to-day?"
The farmer thought a moment. Then he shook his head.
A little later Ceres met an old woman in a meadow. The old woman
was gathering herbs. She had seen no girl.
It was not only human beings whom Ceres asked about her daughter.
She asked the animals too. A robin on a tree top was merrily
singing his evening song. Ceres asked him. A pair of squirrels were
chattering noisily in a pine tree. Ceres stopped a minute to
question them. But no one had seen the lost maiden.
At last night fell. Ceres left the fields and entered the open
road. At the door of every house she knocked. Wondering and pitying
faces looked at her curiously as she told her story. Some asked her
to come in and rest a while. But Ceres had no thought of rest. All
night long she kept up her search, and when morning came she was
far from home. She looked about her in the early light. She found
that she had wandered to that far eastern place where the sun rises
and begins the day.
In a few minutes, indeed, Apollo, the sun-god, appeared. He was all
ready to drive his sun-chariot across the sky. In this way he
gives light and warmth to the people of the earth. His six white
horses wore golden harness, which jingled pleasantly as they
pranced about. They were anxious to be off. Apollo held them in
check with a firm hand, when he saw Ceres approaching.
[Illustration]
"What brings you here before sunrise, Mother Ceres?" he called to
her gaily, for he had known her a long time. Then he saw that her
eyes were red with weeping, and he leaped from his chariot to take
her hand.
"What has happened?" he asked in a gentle tone.
"Oh, Apollo," cried Ceres, while the tears streamed down her
cheeks, "I have lost Proserpina. Only yesterday I allowed her to go
into the meadow near my house to gather flowers. She did not
return, and I can find no trace of her. Oh, tell me, have you seen
her? You see everything as you drive across the sky."
Apollo thought a moment. "Let me see," he said. "Could that have
been little Proserpina I saw in Pluto's[62] chariot--"
"In Pluto's chariot?" cried Ceres. "What would she be doing in
Pluto's chariot?"
"It was she," said Apollo. "Now that I think of it, I am certain it
was she."
Then Apollo told Ceres all that had happened. He told her about the
shrub of marvellous flowers. He told of the hole that its roots
left in the ground. He told of Pluto and his six black horses, and
of how Pluto had carried off Proserpina.
"He will never bring her back," said Apollo.
Then Ceres dried her tears. Her face grew stern and cold. She stood
straight and held her head high, like a queen.
"He will bring her back," she said. "I shall make him bring her.
Until he does, I shall allow nothing on the earth to grow. Until he
brings Proserpina to me, no tree shall put forth leaves or fruit,
no grass shall become green, no grain shall sprout,--nothing,
nothing at all, shall grow on the earth."
Scarcely had she said this when a change came over the earth. The
leaves on trees and shrubs everywhere grew yellow and dropped to
the ground. The green fields became brown and gray. Fruits rotted
on the stem, and vegetables dried where they grew. Even flowerbeds
lost their bloom and became patches of dry stalks.
Mother Ceres looked upon all these changes with a hard heart.
"Never," she said, "will the earth grow green again, until my
daughter is returned to me."
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Play that you are Ceres working in her house and
glancing out of the window now and then. Say what she said when she saw
Proserpina sit down in the long grass. Say what she said when, after
several hours, her daughter was still absent. Say it in the way you
think she said it. Now show your classmates how she hurried into the
meadow to find Proserpina; how she picked up the half-finished wreath
and crossed the brook; how she looked when she saw her daughter's
footprint in the soft ground near the brook. What do you think she was
thinking then?
2. One of your classmates will be the farmer in the story, another the
old woman, another the robin, two others the pair of squirrels. Still
other pupils will be the people in the houses at whose doors Ceres
knocks. Now play that you are Ceres looking for her daughter, and asking
everywhere for her. Remember how Ceres must have felt. Show that feeling
in what you say and in the way you say it. The pupils playing the other
speakers in the story will answer your questions. Try not to ask your
questions always in the same words.
=Group Exercise.= 1. Now let other groups of pupils play this part of
the story.
2. Each time[57] the class will say what they liked and what they did
not like. The following questions should be answered by the class:
1. Did the pupil playing Ceres look very much worried over
Proserpina's not returning? Several pupils should try to show the
class how the player ought to have looked.
2. Did the pupil playing Ceres talk like a worried person? Several
pupils should show how Ceres probably did talk.
3. Did the pupil playing Ceres talk enough? What might she say as
she looks out of the window now and then? What might she say when
she finds the unfinished wreath? What might she say when she sees
Proserpina's footprint and, a little farther along, the beautiful
shrub pulled out of the ground?
4. Did the pupils playing the farmer, the old woman, the robin,
the squirrels, and the other people speak as persons really would
speak if a poor woman should ask them where her daughter was? What
might these say that none of the players said?
5. Did the pupil playing Ceres ask each of the other players the
same question in the same way? Would it be better if this player
asked the question differently of different persons? Should this
player grow more worried and more excited all the time?
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Make believe that you are Apollo. Obtain a long rope
and harness your six horses. Choose six classmates to be the horses, but
first explain to the class how you plan to harness them. Then drive them
up and down in front of the class once or twice. As you do so, you see
Ceres coming toward you. You pull in your horses in great surprise. Show
your classmates this surprise. What might you say in a low tone to
yourself to express this surprise?
2. Talk with Ceres. The pupil playing Ceres will answer you very sadly
at first. But at the end of the story the manner of Ceres changes. How
does Apollo look and what does he say when Ceres declares that nothing
shall grow on earth until Proserpina is returned?
=Group Exercise.= 1. Several pairs of pupils should play the meeting
between Apollo and Ceres. Each pair should try to show the class exactly
how they think Apollo and Ceres looked and spoke and acted.
2. Then the class will tell what they liked and what they did not like
in each playing.
3. Now the entire story should be played several times. After each time
the class will explain to the players how the story might have been
played better.
=57. Correct Usage--_I am not_[65]=
=Game.= The teacher asks a pupil to stand before the class. This pupil
plays that he is a certain bird, flower, or animal other than a bird,
that is seen in the woods in the spring, but he tells no one except the
teacher what he is. The class must guess this. No pupil may guess more
than once, and only ten guesses are allowed the whole class. The pupil
before the class says nothing except that he is or is not the bird,
flower, or animal guessed. The game moves along as follows:
FIRST GUESSER: Are you a dandelion, John?
PUPIL BEFORE THE CLASS: No, Fred, I am not a dandelion.
SECOND GUESSER: Are you a turtle, John?
PUPIL BEFORE THE CLASS: No, Mary, I am not a turtle.
THIRD GUESSER: Are you a song sparrow, John?
PUPIL BEFORE THE CLASS: Yes, Nellie, I am a song sparrow.
The pupil who guesses correctly is the next flower or bird. If no one of
the ten guesses is correct, the pupil before the class says,
"Classmates, I am a song sparrow." Then he names the pupil who is to
take his place in the game.
=58. Riddles=
One day our old friend Tom read his mother a riddle he had made. This is
it:
I am a tiny little thing and have an orange face. What am I?
"Can you guess it, mother?" he asked. "A dandelion," she answered. "Yes,
that's right," said Tom. "What do you think of it?"
"It's a pretty good little riddle," his mother replied, "but I think you
can make it better. Is _orange_ the best word for a dandelion? And
should you not put in something to show that you do not mean a bird?
Your riddle, as it is, would do for a yellow bird as well as for a
dandelion."
Tom thought this over. Then he wrote the following riddle:
I am a tiny little thing with a bright yellow face. I have no legs
or wings, but I come and go with spring. What am I?
Tom's mother was very much pleased with this riddle, and so was Tom. Tom
thought he could not make it the least bit better. The next day,
however, he had made the riddle over once more. "This," said Tom, "is
the very best that I can do."
Here it is:
My face is bright yellow. I have hundreds of brothers and sisters.
We have fine parties on the lawn. I cannot walk, but I can fly when
I am old and white-haired. What am I?
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Which of Tom's three riddles do you like the best?
Which do you care for least? Why? Do you think the third riddle is too
long? What is in the third riddle that you do not find in the second?
2. Can you make a riddle of your own about the dandelion?
3. Make riddles for your classmates to guess, about flowers, birds, and
animals that are seen in the spring.
=Written Exercise.= Write on paper the best riddle of a bird or a flower
that you can make. Then, as Tom did, think it over a little longer and
try to make it better. When you think it is so bright that your
classmates will be much pleased with it, read it to them.[66]
=Group Exercise.= Some of the riddles should now be copied neatly on the
board. It will be fun for the whole class to try to make them better.
The very best ones the teacher will copy in a book to show to other
classes.[35]
=Written Exercise.= 1. Copy the riddle or riddles that your teacher
chooses. As you copy them, notice the spelling of the words, the capital
letters, the punctuation marks, and the beginning of the first line of
each riddle. This will help you to write the riddles correctly when you
reach the next exercise. Together with another pupil, correct your copy
and his.
2. Write from dictation the riddles you have copied. Then correct any
mistakes you may have made. You may do this work of correcting either
alone or with one or more other pupils.
=59. Story-Telling=
CERES AND PLUTO
In the underground world, where Pluto was king, stood a magnificent
palace, in which he lived. The pillars that held up the roof were
of solid gold. Jewels of many colors shone and sparkled in the
walls.
Two persons were talking together in a room in this wonderful
building. One of these, who was no other than the lost Proserpina,
was crying. Before her stood Pluto. He was trying to comfort her.
"Why do you keep on weeping day after day?" he asked. "Look about
you and see what a beautiful place it is to which I have brought
you."
Proserpina only shook her head and cried the harder. "I do not care
how beautiful it is," she said. "I want to go back to my mother. I
want to see the sunshine and the blue sky, and the flowers growing
in the meadows."
Pluto pointed to the jewels that gleamed from the walls and floor
and ceiling of the palace. Some were red as roses, others blue as
violets. Still others shone yellow as dandelions or purple as
lilacs or green as the young grass that grows on the banks of
brooks.
"There are flowers for you," said he. "See all their colors! And
these flowers are unlike those on the earth, that last only a day
or a week. These never wither and never fade."
But Proserpina did not so much as look at the jewels that Pluto
praised so highly.
"Please take me back to the earth," she begged. "If you will do
that, I shall always think of you as a kind king. Perhaps I should
visit you now and then."
Pluto smiled and shook his head. "I do not dare let you go back to
the earth, Proserpina," he explained. "I am almost sure you would
never come back to me. Think how lonely I should be down here. I
should have no one to share my palace and my riches with me. But
let me tell what I will do."
He took the golden crown from his head. It was the most splendid
crown in all the world. He held it out before her. It sparkled with
a thousand lights. The most skilful goldsmiths in Pluto's kingdom
had made it.
"This," said Pluto, "I will give you, if you will stay with me."
Before Proserpina could answer, the bark of a dog was heard outside
the palace wall. It was Pluto's giant mastiff. He was a huge
three-headed dog that guarded the palace gate. Some one was
coming. A minute later a loud knock sounded on the door. At once
this flew open and showed a tall young man standing there. His
face was flushed and he was breathless, as if he had run a long
distance.
[Illustration]
When the stranger saw the king and Proserpina, he drew himself up
to his full height and made a deep bow.
"What is it?" asked Pluto.
The tall stranger stepped into the room. He was still breathing
hard. "I am the bringer of sad news, King Pluto," he began. "I come
from the earth to let you know what has happened."
"Well, what has happened?" impatiently asked the king.
"The earth has lost its color and its beauty," answered the
stranger. "Nothing grows any more. Where once there were beautiful
fields and orchards, now there is nothing but the uncovered ground
and bare branches to be seen. And Ceres sends me to you with this
message, O Pluto. Until you return her daughter, not a blade of
grass, not a shoot of corn shall grow, not a flower shall bloom,
not a tree shall put forth leaves, on the whole earth that was once
so green and wonderful."
Pluto smiled at these words. "What care I," he said, "whether
anything grows on the earth!" Then he saw that Proserpina was
weeping. His voice grew softer. "What does Ceres want me to do?" he
asked.
"She wants you to return that which you have taken away," was the
solemn answer.
"That," said Pluto, "I will never do."
The messenger of Ceres turned to go, without another word.
Proserpina stepped forward and stopped him.
"I have a plan," she said, "that will help us all." She turned to
Pluto. "Let me spend half of every year with Mother Ceres," she
said, "and I will gladly spend the other half with you."
Pluto looked at her and made no answer. He did not like being alone
in his great palace six months of every year. But then he thought
of how unhappy Proserpina would be if he never allowed her to see
her mother again. He did not wish her to be unhappy. At last he
said, "I will do it."
Proserpina clapped her hands. She laughed and danced about. "Six
months here," she said, "and six months on earth. That will make
six months of green and bloom on earth, and six months of bare
branches and empty fields. Every year when I start back to the
earth, things will begin to grow and bud and blossom. That will be
spring. Every year when I return to this underground world, the
leaves will fall from the trees, the grass will become yellow, and
flowers will wither and fade. That will be fall."
Proserpina at once prepared for her journey back to the earth. When
she had said good-bye to Pluto, Ceres's messenger led the way. They
passed the growling three-headed dog. They passed the iron gates of
Pluto's kingdom. Far ahead they saw a bright light. It was the
sunshine of the earth. They hastened toward it. As they hurried
along, Proserpina noticed that the dry fields began to change.
Green grass sprang up in them, and flowers. A veil of green covered
all the shrubs and trees, and fruit blossoms began to unfold. The
farmers had been sad over the long winter. Now they worked merrily
in the fields, glad at the coming of spring.
It was not long before Proserpina saw that she had reached the
meadow in which she had gathered flowers. Yes, there was the brook
she had crossed without really meaning to do it. There was the
place where she had sat in the grass to weave wreaths. And there,
at the edge of the meadow, stood her mother's house. Hurrying from
it and toward Proserpina with outstretched arms was Mother Ceres
herself.
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Make believe that you are Proserpina in the story
above. Think how you would feel if you were in an underground palace far
from your mother. A classmate will play that he is King Pluto. Ask him
to let you go back. Speak as Proserpina probably spoke. Pluto will
answer you. He will try to explain to you that you ought to stay with
him.
2. Make believe that you are the messenger from Ceres. Make the deep bow
that he made when he saw the king. Tell the king what is happening on
the earth. Give him the message from Ceres.
3. You and two classmates should now play the story. Would it be a good
plan to have some one play the dog?
=Group Exercise.= 1. Now three other pupils[67] should play the story,
and then three others. Each group will try to show the class exactly how
everything happened in the story. Each player will try to look and act
and speak exactly as he thinks the person in the story did.
2. The class will praise what is good in the playing and point out what
might be done better.
=60. Talking over Plans=
Why couldn't the class plan a spring festival? It might be held on a
Friday afternoon. Every pupil could invite his parents and friends. The
festival would be one way of showing how glad you and your classmates
are that spring has come.
=Oral Exercise.= 1. Make a plan for a spring festival.[68] Then stand
before the class and tell the other pupils what your plan is. The
following questions may help you to make a plan that your classmates
will enjoy carrying out:
1. Shall the festival be held in the schoolroom or outdoors?
2. Shall you decorate the room with spring flowers?
3. Shall the festival begin with a march by the pupils?
4. Do you know a suitable story that could be played by a group of
pupils?
5. Could some suitable poems be recited?
6. Would it be a good plan to have each pupil play that he is a
spring flower or a bird and make a riddle about himself for the
visitors to guess?
7. How shall visitors be invited? Shall each pupil write a letter
inviting somebody and mail it in the United States Post Office?
2. It would be fun to have you and a classmate talk the spring festival
over on the class telephone. Of course this is only a make-believe
telephone, but two pupils can talk to each other over it just as well as
if it were real. Tell your classmate at the other end of the telephone
what you think of the spring-festival plan. Ask him questions about it.
He will ask you questions.
3. Use the class telephone to invite persons to the spring festival.
Different classmates of yours will play that they are Mr. Brown and Mrs.
Brown and others whom you wish to invite. Tell them about the spring
festival. Tell them why the class will have it, and what it is to be
like. Then invite them to come.
=Group Exercise.= The class of course hears these telephone
conversations. After each one the class should talk about it with the
following questions[69] in mind:
1. Did the speakers telephone in clear, pleasant voices that could
easily be heard?
2. Were the speakers polite to each other?
3. Did the speakers make any mistakes in English? Did they
pronounce any words incorrectly?
4. Did the speakers say bright things that every one likes to hear?
5. Can you think of anything the speakers might have said to make
the telephone talk more interesting?
=61. Letter Writing=
A few days before the spring festival you will be inviting your parents
and friends to come to it. You could write short letters asking them to
come. You could take your letters to their houses or you could send the
invitations by mail.[70]
Here is an invitation to the spring festival. It was written, as you
see, by a boy named George Smith to his friend Mr. Brown.
+----------------------------------+
| May 9, 1919 |
| |
| Dear Mr. Brown: |
| |
| Come to our spring festival. |
| |
| George Smith |
| |
=Oral Exercise.= What do you think of George Smith's invitation? What do
you think Mr. Brown will say when he receives it? Does George Smith seem
to be a very polite boy? How could the invitation be made more polite?
What should the invitation tell about the spring festival?
=Written Exercise.= Write one of your invitations for the spring
festival. Put in it all that you think such an invitation should say to
the one who receives it. Before you begin it, notice how the following
greetings are written. This may help you in writing yours.[71]
Dear Mr. Brown:
Dear Mrs. Brown:
Dear Miss Brown:
Dear Friend:
Dear Uncle:
Dear Teacher:
=Group Exercise.= A number of the invitations should now be copied
neatly on the board. Then you and your classmates may point out what is
good in each, and may try to make each one better.
=62. Addressing Letters=
If you send your invitations by mail, you will need to know how to write
the addresses on the envelopes. Perhaps you can learn this most quickly
by carefully copying addresses that are correctly written. Before
copying them you should read them with care. Notice every capital letter
and punctuation mark.
=Oral Exercise.= Read the name of the person to whom each of the
following envelopes is addressed. Is it placed nearer the top or the
bottom edge of the envelope? Is it nearer the right or the left edge of
the envelope? Is it placed exactly in the middle of the envelope? Is
the second line of the address exactly under the first line? Is the
third line exactly under the second line?
+-----------------------------+
| |
| Mr. James Smith |
| 46 Oak Street |
| Toledo, Ohio |
+-----------------------------+
+-----------------------------+
| |
| Mrs. Henry Jones |
| 1616 Superior Street |
| Portland, Oregon |
+-----------------------------+
=Written Exercise.= 1. Draw lines to mark off an envelope on your paper.
Then copy the first of the addresses above. Mark off another envelope,
and copy the second address.[72]
2. Cut figures of paper the size and shape of an envelope, and on each
write one of the following addresses:
1. The address of your father
2. The address of your mother
3. Your own address
4. The address of a friend not in the class
5. The address of a friend who is a classmate
=63. Telling Interesting Things=
=Oral Exercise.= 1. When did you last go to the circus?[73] Of course
you remember many interesting things about it. Think of these a minute;
then tell your classmates about them. Perhaps the following questions
will help you remember:
1. Did you see the circus come to town early in the morning?
2. Did you see the men putting up the tents?
3. Did you see the parade?
4. Where did you buy your ticket?
5. What did you see first when you entered the tent?
6. What did you like best of all you saw and heard?
2. If you were old enough to travel with a circus, and if your parents
would allow you to go, what should you most like to be? Should you like
to be an animal trainer? Should you like to be a horseback rider?
Should you like to be a juggler, a tightrope walker, or a clown? Tell
your classmates what you would be if you could join a circus. Besides,
tell what that kind of performer needs to know and do. Tell how he does
some of his tricks.
You and your classmates may now plan to make a book about the circus.
Each pupil should write a page for it. One could tell about the parade,
another about the tents and the seats and the rings, another about the
horses, another about the jugglers, another about the trapeze
performers, and so on. When all the pages are finished, they should be
bound and a cover put on them. On the cover might be written or printed
in large letters:[74]
+----------------------------------+
| THE CIRCUS BOOK |
| |
| MADE BY |
| |
| THE PUPILS OF MISS SMITH'S CLASS |
| |
=Written Exercise.= Choose what you will write about for the circus
book. Think what you can say that your classmates will enjoy reading.
Then write the account. Better write a short and bright account than a
long and stupid one. First, write on your paper rather rapidly the best
account you can. When this is finished, read it several times and try to
make it better. If you were writing about the juggler, your first,
rapidly written account might read like this:
THE JUGGLER AT THE CIRCUS
There was a juggler at the circus. I cannot tell all the tricks he
did. It must take a long time to learn to do tricks. I wish I could
do some.