Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History BookOpen Original Text " said the bee, and he lighted on the ear of the goat.
"Now here is someone that means business," said the goat, and he shook
his head to shake off the bee, but the bee only clung the tighter.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz!" he said. Then he stung the first goat in the ear.
"Now," said the first goat, "this is a serious matter. Ouch!" he added,
as the bee stung him again. "Come on, you," he called to the others, "it
is time to get out of here!" With that he led them straight to the hole
in the fence, and they ran through it, all three of them, and out into
the road where the little boy sat with the dog and the fox.
"Oh," said the dog, "the bee can do something that I cannot, even if he
is so small."
"Yes," said the fox, "the bee didn't make much noise, but the noise that
he did make counted more than all of our barking."
[Illustration: LITTLE BUNNIE BROWN IS AT THE HEAD OF HIS CLASS]
TEENY TINY[L]
There was once upon a time a teeny-tiny woman who lived in a teeny-tiny
house in a teeny-tiny village. Now, one day this teeny-tiny woman put on
her teeny-tiny bonnet and went out of her teeny-tiny house to take a
teeny-tiny walk. And when this teeny-tiny woman had gone a teeny-tiny
way, she came to a teeny-tiny gate; so the teeny-tiny woman opened the
teeny-tiny gate, and went into a teeny-tiny meadow. And when this
teeny-tiny woman had got into the teeny-tiny meadow, she saw a
teeny-tiny bone on a teeny-tiny stone, and the teeny-tiny woman said to
her teeny-tiny self: "This teeny-tiny bone will make me some teeny-tiny
soup for my teeny-tiny supper." So the teeny-tiny woman put the
teeny-tiny bone into her teeny-tiny pocket, and went home to her
teeny-tiny house.
Now, when the teeny-tiny woman got home to her teeny-tiny house, she was
a teeny-tiny bit tired; so she went up her teeny-tiny stairs to her
teeny-tiny bed, and put the teeny-tiny bone into a teeny-tiny cupboard.
And when this teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep a teeny-tiny time, she
was awakened by a teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard, which
said:
"GIVE ME MY BONE!"
And this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny bit frightened, so she hid
her teeny-tiny head under the teeny-tiny clothes, and went to sleep
again. And when she had been asleep again a teeny-tiny time, the
teeny-tiny voice again cried out from the teeny-tiny cupboard a
teeny-tiny louder:
"GIVE ME MY BONE!"
This made the teeny-tiny woman a teeny-tiny more frightened, so she hid
her teeny-tiny head a teeny-tiny further under the teeny-tiny clothes.
And when the teeny-tiny woman had been asleep again a teeny-tiny time,
the teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard said again a
teeny-tiny louder:
"GIVE ME MY BONE!"
At this the teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny bit more frightened; but
she put her teeny-tiny head out of the teeny-tiny clothes, and said in
her loudest teeny-tiny voice:
"TAKE IT!"
[L] From "English Fairy Tales," collected by Joseph Jacobs; used by
permission of the publishers, G. P. Putnam's Sons.
SONG OF THE PEAR TREE
Out in the green, green orchard
Standeth a fine pear tree;
The fine pear tree has leaves, too.
What on the tree may be?
Why, there's a beautiful branch,
Branch on the tree,
Tree in the ground.
Out in the green, green orchard
Standeth a fine pear tree,
The fine pear tree has leaves, too,
And what on its branch may be?
A beautiful twig.
Twig on the branch,
Branch on the tree,
Tree in the ground.
Out in the green, green orchard
Standeth a fine pear tree,
The fine pear tree has leaves, too.
Now what on the twig may be?
A beautiful nest.
Nest on the twig,
Twig on the branch,
Branch on the tree,
Tree in the ground.
Out in the green, green orchard
Standeth a fine pear tree;
The fine pear tree has leaves, too.
Now, what in the nest may be?
A beautiful egg.
Egg in the nest,
Nest on the twig,
Twig on the branch,
Branch on the tree,
Tree in the ground.
Out in the green, green orchard
Standeth a fine pear tree,
The fine pear tree has leaves, too.
Now, what from the egg shall we see?
A beautiful bird.
Bird from the egg,
Egg in the nest,
Nest on the twig,
Twig on the branch,
Branch on the tree,
Tree in the ground.
Out in the green, green orchard
Standeth a fine pear tree;
The fine pear tree has leaves, too.
Now, what on the bird may be?
A beautiful feather.
Feather on the bird,
Bird from the egg,
Egg in the nest,
Nest on the twig,
Twig on the branch,
Branch on the tree,
Tree in the ground.
Out in the green, green meadow
Standeth a fine pear tree;
The fine pear tree hath leaves, too.
Now, what from the feather will be?
A beautiful bed.
Bed from the feather,
Feather from the bird,
Bird from the egg,
Egg in the nest,
Nest on the twig,
Twig on the branch,
Branch on the tree,
Tree in the ground.
Out in the green, green meadow
Standeth a fine pear tree;
The fine pear tree hath leaves, too.
Now, what in that bed may be?
A beautiful child.
Child in the bed,
Bed from the feather,
Feather from the bird,
Bird from the egg,
Egg from the nest,
Nest on the twig,
Twig on the branch,
Branch on the tree,
Tree in the ground.
Out in the green, green meadow
Standeth a fine pear tree,
The fine pear tree hath leaves, too,
And on it these things all be.
COCK-ALU AND HEN-ALIE
BY MARY HOWITT
In this tale is shown to you
How large the boast of Cock-alu;
But, when he comes to act, you'll see
Small hope indeed for Hen-alie;
And thus you clearly will perceive
That who has great things to achieve
Must not stand talking but must do,
Else he will fail like Cock-alu.
For he who would perform the most
Will utter no vainglorious boast;
But still press onward, staunch and true,
With but the honest end in view.
Cock-alu and Hen-alie sat on the perch above the bean-straw. It was four
o'clock in the morning, and Cock-alu clapped his wings and crowed; then,
turning to Hen-alie, he said: "Hen-alie, my little wife, I love you
better than all the world, you know I do. I always told you so! I will
do anything for you; I'll go round the world for you, I'll travel as far
as the sun for you! You know I would! Tell me, what shall I do for you?"
"Crow!" said Hen-alie.
"Oh, that is such a little thing!" said Cock-alu, and crowed with all
his might. He crowed so loud that he woke the farmer's wife, and the dog
and the cat, and all the pigeons and horses in the stable, and the cow
in the stall. He crowed so loud that all the neighbors' cocks heard him
and answered him, and they woke all their people; and thus Cock-alu woke
the whole parish.
"I've done it rarely this morning!" said Cock-alu; "I told you I would
do anything to please you!"
The next morning, at breakfast, as Hen-alie was picking beans out of the
bean-straw, one stuck in her throat; and she was soon so ill that she
was just ready to die.
"Oh, Cock-alu," said she, calling to him in the yard, where he stood
clapping his wings in the sunshine, "run and fetch me a drop of water
from the silver- Previous Next |