Loïs Bates

“ One summer evening, as Lulu walked home from town, she overtook a woman coming from market, and carrying a heavy basket as well as a bundle which was tied up in a blue checked handkerchief.
The poor woman stopped to rest just as Lulu came up to her. "Let me carry your bundle," said Lulu. And before the woman could answer she had picked it up and was trudging along.
"Perhaps your mother would not be pleased to see you carrying my bundle?" sighed the woman. "Some people think it is vulgar to be seen carrying parcels."
"It is never vulgar to be kind," answered Lulu. ”

“ One day a boy was chasing a butterfly, cap in hand, and just as he had caught it, a bee stung him. He was so angry that he threw the butterfly down and trampled on it. Was not that cruel? The butterfly had done him no harm, and the greatest skill in the world could not paint anything so delicate and beautiful as a butterfly's wing; and yet he destroyed that beauty. Sometimes children will hunt spiders out of the crevices in the wall and torture them, and others will torment the little fly, or steal the bird's pretty eggs that the mother sits on with such care. ”

“ One afternoon auntie had taken Dorothy with her to call at the house of a friend, and when the lady spoke kindly to the little girl, and asked her name and where she lived, Dorothy only smiled and looked foolish, and did not speak or answer. Her auntie was very much surprised, and perhaps felt a wee bit ashamed of her little niece that afternoon.
Children should never be bold and forward, but they should look up and answer a question fearlessly and clearly when they are asked one; it is so foolish to simper and not speak. ”

“ As time went on the little girl grew up, and became a great queen. She has been a queen now for more than sixty years, and I do not think there ever was so good a queen, and we are sure there never was one so dearly loved. The queen has a beautiful gold crown, and beautiful castles and palaces to live in, but these are not the things she values most. Best of all, she has all those lovely jewels in her character that we have been speaking about, with "Truth" for the foundation, and it is all woven round with the pure gold of "Kindness" ”

“ A big boy who was passing by at the time, and had seen the accident, came across the road and said to her: "Don't cry, little girl, just run home and tell your mother that the sheep-dog bounced up against you and knocked the jug out of your hand; then you will not be punished". [13]
Lucy dried her eyes quickly, and gazed at the boy in astonishment. "Tell my mother a lie!" said she; "no, I would rather be punished a dozen times than do so. I shall tell her the truth," and she walked away home. Lucy was careless, but she was not untruthful; surely the boy must have felt ashamed! ”

“ Selfishness will spoil the other stones if you let it come into your Temple, and as to the gold—the lovely gold of "Kindness" that the little "Gold-wings" brought—Selfishness will eat it all away in time. ”

“ So they began to spin, and when Minerva saw that Arachne was beating her at the spinning, she struck her on the head with a spindle, and turned poor Arachne into a spider. It is a pity when people are so anxious to win that it makes them selfish.
Selfishness is an ugly stone to have in your Temple, dear children. Just as Thoughtfulness is one of the most beautiful stones, so Selfishness is one of the ugliest. Try not to let it come into your lives at all. No one likes a selfish child, but everybody loves the child who forgets self and thinks of others.
(Blackboard.) ”

“ Next morning the two fairy sisters came to the Kindergarten, and floated about unseen, as fairies always do. First they rested on the teacher, who was very fond of these unseen fairies, and she began to think of Davie. "Children," said she, "Christmas will be here in a month; shall we make a present for little Davie?"
(Do you know, I believe that doing kind things is like going to parties; when you have been to one party, you like it so much that you are glad to go to another, and when you have done one kind thing, it makes you so happy you want to do another.) ”

“ A great many years ago, a little girl played in a garden in London. Her father was dead, but she had a dear, good mother, who taught her to build for herself a good and beautiful character, for the mother knew that this would be a better thing for the little girl to have than gold or diamonds, because as the Fairy Queen told us, it lasts for ever. ”

“ As Lulu came out of the schoolroom one day to take a message for the teacher, and turned to close the door after her, she saw (oh, lovely sight!) that the window-sill was piled up with bundles of the pretty coloured wool that she liked so much. Oh! how she wished for a little of it! And, see, there is some rose-pink wool on the top, cut into lengths ready for the girls to sew with! It is too much for poor little Lulu; she draws out one! two! three lengths of the wool, folds it up hastily, puts it in her pocket, and runs down the stair on the errand she has been sent. ”

“ Edgar was riding in the train with his mother one day. He sat next the window, as children like to do, so that he could see all that was going on. How the train speeds along! now passing through a tunnel, then out again into the sunshine; next it goes over a long row of arches built [81] across a valley, and called a viaduct. "How high up we seem to be," said Edgar; "see, mother, the river is down there ever so far below!" Now they are passing through fields again, and there, looking over the hedge, is a beautiful young horse. ”

“ Have you ever seen a girl walking along the street with her head turned backwards, trying to look behind her as she goes? Of course she does not walk straight, for she is not looking where she is going. ”

“ Why do we love her so much? Not because she is a queen, simply, for queens have sometimes been wicked, but because she is good, and true, and kind, and these jewels make up the something that we call "character," which when built like this is more beautiful than the Fairies' Temple. [143]
And just think of it: every little boy and girl may build up a good, true character, which is the most precious thing you can have.
The Story Lessons in this book have been written to help each one of you who hear them to build up this beautiful Temple of Character. ”

“ I saw a little girl in the fields, also, walking along the hedges looking for blackberries, and in trying to reach a branch of the ripe fruit that grew on the farther side of a ditch, the poor child overbalanced herself and fell in, uttering a loud scream. ”

“ Now one day a gentleman came to the school, and told the teacher that he was going to take all the children in a boat down the river to have a picnic by the seaside. Could anything be more delightful? The scholars clapped their hands for gladness, and talked and thought of nothing but the picnic. It was to be on the very next day, and they were to start from the school at nine o'clock in the morning.
"Lewis," said the teacher, "remember to be in time, for the boat will not wait!" ”

“ Harold had lots of toys to play with, but he would not touch any of them; he just stood with his face against the window-pane, discontented and unhappy.
After a time he saw an old man with a stick coming up the street, and a little dog was walking beside him. As they drew nearer, Harold saw that the old man held the dog by a string, and that it was leading him, for he was blind. The discontented little boy began to wonder what it must be like to be blind, and he shut his eyes very tight [50] to try it. How dark it was! he could see nothing. How dreadful to be always in darkness! ”

“ At last the lovely building was finished, and after the fairies had danced joyfully round it in a ring again and again, until they could dance no longer, they gathered in a group round the dear Queen, and thanked her for having made so beautiful a Temple.
"It is quite the loveliest thing in the world, I am sure," said Rosy-wings.
"Not quite," replied the Queen, "mortals have it in their power to make a lovelier Temple than ours."
"Who are 'mortals'?" asked Shiny-wings.
"Boys and girls are mortals," said the Queen, "and grown-up people also." ”

“ So Daniel sat at the door each day, and waited for the carriage, but it never came, and when he grew too ill to sit up he would still lie and listen for the sound of the wheels, and say: "I think it will come to-day, mother," but it never did. And do you know why? Emil had [75] forgotten to ask his father, and so Daniel waited in vain for the drive.
You see how much pain and disappointment can be caused by forgetting, and when you promise to do a thing and forget to keep the promise it is just like telling an untruth. ”

“ The clumsy people tread on our toes, step on a lady's dress and tear it maybe, or bump against baby's cot in passing and wake the little sleeper.
Do you think we could find out the secret of being clumsy? Is not it for want of taking care? You remember Elinor, in Story Lesson 79, how she upset her tea, broke the vase, and spoilt the tablecloth, all for want of care? It is the same with clumsy people—they forget to take care? ”

“ Now you will see why it is so wicked to destroy beautiful things. When a boy carves his name on a tree, or breaks [101] off its graceful branches, he destroys that which is good, instead of loving it; and how can he grow up gentle and true if he does not love beauty and goodness? ”

“ Surely they will leave that! Alec never knew until now how much he loved his toys; but here they are again, and, yes! they are actually bringing out the tricycle. One sits on the saddle, one on each pedal, and all the rest on the handle-bar. Now the pedals go round, and, strange to say, the funny little men do not fall off. The tricycle seems to go of itself, as the horse did.
And now, oh dear! everything is gone, and Alec thinks he is worse off than the little girl who was carried away by the fairies.
Morning comes! Alec wakes and rubs his eyes; what has happened? Oh! the toys! ”

“ If the character is true and good, it will not be difficult to be polite and nice in manner, for manners are the outside part of us (just as the hands and face are the outside parts of the watch) . The kind, good thoughts within—in our hearts—will teach us how to behave. ”

“ One evening some children were playing about on the hearthrug, when one of them, a little girl named Jessie, jumped up quite suddenly, and, with a blushing face, ran out of the room. The governess followed to see what was the matter, and Jessie told her in a whisper that she was so ashamed, because in romping about her dress had gone above her knees.
Some people might say that Jessie was too modest, but I do not think so; a nice little girl will always like to keep her knees covered. ”

“ Sydney was a little boy who did not like to be washed. He disliked it as much as the little dog in Story Lesson No. 4. When the time came for his bath he screamed and kicked and made such a fuss that at last his mother said he should remain dirty for a while, and see what would happen. So Sydney had no bath when he went to bed at night, neither was he washed in the morning. Of course no one wanted to kiss him, or play with him, for he was not sweet and clean; he had to play all by himself in the garden.
Presently a carriage drove up and stopped at the garden gate ”

“ Sometimes pain is necessary, as in Story Lesson 29; we should never think of saying the dentist was cruel; rather we should say he was kind, because he saved the monkey from further pain. But when we cause pain that is needless, as these boys did, it is cruel. They were cowardly also. If the bird had been an eagle, with strong claws that could have hurt them in return, would they have stoned it? No; they chose a poor little sparrow that could not defend itself, and this was cowardly.
Then it was unfair. You do not like to be punished or found fault with if you have done nothing wrong ”

“ Why does the little violet hide away? Because she is modest, which means that she does not like to boast, or [55] make a display of her pretty petals and sweet perfume. Modest people do not like to talk of kind, noble or clever things they may have done; they prefer to hide their good deeds, and in this they are like the violet. ”

“ The faults of young children are almost invariably due either to thoughtlessness or want of knowledge, and the little ones are delighted to learn and put into practice the lessons taught in these stories, which teaching should be applied in the class or home as occasion arises. E.g., a child is passing in front of another without any apology, the teacher says, immediately: "Remember Minnie, you do not wish to be rude, like she was" (Story Lesson 111) . Or if a child omits to say "Thank you," he may be reminded by asking: "Have you forgotten 'Alec and the Fairies'?" ”

“ There is nothing that makes people so rude as thinking of self and forgetting the comfort of others; some call it "Thoughtlessness," but we fear the true name is "Selfishness". If we are unselfish and thoughtful for others, we shall not be likely to do anything that hurts people, and so we shall not be likely to be rude.
In the Story Lessons on "Manners" which follow, just see if you can find out what it is that causes each rude [105] action. ”

“ It is such a pity when people grow up and walk about without seeing anything. There is always something to see in the sky. Sometimes it is all a lovely blue, with white, fleecy clouds floating across it, or piled up in curly masses ”

“ How Leonard Saved his Little Brother.
Have you ever known a little girl who cried whenever her face was washed? or a little boy who screamed each time he had a tumble, although he might not be hurt in the least? You would not call those brave children, would you? We say that people are brave when they are not afraid to face danger, like the men who go out in the life-boat when the sea is rough to try and save a crew from shipwreck; or the brave firemen who rescue the inmates of a burning house. Perhaps you think it is only grown-up people who can be brave, but that is not so ”