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diff --git a/34200.txt b/34200.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7063bea --- /dev/null +++ b/34200.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5701 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Story Lessons of Character Building +(Morals) and Manners, by Lois Bates + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Story Lessons of Character Building (Morals) and Manners + +Author: Lois Bates + +Release Date: November 3, 2010 [EBook #34200] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORY LESSONS OF CHARACTER BUILDING *** + + + + +Produced by Emmy, Darleen Dove and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Note: Boldface type is indicated by =equal signs=; italics +are indicated by _underscores_. + + +STORY LESSONS + +ON + +CHARACTER-BUILDING (MORALS) + +AND + +MANNERS. + + + + +STORY LESSONS ON CHARACTER-BUILDING (MORALS) AND MANNERS + +BY LOIS BATES + + AUTHOR OF "KINDERGARTEN GUIDE," "NEW RECITATIONS FOR INFANTS," + "GAMES WITHOUT MUSIC," ETC. + + LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. + 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON + NEW YORK AND BOMBAY + 1900 + + + + +PREFACE. + + +ALTHOUGH it is admitted by all teachers, in theory at least, that morals +and manners are essential subjects in the curriculum of life, how very +few give them an appointed place in the school routine. Every other +subject has its special time allotted, but these--the most important +subjects--are left to chance, or taken up, haphazard, at any time; +surely this is wrong. + +Incidents often occur in the school or home life which afford fitting +opportunity for the inculcation of some special moral truth, but maybe +the teacher or mother has no suitable illustration just at hand, and the +occasion is passed over with a reproof. It is hoped that where such want +is felt this little book may supply the need. + +The stories may be either told or read to the children, and are as +suitable for the home as the school. "The Fairy Temple" should be read +as an introduction to the Story Lessons, for the _teaching_ of the +latter is based on this introductory fairy tale. If used at home the +blackboard sketch may be written on a slate or slip of paper. The +children will not weary if the stories are repeated again and again +(this at least was the writer's experience), and they will be eager to +pronounce what is the teaching of the tale. In this way the lessons are +reiterated and enforced. The method is one which the writer found +exceedingly effective during long years of experience. Picture-teaching +is an ideal way of conveying truths to children, and these little +stories are intended to be pictures in which the children may see and +contrast the good with the bad, and learn to love the good. 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'?" (Story +Lesson 95). The story lessons should be read to the children until they +become perfectly familiar with them, so that each may be applied in the +manner indicated. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + 1.--MORALS. + + CHAPTER PAGE + I. INTRODUCTORY STORY-- + 1. The Fairy Temple 1 + + II. OBEDIENCE-- + 2. The Two Voices 4 + 3. (Why we Should Obey.) The Pilot 6 + 4. (Why we Should Obey.) The Dog that did not + like to be Washed 7 + 5. (Ready Obedience.) Robert and the Marbles 9 + 6. (Unready, Sulky Obedience.) Jimmy and the + Overcoat 9 + + III. LOYALTY-- + 7. Rowland and the Apple Tart 10 + + IV. TRUTHFULNESS-- + 8. (Direct Untruth.) Lucy and the Jug of Milk 12 + 9. (Untruth, by not Speaking.) Mabel and Fritz 13 + 10. (Untruth, by not Telling _All_.) A Game of + Cricket 14 + 11. (Untruth, by "Stretching"--Exaggeration.) + The Three Feathers 16 + + V. HONESTY-- + 12. Lulu and the Pretty Coloured Wool 17 + 13. (Taking Little Things.) Carl and the Lump + of Sugar 19 + 14. (Taking Little Things.) Lilie and the Scent 19 + 15. Copying 20 + 16. On Finding Things 22 + + VI. KINDNESS-- + 17. Squeaking Wheels 23 + 18. Birds and Trees 24 + 19. Flowers and Bees 25 + 20. Lulu and the Bundle 26 + VII. THOUGHTFULNESS-- + 21. Baby Elsie and the Stool 27 + 22. The Thoughtful Soldier 28 + + VIII. HELP ONE ANOTHER-- + 23. The Cat and the Parrot 29 + 24. The Two Monkeys 30 + 25. The Wounded Bird 31 + + IX. ON BEING BRAVE-- + 26. (Brave in Danger.) How Leonard Saved his + Little Brother 32 + 27. (Brave in Little Things.) The Twins 33 + 28. (Brave in Suffering.) The Broken Arm 34 + 29. (Brave in Suffering.) The Brave Monkey 35 + + X. TRY, TRY AGAIN-- + 30. The Sparrow that would not be Beaten 35 + 31. The Railway Train 36 + 32. The Man who Found America 37 + + XI. PATIENCE-- + 33. Walter and the Spoilt Page 38 + 34. The Drawings Eaten by the Rats 39 + + XII. ON GIVING IN-- + 35. Playing at Shop 40 + 36. The Two Goats 41 + + XIII. ON BEING GENEROUS-- + 37. Lilie and the Beggar Girl 41 + 38. Bertie and the Porridge 42 + + XIV. FORGIVENESS-- + 39. The Two Dogs 43 + + XV. GOOD FOR EVIL-- + 40. The Blotted Copy-book 43 + + XVI. GENTLENESS-- + 41. The Horse and the Child 45 + 42. The Overturned Fruit Stall 46 + + XVII. ON BEING GRATEFUL-- + 43. Rose and her Birthday Present 47 + 44. The Boy who _was_ Grateful 47 + + XVIII. SELF-HELP-- + 45. The Crow and the Pitcher 48 + + XIX. CONTENT-- + 46. Harold and the Blind Man 49 + + XX. TIDINESS-- + 47. The Slovenly Boy 50 + 48. Pussy and the Knitting 51 + 49. The Packing of the Trunks 53 + + XXI. MODESTY-- + 50. The Violet 54 + 51. Modesty in Dress 55 + + XXII. ON GIVING PLEASURE TO OTHERS-- + 52. "Selfless" and "Thoughtful". A Fairy Tale 56 + 53. The Bunch of Roses 56 + 54. Edwin and the Birthday Party 57 + 55. Davie's Christmas Present 59 + + XXIII. CLEANLINESS-- + 56. Why we Should be Clean 61 + 57. Little Creatures who like to be Clean 62 + 58. The Boy who did not like to be Washed 63 + 59. The Nails and the Teeth 64 + + XXIV. PURE LANGUAGE-- + 60. Toads and Diamonds. A Fairy Tale 66 + + XXV. PUNCTUALITY-- + 61. Lewis and the School Picnic 67 + + XXVI. ALL WORK HONOURABLE-- + 62. The Chimney-sweep 69 + + XXVII. BAD COMPANIONS-- + 63. Playing with Pitch 70 + 64. Stealing Strawberries 71 + + XXVIII. ON FORGETTING-- + 65. Maggie's Birthday Present 73 + 66. The Promised Drive 74 + 67. The Boy who Remembered 75 + + XXIX. KINDNESS TO ANIMALS-- + 68. Lulu and the Sparrow 76 + 69. Why we Should be Kind to Animals 77 + 70. The Butterfly 78 + 71. The Kind-hearted Dog 78 + + XXX. BAD TEMPER-- + 72. How Paul was Cured 79 + 73. The Young Horse 80 + + XXXI. SELFISHNESS-- + 74. The Child on the Coach 82 + 75. Edna and the Cherries 82 + 76. The Boy who liked always to Win 83 + 77. The two Boxes of Chocolate 84 + 78. Eva 85 + + XXXII. CARELESSNESS-- + 79. The Misfortunes of Elinor 86 + + XXXIII. ON BEING OBSTINATE-- + 80. How Daisy's Holiday was Spoilt 87 + + XXXIV. GREEDINESS-- + 81. Stephen and the Buns 89 + + XXXV. BOASTING-- + 82. The Stag and his Horns 90 + + XXXVI. WASTEFULNESS-- + 83. The Little Girl who was Lost 91 + + XXXVII. LAZINESS-- + 84. The Sluggard 91 + + XXXVIII. ON BEING ASHAMED-- + 85. The Elephant that Stole the Cakes 92 + + XXXIX. EARS AND NO EARS-- + 86. Heedless Albert 94 + 87. Olive and Gertie 95 + + XL. EYES AND NO EYES-- + 88. The Two Brothers 97 + 89. Ruby and the Wall 98 + + XLI. LOVE OF THE BEAUTIFUL-- + 90. The Daisy 99 + + XLII. ON DESTROYING THINGS-- + 91. Beauty and Goodness 100 + + XLIII. ON TURNING BACK WHEN WRONG-- + 92. The Lost Path 101 + + XLIV. ONE BAD "STONE" MAY SPOIL THE "TEMPLE"-- + 93. Intemperance 103 + + + 2.--MANNERS. + + XLV. PRELIMINARY STORY LESSON-- + 94. The Watch and its Springs 104 + + XLVI. ON SAYING "PLEASE" AND "THANK YOU"-- + 95. Fairy Tale of Alec and his Toys 105 + + XLVII. ON BEING RESPECTFUL-- + 96. Story Lesson 108 + + XLVIII. PUTTING FEET UP-- + 97. Alice and the Pink Frock 109 + + XLIX. BANGING DOORS-- + 98. How Maurice came Home from School 110 + 99. Lulu and the Glass Door 111 + + L. PUSHING IN FRONT OF PEOPLE-- + 100. The Big Boy and the Little Lady 112 + + LI. KEEPING TO THE RIGHT-- + 101. Story Lesson 113 + + LII. CLUMSY PEOPLE-- + 102. Story Lesson 114 + + LIII. TURNING ROUND WHEN WALKING-- + 103. The Girl and her Eggs 115 + + LIV. ON STARING-- + 104. Ruth and the Window 116 + + LV. WALKING SOFTLY-- + 105. Florence Nightingale 117 + + LVI. ANSWERING WHEN SPOKEN TO-- + 106. The Civil Boy 118 + + LVII. ON SPEAKING LOUDLY-- + 107. The Woman who Shouted 119 + + LVIII. ON SPEAKING WHEN OTHERS ARE SPEAKING-- + 108. Margery and the Picnic 120 + + LIX. LOOK AT PEOPLE WHEN SPEAKING TO THEM-- + 109. Fred and his Master 122 + + LX. ON TALKING TOO MUCH-- + 110. Story Lesson 122 + + LXI. GOING IN FRONT OF PEOPLE-- + 111. Minnie and the Book 124 + 112. The Man and his Luggage 124 + + LXII. WHEN TO SAY "I BEG YOUR PARDON"-- + 113. Story Lesson 125 + 114. The Lady and the Poor Boy 126 + + LXIII. RAISING CAP-- + 115. Story Lesson 126 + + LXIV. ON OFFERING SEAT TO LADY-- + 116. Story Lesson 127 + + LXV. ON SHAKING HANDS-- + 117. Reggie and the Visitors 129 + + LXVI. KNOCKING BEFORE ENTERING A ROOM-- + 118. The Boy who Forgot 130 + + LXVII. HANGING HATS UP, ETC.-- + 119. Careless Percy 130 + + LXVIII. HOW TO OFFER SWEETS, ETC.-- + 120. How Baby did it 132 + + LXIX. YAWNING, COUGHING AND SNEEZING-- + 121. Story Lesson 132 + + LXX. HOW A SLATE SHOULD NOT BE CLEANED-- + 122. Story Lesson 133 + + LXXI. THE POCKET-HANDKERCHIEF-- + 123. Story Lesson 135 + + LXXII. HOW TO BEHAVE AT TABLE-- + 124. (On Sitting Still at Table.) Phil's Disaster 136 + 125. (On Sitting Still at Table.) Fidgety Katie 136 + 126. (Thinking of Others at Table.) The Helpful + Little Girl 137 + 127. (Upsetting Things at Table.) Leslie and the + Christmas Dinner 138 + 128. Cherry Stones 138 + + LXXIII. ON EATING AND DRINKING-- + 129. Rhymes 140 + 130. Rhymes 141 + + LXXIV. FINALE-- + 131. How another Queen Builded 142 + + + + +LIST OF SUBJECTS ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED. + + +1.--MORAL SUBJECTS. + + PAGE + All Work Honourable 69 + Ashamed, On being 92 + Bad Companions 70 + Boasting 90 + Brave, On being 32 + Carelessness 86 + Cleanliness 61 + Content 49 + Copying 20 + Destroying Things, On 100 + Ears and no Ears 94 + Exaggeration 16 + Eyes and no Eyes 97 + Fairy Temple 1 + Finding Things 22 + Forgetting 73 + Forgiveness 43 + Generous, On being 41 + Gentleness 45 + Giving In, On 40 + Giving Pleasure to Others, On 56 + Good for Evil 43 + Grateful, On being 47 + Greediness 89 + Help one Another 29 + Honesty 17 + How another Queen Builded 142 + Intemperance 103 + Introductory Story 1 + Kindness 23 + Kindness to Animals 76 + Laziness 91 + Love of the Beautiful 99 + Loyalty 10 + Modesty 54 + Nails, The 64 + Obedience 4 + Obstinate, On being 87 + Patience 38 + Punctuality 67 + Pure Language 66 + Self-Help 48 + Selfishness 82 + Teeth, The 65 + Thoughtfulness 27 + Tidiness 50 + Truthfulness 12 + Try, Try Again 35 + Turning Back when Wrong 101 + Wastefulness 91 + + +2.--MANNERS. + + Answering when Spoken To 118 + Banging Doors 110 + Cherry Stones (see "How to Behave at Table") 138 + Clumsy People 114 + Coughing 132 + Eating and Drinking, On 140 + Excuse Me, Please (see "Going in Front of People") 124 + Going in Front of People 124 + Hanging Hats Up, etc. 130 + How to Behave at Table 136 + "I Beg Your Pardon," When to say 125 + Keeping to the Right 113 + Knocking Before Entering a Room 130 + Look at People when Speaking to Them 122 + Manners 104 + Offering Seat to Lady 127 + Offer Sweets, How to 132 + "Please," On Saying 105 + Pocket-handkerchief, The 135 + Preliminary Story Lesson 104 + Pushing in Front of People 112 + Putting Feet Up 109 + Raising Cap 126 + Respectful, On being 108 + Shaking Hands, On 129 + Sitting Still at Table, On 136 + Sneezing 132 + Speaking Loudly, On 119 + Speaking when Others are Speaking, On 120 + Spitting (see "How a Slate Should Not be Cleaned") 133 + Staring, On 116 + Talking Too Much, On 122 + "Thank You," On Saying 105 + Thinking of Others at Table 137 + Turning Round when Walking 115 + Upsetting Things at Table (see "Leslie and the + Christmas Dinner") 138 + Walking Softly 117 + Yawning 132 + + + + +1.--MORAL SUBJECTS. + + + + +I. INTRODUCTORY STORY. + + +1. The Fairy Temple. + + (The following story should be read to the + children =first=, as it forms a kind of groundwork + for the Story Lessons which follow.) + +It was night--a glorious, moonlight night, and in the shade of the leafy +woods the Queen of the fairies was calling her little people together by +the sweet tones of a tinkling, silver bell. When they were all gathered +round, she said: "My dear children, I am going to do a great work, and I +want you all to help me". At this the fairies spread their wings and +bowed, for they were always ready to do the bidding of their Queen. They +were all dressed in lovely colours, of a gauzy substance, finer than any +silk that ever was seen, and their names were called after the colours +they wore. The Queen's robe was of purple and gold, and glittered +grandly in the moonlight. + +"I have determined," said the Queen, "to build a Temple of precious +stones, and =your= work will be to bring me the material." "Rosy-wings," +she continued, turning to a little fairy clad in delicate pink, and fair +as a rose, "you shall bring rubies." "Grass-green," to a fairy dressed +in green, "your work is to find emeralds; and Shiny-wings, you will go +to the mermaids and ask them to give you pearls." + +Now there stood near the Queen six tiny, fairy sisters, whose robes were +whiter and purer than any. The sisters were all called by the same +name--"Crystal-clear," and they waited to hear what their work was to +be. + +"Sisters Crystal-clear," said the Queen, "you shall all of you bring +diamonds; we shall need so many diamonds." + +There was another fairy standing there, whose robe seemed to change into +many colours as it shimmered in the moonlight, just as you have seen the +sky change colour at sunset, and to her the Queen said, "Rainbow-robe, +go and find the opal". + +Then there were three other fairy sisters called "Gold-wings," who were +always trying to help the other fairies, and to do good to everybody, +and the Queen told them to bring fine gold to fasten the precious stones +together. + +These are not =all= the fairies who were there; some others wore blue, +some yellow, and the Queen gave them all their work. Then she rang a +tiny, silver bell, and they all spread their wings and bowed before they +flew away to do her bidding. + +After many days the fairies came together to bring their precious +treasures to the Queen. How they carried them I scarcely know, but there +was a little girl, many years ago, who often paused at the window of a +jeweller's shop to gaze at a tiny, silver boy, with silver wings, +wheeling a silver wheel-barrow full of rings, and the little girl +thought that perhaps the fairies carried things in the same way. Anyhow, +they all came to the Queen bringing their burdens, and she soon set to +work on the Temple. + +"The foundations must be laid with diamonds," said the Queen. "Where are +the six sisters? Ah! here they come with the lovely, shining diamonds, +which are like themselves, 'clear as crystal'. Now little Gold-wings, +bring =your= treasure," and the three little sisters brought the finest +of gold. So the work went merrily on, and the fairies danced in glee as +they saw the glittering Temple growing under the clever hands of the +Queen. She made the doors of pearls and the windows of rubies, and the +roof she said should be of opal, because it would show many colours when +the light played upon it. + +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." + +"I have never seen mortals build anything half so pretty as our Temple," +said Grass-green; "their houses are made of stone and brick." + +"Ah! Grass-green," answered the Queen, smiling, "you have never seen the +Temple I am speaking of, but it =is= better than ours, for it +lasts--lasts for ever. Wind and rain, frost and snow, will spoil our +Temple in time; but the Temple of the mortals lives on, and is never +destroyed." + +"Do tell us about it, dear Queen," said all the fairies; "we will try to +understand." + +"It is called by rather a long word," said the Queen, "its name is +'character'; =that= is what the mortals build, and the stones they use +are more precious than our stones. I will tell you the names of some of +them. First there is =Truth=, clear and bright like the diamonds; that +must be the foundation; no good character can be made without Truth." + +Then the sisters Crystal-clear smiled at each other and said, "We +brought diamonds for truth". + +"There are =Honesty=, =Obedience=, and many others," continued the +Queen, "and =Kindness=, which is like the pure gold that was brought by +Gold-wings, and makes a lovely setting for all the other stones." + +The little fairies were glad to hear all this about the Temple which the +mortals build, and Gold-wings said that she would like above everything +to be able to help boys and girls to make their Temple beautiful, and +the other fairies said the same; so the Queen said they all might try to +help them, for each boy and girl =must= build a Temple, and the name of +that Temple is Character. + + + + +II. OBEDIENCE. + + +2. The Two Voices. + +There was once a little boy who said that whenever he was going to do +anything wrong he heard two voices speaking to him. Do you know what he +meant? Perhaps this story will help you. + +The boy's name was Cecil. Cecil's father had a very beautiful and rare +canary, which had been brought far over the sea as a present to him. + +Cecil often helped to feed the canary and give it fresh water, and +sometimes his father would allow him to open the door of the cage, and +the bird would come out and perch on his hand, which delighted Cecil +very much, but he was not allowed to open the door of the cage unless +his father was with him. + +One day, however, Cecil came to the cage alone, and while he watched the +canary, a little voice said, "Open the door and take him out; father +will never know". That was a =wrong= voice, and Cecil tried not to +listen. It would have been better if he had gone away from the cage, but +he did not; and the voice came again, "Open the door and let him out". +And another little voice said, "No, don't; your father said you must +not". But Cecil listened to the =wrong= voice; he opened the door +gently, and out flew the pretty bird. First it perched on his finger, +then it flew about the room, and then--Cecil had not noticed that the +window was open--then, before he knew, out of the window flew the +canary, and poor Cecil burst into tears. "Oh! if I had listened to the +=good= voice, the =right= voice, and not opened the door! Father will be +so angry." Then the =bad= voice came again and said, "Don't tell your +father; say you know nothing about it ". But Cecil did not listen this +time; he was too brave a boy to tell his father a lie, and he determined +to tell the truth and be punished, if necessary. + +Of course his father was very sorry to lose his beautiful canary, and +more sorry still that his little son had been disobedient, but he was +glad that Cecil told him the truth. + +Now do you know the two things that the =wrong= voice told Cecil to do? +It told him (1) Not to obey; (2) Not to tell the truth. I think we have +all heard those two voices, not with our ears, but =within= us. Let us +always listen to the =good= voice--the =right= voice. + +(Blackboard Sketch.) + + Two voices:-- + 1st. Good, says, "Obey," "Speak the truth". + 2nd. Bad, says, "Disobey," "Tell untruth". + + +(WHY WE SHOULD OBEY.) + +3. The Pilot. + +You know that the country in which you live is an island? That means +there is water all round it, and that water is the sea. + +England and Scotland are joined together in one large island; and if you +want to go to any other country, you must sail in a ship. A great many +ships come to England, bringing us tea, coffee, sugar, oranges and many +other things, and the towns they come to are called =ports=. London is a +port, so is Liverpool; and in the North of England is another port +called Hull. To get to Hull from the sea we have to sail up a wide river +called the Humber for more than twenty miles. This river has a great +many sandbanks in it, and there are men called =pilots= who know just +where these sandbanks lie, and they are the ones who can guide the ships +safely into port. + +One day there was a captain who brought his ship into the river, and +said to himself, "I do not want the pilot on board, I can guide the ship +myself". So he did not hoist the "union jack" on the foremast head, +which means "Pilot come on board"; and the pilot did not come. + +For a little time the good ship sailed along all right, but presently +they found that she was not moving at all. What had happened? The ship +was stuck fast on a sandbank, and the foolish captain wished now that he +had taken the pilot on board. First he had to go out in the little boat +and fetch a "tug-boat" to pull the ship off the sandbank, and then he +was glad enough to have the pilot on board, and to let him guide the +ship just as he liked. Why could not the captain guide the ship? Because +he did not know the way. + +Have you ever known children who did not like to do as they were told? +who thought that =they= knew best--better than father or mother? They +are like the foolish captain, who tried to guide his ship when he did +not know the way. Fathers and mothers are like the pilot, who knew which +was the best way to take; and wise children are willing to be guided, +for =they= do not know the way any more than the captain did. + +(Blackboard.) + + =Why= do we obey? + Because we do not Know the Way. + + The story and its teaching may be further + impressed on the minds of the children by a sand + lesson:-- + + Place a blackboard or large piece of oil-cloth on + the floor, and make an "island" in sand, and in + the "island" form a large "estuary," with little + heaps of sand dotted about in it, to represent + sandbanks. The sailors cannot =see= the sandbanks, + for they are all covered with water in the =real= + river, so we will take a duster and spread it over + these sandbanks. Now, take a tiny boat and ask one + of the children to sail it up the river, keeping + clear of the sandbanks. The children will soon see + that it cannot be done, and the "blackboard" + lesson may be again enforced. + + +(WHY WE SHOULD OBEY.) + +4. The Dog that did not like to be Washed.[1] + +A lady once had a dog of which she was very fond. The dog was fond of +his mistress also, and loved to romp by her side when she was out +walking, or to lie at her feet as she sat at work. But the dog had one +serious fault--he did not like to be washed, and he was so savage when +he =was= put into the bath, that at last none of the servants dare do +it. + +The lady decided that she would not take any more notice of the dog +until he was willing to have his bath quietly, so she did not take him +out with her for walks, nor allow him to come near her in the house. +There were no pattings, no caresses, no romps, and he began to look +quite wretched and miserable. You see the dog did not like his mistress +to be vexed with him, and he felt very unhappy--so unhappy that at last +he could bear it no longer. + +Then one morning he crept quietly up to the lady and gave her a look +which she knew quite well meant, "I cannot bear this any longer; I will +be good". + +So he was put in the bath, and though he had to be scrubbed very +hard--for by this time he was unusually dirty--he stood still quite +patiently, and when it was all over, he bounded to his mistress with a +joyous bark and a wag of the tail, as much as to say, "It is all right +now". + +After this he was allowed to go for walks as usual, and was once more a +happy dog, and he never objected to his bath afterwards. + +The dog could not bear to grieve his mistress; and how much more should +children be sorry to grieve kind father and mother, who do so much for +them. + +(Blackboard.) + + =Why= we obey:-- + 1. Because the "Good Voice" tells us. + 2. Because we do not Know the Way. + 3. Because it gives Pleasure to Father and Mother. + + +(READY OBEDIENCE.[2]) + +5. Robert and the Marbles. + +A little boy named Robert was having a game at marbles with a number of +other boys, and it had just come his turn to play. He meant to win, and +was carefully aiming the marble, when he heard his mother's voice +calling, "Robert, I want you". Quick as thought the marbles were dropped +into his pocket, and off he ran to see what mother wanted. + +(Blackboard.) + + Robert Obeyed Readily, Cheerfully, Quickly. + + +(UNREADY, SULKY OBEDIENCE.) + +6. Jimmy and the Overcoat. + +I was in a house one day where a boy was getting ready to go to school. +His bag was slung over his shoulder, and he was just reaching his cap +from the peg, when his mother said, "Put on your overcoat, Jimmy; it is +rather cold this morning". Oh, what a fuss there was! How he argued with +his mother, "It was not cold; he hated overcoats. Could he not take it +over his arm, or put it on in the afternoon?" Many more objections he +made, and when at last he =had= put it on, he went out grumbling, and +slammed the door after him. + +Can you guess how his mother felt? "Unhappy," you will say. And do you +think it is right, dear children, to make mother unhappy? I am sure you +do not. + + Little child with eyes so blue, + What has mother done for you? + Taught your little feet to stand, + Led you gently by the hand, + And in thousand untold ways + Guarded you through infant days: + Do not think that =you= know best, + Just obey, and leave the rest. + +You see Jimmy thought that he knew better than his mother, but he did +not. Children need to be guided like the boat in the Humber (Story +Lesson 3), for they are not very wise; and when we obey, we are building +up our Temple with beautiful stones. + +(Blackboard.) + + =Two= kinds of Obedience:-- + 1. Ready, Cheerful-Robert. + 2. Unready, Sulky-Jimmy. + Which do you like best? + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Animal Intelligence_, Romanes. + +[2] Games Nos. 16 and 20 in "Games Without Music" illustrate above Story +Lesson. + + + + +III. LOYALTY. + + +7. Rowland and the Apple Tart. + +Perhaps you have never heard the word Loyalty before, and maybe Rowland +had not either, but he knew what it meant, and tried to practise it. + +Rowland was not a very strong little boy, and he could not eat so many +different kinds of food as some children can, for some of them made him +sick. Among other things he was forbidden to take pastry. His mother, +who loved him very dearly, had one day said to him, "Rowland, my boy, I +cannot always be with you, but I trust you to do what I wish," and +Rowland said he would try always to remember. + +One time he was invited to go and stay with his cousins, who lived in a +fine old house in the country. They were strong, healthy, rosy children, +quite a contrast to their delicate little cousin, and perhaps they were +a little rough and rude as well. + +There was a large apple tart for dinner one day, and when Rowland said, +"I do not wish for any, Auntie, thank you," his cousins looked at him in +surprise, and the eldest said scornfully, "I am glad that =I= am not +delicate," and the next boy remarked, "What a fad!" while the third +muttered "Baby". This was all very hard to bear, and when his Aunt said, +"I am sure a little will not hurt you," Rowland felt very much inclined +to give in, but he remembered that his mother trusted him, and he +remained true to her wishes. + +This is Loyalty, doing what is right even when there is no one there to +see. + +(Blackboard.) + + Be True or Loyal when no eyes are upon you. + + + + +IV. TRUTHFULNESS. + + +(DIRECT UNTRUTH.) + +8. Lucy and the Jug of Milk. + +"Lucy," said her mother, "just run to the dairy and fetch a pint of milk +for me, here is the money; and do remember, child, to look where you are +going, so that you do not stumble and drop the jug." I am afraid Lucy +was a little like another girl you will hear of (Story Lesson 103); she +was too fond of staring about, and perhaps rather careless. + +However, she went to the dairy and bought the milk, and had returned +half-way home without any mishap, when she met a flock of sheep coming +down the road, followed by a large sheep-dog. Lucy stood on the pavement +to watch them pass; it was such fun to see the sheep-dog scamper from +one side to the other, and the timid sheep spring forward as soon as the +dog came near them. So far the milk was safe; but, after the sheep had +passed, Lucy thought she would just turn round to have one more peep at +them, and oh, dear, her foot tripped against a stone, and down she fell, +milk, and jug, and all, and the jug was smashed to pieces. + +Lucy was in great trouble, and as she stood there and looked at the +broken jug, and the milk trickling down the gutter, she cried bitterly. + +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". + +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! + +You remember the Fairy Queen said that =Truth= was the foundation of our +beautiful Temple (Story Lesson 1), and the building will all tumble down +in ruins if we do not have a strong foundation, so we must be brave to +bear punishment (as Lucy was) if we deserve it, and be sure to + +(Blackboard) + + Tell the Truth Whatever it Costs. + + +(UNTRUTH, BY NOT SPEAKING.) + +9. Mabel and Fritz. + +This is a story of a dear little curly-headed girl called Mabel, whom +everybody loved. She was so bright, and happy, and good-tempered, one +could not help loving her, and when you looked into her clear, blue +eyes, you could see that she was a frank, truthful child, who had +nothing to hide, for she tried to listen to the Good Voice, and do what +was right. + +One day Mabel was having a romp with her little dog, Fritz, in the +kitchen. Up and down she chased him, and away he went, jumping over the +chairs, hiding under the dresser, always followed by Mabel, until at +last he leaped on the table, and in trying to make him come down, Mabel +and the dog together overturned a tray full of clean, starched linen +that was on the table. Mabel had been giving Fritz some water to drink +a little before this, and in doing so had spilt a good deal on the +floor, so the clean cuffs and collars rolled over in the wet, and were +quite spoiled. + +Mabel's mother happened to come in just when the tray fell with a bang, +and as the dog jumped down from the table at the same moment she thought +he had done it, and Mabel did not tell that she was in fault, so poor +Fritz was chained up in his kennel, and kept without dinner as a +punishment. + +Mabel felt sad about it all the rest of the day, and when she was put to +bed at night, and mamma had left her, she did not go to sleep as usual, +but tossed about on the pillow, until her little curly head was quite +hot and tired. Then she began to cry. Mabel was listening to the Good +Voice now, and it said, "Oh, Mabel, =you= helped Fritz to overturn the +tray, and =he= got all the blame, how mean of you!" Mabel sobbed louder +when she thought of herself as being mean, and her mother hearing the +noise came to see what was the matter. Then Mabel confessed all, and her +mother said, "Perhaps my little girl did not know that we could be +untruthful =by not speaking at all=, but you see it is quite possible". + +I do not think Mabel ever forgot the lesson which she learnt that + +(Blackboard) + + There can be Untruth without Words. + + +(UNTRUTH, BY NOT TELLING ALL.) + +10. A Game of Cricket. + +Two boys were playing at bat and ball in a field. There was a high hedge +on one side of the field, and on the other side of the hedge was a +market garden, where things are grown to be afterwards sold in the +market. The boys had been playing some time, when the "batter," giving +the ball a very hard blow, sent it over the hedge, and =both= the boys +heard a loud crash as of breaking glass. They picked up the wickets +quickly, and carried them, with the bat, to a hut that stood in the +field, and were hurrying away when the gardener came and stopped them, +asking, "Have you sent a cricket-ball over the hedge into my cucumber +frame?" The boy who had struck the ball answered, "I did not see a ball +go into your frame," and the other boy said, "Neither did I". + +They did not =see= the ball break the glass, but they both =knew= that +it had crashed into the frame, and though the words they spoke might be +true, the lie was there all the same. + +Supposing the sisters "Crystal-clear" had brought to the Fairy Queen a +diamond that was only good on one side, do you think she would have put +it in the Temple? No, indeed, she would have said it was only =half= +true; and so we must put away anything that =looks= like truth, but is +not truth. How wrong it is to make believe we have not done a thing, +when all the time we have. + +Dear children, be true all through! Have you ever seen a glass jar of +pure honey, no bits of wax floating in it, all clear and pure? Let your +heart be like that, =sincere=, which means "without wax, clear and +pure". + +(Blackboard.) + + A Half-truth is as Hateful as a Lie. + + +(UNTRUTH, BY "STRETCHING"--EXAGGERATION.) + +11. The Three Feathers. + +One day three little girls were talking about hats and feathers. + +The first girl said: "I have such a long feather in my best hat; it goes +all down one side". + +Then the next girl said: "Oh! =my= feather is longer than that, for it +goes all round the hat"; and the third girl said: "Ah! but =my= feather +is longer than either of yours, for it goes round the hat and hangs down +behind as well". + +On the next Sunday each of these little girls went walking in the park +with her parents, wearing her best hat with the wonderful feather; it +never occurred to =one= of them that she might meet the other two, but +that is just what happened, and the three "long" feathers proved to be +nothing but three =short=, little feathers, one in each hat! Can you +guess how =ashamed= each girl felt? + +You have seen a piece of elastic stretched out. How =long= you can make +it, and how =short= it goes when you leave off stretching! Each girl +wanted to be better than the other, and to =appear= so, each "stretched" +the story of her feather, just as the length of elastic was stretched, +forgetting that + +(Blackboard) + + When we "Stretch" a Story, we do not Speak the Truth. + + + + +V. HONESTY. + + +12. Lulu and the Pretty Coloured Wool. + +The little children who went to school long years ago did not have +pretty things to play with as you have--no kindergarten balls with +bright colours, nor nice bricks with which to build houses and churches! +There was a little girl named Lulu who went to a dame's school in those +far-off days, and most of the time she had to sit knitting a long, grey +stocking, though she was only six years old. + +Some of the older girls were sewing on canvas with pretty coloured +wools, and making (what appeared to little Lulu) most beautiful +pictures. How she longed for a length of the pink or blue wool to have +for her very own! + +The school was in a room upstairs, and at the head of the stair there +was a window, with a deep window-sill in front of it. 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. + +But is she happy? Oh, no! for a little Voice says: "Lulu, you are +stealing; the wool is not yours!" For a few minutes the wool rests in +her pocket, and then she runs back up the stair; the schoolroom door is +still closed as Lulu draws the wool from her pocket, and gently puts it +back on the window-sill. Then she takes the message and returns to her +place in the schoolroom, and to the knitting of her long stocking, hot +and ashamed at the thought of what she has done, but glad in her heart +that she listened to the Good Voice, and did not keep the wool. + +Had any one seen her? Did any one know about it? Yes, there were loving +Eyes watching little Lulu, and the One who looked down was very glad +when she listened to the Good Voice. Do you know who it was? + + God our Father sees us all, + Boys and girls, and children small; + When we listen to His voice, + Angels in their songs rejoice. + + Have _you_ heard that voice, dear child, + Speaking in you, gentle, mild? + Always listen and obey, + For it leads you the right way. + +(Blackboard.) + + Do not Take what is not Yours. + + _Note._--To the mother or teacher who can read + between the lines, this little story (which is not + imaginary, but a true record of fact) bears + another meaning. It shows the child's passionate + love for objects that are pretty, especially + coloured objects, and how the withholding of these + may open the way to temptation. Let the child's + natural desire be gratified, and supply to it + freely coloured wools, beads, etc., at the same + time teaching the right use of them, according to + kindergarten[3] principles. + + + +(TAKING LITTLE THINGS.) + +13. Carl and the Lump of Sugar. + +There are some people who think that taking =little= things is not +stealing. But it =is=. + +There was a little boy, named Carl, who began his wrong-doing by taking +a piece of sugar. Then he took another piece, and another; but he always +did it when his mother was not looking. We always want to hide the doing +of wrong--we feel so ashamed. + +One day Carl's mother sent him to the shop for something, and he kept a +halfpenny out of the change. His mother did not notice it; she never +thought her little boy would steal. + +So it went on from bad to worse, until one day he stole a shilling from +a boy in the school, and was expelled. + +As Carl grew older he took larger sums, and you will not be surprised to +hear that in the end he was sent to prison, and nearly broke his +mother's heart. + + +14. Lilie and the Scent. + +Lilie's cousin had a bottle of scent given to her, and it had such a +pleasant smell that one day, when Lilie was alone in the room, she +thought she would like a little, so she unscrewed the stopper, and +sprinkled a few drops on her handkerchief. I do not suppose her cousin +would have been angry if she had known, but Lilie knew the scent was not +hers, and she was miserable the moment she had taken it, and had no +peace until she confessed the fault, and asked her cousin's +forgiveness. I wish Carl had felt like that about the piece of sugar; do +not you? Then he would never have taken the larger things, and been sent +to prison. + +(Blackboard.) + + Little Wrongs Lead to Greater Wrongs. + Carl--Sugar--Money--Prison. + + +15. Copying. + +It was the Christmas examination at school, and the boys were all at +their desks ready for the questions in arithmetic. Will Jones's desk was +next Tom Hardy's, and everybody thought that =one= of these two boys +would win the prize. + +As soon as the questions had been given out, the boys set to work. Tom +did all his sums on a scrap of paper first, then he copied them out +carefully, and, after handing his paper to the master, left the room. +Unfortunately he left the scrap of paper on which he had worked his sums +lying on the desk. Will snatched it up, and looked to see if his answers +were the same. No! two were different. Tom's would be sure to be right; +so he copied the sums from Tom's scrap of paper. It was stealing, of +course; just as much stealing as if he had taken Tom's pen or knife. +Besides, it is so mean to let some one else do the work and then steal +it from them--even the =birds= know that. + +Some little birds were building themselves a nest, and to save the +trouble of gathering materials, they went and took some twigs and other +things from =another bird's nest= that was being built. But when the old +birds saw what the little ones had done, they set to work and pulled the +nest all to pieces. That was to teach them to go and find their =own= +twigs and sticks, and not to steal from others. + +Of course Will was not happy. There was a little Voice within that would +not let him rest, and when the boys kept talking about the arithmetic +prize, and wondering who would get it, he felt as though he would like +to go and hide somewhere, he was so ashamed. That is one of the results +of wrong-doing, as we said before--it always makes us ashamed. + +At last the day came when the master would tell who were the +prize-winners. The boys were all sitting at their desks listening as the +master read out these words:-- + +"Tom Hardy and Will Jones have all their sums right, but as Will's paper +is the neater of the two, =he= will take the first prize". + +The boys clapped their hands, but Will was not glad. The Voice within +spoke louder and louder, so loudly that Will was almost afraid some of +the other boys would hear it, and his face grew red and hot. At last he +determined to obey the Good Voice and tell the truth, so he rose from +his seat, walked up to the master, and said: "Please, sir, the prize +does not belong to me, for I stole two of my answers from Tom Hardy. I +am very sorry." + +The master was greatly surprised, but he could see that Will was very +sorry and unhappy. He held out his hand to him, and said: "I am glad, +Will, that you have been brave enough to confess this. It will make you +far happier than the prize would have done, seeing that you had not +honestly won it." So the prize went to Tom, and Will was never guilty +of copying again; he remembered too well the unhappiness that followed +it. + +(Blackboard.) + + Copying is Stealing. + + +16. On Finding Things. + +When Lulu reached her fifteenth birthday she had a watch given to her. +One afternoon she was walking through a wood, up a steep and rocky path, +and when she reached the top she stood for a few moments to rest. +Looking back down the wood she saw a boy coming by the same path, and +when about half-way up he stooped down as if to raise something from the +ground, but the thought did not occur to Lulu that it might be anything +belonging to her. + +When she was rested she walked on until she came to a house just outside +the wood, where she was to take tea with a friend. + +After tea they sat and worked until the sun began to go down. Then Lulu +said, "I think I must be going home; I will see what time it is," and +she was going to take out her watch, when, alas! she found it was gone. +"Oh, dear!" said she, "what shall I do? How careless of me to put it in +my belt; it was a present from my brother!" Then she suddenly remembered +standing at the top of the path and seeing the boy pick something up. +"That would be my watch," said she. And so it was. + +The boy had followed her up the wood, and had seen her go into the +house, but he did not give up the watch. He waited until some bills were +posted offering a reward of L1, then he brought the watch and took the +sovereign. If he had been an honest boy he would not have waited, but +would have given up the watch at once. We ought not to wish any reward +for doing what is right. It is quite enough to have the happiness that +comes from obeying the Good Voice. We cannot build up a good character +without honesty. + + Do right because you =love= the right, + And not for hope of gain; + A conscience pure is rich reward, + But doing wrong brings pain. + +(Blackboard.) + + When you Find Anything, try to Discover the Owner, and + give it up at once. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[3] _Kindergarten Guide_, published by Messrs. Longmans. + + + + +VI. KINDNESS. + + +17. Squeaking Wheels. + +A lady was one day taking a walk along a country lane, and just as she +was passing the gate of a field a horse and cart came out, and went down +the road in the same direction as she was going, and oh! how the wheels +did squeak! The lady longed to get away from the sound of them. First +she walked very quickly, hoping to get well ahead; but no, the horse +hurried up too, and kept pace with her. Perhaps =he= disliked the +squeaking, and wanted his journey to be quickly finished. Then she +lingered behind, and sauntered along slowly, but squeak, squeak--the +hateful sound was still there. At last the cart was driven down a lane +to the right, and now the lady could listen to the songs of the birds, +the humming of the bees, and the sweet rustle of the leaves as the wind +played amongst them. "How much pleasanter," thought she, "are these +sounds than the squeaking of the wheels." + +I wonder if you have ever seen any little children who make you think of +those disagreeable wheels? They are children who do not like to lend +their toys, or to play the games that their companions suggest, but who +like, instead, to please themselves. + +Do you know what the wheels needed to make them go sweetly? They needed +oil. And the disagreeable children who grate on us with their selfish, +unkind ways, need =another= sort of oil--the oil of kindness. =That= +will make things go sweetly; so we will write on the blackboard + +(Blackboard) + + Squeaking Wheels need Oil. + Children need the Oil of Kindness. + + +18. Birds and Trees. + +Did you know that trees and birds, bees and flowers could be kind to +each other? They =can=; I will tell you how. + +See the pretty red cherries growing on that tree. All little children +like cherries, and the birds like them too. + +A little bird comes flying to the cherry tree and asks, "May I have one +of these rosy little balls, please?" + +"Yes, little bird," says the cherry tree; "take some, by all means." + +So the bird has a nice fruit banquet with the cherries, and then, what +do you think =he= does for the tree? + +"Oh!" you say, "a little bird cannot do =anything= that would help a big +tree." But he can. + +When he has eaten the cherry he drops the stone, and sometimes it sinks +into the ground, and from it a young cherry tree springs up. The tree +could not do that for itself, so we see that + +(Blackboard) + + Birds and Trees are Kind to Each Other. + + +19. Flowers and Bees. + +When you have been smelling a tiger-lily, has any of the yellow dust +ever rested on the tip of your nose? (Let the children see a tiger-lily, +or a picture of one, if possible.) Look into the large cup of the lily, +and there, deep down, you will see some sweet, delicious juice. What is +it for? Ask the bee; she will tell you. + +Here she comes, and down goes her long tongue into the flower. "Ah! Mrs. +Bee, the honey is for you, I see. And pray, what have you done for the +flower? Nothing, I'm afraid." + +"Oh, yes, I have," hums the bee. "I brought her some flower-dust +(pollen) on my back from another tiger-lily that I have been visiting to +make her seeds grow. When I dip down into the flower some of the 'dust' +clings to me, so I take it to the next tiger-lily that I visit, and she +is very much obliged to me." + +You see, dear children, how the flowers help each other, and how the bee +carries messages from one to another; so if + +(Blackboard) + + Birds and Trees, Flowers and Bees are Kind to Each Other, + Much more should Children be Kind. + + +20. Lulu and the Bundle. + +Do you remember the story of "Lulu and the Wool"? This is a true tale of +the same little girl when she was grown older. + +Lulu's home was at the top of a hill, and the road leading up to it was +very steep. 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. "That is what mother +would say." So they walked on until they came to the cottage, and Lulu +left the grateful woman at her own door, and forgot all about it. + +Some years after, Lulu had been away from home, and, missing her train, +she returned laden with parcels one dark, wet night. There was no one +to meet her, no one to help to carry her parcels, and the rain was +pouring down. She hurried outside to look for a cab, but there was not +one to be had, so she began to walk up the hill. After going a very +little way she stopped to rest, the parcels were so heavy; and just then +a man came up and said: "Give me your parcels, miss, they seem too heavy +for you". And Lulu, astonished, handed them to him. He carried them to +the door of her mother's house, and hardly waited to hear the grateful +thanks Lulu would have poured out. + +Have you ever heard these words: "Give, and it shall be given unto you". +I think they came true in this little story. Do not you? + +Let us all try to build a good deal of the "pure gold" of Kindness into +our "Temple". + + + + +VII. THOUGHTFULNESS. + + +21. Baby Elsie and the Stool. + +If you place your hand on your head you will feel something hard just +beneath the hair. What is it? It is bone. Pass your hand all over your +head and you will still feel the bone. It is called the skull, and it +covers up a wonderful thing called the brain, with which we think, and +learn, and remember. + +A little baby girl was toddling about the room one afternoon while her +mother sat sewing. The baby was a year and a half old. She had only just +learned to walk, and could not talk much, but she had begun to think. +Presently she noticed a little stool under the table, and after a great +deal of trouble she managed to get it out. Can you guess what she wanted +it for? (Let children try to answer.) She wanted it for mother's feet to +rest upon. Elsie could not =say= this, but she dragged the stool until +it was close to her mother, and then she patted it, and said "Mamma," +which meant, "Put your feet on it". + +Was not that a sweet, kind thing for a one-year-old baby to do? You see +she was learning to think--to think for others, and you will not be +surprised to hear that she grew up to be a kind, helpful girl, and was +so bright and happy that her mother called her "Sunshine". + +If any one asked me what kind of child I liked best, I believe the +answer would be this: "A child who is thoughtful of others"; for a child +who thinks of others will not be rude, or rough, or unkind. Who was it +slammed the door when mother had a headache? It was a child who did not +think. Who left his bat lying across the garden path so that baby +tumbled over it and got a great bump on his little forehead? It was +thoughtless Jimmy. Do not be thoughtless, dear children, for you cannot +help hurting people, if you are thoughtless; and we are in the world to +make it happy, =not= to =hurt=. Thoughtfulness is a lovely jewel; let us +all try to build it into our "Temple". + + +22. The Thoughtful Soldier. + +A great soldier, Sir Ralph Abercromby, had been wounded in battle, and +was dying. As they carried him on board the ship in a litter a soldier's +blanket was rolled up and placed beneath his head for a pillow to ease +his pain. "Whose blanket is this?" asked he. + +One of the soldiers answered that it only belonged to one of the men. +"But I want to know the name of the man," said Sir Ralph. He was then +told that the man's name was Duncan Roy, and he said: "Then see that +Duncan Roy gets his blanket this very night". + +You see how thoughtful he was for the other man's comfort, so thoughtful +that he did not wish to keep Duncan's blanket even though he himself was +dying. Is it not true that "thoughtfulness" is one of the most beautiful +of the precious stones that you build with. + +(Blackboard.) + + Be Thoughtful. + + + + +VIII. HELP ONE ANOTHER. + + +23. The Cat and the Parrot.[4] + +A cat and a parrot lived in the same house, and were very kind and +friendly towards each other. One evening there was no one in the kitchen +except the bird and the cat. The cook had gone upstairs, leaving a bowl +full of dough to rise by the fire. Before long the cat rushed upstairs, +mewing and making signs for the cook to come down, then she jumped up +and seized her apron, and tried to pull her along. What could be the +matter, what had happened? Cook went downstairs to see, and there was +poor Polly shrieking, calling out, flapping her wings, and struggling +with all her might "up to her knees" in dough, and stuck quite fast. Of +course the cook lifted the parrot out, and cleaned the dough from her +legs, but if pussy had not been her kind friend, and run for help, she +would have sunk farther and farther into the dough, and perhaps in the +end would have been smothered. + +(Blackboard.) + + If a Cat can Help a Bird, surely Boys and Girls + should Help Each Other. + + +24. The Two Monkeys.[5] + +A ship that was crossing the sea had two monkeys on board; one of them +was larger and older than the other, though she was not the mother of +the younger one. Now it happened one day that the little monkey fell +overboard, and the bigger one was immediately very much excited. She had +a cord tied round her waist, with which she had been fastened up, and +what do you think she did? She scrambled down the outside of the ship, +until she came to a ledge, then she held on to the ship with one hand, +and with the other she held out the cord to the poor little monkey that +was struggling in the water. Was not she a clever, thoughtful, kind +monkey? The cord was just a little too short, so one of the sailors +threw out a longer rope, which the little monkey grasped, and by this +means she was brought safely on board. + +You will remember the story of the monkey, who tried to save her little +friend, and remember, also, that + +(Blackboard) + + Children should Help One Another. + + +25. The Wounded Bird. + +There is a beautiful story about birds helping each other in a book[6] +which you must read for yourselves when you grow older. + +One day a man was out with his gun, and shot a sea-bird, called a tern, +which fell wounded into the sea, near the water's edge. The man stood +and waited until the wind should blow the bird near enough for him to +reach it, when, to his surprise, he saw two other terns fly down to the +poor wounded bird and take hold of him, one at each wing, lift him out +of the water, and carry him seawards. Two other terns followed, and when +the first two had carried him a few yards and were tired, they laid him +down gently and the next two picked him up, and so they went on carrying +him in turns until they reached a rock a good way off, where they laid +him down. The sportsman then made his way to the rock, but when they saw +him coming, a whole swarm of terns came together, and just before he +reached the place, two of them again lifted up the wounded bird and bore +him out to sea. The man was near enough to have hindered this if he had +wished, but he was so pleased to see the kindness of the birds that he +would not take the poor creature from them. + +So we have learnt another lesson from the birds, and will write it down. + +(Blackboard.) + + Birds helped the Wounded Tern; we should Help Each Other. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] Romanes' _Animal Intelligence_. + +[5] Romanes' _Animal Intelligence_. + +[6] Smiles' _Life of Edward_. + + + + +IX. ON BEING BRAVE. + + +(BRAVE IN DANGER.) + +26. 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; little children +can be brave also, as you will see from this story of a little boy, +about whom we read in the papers not long ago, and who lived not far +from London. Some children were playing near a pool, when, by some +means, one of them, a little boy named Arthur, three years old, fell in. +All the children, except one, ran away. (=They= were not brave, were +they?) The one who remained was little Arthur's brother, Leonard. He was +only five years old, but he had a brave heart, and he went into the +water at once, although he could not see Arthur, who had fallen on his +back under the water, and was too frightened to get up. Leonard had seen +where he fell, and though he did not know how deep the water was, he +walked in, lifted his little brother up, and pulled him out. It was all +done much more quickly than I have told you. If Leonard had run away to +fetch some one, instead of doing what he could himself, his brother must +have been drowned, because he was fast in the mud. I am sure you will +say that =Leonard= was a brave little boy, and we should not think that +=he= cries when he is washed, or when he has a little tumble. Leonard +teaches us to + +(Blackboard) + + Be Brave in Danger. + + +(BRAVE IN LITTLE THINGS.) + +27. The Twins. + +What a fuss some children make when they are hurt ever so little, and if +a finger should bleed how dreadfully frightened they are! + +A lady told me this story of two little twin boys whom she knew. Their +names were Bennie and Joey, and they were just two years old. + +One day as they were playing together Bennie cut his finger, and the +blood came out in little drops. Now, the twins had never seen blood +before, and you will think, maybe, that Bennie began to cry; but he did +not. He looked at his finger and said: "Oh! Joey, look! what is this?" +"Don't know," said Joey, shaking his head. Then they both watched the +bleeding finger for a little, and at last Bennie said: "I know, Joey; it +is =gravy=". He had seen the gravy in the meat, and he thought this was +something like it. Anyhow, it was better than crying and making a fuss, +do you not think? + +(Blackboard.) + + Be Brave in Little Things. + + +(BRAVE IN SUFFERING.) + +28. The Broken Arm. + +It was recreation time, and the boys were pretending to play football, +when a boy of six, named Robin, had an awkward fall and broke his arm. +The teacher bound it up as well as she could, and Robin did not cry, +though the poor arm must have pained him. He walked quietly through the +streets with the teacher, who took him to the doctor to have the broken +bone set, and when the doctor pulled his arm straight out to get the +bones in place before he bound it up, Robin gave one little cry; that +was all. He is now a grown-up man, but the teacher still remembers how +brave he was when his arm was broken, and feels proud of her pupil. + +(Blackboard) + + Be Brave in Suffering. + + +29. The Brave Monkey.[7] + +Did you ever hear of a monkey having toothache? There was a monkey once +who lived in a cage in some gardens in London, and he had a very bad +toothache, which made a large swelling on his face. The poor creature +was in such great pain that a dentist was sent for. (A dentist, tell the +children, is a man who attends to teeth.) When the monkey was taken out +of the cage he struggled, but as soon as the dentist placed his hand on +the spot he was quite still. He laid his head down so that the dentist +might look at his bad tooth, and then he allowed him to take it out +without making any fuss whatever. There was a little girl once who +screamed and struggled dreadfully when she was taken to have her hair +cut, and that, you know, does not hurt at all. Let us learn from the +monkey, as we did from Robin, to + +(Blackboard) + + Be Brave in Suffering. + + + + +X. TRY, TRY AGAIN. + + +30. The Sparrow that would not be Beaten.[8] + +A sparrow was one day flying over a road when he saw lying there a long +strip of rag. + +"Ah!" said he, "that would be nice for the nest we are building; I will +take it home." So he picked up one end in his beak and flew away with +it, but the wind blew the long streamer about his wings, and down he +came, tumbling in the dust. Soon he was up again, and, after giving +himself a little shake, he took the rag by the other end and mounted in +the air. But again it entangled his wings, and he was soon on the +ground. Next he seized it in the middle, but now there were =two= loose +ends, and he was entangled more quickly than before. + +Then he stopped to think for a minute, and looked at the rag as much as +to say: "What shall I do with you next"? An idea struck him. He hopped +up to the rag, and with his beak and claws rolled it into a nice little +ball. Then he drove his beak into it, shook his head once or twice to +make sure that the ends were fast, and flew away in triumph. + +Remember the sparrow and the rag, and + +(Blackboard) + + Do not be Beaten, but Try, Try Again. + + +31. The Railway Train. + +If you had been a little child a hundred years ago, instead of now, and +had wished to travel to the seaside or any other place, do you know how +you would have got there? You would have had to travel in a coach, for +there were no trains in those days. I am afraid the little children who +lived then did not get to the seashore as often as you do, unless they +lived near it, for it cost so much money to ride in the coaches. How is +it that we have trains now? + +There was a man called George Stephenson--a poor man he was; he did not +even know how to read until he went to a night school when he was +eighteen years old, but he worked and worked at the steam-engine until +he had made one that could draw a train along. So you see that because +this man and others tried and tried again, all those years ago, we have +the nice, quick trains to take us to the seaside cheaply, and to other +places as well. Like the sparrow, George Stephenson teaches us to + +(Blackboard) + + Try, Try Again. + + +32. The Man who Found America. + +A long, long time ago the people in this country did not even know there +=was= such a place as America; it was another "try, try again" man that +found it out. His name was Christopher Columbus, and he thought there +must be a country on the other side of that great ocean, if he could +only get across. But it would take a good ship, and sailors, and money, +and he had none of these. He was in a country called Spain, and he asked +the king and queen to help him, but for a great while they did not. +However, he waited and never gave it up, and at last the queen said he +should go, and off he started with two or three ships and a number of +sailors. + +It was more than two months before the new land appeared, and sometimes +the sailors were afraid when it was very stormy, and wanted to turn +back, but Columbus encouraged them to go on, and at last they saw the +land. They all went on shore, and the first thing they did was to kneel +down and thank God for bringing them safe to land; then they kissed the +ground for very gladness, and wept tears of joy. + +When Columbus came home again, bringing gold, and cotton, and wonderful +birds from the new country, he was received with great rejoicing by the +king and queen and all the people. Do not forget this lesson:-- + +(Blackboard) + + Try, Try Again. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[7] Romanes' _Animal Intelligence_. + +[8] _Ibid._ + + + + +XI. PATIENCE. + + +33. Walter and the Spoilt Page. + +Walter was busy doing his home lessons; he wanted to get them finished +quickly, so that he could join his playmates at a game of cricket before +it was time to go to bed. He was nearly at the end, and the page was +just as neat as it could be--for Walter worked very carefully--when, in +turning the paper over, he gave the pen which was in his hand a sharp +jerk, and a great splash of ink fell in the very middle of the neat, +clean page. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Walter, "all my work is wasted. I shall get no marks +for this lesson unless I write it all over again; and I wanted so much +to go out and have a game." However, he was a brave boy, and his mother +was glad to notice that he set to work quietly, and soon had it written +over again. When bedtime came, she said: "Walter, your accident with +the ink made me think of a story. Shall I tell it to you?" + +"Oh, yes, mother! please do," said Walter, for he loved stories. + + +34. The Drawings Eaten by the Rats. + +"There was once a gentleman (Audubon) in America," said his mother, "who +was very fond of studying birds. He would go out in the woods to watch +them, and he also made sketches of them, and worked so hard that he had +nearly a thousand of these drawings, which, of course, he valued very +much. One time he was going away from home for some months, and before +he went he collected all his precious drawings together, put them +carefully in a wooden box, and gave them to a relative to take care of +until he came back. + +"The time went by and he returned, and soon after asked for the box +containing his treasures. The box was there, but what do you think? Two +rats had found their way into it, and had made a home there for their +young ones, and the beautiful drawings were all gnawed until nothing was +left but tiny scraps of paper. You can guess how dreadfully disappointed +the poor man would feel. But he tells us that in a few days he went out +to the woods and began his drawings again as gaily as if nothing had +happened; and he was pleased to think that he might now make better +drawings than before. It was nearly three years before he had made up +for what the rats had eaten. This man must have possessed the precious +jewel of patience. Do you not think so?" + +"What is patience, mother?" asked Walter. + +"The little Scotch girl said it meant 'wait a wee, and no weary,'" said +his mother; "and I think that is a very good meaning. It is like saying +that we must wait, and do the work over again, if necessary, without +getting vexed or worried." + +Patience is a good "stone" to have in the Temple of Character. + +(Blackboard.) + + Patience means:-- + Wait, and not Weary. + + + + +XII. ON GIVING IN. + + +35. Playing at Shop. + +You have often played at keeping shop, have you not? Winnie and May were +very fond of this game, and when it was holiday time they played it +nearly every day. One morning they made the "shop" ready as usual; a +stool was to be the "counter," and upon this they placed the scales, +with all the things they meant to sell. When all was ready, Winnie stood +behind the "counter," and said, "I will be the 'shopman'!" + +"No!" exclaimed May, "=I= want to be 'shopman'; let me come behind the +'counter'." But Winnie would not move, then May tried to =pull= her +away, and Winnie pushed May, and in the end both little girls were +crying, and the game was spoilt. Were not they foolish? + +How easy it would have been to take it in turns to be "shopman," and +that would have been quite fair to both little girls. I am afraid we +sometimes =forget= to be =fair= in our games. We will tell Winnie and +May the story of the two goats. + + +36. The Two Goats. + +Perhaps you know that goats like to live on the rocks, and as they have +cloven feet (that is, feet that are split up the middle) they can walk +in places that would not be at all safe for your little feet. + +One day two goats met each other on a narrow ledge of rock where there +was not room to pass. Below them was a steep precipice; if they fell +down there they would soon be dashed to pieces. How should they manage? + +It was now that one of the goats did a polite, kind, graceful act. + +She knelt down on the ledge so that the other goat might walk over her, +and when this was done, she rose up and went on her way, so both the +goats were safe and unhurt. + +The goat teaches us a beautiful lesson on "giving in". + +(Blackboard.) + + The Two Goats, + Sometimes it is Noble to give Way. + + + + +XIII. ON BEING GENEROUS. + + +37. Lilie and the Beggar Girl. + +You will think "generous" is a long word, but the stories will help you +to understand what it means. + +Lilie was staying with her auntie, for her mother had gone on a voyage +with father in his ship. + +One day Lilie heard a timid little knock at the back door. She ran to +open it, and saw standing outside a poor little girl about her own +size, with no shoes or stockings on. She asked for a piece of bread, and +Lilie's auntie went into the pantry to cut it. While she was away Lilie +noticed the little girl's bare feet, and, without thinking, she took off +her own shoes and gave them to her. + +When the girl had gone, auntie asked, "Where are your shoes, Lilie?" And +she replied, "I gave them to the little girl, auntie. I do not think +mother would mind." It would have been better if Lilie had asked auntie +before she gave away her shoes; but auntie did not scold her; she only +said to herself, "What a generous little soul the child has". + + +38. Bertie and the Porridge. + +Bertie was a rosy-faced, healthy boy. His mother lived in a little +cottage in the country, and she was too poor to buy dainties for her +child, but the good, plain food he ate was quite enough to make him +hearty and strong. + +His usual breakfast was a basin of porridge mixed with milk, and one +bright, sunny morning he was sitting on the doorstep, waiting until it +should be cool enough for him to eat, when he saw a very poor, old man +leaning on the garden gate. Bertie felt sure the old man must be wanting +something to eat, he looked so pale and thin, and being a +generous-hearted boy, he carried down his basin of porridge to the old +man, and asked him to eat it, which he did with great enjoyment, for he +was very hungry. I think you will understand now what being Generous +means. We may do good by giving away things that are of no use to us, +but that is not being generous. + +(Blackboard.) + + We are Generous when we go without Things, that Others + may have them. + + + + +XIV. FORGIVENESS. + + +39. The Two Dogs.[9] + +One day two dogs had been quarrelling, and when they parted at night, +they had not made it up, but went to rest, thinking hard things of each +other, I fear. Next day, however, one of the dogs brought a biscuit to +the other, and laid it down beside him, as much as to say, "Let us be +friends". I think the other dog would be sure to forgive him after that, +and we are sure they would both be much happier for being friends once +more. + +(Blackboard.) + + If you Quarrel, make it up again. + + + + +XV. GOOD FOR EVIL. + + +40. The Blotted Copy-book. + +Gladys and Dora were in the same class at school, and when the teacher +promised to give a prize for the cleanest, neatest and best-written +copy-book, they determined to try and win the prize. Both the little +girls wrote their copies very carefully for several days, but by-and-by +Gladys grew a little careless, and her copies were not so well written +as Dora's. Gladys knew this quite well, and yet she longed for the +prize. What should she do? There was only one copy more to be written, +and then it would have to be decided who should get the prize. Sad to +say, Gladys thought of a very mean way by which she might spoil Dora's +chance of it. + +She went to school one morning very early--no one was there; softly she +walked to Dora's desk, and drew out her neat, tidy copy-book, which she +opened at the last page, and, taking a pen, she dipped it in ink, and +splashed the page all over; then she put it back in the desk, and said +to herself, "There, now, the prize will be mine". + +But why does Gladys feel so wretched all at once? A little Voice that +you have often heard spoke in her heart, and said, "Oh! Gladys, how +mean, how unkind!" and she could not =help= being miserable. + +Presently the school assembled, and when the writing lesson came round +the teacher said, "Now, girls, take out your copy-books and finish +them". Dora drew hers out, and when she opened it and saw the blots her +cheeks grew scarlet and her eyes filled with tears. Just then she turned +and saw Gladys glancing at her in an ashamed sort of way (as the +elephant looked at his driver when he had stolen the cakes--Story Lesson +85), and Dora knew in her heart that it was Gladys who had spoilt her +copy-book. But she did not tell any one, not even when the teacher said, +"Oh! Dora, what a mess you have made on your nice copy-book!" but she +was thinking all the time, and when she went home she said to her +mother, "Mamma, may I give my little tin box with the flowers painted on +it to Gladys?" "Why, Dora," said her mother, "I thought you were very +fond of that pretty box!" "So I am," replied Dora, "that is why I want +Gladys to have it; please let me give it to her, mother!" So Dora's +mother consented, and next morning Gladys found a small parcel on her +desk, with a scrap of paper at the top, on which was written, "Gladys, +with love from Dora". Dora was generous, you see; she returned good for +evil, and Gladys felt far more sorrow for her fault than she would have +done had Dora caused her to be punished. Neither Gladys nor Dora won the +prize, but Gladys learnt a lesson that was worth more than many prizes, +and Dora had a gladness in her heart that was better than a prize--the +gladness that comes from listening to the Good Voice. "Good for Evil" is +a beautiful "stone" to have in your Temple. + +(Blackboard.) + + It is Generous to Return Good for Evil. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[9] Romanes' _Animal Intelligence_. + + + + +XVI. GENTLENESS. + + +41. The Horse and the Child. + +Gentleness is a beautiful word, and I daresay you know what it means. +When you are helping baby to walk, mother will say, "Be =gentle= with +her," which means, "Do not be rough, do not hurt her". A =gentleman= is +a man who is gentle, who will not =hurt=. + +Did you ever hear of a horse who could behave like a gentleman? Here is +the story.[10] + +"A horse was drawing a cart along a narrow lane in Scotland when it +spied a little child playing in the middle of the road. What do you +think the kind, gentle horse did? It took hold of the little child's +clothes with its teeth, lifted it up, and laid it gently on the bank at +the side of the road, and then it turned its head to see that the cart +had not hurt the child in passing. Did not the horse behave like a +gentleman?" + +I have seen boys and girls helping the little ones to dress in the +cloakroom at school, or leading them carefully down the steps, or +carrying the babies over rough places; =this= is gentleness, and the +gentle boy will grow up to be a gentle man. + + +42. The Overturned Fruit Stall. + +You have seen boys playing the game of "Paper Chase," or, as it is +sometimes called, "Hare and Hounds". One or two boys start first, each +carrying a bag full of small pieces of paper, which they scatter as they +run. Then all the other boys start, and follow the track made by the +scattered paper. + +A number of boys were starting for a "Paper Chase" one Saturday +afternoon, and, passing quickly round a corner of the street, some of +them ran against a little fruit stall and overturned it. The apples, +pears and plums were all rolling on the ground, and the old woman who +belonged to the stall looked at them in dismay. The boys all ran on +except one, and he stayed behind to help to put the stall right, and to +gather up all the fruit. That boy was =gentle= and kind, and the poor +old woman could not thank him enough. + + Be =gentle= to the little ones, + Be =gentle= to the old, + Be =gentle= to the lame, to =all=-- + For it is true, I'm told, + That =gentleness= is better far + Than riches, wealth or gold. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[10] _Heads Without Hands._ + + + + +XVII. ON BEING GRATEFUL. + + +43. Rose and her Birthday Present. + +A little girl called Rose had a kind auntie who sent her half a +sovereign for a birthday present. Rose was delighted with the money, and +was always talking of the many nice things it would buy, but she never +thought of writing and =thanking= her auntie. That was not grateful, was +it? When we =receive= anything, we should always think =at once= of the +giver, and express our thanks without delay. That is why we say "grace" +before eating: we wish to thank our kind Father above for giving us the +nice food to eat. + +The days went by, and still auntie received no word of thanks from her +little niece. Then a letter came asking, "Has Rosy had my letter with +the present?" Rose answered this, and said she =had= received the +letter, and sent many thanks for the present. But how ashamed she must +have felt that she had not written before! It is not nice to have to +=ask= people for their thanks or gratitude; it ought to be given freely +without asking. + + +44. The Boy who was Grateful. + +Little Vernon's father had a tricycle, and one day he fixed up a seat in +front for his little boy, and took him for a nice, long ride. + +Vernon sat facing his father, and he was so delighted with the ride, and +so grateful to his kind father for bringing him, that he could not help +putting his arms round his father's neck sometimes, and giving him a +kiss as they went along. Vernon's father told me this himself, and I +was glad to know that the little boy possessed this precious gift of +gratitude, for it is a lovely "stone" to have in the Temple we are +building. + +(Blackboard.) + + Do not forget to be Grateful for Kindness; and do not + forget to Show it. + + + + +XVIII. SELF-HELP. + + +45. The Crow and the Pitcher. + +Perhaps you have heard the fable of the crow who was thirsty. He found a +pitcher with a little water in it, but he could not get at the water, +for the neck of the jug was narrow. + +Did he leave the water and say, "It is of no use to try"? No; he set to +work, and found a way out of the difficulty. The crow dropped pebbles +into the jug, one by one, and these made the water rise until he could +reach it. + +(Illustrate by a tumbler with a few tablespoonfuls of water in it. Drop +in some pebbles, and show how the water rises as the pebbles take its +place.) If you have a steep hill to climb, or a hard lesson to learn, do +not sit down and cry, and think you cannot do it, but be determined +that, like the crow, you will master the difficulty. When you were a +little, tiny child, your father carried you over the rough places, but +as you grow older, you walk over them yourself. You do not want to be +carried now, for you are not helpless any longer. But I am afraid there +are some children who =like= to be helpless, and to let mother do +everything for them. I once knew a girl of ten who could not tie her +own bootlaces; =she= was helpless. And I knew a little fellow of six +who, when his mother was sick, could put on the kettle, and make her a +cup of tea; he was a =helpful= boy. + +It is brave and nice of boys and girls to help themselves all they can, +and not to be beaten by a little difficulty. Remember the Sparrow and +the Rag (Story Lesson 30), as well as the Crow, and + +(Blackboard) + + Do not be Helpless, but Master Difficulty as the Crow did. + + + + +XIX. CONTENT. + + +46. Harold and the Blind Man. + +Do you know what it is to be contented? It is just the opposite of being +dissatisfied and unhappy. + +Little Harold was looking forward to a day in the glen on the morrow, +but when the morning came it was wet and cold, and the journey had to be +put off. 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 to try it. How +dark it was! he could see nothing. How dreadful to be =always= in +darkness! Then he opened his eyes again, and looked at the old man's +face; it was a peaceful, pleasant face. The old man did not look +discontented and unhappy, and yet it was far worse to be blind than to +be disappointed of a picnic. Harold had yet to learn that it is not +=outside= things that give content, but something within. He could not +help being disappointed at the wet day, but he could have made the best +of it and played with his toys, as indeed he did after seeing the blind +man. + +(Blackboard.) + + Be Content and make the Best of Things. + + + + +XX. TIDINESS. + + +47. The Slovenly Boy. + +Of =all= the untidy children you ever saw Leo must have been the worst. +His hair was unbrushed, his boots were uncleaned, and the laces were +always trailing on the floor. Why did he not learn to tie a bow? (For +full instructions, with illustrations, on the "Tying of a bow," see +_Games Without Music_.) It must be very uncomfortable to have one's +boots all loose about the ankles, besides looking so untidy. + +Can you guess how his stockings were? They were all in folds round his +legs, instead of being drawn and held up tight, and he had always a +button off somewhere. The worst of it was that Leo did not seem to +=mind= being untidy. I hope =you= are not like that. Do all the little +girls love to have smooth, clean pinafores? and do the boys like to have +a clean collar and smooth hair? and do all of you keep your hands and +faces clean? Then you are like the children in these verses. + +1. The Tidy Boy:-- + + A tidy boy would not be seen + With rough or rumpled hair, + Nor come to meals with unwashed hands + And face; and he will care + To have his collar clean and white, + And boots must polished be and bright. + +2. The Tidy Girl:-- + + And what about the tidy girl? + All nice and clean is she, + Her pinafore is smooth and straight, + Her hair neat as can be; + No wrinkled sock, or untied lace + Does this neat, tidy girl disgrace. + + +48. Pussy and the Knitting. + +I wonder if you have heard of pussy getting mother's knitting and making +it all in a tangle. These are the verses about it:-- + + +PUSS IN MISCHIEF.[11] + + 1. "Where are you, kitty? + Where are you?--say. + I've scarcely seen you + At all to-day. + + 2. "You're not in mischief, + I hope, my dear; + Ah! now I have found you. + How came you here? + + 3. "That's mother's knitting, + You naughty kit; + Oh! such a tangle + You've made of it. + + 4. "'Twas =that= which kept you + So very still; + Mamma will scold you, + I know she will." + + 5. Then puss comes to me, + And rubs her fur + Against my fingers, + And says "purr, purr". + + 6. I know she means it + To say, "Don't scold," + So close in my arms + My puss I hold. + + 7. And then I tell her, + My little pet, + That mother's knitting + She must not get. + + 8. The wool will never + Be wound, I fear; + But mother forgives + My kitty dear. + +I do not suppose that pussy would =know= she was doing anything naughty +in tangling the wool, but a =child= would know, of course, that wool +must be kept straight and tidy if it is to be of use. + + +49. The Packing of the Trunks. + +Nellie and Madge were two little girls getting ready to go for a visit +to grandmamma. She lived many miles away, and the children were to go by +train and stay with her for a whole month. + +Their clothes were all laid on the bed ready for packing, and as mother +wanted them to grow up =helpful= girls, she said they might put the +things in the boxes themselves. So Nellie and Madge began to pack. +Nellie took each article by itself, and laid it carefully in the box +without creasing, putting all the heavier things at the bottom, and the +dresses and lighter articles at the top. When she had laid them all in, +the lid just closed nicely, and her work was finished. + +Then she turned to see what Madge was doing. Madge had not packed more +than half her pile, and the box was full. "What shall I do?" she cried, +"I =cannot= get them all in." Just then mamma came up and said: "Have +you finished, children? it is nearly train time". Her eyes fell on the +box Madge was packing, and she exclaimed, "Oh! Madge, you have put the +clothes in anyhow, everything must be taken out!" Madge had just thrown +them in "higgledy-piggledy," instead of laying them straight, and they +came out a crumpled heap. She was so hot and flurried, and so afraid of +being late for the train, that she could hardly keep the tears back, but +mamma and Nellie helped to straighten the things, and to pack them +neatly, and just as the cab drove up to the door the last frock was laid +in the box, and the lid went down without any trouble. Madge remembered +to take more pains next time she packed her box. + +I was in a house one day, and when the lady opened a drawer to get +something out, the articles in the drawer =bounced up= just like a "Jack +in the box," because you see, they had been put in anyhow, and then +crushed down to allow the drawer to be closed. Of course she could not +find what she wanted. I hope none of =your= drawers are like a "Jack in +the box". I wonder if untidy people are lazy? I am afraid they are. + +A girl came home from school one day, and threw her wet cloak on a chair +all in a heap, instead of hanging it up nicely on a peg. When she next +wanted to wear the cloak, it was all over creases and not fit to put on. +Perhaps she thought that mother would see it on the chair, and hang it +up for her, but a nice, thoughtful child would not like to give mother +the trouble, would she? + +(Blackboard.) + + Be Tidy and Neat. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[11] _New Recitations for Infants_, p. 41. + + + + +XXI. MODESTY. + + +50. The Violet. + +Two friends were walking along a country road, and as they went on one +said: "I do believe there are violets somewhere on this bank, the air +smells so sweet". The other lady replied that she did not see any; but, +looking carefully, they at last found the leaves, and there, hiding away +among them, was the little sweet violet, with its delicious scent. + +Why does the little violet hide away? Because she is =modest=, which +means that she does not like to =boast=, or 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. + + +51. Modesty in Dress. + +There is another way in which children can be modest--they can be modest +about dress. A child's dress is not so long as that of a grown-up +person, because children want to romp and play about, but a =modest= +child always likes its dress to cover it nicely, and will take care that +no buttons are unfastened. + +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. + +In America the children have much longer dresses than in our country, +and they would think little girls very rude who were not as careful as +Jessie. + +You will think for yourselves of many other ways in which children can +be modest. It is a good rule never to do =anything= that we would be +ashamed for teacher or mother to see. + + + + +XXII. ON GIVING PLEASURE TO OTHERS. + + +52. "Selfless" and "Thoughtful"--a Fairy Tale. + +"Selfless" and "Thoughtful" were sisters of the little "Gold-wings" +(Story Lesson 1). I cannot tell you which of the two was the sweetest +and best; they were =both= so lovable, for like "Gold-wings" they were +always thinking of others, and especially of how they could give +pleasure to the sick and weak. One day, as they sat on a mossy bank in +the Fairy wood, "Selfless" asked, "What shall we do next, sister?" and +"Thoughtful" made answer, "I have been thinking of little Davie, who is +so lame and weak; suppose I go to the Kindergarten and try to get some +one to be kind to him". "A good idea," replied "Selfless," "and I will +fly over the fields and see what can be done there; then in the +moonlight we will meet, and tell each other what we have done." So they +spread their pretty wings and flew away. + + * * * * * + +Now it is night in the Fairy wood, and in the silver moonlight the +sisters rest again on the mossy bank and talk. + + +53. The Bunch of Roses. + +"I flew to the Kindergarten," said "Thoughtful," "you know Davie used to +attend there before he was ill. Of course no one saw me, and as I +hovered over the teacher's desk, little Bessie, a rosy-cheeked maid, +came up and laid a lovely bunch of crimson roses upon it for the +teacher. The scent was so delicious I could not help nestling down into +one of the roses to enjoy it better. The teacher picked up the flowers, +not knowing I was there, and as she buried her face in the soft petals, +to smell the sweet perfume, I whispered 'Send them to Davie'." + +"A smile instantly came over her face, and she said: 'Bessie, a good +fairy has whispered a kind thought to me; shall we send your pretty +roses to Davie?'" + +"'Oh! yes,' said Bessie, 'please let me take them to him with your love, +for I gave them to you." + +"So the roses were taken to Davie, and how happy they made him to be +sure! and the =teacher= was happy because she had remembered poor Davie, +and =Bessie= was happy to carry the flowers to him, so I came away glad, +also; but what have =you= done, dear sister?" + + +54. Edwin and the Birthday Party. + +Then "Selfless" answered:-- + +"I flew away over the fields, and there I saw a little boy, dressed all +in his best clothes, speeding away across the field-path, and I knew +that he was going to a birthday party, and that he was walking quickly +so as to be in time; for there was to be a lovely birthday cake, all +iced over with sugar; and little pieces of silver, called threepenny +pieces, had been scattered through the cake, so of course Edwin wanted +to be there when it was cut up. + +"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. + +"Edwin heard the scream and said to himself, 'I wonder what that is? I +should like to go and see, but oh, dear! it will perhaps make me late +for the party'. Then the Bad Voice spoke to him, and said, 'Never mind +the scream; hurry on to the party," and Edwin hurried on, but his cheeks +grew hot, and he looked unhappy. + +"Soon the child screamed again, and the Good Voice said, 'Help! Edwin, +never mind self,' and with that he turned back, and ran to the place +where the sounds had seemed to come from. He soon saw the little girl, +who was trying to scramble up the steep side of the ditch, and could +not; it needed the help of Edwin's strong hands to give her a good pull, +and bring her safely out. Oh, how glad she was to be on the grass once +more! Edwin wiped her tears away, and told her to run home; then he made +haste to the party with a light, glad heart, and he arrived just as they +were sitting down to tea, so he was in time for the cake after all. But +even if he had =missed= it, he would have been glad that he stayed +behind to help the little girl." + +"What a nice boy," said "Thoughtful". "Did he tell the people at the +party what he had done?" + +"Oh, =no=," replied "Selfless"; "his mother told him that people should +=never boast= of kind things they had done, for that would spoil it." + +"True," said "Thoughtful"; "but what did =you= do, dear "Selfless"? It +is not boasting to tell =me=." + +"I only helped Edwin to listen to the Good Voice," replied "Selfless," +as she looked down on the moss at her feet. + +"A good work, too," said "Thoughtful"; "and now, what shall we do +next?" + + +55. Davie's Christmas Present. + +"I have been thinking," said "Selfless," "that Christmas will soon be +here, and how nice it would be if we could help the children at the +Kindergarten to think of Davie, and make ready a Christmas present for +him." + +"A lovely idea," said "Thoughtful"; "we will go to-morrow, for it wants +only a month to Christmas." + +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=.) + +Bessie was the first to answer, and she said, "Oh, yes, it would be +lovely to make a Christmas present for Davie; do let us try". And all +the children said, "Yes, do let us try". + +"It must be something made by your own little hands," said the teacher. +"Think now, what could you do?" + +"We could make some little 'boats'[12] in paperfolding," said one child. +Teacher said that would do nicely, and she wrote it down. + +Another child said, "I could sew a 'cat' in the embroidery lesson," and +Bessie exclaimed, "Please let me sew a 'kitten' to go with it," and the +teacher wrote that down, and remarked that some one else might make the +"saucer" for pussy's milk, in pricking. Then others might make a +"nest"[1] in clay with eggs in it, and a little "bird" sitting on the +eggs, suggested the teacher; and as the "babies" begged to be allowed to +help also, it was decided that they should thread pretty coloured beads +on sticks, and make a nice large "basket".[13] + +"Now," said teacher, "I have quite a long list, and we must begin at +once." So they all set to work, and when breaking-up day came, Davie's +present was ready. There was a whole fleet of "ships," white inside and +crimson outside. The pictures of "pussy" and her "kitten" were neatly +sewn, and the "saucer" was white and clean, and evenly pricked, while +the "bird" on its "nest" looked as pretty as could be, and the "bead +basket" was the best of all--at least the =babies= thought so. + +I have no words to tell of the joy that the children's present brought +to little Davie, his face flushed with pleasure as the "boats" and other +gifts were spread out before him; it was so delightful to think that the +children had remembered =him= and =worked= for him. + +"Selfless" and "Thoughtful" sat once more on the mossy bank, and +rejoiced that the plan had worked so well. + +If these little fairies and their sister "Kindness" should ever suggest +thoughts to =you=, dear boys and girls, do not send them away. They will +speak to you through the Good Voice, and the happiest people in the +world are the people who listen to the Good Voice. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[12] _Kindergarten Guide_, Boat, p. 158, No. 35. + +[13] _Kindergarten Guide_, Nest, p. 174, No. 12; Basket, Plate 6, +opposite p. 129, No. 9 in Fig. 79. + + + + +XXIII. CLEANLINESS.[14] + + +56. Why we should be Clean. + +(Show the children a sponge.) Here is a sponge! What do we see all over +the sponge? We see little holes. There is another name for these--we +call them =pores=. (Write "pores" on Blackboard.) What comes out on your +forehead sometimes on a hot day? Drops of water come out. They come +through tiny holes in the skin, so tiny that we cannot see them, and +these also are called pores. + +Once upon a time, long, long ago, there was to be a grand procession in +a fine old city called Rome, and a little golden-haired child was gilded +all over his body to represent "The Golden Age" in the procession. When +it was over the little child was soon dead. Can you guess why? The pores +in his skin had been all stopped up with the gilding, so that the damp, +warm air could not get out, and that caused his death. + +You see, then, that we breathe with these little pores, just as we +breathe with our nose and mouth, and if the pores were all closed up we +should die. Now you will understand why we have to be washed and bathed. +What is it that the dirt does to your pores? It stops them up, so + +(Blackboard) + + To be Healthy, We must be Clean. + + + +57. Little Creatures who like to be Clean. + +You know that pussy likes to be clean, and that she washes herself +carefully, and her little kittens, also, until they are big enough to +wash themselves; but there are other creatures, much smaller than the +cat, who like to be clean. + +Do you know what shrimps or prawns are? I daresay you have often eaten a +shrimp! Have you ever counted its ten long legs? On the front pair there +are two tiny brushes, and the prawn has been seen to stand up on his +eight hind legs, and brush himself with the tiny tufts on his front +legs, to get all the sand away. Is not that clever for such a little +fellow? + +There is another creature, very much smaller than the prawn, that is +particularly clean, though we do not like to have it in our houses. + +If the housemaid sees its little "parlour" in the corner of a room, she +sweeps it away. You remember who it was that said: "Will you walk into +my parlour?" It was the spider, and it is the spider who is so very fond +of being clean, that it cannot bear to have a grain of dust anywhere +about its body. Its hairs and legs are always kept perfectly clean. + +Then there is the tiny ant, which is smaller than a fly, and it loves to +keep itself nice and clean, so if + +(Blackboard) + + Shrimps and Spiders and Ants like to be Clean, + Children should like to be Clean. + + +58. The Boy who did not like to be Washed. + +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; then a +gentleman stepped out, walked up to the door, and rang the bell, which +was answered by Sydney's mother. + +"I have called to take your little boy for a drive," said the gentleman, +"but I am in a great hurry; could you have him ready at once?" + +Just then Sydney peeped in at the door. Oh! what a little blackamoor he +was, not fit for any one to see! His mother had to explain to the kind +gentleman how it was that he looked so dirty, and, as nothing but a bath +and a whole suit of clean clothes would make him fit to go, he had to be +left behind. Poor Sydney began to feel very sad and sorry now, and when +the carriage had driven away he ran up to his mother, hid his little +black face in her dress, and burst into tears. "Oh, mother," he cried, +"do make me a clean boy again; I will never be naughty any more when I +am washed." Sydney never forgot the lesson he had learnt that + +(Blackboard) + + Nobody likes Children to be Dirty. + + +59. The Nails and the Teeth. + +What a good thing it is that we have nice, hard nails to keep the tips +of our fingers from being hurt! How sore they would get if it were not +for those bright, horny nails, and how well they protect the +finger-tips, which have to touch so many things! + +Most of the nail is fast to the finger, but at the outer edge there is a +little space =between= the nail and the finger, and if we are not +careful this little space gets filled with dirt, and then the nail has a +black band across the top, which looks very ugly. When the nails are +long, the band is wider, and, although the dirt is =under= the nail, it +shows on the outside, because the nail is transparent, that is, it can +be seen through. + +Do you like to have your hands clean? Then there must be no black bands +to disfigure the pretty, shining nails; our hands cannot be called clean +if there is a little arch of dirt at the tip of each finger. Ask mother +to cut the nails when they get too long, then you can keep them clean +more easily. + +Men who do work that soils their hands very much like the chimney-sweep +(Story Lesson 62) cannot possibly keep their nails clean, but children +can. + +There was once a little boy who had the funniest finger-tips I ever saw. +The nails were so short that there was not the tiniest space between the +outer edge and the fleshy part, and so the tip of each finger had grown +out like a little round cushion, not at all pretty to look at. If the +little boy saw any one noticing his hands, he would hide them away, lest +he should be asked what it was that caused the finger-tips to look so +funny. I wonder if =you= can guess the reason? It was because the boy +bit his nails. What a horrid thing to do! Was it not? And how do you +think his mother cured him? She dipped the tips of his fingers in +tincture of bitter aloes, so that when he put them in his mouth he might +get the bitter taste, and leave off biting them. + +I once heard a gentleman say that =he= thought it was very rude to put a +pencil or anything near the mouth, so what would he think of a child who +put his =fingers= in his mouth, and bit his nails? Baby may suck her +little thumb sometimes, perhaps, because she does not know better, but +sensible children will remember that it is rude to put fingers in mouth. + +(Blackboard.) + + Keep your Nails Clean. + Do not put Fingers in Mouth. + +Can you think of anything else that should be kept clean besides the +nails? In your mouth are two rows of beautiful little, white teeth. At +least they =ought= to be white, but if we do not keep them clean, they +often get discoloured and begin to decay and give us pain. + +We should each have a tooth-brush, and use it every day to cleanse the +teeth, dipping it first in nice, clean water, and when the brushing is +done, the mouth should be rinsed several times. The teeth should be +brushed up and down from the gums (not from left to right), so that we +may get all the particles of food from the tiny spaces between the +teeth. If we do this regularly we shall not be likely to suffer much +from toothache. + + Two white rows of pearly teeth, + What can prettier be? + If you =keep= them clean and white, + They are fair to see. + +(Blackboard.) + + Why we brush teeth:-- + 1. To keep clean and prevent toothache. + 2. To make them look nice. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[14] No. 21, "Washing One's Self" in _Games Without Music_ might be +appropriately used with above subject. + + + + +XXIV. PURE LANGUAGE. + + +60. Toads and Diamonds--A Fairy Tale. + +There was an old woman at a well, who, when a little girl came to draw +water, asked for a drink, and the kind little maiden lifted the jug to +the old woman's lips, and told her to take as much as she wished. Then +the old woman blessed her for her kindness, and said that whenever the +child spoke, pearls and diamonds should fall from her lips. Then another +girl came to the well, and again the old woman asked to drink, but the +girl said, "No! draw water for yourself". That was rude and unkind, was +it not? + +The old woman, who was really the Queen of the Fairies, could not bless +=this= girl for her kindness, because she had showed none, so she said +that whenever the girl spoke, toads and vipers should fall from her +lips. That is like the people who do not speak good, pure language; the +bad words that fall from their lips are like toads and vipers. I hope +you have never heard such words, but if you ever should, do not stop to +listen, for wicked words are like the pitch that Martin tried to play +with (Story Lesson 63); the person who says them cannot be pure and +true, for bad words are not =clean=. + +A lady was travelling in a railway train one day, and several young men +were in the carriage, who spoke and looked like gentlemen. But by-and-by +they began to swear dreadfully, and the lady asked if they would be kind +enough to say the bad words in Greek or Latin, so that she could not +understand them. She did not want to hear the bad words, you see; they +were like toads and vipers to her, because she loved what was pure and +clean. + +(Blackboard.) + + Keep your Language Pure. Do not Listen to Bad Words. + + + + +XXV. PUNCTUALITY. + + +61. Lewis and the School Picnic. + +There was once a little boy called Lewis, who had one bad fault--he was +very, very slow; so slow, that I am afraid he was really lazy. He could +do his sums quite well, but he was always the last boy to get them +finished; and in a morning his mother had no end of trouble to get him +off to school in time, he did everything so slowly. (Read the following +sentence very deliberately, and allow the children to fill in the +adverbs): He got out of bed (slowly), dressed himself (slowly), washed +himself (slowly), laced his boots (slowly), ate his breakfast (slowly), +and walked to school at the same pace (slowly). + +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!" + +The morning came, and Lewis was called by his mother at seven o'clock. +"There is plenty of time," said Lewis, "I will lie a little longer;" and +he did so. Then his mother called again, and this time he rose, but he +went through all his work as slowly as ever, and all the time his mother +was telling him to "hurry up" or he would be too late. + +At last he is ready to start; but just as he leaves the house a bell is +rung. "What is that?" says Lewis; "it must be the bell of the steamer. I +have no time to go round by the school; I must go straight to the pier," +and off he ran. But, alas! by the time he reached the pier the boat was +steaming off. He could see the children with their pails and spades +waving their handkerchiefs in glee, and there was he left behind! + +I was telling this story to a little boy once, and when it came to this +part he said: "Oh, auntie! could not they get a little boat and take +Lewis to the steamer? It is so hard for him to be left behind." + +But you see, boys and girls, we =must= be left behind, if we are slow +and lazy. + +I am glad to tell you, however, that Lewis was cured of his fault by +this disappointment. He really did try to get on more quickly +afterwards, and he succeeded. At school he had his sums finished so soon +that the teacher began to let him help the other boys who did not get on +so well, and Lewis was quite proud and happy. Then he came to school so +early that he was made "monitor," and had to put out the slates and +books, ready for the others. So, after all, Lewis grew up to be smart +and quick, and not like the man you will hear of in another story (Story +Lesson 84), who grew worse as he grew older. + +(Blackboard.) + + Do not be Slow and Lazy, or you will be always "Too Late". + + + + +XXVI. ALL WORK HONOURABLE. + + +62. The Chimney-sweep. + +"Mother," said little Frank, "I saw a man walking along the street +to-day with a bundle of brushes in his hand, and such a black face. I +was careful not to touch him as I passed, he looked so dirty--quite a +'blackamoor'"! + +"Ah!" said his mother, "that was a chimney-sweep; he cannot =help= being +dirty, and my little boy ought to feel very kindly to him, for we should +be badly off without such men." + +Not many days afterwards there was a storm. How the wind blew and +roared! All through the night it rattled the windows and whistled in the +chimney. Frank's mother went downstairs early in the morning to make a +fire, but as soon as she lighted it, puff! the smoke came down the +chimney, and filled the room, and she was obliged to let the fire go +out. + +Down came the children for breakfast, and Frank cried: "Is the fire not +lighted, mother? I am so cold; and oh! the house =is= smoky." + +"I have tried to light a fire," said his mother, "but the smoke blows +down the chimney. I think it needs sweeping; I shall have to give you +milk for breakfast; there is no nice, hot coffee for you, because the +fire will not burn." + +After breakfast Frank's brother went to fetch the chimney-sweep, who +soon came, and with his long brushes brought down all the soot, which he +carried away in a bag. Then the fire burned merrily, making the room +look quite bright and cheerful, and Frank said: "Thank you, Mr. +Chimney-sweep, for your good work. I will never call you 'blackamoor' +again; and when I meet you in the street, I will not think you are too +dirty to speak to." + +Frank had learnt two lessons:-- + +(Blackboard) + + 1. Some Work makes Men Black. + 2. We must be kind to these Men, for we Need their Work. + + + + +XXVII. BAD COMPANIONS. + + +63. Playing with Pitch. + +You have seen the men at work mending the roads, and you know how +sometimes they spread little stones all over the road, and then roll +them flat with a steam-roller. But in some places the roads are laid +with stones as large as bricks, and when these have all been placed +together, the men take a large can with a spout, full of hot pitch, and +pour it into the spaces between the stones to fasten them together. + +A little boy, named Martin, was watching the men do this one day, and he +said to himself, "I should like a piece of that black stuff; it has +cooled now, and looks like a black piece of dough; I could make all +sorts of shapes with it, and I do not believe it would soil my hands". +So he picked up a length that lay near him, rolled it into a ball, and +put it in his pocket. Some of the tar stuck to his hands, and when he +washed them it did not come off, but it was now school time, and away he +went. When he came out of school, he put his hand in his pocket to get +the tar, and oh, what a sticky mess it was! His pocket was all over tar, +so was his hand, and when he reached home, his mother set to work to get +it off, and it took her a long, long time. + +Martin was mistaken in thinking he could play with the pitch and not get +soiled. + + +64. Stealing Strawberries. + +When Martin grew older he had some playmates who were not very good, and +his mother said, "Martin, I wish you would not play with those boys; I +fear they will get you into trouble". + +"Oh! no, mother," replied Martin, "if they =wanted= me to do anything +wrong I would not; I need not learn their bad ways if I =do= play with +them." But his mother shook her head, for she knew better. + +Some time afterwards the boys had a half-holiday, and Martin went with +his friends into the country. Presently they came to a large garden, +with a high wall round it, and the boys began to climb the wall. + +"Where are you going?" asked Martin. + +"Oh!" said one of the boys, laughing, "a friend of ours owns this +garden, and we are going to help him gather strawberries." + +There was a large bed of strawberries on the other side of the wall, and +as soon as the boys were over, they began to pick and eat. + +What the boy had told Martin was quite untrue--they were =stealing= the +strawberries; but before very long the gardener spied them, and with one +or two other men came upon them so quietly, that they had no time to get +away, and every boy was made prisoner. The gardener locked them up in +the tool-house until the owner came, and he took their names and +addresses, and said they should be brought before the magistrates, as it +was not the first time they had stolen his fruit. Of course Martin had +not been with them the other times, but he was caught with them now, and +can you imagine how dreadfully ashamed he felt, and how his cheeks +burned when he thought of his dear mother, and the trouble it would be +to her. When he reached home, he told his mother all that had happened, +and begged her forgiveness. His mother was greatly distressed, and said: +"You remember playing with the pitch, Martin, when you were a very +little boy--you thought you could handle it, and still keep clean, but +you could not; so neither can you have bad companions without being +mixed up in wrong-doing". + +(Blackboard.) + + To mix with Bad Company is like Playing with Pitch. + + + + +XXVIII. ON FORGETTING. + + +65. Maggie's Birthday Present. + +It was Maggie's birthday, and her father brought her as a present +something that she had been wishing for a very long time. It was a +beautiful yellow canary, and its little house was the prettiest cage +imaginable, for it was made of brass wire, which was so bright that you +could almost think it was gold. Of course Maggie was delighted. "It is +just what I have been wishing for," said she; "I shall feed the canary +myself, and give it fresh water every day; it is the prettiest bird I +ever saw." + +For some weeks Maggie remembered her little pet each day, and attended +to all its wants, but there came a day when there was to be a picnic for +all the school children, and Maggie was so excited and glad about the +picnic that she forgot all about feeding the bird. + +Then next day there was hay-making, and she was in the field all day, +and again forgot the poor bird. + +This went on for a few days, and when at last she =did= remember, and +went to the cage, the bird was dead. + +Maggie was full of grief, and cried until her head ached, but she could +not undo the results of her forgetting. + +Some people think it is a =little= fault to forget, but that cannot be, +for we know well that "forgetting" often causes pain and suffering to +others. + +(Blackboard.) + + Forgetting often causes Pain. + + +66. The Promised Drive. + +Daniel was a lame little boy. He could not walk at all, nor play about +with the other children, so he was very puny and pale. His mother used +to put his little chair near the door of the cottage where they lived, +so that he could watch the people pass, and one day, as he sat there, a +lady came by with a well-dressed little boy, and when she saw the +pale-faced child she stopped and spoke to him, and then Daniel's mother +came to the door, and invited her to step inside the cottage. + +The lady's little boy was called Emil, and he stood on the doorstep +talking to Daniel, while the two mothers spoke together within the +cottage. Emil, who was a kind-hearted little fellow, felt very sorry for +the lame child, and when he found that Daniel was never able to go any +farther than the street where he lived, Emil said: "I will ask my father +to bring his carriage round and take you for a drive; I am sure he will, +and then you can see the green fields and trees, and hear the birds +sing". + +Daniel's little face flushed with pleasure, and he said; "Oh that would +be lovely!" + +By-and-by the lady and her boy said "Good-bye," and went away, and then +Daniel told his mother all that Emil had said. "Do you think he will +come to-morrow, mother?" asked Daniel. + +"Perhaps not to-morrow, dear," replied she, "but some day soon maybe." + +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 +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. You do not =intend= to speak what is +not the truth, but you do it all the same. Remember, then, that it is +=not= a little fault to forget, and that those who do it are not +building on the firm foundation of truth. + +(Blackboard.) + + When we Promise and Forget, we are not True. + + _To the Parent or Teacher._--However culpable it + may be to break promises to adults (and it is in + reality nothing less than untruth), it is + infinitely worse to break faith with children. An + unredeemed promise is a sure way of shaking a + child's confidence in truth and goodness. Let us + keep our word with the little ones at whatever + cost. + + +67. The Boy who Remembered. + +Little Elsie had a big brother called Jack, of whom she was very fond, +and he was fond of Elsie also. Jack was about fifteen years old, and he +was learning to be a sailor. When his ship came into port he used to +come home for a few days, and then he would tell Elsie all about the +places he had seen. One time the voyage had been very long, and Jack +told Elsie that when the bread was all finished they had had to eat +sea-biscuits instead. + +"How funny," said Elsie; "what are sea-biscuits like, Jack?" + +"They are very hard and round and thick," replied Jack. + +Elsie said she would like to see one, and Jack promised that when he +went back to his ship he would send her one. + +It was not a great thing to promise, was it? But Elsie felt very +important when the postman brought her a little parcel a day or two +after Jack had left, and she was very glad when she opened it and found +the promised biscuit. + +"There is one good thing about Jack," exclaimed Elsie, "he always does +what he says." I think Jack would have been pleased to hear Elsie say +that; it is one of the nicest things that =could= have been said about +him. I hope it is true of all of us. + +(Blackboard.) + + To Forget is not a Little Thing. + Be True, and do what you say. + + + + +XXIX. KINDNESS TO ANIMALS. + + +68. Lulu and the Sparrow. + +As Lulu came home from school one afternoon, she noticed three or four +boys throwing stones at something--I hardly like to =tell= you what. It +was a poor little brown sparrow that had somehow hurt its leg, and could +not fly. However, this happened a great many years ago, and perhaps boys +are less cruel now. + +Lulu could not bear to see the poor bird treated so badly, and she asked +the boys to give it to her. At first they laughed, and went on throwing +the stones; but she continued to beg for it so earnestly, that at last +one of the boys said, "Let her have it". And Lulu was only too glad to +pick up the wounded bird and carry it home. She nursed and fed it +carefully, and put it in a warm place by the fire; but, in spite of all +her care, the sparrow died in a few hours. + +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; you feel it is not fair; neither is it +fair to hurt a dumb animal that has done nothing wrong. + + +69. Why we should be Kind to Animals. + +Just think how many things animals do for us. Where did the wool come +from that makes your nice, warm clothes? (Let children answer.) How do +we get the coals to our houses--the coals that make the bright, hot +fires? (Ans.) What could we do without the brave, strong horses? I heard +the other day of a man who did not give his horse enough to eat. What +kind of man was he? (Ans.) I would rather be like the Arab, who loves +his horse so much that he brings it into his tent, and shares his food +and bed with it. Where do we get our milk, butter and cheese? (Ans.) +Then think of all the stories of animals in this book, who have done +kind, clever things (and all these stories are true). If boys and girls +would =think=, I am quite sure they would never be unkind to animals. + + +70. The Butterfly. + +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. All this +is cruel and unkind. Remember it is =not noble= to hurt. The truest +gentleman is he who is full of kindness and gentleness and will not hurt +anything. + + +71. The Kind-hearted Dog. + +Have you ever seen children riding donkeys at the seaside? and have you +noticed how the boys beat the poor things sometimes to make them go +faster? I do not think a =kind= boy or girl would like to have a donkey +beaten. I hope =you= would not. + +There was once a little dog who could not bear to see any creature +beaten. If any one were ill-treating a dog he would rush up and bark +quite angrily, and when he was driving in the dog-cart with his master, +he always used to hold the sleeve of his master's coat every time he +touched the horse with the whip, as if he would have said, "Do not beat +him, please". Now, if a =dog= knows that it is not kind to hurt dumb +creatures, we are sure boys and girls know. + +(Blackboard.) + + To Hurt Animals is Cruel, for the pain is needless. + It is Unfair, for they do not deserve it. + It is Cowardly, for often they cannot hurt you in return. + + + + +XXX. BAD TEMPER. + + +72. How Paul was Cured. + +Paul was a little boy who was very fond of having his own way, and when +he could not get it he used to throw himself into the most dreadful +tempers. He would take his pocket-handkerchief and tear it all to pieces +in his rage, not to mention lying on the floor and kicking with his +heels. One day his governess said to him, "Paul, I will tell you a true +story". Paul sat down ready to listen, for he loved stories, so the +governess began:-- + +"There was once a little boy, bright, honest and truthful, always ready +to run messages for his mother, or to help a schoolmate with his +lessons, he was so good-natured. But Henry (for that was his name) had +one great fault--he would get into violent passions when any one vexed +him, and as he grew older his passion became stronger, and had the +mastery of him more and more. He was a sailor, and as time went on he +had a ship of his own, and was captain of it. Henry could manage the +ship well; he knew just how to turn the wheel to make her go East or +West, and he knew also how to trim the sails to make the ship move +swiftly along. If he could have controlled his temper as he did his +ship, all might have been well. But he used to be very angry with the +sailors when they did not please him, and one day when the cabin-boy had +done something that vexed him, the captain in a fit of passion beat the +poor boy so cruelly that he died. When the ship came home the captain +was taken to prison, and in the end he lost =his= life for having taken +the boy's life." + +The governess paused, and Paul gazed up into her face with wide-open, +anxious eyes. "Is =that= what happens to boys who get into a passion?" +he asked. + +"It happened to the captain," said she. + +"Then I will never give way to passion again if it has such a dreadful +ending," said Paul, and the governess told me that he kept his word. + +(Blackboard.) + + If Bad Temper gets the Mastery, it leads to sad Results. + + +73. The Young Horse. + +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 +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. But as the train whirls by, the horse +runs off and scampers round and round the field. Edgar watched him as +long as he could see, and then he said: "What a lovely horse, mother! +how I should like to ride him!" + +"The horse is of no use for riding yet, Edgar," said his mother. + +"Why?" asked Edgar. + +"Because he has not yet learnt to obey a rider," replied she; "the horse +has to wear bit and bridle before he can be of use, and to learn by them +to be controlled. A horse that could not be managed would run away with +you, just as poor Henry's temper ran away with him (Story Lesson 72)." + +Bad tempers and bad habits are like wild horses: they take us where they +will, and get us into sad trouble if we do not bridle them, so we must +take care =not= to let the temper be master, but bridle it just as the +horse-trainer bridles the horse. + +"I should think the horse does not like the bit and bridle at first," +said Edgar. + +"Very likely not," replied his mother; "but he would not be the useful, +patient animal that he is if he did not submit." + +(Blackboard.) + + Horse has to be Held in by Bit and Bridle. + We Must Bridle Temper and Bad Habit. + + + + +XXXI. SELFISHNESS. + + +74. The Child on the Coach. + +It was summer, and we were riding on the top of the coach through one of +the loveliest parts of Scotland. The coach had five seats with four +persons on each, so you may easily find out how many people there were. +On the next seat to ours sat a lady with a little spoilt boy, about four +years of age, who was very hard to please, and very discontented and +unhappy. You will not be much surprised to hear that presently he began +to cry, for spoilt children often do that, but I do not think you could +ever guess the =reason=. His mother was speaking to a lady on the seat +behind, and when the child was asked, "What is the matter?" he said, +"Mamma is not attending to me when I speak to her," and =that= was why +he cried. He wanted his mother to attend to =him=, to speak to him all +the time, and that was selfish. He was only a very little child, but he +thought too much of that ugly word--=self=, and that was why he was so +discontented and unhappy. + +I knew another little child who was always wanting some one to play with +her; she never tried to amuse herself, but was continually teasing her +mother to join in her games. It is better to be like little Elsie (Story +Lesson 21) who when only a year old thought of the comfort of others. + + +75. Edna and the Cherries. + +One day a lady called at a cottage where there lived a little girl, +named Edna, who was playing on the hearth-rug with another little girl, +Lizzie. The lady had come to see Edna's grandmamma, but she had not +forgotten that Edna lived there, and she brought out of her basket a +little paper bag full of ripe cherries, and gave them to the child. Edna +did not forget to say "thank you," then she took the little bag, put it +on a chair, and peeped inside; she was only two years old, and could not +have reached the table. As soon as she saw the pretty, red cherries, she +toddled to her little friend, and holding out the bag, said, "Lizzie +some". When Lizzie had taken a handful, she went to her grandmother, and +said, "Grandmamma some," and then with a shy, little glance at the lady, +she placed the bag in her lap, and said, "Lady some". + +Last of all she helped her dear little self, and so we say that Edna was +=un=selfish, that means =not= selfish. Baby Edna did not know about the +Temple we all have to make, but she was building it just the same. +Perhaps "Selfless" and "Thoughtful" were helping her to find the stones! + +(Blackboard.) + + Think First of Others, Last of Self. + + +76. The Boy who liked always to Win. + +We all like to win when we play games, and that is quite right, but +Johnny liked =so much= to win that he was cross and unhappy if any one +else was winning, and did not enjoy the game at all; I am afraid that he +even cheated sometimes to win. Now all that was downright selfish; it +reminds one of a story--a sort of fairy-tale--about Minerva and +Arachne. + +Arachne said to Minerva, "Let us see who can spin the best". 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.) + + Try to be Glad when Others Win, as well as when you Win Yourself. + + +77. The two Boxes of Chocolate. + +It was Christmas time, and on Christmas Eve the children hung up their +stockings as usual. Next morning they were awake early, and eagerly +turned out the stockings to see what they contained. Among other things +Horace and Stanley found that they each had a beautiful large +picture-box full of lovely chocolate creams. + +After dinner on Christmas Day Stanley brought out his box, and handed it +round to everybody, and by the next day his chocolates were all +finished. + +But Horace hid his box away in a drawer, and kept going to it, and +taking out a few at a time, so his chocolates lasted much longer than +Stanley's, and he ate them all himself, but we are obliged to say that +he was rather selfish. "Shared joy is double joy," and of the two boys +we are sure that Stanley would be the happier. + +Shall I tell you a little secret? 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. I am sure we all hate selfishness; let +us write down + +(Blackboard.) + + We will not have the Ugly Stone "Selfishness" in our Temple. + + +78. Eva.[15] + +Eva was not a very big girl, and her boots were generally cleaned by the +older ones, but one day her mother said, "Eva, I wish you would brush +your own boots this morning, we are all so busy". + +"Oh mother!" said Eva, "you know it gives me a headache to brush boots, +and I shall make my hands so dirty, and perhaps bespatter the floor with +blacking as well." I am afraid Eva was rather a spoilt little girl, and +this had made her somewhat selfish. + +Half an hour later her mother came into the room again, just as Eva was +lacing up her boots, and she inquired who had made them so bright and +shiny. It was Eva's elder sister, Mary, and Eva knew that her mother was +not pleased, but nothing more was said. + +In the afternoon Mary and her mother went out shopping, and Eva hurried +home from school, although she would have liked very much to stay for a +while and play with the other girls. But she wanted to give mother a +surprise. First she put the kettle on the fire, and then she laid the +table all neatly and nicely, ready for tea. When everything was in its +place, she went to the door several times to look for her mother and +sister; at last she saw they were just turning the corner of the street, +and Eva ran along to meet them, and said, "Come away, mother, tea is +quite ready; I have been looking for you and Mary ever so long". And +dear mother knew what it all meant. + +It meant that Eva had been listening to the Good Voice, and that she was +sorry she had been so selfish in the morning. The Good Voice says + +(Blackboard) + + Don't be Selfish. Help all you can. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[15] See No. 3 _New Recitations for Infants_, p. 8. + + + + +XXXII. CARELESSNESS. + + +79. The Misfortunes of Elinor. + +Elinor was a great anxiety to her mother, for she was always either +tearing her clothes, or forgetting, or losing something--all because she +was so careless. One day at tea Elinor was taking the cup which her +mother had just filled, but as she was not looking at it, nor taking any +care, it tilted over and fell against a tall flower-vase that stood in +the centre of the table. The vase was broken, and the tablecloth deluged +with tea and water--all for want of a little care. + +Another day Elinor's mother gave her a shilling, and sent her to the +shop for some fruit, but she lost the money, and returned empty-handed. + +Coming home from school one day, she was poking her umbrella about in a +little stream of water that the rain had made along the side of the +road, when the tip of the stick caught in a grate and broke off, so the +umbrella was spoilt. I could tell you many more things about poor +careless Elinor, but these are enough to show how bad it is not to take +care. Sometimes people have taken poison instead of medicine by being +careless, and not noticing the label on the bottle; and sometimes a +train has been wrecked, and lives lost, because the engine-driver was +careless about noticing the signal. + +(Blackboard.) + + Do not be Careless; it brings Trouble. + + + + +XXXIII. ON BEING OBSTINATE. + + +80. How Daisy's Holiday was Spoilt. + +Daisy's aunt had invited her to go and spend the day with her cousin +Violet, and to Daisy, who lived in the town, it was a very great treat; +for Violet's father and mother lived at a farm, and when Daisy went +there, the two little girls spent the whole day out in the open air, +climbing on the hay, playing "hide and seek" in the barn, or helping to +milk the cows. The last time Daisy went to the farm, however, she had +taken cold, and her mother found that she had been playing without coat +and hat, so on this occasion she said, "Daisy, I want you to promise me +that you will keep your outdoor things on when you are playing with +Violet, for the day is cold". + +Daisy did not answer, and when her mother again asked her, she would not +promise. The omnibus which was to take Daisy to the farm would pass at +nine o'clock, and the time was drawing near, but still Daisy was +self-willed and would not give in. (Oh, Daisy! that is =not= the Good +Voice you are listening to, you will be sorry afterwards.) The omnibus +came rumbling down the street, and Daisy sprang up ready to go. + +"Do you promise, Daisy?" asked her mother; "I cannot let you go unless +you do;" but Daisy was still obstinate, and the omnibus went quickly +past. A minute after she burst into tears, and cried, "I =will= promise, +mother," but by this time the omnibus was too far on its way, and there +was not another until two o'clock. At this time Daisy was allowed to go, +but what a pity that she should lose half a day's pleasure, and +disappoint her cousin, as well as grieving her dear mother, all for the +sake of wanting her own way. You remember what we said about mother +knowing best in "Obedience" (Story Lesson 6). When we are obstinate, we +want to please =ourselves= instead of some one else, so you can see that + +(Blackboard) + + It is Selfish to be Obstinate; + Better give in; Mother Knows Best. + + + + +XXXIV. GREEDINESS. + + +81. Stephen and the Buns. + +It was breaking-up day at school, and the children were having buns and +tea. Each child had brought a clean pocket-handkerchief, and spread it +on the desk for a tablecloth. Then the teacher gave out the buns; nice +large buns they were, with sugar on the top, and there were just a few +left over, after one had been given to each child. Next a cup of tea was +placed on each desk, and the tea-party went on merrily. + +But why does Stephen take such large bites, and fill his mouth so full? +And why is he eating so quickly? See, his bun is finished now, and he is +asking for another! "Oh! Stephie, naughty boy, you have gobbled up your +bun as fast as you could, because you were afraid the buns left over +would be used up before you asked for more. That was =greedy=." + +Do not be greedy, boys and girls. Never mind how hungry you are; eat +slowly and nicely, and pass things to others. It is so selfish to think +only of your =own= wants, and not to care how other people are getting +on. "Greediness" is an ugly word, and no one likes to see greedy +children. + +(Blackboard.) + + It is Rude and Vulgar to be Greedy. + + + + +XXXV. BOASTING. + + +82. The Stag and his Horns. + +Have you ever seen a stag with its graceful, branching horns? + +There is a fable told of a stag who went to a pool to drink, and seeing +himself reflected in the water, he said: "Dear me, how beautiful are my +horns; what a nice, graceful appearance they give to me! My legs are +quite slender, and not at all beautiful, but my horns are handsome." +When the hunters came, however, the stag found that his slender legs +were very useful, for by means of them he could run away from his +enemies, and if it had not been that his horns caught in the branches of +a tree and held him fast, he might have escaped. + +You see how foolish it was of the stag to =boast= about his fine horns; +and we are just as foolish when =we= boast of anything that we have, or +of anything we can do. + +Boasting often leads to untruth, as in (Story Lesson 11) "The Three +Feathers". It is always vulgar to pretend that we are better than our +neighbours, and people who boast generally try to make one believe that +they =are= cleverer or richer or better than somebody else. Let us be +like the modest violet, who hides her beauty, rather than be boastful +and foolish, as the stag was. + +(Blackboard.) + + It is Foolish and Vulgar to Boast. + + + + +XXXVI. WASTEFULNESS. + + +83. The Little Girl who was Lost. + +A little girl wandered away from home one morning and got lost in a +wood. She tried in vain to find the way home again, but she could not, +and then she sat down and cried, for she was so tired, and oh! =so= +hungry. She thought of the many crusts of bread and pieces of meat that +she had often left on her plate at home, and how glad she would have +been to eat them now. It was evening when her friends found her, and +took her safely home; we will hope that she remembered that hungry day +in the woods, and did not waste any more pieces of bread afterwards. + +If you think of the many poor people who have scarcely enough to eat, +you will see how wrong it is to waste anything. When we have more than +we need, let us give it to those who have not enough, and never forget +that + +(Blackboard) + + It is Wrong to Waste. + + + + +XXXVII. LAZINESS. + + +84. The Sluggard. + +You will hear of a great king (in Story Lesson 90) who had a throne of +ivory overlaid with gold. When you are old enough to read the words he +wrote (Proverbs) you will find that he always kept his eyes wide open +and noticed things. + +As the king was taking a walk one day, he passed by a vineyard, which +is another name for a grape-garden, and he noticed that the wall was +broken down. He looked farther, and saw that the vines were all trailing +on the ground, instead of being tied up, and worse still, they were all +grown over with nettles and thorns--the beautiful grape vines that give +such rich, delicious fruit. "How is this?" thought the king, and he +began to consider. "Ah!" said he, "this vineyard belongs to the man who +likes 'a little sleep,' 'a little slumber,' and who would rather fold +his hands and go to sleep again than use them to work in his garden. And +what will be the end of it all? He will soon be poor, and have nothing +to eat, while his lovely grapes which would have sold for money if he +had looked after them, lie there buried and spoilt by the nettles and +thorns." + +It is quite right to sleep through the dark night, but this man slept in +the daytime as well, instead of weeding his garden, and tying up the +grapes, so we say he was a sluggard. What an ugly word it is! Would +=you= like to be a sluggard? No, indeed you would not. Then remember +this:-- + +(Blackboard) + + Never be Lazy. + + + + +XXXVIII. ON BEING ASHAMED. + + +85. The Elephant that Stole the Cakes.[16] + +Far away in a country called India there are many elephants, which are +used for hunting, and also for carrying burdens. + +One evening a driver brought his elephant home, and chained him to a +tree; then he went a short distance away, and made an oven to bake his +cakes for supper. You will wonder how this was done. + +First he dug a hole in the ground, in which to place his fuel, and when +he had set the fuel alight, he covered it with a flat stone or plate of +iron, and on this he put his rice cakes to bake. He then covered them up +with grass and stones and went away. + +The elephant had been watching all this, and when the man was gone, he +unfastened the chain which was round his leg with his trunk, went to the +oven, uncovered the cakes, and took them off with his trunk and ate +them. (Perhaps he waited a little while until they cooled, for the +elephant does not like his food hot.) Then he put back the grass as +before, and returned to the tree. He could not manage to fasten the +chain round his leg again, so he just twisted it round as well as he +could, and stood with his back to the oven as if nothing had happened. + +By-and-by the driver returned, and went to see if his cakes were ready. +They were all gone, and the elephant was peeping over his shoulder to +see what would happen next. The driver knew by his guilty look that =he= +was the thief; the elephant knew he had done wrong and was ashamed. + +Let us not do anything that we need be ashamed of. We know what is right +better than the elephant, because we can think better. + +(Blackboard.) + + Do nothing that you need be ashamed of. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[16] Romanes' _Animal Intelligence_. + + + + +XXXIX. EARS AND NO EARS. + + +86. Heedless Albert. + +"Listen, boys," said the teacher, "I am going to tell you about a land +across the sea, not much more than twenty miles from England--the sunny +land of France." So he went on to tell them of the vines loaded with +grapes, from which wine is made; of the apples growing by the roadside, +and of the French people, how gay and merry they are, and how neatly the +poor people dress. + +Many more interesting things he told them, and then he said: "Now, take +your papers, and write down all that you can remember about France". The +boys set to work, and soon all were very busy, except one--a boy named +Albert, who could not think of anything to write, and who, when the +papers were collected had not managed to pen a single line. How was +this, do you think? It was simply because he had =not attended= to the +teacher when he was speaking, and so he could not remember anything that +had been told him. + +One day, when Albert was about ten years old, his mother sent him to a +farm for some eggs. He had not been to the farm before, but his mother +told him exactly which way to go, and if he had listened he could have +found it easily. + +In about an hour Albert came back, swinging the empty basket. He had not +been able to find the farm. Why? Because he did not =attend= when his +mother was telling him the way. + +You will readily see that a child who does not attend cannot learn +much, and will never be bright and clever, nor of much use in helping +others. + +(Blackboard.) + + Do not be Heedless; Listen and Attend. + + +87. Olive and Gertie. + +Olive and Gertie were walking along a country road, and high up in the +sky a lark poured forth his sweet song. + +"How beautifully that skylark sings," said Olive; "it is worth while to +come out into the country just to hear it." + +"I did not hear it," said Gertie, swinging her parasol. + +"It is there, right overhead," exclaimed Olive; "do look, Gertie; it +will drop like a stone when it gets nearer the ground." + +"Oh! I cannot trouble to look up," replied Gertie, "it makes my neck +ache." + +By-and-by they passed a field of oats, nearly ripe, and as the wind +swayed them to and fro, they made a pleasant rustling sound. + +"How nice it is to hear the corn as it rustles in the wind," said Olive, +"and listen, Gertie, is not this a pretty tinkling sound?" + +Olive had plucked one of the ears of oats, and was shaking its little +bells close to her friend's ear. + +"It is nothing," said Gertie. + +"To me it is lovely," replied Olive, "and the tinkle of the harebells is +just as sweet." + +Then a bee went buzzing by, and Olive liked to hear its drowsy hum, but +Gertie did not notice it. + +Presently they were on the edge of the cliffs, and could hear the splash +of the waves as they rolled in and broke on the beach. + +"Surely you like to hear 'the song of the sea,'" said Olive, but Gertie +made no reply--she was thinking of something else. + +Do not be like Gertie, who seemed as if she had "No Ears," but, like +Olive, keep your ears open to all the sweet and pleasant sounds. + +The fire makes a pleasant sound as it burns and crackles in the grate, +and who does not like to hear the "singing" of the kettle on the hob? +How musical is the flow of the stream, and do you not love to hear the +splash of the oars as they dip in the river? or the sound made by the +bow of the boat as it cuts through the water? Some people like to hear +the "thud" of a great steamer as it ploughs its way through the sea, and +everybody loves the sound of the wind as it whispers in the trees. + +The sounds that we hear in the fields and woods are called "voices of +nature," let us listen to them, for they speak to us of God's love. + +(Blackboard.) + + Listen to the Voices of Nature; + They Speak of God's Love. + + (Let the children enumerate some of the pleasant + "sounds" mentioned, and the teacher might then + write them on the Blackboard.) + + + + +XL. EYES AND NO EYES. + + +88. The Two Brothers. + +Have you ever heard of the "Black Country"? It is a part of England +where there are many furnaces and iron-works, and a great deal of smoke; +that is why it is called by this name. + +Two boys, named Francis and Algie, lived in this district, for their +father was an iron-worker, and one evening they went out for a long +walk. They were away two or three hours, and when they returned their +mother said: "Well, boys, what did you see in your walk?" + +"Nothing, mother," replied Algie, "there is nothing pretty to be seen; +it is all black and ugly." + +"Ah!" said Francis, "but there was the =sky=, and that was beautiful, +for we were walking towards the sunset, and the colours were changing +all the time. First the sky seemed to be all over gold, and then as the +sun went down it changed to red; next when I looked there were shades of +a lovely green or blue, which soon changed to dark red; it was the +loveliest sunset I have ever seen." + +How strange it was that, although both boys had eyes, only one of them +saw anything worth seeing! Francis was the boy with "eyes," while Algie +was as though he had "no eyes". Keep your eyes open, children, and try +to see all that is beautiful. 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; and at night it is of +a deeper blue, and the stars come peeping out, reminding us in their +beauty of goodness and God:-- + + Thou Who hast sown the sky with stars-- + Setting Thy thoughts in gold. + +And the silver moon, which is always changing its shape, how lovely that +is! Do not forget to look for the beauty of the sky. + + +89. Ruby and the Wall. + +Little Ruby was not two years old, but she always noticed things, and +tried to find out their names. + +One day when she was walking out with her auntie they passed a stone +wall. Ruby looked at it, and then glancing up said, "Wall". + +"Yes," said auntie. "What is the wall made of?" + +"Coal," answered Ruby quite seriously. (I suppose the blocks of stone +reminded her of the same shape in the coals.) + +"No, it is not coal," said auntie. + +Ruby was puzzled, and thought for a little, then she said, "Wash it". + +You see she had never heard the word "stone," and as her little hands, +when dirty, became lighter coloured with =washing=, she thought that +stone must be "washed" coal. It was wrong, of course, but it shows you +that tiny Ruby used her eyes, and =thought= about things. + +(Blackboard.) + + Two kinds of eyes:-- + 1. Eyes that See--Francis, Ruby. + 2. Eyes that do not See--Algie. + + + + +XLI. LOVE OF THE BEAUTIFUL.[17] + + +90. The Daisy. + +You have often gathered buttercups and daisies, but have you ever gazed +into the daisy's yellow eye, and thought how wonderful it was? You will +find that it is made up of many tiny flowerets, all packed closely +together. And the fringe of white petals, tipped with pink, how +beautiful =they= are! and so dainty that we might almost think they had +been painted by the pencil of a fairy! And have you noticed the strong, +green cup which closes round the petals at night, and keeps them all +safe? + +You have held the pretty buttercup under your chin to make it look +yellow, but have you ever looked carefully at the shining petals of +gold? How smooth, and clear, and glossy they are! + +There was once a great, wise king, who was so rich that he had plates +and cups of gold instead of china. He made a beautiful throne of ivory, +with six lions on the one side and six on the other, and the throne was +all overlaid with gold; how bright and glittering it would be! And then +picture the king himself in his robes of state, seated on his gilded +throne, how dazzling and beautiful it would all look! And yet the +greatest Teacher who ever lived--He who took the little children in his +arms--said that the great King Solomon, with his throne of ivory and +gold, "in all his glory" was not so beautiful as the lily growing in the +field. So you see the best of all beauty is close beside us, at our +feet indeed, if we only have eyes to see it. + + Dear little modest daisy, + I love your yellow eye, + I love the pink-tipped petals + That round the centre lie; + I love the pretty buttercup + Of lovely, shining gold; + I love it, for it speaks to me, + Of wondrous love untold. + +You have heard of other beautiful sights and sounds in the Story Lessons +that have gone before (87, 88), and in the Story Lesson which follows +you will learn =why= it is good to love all these beautiful things. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[17] The guessing rhymes, Nos. 74 to 82, headed "Natural Phenomena," in +_Games Without Music_, would follow this Story Lesson appropriately. + + + + +XLII. ON DESTROYING THINGS. + + +91. Beauty and Goodness. + +Why do we hang pictures on the walls, and put plants in the windows? +Because we want to make the room look pretty. + +Why do we love the flowers and the trees, the bright green fields and +the waving yellow corn? Why are we so glad to be near the sea, with its +glorious, rolling waves, and to bask in the warm, bright rays of the +sun? Because they are =all= beautiful, and when we love what is +beautiful it helps us to love what is good; and when we love =goodness= +we love God, who gave us all this beauty. + +Now you will see why it is so wicked to =destroy= beautiful things. When +a boy carves his name on a tree, or breaks 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? +Sometimes people put iron railings round their gardens, and you will +have noticed that they are often finished off with a pointed pattern at +the top, to make them look pretty. When a boy comes along and knocks off +the points, he makes the railings look =ugly= instead of pretty. He +would never think of destroying the pictures that hang on the walls of +his home, or of throwing the plants away that stand in the window, yet +he destroys things that are =not his=, and that other people have put +there to make their houses look nice. I am sure you will say this is not +right; it is =downright wrong=, just as wrong as it would be for me to +go and break that boy's slate, or to snap his wickets in two when he is +wanting a game of cricket, and it is all for want of =thinking=. + +It is quite dreadful to know that so many cruel, unkind things are done, +just because boys and girls do not trouble to =think=! But I hope that +=you=, dear children, =will think=, and keep your little hands from +spoiling anything. + +(Blackboard.) + + It is Wrong to Spoil and Destroy. + + + + +XLIII. ON TURNING BACK WHEN WRONG. + + +92. The Lost Path. + +A boy named Eric was coming home from school. There were two ways that +he could take--one was a path through the fields, and the other was a +winding road. It was winter time, and there was snow on the ground. Eric +chose the field path, for it was the shorter of the two, but he had not +gone far when it began to snow very fast. The snow-flakes were so large, +and fell so quickly, that there was very soon quite a thick carpet on +the ground, and before long Eric found that he could not see the path, +and he scarcely knew where he was. If he had only turned round just +then, he could have seen his own footprints in the snow, and following +them, would have got back to the road safely, but he did not want to do +this, so he went on and on until he was lost entirely, and had not the +least idea as to which was the way home. + +Then he determined to turn back, and try to reach the road, but where +are his footprints? All covered up with snow. Eric felt ready to cry, +but he struggled on as long as he could, and then a great drowsiness +came over him, and he fell down in the snow. + +It is just like that with wrong-doing, if we do not turn back at once, +it becomes more and more difficult to find the path, and sometimes the +wrong-doer loses it altogether. + +When Eric did not come home from school his parents became very anxious, +and his father accompanied by the dog went out to seek him. First he +took the way by the road, then he came over the field-path, and the dog +ran sniffing about in the snow, until he came to what looked like a +white mound, and there was Eric half-buried in the snow. You can imagine +how pleased the father was when he had his boy safe in his arms, and how +gladly he carried him home, for if Eric had not been found quickly, he +must have died. Remember Eric in the snow, and + +(Blackboard.) + + When you have gone Wrong, Turn Back at Once. + + + + +XLIV. ONE BAD "STONE" MAY SPOIL THE "TEMPLE". + + +93. Intemperance. + +From all these Story Lessons you will see that there are a great many +"stones" for the building of "character". + +But there is another thought, which is this: a =bad= "stone," =one= bad +"stone" may spoil =all= the rest. You remember we said (Story Lesson 77) +that Selfishness could spoil a character. And there is another fault--I +think we ought to call it a sin--that spoils the character of many an +up-grown person. I mean the sin of Intemperance. You know what that is, +do you not? When we say that people are intemperate, we generally mean +that they take too much beer or wine, and I have known most beautiful +characters spoilt by that bad "stone". + +When a man has lovely "stones" like Kindness, Unselfishness and Truth in +his Temple, is it not a pity that these should be all eaten away by the +dreadful sin of Intemperance? Even truth, the foundation, decays, and +often the lovely temple of character tumbles all to ruins. + +What should you think is the best thing for children to do? Is it not +this? Never =take= any of these things that =cause= Intemperance, and +then you will never be fond of them, and they will never get the mastery +of you and spoil your character. + +(Blackboard.) + + It is Better not to Take Things that Cause + Intemperance. + + + + +2.--MANNERS. + + + + +XLV. PRELIMINARY. + +(To be read first.) + + +94. The Watch and its Springs. + +You have heard the ticking of your father's watch, and have seen the +hands on its face, but did you ever get a peep inside at the wonderful +tiny wheels and springs? These are called the =works=, and if =they= are +not right and true the hands and the face are of no use at all, because +it is only when the =wheels= and =springs= work properly that the hands +can tell the time correctly. + +It is just the same with us. 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. + +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 =un=selfish 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 action. You will probably say that +it is "=want of thought=" for others. + + (The writer would ask the teacher, or mother, who + reads the following Story Lessons to the little + ones to emphasise this fact in each--that =thought + for others= induces nice manners, while + "Thoughtlessness" and "Selfishness" invariably + lead to rudeness. Spoilt children, and those whose + mothers are in the habit of doing everything for + them, =miss= the training in "Thoughtfulness for + others" which is so essential to the building up + of an unselfish character; and so the mother's + intended kindness is in reality =not= kindness, + seeing that it causes distinct loss to the child, + _viz._, =loss= of those traits of character which + are the most desirable, and which tend to the + greatest happiness.) + + + + +XLVI. ON SAYING "PLEASE" AND "THANK YOU".[18] + + +95. Fairy Tale of Alec and his Toys. + +Alec was a merry little fellow, full of life and fun, and a great +favourite with his aunties and uncles, who often gave him nice presents. + +The strange thing about Alec was that he always forgot to say "Thank +you". No matter how beautiful the present, he would just take it and +play with it, and return no thanks to the kind giver, until his mother +reminded him how rude it was not to say "Thank you". Alec was not like +little Vernon (Story Lesson 44), who was brimming over with thanks. + +One night as Alec's mother was putting him to bed, she said: "Alec, I +have been reading some verses about a little girl who would not say +'Please'. She would cry 'Pass me the butter,' 'Give me some cheese'. So +the fairies, 'this very rude maiden to tease,' carried her down into the +woods, among the butterflies and birds and bees, until she should have +learnt better manners." + +Alec listened with wide-open eyes fixed on his mother's face, but when +she said, "I wonder what the fairies would do with a little boy who +always forgets to say 'Thank you,'" his eyes dropped, and he was very +quiet while his mother was tucking him in his little cot. + +When she had gone Alec thought to himself, "Suppose the fairies should +come and take all my toys away," then he fell asleep, and this is what +happened. + +The fairies =did= come, and Alec saw them. Such funny little fellows +they were, dressed in red, with funny little wings stuck out behind, and +the funniest of little peaked caps on their heads. + +Alec began to wonder about his toys, and sure enough they had come to +fetch them. First they picked up a beautiful, long railway train, which +was a present from Aunt Sophie. It took them all to lift it, there were +so many carriages. (Why do they not draw it along? thought Alec.) Up on +their shoulders it went. Would the peaked caps fall off? No, they were +all tilted sideways, and the train was borne safely out. + +Soon the funny little fairies came dancing in again, laughing and +rubbing their hands as they looked all about. Surely they were not going +to take the Noah's ark! =That= was Uncle Jack's present, and the animals +were such beauties! But that did not matter to the fairies. Slowly the +ark was lifted on their shoulders; six fairies were on one side and six +on the other; again the peaked caps were tilted sideways, and solemnly +they all marched out. + +Next time they pulled out a wooden horse, papa's gift, and Alec saw that +the fairies all jumped on its back, and then a funny thing happened--the +horse walked out of its own accord. + +Again and again they came in and bore away one precious toy after +another, until there was nothing left but grandpapa's gift--the +tricycle. 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! Quick as thought he is out of bed, and off to the playroom in his +night-dress. Where are the toys? All there, just as he left them last +night. "It was only a dream, then," said Alec; "how glad I am that it is +not true, but all the same I =will= remember to say 'Thank you' in +future," and he did. + +(Blackboard.) + + Always Remember to say "Please" and "Thank you," + not in a Whisper, but loudly enough to be Heard. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[18] Nos. 15, 18 and 19 in _Games Without Music_ are games that might be +used in connection with above Story Lesson. + + + + +XLVII. ON BEING RESPECTFUL. + + +96. + +If you should see the sailors on board ship when they are receiving +orders from the captain, you will notice how polite and respectful they +are. They never forget to say "Yes, sir," or "No, sir," when he speaks +to them. Perhaps the captain was once a little cabin-boy himself, and +he, in his turn, had to learn to be respectful to his captain. + +But it is not only on board ship that it is necessary to be respectful; +children should always remember to say "Sir" or "Ma'am" when speaking to +a gentleman or lady, wherever they may be. + +In France the word "madam" is used when addressing a lady, but in our +country the "d" is mostly left out, and we say only "ma'am". (Show the +two words, "madam" and "ma'am" on blackboard.) + +No one thinks a boy or girl well-behaved who answers "Yes," or "No"; it +is blunt and rude. You can always say "Sir" and "Ma'am," even if you do +not know the name of the person to whom you are speaking, and in +answering your father or mother you should always say "Yes, father," or +"No, mother," as the case may be. + +(Blackboard.) + + To answer "Yes," "No"--it is blunt, and is rude, + But "Yes, sir" or "No, ma'am" are both right and good; + "Yes, father," "No, mother," polite children say, + And these are good rules to remember each day. + + + + +XLVIII. PUTTING FEET UP. + + +97. Alice and the Pink Frock. + +You have often heard grown-up people say to little children, "Behave +nicely," or "Mind your manners"; I wonder if you know just what they +mean. There is a little word that describes people who have =not= nice +manners--we say they are =rude=. Try to find out who was rude in this +story. + +One bright day in April little Alice was dressed all ready for a +birthday party. She had on a pretty, new pink frock, of which she was +very proud, and over this she wore a cloak, but the cloak was not quite +long enough to cover =all= the pretty dress, for which Alice was not +sorry. She was all the more pleased about the party because she had to +go by train. It was only three miles, but Alice thought that was quite a +long journey for a little girl of ten to take all by herself. + +Her mother brought her to the station, and when the train came up, Alice +jumped in and sat near the window, opposite to a tall, nicely-dressed +boy. Now before Alice came into the carriage, what do you think the boy +had been doing? He had been sitting with his feet up on the cushions +opposite, and his boots were very muddy. Can you guess the rest? Poor +Alice sat down on the muddy patches left by the boy's dirty, wet boots, +and her pretty pink frock was spoilt. + +Can you tell who was rude in this story? "The boy was rude." What did he +do that was rude? "He put his feet up." Then we will say, "It is rude to +put our feet up". The proper place for feet is the floor. What effect +did the boy's rudeness have on Alice? (or to younger children): How did +the boy's rudeness make Alice feel? It made her unhappy. Then I think we +might say that manners are =rude= when they make other people +=uncomfortable= or =unhappy=. + +Write on Blackboard and let the children repeat the following:-- + + What is it to be rude? + If in our work or in our play + We take our friend's comfort away, + And make him sad instead of gay, + Why that is to be rude. + + + + +XLIX. BANGING DOORS. + + +98. How Maurice came home from School. + +How is it that boys and girls so often forget to close the door quietly? +When Maurice went out to school in the afternoon he knew that his mother +had a headache, but by the time he came home he had forgotten all about +it, and so he stamped in with his muddy shoes unwiped, leaving the front +door wide open. + +His mother said, "Close the door, Maurice," and he gave it a great bang, +which made her shudder. + +Next he walked into the room, flung his bag on a chair, his cap on the +floor, and his overcoat on the sofa. Then he said in a loud voice, +"Well, mother, how's your head?" His poor mother felt almost too sad to +answer him; she had so often told her little boy about hanging up his +coat and other things, and had tried so hard to teach him to be gentle +and polite, instead of rough and rude; but you see Maurice was +=thoughtless=, and did not remember the nice things he had been taught. + +Take care, Maurice! or you will have the ugly stone of "Selfishness" in +your Temple. A boy who is not kind to his mother is the worst kind of +boy, and will find it difficult to grow up into a good and noble man. + + +99. Lulu and the Glass Door. + +When Lulu was a little girl, she lived with her auntie and uncle. The +front door of their house was made half of glass, and there was a +shutter which covered the glass part of the door at night. + +Lulu's auntie told her that when it was windy weather she must go round +to the =back= door, lest the front door should get a bang, and some of +the panes of glass be broken. + +I am afraid Lulu did not always remember to obey her auntie, for one +very windy morning she came home from school, and went as usual to the +front door. She managed to open it and to get inside safely, then the +door closed with a loud bang, for the wind was very strong, and it +happened just as auntie had feared--a large pane of glass fell out of +the door, and was shivered into a thousand pieces. + +Auntie was very angry, and Lulu was so unhappy, and cried so much that +she could not eat her dinner. When her uncle came home and heard the +story, and knew how sorry Lulu was, he said: "Oh, well, dry your tears, +we will call and ask old James to come and mend the door, and my little +girl must do what auntie tells her next time". + +So Lulu trotted back to afternoon school, holding to the hand of her +kind uncle, and they called to tell James to put a new pane of glass +into the door. But Lulu has not forgotten her disobedience, and the +banging of auntie's door, although it is now more than forty years ago. + +(Blackboard.) + + Close Doors Softly. + + + + +L. PUSHING IN FRONT OF PEOPLE. + + +100. The Big Boy and the Little Lady. + +The Queen was in London, and as the time drew near when she was expected +to drive through the park, many people stood on the sidewalk to see her +carriage pass. + +A little lady who was walking through the park thought she would stand +with the others to see Her Majesty, and as she was too short to look +over the heads of the people, she found a place at the edge of the crowd +near the roadway. + +By-and-by they heard a cheer in the distance, and knew that the Queen's +carriage had come out of the palace gates. At that very moment some one +came pushing through the people, and before the little lady had time to +speak, a great big boy brushed rudely past, and stood in front of her. +The lady touched him on the arm, and he turned round, and saw that it +was a friend of his mother's whom he had been treating so rudely. He +raised his cap at once, and, blushing with shame, begged the lady's +pardon, and took a place behind her. + +But if the lady had been a perfect stranger, it would have been equally +wrong for the boy to act like that. It is always rude to push, whether +we are entering a tramcar, a railway train, or going to some place of +amusement; let us remember this:-- + +(Blackboard) + + It is Rude to Push in Front of People. + + + + +LI. KEEPING TO THE RIGHT.[19] + + +101. + +When you have been walking down the street, has it ever happened that +you could scarcely move for the people who are blocking up the causeway? +That is because they do not keep to the right. + +In London, where the streets are so busy, it would be impossible to get +along if people did not keep to the right. What accidents we should have +in the streets if the drivers did not remember to keep to their proper +side of the road, which is the left! And how often the ships at sea +would go bumping against each other if they did not remember always to +keep to the right in passing those that are coming in an opposite +direction! If you are ever puzzled as to how you should pass people in +the street + +(Blackboard) + + Keep to the Right. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[19] No. 13, in _Games Without Music_ illustrates above. + + + + +LII. CLUMSY PEOPLE. + + +102. + +I wonder if you know any boys and girls who are clumsy. I am always a +little sorry for clumsy people; they seem to be so often in trouble. If +the clumsy boy is allowed to collect the slates, he is sure to send some +of them sliding on to the floor with a noise like thunder; or if he +gathers the books in a pile it is sure to topple over, and the books are +scattered in every direction. 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? + +The books and slates are not piled =carefully=, that is why they tumble; +they bulge out here and go in there, instead of being smooth and +straight on every side. If you do not want to be clumsy + +(Blackboard) + + Take Pains, and be Careful in all you do. + + + + +LIII. TURNING ROUND WHEN WALKING. + + +103. The Girl and her Eggs. + +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. It would be +better if she =did= either look where she is going or turn quite round, +and go where she is looking. + +A girl was coming along the street one day with a paper bag full of +eggs, looking behind her all the time. + +A lady, who was walking in the opposite direction, tried to get out of +her way, but as we said before, the girl could not walk straight when +her eyes were turned backward, and as the lady stepped to one side to +avoid her, the girl in her zigzag walk came to the same side and bumped +up against the lady. + +Crash! went the eggs, and a yellow stream ran down the pretty blue dress +worn by the lady. What would the girl's mother say when her eggs were +all wasted? This is a true story, and you will agree that the girl was +very silly to walk along with her head turned round. You see we have no +eyes behind our head, nor even at the side; they are at the front, so + +(Blackboard) + + Look where you are Going. + + + + +LIV. ON STARING. + + +104. Ruth and the Window. + +There was once a girl named Ruth, who was in many respects very +well-behaved indeed. For instance, you would never hear her reply to her +mother without saying "Yes, mother," or "No, mother," and she never +banged the door or came into a room noisily, but she had =one= fault +that was really very bad. + +As Ruth went on her way to school each day, she passed a house that had +its dining-room window facing the street. The window was rather low, and +every time that Ruth went by she would walk slowly, and stare into the +room all the time. If the people were at dinner it made no +difference--she still gazed in. You will think this exceedingly rude, as +indeed it was, but it is quite true nevertheless. + +One day a lady came to the school that Ruth attended; she was driven +there in her carriage, and remained talking to the teacher after the +children had been dismissed. Presently she said, "Good afternoon," and +left, and the teacher, happening to glance out of the window, was vexed +to see that a number of the scholars had gathered round the carriage, +and were staring in, and staring at the lady as she took her seat. Next +day the children were told how rude this was, and we hope that Ruth +learnt at the same time how rude it is to stare into people's houses. + +Another day some Japanese ladies came to the school to see the children +drill; they were dressed so differently from English people, and looked +so funny with their little slanting eyes, and their shiny, black hair +dressed high, with no bonnet to cover it, that the children were tempted +to stare again, but the teacher had told them that it would be rude to +stare at the ladies. "You may glance at them," said she, "but do not +keep your eyes fixed on them." It is natural to wish to look at curious +things, but we can be careful to take our eyes away when we have +glanced, so that we do not stare, and make the person uncomfortable, for +you remember we said that anything was rude which caused people to be +uncomfortable (p. 110). + +There was a little boy in church who had just the same rude habit as +Ruth. He would sit or stand at the end of the pew, and turn his head +round to see what was passing behind. He did not take just a little +glance, and then turn his eyes back again--even that would have been +rude--but he kept his gaze fixed behind for ever so long. + +Do you know =why= we do not look about in church? It is because we go +there to worship the Great God, to hear of Him, and think about Him, and +we cannot do this if we are looking about, and thinking of other things. +Why do we close our eyes when we pray? It is so that we may think of +what we are saying; if we kept them open, we should be thinking of what +we were =seeing= instead, should we not? + +(Blackboard.) + + It is Rude to Stare. + + + + +LV. WALKING SOFTLY. + + +105. Florence Nightingale. + +A long time ago there was a war, and the English soldiers went out to +fight. Many of the poor fellows were wounded, and a kind lady, who is +now quite old, went from England to nurse the brave soldiers. Her name +was Florence Nightingale, and it is a name that everybody loves. + +The soldiers had never been nursed by a lady before, and she was so kind +and gentle, they loved her more than I can tell you--so much, indeed, +that they would kiss her shadow on the pillow as she walked softly +through the rooms where they lay. + +If you have ever been in a hospital you will know how quietly the nurses +move about. Why is it? Because a noise would disturb the poor sufferers. +But it is not nice for people who are well either to hear children +stamping about as if they would send their feet through the floor. Have +you noticed how softly pussy moves? It is because she walks on her toes. +We have to wear shoes on our feet, and cannot help making a little +noise, but we must remember to step on our toes, and move as quietly as +possible. + +(Blackboard.) + + Try always to Walk Softly. + + + + +LVI. ANSWERING WHEN SPOKEN TO.[20] + + +106. The Civil Boy. + +One day a lady was passing through a country village, and not being +quite sure as to which was the right road to take, she went up to some +boys who were playing on the green to inquire. + +"Can you tell me, please, which is the way to East Thorpe?" asked the +lady. + +"Yes, ma'am," said one of the boys, raising his cap, "you walk straight +past the church, and then take the first road to the right." The lady +thanked the boy, and bade him "Good-day," and as he replied "Good-day, +ma'am," and again raised his cap, she thought to herself, "What a civil, +polite boy! He is very poorly dressed, but he has the manners of a +gentleman, and how nicely he answered when I spoke to him; I must tell +Dorothy about it." + +Dorothy was the lady's little niece, and had been staying with her some +time. 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. + +(Blackboard.) + + Always Answer when you are Spoken To. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[20] Nos. 12, 27 and 28 in _Games Without Music_ might follow above. + + + + +LVII. ON SPEAKING LOUDLY. + + +107. The Woman who Shouted. + +The train had just steamed into the railway station, when a porter +opened the carriage door to let a lady step in--at least she =looked= +like a lady, and was dressed most elegantly. Her gown was of silk, over +which she wore a rich fur-lined cloak, and her bonnet was quite smart +with feathers and flowers. As she drew off her gloves, you could not +help noticing that her fingers were covered with glittering rings. +"Surely she must be going to some grand concert, or to a party," thought +we. + +But listen to what happened next! Just before the train started she +suddenly opened the carriage window, and leaning out as far as ever she +could, shouted in a loud, rough voice, so loudly that all the people +round could hear, "Heigh! you porter there, is my luggage all right?" +Then she closed the window and sat down, and we felt that in spite of +her finery she was a rude, rough woman, for a lady is gentle, and would +never speak in a loud, coarse voice that grates on those who hear it. + +Never speak too loudly either out of doors or elsewhere; keep always a +soft, sweet voice. + + Speak gently, for a gentle voice + Is loved, like music sweet; + Coarse tones and loud are out of place + At home or on the street. + + + + +LVIII. ON SPEAKING WHEN OTHERS ARE SPEAKING. + + +108. Margery and the Picnic. + +It was holiday time, and Margery had gone to play with her little friend +Helena Poynter, who lived in the next street but one. They were in a +little summer-house at the end of the garden, having a happy time with +their dolls, and Helena was telling Margery that her father had promised +to take them all for a picnic to the hills next day. They were to drive +there in a coach, papa, mamma, Helena, and her brothers, who were all at +home for the holidays. + +Just then Helena's mamma came walking down the garden. "Good-morning, +Margery," said she, and Margery stood up at once and returned her +greeting. "I have been thinking," said Mrs. Poynter, "that you would +like to join our picnic to-morrow, and I am sure we could find room for +one more on the coach." + +"Oh! thank you, ma'am," said Margery, "I should like it so much; I will +run round and ask mother at once," and off she ran as fast as her little +legs could carry her. + +Margery came into the house bubbling over with the good news, and +anxious to tell it all to her mother immediately, but she found that a +lady had called and was talking to her mother, so she just waited +quietly until the conversation was ended before she spoke a word, for +Margery knew that + +(Blackboard) + + It is Rude to Speak when Other People are Speaking. + +You will see now why we sit quietly in church, or at an entertainment, +or in a room when any one is singing or playing--it is because we do not +wish to be rude, and it =is= rude to speak when any one else is +speaking, or praying, or reading aloud, or singing, or playing music for +us. + +You will like to know that Margery was allowed to go to the picnic, and +she enjoyed it very much. + + + + +LIX. LOOK AT PEOPLE WHEN SPEAKING TO THEM. + + +109. Fred and his Master. + +In a previous Story Lesson, No. 106, we spoke of a village boy who, you +remember, answered the lady politely, when she inquired her way. His +name was Fred, and when a gentleman came to the school that Fred +attended one day, and said he wanted an office-boy, the schoolmaster +called Fred up to the desk. The boy looked so bright and honest, and +said, "Yes, sir" so politely, that the gentleman thought he would do, +and the next week Fred began his work. Sometimes he had to sit at a desk +and do writing; one morning as he sat thus, the master came in to speak +to him. What do you think Fred did? He rose from his stool at once, +turned towards his master, and stood while he was speaking. The master +was giving Fred instructions about his work, and as soon as he had +finished, Fred looked up and replied, "Yes, sir, I will attend to it". + +We have learnt two lessons from Fred, what are they? + +(Blackboard.) + + 1. To Stand up when Spoken to. + 2. To Look up when Speaking to any one. + + + + +LX. ON TALKING TOO MUCH. + + +110. + +One evening a number of friends met together at a little party. First +they all had tea, and after tea was over they sat round the fire to +talk, for some of them had not seen each other for a long time. But +there was one lady there who had so much to say that scarcely any one +else could get a chance to speak. She talked and talked nearly all the +evening. Sometimes we =expect= one person to speak all the time, as when +we go to hear a lecture, or to listen to a sermon in church, but when +people meet together for conversation, it is much pleasanter to hear +=more= than one speak. + +Another time three children were having dinner with some grown-up +people, and a lady who was there told me that one of the children, a +little girl about eight years of age, talked continually, so that even +the grown-up people had scarcely an opportunity of speaking. + +So you see it is quite possible for people to be made uncomfortable by a +child speaking too much, as well as by a child that refuses to speak at +all (Dorothy in Story Lesson 106). + +Perhaps you have been in a railway carriage where a little boy has never +ceased asking questions and talking during the whole journey. Years ago +children used to be told that "they must be seen and not heard". We do +not often say that now, but we must remember that it is rude to take up +all the conversation, or even more than our share. I believe it is more +than rude--it is selfish. We must learn to listen to other people as +well as to talk ourselves. + +(Blackboard.) + + Do not be too Fond of Hearing Yourself Talk; + Learn to Listen as well. + + + + +LXI. GOING IN FRONT OF PEOPLE. + + +111. Minnie and the Book. + +One evening Minnie sat at the table preparing her lessons. Her father +and mother, with an aunt who had called to see them, were seated at the +hearth. + +In a little while Minnie found that she required a book from the +bookcase, which stood in a recess to the left of the fireplace, so she +rose from the table, and, without speaking a word, walked in =front= of +her aunt and in =front= of her father to reach the book. Her aunt looked +up in astonishment, and her father exclaimed: "Minnie, how =rude= you +are!" + +Why was Minnie rude? Because she did not say "Excuse me, please," both +to her aunt and her father. We ought =not= to go in front of any one, if +we can by any means avoid it; but, if it is impossible to get behind, we +must never forget to say those little words which Minnie so rudely +forgot. + + +112. The Man and his Luggage. + +A gentleman was travelling in a railway train, and, as there was no one +else in the carriage, he placed his portmanteau and other luggage on the +rack =opposite= to where he sat instead of overhead. + +At the next station several people entered the carriage, and, when the +gentleman wanted to get out, he was obliged to reach up in front of the +people sitting opposite to get his luggage. But he did not forget to +say, "Excuse me, please". + +(Blackboard.) + + When Passing in Front of others, or when Reaching + in Front, always say "Excuse me, please". + + + + +LXII. WHEN TO SAY "I BEG YOUR PARDON". + + +113. + +I was talking to a lady one day, and not happening to hear something +that I said, she exclaimed in a loud voice, "=What?=" I was as much +astonished as Minnie's aunt was in Story Lesson 111, and quite forgot +what I had intended to say next. What should the lady have said? She +should have said, "I beg your pardon". Perhaps she had forgotten herself +just that one time. + +Suppose you are sitting at table next to mother, who is pouring the tea; +perhaps there is no bread and butter near enough for her to reach, and +you do not notice that her plate is empty. She is obliged to ask you to +pass her something, and as you do so you feel sorry that you have not +done it =without= being asked, and you say, "I beg your pardon, mother". +Some people leave out the "=I=," and say "Beg your pardon," or "Beg +pardon," but the proper words are, "I beg your pardon". + + +114. The Lady and the Poor Boy. + +A young lady was hurrying down a street, and, as she turned the corner +quickly, she nearly ran against a little ragged boy, but by putting out +her arms she just managed to save him from being hurt. Then she rested +her hands on his shoulders, and said in a sweet voice: "I beg your +pardon, my boy". The boy was greatly surprised that any one should beg +=his= pardon; he had not been accustomed to have people speak politely +to him, but the lady knew that it is just as important to be polite to a +beggar as to a fine gentleman. + +We should, of course, try =not= to run against people, and be careful +=not= to step on a lady's dress or on any one's toes, but if by accident +we =do= make any of these blunders, we must remember to say, "I beg your +pardon". + +(Blackboard.) + + When you do not Hear what is said to you, + When you Forget to pass a Plate, + When you Bump against any one, + When you Hurt any one in any way, + Do not Forget to say, "I Beg your Pardon". + + + + +LXIII. RAISING CAP. + + +115. + +Why is it, do you think, that a boy raises his cap? It is to show +respect to the lady or gentleman whom he is passing or speaking to. +That was why the boy raised his cap to the lady in Story Lesson 106, and +said "Yes, ma'am;" he wished to show her respect. Soldiers do not raise +their caps to the general or captain; they salute (that is, they raise +the forefinger of right hand to forehead), but it answers the same +purpose--it shows their respect. Why do men and boys take off their caps +and hats when they enter a church or chapel? It is to show reverence to +the God of all who is worshipped there. + +Boys should always remember to raise their caps when a lady or gentleman +bows or speaks to them, and also when they enter a house or other place, +such as a church or chapel. + + + + +LXIV. ON OFFERING SEAT TO LADY. + + +116. + +A number of soldiers were one day riding in a car, indeed the car was +quite full of soldiers; and at the end there was a general, that is the +man who is at the head of the soldiers. + +Presently the car stopped, and a poor old woman entered, but there was +no room for her to sit, and not one of the soldiers had the good manners +to offer her his seat. So the woman walked to the end of the car where +the general sat, that she might stand where she would not be in any +one's way, but the kind general rose instantly, and gave her his place; +that was courteous and kind of him, was it not? Then several of the +other soldiers stood, and asked the general to be seated, but he said: +"No, there was no seat for the poor woman, so there is none for me". +The soldiers were very much ashamed, and soon left the car. + +=Why= did the general offer his seat to the old woman? For the same +reason that the boy raises his cap--to show respect to her. + +You know how father takes care of mother and lifts heavy weights for +her, and how brothers take care of sisters, and so if there is not room +for everybody to sit, a man or boy will rise, and let a woman have his +place; and they do all this partly because they are strong and like to +do kind acts, and partly because it is nice and right to be courteous to +women. + +But a kind woman does not like always to take the seat that is offered +to her. The man may be old or weak, then the woman would say, "Thank +you, I will stand," for she sees that the man needs the seat more than +she does. And if a man had been working hard all day (never sitting down +at all maybe), and he should be coming home tired at night, in the train +or tramcar, one would not like to let =him= stand, and give up his +place. + +It is nice and polite for a man to =offer= his seat, and the lady should +always say, "Thank you," whether she takes it or not. + +A very old man entered a crowded railway carriage, and a young girl who +was sitting near the door stood up at once and offered the old man her +place, for she knew that he was too weak to stand. So you see that +sometimes it is right for a girl or woman to give up her seat; we must +not let the men do =all= the kind, polite actions. + + + + +LXV. ON SHAKING HANDS. + + +117. Reggie and the Visitors. + +One afternoon I called with a friend to see a lady at whose house I had +not been before; she was very pleased to see us, and brought her little +boy, Reggie, into the room where we sat. + +"Shake hands with the ladies, Reggie," said his mother; but Reggie +refused, and hid his face in her dress. She explained that he was shy, +and went on coaxing him to come and speak to us. After a great deal of +talking and persuading, he consented to come and shake hands, =if= his +mother would come with him. So she brought him across the room, and held +out his hand, just as you hold out the arm of your doll, when you play +at shaking hands with her. + +Would =you= make all that fuss and trouble about shaking hands with any +one? I hope not. It is so silly, as well as ill-mannered. + +After this Reggie sat down in a little chair, and tried to put his feet +up on a small table that was near--but you will not care to hear about +such a badly-behaved little boy. And it was not very long before his +mother had to take him from the room screaming, he was so tiresome and +naughty. + +If Reggie had tried to please his mother and her visitors, instead of +his little =self=, everybody would have been much happier, and I am sure +=he= would, for selfish people cannot be happy. + + Think =first= of others, =last= of self, + Be friendly, kindly all around; + Shake hands with strangers, be polite, + Unselfish, sweet be always found. + + + + +LXVI. KNOCKING BEFORE ENTERING A ROOM. + + +118. The Boy who Forgot. + +A lady was sitting in a cottage one morning talking to the person who +lived there, when suddenly, and without any warning knock, or even a +little tap, some one lifted the latch noisily, and pushing the door wide +open, burst into the room, asking, "What time is it?" + +The lady looked up to see who the rude intruder could be, and beheld a +little, rosy-faced boy. She called him to her, and placing her hand on +his shoulder said kindly: "My little fellow, do you not know that you +should =knock= at a door before entering, and should say, '=Please=, +will you tell me the time?'" The boy hung his head and looked ashamed, +but we hope he remembered what the lady said to him, and I hope also +that none of you ever forget to + +(Blackboard) + + Knock at the Door before Entering a Room. + + + + +LXVII. HANGING HATS UP, ETC. + + +119. Careless Percy. + +You did not admire the boy (Story Lesson No. 98) who threw his bag here, +his cap there, and his coat somewhere else, did you? neither will you be +likely to admire the little boy in this story. + +But come with me--I will take you into the bedroom of a boy named Percy, +who has gone to a party. I am afraid you can scarcely get inside though, +for everything he has taken off is lying on the floor. His coat is flung +behind the door, his collar lies inside the fender, and his trousers are +beside the bed. He has been playing on the bed, you see, for it is all +tossed, and one of the pillows has tumbled on the floor. + +Let as take a peep into the nursery, where Percy's play-things are. +There is a railway train on the floor, just as he has been playing with +it; and beyond the train, where he had made a huge castle with all the +bricks he could find, the floor is all strewn over with bricks from the +castle, which has tumbled down. + +Who will pick up all these things, and tidy the two rooms that Percy has +left in such a dreadful state? His mother, maybe, who has so many other +things to do. Would =you= leave all your clothes scattered on the floor +for some one else to pick up, instead of folding them neatly yourself? +or would you like another to have the trouble of putting away all your +toys? No, I am sure you would not. None of us want to be selfish, but if +Percy does not mind, =he= will grow up selfish, because he is not taking +thought for others. + + Hang up your cap and coat, + And put away your toys, + Save mother all the work you can, + Dear little girls and boys. + + The recitation, "Two Little Maids" (_New + Recitations for Infants_) would follow this Story + Lesson appropriately. + + + + +LXVIII. HOW TO OFFER SWEETS, ETC. + + +120. How Baby Did it. + +Some one had brought baby a parcel of sweets. They were rather sticky, +but baby did not mind that when the colours were so pretty! There were +pink, blue, red and yellow sweets, and she was greatly pleased with +them. Baby was very kind and unselfish, so she wanted us all to share +her sweets, and picking one out with her little chubby fingers, (which +were not any too clean), she offered it to mamma. You see baby was very +tiny, and had not yet learnt that sweets should always be offered in the +paper or box, and not be touched by the fingers at all. But mamma +explained this to her, and then baby lifted up the paper, and trotted +round to everybody, holding it out, and saying, "Please, take one". + +Fruit and nuts should be offered in a plate or dish. It is not nice to +touch with our fingers anything that we are offering to others. + +(Blackboard.) + + Always offer Sweets in the Paper or Box. + + + + +LXIX. YAWNING, COUGHING, AND SNEEZING. + + +121. + +I daresay you have sometime been in a room where a person was sleepy, +and kept yawning continually. You know that by-and-by you begin to do +the same yourself, and it is very disagreeable. A good plan is to run +out of the room and bathe your face in cold water: that will soon make +you feel bright again. It is not nice to yawn, because it makes other +people feel sleepy, and we should never forget to cover the mouth with +the hand: it is very rude to open the mouth wide, and not to put the +hand in front of it. + +In coughing and sneezing, people should make as little noise as they +possibly can. Sometimes we hear coughing in church, and the minister can +scarcely speak for the noise. A pocket-handkerchief will soften the +sound a good deal, both in coughing and sneezing. + +These are only little things, but they can make others feel +uncomfortable, and you remember we said that it was rude to do +=anything= that caused people to be uncomfortable (p. 110), so do not +forget to + +(Blackboard) + + Cover the Mouth when Yawning; + Make as Little Noise as Possible when Coughing + or Sneezing. + + + + +LXX. HOW A SLATE SHOULD NOT BE CLEANED. + + +122. + +You will have noticed that there is always moisture in your mouth. Where +do you think it comes from? Perhaps you did not know that there were +six tiny fountains in your mouth, two on each side the tongue, and one +in each cheek. When you are well these little fountains pour out the +fluid which keeps your mouth so nice and moist. Sometimes when people +are ill the little fountains do not flow, and the mouth is all dry and +parched, and they are longing to drink all the time. + +The fluid that comes from the tiny wells is called saliva, and, when we +eat, it mixes with the food in the mouth, and goes down with it into the +stomach. But this is what I want you to learn, the saliva is never to be +sent out of the mouth in the way that is called "spitting" (an ugly +word, is it not?), and you must remember never to do this, not even when +you are cleaning your slate. You may breathe on your slate, and rub it +dry with your slate rag, though that is not a very nice way. The best +plan of all is to have a damp sponge, as well as a slate rag, and a +well-mannered child would have both. + +If there is anything in your mouth that needs to come away, take it out +with your pocket-handkerchief, and remember that the proper way is to + +(Blackboard) + + Clean your Slate with a Damp Sponge, and Dry with a Slate + Rag, not with a Pocket-handkerchief. + + + + +LXXI. THE POCKET-HANDKERCHIEF. + + +123. Guessing Rhyme.[21] + + You have me in your pocket, + I'm square and white, 'tis true, + And many things I'm used for + By children such as you. + +(Let children guess answer.--Pocket-handkerchief.) + +There is moisture in the nose as well as in the mouth, and we keep a +handkerchief in our pocket to take the moisture away, when it makes us +uncomfortable. A nice, clean child will never be without a +pocket-handkerchief, and he will use it =without having to be told=. + +In using a pocket-handkerchief, as in coughing and sneezing, we should +make as little noise as possible, and we should try not to have to use +it at table. If it is necessary to do so, we must turn our head away, as +we should do if we were obliged to cough or sneeze. + +(Blackboard.) + + Use Pocket-handkerchief Without Being Told, + Making as Little Noise as Possible. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[21] _Games Without Music_, No. 55. + + + + +LXXII. HOW TO BEHAVE AT TABLE. + + +(ON SITTING STILL AT TABLE.) + +124. Phil's Disaster. + +Phil was a little boy, and sat on a high chair at the table. He was very +fond of tilting his chair backwards and forwards, which was not +well-mannered, you will say. One dinner time, just as all the dishes had +been placed on the table, and Phil was tilting back as far as ever he +could, it happened that the chair lost its balance, and fell over +backwards, taking Phil with it; and as he grasped the tablecloth in +falling, he drew it with all the dishes on the top of him. Many of the +dishes were broken, and the dinner was all scattered and spoilt. Surely +Phil would never tilt his chair again. + + +125. Fidgety Katie. + +Have you ever sat at table with a child who was never still? Such a +child was Katie! Instead of waiting quietly until every one was served, +she would fidget about on her chair, put her little fat arms on the +table (which you know is a very rude thing to do), and move from side to +side all the time. When at last she was served, her dinner would be +quickly eaten, and then she was impatient to be gone, and kept asking +mother if she might not leave the table, and go to her book or her play. + +Now if Katie had thought a little of others, she would not have made +everybody uncomfortable by being so restless. When she was waiting to be +served, and when she had finished, she should have sat quietly with her +hands in her lap. These two stories teach us that + +(Blackboard) + + We must Sit Still at Table. + + +(THINKING OF OTHERS AT TABLE.) + +126. The Helpful Little Girl. + +A very different child from restless Katie (Story Lesson 125) was Hilda, +whose mother had died, and left her little ones to the care of auntie. +When the dinner-bell rang, Hilda would run into the room, and see that +all the chairs were in their places round the table, especially baby's, +for he was much too little to bring his own chair. It was Hilda who +lifted baby into his place, and tied on his "feeder"; and when his plate +was passed, she prepared his food, and took care that it was not too hot +for him. + +Hilda's bright eyes were always ready to see anything that was needed: +"Shall I pass you the salt, grandpapa?" "May I give you a little water, +auntie?" No wonder auntie said that Hilda was just like sunshine in the +house, and the reason was that she thought so little of herself, and so +much of those around her. Let us try to be like Hilda; she was much +happier, I am sure, than restless Katie, for there is nothing nicer than +to bring sunshine into the lives of others, and this we do by being +helpful. + +(Blackboard.) + + Think of Others when you are at Table; + Pass Things and Help all you can. + + +(UPSETTING THINGS AT TABLE.) + +127. Leslie and the Christmas Dinner + +We heard of people who were clumsy in another Story Lesson (No. 102), +and I am afraid Leslie was a little like them. + +It was Christmas Day, and there was a large family party at +grandmamma's, to which Leslie and his mother were invited. The +dinner-table looked beautiful with its snow-white cloth and shining +silver, and its decorations of Christmas roses and red-berried holly. + +The dinner-bell rang, and the guests took their places at the table. +Leslie bounced into the room, and was sitting down on the last chair, +all in a hurry, when he somehow caught the tablecloth, and by dragging +it upset the gravy, and sent it streaming all over the nice, clean +cloth. Leslie was very sorry, and his mother was so uncomfortable at the +thought of his clumsiness, that I am afraid the dinner was spoilt for +=her=. From Leslie we learn to + +(Blackboard) + + Sit Down Carefully, so as not to Upset Anything. + + +128. Cherry Stones. + +If you were eating plum tart or cherry pudding, how should you manage +with the stones? (Let children try to answer.) When a little bird eats a +cherry, he drops the stone on the ground; the bird has no spoon and fork +to eat with, so that is the best thing he can do. + +One day a boy, named Kenneth, was invited out to dinner, and one of the +dishes was cherry tart. There was a custard pudding as well, but Kenneth +thought he would like cherry tart better, and he did not remember that +the stones might be a difficulty until he began to eat it. He felt sure +that it was not right to drop them out of his mouth on to the plate, and +he could not think what else to do. He looked round the table, but no +one else was taking cherry tart, or he might have noticed what another +person did. At last he determined that he would keep all the cherry +stones in his cheek until dinner was over, and put them out afterwards, +when no one was looking. But presently some one told a funny little +story, and, as Kenneth could not help laughing with the rest, out came +the cherry stones, to his great dismay. + +The best way is to separate the stone from the cherry on your plate with +the spoon and fork, but if you cannot manage this, take the stone from +your mouth with the spoon, and put it gently on the edge of the plate. +Everybody has to learn these things, and as no one had happened to tell +Kenneth, of course he did not know. + + + + +LXXIII. ON EATING AND DRINKING. + + +129. + +Key E. + + {:s |d :m |m :m |l :r |r } + 1. I must not fill my mouth too full, + + {:r |f :r |s :r |m :-- |-- } + Nor ver - y quick - ly eat, + + {:m |r :f |m :s |f :l |s } + But take a small piece, chew it well, + + {:l |s :m |s :r |d :-- |-- } + And fin - ish all my meat. + + + 2. Food should be carried to my mouth + Upon the fork, I see; + The knife is used to cut, and ought + Not near the lips to be. + + 3. When pudding comes, the =point= of spoon + Within the mouth may go, + But soup or broth is taken from + The =side= of it you know. + + 4. Without a noise I eat and drink, + I must not spill my food, + Nor scald my mouth, nor make complaint, + "This is not nice, not good". + + +130. + +Key E. + + {|m :-- |m :m |f :f |f :-- } + 1. Small bites of bread we take, + + {|r :-- |r :r |m :s |s :-- } + And chew it well be - fore + + {|l :-- |d :l |s :m |m :-- } + We drink our tea or milk; + + {|m :-- |r :l |s :s |s :-- } + We must not ask for more + + {|f :-- |r :l |s :m |s :-- } + Un - til we've finished quite, + + {|m :-- |r :m |d :d |d :-- } + For that would not be right. + + 2. If handkerchiefs we use, + Or sneeze or cough, we try, + When seated at our food, + To do it quietly; + And don't forget, I pray, + To turn your head away. + + 3. When we have finished, then + The knife and fork should lie + Together on our plate, + And hands rest quietly + Within the lap,[22] this wise, + Until mamma shall rise. + +(Explain that children should not leave table until mother has done so, +unless she gives them permission.) + +FOOTNOTE: + +[22] Fold hands in lap. + + + + +LXXIV. FINALE. + + +131. How another Queen Builded. + +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 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"; these are the jewels that +are more precious to the great queen than crowns and costly stones. + +Do you know the name of this queen? It is our own Queen Victoria. + +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. + +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. + +The queen believes that a =good= "character" is the best thing in the +world, and I want you all to think so too. + +A man who was put in prison for preaching wrote a beautiful book,[23] +which you will read when you are older, and in it there is this story. + +The story tells of a man who spent all his time raking up rubbish on the +floor to find gold and other things, and =never once looked up=. But all +the time there was an angel standing behind him with a beautiful crown +in her hand, which she wanted the man to have, but he never saw it. + +That is like the people who think of nothing but =self=, instead of +"looking up" and thinking of the beautiful "stones" that build up the +"Temple," which is such a good thing to have, just as the crown was, +which the man did not see. Let us look up and see all that is beautiful +and good, so that we may become like God who made all these things. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[23] _Pilgrim's Progress._ + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Obvious punctuation errors repaired. + +Page xiii, "Another" changed to "another" (How another Queen) + +Page 41, word "on" added to text (mother had gone on) + +Page 59, "Thoughful" changed to "Thoughtful" ("A lovely idea," said +"Thoughtful") + +Page 107, "out" changed to "own" (own accord) + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Story Lessons of Character Building +(Morals) and Manners, by Lois Bates + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORY LESSONS OF CHARACTER BUILDING *** + +***** This file should be named 34200.txt or 34200.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/2/0/34200/ + +Produced by Emmy, Darleen Dove and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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