Catherine T. Bryce

“ The lion was proud of his voice and he roared with all his might.
“No, no,” cried the ant, “I’ll not marry you, Mr. Lion. Your loud roar frightens me. It shakes the very hills. Go away.”
The lion had not been gone long when a proud rooster came strutting along that way.
“How pretty you are, Miss Ant! Will you marry me?” said the rooster.
“Sing,” said the ant, “so I may hear your voice.”
[49]
The rooster was very proud of his shrill voice and he crowed with all his might.
“No, no,” cried the ant, “I’ll not marry you, Mr. Rooster. Your shrill crow frightens me. Go away.” ”

“ But it never stops.
It must flow ever on and on.
Bright flowers are hiding along its banks.
They peep out from the grass.
They look into the clear flowing water.
“Stay, little brook, play with us,” they whisper.
“Why do you always hurry so? Are you not weary?”
“No, no, I am never weary, never tired,” murmurs the brook.
“I never stop to play.
It is play for me to rush swiftly down the steep hill.
It is fun to flow gently across the meadow.
I like to see you peeping over my banks as I pass.
But I cannot stop.
[57]
I must hurry on to meet the river. ”

“ Why, she almost lives in the water. If I should wash my feathers all day long, they might get white, too. I will try it.”
So he flew from his nest in the woods, and lived for days near the lake.
Every day he washed his feathers from morning to night.
But his feathers did not get white.
They were just as black as ever.
But as the raven was not used to living in water, he caught a very bad cold.
So, at last, he flew back to his nest in the wood.
“It is no use,” he croaked. “I can never be white. I do not want to be white. Black feathers are pretty enough for me. Croak! Croak!” ”

“ Drumikin!
Have you seen Lambikin?”
Lambikin answered sweetly as he rolled along,
“Fallen into the fire, and so will you!
On, little Drumikin! Tum-pa, tum-too!”
[45]
“Oh, ho, little Lambikin, curled up snug in your little drumikin,” said the wolf, “you can’t fool me. I know your voice. So you have become too fat to hop and to skip, to hump and to jump. You can only roll along like a ball.”
And the wolf’s mouth watered as he thought of the sweet, fat morsel of a Lambikin.
Little Lambikin’s heart went pit-a-pat, but he cried out gayly,
“Hark, hark! ”

“ Sheep,” he said, “Mrs. Leghorn [168] is starving. Do, please, give me a pound of wool. I want it to take to Mr. Tailor, who is going to give me a new coat for Mr. Farmer, who is going to cut me a bundle of corn for Mrs. Mooly Cow, who is going to give me a saucer of milk for Miss Pussy Cat, who is going to catch me a mouse for Mr. Wise Owl, who is going to tell me what to do.”
“To be sure, Mr. Leghorn,” said Mrs. Sheep, “I will give you a pound of wool, but you must first bring me a bunch of clover.” ”

“ Robin,” said the crow. “We have no use for domes.” And to this day neither robins nor crows have built domes over their nests.
Mrs. Magpie paid no more [99] heed to these birds than to the others who had already left her. She went quietly on building her nest, just as she knew it ought to be built. Soon it was done, dome and all.
“Indeed, Mrs. Magpie,” said the swallows, “we like your nest. The dome is a fine thing, but why should we build it? There are plenty of domes already built; we need only to make our nests under them.” ”

“ This hungry, greedy cat now had rat for breakfast, rat for dinner, and rat for supper. And sometimes he had rat between meals.
Very soon this cat began to grow fat and happy.
But happy cats make unhappy rats. While this cat grew fat, these rats grew thin.
Yet in the stalls there was just as much grain as ever. But it was only a very hungry rat that [86] dared go for it. For no rat could tell when the cat might pounce upon him.
That sly cat stole about without a sound.
The most watchful rat could hear nothing, could see no living thing. ”

“ The dog frightened the cat.
The cat caught the mouse.
The mouse burrowed the hill.
The hill stopped the wind.
The wind uprooted the tree.
The tree threw Tumtollo to the ground.”
“You are still wrong, Tumtollo,” sang the water in a spring near by. “I am not strong. But I will tell you who is truly strong. It is Man.
Man drinks the water.
Man lights the fire.
Man makes the rope.
Man cages the lion.
Man tames the bear.
Man eats the bee’s honey.
Man drives the ox.
Man keeps the dog.
Man feeds the cat.
Man kills the mouse. ”

“ Soon the three travelers came to a little gurgling brook. It seemed to them a mighty rushing and roaring torrent.
“Oh, dear, what shall we do now?” asked the bean, speaking for the first time since the journey [142] began. “We can never get across these awful waters. Hear them thunder down the rocky cliffs!”
“Don’t worry, little Bean,” said the straw, proudly. “I’ll help you and Mr. Coal across in a twinkling.”
Thereupon the straw laid herself across the stream. She was just long enough to reach from bank to bank.
“Now walk over the bridge, Mr. Coal and Miss Bean,” called the straw. ”

“ 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!
—R. L. Stevenson THE LEAF’S JOURNEY
jour ney (f ish) w ish ed eight (l og) fr og s leaped (st ream) d ream ed
On the steep hillside grew a tall ash tree.
Right on the bank of the rushing brook it grew.
Its branches spread far out across the little stream.
[65]
Its leaves looked down into the flashing water. ”

“ More than this, if the teacher has contributed her part, most such children will have realized the utility and tasted the real delights of reading to such an extent that they will continue to read of their own accord ”

“ These statements are not mere predictions of the hoped-for results of untried theories; they are simple, unexaggerated expressions of facts which have been observed in the work of thousands of children of a score of nationalities. ”

“ There’s the most horrible, monstrous hob-goblin over there in the clearing. He has a nose as long as a broomstick—”
“Oh! Oh! Oh!” cried Billy Binks and his friends.
“—Eyes as big as saucers and as green as the sea—”
“Oh! Oh! Oh!” cried Billy Binks and his friends.
“—And a mouth big enough to swallow us all!”
“Oh! Oh! Oh!” cried Billy Binks and his friends.
“He has a great fire blazing among some rocks. That is the light you saw. When he walks in front of it you cannot see the light. That is why you thought it disappeared.”
[125]
“I see! ”

“ He ate, and ate, and ate, and he ate until he could hardly waddle.
[41]
“Come, Lambikin,” said his Granny, “you are fat enough. You should go home now.”
“No, no,” said cunning little Lambikin, “that will never do. Some animal would surely eat me on the way, I am so plump and tender.” ”

“ THE ANT AND THE MOUSE
(h oney) m oney (th is) m iss pieces sharp (w ish) f ish (r ob) c ob lost buy (c arry) m arry (r each) p each roost er hur ried
There was once an ant.
While sweeping her house one day, this ant found three pieces of money.
“What shall I buy?” said she.
“Shall I buy fish?”
“No, fish is full of bones. I can’t eat bones. I’ll not buy fish.”
“Shall I buy bread?”
“No, bread has crust. I can’t eat crust. I’ll not buy bread.”
“Shall I buy peaches?”
[47]
“No, peaches have stones. I can’t eat stones. I’ll not buy peaches.”
“Shall I buy corn?”
“No, corn grows on a cob. ”

“ A few old peacock feathers made you think you were a peacock. So you left your old friends. The peacocks saw you were a cheat and drove you away. Hereafter you must live alone. Be off with you!”
And all the crows said, “Caw, caw, caw! Caw, caw, caw!”
[12]
THE WOLF AND THE KID
(h ark) d ark (m uch) s uch noise e nough trot ted (h ive) l ive ly (l eg) b eg ged (p ea) pl ea se (k ind) find hun gry oft en wolf (n ow) gr ow led
One day a little kid was lost in a dark wood. ”

“ Oh! how hungry they were! How sweet that yellow corn in the stall would taste.
One by one they began to steal away softly.
Where do you think they were going?
Rat families still live in barns.
Cats still feed upon them.
But no rat has ever tried to make life safer by belling a cat.
[91]
THREE OF US KNOW
bal lad se crets
Who are my playfellows? ”

“ He quickly bagged the gold and jewels, threw them across the pony’s back, and mounting, hurried off homeward.
The pony smelled oats all the way, while Billy Binks saw castles and lands on all sides.
[131]
[132]
Some Things to think About
[133]
WHEN THE LITTLE BOY RAN AWAY
(s ist er) tw ist ed wan der ed aw ful (r oam) f oam ing ech o (under) th under par ents trun dle
When the little boy ran away from home,
The birds in the tree-top knew,
And they all sang, “Stay!” ”