Kitabı oku: «The Young and Field Literary Readers, Book 2», sayfa 3

HOLLYHOCK

 
Hollyhock, hollyhock, bend for me;
I need a cheese for my dolly's tea.
I'll put it soon on an acorn plate,
And dolly and I shall feast in state.
 

GERMAN FAIRY TALES

THE LITTLE PINE TREE

Once a little pine tree grew in a valley.

It was covered with needles that were always beautiful and green.

But it did not like the needles.

The little tree said:

"All the other trees in the woods have beautiful leaves, but I have only needles. I do not like needles. I wish I could have leaves. But I should like to be more beautiful than the other trees. I should not like green leaves. I should like gold leaves."

The little tree went to sleep.

A fairy happened to be passing and said to herself:

"This little pine tree would like gold leaves. It shall have them."

Next morning the tree woke up and found that it was covered with leaves of shining gold.

"How beautiful!" said the tree. "No other tree has gold leaves!"

Soon a man came by with a bag.

He saw the gold leaves.

He ran to the little pine tree and began to pull them off and to put them into his bag.

He pulled them all off and carried them away.

The little pine tree was bare.

"O," cried the little tree, "I don't want gold leaves any more, for men will take them away. I want something beautiful that they will not take away. I think I should like glass leaves."

The little tree went to sleep.

The fairy came by again and said:

"This little tree wants glass leaves. It shall have them."

Next morning the tree woke up and found that it was covered with leaves of shining glass.

How they shone in the sun!

"These leaves are much better than gold leaves," said the little tree. "They are very beautiful."

But a wind came down the valley.

It blew and it blew.

It blew the glass leaves together and broke them all to pieces.

The little pine tree was bare again.

"I don't want glass leaves," said the little tree. "I want leaves that will not break. Perhaps green leaves are best, after all, but I want leaves. I don't want needles."

The little tree went to sleep.

The fairy came by again and said:

"This little tree wants green leaves. It shall have them."

Next morning when the tree woke up it was covered with green leaves.

"This is fine!" said the tree. "Now I am like the other trees, but more beautiful."

Soon a goat came down the valley.

"These leaves look good," said the goat.

So he ate them all up.

The little pine tree was bare again.

"I think I don't want leaves after all," said the little pine tree. "Gold leaves are beautiful, but men carry them away. Glass leaves are beautiful, but the wind breaks them. Green leaves are beautiful, but goats eat them. My old green needles were best. I wish I could have them back."

The little pine tree went to sleep.

The fairy came by again, and said:

"This little tree has found out that needles were best for it after all. It shall have them back."

Next morning the tree woke up and had the old green needles again.

Then it was happy.

THE FAITHFUL BEASTS

Once upon a time a man went out to seek his fortune.

As he walked along, he came to a town and saw some boys teasing a mouse.

"Let the poor mouse go. I will pay you if you will let it go," said the man.

He gave the boys a penny.

They let the mouse go, and it ran away.

After this the man went on till he came to another town.

There he saw some boys playing with a monkey.

They had hurt the poor beast so that he cried out with pain.

"Let the monkey go," said the man. "I will pay you to let him go."

So he gave the boys some money.

They let the monkey go, and the monkey ran away.

The man went on, and by and by he came to another town.

There he saw some boys trying to make a bear dance.

They had tied the bear with a rope and were beating him.

"Let the poor bear go," said the man. "I will pay you to let him go."

He gave the boys some money, and they let the poor beast go.

The bear, was glad to be free and walked off as fast as he could.

The man had spent all his money.

He had not a penny left.

He was hungry too, and could get nothing to eat.

Then the king's men took him and put him into a great box.

They shut and fastened the lid, and threw the box into the water.

The man floated about in the water many days and thought he should never see the light again.

At last he heard something gnaw and scratch at the lid.

Then the lid flew open.

The box was on the shore, and there stood the bear, the monkey, and the mouse beside it.

They had helped him because he had helped them.

As they stood there, a round white stone rolled down to the water.

"This has come just in time," said the bear. "It is a magic stone and will take its owner wherever he wishes to go."

The man picked up the stone and wished he were in a castle with gardens around it.

All at once the castle and the gardens were there, and he was in the castle.

It was very beautiful.

Soon some merchants came by.

"See this fine castle," said one to another. "There was never a castle here till now."

The merchants went in and asked the man how he had built the castle so quickly.

"I did not do it," said the man. "My magic stone built it."

"Let us see the stone," said the merchants.

The man showed them the stone.

Then the merchants showed him gold and silver and diamonds and other beautiful things, and said:

"We will give you all these if you will give us the stone."

The things looked very beautiful to the man, so he took them and gave the stone to the merchants.

All at once he found himself again in the dark box on the water.

As soon as the bear, the monkey, and the mouse saw what had happened, they tried to help him.

But the lid was fastened more strongly than before.

They could not open it.

"We must have that stone again," said the bear.

So the three faithful beasts went back to the castle and found the merchants there.

The mouse looked under the door and said:

"The stone is fastened with a red ribbon under the looking-glass, and beside it are two great cats with eyes of fire."

The bear and the monkey said:

"Wait till the men go to sleep. Then run quickly under the door, jump quickly up on the bed, scratch the nose of one of the men, and bite off one of his whiskers."

The mouse did as he was told.

The merchant woke up and rubbed his nose. Then he said:

"Those cats are good for nothing. They let the mice in, and the mice eat up my very whiskers."

So he drove the cats away.

The next night the mouse went in again. The merchants were asleep.

The mouse gnawed at the ribbon till it gave way, and the stone fell.

Then he rolled the stone out under the door.

The monkey took it and carried it down to the water.

"How shall we get out to the box?" asked the monkey.

"I will tell you," said the bear. "Sit on my back and hold fast. Carry the stone in your mouth. The mouse will sit in my right ear, and I will swim out to the box."

They did as the bear said, and were soon out in the water. No one said anything, and it was very still. The bear wanted to talk.

"How are you, Monkey?" he asked.

The monkey said nothing.

"Why don't you talk to me?" asked the bear.

"Silly!" said the monkey. "How do you think I can talk when I have a stone in my mouth?"

As he said this, the stone rolled out into the water.

"Never mind," said the bear. "The frogs will get it for us."

So he asked the frogs to get it, and one of them brought it to him.

"Thank you," said the bear. "That is what we need."

Then the three faithful beasts broke open the great box.

They gave the stone to the man.

He took it and wished himself in the castle again, and wished the three faithful beasts with him.

At once they were in the castle.

The merchants were gone.

So the man and his three faithful beasts lived there ever after.

POEMS BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

WHERE GO THE BOATS?

 
Dark brown is the river,
Golden is the sand;
It flows along for ever,
With trees on either hand.
 
 
Green leaves a-floating,
Castles of the foam,
Boats of mine a-boating —
Where will all come home?
 
 
On goes the river
And out past the mill,
Away down the valley,
Away down the hill.
 
 
Away down the river,
A hundred miles or more,
Other little children
Shall bring my boats ashore.
 

AT THE SEASIDE

 
When I was down beside the sea
A wooden spade they gave to me
To dig the sandy shore.
My holes were empty like a cup;
In every hole the sea came up,
Till it could come no more.
 

RAIN

 
The rain is raining all around;
It falls on field and tree,
It rains on the umbrellas here
And on the ships at sea.
 

AUTUMN FIRES

 
In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!
 
 
Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers;
The red fire blazes,
The gray smoke towers.
 
 
Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!
 

THE WIND

 
I saw you toss the kites on high
And blow the birds about the sky,
And all around I heard you pass
Like ladies' skirts across the grass —
O wind, a-blowing all day long
O wind, that sings so loud a song!
 
 
I saw the different things you did,
But always you yourself you hid;
I felt you push, I heard you call,
I could not see yourself at all —
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!
 

HINDU FABLES

THE TIMID HARES

Once there was a timid little hare who was always afraid something dreadful was going to happen.

She was always saying, "What if the earth should fall in? What would happen to me then?"

One day, after she had been saying this to herself many times, a great coconut fell from a tree.

"What was that!" said the hare.

She jumped as if she had been shot.

"The earth must be falling in!" she cried.

So she ran and she ran as fast as she could run.

Soon she met another hare.

"O Brother Hare," she said, "run for your life! The earth is falling in!"

"What is that you say!" cried the other hare. "Then I will run, too."

This hare told another hare, and the other hare told other hares, and soon all the hares were running as fast as they could run, and crying:

"The earth is falling in! O, the earth is falling in!"

The big beasts heard them, and they too began to run and to cry:

"O, the earth is falling in! Run for your life!"

A wise old lion saw them running and heard them crying.

"I cannot see that the earth is falling in," he said.

Then he cried out to the poor frightened beasts to stop.

"What are you saying?" he asked.

"We said the earth is falling in," answered the elephants.

"What makes you think so?" asked the lion.

"The tigers told us," said the elephants.

"What makes the tigers think so?"

"The bears told us," said the tigers.

"What makes the bears think so?"

"The buffaloes told us," said the bears.

"Why do the buffaloes think so?"

"The deer told us," said the buffaloes.

"Why do the deer think so?"

"The monkeys told us so," said the deer.

"And how did the monkeys know?"

"The jackals said so," said the monkeys.

"And how did the jackals know?"

"The hares said it was so," said the jackals.

"And how did the hares know?"

One of the hares then said that another hare told him, and the other hare said that another told him, and so it went on until at last they came to the first little hare.

"Little hare," said the lion, "why did you say that the earth was falling in?"

"I saw it," said the little hare.

"Where?" asked the lion.

"I saw it there, under that big coconut tree," said the little hare.

"Come and show me," said the lion.

"O, no, no!" said the little hare. "I am so frightened. I couldn't go."

"Jump on my back," said the lion.

The little hare at last jumped up on the lion's back, and the lion took her back to the big tree.

Just then another coconut fell with a great noise among the leaves.

"O, run, run!" cried the timid hare. "There is that dreadful thing again!"

"Stop and look," said the lion.

As the hare could not get down from the lion's back, she had to stop and look.

"Now what do you think it is?" asked the lion.

"I think it must be a coconut," said the little hare.

"Then I think you had better go and tell the other beasts," said the lion.

So the little hare told the other beasts that the earth was not falling in, after all. It was a coconut that was falling.