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[Illustration:
THE YOUNG AND FIELD LITERARY READERS
_Book Two_
BY
ELLA FLAGG YOUNG
_Superintendent of the Chicago Public Schools_
AND
WALTER TAYLOR FIELD
_Author of "Fingerposts to Children's Reading," "Rome," Etc_
_Illustrated by Maginel Wright Enright_
GINN AND COMPANY
BOSTON . NEW YORK . CHICAGO . LONDON]
COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY ELLA FLAGG YOUNG
AND WALTER TAYLOR FIELD
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
116.3
The Athenaeum Press
GINN AND COMPANY . PROPRIETORS .
BOSTON . U.S.A.
TO THE BOYS AND GIRLS
Dear Boys and Girls:
Do you like fairy stories?
You do not need to tell us.
We know you like them.
So we are going to give you some to read.
You may have heard some of these stories before, but not many of them.
Some have come from far across the sea, and some have come from our
own country.
Mothers have told them to their children again and again, and children
have never been tired of them.
We think you will like them, too.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The poems of Mr. Frank Dempster Sherman and Miss Abbie Farwell Brown
are used by special arrangement with the Houghton Mifflin Company,
publishers.
Acknowledgments are also due to the following publishers and authors
for permission to use copyrighted material: to Charles Scribner's Sons
for poems from Robert Louis Stevenson's "A Child's Garden of Verses"
and Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge's "Rhymes and Jingles"; to the Macmillan
Company for poems from Christina Rossetti's "Sing Song"; to Little,
Brown, and Company for poems from Mrs. Laura E. Richards's "In My
Nursery"; to G. P. Putnam's Sons for the use of Sir George Webbe
Dasent's version of the story "East of the Sun and West of the Moon,"
from "Popular Tales from the Norse," as the basis for our story of the
same name; to the A. Flanagan Company and Miss Flora J. Cooke for the
use of "The Rainbow Bridge," from Miss Cooke's "Nature Myths," in a
similar way; to Miss Marion Florence Lansing for permission to adapt
her dramatized Hindu Tale, "The Man's Boot," from "Quaint Old
Stories," in our story "The Shoe"; to Mr. William Hawley Smith for
permission to use his poem "A Child's Prayer."
CONTENTS
ENGLISH FAIRY TALES
CHILDE ROWLAND
TOM TIT TOT
POEMS BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTI
LAMBKINS
FERRY ME ACROSS THE WATER
CORAL
THE SWALLOW
WRENS AND ROBINS
BOATS SAIL ON THE RIVERS
FABLES FROM AESOP
THE LION AND THE MOUSE
THE HONEST WOODCUTTER
THE WOLF AND THE CRANE
THE TOWN MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY MOUSE
THE WIND AND THE SUN
THE ANT AND THE DOVE
THE LARK AND HER NEST
THE DOG AND HIS SHADOW
THE FOX AND THE GRAPES
POEMS BY MARY MAPES DODGE
FOUR LITTLE BIRDS
IN THE BASKET
COUSIN JEREMY
LITTLE MISS LIMBERKIN
SNOWFLAKES
HOLLYHOCK
GERMAN FAIRY TALES
THE LITTLE PINE TREE
THE FAITHFUL BEASTS
POEMS BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
WHERE GO THE BOATS?
AT THE SEASIDE
RAIN
AUTUMN FIRES
THE WIND
HINDU FABLES
THE TIMID HARES
THE SHOE
THE CAMEL AND THE JACKAL
POEMS BY LAURA E. RICHARDS
THE BUMBLEBEE
LITTLE BROWN BOBBY
JIPPY AND JIMMY
THE SONG OF THE CORN POPPER
A FRENCH FAIRY TALE
THE FAIRY
A NORSE FOLK TALE
EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON
POEMS BY ABBIE FARWELL BROWN
THE SAILOR
A MUSIC BOX
AMERICAN INDIAN LEGENDS
LITTLE SCAR-FACE
THE HUNTER WHO FORGOT
THE WATER LILY
RUSSIAN FABLES
FORTUNE AND THE BEGGAR
THE SPIDER AND THE BEE
THE STONE AND THE WORM
THE FOX IN THE ICE
POEMS BY FRANK DEMPSTER SHERMAN
CLOUDS
GHOST FAIRIES
DAISIES
OLD GREEK STORIES
THE SUN, THE MOON, AND THE STAR GIANT
THE WIND AND THE CLOUDS
THE RAINBOW BRIDGE
POEMS OLD AND NEW
THANK YOU, PRETTY COW _Jane Taylor_
PLAYGROUNDS _Laurence Alma-Tadema_
SLEEP, BABY, SLEEP _German Cradle Song_
A CHILD'S PRAYER _William Hawley Smith_
LISTS OF WORDS FOR PHONETIC DRILL
LIST OF NEW WORDS ARRANGED BY LESSONS
THE YOUNG AND FIELD LITERARY READERS
BOOK TWO
ENGLISH FAIRY TALES
CHILDE ROWLAND
Once upon a time there was a little princess.
Her name was Ellen.
She lived with her mother the queen in a great house by the sea.
She had three brothers.
One day, as they were playing ball, one of her brothers threw the ball
over the house.
Ellen ran to get it, but she did not come back.
The three brothers looked for her.
They looked and looked, but they could not find her.
Day after day went by.
At last the oldest brother went to a wise man and asked what to do.
"The princess is with the elves. She is in the Dark Tower," said the
wise man.
"Where is the Dark Tower?" asked the oldest brother.
"It is far away," said the wise man. "You cannot find it."
"I can and I will find it. Tell me where it is," said the oldest
brother.
The wise man told him, and the oldest brother set off at once.
The other brothers waited.
They waited long, but the oldest brother did not come back.
Then the next brother went to the wise man.
The wise man told him as he had told the oldest brother.
Then the next brother set out to find the Dark Tower.
The youngest brother waited.
He waited long, but no one came.
Now the youngest brother was called Childe Rowland.
At last Childe Rowland went to his mother the queen and said:
"Mother, let me go and find the Dark Tower and bring home Ellen and my
brothers."
"I cannot let you go. You are all that I have, now," said the queen.
But Childe Rowland asked again and again, till at last the queen said,
"Go, my boy."
Then she gave him his father's sword, and he set out.
He went to the wise man and asked the way.
The wise man told him and said:
"I will tell you two things. One thing is for you to do, and one thing
is for you not to do.
"The thing to do is this: When you get to the country of the elves,
take hold of your father's sword, pull it out quickly, and cut off the
head of any one who speaks to you, till you find the princess Ellen.
"The thing not to do is this: Bite no bit and drink no drop till you
come back. Go hungry and thirsty while you are in the country of the
elves."
Childe Rowland said the two things over and over, so that he should
not forget.
Then he went on his way.
He went on and on and on, till he came to some horses with eyes of
fire.
Then he knew he was in the country of the elves.
A man was with the horses.
"Where is the Dark Tower?" asked Childe Rowland.
"I do not know," said the man. "Ask the man that keeps the cows."
Childe Rowland thought of what the wise man had told him.
He pulled out his father's sword, and off went the man's head.
Then Childe Rowland went on and on, till he came to some cows with
eyes of fire.
The man who kept the cows looked at Childe Rowland.
"Where is the Dark Tower?" asked Childe Rowland.
"I cannot tell. Ask the woman that keeps the hens," said the man.
Childe Rowland took the sword, and off went the man's head.
Then Childe Rowland went on and on, till he came to some hens with
eyes of fire.
An old woman was with them.
"Where is the Dark Tower?" asked Childe Rowland.
"Go on and look for a hill," said the old woman. "Go around the hill
three times. Each time you go around say:
'Open, door! open, door!
Let me come in.'
When you have gone three times around, a door will open. Go in."
Childe Rowland did not like to cut off the head of the old woman, but
he thought of what the wise man had told him.
So he took hold of the sword, and off went her head.
After this he went on and on and on, till he came to a hill.
He went three times around it, and each time he said:
"Open, door! open, door!
Let me come in."
When he had gone three times around, a door opened. In he went.
The door shut after him, and he was in the dark.
Soon he began to see a dim light.
It seemed to come from the walls.
He went down a long way, and at last he came to another door.
All at once it flew open, and he found himself in a great hall.
The walls were of gold and silver, and were hung with diamonds.
How the diamonds shone!
And there sat the princess Ellen in a great chair of gold, with
diamonds all about her head.
When she saw Childe Rowland, she came to him and said:
"Brother, why are you here? If the king of the elves comes, it will be
a sad day for you."
But this did not frighten Childe Rowland. He sat down and told her all
that he had done.
She told him that the two brothers were in the tower.
The king of the elves had turned them into stone.
Soon Childe Rowland began to be very hungry, and asked for something
to eat.
Ellen went out and soon came back with bread and milk in a golden
bowl.
Childe Rowland took it and was about to eat.
All at once he thought of what the wise man had said.
So he threw the bowl down upon the floor, and said:
"Not a bit will I bite,
Not a drop will I drink,
Till Ellen is free."
Then they heard a great noise outside, and some one cried out:
"Fee-fi-fo-fum!
I smell the blood
Of an Englishman!"
The door of the hall flew open and the king of the elves came in.
Childe Rowland took his sword.
They fought and they fought.
At last Childe Rowland beat the king of the elves down to the ground.
"Stop!" cried the king of the elves. "I have had enough."
"I will stop when you set free the princess Ellen and my brothers,"
said Childe Rowland.
"I will set them free," said the king.
He went at once to a cupboard and took out a blood-red bottle.
Out of this bottle he let a drop or two fall upon the eyes of the two
brothers, and up they jumped.
Childe Rowland took the hand of his sister and went out of the door,
and up the long way.
The two brothers went after them and left the king of the elves alone.
Then they came out from the hill and found their way back to their own
country.
How glad the queen was!
TOM TIT TOT
Once a woman made five pies.
When she had made them, she found that they were too hard.
So the woman said to her daughter:
"Put those pies into the cupboard and leave them there a little while
and they'll come again."
She meant that they would get soft.
But the girl said to herself,
"Well, if they'll come again, I think I will eat them."
So she ate them all up.
At supper time the woman said,
"Daughter, get one of those pies. I think they must have come again."
The girl went to the cupboard and looked, but no pies were there.
Then she came back to her mother and said,
"No, they have not come again."
"Well, bring one," said the mother. "I want one for my supper."
"But I can't. They have not come."
"Yes, you can. Bring me one."
"But I ate them all up."
"What!" said the mother, "You bad, bad girl!"
The woman could not stop thinking about those five pies.
As she sat at the door spinning, she kept mumbling to herself:
"My daughter ate five pies to-day,
My daughter ate five pies to-day."
The king was going by, and he heard the woman mumbling.
"What are you saying, woman?" asked the king.
The woman did not like to tell him about the pies, so she said:
"My daughter spun five skeins to-day,
My daughter spun five skeins to-day."
"Well, well, well!" said the king, "I didn't know that any one could
spin so much as that!"
"My daughter knows how to spin," said the woman.
The king thought a little while.
Then he said: "I want a wife. If your daughter can spin as much as
that, I will make her my wife. She shall have fine clothes, and for
eleven months in every year she may do anything she wishes. But the
last month of the year she must spin five skeins each day. If she
doesn't, she must have her head cut off."
"Very well," said the woman.
She thought how fine it would be if her daughter should be the queen.
The girl could have a good time for eleven months, anyway, and there
would surely be some way to get the skeins spun.
So the king took the girl away and made her queen.
For eleven months she had everything she could think of.
She had gold and silver and diamonds and fine clothes and good things
to eat.
But when the last month of the year came, she began to think what she
should do about those five skeins.
She did not have long to think, for the king took her into a room, all
by herself, and said:
"Here is a spinning wheel, and here is a chair, and here is some flax.
"Now, my dear, sit down and spin five skeins before night, or off goes
your head."
Then he turned and went out.
How frightened she was!
She could not spin.
She could only sit down and cry.
All at once there was a rap at the door.
She jumped up and opened it, and what should she see but a little
black thing with a long tail!
"What are you crying about?" asked the little black thing.
"It would do no good to tell you," said the queen.
"How do you know that?" asked the little black thing, and he twirled
his tail.
"Well, I will tell you," she said. And she told him all that the king
had said to her.
"Then," said the little black thing, "I will come here to your window
every morning and take some flax, and bring it back at night all spun.
"If you can guess my name, you shall pay nothing for my work.
"You may try three times each night, when I bring back the skeins. But
if you can't guess my name before the last day of the month, I will
carry you off with me."
The queen thought that she could surely guess, so she said:
"Very well. Take the flax."
"Yes," said the little black thing, and my! how he twirled his tail!
That night he came back with five skeins of spun flax, but she could
not guess his name.
So it went on day after day. Every night the little black thing
brought five skeins, but she could not guess his name.
On the last day of the month the king came in to see her.
"You are doing well, my dear," said he.
"I think I shall not have to cut off your head, after all."
So he had a fine supper brought in, and they ate it together.
As they were eating, the king said:
"I was hunting to-day in the woods, and I heard a queer song. It came
from a hole in the ground. I looked in, and there sat a little black
thing with a long tail. He was spinning. He twirled his tail as he
spun, and sang:
'Nimmy, nimmy, not!
I'm Tom Tit Tot.'"
The queen at once jumped up and danced all around the table, but she
said nothing.
The king thought she was glad because her spinning was done.
That night the little black thing brought the last five skeins of
flax.
"Well," he said, "what is my name? You may guess three times more."
How he twirled his tail!
"Is it Jack?" she asked.
"No, it is not Jack," he said.
"Is it Tom?" she asked.
"No, it is not Tom."
You should have seen him laugh!
"One more guess; then I take you," said the little black thing, and he
twirled his tail again.
This time the queen laughed.
She looked at him a long time and then said:
"Nimmy, nimmy, not!
You're Tom Tit Tot."
At that the little black thing gave a great cry, and away he flew, out
into the dark.
The queen never saw him again.
POEMS BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTI
LAMBKINS
On the grassy banks
Lambkins at their pranks;
Woolly sisters, woolly brothers,
Jumping off their feet,
While their woolly mothers
Watch by them and bleat.
FERRY ME ACROSS THE WATER
"Ferry me across the water,
Do, boatman, do."
"If you've a penny in your purse,
I'll ferry you."
"I have a penny in my purse,
And my eyes are blue;
So ferry me across the water,
Do, boatman, do."
"Step into my ferry-boat,
Be they black or blue,
And for the penny in your purse
I'll ferry you."
CORAL
"O sailor, come ashore.
What have you brought for me?"
"Red coral, white coral,
Coral from the sea.
"I did not dig it from the ground
Nor pluck it from a tree;
Feeble insects made it
In the stormy sea."
THE SWALLOW
Fly away, fly away over the sea,
Sun-loving swallow, for summer is done;
Come again, come again, come back to me,
Bringing the summer and bringing the sun.
WRENS AND ROBINS
Wrens and robins in the hedge,
Wrens and robins here and there;
Building, perching, pecking, fluttering,
Everywhere!
BOATS SAIL ON THE RIVERS
Boats sail on the rivers,
And ships sail on the seas;
But clouds that sail across the sky
Are prettier far than these.
There are bridges on the rivers,
As pretty as you please;
But the bow that bridges heaven,
And overtops the trees,
And builds a road from earth to sky,
Is prettier far than these.
FABLES FROM AESOP
THE LION AND THE MOUSE
A lion was asleep in the woods.
A little mouse ran over his paw.
The lion woke up and caught him.
"You are a very little mouse, but I think I will eat you," he said.
"Do not eat me," said the mouse, "I am so little! Let me go. Some time
I may be of help to you."
The lion laughed.
"What can you do?" he said.
But he let the mouse go.
Not very long after this the lion was caught by some men and made fast
with a rope.
The men left him and went to get more rope, to bind him.
"Now is my time!" said the mouse.
He ran to the lion and began to gnaw the rope.
He gnawed and he gnawed.
At last he gnawed through the rope and set the lion free.
"You laughed at me," said the mouse, "but have I not helped you?"
"You have saved my life," said the lion.
THE HONEST WOODCUTTER
One day a woodcutter lost his ax in a pond.
He sat down by the water and said to himself, "What shall I do? I have
lost my ax."
All at once a man stood beside him.
"What have you lost?" asked the man.
"I have lost my ax," said the woodcutter.
The man said nothing, but jumped into the pond and soon came out with
a golden ax.
"Is this your ax?" he asked.
"No," said the honest woodcutter, "my ax was not a golden ax."
The man jumped in again, and soon came out with a silver ax.
"Is this your ax?" asked the man.
"No," said the woodcutter, "my ax was not a silver ax."
Again the man jumped in.
This time he came out with the ax that the woodcutter had lost.
"Is this your ax?" he asked.
"Yes," said the woodcutter, "thank you! How glad I am! But who are
you, kind sir? You must be more than a man."
"I am Mercury," said the other, "and you are an honest woodcutter. I
will give you the golden ax and the silver ax."
The woodcutter thanked him and went home.
Soon he met another woodcutter and told what Mercury had done.
This other woodcutter thought he should like a golden ax, too.
So he went to the pond and threw his ax into the water.
Then he sat down and began to cry,
"O, I have lost my ax! What shall I do? What shall I do?"
Mercury came again and jumped into the water.
Soon he came out with a golden ax.
"Is this your ax?" he asked.
"O, yes, yes! that is my ax," said the man.
"No, it is not," said Mercury. "You are not an honest woodcutter, and
you shall have no golden ax."
"Then get my own ax for me," said the woodcutter.
"Get it yourself," said Mercury.
With that he went away and was seen no more.
THE WOLF AND THE CRANE
(Once a wolf was eating his supper.
He was hungry and he ate very fast.
He ate so fast that he swallowed a bone.
A crane was going by.
The wolf called to the crane.)
WOLF. My dear crane, come, help me. I have a bone in my throat.
CRANE. What do you want me to do?
WOLF. Put your bill down my throat and pull out the bone.
CRANE. You will bite off my head.
WOLF. O, no, I will not. I will pay you well.
(The crane came and put his head into the wolf's mouth.
Then he ran his long bill down the wolf's throat and so pulled
out the bone.)
CRANE. There, Brother Wolf, there is the bone. Now give me my pay.
WOLF. You have had your pay.
CRANE. No, I have not.
WOLF. You have had your head in the mouth of a wolf, you have pulled
it out, and your life is saved. What more can you ask?
CRANE. After this, I will keep away from a wolf.
THE TOWN MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY MOUSE
Once a country mouse asked her cousin, the town mouse, to come and
visit her.
The town mouse came, and the country mouse gave her the best she had
to eat.
It was only a little wheat and corn.
The town mouse ate some of it.
Then she said:
"Cousin, how can you live on this poor corn and wheat? Come to town
with me, and I will give you something good."
So the two mice set off and soon came to town.
The town mouse lived well and had everything she wished for.
She had cake and pie and cheese and everything good to eat.
O, it was so good!
The country mouse was hungry, and she ate and ate and ate.
"How rich my cousin is," she said, "and how poor I am!"
As she said this, there was a great barking at the door.
Then two dogs ran into the room.
They chased the mice about, barking all the time.
At last the mice ran into a hole.
"Good-by, cousin, I am going home," said the country mouse.
"What! Are you going so soon?" asked the other.
"Yes, I do not like that kind of music with my supper. It is better
to have corn and wheat and be safe than to have cake and cheese and be
always in fear," said the country mouse.
THE WIND AND THE SUN
Once the wind and the sun had a quarrel.
The sun said,
"I am stronger than you."
The wind said,
"No, I am stronger than you."
"Let us see," said the sun. "Here comes a man with a big cloak. Can
you make him take it off?"
"Surely I can," said the wind.
"Try," said the sun.
The sun went behind the clouds.
The wind began to blow.
How he did blow!
But the man pulled his cloak close about him.
He did not care for the wind.
At last the wind gave it up.
"Now you try," he said to the sun.
The sun came out from the clouds.
He shone down upon the man.
"How warm it is!" said the man. "I must take off my cloak."
So he took off his cloak.
"You have beaten," said the wind. "You are stronger than I."
THE ANT AND THE DOVE
A little ant once fell into a pond.
A dove was perching in a tree over the water.
The dove saw the ant fall.
She pulled off a leaf with her bill and let it drop into the water.
"There, little ant! get on that leaf, and you will be safe," she said.
The ant jumped upon the leaf, and the wind blew it to the shore of the
pond.
Not long after this, a man laid a net to catch the dove.
He pulled it in and found the dove caught fast in it.
The ant saw the man with the net, and ran up his leg and bit him.
"O!" said the man, "what is that?"
He let the net drop to the ground, and the dove flew away.
Next time the dove saw the ant, she said:
"Good ant, you saved my life."
"You saved my life once, and I only tried to pay you back," said the
ant.
THE LARK AND HER NEST
A lark had made her nest in a field of wheat.
The wheat was almost ripe.
One day the old lark said to her young ones:
"The men will soon come to cut this wheat. You must watch for them and
tell me all you see or hear while I am away."
Then she left them and went to get something for them to eat.
When she came home, she asked,
"Did you see or hear anything?"
"Yes, mother," said the young ones.
"The owner of the field came and looked at the wheat. He said, 'This
wheat is ripe. It must be cut at once. I will ask my neighbors to come
and help me cut it.'"
"That is good," said the old lark.
"Must we not leave the nest?" asked the young ones.
"No," said the mother. "If the man waits for his neighbors to come and
help him, he will wait a long time."
Next day the owner came again.
"This wheat must be cut," said he. "I cannot wait for my neighbors. I
must ask my uncles and cousins."
When the old lark came home, the young ones said:
"O, mother! we must leave the nest now.
"The man said that he should ask his uncles and cousins to help him
cut the wheat."
"We will not go yet," said the mother. "If he waits for his uncles and
cousins, he will wait a long time."
The next day the man came again. His boy was with him.
"We can't wait any longer," he said. "We must cut the wheat
ourselves."
Soon the mother lark came home.
The young ones told her what the man had said.
"Now we must be off," she cried. "When a man sets out to do his work
himself, it will be done."
So the lark and her young ones left the nest and found another home.
THE DOG AND HIS SHADOW
A dog once had a piece of meat.
He was going home with it.
On the way he had to go across a bridge over some water.
He looked into the water, and there he thought he saw another dog.
The dog looked like himself and had a piece of meat in his mouth, too.
It was his shadow in the water.
"That meat looks good. I want it," said the dog.
"My piece is not big enough. I will take the meat away from that other
dog."
So he barked at the other dog.
As he opened his mouth to bark, his piece of meat fell into the water.
"Splash!" it went, and that was the last he ever saw of it.
"If I had let that dog keep his piece of meat, I should not have lost
my own," he said.
THE FOX AND THE GRAPES
A hungry fox once saw some sweet grapes hanging over a wall.
"I want those grapes," he said to himself.
So he jumped for them.
He did not get them.
He jumped again.
Still he did not get them.
He jumped again and again.
They were too high.
At last he gave it up and went away.
"I don't want those grapes," he said.
"They are sour grapes. I know they are sour. They are not fit to
eat."
POEMS BY MARY MAPES DODGE
FOUR LITTLE BIRDS
Four little birds all flew from their nest--
Flew north, flew south, flew east and west;
They thought they would like a wider view,
So they spread their wings and away they flew.
IN THE BASKET
Hark! do you hear my basket
Go "kippy! kippy! peek"?
Maybe my funny basket
Is learning how to speak.
If you want to know the secret,
Go ask the speckled hen,
And tell her when I've warmed them
I'll bring them back again.
COUSIN JEREMY
He came behind me and covered my eyes;
"Who is this?" growled he, so sly.
"Why, Cousin Jeremy, how can I tell,
When my eyes are shut?" said I.
LITTLE MISS LIMBERKIN
Little Miss Limberkin,
Dreadful to say,
Found a mouse in the cupboard
Sleeping away.
Little Miss Limberkin
Gave such a scream,
She frightened the little mouse
Out of its dream.
SNOWFLAKES
Little white feathers,
Filling the air;
Little white feathers,
How came you there?
"We came from the cloud birds
Sailing so high;
They're shaking their white wings
Up in the sky."
Little white feathers,
How swift you go!
Little white snowflakes,
I love you so!
"We are swift because
We have work to do;
But hold up your face,
And we'll kiss you true."
HOLLYHOCK
Hollyhock, hollyhock, bend for me;
I need a cheese for my dolly's tea.
I'll put it soon on an acorn plate,
And dolly and I shall feast in state.
GERMAN FAIRY TALES
THE LITTLE PINE TREE
Once a little pine tree grew in a valley.
It was covered with needles that were always beautiful and green.
But it did not like the needles.
The little tree said:
"All the other trees in the woods have beautiful leaves, but I have
only needles. I do not like needles. I wish I could have leaves. But I
should like to be more beautiful than the other trees. I should not
like green leaves. I should like gold leaves."
The little tree went to sleep.
A fairy happened to be passing and said to herself:
"This little pine tree would like gold leaves. It shall have them."
Next morning the tree woke up and found that it was covered with
leaves of shining gold.
"How beautiful!" said the tree. "No other tree has gold leaves!"
Soon a man came by with a bag.
He saw the gold leaves.
He ran to the little pine tree and began to pull them off and to put
them into his bag.
He pulled them all off and carried them away.
The little pine tree was bare.
"O," cried the little tree, "I don't want gold leaves any more, for
men will take them away. I want something beautiful that they will not
take away. I think I should like glass leaves."
The little tree went to sleep.
The fairy came by again and said:
"This little tree wants glass leaves. It shall have them."
Next morning the tree woke up and found that it was covered with
leaves of shining glass.
How they shone in the sun!
"These leaves are much better than gold leaves," said the little tree.
"They are very beautiful."
But a wind came down the valley.
It blew and it blew.
It blew the glass leaves together and broke them all to pieces.
The little pine tree was bare again.
"I don't want glass leaves," said the little tree. "I want leaves that
will not break. Perhaps green leaves are best, after all, but I want
leaves. I don't want needles."
The little tree went to sleep.
The fairy came by again and said:
"This little tree wants green leaves. It shall have them."
Next morning when the tree woke up it was covered with green leaves.
"This is fine!" said the tree. "Now I am like the other trees, but
more beautiful."
Soon a goat came down the valley.
"These leaves look good," said the goat.
So he ate them all up.
The little pine tree was bare again.
"I think I don't want leaves after all," said the little pine tree.
"Gold leaves are beautiful, but men carry them away. Glass leaves are
beautiful, but the wind breaks them. Green leaves are beautiful, but
goats eat them. My old green needles were best. I wish I could have
them back."
The little pine tree went to sleep.
The fairy came by again, and said:
"This little tree has found out that needles were best for it after
all. It shall have them back."
Next morning the tree woke up and had the old green needles again.
Then it was happy.
THE FAITHFUL BEASTS
Once upon a time a man went out to seek his fortune.
As he walked along, he came to a town and saw some boys teasing a
mouse.
"Let the poor mouse go. I will pay you if you will let it go," said
the man.
He gave the boys a penny.
They let the mouse go, and it ran away.
After this the man went on till he came to another town.
There he saw some boys playing with a monkey.
They had hurt the poor beast so that he cried out with pain.
"Let the monkey go," said the man. "I will pay you to let him go."
So he gave the boys some money.
They let the monkey go, and the monkey ran away.
The man went on, and by and by he came to another town.
There he saw some boys trying to make a bear dance.
They had tied the bear with a rope and were beating him.
"Let the poor bear go," said the man. "I will pay you to let him go."
He gave the boys some money, and they let the poor beast go.
The bear, was glad to be free and walked off as fast as he could.
The man had spent all his money.
He had not a penny left.
He was hungry too, and could get nothing to eat.
Then the king's men took him and put him into a great box.
They shut and fastened the lid, and threw the box into the water.
The man floated about in the water many days and thought he should
never see the light again.
At last he heard something gnaw and scratch at the lid.
Then the lid flew open.
The box was on the shore, and there stood the bear, the monkey, and
the mouse beside it.
They had helped him because he had helped them.
As they stood there, a round white stone rolled down to the water.
"This has come just in time," said the bear. "It is a magic stone and
will take its owner wherever he wishes to go."
The man picked up the stone and wished he were in a castle with
gardens around it.
All at once the castle and the gardens were there, and he was in the
castle.
It was very beautiful.
Soon some merchants came by.
"See this fine castle," said one to another. "There was never a castle
here till now."
The merchants went in and asked the man how he had built the castle so
quickly.
"I did not do it," said the man. "My magic stone built it."
"Let us see the stone," said the merchants.
The man showed them the stone.
Then the merchants showed him gold and silver and diamonds and other
beautiful things, and said:
"We will give you all these if you will give us the stone."
The things looked very beautiful to the man, so he took them and gave
the stone to the merchants.
All at once he found himself again in the dark box on the water.
As soon as the bear, the monkey, and the mouse saw what had happened,
they tried to help him.
But the lid was fastened more strongly than before.
They could not open it.
"We must have that stone again," said the bear.
So the three faithful beasts went back to the castle and found the
merchants there.
The mouse looked under the door and said:
"The stone is fastened with a red ribbon under the looking-glass, and
beside it are two great cats with eyes of fire."
The bear and the monkey said:
"Wait till the men go to sleep. Then run quickly under the door, jump
quickly up on the bed, scratch the nose of one of the men, and bite
off one of his whiskers."
The mouse did as he was told.
The merchant woke up and rubbed his nose. Then he said:
"Those cats are good for nothing. They let the mice in, and the mice
eat up my very whiskers."
So he drove the cats away.
The next night the mouse went in again. The merchants were asleep.
The mouse gnawed at the ribbon till it gave way, and the stone fell.
Then he rolled the stone out under the door.
The monkey took it and carried it down to the water.
"How shall we get out to the box?" asked the monkey.
"I will tell you," said the bear. "Sit on my back and hold fast. Carry
the stone in your mouth. The mouse will sit in my right ear, and I
will swim out to the box."
They did as the bear said, and were soon out in the water. No one said
anything, and it was very still. The bear wanted to talk.
"How are you, Monkey?" he asked.
The monkey said nothing.
"Why don't you talk to me?" asked the bear.
"Silly!" said the monkey. "How do you think I can talk when I have a
stone in my mouth?"
As he said this, the stone rolled out into the water.
"Never mind," said the bear. "The frogs will get it for us."
So he asked the frogs to get it, and one of them brought it to him.
"Thank you," said the bear. "That is what we need."
Then the three faithful beasts broke open the great box.
They gave the stone to the man.
He took it and wished himself in the castle again, and wished the
three faithful beasts with him.
At once they were in the castle.
The merchants were gone.
So the man and his three faithful beasts lived there ever after.
POEMS BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
WHERE GO THE BOATS?
Dark brown is the river,
Golden is the sand;
It flows along for ever,
With trees on either hand.
Green leaves a-floating,
Castles of the foam,
Boats of mine a-boating--
Where will all come home?
On goes the river
And out past the mill,
Away down the valley,
Away down the hill.
Away down the river,
A hundred miles or more,
Other little children
Shall bring my boats ashore.
AT THE SEASIDE
When I was down beside the sea
A wooden spade they gave to me
To dig the sandy shore.
My holes were empty like a cup;
In every hole the sea came up,
Till it could come no more.
RAIN
The rain is raining all around;
It falls on field and tree,
It rains on the umbrellas here
And on the ships at sea.
AUTUMN FIRES
In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!
Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers;
The red fire blazes,
The gray smoke towers.
Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!
THE WIND
I saw you toss the kites on high
And blow the birds about the sky,
And all around I heard you pass
Like ladies' skirts across the grass--
O wind, a-blowing all day long
O wind, that sings so loud a song!
I saw the different things you did,
But always you yourself you hid;
I felt you push, I heard you call,
I could not see yourself at all--
O wind, a-blowing all day long,
O wind, that sings so loud a song!
O you that are so strong and cold,
O blower, are you young or old?
Are you a beast of field and tree,
Or just a stronger child than me?
O wind, a-blowing all day long,
O wind, that sings so loud a song!
HINDU FABLES
THE TIMID HARES
Once there was a timid little hare who was always afraid something
dreadful was going to happen.
She was always saying, "What if the earth should fall in? What would
happen to me then?"
One day, after she had been saying this to herself many times, a great
coconut fell from a tree.
"What was that!" said the hare.
She jumped as if she had been shot.
"The earth must be falling in!" she cried.
So she ran and she ran as fast as she could run.
Soon she met another hare.
"O Brother Hare," she said, "run for your life! The earth is falling
in!"
"What is that you say!" cried the other hare. "Then I will run, too."
This hare told another hare, and the other hare told other hares, and
soon all the hares were running as fast as they could run, and crying:
"The earth is falling in! O, the earth is falling in!"
The big beasts heard them, and they too began to run and to cry:
"O, the earth is falling in! Run for your life!"
A wise old lion saw them running and heard them crying.
"I cannot see that the earth is falling in," he said.
Then he cried out to the poor frightened beasts to stop.
"What are you saying?" he asked.
"We said the earth is falling in," answered the elephants.
"What makes you think so?" asked the lion.
"The tigers told us," said the elephants.
"What makes the tigers think so?"
"The bears told us," said the tigers.
"What makes the bears think so?"
"The buffaloes told us," said the bears.
"Why do the buffaloes think so?"
"The deer told us," said the buffaloes.
"Why do the deer think so?"
"The monkeys told us so," said the deer.
"And how did the monkeys know?"
"The jackals said so," said the monkeys.
"And how did the jackals know?"
"The hares said it was so," said the jackals.
"And how did the hares know?"
One of the hares then said that another hare told him, and the other
hare said that another told him, and so it went on until at last they
came to the first little hare.
"Little hare," said the lion, "why did you say that the earth was
falling in?"
"I saw it," said the little hare.
"Where?" asked the lion.
"I saw it there, under that big coconut tree," said the little hare.
"Come and show me," said the lion.
"O, no, no!" said the little hare. "I am so frightened. I couldn't
go."
"Jump on my back," said the lion.
The little hare at last jumped up on the lion's back, and the lion
took her back to the big tree.
Just then another coconut fell with a great noise among the leaves.
"O, run, run!" cried the timid hare. "There is that dreadful thing
again!"
"Stop and look," said the lion.
As the hare could not get down from the lion's back, she had to stop
and look.
"Now what do you think it is?" asked the lion.
"I think it must be a coconut," said the little hare.
"Then I think you had better go and tell the other beasts," said the
lion.
So the little hare told the other beasts that the earth was not
falling in, after all. It was a coconut that was falling.
THE SHOE
(A man once left his shoe in the woods. The beasts found it.
They had never seen anything like it before, so they came
together and began to talk about it.)
BEAR. It must be the husk or the outside of some fruit.
ALL THE BIRDS. O, just hear him!
ALL THE BEASTS. O, just hear him!
WOLF. No, that is not it. It is some kind of nest. See! Here is the
hole at the top, for the bird to go into, and here is the place for
the eggs and the young birds.
BIRDS. O, just hear him!
BEAR. Just hear him talk!
GOAT. No, you are both wrong. It is the root of some plant.
(He showed them the shoe string hanging at the side.)
See this long, fine root. Surely it is a root!
BIRDS. O, just hear him talk!
BEASTS. Just hear him!
BEAR. I tell you it is the husk of a fruit.
WOLF. And I tell you it is a nest.
GOAT. And I tell you it is a root. Surely it is a root!
OWL. Let me speak. I have lived among men, and I have seen many such
things as this. It is a man's shoe.
BEAR. What is a man?
GOAT. What is a shoe?
OWL. A man is a thing with two legs. He can stand up like a monkey, he
can walk like a bird, but he cannot fly. He can eat and talk, and he
can do many things that we cannot do.
BEASTS. O, no!
BIRDS. No, no!
BEAR. How can that be? How can anything with two legs do more than we,
who have four?
BIRDS. And this thing you call a man cannot be good for much if he
cannot fly.
GOAT. But what does the man do with this root?
OWL. It is not a root. I tell you it is a shoe.
WOLF. And what is a shoe?
OWL. It is what the man puts on his feet. He puts one of these shoes
on each of his feet.
BIRDS. Hear the owl talk!
BEASTS. Who ever heard of such a thing as a shoe?
GOAT. Hear that! The man puts them on his feet!
WOLF. It is not true!
BEAR. No, it is not true! The owl doesn't know.
WOLF. You know nothing, Owl. Get out of our woods. You are not fit to
live with us.
BEAR. Yes, Owl, go away!
BEASTS. Leave us! Go away!
BIRDS. Leave us! Leave us, Owl! You surely don't know what you are
talking about!
(The beasts chase the owl out of the woods.)
OWL. (Going off) But it is a shoe, anyway.
THE CAMEL AND THE JACKAL
Once upon a time a camel and a jackal lived together by the side of a
river.
One fine morning the jackal said:
"There is a big field of sugar cane over on the other side of the
river. Take me on your back, Brother Camel, and I will show you where
it is. You may eat all the sugar cane, and I will find some crabs or
fish on the shore."
This pleased the camel very much. So he waded through the river and
carried the jackal on his back.
The jackal could not swim.
The camel found the sugar cane, and the jackal found some crabs.
The jackal ate much faster than the camel and soon had enough.
"Now, Brother Camel," he said, "take me back. I have had enough."
"But I haven't," said the camel.
So the camel went on eating.
The jackal tried to think how he could make the camel go home.
At last he thought of a way.
He began to bark and to cry and to make such a noise that all the men
from the village ran out to see what was going on.
There they found the camel eating the sugar cane, and at once they
beat the poor beast with sticks and so drove him out of the field.
"Brother Camel, hadn't you better go home now?" asked the jackal.
"Yes, jackal, jump on my back," said the camel.
The jackal jumped on his back, and the camel waded through the river
with him.
As he went, he said to the jackal:
"Brother Jackal, I think you have not been very good to me to-day. Why
did you make such a noise?"
"O, I don't know," said the jackal. "It's a way I sometimes have. I
like to sing a little, after dinner."
The camel waded on.
When they got out where the water was deep, the camel stopped and
said, "Jackal, I feel as if I must roll a little in the water.
"O, no, no!" said the jackal. "Why do you want to do that?"
"O, I don't know," said the camel. "It's a way I sometimes have. I
like to roll a little, after dinner."
With that, he rolled over, and the jackal fell into the water.
POEMS BY LAURA E. RICHARDS[1]
THE BUMBLEBEE
The bumblebee, the bumblebee,
He flew to the top of the tulip tree.
He flew to the top,
But he could not stop,
For he had to get home to his early tea.
The bumblebee, the bumblebee,
He flew away from the tulip tree;
But he made a mistake,
And flew into the lake,
And he never got home to his early tea.
[1] Copyright, 1890, by Little, Brown, and Company.
LITTLE BROWN BOBBY
Little Brown Bobby sat on the barn floor,
Little Brown Bossy looked in at the door.
Little Brown Bobby said, "Lackaday!
Who'll drive me this little Brown Bossy away?"
Little Brown Bobby said, "Shoo! shoo! shoo!"
Little Brown Bossy said, "Moo! moo! moo!"
This frightened them so that both of them cried,
And wished they were back at their mammy's side.
JIPPY AND JIMMY
Jippy and Jimmy were two little dogs.
They went to sail on some floating logs;
The logs rolled over, the dogs rolled in,
And they got very wet, for their clothes were thin.
Jippy and Jimmy crept out again.
They said, "The river is full of rain!"
They said, "The water is far from dry!
Ki-hi! ki-hi! ki-_hi_-yi! ki-hi!"
Jippy and Jimmy went shivering home.
They said, "On the river no more we will roam;
And we won't go to sail until we learn how,
Bow-wow! bow-wow! bow-_wow_-wow! bow-wow!"
THE SONG OF THE CORN POPPER
Pip! pop! flippety flop!
Here am I, all ready to pop.
Girls and boys, the fire burns clear;
Gather about the chimney here,
Big ones, little ones, all in a row.
Hop away! pop away! here we go!
Pip! pop! flippety flop!
Into the bowl the kernels drop;
Sharp and hard and yellow and small,
Must say they don't look good at all;
But wait till they burst into warm white snow!
Hop away! pop away! here we go!
Pip! pop! flippety flop!
Shake me steadily; do not stop!
Backward and forward, not up and down;
Don't let me drop, or you'll burn it brown.
Never too high and never too low;
Hop away! pop away! here we go!
A FRENCH FAIRY TALE
THE FAIRY
Once on a time there was a woman who had two daughters. The older was
very much like her mother, and was very ugly.
The younger was not like her, but was very good and beautiful.
The woman liked the older girl because she was like herself.
She did not like the younger; so she made her do all the hard work.
One day the younger daughter had gone to the spring to get water. It
was a long way from home.
As she was standing by the spring, a poor old woman came by and asked
her for a drink.
"Indeed, you shall have a drink," said the girl.
She filled her pitcher and gave the old woman some water.
The woman drank, and then said, "You are so kind and good, my dear,
that I will give you a gift."
Now this old woman was a fairy, but the girl did not know it.
"I will give you a gift," she said, "and this shall be the gift: With
every word that you speak, either a flower or a jewel shall fall from
your mouth."
When the younger girl came home, her mother scolded her because she
had been so long at the spring.
"I am very sorry indeed, mother," said the girl.
At once two roses, two pearls, and two diamonds fell from her mouth.
"What is this!" cried the mother. "I think I see pearls and diamonds
falling out of your mouth! How does this happen, my child?"
This was the first time the woman had ever called her "my child."
The girl told her all that had happened, and while she spoke, many
more diamonds fell from her mouth.
"Well, well, well!" said the woman, "I must surely send my dear Fanny
to the spring, so that she too may have this gift."
Then she called her older daughter. "Fanny, my dear, come here! See
what has happened to your sister. Should you not like to have such
diamonds whenever you wish them?
"All you need to do is to go out to the spring to get some water. An
old woman will ask for a drink and you will give it to her."
"I think I see myself going out there to the spring to get water!"
said the older daughter.
"Go at once!" said the mother.
So the older daughter went.
She took with her the best silver pitcher in the house, and grumbled
all the way.
When she had come to the spring, she saw a lady in beautiful clothes
standing under a tree.
The lady came to her and asked for a drink.
It was really the fairy, but now she looked like a princess.
The older daughter did not know that it was the fairy, so she said:
"Do you think that I came to the spring to get water just for you, or
that I brought this fine silver pitcher so that you could drink from
it? Drink from the spring if you wish."
"You are not very polite, I think," said the fairy, "but I will give
you a gift, and this shall be the gift: With every word that you
speak, either a snake or a toad shall fall from your mouth."
When the older daughter went back to the house, her mother called out,
"Well, daughter?"
"Well, mother," said the girl, and as she spoke, a snake and a toad
fell out of her mouth.
"What!" cried the mother. "Your sister has done all this, but she
shall pay for it!"
With that, the mother took a stick and ran after the younger daughter.
The poor child ran away from her and hid in the woods.
The prince of that country had been hunting and happened to pass
through those woods on his way home.
He saw the young girl and asked her why she was standing there and
crying, all alone in the woods.
"O sir, my mother has turned me out of the house," she said.
The prince was greatly surprised to see five or six pearls and as many
diamonds fall from her mouth as she spoke.
"Tell me how all this happened," said the prince.
So she told him all about it.
The prince took her with him, and they went to the king's house, and
there they were married, and were very happy.
But the older sister grew more and more ugly in her heart, until even
her mother could not live with her.
So her mother turned her out, and no one ever heard of her again.
A NORSE FOLK TALE
EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON
Once there was a poor woodcutter who had so many children that it was
hard to get enough for them to eat.
They were all pretty children, but the youngest daughter was the
prettiest of them all.
One cold, dark night in the fall they were sitting around the fire,
when all at once something went rap! rap! rap! on the window.
The father went out to see what it was, and there stood a big white
bear.
"Good evening," said the bear.
"The same to you," said the man.
"Give me your youngest daughter, and you shall be rich," said the
bear.
"You can't have her," said the man.
"Think it over," said the bear, "I will come again next week."
Then the bear went away.
They talked it over and at last the youngest daughter said that she
would go away with the bear when he came back.
Next Thursday night they heard the rap! rap! rap! on the window, and
there was the white bear again.
The girl went out and climbed up on his back and off they went.
When they had gone a little way, the bear turned around and asked,
"Are you afraid?"
No, she was not afraid.
"Well, hold fast to me, and there will be nothing to be afraid of,"
said the bear.
They went a long, long way, until they came to a great hill.
The bear knocked on the ground, and a door opened. They went in.
It was a castle, with many lights, and it shone with silver and gold.
The white bear gave to the girl a silver bell, and said to her, "Ring
this bell when you want anything."
Then he went away.
Every night, when all the lights had been put out, the bear came and
talked with her. He slept in a bed in the great hall.
But it was so dark that she could never see him, or know how he
looked, and when she took his paw, it was not like a paw. It was like
a hand.
She wanted so much to see him! but he told her she must not.
At last she felt that she could not wait any longer.
So one night, when he was asleep, she lighted a candle and bent over
and looked at him.
What do you think she saw?
It was not a bear, but a prince, and the most beautiful prince that
was ever seen!
She was so surprised that her hand began to shake, and three drops
from the candle fell upon the coat of the prince.
This woke him up.