Jacob Abbott

“ Then Lucy looked under the seat, and found that at each end there were several flat stones, one over the other, forming a little pile; and the stone seat rested upon them.
“But, Mary Jay,” said Lucy, “why didn’t you get your father to come and do it for you?”
“Because,” said Mary Jay, “my father is always busy at his work; and, besides, I knew that I should enjoy my seat a great deal more, to do it all myself.”
“But then your sister helped you,” said Lucy.
“Yes,” replied Mary Jay, “my sister helped me; and she and I own the seat together. ”

“ How do they open?”
“Right upwards,” said Lucy, making a motion with her hands, as if she was opening a window.
“And how do doors open?” asked her father.
“Right sideways,” said she.
“Now, can you think of any reason why windows should open by sliding upward, and doors by swinging out upon hinges?
“First, why shouldn’t windows open like doors, by swinging out upon hinges?”
“Why, they might get broken by the wind,” said Lucy.
“Yes,” said her father; “doors are very often shut violently by the wind; and this would doubtless often happen to windows, if they were hung in a similar manner.” ”

“ Mary Jay told her to go and look under her shelf in her closet. Lucy went, and she found a little tin mug hanging there upon a nail; for Mary Jay, like all good teachers, had taken pains to consider beforehand what would be necessary for her little pupil, and had provided for every thing, so as to prevent delay and trouble afterwards. This is always the best way in teaching, as well as in every thing else. ”

“ There was a nest made of hay under the back corner of the sleigh, with several egg-shells lying about it; in the nest was one egg remaining, which seemed to be whole.
“There is one egg,” said Mary Jay; “couldn’t you creep under and get it, Lucy? Stop a minute, and I will put something down for you to kneel upon.”
So Mary Jay took the seat out of the sleigh, which was a smooth board, like a box cover, and she put it down upon the ground between the two runners. Then Lucy crept in upon this, going in in front; and when she came to the end of the seat, she found that she could just reach the egg. ”

“ But the idea of a rebellion, or of a king, or an army, is a complicated idea, which can be acquired only slowly, and after some years of experience of life, of reading and observation.”
“What are some of the other studies,” asked Mary Jay, “besides arithmetic, which children can learn to advantage?”
“Reading is one. A child who learns what the sound is, that is represented by the character S, knows the truth as completely and thoroughly as Sir Isaac Newton could have known it. Then there is writing, including spelling.”
“Spelling belongs to reading, father,” said Lucy. ”

“ There are three things, which it belongs to a good scholar to do, which are rather hard.”
“What are they?” said Lucy.
“To continue to study after you have got tired of study, to try to do what you think you can’t do, and to obey orders when you think they are wrong.”
“When they are wrong?” replied Lucy.
“Yes,” replied Mary Jay. “It is pretty easy to obey when you think the orders are right; the difficulty comes when you think the orders are wrong. For example, there was a boy once, and his name was Thomas. He used to hold his slate pencil just as we commonly hold a pen. ”

“ They cannot form any conception of America, or of Columbus, and the date 1492 marks no era of the world in their minds.”
“Well, sir,” said Mary Jay, “but isn’t it so with all studies?”
“No, by no means,” replied Lucy’s father. “The truths of arithmetic a child can appreciate as fully and completely as any person. Three from ten leaves seven. Now, a child may be longer in learning that than a grown person; but when she once understands it, she understands it as perfectly as any mind can. ”

“ Now, there are some things which children can learn thoroughly, as far as they learn them at all, and others that they cannot learn thoroughly.”
“Not if they are thoroughly taught?” said Mary Jay.
138 “No,” said he, “because they cannot be thoroughly taught; for the very things that the study relates to, are such that they cannot really appreciate them. Take history, for example. If a child, like Lucy, is to study history, she reads, perhaps, in her book, that a rebellion broke out, and the leaders of it beheaded the king. ”

“ Rollo then turned into a man, in order that he might be the elephant’s keeper. He put the chain around Royal’s shoulder, and led him about. Royal walked upon his hands and knees, with a very deliberate motion, as much as possible like that of a real elephant. Sometimes Rollo would order his elephant to kneel, and then Royal would fold his arms before him, and lie down close to the floor, so that Rollo could easily get upon his back. Rollo would mount, and then call upon his elephant to get up again; and so he would take a short ride about the room. Lucy had one ride herself. ”

“ And as for Lucy Dane, I will be careful not to give her any more copies with figures in them, if she can make figures beautifully already.’”
“Why, Mary Jay!” said Lucy. She was quite surprised at this decision of the teacher.
“Children very often,” continued Mary Jay, “make objections to do what their teacher requires, because they say they can’t do it. They forget that this is the very reason why they should set to work and learn. You don’t go to school to do over again what you can already do very well, but to learn to do things which you can’t do when you go. ”

“ Yes, Lucy, you are right; one dollar may be brighter and prettier than another as a coin, to be used for a plaything; but when I agreed to give you so much money each month, I did not mean so many coins for playthings, but a certain amount of value for purchases. Now, in value, and for use in making purchases, one dollar is as good as another; and so, in almost all cases in reckoning accounts among men, they never think at all of the particular money that they receive and pay, but only of the value. ”

“ They turned into this road, for Royal said that it led to a place where they could get some flowers. Both Rollo and Lucy said they should like this very much, for they wanted to have some flowers. Rollo said that he was going to study botany; his mother was going to teach him.
“I wish I could study botany,” said Lucy; “I should like botany a great deal better than arithmetic.” ”

“ She said, ‘Why, Thomas, I told you not to hold the pencil so.’
“‘Yes,’ said Thomas, ‘I tried the other way, but I found that I couldn’t make my figures so well.’”
Here Mary Jay paused a moment; but Lucy did not say any thing, and so she proceeded.
“Thomas thought,” said she, “that he was not bound to obey his teacher, unless he thought that her directions were right. But the truth is, that children ought to obey their parents and teachers always; no matter whether they think the commands are right and reasonable, or not. ”

“ They think their parent or teacher is mistaken, and so they don’t obey. But if they would obey, they would soon become accustomed to the proper way, and then they would find it altogether better than their old habit. That’s the philosophy of it, Lucy; that’s the philosophy of it.”
At this time, they had reached the rocky precipice, and the path passed around near the foot of it. Lucy looked up at the rocks, and was a little afraid that they would fall down upon her head. Mary Jay said, that she had seen boys climb up nearly to the top. ”

“ Lucy was going on to describe her ride, but Mary Jay said that it was her study hours, and that she had better sit right down to her studies, and when she had finished her lesson, then she should like very much to hear about her ride.
“You see,” continued Mary Jay, “that it will be better for us not to lose any more time than is necessary, when you go away to ride; for then your father, when he finds it doesn’t make much interruption, will let you go the oftener.” ”

“ Lucy’s cousin Rollo, who was at this time a very small boy, lived at not a great distance, and Royal and Lucy sometimes went over to play with him. So they made the agreement, that Royal was to draw Lucy over to Rollo’s and Lucy was to learn a lesson in arithmetic. But then there immediately arose a difficulty in determining which should take place first, the ride or the lesson: Royal wanted to have the lesson then, and the ride some other time; but Lucy wanted to make sure of the ride, and so postpone the lesson.
“Why, the rule is, Lucy,” said Royal, “always to pay when the work is done. ”

“ Royal wished that Mary Jay would give them the other duckling then, so that they might bring them up together; but he didn’t think that it would be proper for him to ask it, and so he only said that he and Lucy would be very glad indeed to have a pair.
After tea that evening, Lucy’s father and mother, and Mary Jay, sat down to talk about Lucy’s studies.
“I believe,” said Lucy’s father, “that teachers have often very wrong ideas about the proper studies for children. The question is, not what studies are the easiest, but what can be pursued to best advantage. ”

“ He cut the strings into proper lengths, and then put them into the holes; and so we fastened the snow-shoes to our feet.”
“I should not think that you could walk very well with snow-shoes,” said Lucy.
“We can’t walk very well,” replied Dorothy; “but it is better than sinking down deep into the snow. You must understand that we don’t lift the whole snow-shoe off from the ground, when we step.”
“Don’t you?” said Royal.
“No,” said Dorothy. “It is fastened on with the strings, in such a way that the back part of it hangs down, and drags along. ”

“ By this time, his father was ready; and he came and sat down upon the sofa, while Lucy took her place upon one side, and Rollo upon the other.
“I believe,” said Mr. Holiday, “that children very often don’t understand exactly how it is that they interrupt their parents, when they are busy. They think it is noise which constitutes interruption.” ”

“ You cannot well divide without subtracting. But in merely learning the forms of the figures, there is no dependence of one upon the other, and therefore they may be taught in any order which the teacher thinks best.
Therefore, if Royal, who was the teacher, had thought it best to have taught Lucy to make the figure nine, or eight, or the cipher, next to one, because he supposed that those characters would be more easy for Lucy to form, it would not have been at all improper ”

“ When it was finished, there was, of course, a space between the upper part of the box and the roof. Royal said that this was the duck’s garret. “And now,” said he, “for the yard.”
“What! are you going to make a yard?” asked Lucy.
“Yes,” said Royal, “he must have a yard, or else he will run away. But while I am making a yard, Lucy, you must go into the barn, and get a little hay, and make him a nest.”
So Lucy went into the barn, and got some hay, while Royal took his wheelbarrow, and went away to find some boards for the yard. He brought three or four boards, and with these he made a yard. ”

“ Remember that every step she takes in learning the three great arts, of reading, writing, and arithmetic, is a step taken well and thoroughly,—but that whatever ground she goes over in history, geography, or philosophy, or any such study, is gone over in a very superficial manner ”

“ Now, sometimes, in such a case, where a man has a claim which he perceives is, after all, a doubtful one, and the other party is not willing to allow it, he will not insist upon it. We all have just claims, which, considering all the circumstances of the case, we do not wish to insist upon.”
“How?” said Royal.
“Why, suppose, for instance, that I should lend a book to Mary Jay, and, while it was at her house, it should accidentally get injured.”
“But Mary Jay is very careful of books,” said Lucy.
“I have no doubt of that,” replied Miss Anne;123 “but then an accident might happen. ”

“ You don’t know very well what an interruption is. Children do not have such perplexing work to do as men have, and they don’t understand how easily the mind may be disturbed.”
“I did not think that I should interrupt you,” said Rollo, “by only going up to the table and standing still.” ”

“ By doing this, she rendered the sound of the word somewhat familiar, and also accustomed herself to pronounce it.
54 “Now,” said her father, “go out and find Royal, and tell him all I have told you about windows; and also tell him that orthography means spelling. That will help you remember the whole lesson.”
“Is that a lesson?” said Lucy.
“Yes,” said her father, “it is a lesson; and it will be quite a good lesson for you, I hope. It will teach you to observe particularly what you see; and to-morrow morning I will give you the sequel to it.”
“What do you mean by sequel?” said Lucy. ”

“ Royal said it was a very good one indeed. Lucy, finding that Royal, instead of upbraiding or ridiculing her, was pleased and satisfied with her attempts, began to feel gratified herself; and she said that she should like much to make some more ones; and Royal accordingly told her to make a row of them41 quite across the slate near the top. She made them, on the whole, very well, though some of them were crooked.
“It is very hard to make straight letters,” said she.
“Straight figures, you mean,” said Royal.
“Yes,” said Lucy, “straight figures. Crooked figures are much easier to make. ”

“ Then Lucy held her mug under the stream of water which spouted out from the post, until the mug was full. Then she had a good drink. She afterwards held her mug under, and let it fill several times, pouring the water down upon the grass. When the water first struck upon the bottom of the mug, it made a sort of a drumming sound, which was gradually deadened as the bottom became covered with water. Then Lucy would watch the surface of the water as it rose slowly, until at length it would run over in streams, and fall into the cistern below. ”

“ But there is another reason why windows shouldn’t open like doors. Can you think what it is?”
“No,” said Lucy, “I can’t think.”
“If windows opened upon hinges, like doors, they must either open outward into the open air, or inward towards the room. If they were made to open outward, then, when they were wide open, they would swing back against the side of the house, and it would be very inconvenient to reach them to shut them.” ”