was full of books and air together. Now it is
full of air alone.
The air is everywhere. It is always ready to go where there is a place
for it. Every crack and crevice is filled with it.
You see a little boy playing with a ball. What is it that he is
throwing against the wall? It is a rubber ball, you say. But is this
all? Is there not something else besides the rubber?
Suppose that you prick a hole in the ball and squeeze it. It is now
good for nothing. But the rubber is all there. Why is the ball good
for nothing?
It is because the air which filled the ball and made it round has
escaped. The ball is of no use unless you can keep it full of air.
Perhaps you think that air does not weigh anything. But it does weigh
something, though very little, and its weight is well known.
You can not see air, but you can sometimes feel it. You can not feel
it while it is still if you are still at the same time. You can feel
it only when it is in motion. When the wind blows upon you, it is air
in motion that you feel.
When you fan yourself, the air strikes upon your face, and you feel
it. When there is a gust of wind, the air comes against you just as a
wave of water does.
Sometimes we say the wind blows very hard or very strong. This is
when the air moves very fast. When there is only a gentle breeze, the
air is moving very slowly.
When the air moves very fast, it sometimes does a great deal of harm.
It roots up trees and blows down houses.
The air is clear, like glass. That is, it lets you see through it. But
when you look up through the air, you see that it is of a blue color.
You call the blue air the sky. The sky is the blue air that surrounds
the earth.
--WORTHINGTON HOOKER.
THE UNSEEN GIANT
I.
giant perish whistling whirls
mighty stolen meddles voice
tosses racket tumbling prank
There is a mighty giant in the world, who is as old as the earth
itself. You have often heard his voice and felt his touch, but you
have never seen his face.
When he is angry, all men fear, and all the beasts of the field seek
their hiding places.
As he rages and whirls along his way, he tosses houses into the air as
easily as a boy tosses a ball. He throws down great trees or pulls
them up by the roots as he crashes through the forest.
[Illustration]
Sometimes he flies out over the sea and chases the ships. He rolls great
waves over their decks and drives the ships against the rocks to perish.
But he plays many a queer prank even in the midst of his anger. One
day he lifted a schoolhouse, turned it around in the air, and set it
down with the back of the house just where the front had been.
Once when he was tumbling down houses with a great racket, he found a
baby in a cradle. Catching it up, he was off like a flash.
Where had he taken the baby? Would it ever be found alive? "Never,"
the people said. But just then a cry was heard, and there was the
little child safe in the branches of a tree!
This giant meddles with everything within his reach. He knocks the
apples off the trees before they are ripe. He tears the vines from the
house, and picks the flowers from their stalks.
He is not always honest, for on washing days he often tries to steal
the clothes from the line. He takes things which boys and girls leave
in the yard, or on the doorstep.
Then the old giant goes whistling on his way to hide his stolen goods.
Sometimes he throws them under the bushes, and sometimes he tosses
them into the water.
II.
bugle unseen neither flute
music chimney thirsty whence
cattle saddest keyhole grinds
The unseen giant is often kind and gentle. In the long, hot summer
time he softly fans sick children, and helps them to become strong and
well again.
[Illustration]
When he wishes, he can be one of the greatest workers in the world.
Sometimes he flies from town to town sweeping the streets. He draws
water for thirsty cattle, and he grinds wheat and corn for any miller
that asks his help.
Up and down the rivers, and over the sea, he works by day and by night,
carrying people where they wish to go. Had it not been for him, neither
Columbus nor the Pilgrims could have reached the shores of America.
He likes to play with boys and girls. Sometimes he is a little rough.
But when there are kites to fly or boats to sail, he is the best
playfellow that can be found.
The strong old giant is very fond of music, too. He loves to play on the
horn, the bugle, and the flute. Sometimes you hear him whistling in the
keyhole and singing in the chimney. Often he flies to the pine forests,
where he makes the sweetest, saddest music you have ever heard.
Everything you have heard about this wonderful giant is true. And when
you think of his name, you will remember many other things that he can
do.
WHAT ROBIN TOLD
How do the robins build their nest?
Robin Redbreast told me.
First a wisp of amber hay
In a pretty round they lay;
Then some shreds of downy floss,
Feathers too, and bits of moss,
Woven with a sweet, sweet song,
This way, that way, and across:
That's what Robin told me.
Where do the robins hide their nest?
Robin Redbreast told me.
Up among the leaves so deep,
Where the sunbeams rarely creep.
Long before the winds are cold,
Long before the leaves are gold,
Bright-eyed stars will peep and see
Baby robins one, two, three:
That's what Robin told me.
--GEORGE COOPER.
THE BIRD'S EDUCATION
I.
owlets training educated worms
hungry nobody raspberries slipped
protect quietly woodpecker flutter
[Illustration: Copyright, 1900, by A. R. Dugmore.]
The young bird needs to be educated just as a child needs to be,
though not exactly in the same way.
After the young bird can fly, he needs to be taught to find his own
food, and also where to sleep.
He needs to know the different calls and cries of his family, and what
they all mean. He has to learn to fly, and he must learn to sing.
Then he must learn what to be afraid of, and how to protect himself
from his enemies. No doubt there are many lessons for him to learn
that we do not know about.
If you watch little birds just out of the nest, you may see them being
taught how to find their food.
The robin mother takes her little one to the ground and shows him
where the worms live, and how to get them. The owl mother finds a
mouse creeping about in the grass. She teaches the owlets how to
pounce upon it by doing it herself before them.
The old swallow takes her young ones into the air and shows them how
to catch little flies on the wing.
If you watch long enough, you may see the old bird, who is training a
young one, fly away. She may leave the young one alone on a tree or on
the ground and be gone a long time.
Before many minutes the little one will begin to call for food. But by
and by, if nobody comes to feed him, he will look around for something
to eat. Thus he will get his first lesson in finding food for himself.
Once I saw a woodpecker bring his little one to a fence close by some
raspberry bushes. He fed the young bird two or three raspberries, and
then quietly slipped away.
When the young bird began to feel hungry, he cried out; but nobody
came. Then he looked over at the raspberries and tried to reach one.
After trying three or four times he got one. Then how proud he was!
The father stayed away an hour or more. Before he came back that young
woodpecker had learned to help himself very well. But the minute his
father came, he began to flutter his wings and beg to be fed.
II.
watcher hopped scatter perch
knocked alight naughty bathe
suppose coaxing fluttered plunge
It is very easy to see the birds teaching their little ones to fly.
You will find the young birds sitting quietly on fences or trees. All
at once the parents begin to fly around, with strange, loud calls. In
a minute the little birds will fly out and join them.
Around and around they all go till their little wings are tired, and
then they come down and alight again.
[Illustration]
Once I saw a young crow who did not fly when his parents called. All
the others flew around many times.
The mother's sharp eyes saw her naughty son. She flew right at him,
and knocked him off his perch. The next time she called, he flew with
the rest.
An old robin wanted to teach her young one to bathe. She brought him
to a dish of water kept for their use by some people who were fond of
birds.
The little one stood on the edge and watched his mother go in and
splash and scatter the water. He fluttered his wings and was eager to
try it for himself, but seemed afraid to plunge in.
At last the mother flew away and left him standing there. In a moment
she came back with a worm in her mouth. The young robin was hungry, as
young birds always are. When he saw the worm, he began to flutter his
wings and cry for it.
But the mother jumped into the middle of the water dish and stood there,
holding the worm in his sight. The little bird wanted the worm so much
that he seemed to forget his fear and hopped in beside his mother.
She fed him, and then began to splash about. The little fellow stayed
in the water and took a good bath.
A careful watcher can see the birds teach many interesting things to
their young ones. But one must be quiet and patient, and not frighten
the birds.
--OLIVE THORNE MILLER.
[Illustration]
HOW BIRDS LEARN TO SING
How do birds first learn to sing?
From the whistling wind so fleet,
From the waving of the wheat,
From the rustling of the leaves,
From the raindrop on the eaves,
From the children's laughter sweet,
From the plash when brooklets meet.
Little birds begin their trill
As they gayly float at will
In the gladness of the sky,
When the clouds are white and high;
In the beauty of the day
Speeding on their sunny way,
Light of heart and fleet of wing--
That's how birds first learn to sing.
--MARY MAPES DODGE.
THE GREATEST OF BEASTS
grasp Hindu smelling urge
straight feeling earrings trunk
roamed jungle processions tusks
Nandi, the Great One, was the baby's nurse. He was one of the strongest
nurses that ever took care of a baby anywhere on this round earth.
In the first place Nandi was large, as you have already guessed. He
was twice as high as the baby's father, and he was almost as tall as
the roof of the tiny hut where the baby lived.
Nandi had a long nose. It was a very long nose indeed. Perhaps you
will not believe it, but his nose was as long as you are tall, my
little reader.
And it was a wonderful nose. It was always moving, always feeling,
always smelling. With his nose Nandi could rock the cradle, and brush
away the flies that buzzed about the baby's face. With it he could pick
up the smallest toys from the ground, or open the door of the hut.
But you, my little readers, have another name for this wonderful, long
nose. You call it a trunk.
Nandi had two long, sharp teeth. They were longer than a man's arm,
and they were very strong. With them he could lift heavy logs and move
great stones.
But you have another name for these long, strong teeth. You call them
tusks. And you have already guessed that the baby's nurse was an
elephant.
The baby was a little Hindu boy, and he lived on the other side of the
world. He had a brown skin, black eyes, and black hair.
The Hindu baby had played with great Nandi's trunk ever since he could
grasp anything with his tiny hands. He had crawled around the elephant's
feet and slept on the ground in the shadow of the great beast. For, in
the warm country of India, where the baby lived, it is always summer.
One morning, the baby's father perched himself upon the elephant's
head and rode away from his home. The child screamed with grief for
his companion.
"Be still, love of my life," said the mother. "Thy father has need of
Nandi. He can no longer be idle. There is harder work for him to do
than to care for thee, O small one."
[Illustration]
The elephant's work was to pile heavy timbers in the lumber yard, and
to help unload the ships. Often he worked alone, for he needed no
driver to urge him to his task. His piles of wood were always
straight, and his work always well done.
Once Nandi belonged to a Hindu prince and walked in long processions
through the streets of cities. Then he wore gold rings in his ears and
silver rings around his tusks. Red cloth, trimmed with gold, covered
his great sides and hung almost to his feet. And he proudly bore upon
his back the officers of the prince.
[Illustration]
And longer ago than that, when he was young, he had lived in the
jungle. Ah! those were happy days! Then, with other elephants, he
roamed the forest, ate the tender branches, and swam the rivers.
But one day he was driven by the hunters through the forest and across
the hills. Suddenly he found himself shut in on every side by a
strong, high fence. Then he was caught and chained to a tame elephant
who afterwards taught him how to work.
Nandi often took part in great hunts for wild beasts, and he bore the
marks of a fierce tiger's claws upon his side. He helped to catch
other elephants in the dark forest, and taught great beasts like
himself to do many kinds of work.
Nandi did not care to be free. Truly, if he had wished to go back to
the jungle what could hinder? For he worked without chain or harness.
He was well cared for. He loved the evening bath in the river and the
evening meal of fresh leaves. He loved his master, who was always kind.
But best of all he loved the brown baby who fed him with bananas, and
always welcomed his return with childish glee. How old Nandi's bright
eyes would sparkle when his little friend came near.
And when the baby could run to meet him, and sit upon his great strong
neck, there was no prouder elephant in all the land of India.
THE STORY OF GIANT SUN
globe cannon planets wax
finish million minute travel
"Sister, I wish you would tell me a story about the sun," said Harry.
"Where does it go at night, and where does it come from in the morning?"
"We live on a big round globe called the earth," replied his sister,
"and we travel around the sun once every year. The sun is like a great
lamp in the sky. When we face the lamp, we see the light, and when we
turn away from it, we are in darkness.
"As the earth travels around the sun, it whirls like a huge top. When
the side of the earth on which we live is turned toward the sun, we
have day. But when the earth turns around so that the sun can not
shine on us, we have night.
"If the sun stopped shining, there would be no daylight, and soon
there would be no heat on the earth.
"The sun is very, very hot. If it should come nearer and nearer to the
earth, every plant and animal in the world would die. The rivers and
the seas would dry up, and at last the great earth would melt like a
ball of wax."
"How far away is the sun?" asked Harry.
"It is so far away that it would take more than a hundred years to
travel the distance by the fastest railroad train."
"Is it more than a thousand miles?"
"Yes, it is more than a million miles."
"Suppose there were a road all the way to the sun. How long would it
take me to walk there?"
"Let me see," said sister Mary, taking out her notebook. "If you
should walk four miles an hour and ten hours a day, you would be more
than six thousand years old before you could finish your journey."
"But suppose," asked Harry, his eyes bright with wonder, "some one
fired a big cannon at the sun. How long would it take the cannon ball
to get there?"
Mary looked in her notebook again. "If a cannon ball could be shot to
the sun, it would take nine years to reach it. Now what else do you
want to know about the sun, little brother?"
"I should like to know how large it is. Does any one know? Is it as
large as the earth?"
"Very much larger," replied Mary. "It is so large that if it were cut
up into a million parts, each one of the parts would be larger than
the earth.
"If a train should run at the rate of a mile a minute, it would take
five years for it to go around the sun. A train going at the same rate
could travel the distance around the earth in less than three weeks."
"Then the sun must be very large," said Harry. "It is larger than
anything I ever heard about. Let us call it Giant Sun."
"There are stars far away in the sky that are larger than the sun,"
said his sister. "And there are planets like our earth which are near
the sun. But I will tell you about them some other day. Now do not
forget what I have told you about Giant Sun."
"Forget! How could I, sister? It is better than any fairy tale I have
ever heard. Why, you have told me enough about Giant Sun to keep me
thinking all day."
_From "Stories of Starland." Copyright, 1898.
By permission of the publishers, Silver, Burdett & Co._
[Illustration]
SUMMER SUN
Great is the sun, and wide he goes,
Through empty heavens without repose;
And in the blue and glowing days
More thick than rain he showers his rays.
Though closer still the blinds we pull
To keep the shady parlor cool,
Yet he will find a chink or two
To slip his golden fingers through.
The dusty attic, spider clad,
He through the keyhole maketh glad;
And through the broken edge of tiles
Into the laddered hayloft smiles.
Meantime his golden face around
He bares to all the garden ground,
And sheds a warm and glittering look
Among the ivy's inmost nook.
Above the hills, along the blue,
Round the bright air with footing true,
To please the child, to paint the rose,
The gardener of the world, he goes.
--ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.
THE STORY OF PHAETHON
Phaethon welcome chariot dawn
advice promise columns fiery
flashed dwelling lightning hurled
You have read the true story of the great sun. Now you shall hear a
strange old tale told of Giant Sun, in the days of long ago.
[Illustration: PHAETHON AND THE SUN CHARIOT.]
Do you remember the beautiful picture of Aurora, and the story of
Apollo, the driver of the sun car? Here is another picture of the sun
chariot, in its flight across the heavens.
Once upon a time Phaethon, the son of Apollo, said to his mother, "I
go to-day to my father's palace," and he started for the land of the
sunrise.
For days and for nights he traveled until he came to a high mountain.
On its top was the shining palace of the sun. It had golden columns
and silver doors. On its wall were pictures of the wonders of the
earth and of the sea.
But Phaethon hurried by these beautiful sights. He entered the great
hall and found the Sun god just ready to drive his horses through the
clouds of dawn.
"Welcome, welcome, my son!" said Apollo. "I have waited long for thy
coming. What is thy wish? Tell me, and thy wish shall be granted thee."
"Oh, my father," said Phaethon, "let me drive the chariot of the sun
for one day across the sky."
"No hand but mine can hold these fiery horses," said Apollo. "Change
thy wish, foolish boy. You ask for death, not for honor."
"My father never breaks his promise," said Phaethon. "I will not
change my wish."
"Then follow my advice," said Apollo. "Hold fast the reins. Use not
the whip, and drive neither too high lest the earth freeze, nor too
low lest it burn."
Phaethon sprang into the sun car and grasped the lines. The horses
darted across the sky. Lower and lower they plunged. The heat of the
shining sun car dried the lakes and the rivers, and burned every green
thing upon the land.
The people cried for rain, and the great ruler of earth and air heard
their cries, and looked down from his dwelling place. He flashed his
lightnings at the mad driver, and hurled him from his seat.
Then the great ruler led the horses and the chariot to their old track
across the sky. But Phaethon never rose from the cold waters of the
river into which he had fallen.
A SUNFLOWER STORY
Clytie coral blazing Greek
maiden petals swiftest lulled
Clytie was a sea maiden, so the old Greek stories tell us. She lived
at the bottom of the ocean. The white sea sand was her carpet, a
beautiful shell was her bed, and the seaweed was her pillow.
One morning Clytie arose, put on her moss-green dress, and went to
ride in her seashell boat. A pair of fishes drew her over the
beautiful sea bottom. They swam around rocks with sharp, ragged edges,
and they passed through forests of sea weed and coral.
Indeed, so long and pleasant was the ride that Clytie fell asleep, and
she did not awaken until a big wave rolled her boat upon the shore of
a green island.
Then the little maiden opened her brown eyes very wide, for she had
never before seen the land. There was green grass at her feet, and such
flowers as never grew in her garden at the bottom of the deep sea.
In the trees were birds whose songs sounded sweeter than the music of
the waves that had so often lulled her to sleep.
Across the blue sky rode the Sun king in a chariot which shone like
blazing gold.
Clytie saw that all living things looked up and smiled when the golden
chariot rolled above the earth.
"Oh, that I were a land child!" she said; "then I too might gaze upon
the Sun king the whole day long."
Day after day the sea maiden came to the island. There she stood hour
after hour watching the bright Sun king until his golden chariot sank
into the western sea.
But one evening Clytie found that she could not move. Behold, she was
no longer a maid of the sea. Her dress was but a slender green stalk
with dark green leaves.
Her yellow hair had become a circle of golden petals. From their midst
looked out the brown eyes of Clytie, no longer a sea maiden, but a
beautiful sunflower with its face turned toward the sun.
WYNKEN, BLYNKEN, AND NOD
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe--
Sailed on a river of crystal light
Into a sea of dew.
"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"
The old moon asked the three.
"We have come to fish for the herring fish
That live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we,"
Said Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.
The old moon laughed and sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe;
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew;
The little stars were the herring fish
That lived in that beautiful sea.
"Now cast your nets wherever you wish,
But never afraid are we!"
So cried the stars to the fishermen three,
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.
All night long their nets they threw
To the stars in the twinkling foam,
Then down from the sky came the wooden shoe,
Bringing the fishermen home;
'Twas all so pretty a sail, it seemed
As if it could not be;
And some folks thought 'twas a dream they'd dreamed
Of sailing that beautiful sea;
But I shall name you the fishermen three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.
Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
And Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
Is a wee one's trundle-bed;
So shut your eyes while mother sings
Of the wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
As you rock in the misty sea
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three,--
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.--EUGENE FIELD
_From "With Trumpet and Drum." Copyright, 1892, by Mary French Field.
Published by Charles Scribner's Sons._
A LITTLE GIRL WHO LOVED ANIMALS
chubby amused wandered proper
Bonheur eldest firelight passers
France sewing landscape auburn