Kitabı oku: «The Nursery, December 1873, Vol. XIV. No. 6», sayfa 5
GRANDMOTHER'S BIRTHDAY
Grandma's birthday is to-day!
This we all have come to say,
Lest she should forget the time,
Wondering at this joyful rhyme.
Welcome, welcome, happy day!
Love shed brightness on her way!
And for her may many more
Just such birthdays be in store!
We have come with fruits and flowers,
Tokens of this love of ours;
But our love shall flourish bright
When these flowers are faded quite.
Take them, grandma, and be sure
We are rich, though we are poor,—
Rich in love, though poor in gold:
So to greet you we make bold.
Blessings be around your way!
Love surround you every day!
Pleasant thoughts be with you still,
Gently going down the hill!
And may your example bright
Keep us always in the right!
So, "Hurrah, hurrah!" we say:
"Grandma's birthday is to-day!"
Dora Burnside.
THE BALLOON
A balloon was going up from Boston Common, and two children were out upon a hill in the country watching for it. "There it is!" said Willy, as he pointed to a black speck right over the State House.
The speck seemed to grow larger every moment. "The balloon is coming this way," said Willy. "I can see a man in it waving a flag." By and by it seemed to be coming down on a hill close by where the children stood. They ran to meet it, shouting as they went; but it was a great deal farther off than they thought it was.
A good many other people were looking at the balloon at the same time; and it came down in a pasture where some children were picking berries. When it got almost down, the man looked out and said, "Have you any blueberries for sale?"
The children held out their baskets, and said, "Yes, plenty of them."—"Well, then," said the man, "I think this is a good place to stop at."
W. O. C.
WHAT THE CAT SAID TO THE MONKEY
You cowardly monkey, come out if you dare!
I'll teach you my dear little kittens to scare.
Because I had gone a few moments away,
You thought that to plague them was good monkey play.
But when I came back, just in season, I saw
What was up, and I gave you a pat with my paw:
It didn't set well, might I judge from your face.
What ails your poor arm? and why that grimace?
Now, here hangs my paw; and, if you're inclined
To try it again, 'twill be ready, you'll find.
And mark, Mr. Monkey, if up to your fun,
I'll show, to your sorrow, I have more than one.
So Velvetpaw, Whitefoot, and Darkey, don't fear!
No monkey shall harm you while mother is near.
The rascal who plagued you has found I am rough:
Of my paw and my claw he has had quite enough.
THE STARLING AND THE SPARROWS
The starling is a trim little bird, measuring from seven to eight inches in length. He goes dressed in black, and his coat glistens like satin in the sunlight. In autumn, however, after moulting, he looks as if bedecked with white pearls.
This is his travelling-suit, and in it he prepares to take his flight southward to a warmer region. He is a European bird; and so he goes from Germany as far south as Spain, Italy, and Greece. Now and then he ventures as far as Africa.
But, as soon as spring begins to appear, the starling is sure to come back northward to his old haunts. He comes with merry songs and chatterings, and seems determined that no one shall be sad while he is about.
Flying to the topmost bough of some tree in the neighborhood of his old home, he proclaims to all the world that the Good Fellow (as the Germans call him) has come back, and that all the people may be glad accordingly.
After this, his first business will be to see how it stands with his summer lodgings; for he wants to be spared the trouble of finding a new mansion if he can help it. Somewhere about, there is, perhaps, a starling's tub or bucket, that some friends of his have placed on a tree for his accommodation, in their garden or yard, after making a hole or door by which he may enter.
But, dear me! what is his indignation, when he finds that a family of saucy sparrows, going upon the old maxim of "might makes right," have taken up their abode in his house, without so much as saying, "By your leave"!
"Quit this!" cries the starling in tones that cannot be mistaken.
"Go away, you black rogue!" cries the sparrow. "I shall not quit this nice house for you."
But the starling has a sharp bill, and he hits the poor sparrow with it. Sparrow calls him all the hard names he can think of, and summons the whole sparrow community to his assistance against the mean fellow who has come to deprive him of his home.
The cries grow louder and wilder. Such an uproar of sparrows as there is before the door! At last comes Madam Starling flying to the rescue; and then the battle is quickly decided. The sparrows are driven off, and the starlings remain in full possession.
Madam Starling looks about with her clear, bright little eyes, and sees that the troublesome sparrows have all gone away; and her faithful mate lights on the topmost bough of a tree near by, and pours forth a song of rejoicing and of triumph.
