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Fifty Famous Stories Retold · Fifty Famous Stories Retold

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  A laconic answer. Many miles beyond Rome there was a famous country, which
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  we called Greece. The people of Greece were not united like the Romans,
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  but instead there were several states, each of which had its own rulers.
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  Some of the people in the southern part of the country were called Spartans,
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  and they were noted for their simple habits and their bravery. The name of
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  their land was called Laconia, and so they were sometimes called Lacons. One
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  of the strange rules which the Spartans had was that they should speak briefly and
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  never use more words than were needed, and so a short answer is often
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  spoken of as being laconic, that is, as being such an answer that
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  a Lacan would be likely to give. There was in the northern part of
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  Greece a land called Macedon, and this land was at one time ruled over
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  by a warlike king named Philip. Philip of Macedon wanted to become the master
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  of all Old Greece, so he raised a great army and made war upon
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  the other states, until nearly all of them were forced to call him their
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  king. Then he sent a letter to the Spartans in Laconia and said,
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  if I go down into your country, I will level your great city to
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  the ground in a few days. An answer was brought back to him.
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  When he opened the letter, he found only one word written there. That
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  word was if. It was as much as to say, we are not
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  afraid of you, so long as the little word if stands in your way.
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  A story of Robin Hood. In the rude days of King Richard and
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  King John, there were many great woods in England. The most famous of
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  these was Sherwood Forest, where the King often went to hunt deer. In
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  this forest there lived a band of daring men called Outlaws. They had done
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  something that was against the laws of the land and had been forced to hide
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  themselves in the world woods to save their lives. There they spent their time
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  in roaming about among the trees, in hunting the King's deer, and in
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  robbing rich travelers that came that way. There were nearly a hundred of these
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  outlaws, and their leader was a bold fellow called Robin Hood. They were
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  dressed in suits of green and armed with bows and arrows, and sometimes they
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  carried long wooden lances and broad swords, which they knew how to handle well.
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  Whenever they had taken anything, it was brought and laid at the feet
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  of robin Hood, whom they called their king. He then divided it fairly
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  among them, giving to each man his just share. Robin Hood never allowed
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  his men to harm anybody but the rich men, who lived in great houses
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  and did no work. He was always kind to the poor, and he
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  often sent help to them. And for that reason the common people looked upon
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  him as their friend. Long after he was dead, men liked to talk
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  about his deeds. Some praised him, and his son blamed him. He
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  was indeed a rude, lawless fellow, but at that time people did not
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  think of right and wrong as they do now. A great many songs were
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  made up about robin Hood, and these songs were sung in the cottages and
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  huts all over the land for hundreds of years afterward. Here is a little
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  story that is told in one of these songs. Robin Hood was standing one
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  day under a green tree by the roadside. While he was listening to the
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  birds among the leaves, he saw a young man passing by. This young
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  man was dressed in a fine suit of bright red cloth, and as he
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  tripped gaily along the road. He seemed to be as happy as the day.
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  I will not trouble him, said Robin Hood, for I think he
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  is on his way to his wedding. The next day, Robin stood in
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  the same place. He had not been there long when he saw the same
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  young man coming down the road. But he did not seem to be so
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  happy. This time. He had left his scarlet coat at home, and
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  at every step he sighed and groaned. Ah, the sad day, the
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  sad day, he kept saying to himself. Then Robin Hood stepped out from
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  under the tree and said, I say, young man, have you any
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  money to spare for my merry men and me. I have nothing at all,
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  said the young man, but five shillings and a ring, A gold
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  ring, asked Robin. Yes, said the young man. It is a
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  gold ring. Here it is ah, I see, said Robin. It
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  is a wedding ring. I have kept it these seven years, said the
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  young man. I have kept it to give to my bride on our wedding
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  day. We were going to be married yesterday, but her father has promised
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  her to a rich old man whom she never saw. And now my heart
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  is broken. What is your name? Asked Robin. My name is Allan
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  Adele, said the young man. What will you give me in gold or
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  fee? Said Robin, if I will help you when you're bride again.
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  In spite of the rich old man to whom she has been promised, I
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  have no money, said Allan, but I will promise to be your servant.
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  How many miles is it to the place where the maiden lives, asked
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  Robin. It is not far, said Allan, but she is to be
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  married this very day, and the church is five miles away. Then Robin
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  made haste to dress himself as a harper, and in the afternoon he stood
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  in the door of the church. Who are you, said the bishop,
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  And what are you doing here? I am a bold harper, said Robin,
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  the best in the north country. I am glad to have you come,
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  said the bishop kindly. There is no music that I like so well
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  as that of the harp. Come in and play for us. I will
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  go in, said Robin. Hood, but I will not give you any
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  music until I see the bride and bridegroom. Just then an old man came
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  in. He was dressed in rich clothing, but was bent with age and
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  was feeble and gray. By his side walked a fair young girl. Her
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  cheeks were very pale, and her eyes were full of tears. This is
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  no match, said Robin. Let the bride choose for herself. Then he
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  put his horn to his lips and blew three times. The very next minute,
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  four and twenty men, all dressed in green and carrying long bows in
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  their hands, came running across the fields. And as they marched into the
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  church, all in a row. The foremost among them was allan Adele.
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  Now whom do you choose, said Robin to the maiden. I choose allan
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  Adele. She said, blushing, And allan Adele you shall have, said
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  Robin. And he that takes you from allan Adele shall find that he has
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  robin Hood to deal with. And so the fair maiden and allan Adele were
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  married then and there, and the rich old man went home in a great
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  rage. And thus having ended this merry wedding, the bride looked like a
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  queen. And so they returned to the merry greenwood. Amongst the leaves so
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  green. Alexander and Bucephalus. One day King Philip bought a fine horse called
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  Bucephalus. He was a noble animal, and the king paid a very high
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  price for him. But he was wild and savage, and no man could
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  mount him or do anything at all with him. They tried to whip him,
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  but that only made him worse. At last the king bade his servants
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  take him away. It is a pity to ruin so fine a horse as
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  that, said Alexander, the King's young son. Those men do not know
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  how to treat him. Perhaps you can do better than they, said his
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  father scornfully. I know, said Alexander that if you would only give me
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  leave to try, I could manage this horse better than any one else.
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  And if you fail to do so, what, then asked Philip, I
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  will pay you the price of the horse, said the lad. While everybody
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  was laughing, Alexander ran up to Bucephalus and turned his head toward the sun.
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  He had noticed that the horse was afraid of his own shadow. He
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  then spoke gently to the horse and patted him with his hand. When he
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  had quieted him a little, he made a quick spring and leaped upon the
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  horse's back. Everybody expected to see the boy killed outright, but he kept
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  his place and let the horse run as fast as he would by and bye.
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  When Bucephalus had become tired, Alexander reined him in and rode back to
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  the place where his father was standing. All the men who were there shouted
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  when they saw that the boy had proved himself to be the master of the
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  horse. He leaped to the ground, and his father ran and kissed him.
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  My son said, the king Macedon is too small a place for you.
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  You must seek a larger kingdom that will be worthy of you. After
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  that, Alexander and Bucephalus were the best of friends. They were said to
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  be always together, for when one of them was seen, the other was
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  sure not to be far away. But the horse would never allow anyone to
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  mount him. But his master, Alexander became the most famous king and warrior
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  that was ever known, and for that reason he is always called Alexander the
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  Great. Beaucephalus carried him through many countries and in many fierce battles, and
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  more than once did he save his master's life. Androclus and the Lion.
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  In Rome, there was once a poor slave whose name was Androclus. His
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  master was a cruel man, and so unkind to him that at last Androclus
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  ran away. He hid himself in a wild wood for many days, but
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  there was no food to be found, and he grew so weak and sick
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  that he thought he should die. So one day he crept into a cave
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  and lay down, and soon he was fast asleep. After a while,
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  a great noise woke him up. A lion had come into the cave and
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  was roaring loudly. Andre Kluse was very much afraid, for he felt sure
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  that the beast would kill him soon. However, he saw that the lion
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  was not angry, but that he limped as though his foot hurt him.
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  Then andre Kluse grew so bold that he took hold of the lion's lame paul
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  to see what was the matter. The lion stood quite still and rubbed his
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  head against the man's shoulder. He seemed to say, I know that you
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  will help me. Andre Kluse lifted the paw from the ground and saw that
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  it was a long, sharp thorn, which hurt the lion so much.
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  He took the end of the thorn in his fingers. Then he gave a
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  strong, quick pull, and out it came. The lion was full of
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  joy. He jumped about like a dog and licked the hands and feet of
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  his new friend. Androclus was not at all afraid after this, and when
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  night came, he and the lion lay down and slept side by side for
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  a long time. The lion brought Foo to Andracluse every day, and the
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  two became such good friends that Androcluse found his new life a very happy one.
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  One day, some soldiers who were passing through the wood found Androcluse in
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  the cave. They knew who he was, and so took him back to
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  Rome. It was the law at that time that every slave who ran away
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  from his master should be made to fight a hungry lion. So a fierce
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  lion was shut up for a while without food, and a time was set
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  for the fight. When the day came, thousands of people crowded to see
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  the sport. They went to such places at that time, very much as
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  people nowadays go to see a circus show or a game of baseball. The
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  door opened and poor Andrekluse was brought in. He was almost dead with fear,
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  for the roars of the lion could already be heard. He looked up
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  and saw that there was no pity in the thousands of faces around him.
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  Then the hungry lion rushed in with a single bound. He reached the poor
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  slave. Androclus gave a great cry, not of fear, but of gladness.
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  It was his old friend, the lion of the cave. The people
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  who had expected to see the man killed by the lion were filled with wonder.
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  They saw Androcluse put his arms around the lion's neck. They saw the
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  lion lie down at his feet and lick him lovingly. They saw the great
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  beast rub his head against the slave's face, as though he wanted to be
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  petted. They could not understand what it all meant. After a while,
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  they asked Andrakluse to tell them about it. So he stood up before them,
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  and, with his arms around the lion's neck, told how he and
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  the beast had lived together in the cave. I am a man, he
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  said, but no man has ever befriended me. This poor lion alone has
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  been kind to me, and we love each other as brothers. The people
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  were not so bad that they could be cruel to the poor slave. Now
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  live and be free, they cried, live and be free. Others cried,
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  let the lion go free too. Give both of them their liberty,
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  and so Androcluse was set free, and the lion was given to him for
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  his own, and they lived together in roam for many years. Antonio Canova,
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  a good many years ago there lived in Italy a little boy whose name
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  was Antonio Canova. He lived with his grandfather, for his own father was
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  dead. His grandfather was a stone cutter, and he was very poor.
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  Antonio was a puny lad and not strong enough to work. He did not
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  care to play with the other boys of the town, but he liked to
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  go with his grandfather to the stone yard. While the old man was busy
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  cutting and trimming the great blocks of stone, the lad would play among the
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  chips. Sometimes he would make a little statue of soft clay. Sometimes he
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  would take hammer and chisel and try to cut a statue from a piece of
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  rock. He showed so much skill that his grandfather was delighted. The boy
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  will be a sculptor some day, he said. Then, when they went
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  home in the evening, the grandmother would say, what have you been doing
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  to day, my little sculptor, And she would take him upon her lap
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  and sing to him or tell him stories that filled his mind with pictures of
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  wonderful and beautiful things, and the next day, when he went back to
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  the stone yard, he would try to make some of those pictures in stone
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  or clay. There lived in the same town a rich man who was called
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  the Count. Sometimes the Count would have a grand dinner, and his rich
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  friends from other towns would come to visit him. Then Antonio's grandfather would go
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  up to the count's house to help with the work in the kitchen, for
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  he was a fine cook as well as a good stone cutter. It happened
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  one day that Antonio went with his grandfather to the count's great house. Some
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  people from the city were coming, and there was to be a grand feast.
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  The boy could not cook, and he was not old enough to wait
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  on the table, but he could wash the pans and kettles, and as
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  he was smart and quick, he could help him many other ways. All
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  went well until it was time to spread the table for dinner. Then there
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  was a crash in the dining room, and a man rushed into the kitchen
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  with some pieces of marble in his hands. He was pale and trembling with
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  fright. What shall I do? What shall I do? He cried?
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  I have broken the statue that was to stand at the center of the table.
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  I cannot make the table look pretty without the statue. What will the
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  count say? And now all the other servants were in trouble. Was the
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  dinner to be a failure after all? For everything depended on having the table
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  nicely arranged? The Count would be very angry. Ah, what shall we
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  do? They all asked. Then little Antonio Canova left his pans and kettles
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  and went up to the man who had caused the trouble. If you had
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  another statue, could you arrange the table? He asked? Certainly, said
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  the man, that is, if the statue were of the right length in
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  height. Will you let me try to make one? Asked Antonio. Perhaps
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  I can make something that will do. The man laughed. Nonsense, he
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  cried, Who are you that you talk of making statues on an hour's notice?
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  I am Antonio Canova, said the lad. Let the boy try what
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  he can do, said the servants who knew him. And so, since
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  nothing else could be done, the man allowed him to try. On the
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  kitchen table there was a large square lump of yellow butter. Two hundred pounds
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  of the lump weighed, and it had just come in, fresh and clean
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  from the dairy on the mountain. With a kitchen knife in his hand,
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  Antonio began to cut and carve this butter. In a few minutes he had
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  molded it into the shape of a crouching lion, and all the servants crowded
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  around to see it. How beautiful, they cried. It is a great
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  deal prettier than the statue that was broken. When it was finished, the
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  man carried it to its place. The table would be handsomer by half than
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  I ever hoped to make it, he said. When the Count and his
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  friends came in to dinner, the first thing they saw was the yellow lion.
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  What a beautiful work of art, they cried. None but a very
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  great artist could ever carve such a figure, and how odd that he should
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  choose to make it of butter. And then they asked the Count to tell
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  them the name of the artist. Truly, my friends, he said,
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  this is much of a surprise to me as to you. And then he
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  called to his head servant and asked him where he had found so wonderful a
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  statue. It was carved only an hour ago by a little boy in the
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  kitchen, said the servant. This made the count's friends wonder still more,
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  and the Count bade the servant call the boy into the room. My lad,
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  he said, you have done a piece of work of which the greatest
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  artist would be proud. What is your name and who is your teacher?
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  My name is Antonio Canova, said the boy, and I have had no
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  teacher but my grandfather, the stone cutter. By this time all the guests
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  had crowded around Antonio. There were famous artists among them, and they knew
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  that the lad was a genius. They could not say enough in praise of
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  his work, And when at last they sat down at the table, nothing
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  would please them but that Antonio should have a seat with them, and the
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  dinner was made of feast in his honor. The very next day, the
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  Count sent for Antonio to come and live with him. The best artists in
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  the land were employed to teach him the art in which he had shown so
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  much skill. But now instead of carving butter, he chiseled marble. In
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  a few years, Antonio Canova became known as one of the greatest sculptors in
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  the world. Arnold Winkle read a great army was marching into Switzerland. If
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  it should go much farther, there would be no driving it out again.
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  The soldiers would burn the towns, They would rob the farmers of their grain
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  and sheep. They would make slaves of the people. The men of Switzerland
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  knew all this. They knew that they must fight for their homes and their
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  lives, and so they came from the mountains and valleys to try what they
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  could do to save their land. Some came with bows and arrows, some
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  with scythes and pitchforks, and some with only sticks and clubs. But their
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  foes kept in line as they marched along the road. Every soldier was fully
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  armed. As they moved and kept close together, nothing could be seen of
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  them but their spears and shields and shining armor. What could the poor country
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  people do against such foes as these. We must break their lines, cried
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  their leader, for we cannot harm them while they keep together. The bowmen
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  shot their arrows, but they glanced off from the soldier's shields. Others tried
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  clubs and stones, but with no better luck. The lines were still unbroken.
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  The soldiers moved steadily onward. Their shields leaped over one another. Their
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  thousand spears looked like so many long bristles in the sunlight. What cared they
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  for sticks and stones and huntsmen's arrows. If we cannot break their lines,
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  said the Swiss, we have no chance for fight, and our country will
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  be lost. Then a poor man whose name was Arnold Winklerid, stepped out
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  on the side of Yonder Mountain, said he, I have a happy home
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  there. My wife and children wait for my return, but they will not
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  see me again. For this day I will give my life for my country.
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  And do you, my friends, do your duty, and Switzerland shall
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  be free. With these words, he ran forward. Follow me, he
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  cried to his friends. I will break the lines and let every man fight
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  as bravely as he can. He had nothing in his hands, neither club,
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  nor stone, nor other weapon, but he ran straight onward to the
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  place where the spears were the thickest. Make way for liberty, he cried
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  as he dashed right into the lines. A hundred spears were turned to catch
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  him upon their points. The soldiers forgot to stay in their places. The
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  lines were broken, Arnold's friends rushed bravely after him. They fought with whatever
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  they had in hand. They snatched spears and shields from their foes. They
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  had no thought of fear. They only thought of their homes and their dear
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  native land, and they won at last such a battle no one ever knew
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  before. But Switzerland was saved, and Arnold Winklerid did not die in vain
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  Bruce and the Spider. There was once a king of Scotland whose name was
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  Robert Bruce. He had need to be both brave and wise, for the
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  times in which he lived were wild and rude. The King of England was
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  at war with him, and had led a great army into Scotland to drive
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  him out of the land. Battle after battle had been fought. Six times
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  had Bruce led his brave little army against his foes, and six times had
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  his men been beaten and driven into flight. At last his army was scattered,
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  and he was forced to hide himself in the woods and in lonely places
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  among the mountains. One rainy day, Bruce lay on the ground under a
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  rude shed, listening to the patter of the drops on the roof above him.
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  He was tired and sick at heart, and ready to give up all
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  hope. It seemed to him that there was no use for him to try
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  to do anything more. As he lay thinking, he saw a spider over
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  his head, making ready to weave her web. He watched her as she
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  toiled slowly and with great care. Six times she tried to throw her frail
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  thread from one beam to another, and six times it fell short. Poor
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  thing, said Bruce, you too know what it is to fail. But
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  the spider did not lose hope with the sixth failure. With still more care,
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  she made ready to try for the seventh time. Bruce almost forgot his
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  own troubles as he watched her swing herself out upon the slender line. Would
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  she fail again? No? The thread was carried safely to the beam and
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  fastened there. I too will try a seventh time, cried Bruce. He
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  arose and called his men together. He told them of his plans, and
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  sent them out with messages of cheer to his disheartened people. Soon there was
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  an army of brave scotchmen around him. Another battles fought, and the King
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  of een England was glad to go back into his own country. I have
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  heard it said that after that day, no one by the name of Bruce
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  would ever hurt a spider. The lesson which the little creature had taught the
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  king was never forgotten Kasabianca. There was once a great battle at sea.
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  One could hear nothing but the roar of the big guns. The air was
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  filled with black smoke. The water was strewn with broken masts and pieces of
• 24:29
  timber which the cannon balls had knocked from the ships. Many men had been
• 24:33
  killed, and many more had been wounded. The flagship had taken fire.
• 24:38
  The flames were breaking out from below. The deck was all ablaze. The
• 24:42
  men who were left alive made haste to launch a small boat. They leaped
• 24:48
  into it and rowed swiftly away. Any other place was safer now than on
• 24:52
  board of that burning ship. There was powder in the hold, But the
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  captain's sung. Young Kasabianca still stood upon the deck. The flames were almost
• 25:03
  all around him now, and he would not stir from his post. His
• 25:07
  father had bidden him stand there, and he had been taught always to obey.
• 25:11
  He trusted in his father's word, and believed that when the right time
• 25:15
  came, he would tell him to go. He saw the men leap into
• 25:19
  the boat, he heard them call to him to come. He shook his
• 25:23
  head. When father bids me, I will go, he said. And
• 25:29
  now the flames were leaping up the masts. The sails were all ablaze.
• 25:33
  The fire blew hot upon his cheek, It scorched his hair. It was
• 25:37
  before him, behind him, all around him. O, father, he
• 25:42
  cried, May I not go now? The men have all left the ship.
• 25:47
  Is it not time that we two should leave it? He did not
• 25:52
  know that his father was lying in the burning cabin below, that a cannon
• 25:56
  ball had struck him dead at the very beginning of the fight. He listen
• 26:00
  to hear the answer, speak louder, father, he cried, I cannot
• 26:04
  hear what you say above the roaring of the flames, above the crashing of
• 26:10
  the falling spars, above the booming of the gulls. He fancied that his
• 26:14
  father's voice came faintly to him through the scorching air. I am here,
• 26:18
  Father, speak once again, he gasped. But what is that? A
• 26:25
  great flash of light fills the air. Clouds of smoke shoot quickly upward to
• 26:30
  the sky, and boom, Oh, what a terrific sound. Louder than
• 26:37
  thunder, louder than the roar of all the guns. The air quivers,
• 26:41
  the sea itself trembles, The sky is black, the blazing ship is seen
• 26:47
  no more, there was powder in the hold. A long time ago,
• 26:52
  a lady whose name was missus Hemans wrote a poem about this brave boy,
• 26:57
  Casabianca. It is not a very well written poem, and yet everybody has
• 27:03
  read it, and thousands of people have learned it by heart. I doubt
• 27:07
  not but that some day you too will read it. It begins in this
• 27:11
  way. The boy stood on the burning deck, whence all but him had
• 27:17
  fled. The flame that lit the battle's wreck shone round him o'er the dead.
• 27:22
  Yet beautiful and bright he stood, as born to rule the storm,
• 27:27
  a creature of heroic blood, a proud though childlike form Cornelia's jewels. It
• 27:37
  was a bright morning in the old city of Rome, many hundred years ago,
• 27:41
  in a vine covered summer house in a beautiful garden, two boys were
• 27:45
  standing. They were looking at their mother and her friend, who were talking
• 27:48
  among the flowers in trees. Did you ever see so handsome a lady as
• 27:53
  our mother's friend asked the younger boy, holding his tall brother's hand. She
• 27:59
  looks like a queen. Yet she is not so beautiful as our mother,
• 28:03
  said the older boy. She has a fine dress, it is true,
• 28:07
  but her face is not noble and kind. It is our mother who is
• 28:11
  like a queen, that is true, said the other. There is no
• 28:17
  woman in Rome so much like a queen as our own dear mother. Soon,
• 28:22
  Cornelia, their mother, came down the walk to speak with them.
• 28:26
  She was simply dressed in a plain white robe. Her arms and feet were
• 28:30
  bare, as was the custom in those days, and no rings nor chains
• 28:34
  glittered about her hands and neck for her only crown. Long braids of soft
• 28:41
  brown hair were coiled about her head, and a tender smile lit up her
• 28:45
  noble face. As she looked into her son's proud eyes. Boys, she
• 28:51
  said, I have something to tell you. They bowed before her, as
• 28:56
  Roman lads were taught to do, and said, what is it. Mother?
• 29:00
  You are to dine with us today here in the garden, and then
• 29:03
  our friend is going to show us that wonderful casket of jewels of which you
• 29:07
  have heard so much. The brothers looked shyly at their mother's friend. Was
• 29:14
  it possible that she had still other rings besides those on her fingers? Could
• 29:18
  she have other gems besides those which sparkled in the chains about her neck?
• 29:25
  When the simple outdoor meal was over, a servant brought the casket from the
• 29:29
  house. The lady opened it. Ah, how those jewels dazzled the eyes
• 29:33
  of the wondering boys. There were ropes of pearls white as milk and smooth
• 29:38
  as satin, heaps of shining rubies red as the glowing coals, sapphires as
• 29:45
  blue as the sky that summer day, and diamonds that flashed and sparkled like
• 29:49
  the sunlight. The brothers looked long at the gems. Ah, whispered the
• 29:56
  younger, if our mother could only have such beautiful things. At last,
• 30:02
  however, the casket was closed and carried carefully away. Is it true,
• 30:07
  Cornelia, that you have no jewels, asked her friend. Is it true,
• 30:12
  as I have heard it whispered, that you are poor? No I
• 30:17
  am not poor, answered Cornelia, And as she spoke, she drew her
• 30:22
  two boys to her side. For here are my jewels. They are worth
• 30:26
  more than all your gems. I am sure that the boys never forgot their
• 30:32
  mother's pride and love and care. And in after years, when they had
• 30:36
  become great men in Rome, they often thought of this scene in the garden,
• 30:41
  And the world still likes to hear the story of Cornelia's jewels, Damon
• 30:47
  and Pythius. A young man whose name was Pytheus had done something which the
• 30:52
  tyrant Dionysius did not like. For this offense, he was dragged to prison,
• 30:57
  and a day was set when he should be put to death. His
• 31:00
  home was far away, and he wanted very much to see his father and
• 31:04
  mother and friends before he died. Only give me leave to go home and
• 31:10
  say good bye to those whom I love, he said, and then I
• 31:12
  will come back and give up my life. The tyrant laughed at him.
• 31:18
  How can I know that you will keep your promise, he said, you
• 31:22
  only want to cheat me and save yourself. Then a young man whose name
• 31:26
  was Damon spoke and said, O, King put me in prison in place
• 31:32
  of my friend Pytheus, and let him go to his own country to put
• 31:36
  his affairs in order and to bid his friends farewell. I know that he
• 31:40
  will come back as he promised, for he is a man who has never
• 31:44
  broken his word. But if he is not here on the day which you
• 31:47
  have set, then I will die in his stead. The tyrant was surprised
• 31:52
  that anybody should make such an offer. At last, he agreed to let
• 31:56
  Pytheus go and gave orders that the young man and should be shut up in
• 32:00
  prison. Time passed and by and bye. The day drew near, which
• 32:05
  had been set for Pytheas to die, and he had not come back.
• 32:09
  The tyrant ordered the jailer to keep close watch upon Damon and not let him
• 32:14
  escape, but Damon did not try to escape. He still had faith in
• 32:19
  the truth and honor of his friend. He said, if Pytheus does not
• 32:23
  come back in time, it will not be his fault. It will be
• 32:28
  because he is hindered against his will. At last, the day came,
• 32:32
  and then the very hour Damon was ready to die. His trust in his
• 32:38
  friend was as firm as ever, and he said that he did not grieve
• 32:42
  at having to suffer for one whom he loved so much. Then the jailer
• 32:46
  came and led him to his death. But at the same moment Pytheus stood
• 32:51
  in the door. He had been delayed by storms and shipwreck, and he
• 32:54
  had feared that he was too late. He greeted Damon kindly and then gave
• 33:00
  himself into the hands of the jailer. He was happy because he thought that
• 33:05
  he had come in time, even though it was at the last moment.
• 33:08
  The tyrant was not so bad, but that he could see good in others.
• 33:13
  He felt that men who loved and trusted each other, as did Damon
• 33:16
  and Pytheus, ought not to suffer unjustly, and so he set them both
• 33:22
  free. I would give all my wealth to have one such friend, he
• 33:28
  said Diogenes, the wise Man. At Corinth, in Greece, there lived
• 33:35
  a very wise man whose name was Diogenes. Men came from all parts of
• 33:39
  the land to see him and hear him talk. But wise as he was,
• 33:44
  he had some very queer ways. He did not believe that any man
• 33:47
  ought to have more things than he really needed, and he said that no
• 33:52
  man needed much. And so he did not live in a house, but
• 33:54
  slept in a tub or barrel, which he rolled about from place to place.
• 34:00
  He spent his days sitting in the sun and saying wise things to those
• 34:04
  who are around him. At noon, one day, Diogenes was seen walking
• 34:08
  through the streets with a lighted lantern and looking all around as if in search
• 34:13
  of something. Why do you carry a lantern when the sun is shining,
• 34:17
  some one said, I am looking for an honest man, answered Diogenes.
• 34:23
  When Alexander the Great went to Corinth, all the foremost men in the city
• 34:28
  came out to see him and to praise him. But Diogenes did not come,
• 34:32
  and he was the only man for whose opinions Alexander cared. And so
• 34:37
  since the wise man would not come to see the king, the king went
• 34:42
  to see the wise man. He found Diogenes in an out of the way
• 34:45
  place, lying on the ground by his tub. He was enjoying the heat
• 34:50
  and the light of the sun. When he saw the king and a great
• 34:52
  many people coming, He sat up and looked at Alexander. Alexander greeted him
• 34:58
  and said, Diogenes, I have heard a great deal about your wisdom.
• 35:02
  Is there anything that I can do for you? Yes, said Diogenes.
• 35:07
  You can stand a little on one side, so as not to keep the
• 35:10
  sunshine from me. This answer was so different from what he expected that the
• 35:15
  King was much surprised, but it did not make him angry. It only
• 35:21
  made him admire the strange man all the more. When he turned to ride
• 35:24
  back, he said to his officers, say what you will. If I
• 35:29
  were not Alexander, I would like to be Diogenes doctor Goldsmith. There was
• 35:36
  once a kind man whose name was Oliver Goldsmith. He wrote many delightful books,
• 35:42
  some of which you will read when you are older. He had a
• 35:45
  gentle heart. He was always ready to help others and to share with them
• 35:49
  anything that he had. He gave away so much to the poor that he
• 35:52
  was always poor himself. He was sometimes called doctor Goldsmith, for he had
• 35:58
  studied to be a physician. One day, a poor woman asked doctor Goldsmith
• 36:02
  to go and see her husband, who was sick and could not eat.
• 36:07
  Goldsmith did so. He found that the family was in great need. The
• 36:12
  man had not had work for a long time. He was not sick,
• 36:15
  but in distress. And as for eating, there was no food in the
• 36:19
  house. Call in my room this evening, said Goldsmith to the woman,
• 36:23
  and I will give you some medicine for your husband. In the evening the
• 36:28
  woman called Goldsmith gave her a little paper box that was very heavy. Here
• 36:34
  is the medicine, he said, Use it faithfully, and I think it
• 36:37
  will do your husband a great deal of good. But don't open the box
• 36:40
  until you reach home. What are the directions for taking it, asked the
• 36:45
  woman. You will find them inside of the box, he answered. When
• 36:50
  the woman reached her home, she sat down by her husband's side, and
• 36:53
  they opened the box. What do you think they found in it? It
• 36:59
  was full of pieces of money, and on the top were the directions to
• 37:02
  be taken as often as necessity requires. Goldsmith had given them all the ready
• 37:09
  money that he had. George Washington and his hatchet. When George Washington was
• 37:16
  quite a little boy, his father gave him a hatchet. It was bright
• 37:21
  and new, and George took great delight in going about and chopping things with
• 37:24
  it. He ran into the garden, and there he saw a tree which
• 37:29
  seemed to say to him, come and cut me down. George had often
• 37:34
  seen his father's men chop down the great trees in the forest, and he
• 37:37
  thought that it would be fine sport to see this tree fall with a crash
• 37:40
  to the ground. So he set to work with his little hatchet, and
• 37:45
  as the tree was a very small one, it did not take long to
• 37:49
  lay it low. Soon after that his father came home. Who has been
• 37:53
  cutting my fine young cherry tree? He cried. It was the only tree
• 37:59
  of its kind in this country, and it cost me a great deal of
• 38:02
  money. He was very angry when he came into the house. If I
• 38:08
  only knew who killed that cherry tree, he cried, I would, Yes,
• 38:14
  I would. Father cried little George, I will tell you the truth
• 38:20
  about it. I chopped the tree down with my hatchet. His father forgot
• 38:24
  his anger, George, he said, and he took the little fellow in
• 38:30
  his arms. George, I am glad that you told me about it.
• 38:35
  I would rather lose a dozen cherry trees than that you should tell one falsehood.
• 38:40
  Grace Darling. It was a dark September morning. There was a storm
• 38:46
  at sea. A ship had been driven on low rock off the shores of
• 38:51
  the Farn Islands. It had been broken in two by the waves, and
• 38:54
  half of it had been washed away. The other half lay yet on the
• 38:59
  rock, and those of the crew who were still alive were clinging to it.
• 39:02
  But the waves were dashing over it, and in a little while it
• 39:07
  too would be carried to the bottom. Could any one save the poor half
• 39:12
  drowned men who were there. On one of the islands was a lighthouse,
• 39:16
  and there all through that stormy night, Grace Darling had listened to the storm.
• 39:22
  Grace was the daughter of the lighthouse keeper and she had lived by the
• 39:27
  sea as long as she could remember. In the darkness of the night,
• 39:30
  above the noise of the winds and waves, she heard the screams and wild
• 39:35
  cries. When daylight came, she could see the wreck a mile away,
• 39:39
  with the angry waters all around it. She could see the men clinging to
• 39:45
  the masts. We must try to save them, she cried. Let us
• 39:50
  go out in the boat at once. It is of no use, Grace,
• 39:53
  said her father. We cannot reach them. He was an old man
• 39:59
  and he knew the force of the mighty waves. We cannot stay here and
• 40:04
  see them die, said Grace. We must at least try to save them.
• 40:08
  Her father could not say no. In a few minutes they were ready.
• 40:13
  They set off in the heavy lighthouse boat. Grace pulled one oar and
• 40:17
  her father the other, and they made straight toward the wreck. But it
• 40:22
  was hard rowing against such a sea, and it seemed as though they would
• 40:24
  never reach the place. At last they were close to the rock, and
• 40:30
  now they were in greater danger than before. The fierce waves broke against the
• 40:35
  boat, and it would have been dashed in pieces had it not been for
• 40:37
  the strength and skill of the brave girl. But after many trials, Grace's
• 40:44
  father climbed upon the wreck, while Grace herself held the boat. Then one
• 40:49
  by one the worn out crew were helped on board. It was all that
• 40:52
  the girl could do to keep the frail boat from being drifted away or broken
• 40:57
  upon the sharp edges of the rock. Then her father clambered back into his
• 41:01
  place. Strong hands grasped the oars, and by and by all were safe
• 41:07
  in the lighthouse. There Grace proved to be no less tender as a nurse
• 41:12
  than she had been brave as a sailor. She cared most kindly for the
• 41:16
  shipwrecked men until the storm had died away and they were strong enough to go
• 41:21
  to their own homes. All this happened a long time ago, but the
• 41:25
  name of Grace Darling will never be forgotten. She lies buried now in a
• 41:30
  little churchyard by the sea, not far from her old home. Every year
• 41:37
  many people go there to see her grave, and there a monument has been
• 41:40
  placed in the honor of the brave girl. It is not a large monument,
• 41:45
  but it is one that speaks of the noble deed which made Grace Darling
• 41:49
  famous. It is a figure carved in the stone of a woman lying at
• 41:53
  rest with a boat's oar held fast in her right hand, spacious at the
• 42:00
  bridge. Once there was a war between the Roman people and the Etruscans who
• 42:06
  lived in the towns on the other side of the Tiber River. Porcina,
• 42:09
  the king of the Etruscans, raised a great army and marched toward Rome.
• 42:15
  The city had never been in so great danger. The Romans did not have
• 42:19
  very many fighting men at that time, and they knew that they were not
• 42:22
  strong enough to meet the Etruscans in open battle, so they kept themselves in
• 42:27
  sight of their walls and set guards to watch the roads. One morning,
• 42:31
  the army of Porcina was seen coming over the hills from the north. There
• 42:36
  were thousands of horsemen and footmen, and they were marching straight toward the wooden
• 42:39
  bridge which spanned the river at Rome. What shall we do, said the
• 42:45
  white haired fathers who made the laws for the Roman people. If they once
• 42:50
  get the bridge, we cannot hinder them from crossing, and then what hope
• 42:53
  will there be for the town. Now among the guards of the bridge there
• 42:59
  was a brave man named Horatius. He was on the farther side of the
• 43:02
  river, and when he saw that the Etruscans were so near, he called
• 43:07
  out the Romans who were behind him. Hew down the bridge with all the
• 43:12
  speed that you can, he cried, Ay, with the two men who
• 43:15
  stand by me, will keep the foe at bay. Then, with their
• 43:20
  shields before them and their long spears in their hands, the three brave men
• 43:23
  stood in the road and kept back the horsemen whom Porcina had sent to take
• 43:28
  the bridge. On the bridge, the Romans hewed away at the beams impost.
• 43:34
  Their axes rang, the chips flew fast, and soon it trembled and
• 43:38
  was ready to fall. Come back, Come back and save your lives,
• 43:44
  they cried to Horatius and the two who were with him. But just then
• 43:49
  Porcina's horsemen dashed toward them again. Run for your lives, said Horatius to
• 43:53
  his friends, I will keep the road. They turned and ran back across
• 43:59
  the bridge. They had hardly reached the other side when there was a crashing
• 44:04
  of beams and timbers. The bridge toppled over to one side and then fell
• 44:08
  with a great splash into the water. When Horatius heard the sound, he
• 44:14
  knew that the city was safe. With his face still toward Prosina's men,
• 44:19
  he moved slowly backward till he stood on the river's bank. A dart thrown
• 44:24
  by one of Porcina's soldiers put out his left eye, but he did not
• 44:29
  falter. He cast his spear at the foremost horseman, and then he turned
• 44:34
  quickly around. He saw the white porch of his own home among the trees
• 44:37
  on the other side of the stream, and he spake to the noble river
• 44:42
  that rolls by the walls of Rome, Old Tiber, Father Tiber, to
• 44:46
  whom the Romans prey, a Roman's life, a Roman's arms, Take thou
• 44:52
  in charge today. He leaped into the deep, swift stream. He still
• 44:58
  had his heavy armor on, and when he sank out of sight, no
• 45:01
  one thought he would ever be seen again. But he was a strong man
• 45:06
  and the best swimmer in Rome. The next minute he rose, he was
• 45:09
  half way across the river, and save from the spears and darts which Porcina's
• 45:15
  soldiers hurled after him, soon he reached the farther side, where his friends
• 45:20
  stood ready to help him. Shout after shout greeted him as he climbed upon
• 45:24
  the bank. Then Porcina's men shouted also, for they had never seen a
• 45:30
  man so brave and strong as Horatious. He had kept them out of Rome,
• 45:35
  but he had done a deed which they could not help but praise.
• 45:38
  As for the Romans, they were very grateful to Horatious for having saved their
• 45:43
  city. They called him Horatious Cocles, which meant the one eyed Horatious,
• 45:50
  because he had lost an eye in defending the bridge. They caused a fine
• 45:54
  statue of brass to be made in his honor, and they gave him as
• 45:58
  much land as he could play around in a day. And for thousands of
• 46:01
  years afterwards, with weeping and with laughter, still was the story told,
• 46:08
  how well Horatius kept the bridge, and the brave days of old, how
• 46:15
  Napoleon crossed the Alps. About a hundred years ago there lived a great general
• 46:21
  whose name was Napoleon Bonaparte. He was the leader of the French army,
• 46:25
  and France was at war with nearly all the countries around. He wanted very
• 46:30
  much to take his soldiers to Italy. But between France and Italy there were
• 46:34
  high mountains called the Alps, the tops of which are covered with snow.
• 46:38
  Is it possible to cross the Alps, said Napoleon. The men who had
• 46:44
  just been sent out to look at the passes over the mountains shook their heads.
• 46:49
  Then one of them said, it may be possible, but let me
• 46:54
  hear no more, said Napoleon forward to Italy at the thought of an army
• 47:00
  of sixty thousand men crossing the Alps where there was no road. But Napoleon
• 47:06
  waited only to see that everything was in good order, and then he gave
• 47:08
  the order to march. The long line of soldiers and horses and cannons stretched
• 47:15
  for twenty miles. When they came to a steep place where there seemed to
• 47:19
  be no way to go farther, the trumpet sounded charge. Then every man
• 47:24
  did his best, and the whole army moved right onward. Soon they were
• 47:29
  safe over the Alps. In four days they were marching on the plains of
• 47:32
  Italy. The man who has made up his mind to win, said Napoleon,
• 47:37
  will never say impossible. Julius Caesar. Nearly two thousand years ago there
• 47:46
  lived in Rome a man whose name was Julius Caesar. He was the greatest
• 47:51
  of all the Romans. Why was he so great? He was a brave
• 47:54
  warrior and had conquered many countries for Rome. He was eyes in planning and
• 48:00
  in doing. He knew how to make men both love and fear him.
• 48:06
  At last, he made himself the ruler of Rome. Some said that he
• 48:09
  wished to become its king, but the Romans at that time did not believe
• 48:14
  in kings. Once, when Caesar was passing through a little country village,
• 48:19
  all the men, women and children of the place came out to see him.
• 48:22
  There were not more than fifty of them altogether, and they were led
• 48:27
  by their mayor, who told each one what to do. These simple people
• 48:31
  stood by the roadside and watched Caesar pass. The mayor looked very proud and
• 48:36
  happy, for was he not the ruler of this village. He felt that
• 48:40
  he was almost as great a man as Caesar himself. Some of the fine
• 48:45
  officers who were with Caesar laughed. They said, see how that fellow struts
• 48:51
  at the head of his little flock. Laugh as you will, said Caesar,
• 48:55
  he has reason to be proud. I would rather be the head man
• 49:00
  of a village than the second man in Rome. At another time, Caesar
• 49:05
  was crossing a narrow sea in a boat, Before he was half way to
• 49:08
  the farther shore, a storm overtook him. The wind blew hard, the
• 49:14
  waves clashed high, the lightning flashed, the thunder rolled. It seemed every
• 49:20
  minute as though the boat would sink. The captain was in great fright.
• 49:23
  He had crossed the sea many times, but never in such a storm as
• 49:28
  this. He trembled with fear. He could not guide the boat. He
• 49:32
  fell down upon his knees. He moaned, all is lost, all is
• 49:37
  lost. But Caesar was not afraid. He bade the man get up and
• 49:44
  take his oars again. Why should you be afraid, he said, The
• 49:47
  boat will not be lost, for you have Caesar on board. King Alfred
• 49:52
  and the beggar. At one time the Danes drove King Alfred from his kingdom,
• 49:59
  and he had to lie hidden for a long time on a little island
• 50:01
  in a river. One day, all who were on the island except the
• 50:07
  king and queen and one servant, went out to fish. It was a
• 50:12
  very lonely place, and no one could get to it except by boat.
• 50:15
  About noon, a ragged beggar came to the king's door and asked for food.
• 50:22
  The king called the servant and asked how much food have we in the
• 50:25
  house, my lord, said the servant, We have only one loaf and
• 50:30
  a little wine. Then the King gave thanks to God and said, give
• 50:36
  half of the loaf and half of the wine to this poor man. The
• 50:39
  servant did as he was bidden. The beggar thanked the king for his kindness
• 50:44
  and went on his way. In the afternoon, the men who had gone
• 50:47
  out to fish came back. They had three boats full of fish, and
• 50:52
  they said, we have caught more fish to day than in all the other
• 50:57
  days that we have been on this island. The king was glad, and
• 51:00
  he and his people were more hopeful than they had ever been before. When
• 51:06
  night came, the king lay awake for a long time and thought about the
• 51:09
  things that had happened that day. At last he fancied that he saw a
• 51:15
  great light like the sun, and in the midst of the light there stood
• 51:19
  an old man with black care, holding an open book in his hand.
• 51:23
  It may all have been a dream, and yet to the king it seemed
• 51:29
  very real. Indeed, he looked and wondered, but was not afraid.
• 51:35
  Who are you, he asked of the old man, Alfred, my son
• 51:40
  be brave, said the man, for I am the one to whom you
• 51:45
  gave this day the half of all the food that you had. Be strong
• 51:50
  and joyful of heart, and listen to what I say. Rise up early
• 51:53
  in the morning, and blow your horn three times, so loudly that the
• 51:59
  Danes may hear it. By nine o'clock five hundred men will be around you,
• 52:04
  ready to be led into battle. Go forth bravely, and within seven
• 52:08
  days your enemies shall be beaten, and you shall go back to your kingdom
• 52:14
  to reign in peace. Then the light went out, and the man was
• 52:19
  seen no more. In the morning, the king arose early and crossed over
• 52:23
  to the mainland. Then he blew his horn three times, very loudly,
• 52:30
  and when his friends heard it, they were glad, but the Danes were
• 52:34
  filled with fear. At nine o'clock, five hundred of his bravest soldiers stood
• 52:39
  around him, ready for battle. He spoke and told them what he had
• 52:44
  seen and heard in his dream, And when he had finished, they all
• 52:47
  cheered loudly and said that they would follow him and fight for him so long
• 52:52
  as they had strength. So they went out bravely to battle, and they
• 52:58
  beat the Danes and drove them back to their own place, and King Alfred
• 53:02
  ruled wisely and well over all his people for the rest of his days.
• 53:08
  King Alfred and the Cakes, many years ago there lived in England a wife
• 53:15
  and good king whose name was Alfred. No other man ever did so much
• 53:20
  for his country as he, and people now all over the world speak of
• 53:24
  him as Alfred the Great. In those days, the king did not have
• 53:30
  a very easy life. There was war almost all the time, and no
• 53:34
  one else could lead his army into battles so well as he, and so
• 53:38
  between ruling and fighting he had a busy time of it. Indeed, a
• 53:44
  fierce, rude people called the Danes had come from over the sea and were
• 53:47
  fighting the English. There were so many of them, and they were so
• 53:52
  bold and strong that for a time they gained every battle. If they kept
• 53:57
  on, they would soon be the masters of the whole country. At last,
• 54:02
  after a great battle, the English army was broken up and scattered.
• 54:07
  Every man had to save himself in the best way he could. King Alfred
• 54:12
  fled alone in great haste through the woods and swamps. Late in the day,
• 54:16
  the king came to the hut of a woodcutter. He was very tired
• 54:21
  and hungry, and he begged the woodcutter's wife to give him something to eat
• 54:24
  and a place to sleep in her hut. The woman was baking some cakes
• 54:30
  upon the hearth, and she looked with pity upon the poor, ragged fellow
• 54:34
  who seemed so hungry. She had no thought that he was the king.
• 54:38
  Yes, she said, I will give you some supper if you will watch
• 54:43
  these cakes. I want to go out and milk the cow, and you
• 54:46
  must see that they do not burn while I am gone. King Alfred was
• 54:51
  very willing to watch the cakes, but he had far greater things to think
• 54:54
  about. How was he going to get his army together again? How was
• 55:00
  he going to drive the fierce Danes out of the land. He forgot his
• 55:05
  hunger, he forgot the cakes. He forgot that he was in the woodcutter's
• 55:09
  hut. His mind was busy making plans for tomorrow. In a little while
• 55:15
  the woman came back. The cakes were smoking on the hearth. They were
• 55:22
  burned to a crisp. Ah. How angry she was, you lazy fellow,
• 55:30
  she cried, see what you have done. You want something to eat,
• 55:34
  but you do not want to work. I have been told that she
• 55:38
  even struck the king with a stick, but I can hardly believe that she
• 55:43
  was so ill natured. The King must have laughed to himself at the thought
• 55:47
  of being scolded in this way, and he was so hungry that he did
• 55:52
  not mind the woman's angry words half so much as the loss of the cakes.
• 55:57
  I do not know whether he had anything to eat that night, or
• 56:00
  whether he had to go to bed without his supper. But it was not
• 56:05
  many days until he had gathered his men together again and had beaten the Danes
• 56:09
  in a great battle. King Canut on the sea shore. A hundred years
• 56:15
  or more after the time of Alfred the Great, there was a king of
• 56:19
  England named Canut. King Canute was a Dane. But the Danes were not
• 56:23
  so fierce and cruel then as they had been when they were at war with
• 56:27
  King Alfred. The great men and officers who were around King Canoot were always
• 56:31
  praising him. You are the greatest man that ever lived, one would say,
• 56:37
  Then another would say, O King, there can never be another man
• 56:43
  so mighty as you, and another would say, Great Canut, there is
• 56:47
  nothing in the world that dares to disobey you. The king was a man
• 56:52
  of sense, and he grew very tired of hearing such foolish speeches. One
• 56:59
  day he was by the sea shore and his officers were with him. They
• 57:02
  were praising him, as they were in the habit of doing. He thought
• 57:07
  that now he would teach them a lesson, and so he bade them set
• 57:10
  his chair on the beach, close to the edge of the water. Am
• 57:15
  I the greatest man in the world, he asked, O King, They
• 57:20
  cried, there is no one so mighty as you do. All things obey
• 57:24
  me, he asked. There is nothing that dares to disobey you, O
• 57:30
  King, They said, The world bows down before you and gives you honor.
• 57:36
  Will the sea obey me? He asked, and he looked down at
• 57:39
  the little waves which were lapping the sand at his feet. The foolish officers
• 57:45
  were puzzled, but they did not dare to say. No, command it,
• 57:50
  O King, and it will obey said one see, cried, canoot
• 57:55
  I command you to come no farther? Waves, Stop your rolling, and
• 58:00
  do not dare to touch my feet. But the tide came in, just
• 58:06
  as it always did. The water rose higher and higher. It came up
• 58:10
  around the king's chair and wet, not only his feet, but also his
• 58:15
  robe. His officer stood about him, alarmed and wondering whether he was not
• 58:20
  mad. Then Canoot took off his crown and threw it down upon the sand.
• 58:27
  I shall never wear it again, he said. And do you,
• 58:30
  my men, learn a lesson from what you have seen. There is only
• 58:35
  one king who is all powerful, and it is he who rules the sea
• 58:39
  and holds the ocean in the hollow of his hand. It is he whom
• 58:45
  you ought to praise and serve above all others. King John and the Abbot,
• 58:52
  Part one the Three Questions. There was once a king of England whose
• 58:57
  name was John. He was a bad king king, for he was harsh
• 59:00
  and cruel to his people, and so long as he could have his own
• 59:05
  way, he did not care what became of other folks. He was the
• 59:08
  worst king that England ever had. Now there was in the town of Canterbury
• 59:14
  a rich old abbot who lived in grand style in a great house called the
• 59:19
  Abbey. Every day a hundred noble men sat down with him to dine,
• 59:22
  and fifty brave knights in fine velvet coats and gold chains waited upon him at
• 59:29
  his table. When King John heard of the way in which the abbot lived.
• 59:32
  He made up his mind to put a stop to it, so he
• 59:36
  sent for the old man to come and see him. How now, my
• 59:40
  good abbot, he said, I hear that you keep a far better house
• 59:45
  than I. How dare you do such a thing. Don't you know that
• 59:50
  no man in the land ought to live better than the king? And I
• 59:53
  tell you that no man shall o king, said the abbot. I beg
• 59:59
  to say that I am spending nothing but what is my own. I hope
• 1:00:02
  that you will not think ill of me for making things pleasant for my friends
• 1:00:06
  and the brave knights who are with me. Think ill of you? Said
• 1:00:10
  the king. How can I help but think ill of you. All that
• 1:00:15
  there is in this broad land is mine by right? And how do you
• 1:00:19
  dare to put me to shame by living in grander style than I. One
• 1:00:22
  would think that you were trying to be king in my place. Oh,
• 1:00:27
  do not say so, said the abbot, For I not another word,
• 1:00:31
  cried the King. Your fault is plain, and unless you can answer me
• 1:00:36
  three questions, your heads shall be cut off and all your riches shall be
• 1:00:39
  mine. I will try to answer them, o King, said the abbot.
• 1:00:45
  Well, then said the King. As I sit here with my crown
• 1:00:49
  of gold on my head, you must tell me to within a day just
• 1:00:52
  how long I shall live. Secondly, you must tell me how soon I
• 1:00:57
  shall ride round the whole world. And lastly you shall tell me what I
• 1:01:01
  think, O King, said the abbot. These are deep, hard questions,
• 1:01:08
  and I cannot answer them just now. But if you will give me
• 1:01:13
  two weeks to think about them, I will do the best that I can.
• 1:01:16
  Two weeks you shall have, said the king. But if then you
• 1:01:20
  fail to answer me, you shall lose your head, and all your lands
• 1:01:24
  shall be mine. The abbot went away very sad and in great fear.
• 1:01:30
  He first rode to Oxford, here was a great school called a university,
• 1:01:35
  and he wanted to see if any of the wise professors could help him.
• 1:01:38
  But they shook their heads and said that there was nothing about King John in
• 1:01:43
  any of their books. Then the abbot rode down to Cambridge, where there
• 1:01:47
  was another university, but not one of the teachers in that great school could
• 1:01:52
  help him. At last, sad and sorrowful, he rode toward home to
• 1:01:57
  bid his friends and his brave knights could by. For now he had not
• 1:02:01
  a week to live, Part two The Three Answers. As the abbot was
• 1:02:07
  riding up the lane which led to his grand house, he met his shepherd
• 1:02:12
  going to the fields. Welcome home, good master, cried the shepherd.
• 1:02:16
  What news do you bring us from Great King John? Sad news. Sad
• 1:02:22
  news, said the abbot, and then he told him all that had happened.
• 1:02:27
  Cheer up, cheer up, good Master, said the shepherd. Have
• 1:02:30
  you never yet heard that a fool may teach a wise man? Wit?
• 1:02:35
  I think I can help you out of your trouble. You help me,
• 1:02:38
  cried the abbot. How how well, answered the shepherd. You know that
• 1:02:45
  everybody says that I look just like you, and that I have sometimes been
• 1:02:47
  mistaken for you. So lend me your servants and your horse and your gown,
• 1:02:52
  and I will go up to London and see the King. If nothing
• 1:02:57
  else can be done, I can at least die in your place. My
• 1:03:01
  good shepherd, said the abbot. You are very very kind, and I
• 1:03:07
  have a mind to let you try your plan. But if the worst comes
• 1:03:10
  to the worst, you shall not die for me. I will die for
• 1:03:15
  myself. So the shepherd got ready to go. At once he dressed himself
• 1:03:20
  with great care over the shepherd's coat. He threw the abbot's long gown,
• 1:03:24
  and he borrowed the abbot's cap and golden staff. When all was ready,
• 1:03:30
  no one in the world would have thought that he was not the great man
• 1:03:32
  himself. Then he mounted his horse, and with a great train of servants,
• 1:03:37
  set out for London. Of course, the king did not know him.
• 1:03:42
  Welcome, sir Abbot, he said. It is a good thing that
• 1:03:45
  you have come back. But prompt as you are, if you fail to
• 1:03:49
  answer my three questions, you shall lose your head. I am ready to
• 1:03:53
  answer them, o king, said the shepherd. Indeed, indeed, said
• 1:03:59
  the king, and he laughed to himself. Well, then answer my first
• 1:04:03
  question. How long shall I live? Come? You must tell me to
• 1:04:08
  the very day you shall live, said the shepherd, until the day that
• 1:04:13
  you die, and not one day longer. And you shall die when you
• 1:04:16
  take your last breath, and not one moment before. The king laughed.
• 1:04:23
  You are witty, I see, he said, But we will let that
• 1:04:26
  pass and say that your answer is right. And now tell me how soon
• 1:04:30
  I may ride round the world. You must rise with the sun, said
• 1:04:34
  the shepherd, And you must ride with the sun until it rises again the
• 1:04:39
  next morning. As soon as you do that, you will find that you
• 1:04:43
  have ridden round the world in twenty four hours. The king laughed again.
• 1:04:47
  Indeed, he said, I did not think that it could be done so
• 1:04:51
  soon. You are not only witty, but you are wise. And we
• 1:04:55
  will let this answer pass. And now comes my third and last. What
• 1:05:00
  do I think? That is an easy question? Said the shepherd. You
• 1:05:05
  think that I am the abbot of Canterbury, But to tell you the truth,
• 1:05:10
  I am only his poor shepherd, and I have come to beg your
• 1:05:13
  pardon for him and for me. And with that he threw off his long
• 1:05:17
  gown. The King laughed loud and long. A merry fellow you are,
• 1:05:23
  said he, and you shall be the abbot of Canterbury in your master's place.
• 1:05:28
  O King, that cannot be, said the shepherd, for I can
• 1:05:31
  neither read nor write very well. Then, said the King, I will
• 1:05:36
  give you something else to pay you for this merry joke. I will give
• 1:05:41
  you four pieces of silver every week as long as you live, and when
• 1:05:45
  you get home you may tell the old abbot that you have brought him a
• 1:05:48
  free pardon from King John Maximilian and the goose Boy. One summer day,
• 1:05:57
  King Maximilian of Bavaria was walking in the country. The sun shone hot,
• 1:06:01
  and he stopped under a tree to rest. It was very pleasant in the
• 1:06:05
  cool shade. The king lay down on the soft grass and looked up at
• 1:06:10
  the white cloud sailing across the sky. Then he took a little book from
• 1:06:15
  his pocket and tried to read. But the king could not keep his mind
• 1:06:18
  on his book. Soon his eyes closed and he was fast asleep. It
• 1:06:24
  was past noon when he awoke. He got up from his grassy bed and
• 1:06:28
  looked around. Then he took his cane in his hand and started for home.
• 1:06:32
  When he had walked a mile or more, he happened to think of
• 1:06:35
  his book. He felt for it in his pocket. It was not there.
• 1:06:41
  He had left it under the tree. The king was already quite tired,
• 1:06:45
  and he did not like to walk back so far, But he did
• 1:06:48
  not wish to lose the book. What should he do if there was only
• 1:06:54
  some one to send for it. While he was thinking, he happened to
• 1:06:58
  see a little barefooted boy in the open field near the road. He was
• 1:07:01
  tending a large flock of geese that were picking the short grass and waiting in
• 1:07:05
  a shallow brook. The king went toward the boy. He held a gold
• 1:07:10
  piece in his hand. My boy, he said, how would you like
• 1:07:14
  to have this piece of money? I would like it, said the boy,
• 1:07:17
  but I never hope to have so much. You shall have it if
• 1:07:21
  you will run back to the oak tree at the second turning of the road
• 1:07:25
  and fetch me the book that I left there. The king thought that the
• 1:07:29
  boy would be pleased, but not so. He turned away and said,
• 1:07:33
  I am not so silly as you think. What do you mean, said
• 1:07:38
  the king, who says that you are silly? Well, said the boy.
• 1:07:43
  You think that I am silly enough to believe that you will give me
• 1:07:45
  that gold piece for running a mile and fetching you a book. You can't
• 1:07:49
  catch me. But if I give it to you now, perhaps you will
• 1:07:54
  believe me, said the king, and he put the gold piece in the
• 1:07:58
  little fellow's hand. The boy's eyes sparkled, but he did not move.
• 1:08:03
  What is the matter now, said the king. Won't you go? The
• 1:08:08
  boy said, I would like to go, but I can't leave the geese.
• 1:08:12
  They will stray away, and then I shall be blamed for it.
• 1:08:15
  Oh, I will tend to them while you are away, said the king.
• 1:08:18
  The boy laughed, I should like to see you tending them, he
• 1:08:23
  said, why they would run away from you in a minute. Only Let
• 1:08:27
  me try, said the king. At last, the boy gave the king
• 1:08:30
  his whip and started off. He had gone but a little way when he
• 1:08:33
  turned and came back. What is the matter now, said Maximilian. Crack
• 1:08:40
  the whip. The king tried to do as he was bidden, but he
• 1:08:44
  could not make a sound. I thought as much, said the boy.
• 1:08:47
  You don't know how to do anything. Then he took the whip and gave
• 1:08:53
  the king lessons in whip cracking. Now you see how it is done,
• 1:08:57
  he said, as he handed it back. If the geese try to run
• 1:09:00
  away, crack it loud. The king laughed. He did his best to
• 1:09:04
  learn his lesson, and soon the boy again started off on his errand Maximilion
• 1:09:11
  sat down on a stone and laughed at the thought of being a gooseherd.
• 1:09:15
  But the geese missed their master at once with a great cackling and hissing,
• 1:09:18
  they went half flying, half running across the meadow. The king ran after
• 1:09:24
  them, but he could not run fast. He tried to crack the whip,
• 1:09:28
  but it was of no use. The geese were soon far away.
• 1:09:31
  What was worse, they had gotten into a garden and were feeding on the
• 1:09:35
  tender vegetables. A few minutes afterward, the goose boy came back with the
• 1:09:41
  book. Just as I thought, he said, I have found the book,
• 1:09:45
  and you have lost the geese. Never mind, said the king,
• 1:09:49
  I will help you get them again. Well, then run around that way
• 1:09:54
  and stand by the brook while I drive them out of the garden. The
• 1:09:58
  king did as he was told. The boy ran forward with his whip,
• 1:10:01
  and after a great deal of shouting and scolding, the geese were driven back
• 1:10:04
  into the meadow. I hope you will pardon me for not being a better
• 1:10:09
  goose herd, said Maximilian. But as I am a king, I am
• 1:10:14
  not used to such work a king. Indeed, said the boy. I
• 1:10:17
  was very silly to leave the geese with you, but I am not so
• 1:10:20
  silly as to believe that you are a king. Very well, said Maximilian
• 1:10:26
  with a smile. Here is another gold piece, and now let us be
• 1:10:30
  friends. The boy took the gold and thanked the giver. He looked up
• 1:10:33
  into the King's face and said you are a very kind man, and I
• 1:10:39
  think you might be a good king. But if you were to try all
• 1:10:42
  your life, you would never be a good goose herd minion. Here is
• 1:10:48
  the story of Minon, as I remember having read it in a famous old
• 1:10:51
  book. A young man named Willem was staying at an inn in the city.
• 1:10:58
  One day. As he was going upstairs, he had a little girl
• 1:11:00
  coming down. He would have taken her for a boy if it had not
• 1:11:03
  been for the long curls of black hair wound about her head. As she
• 1:11:09
  ran by, he caught her in his arms and asked her to whom she
• 1:11:12
  belonged. He felt sure that she must be one of the rope dancers who
• 1:11:15
  had just come to the inn. She gave him a sharp, dark look,
• 1:11:19
  slipped out of his arms, and ran away without speaking. The next
• 1:11:24
  time he saw her, Wilhelm spoke to her again. Do not be afraid
• 1:11:29
  of me, little one, he said, kindly, What is your name?
• 1:11:32
  They call me Minyon, said the child. How old are you,
• 1:11:36
  he asked, No one has counted, the child answered. Willim went on,
• 1:11:43
  but he could not help wondering about the child and thinking of her dark
• 1:11:45
  eyes and strange ways. One day. Not long after that, there was
• 1:11:50
  a great outcry among the crowd that was watching the rope dancers. Willim went
• 1:11:55
  down to find out what was the matter. He saw that the master of
• 1:11:59
  the dancers was bus eating little Minion with a stick. He ran and held
• 1:12:02
  the man by the collar. Let the child alone, he cried, if
• 1:12:06
  you touch her again, one of us shall never leave this spot. The
• 1:12:12
  man tried to get loose, but Willem held him fast. The child crept
• 1:12:15
  away and hid herself in the crowd. Pay me what her clothes cost,
• 1:12:20
  cried the rope dancer. At last, and you may take her. As
• 1:12:25
  soon as all was quiet. William went to look for Minnon, for she
• 1:12:29
  now belonged to him, But he could not find her, and it was
• 1:12:32
  not until the rope dancers had left the town that she came to him.
• 1:12:35
  Where have you been, asked Willem in his kindest tones, But the child
• 1:12:41
  did not speak. You are to live with me now, and you must
• 1:12:44
  be a good child, he said. I will try, said Minyon gently.
• 1:12:49
  From that time she tried to do all that she could for Willem and
• 1:12:53
  his friends. She would let no one wait on him but herself. She
• 1:12:57
  was often seen going to a basin of water to wash from her face the
• 1:13:00
  paint with which the rope dancers had reddened her cheeks. Indeed, she nearly
• 1:13:05
  rubbed off the skin, and trying to wash away its fine brown tint,
• 1:13:10
  which she thought was some deep dye. Minyon grew more lovely every day.
• 1:13:15
  She never walked up and down the stairs, but jumped. She would spring
• 1:13:18
  along by the railing, and before you knew it would be sitting quietly above
• 1:13:23
  on the landing. To each one she would speak in a different way.
• 1:13:28
  To Willim, it was with her arms crossed upon her breast. Often for
• 1:13:31
  a whole day she would not say one word. And yet in waiting upon
• 1:13:35
  Willem, she never tired. One night, he came home very weary,
• 1:13:40
  and sad Minyon was waiting for him. She carried the light before him upstairs.
• 1:13:45
  She set the light down upon the table, and in a little while
• 1:13:48
  she asked him if she might dance. It might ease your heart a little,
• 1:13:54
  she said. Willem, to please her, told her that she might.
• 1:13:59
  Then she she brought a little carpet and spread it upon the floor.
• 1:14:02
  At each corner she placed a candle, and on the carpet, she put
• 1:14:05
  a number of eggs. She arranged the eggs in the form of certain figures.
• 1:14:11
  When this was done, she called to a man who was waiting with
• 1:14:13
  a violin. She tied a band about her eyes, and then the dancing
• 1:14:17
  began. How lightly, quickly, nimbly, wonderfully she moved, She skipped
• 1:14:25
  so fast among the eggs. She trod so closely beside them that you would
• 1:14:29
  have thought she must crush them all. But not one of them did she
• 1:14:32
  touch. With all kinds of steps she passed among them, not one of
• 1:14:38
  them was moved from its place. William forgot all his cares. He watched
• 1:14:43
  every motion of the child. He almost forgot who and where he was.
• 1:14:47
  When the dance was ended, Minion rolled the eggs together with her foot into
• 1:14:51
  a little heap. Not one was left behind, not one was harmed.
• 1:14:57
  Then she took the band from her eyes and made a little back. Willem
• 1:15:00
  thanked her for showing him a dance that was so wonderful and pretty. He
• 1:15:04
  praised her, petted her, and hoped that she had not tired herself too
• 1:15:09
  much. When she had gone from the room, the man with the violin
• 1:15:13
  told Willem of the care she had taken to teach him the music of the
• 1:15:15
  dance. He told how she had sung it to him over and over again.
• 1:15:20
  He told how she had even wished to pay him with her own money
• 1:15:24
  for learning to play it for her. There was yet another way in which
• 1:15:29
  Minon tried to please Willem and make him forget his cares. She sang to
• 1:15:32
  him the song which he liked best, was one whose words he had never
• 1:15:36
  heard before. Its music, too, was strange to him, and yet
• 1:15:41
  it pleased him very much. He asked her to speak the words over and
• 1:15:45
  over again. He wrote them down, But the sweetness of the tune was
• 1:15:48
  more delightful than the words. The song began in this way, do you
• 1:15:55
  know the land where citron's lemons grow and oranges under the green leaves glow?
• 1:16:00
  Once, when she had ended the song, she said again, do you
• 1:16:03
  know the land? It must be Italy, said Willem, Have you ever
• 1:16:08
  been there? The child did not answer other wise. Men of Gotham.
• 1:16:15
  One day news was brought to Gotham that the King was coming that way,
• 1:16:19
  and that he would pass through the town. This did not please the men
• 1:16:24
  of Gotham at all. They hated the king, for they knew that he
• 1:16:28
  was a cruel, bad man. If he came to their town, they
• 1:16:31
  would have to find food and lodging for him and his men, and if
• 1:16:34
  he saw anything that pleased him, he would be sure to take it for
• 1:16:39
  his own. What should they do? They met together to talk the matter
• 1:16:43
  over. Let us chop down the big trees in the woods, so that
• 1:16:46
  they would block up all the roads that lead into the town, said one
• 1:16:50
  of the wise men. Good said all the rest. So they went out
• 1:16:56
  with their axes, and soon all the roads and paths to the town were
• 1:16:59
  filled with logs and brush. The king's horsemen would have a hard time of
• 1:17:02
  getting into Gotham. They would either have to make a new road or give
• 1:17:06
  up the plan altogether and go on to some other place. When the King
• 1:17:13
  came and saw that the road had been blocked up, he was very angry.
• 1:17:17
  Who chopped those trees down in my way? He asked of the two
• 1:17:20
  country lads that were passing by, the men of Gotham, said the lads,
• 1:17:27
  well, said the King, Go and tell the men of Gotham that
• 1:17:30
  I shall send my sheriff into their town and have all their noses cut off.
• 1:17:34
  The two lads ran to the town as fast as they could and made
• 1:17:38
  known what the king had said. Everybody was in great fright. The men
• 1:17:44
  ran from house to house, carrying the news and asking one another what they
• 1:17:46
  should do. Our wits have kept the king out of the town, said
• 1:17:50
  one, and so now our wits must save our noses. True, true,
• 1:17:56
  said the others. But what shall we do? Then, one whose
• 1:18:00
  name was Dobbin, and who was thought to be the wisest of them all,
• 1:18:03
  said, let me tell you something. Many a man has been punished
• 1:18:09
  because he was wise, but I have never heard of one being harmed because
• 1:18:13
  he was a fool. So when the King's sheriff comes, let us all
• 1:18:16
  act like fools. Good, good, cried the others. We will all
• 1:18:21
  act like fools. It was no easy thing for the King's men to open
• 1:18:27
  the roads, and while they were doing it, the King grew tired of
• 1:18:30
  waiting and went back to London. But very early one morning, the sheriff,
• 1:18:34
  with a party of fierce soldiers, rode through the woods and between the
• 1:18:39
  fields toward Gotham. Just before they reached the town, they saw a queer
• 1:18:44
  sight. The old men were rolling big stones up the hill, and all
• 1:18:47
  the young men were looking on and grunting very loudly. The sheriff stopped his
• 1:18:53
  horses and asked what they were doing. We are rolling stones up hill to
• 1:18:57
  make the sun rise, said one of the old men. You foolish fellow,
• 1:19:01
  said the sheriff. Don't you know that the sun will rise without any
• 1:19:05
  help? Ah? Will it? Said the old man. Well, I
• 1:19:11
  never thought of that. How wise you are. And what are you doing,
• 1:19:15
  said the sheriff to the young men. Oh, we do the grunting
• 1:19:18
  while our fathers do the working. They answered, I see, said the
• 1:19:24
  sheriff. Well, that is the way the world goes everywhere, and he
• 1:19:28
  rode on toward the town. He soon came to a field where a number
• 1:19:31
  of men were building a stone wall. What are you doing, he asked,
• 1:19:38
  why, master, They answered, there is a cuckoo in this field,
• 1:19:42
  and we are building a wall around it so as to keep the bird
• 1:19:44
  from straying away. You foolish fellows, said the sheriff. Don't you know
• 1:19:49
  that the bird will fly over the top of your wall no matter how high
• 1:19:54
  you build it. Why no, they said, we never thought of that.
• 1:20:00
  How very wise you are. The sheriff next met a man who was
• 1:20:02
  carrying a door on his back. What are you doing, he asked.
• 1:20:08
  I have just started on a long journey, said the man. But why
• 1:20:12
  do you carry that door? Asked the sheriff. I left my money at
• 1:20:15
  home. Then why didn't you leave the door at home too? I was
• 1:20:20
  afraid of thieves, and you see, if I have the door with me,
• 1:20:24
  they can't break it open and get in. You foolish fellow, said
• 1:20:29
  the sheriff. It would be safer to leave the door at home and carry
• 1:20:32
  the money with you. Ah, would it, though, said the man.
• 1:20:36
  Now I never thought of that. You are the wisest man that I
• 1:20:41
  ever saw. Then the sheriff rode on with his men, but every one
• 1:20:45
  that they met was doing some silly thing. Truly, I believe that the
• 1:20:49
  people of Gotham are all fools, said one of the horsemen. That is
• 1:20:54
  true, said another. It would be a shame to harm such simple people.
• 1:20:59
  Let us ride back to London and tell the King all about them,
• 1:21:01
  said the sheriff. Yes, let us do so, said the horseman.
• 1:21:06
  So they went back and told the King that Gotham was a town of fools,
• 1:21:11
  and the King laughed and said that if that was the case, he
• 1:21:14
  would not harm them, but would let them keep their noses. Picciola.
• 1:21:21
  Many years ago there was a poor gentleman shut up in one of the great
• 1:21:25
  prisons of France. His name was Charny, and he was very sad and
• 1:21:29
  unhappy. He had been put into prison wrongfully, and it seemed to him
• 1:21:32
  as though there was no one in the world who cared for him. He
• 1:21:36
  could not read, for there were no books in the prison. He was
• 1:21:40
  not allowed to have pens or paper, and so he could not write.
• 1:21:44
  The time dragged slowly by. There was nothing that he could do to make
• 1:21:47
  the days seem shorter. His only pastime was walking back and forth in the
• 1:21:53
  paved prison yard. There was no work to be done, no one to
• 1:21:57
  talk with. One fine morning in spring, Charny was taking his walk in
• 1:22:00
  the yard. He was counting the paving stones, as he had done a
• 1:22:04
  thousand times before. All at once he stopped. What had made that little
• 1:22:10
  mount of earth between two of the stones. He stooped down to sea.
• 1:22:14
  A seed of some kind had fallen between the stones. It had sprouted,
• 1:22:18
  and now a tiny green leaf was pushing its way up out of the ground.
• 1:22:23
  Charny was about to crush it with his foot when he saw that there
• 1:22:26
  was a kind of soft coating over the leaf. Ah. He said,
• 1:22:30
  this coating is to keep it safe. I must not harm it, and
• 1:22:34
  he went on with his walk. The next day, he almost stepped upon
• 1:22:39
  the plant before he thought of it. He stooped to look at it.
• 1:22:42
  There were two leaves now, and the plant was much stronger and greener than
• 1:22:45
  it was the day before. He stayed by it a long time, looking
• 1:22:49
  at all its parts. Every morning after that Charny went at once to his
• 1:22:55
  little plant. He wanted to see if it had been chilled by the cold
• 1:22:59
  or scorched by the sun. He wanted to see how much it had grown.
• 1:23:03
  One day, as he was looking from his window, he saw the
• 1:23:05
  jailer go across the yard. The man brushed so close to the little plant
• 1:23:11
  that it seemed as though he would crush it. Charny trembled from head to
• 1:23:15
  foot. Oh my picciola, he cried. When the jailer came to bring
• 1:23:20
  his food, he begged the grim fellow to spare his little plant. He
• 1:23:25
  expected that the man would laugh at him. But although a jailer he had
• 1:23:29
  a kind heart. Do you think that I would hurt your little plant?
• 1:23:32
  He said no. Indeed, it would have been dead long ago if I
• 1:23:36
  had not seen that you thought so much of it. That is very good
• 1:23:42
  of you, Indeed, said Charny, he felt half ashamed at having thought
• 1:23:45
  the jailer unkind. Every day he watched Picciola, as he had named the
• 1:23:49
  plant. Every day it grew larger and more beautiful. But once it was
• 1:23:55
  almost broken by the huge feet of the jailer's dog, Charny's heart sank within
• 1:24:00
  him. Picciola must have a house, he said, I will see if
• 1:24:03
  I can make one. So, though the nights were chilly, he took
• 1:24:09
  day by day some part of the firewood that was allowed him, and with
• 1:24:13
  this he built a little house around the plant. The plant had a thousand
• 1:24:16
  pretty ways which he noticed. He saw how it always been a little toward
• 1:24:20
  the sun. He saw how the flowers folded their petals before a storm.
• 1:24:26
  He had never thought of such things before, yet he had often seen whole
• 1:24:30
  gardens of flowers in bloom. One day, with food and water, he
• 1:24:33
  made some ink. He spread out his handkerchief for paper. He used a
• 1:24:39
  sharpened stick for a pen and all for what he felt that he must write
• 1:24:44
  down the doings of his little pet. He spent all his time with the
• 1:24:47
  plant. See my lord and my lady, the jailer would say when he
• 1:24:53
  saw them. As the summer passed by, Picciola grew more lovely. Every
• 1:24:59
  day. There were no fewer than thirty blossoms on its stem. But one
• 1:25:02
  sad morning it began to droop. Charny did not know what to do.
• 1:25:08
  He gave it water, but still it drooped. The leaves were withering.
• 1:25:12
  The stones of the prison yard would not let the plant live. Charny knew
• 1:25:17
  that there was but one way to save his treasure, alas how could he
• 1:25:21
  hope that it might be done. The stones must be taken up at once,
• 1:25:26
  But this was a thing which the jailer dared not do. The rules
• 1:25:30
  of the prison were strict, and no stone must be moved. Only the
• 1:25:33
  highest officers in the land could have such a thing done. Poor Charny could
• 1:25:39
  not sleep. Picciola must die already, the flowers had withered, the leaves
• 1:25:44
  would soon fall from the stem. Then a new thought came to Charny.
• 1:25:48
  He would ask the Great Napoleon the Emperor himself to save his plant. It
• 1:25:55
  was a hard thing for Charny to do, to ask a favor of the
• 1:25:58
  man whom he hated, the man who had shut him up in this very
• 1:26:01
  prison, But for the sake of Picciola he would do it. He wrote
• 1:26:06
  his little story on his handkerchief. Then he gave it into the care of
• 1:26:10
  a young girl, who promised to carry it to Napoleon. Ah, if
• 1:26:15
  the poor plant would only live a few days longer. What a long journey
• 1:26:19
  that was for the young girl. What a long dreary waiting it was for
• 1:26:24
  Charny and Picciola. But at last news came to the prison. The stones
• 1:26:29
  were to be taken up. Picciola was saved. The Emperor's kind wife had
• 1:26:33
  heard the story of Charny's care for the plant. She saw the handkerchief on
• 1:26:38
  which he had ridden of its pretty ways. Surely, she said, it
• 1:26:43
  can do us no good to keep such a man in prison. And so
• 1:26:46
  at last Charny was set free. Of course, he was no longer sad
• 1:26:50
  and unloving. He saw how God had cared for him and the little plant,
• 1:26:56
  and how kind and true are the hearts of even rough men, And
• 1:27:00
  he cherished Picciola as a dear loved friend whom he could never forget. Pocahontas.
• 1:27:08
  There was once a very brave man whose name was John Smith. He
• 1:27:12
  came to this country many years ago, when there were great woods everywhere and
• 1:27:16
  many wild beasts and indians. Many tales are told of his adventures, some
• 1:27:21
  of them true and some of them untrue. Among the latter is the following
• 1:27:27
  story. One day, when Smith was in the woods, some Indians came
• 1:27:30
  upon him and made him their prisoner. They led him to their king,
• 1:27:35
  and in a short time they made ready to put him to death. A
• 1:27:40
  large stone was brought in and Smith, who was made to lie down with
• 1:27:44
  his head on it. Then two tall Indians with big clubs in their hands,
• 1:27:47
  came forward. The king and all his great men stood around to see.
• 1:27:53
  The Indians raised their clubs. In another moment they would fall on Smith's
• 1:27:57
  head. But just then a little Indian girl rushed in. She was the
• 1:28:01
  daughter of the king, and her name was Pocahontas. She ran and threw
• 1:28:06
  herself between Smith and the uplifted clubs. She clasped Smith's head with her arms.
• 1:28:14
  She laid her own head upon his Oh, father, she cried,
• 1:28:18
  spare this man's life. I am sure he has done you no wrong,
• 1:28:23
  and we ought to be his friends. The men with the clubs could not
• 1:28:27
  strike, for they did not want to hurt the girl. The king at
• 1:28:30
  first did not know what to do. Then he spoke to some of his
• 1:28:34
  warriors, and they lifted Smith from the ground. They untied the cords from
• 1:28:39
  his wrists and feet, and set him free. The next day, the
• 1:28:43
  king sent Smith home, and several Indians went with him to protect him from
• 1:28:47
  harm. After that, as long as she lived, Pocahontas was the friend
• 1:28:51
  of the white men, and she did a great many things to help them.
• 1:28:58
  Sir Humphrey Gilbert. More than three hundred years ago there lived in England
• 1:29:02
  a brave man whose name was Sir Humphrey Gilbert. At that time there were
• 1:29:08
  no white people in this country of ours. The land was covered with forest,
• 1:29:12
  and where there are now great cities and fine farms, there were only
• 1:29:15
  trees and swamps, among which roamed wild Indians and wild beasts. Sir Humphrey
• 1:29:21
  Gilbert was one of the first men who tried to make a settlement in America.
• 1:29:27
  Twice did he bring men in ships over the sea, and twice did
• 1:29:30
  he fail and sail back for England. The second time he was on a
• 1:29:34
  little ship called the Squirrel. Another ship called the Golden Hind was not far
• 1:29:40
  away. When there were three days from the land, the wind failed and
• 1:29:45
  the ships lay floating on the waves. Then at night the air grew very
• 1:29:48
  cold, a breeze sprang up from the east. Great white icebergs came drifting
• 1:29:54
  around them. In the morning, the little ships were almost lost among the
• 1:29:59
  floating mountains. Of the men on the Hind saw Sir Humphrey sitting on the
• 1:30:02
  deck of the Squirrel with an open book in his hand. He called to
• 1:30:06
  them and said, be brave, my friends, we are as near Heaven
• 1:30:12
  on the sea as on the land. Night came again. It was a
• 1:30:16
  stormy night, with mist and rain. All at once. The men on
• 1:30:20
  the Hind saw the lights on board of the Squirrel go out. The little
• 1:30:25
  vessel with brave Sir Humphrey and all his brave men, was swallowed up by
• 1:30:30
  the waves. Sir Philip Sidney, a cruel battle was being fought. The
• 1:30:36
  ground was covered with dead and dying men. The air was hot and stifling.
• 1:30:43
  The sun shone down without pity on the wounded soldiers lying in the blood
• 1:30:47
  and dust. One of these soldiers was a nobleman, whom everybody loved for
• 1:30:51
  his gentleness and kindness. Yet now he was no better off than the poorest
• 1:30:57
  man in the field. He had been wounded and would die, and he
• 1:31:00
  was suffering much with pain and thirst. When the battle was over, his
• 1:31:06
  friends hurried to his aid. A soldier came running with a cup in his
• 1:31:10
  hand. Here, Sir Philip, he said, I have brought you some
• 1:31:15
  clear, cool water from the brook. I will raise your head so that
• 1:31:17
  you can drink. The cup was placed at Sir Philip's lips. How thankfully
• 1:31:24
  he looked at the man who had brought it. Then his eyes met those
• 1:31:28
  of a dying soldier who was lying on the ground close by. The wistful
• 1:31:31
  look in the poor man's face spoke plainer than words. Give the water to
• 1:31:36
  that man, said Sir Philip quickly, and then, pushing the cup toward
• 1:31:42
  him, he said, here, my comrade, take this. Thy need
• 1:31:45
  is greater than mine. What a brave noble man he was. The name
• 1:31:51
  of Sir Philip Sidney will never be forgotten, for it was the name of
• 1:31:56
  a Christian gentleman who always had the good of others in his mind. Was
• 1:32:00
  it any wonder that everybody wept when it was heard that he was dead?
• 1:32:04
  It is said that on the day when he was carried to the grave,
• 1:32:09
  every eye in the land was filled with tears. Rich and poor, high
• 1:32:14
  and low, all felt that they had lost a friend. All mourned the
• 1:32:18
  death of the kindest, gentlest man that they had ever known. Sir Walter
• 1:32:25
  Raleigh. There once lived in England a brave and noble man whose name was
• 1:32:30
  Walter Raleigh. He was not only brave and noble, but he was also
• 1:32:34
  handsome and polite, And for that reason the Queen made him a knight and
• 1:32:39
  called him Sir Walter Raleigh. I will tell you about it. When Raleigh
• 1:32:44
  was a young man, he was one day walking along a street in London.
• 1:32:47
  At that time, the streets were not paved and there were no sidewalks.
• 1:32:53
  Raleigh was dressed in very fine style, and who wore a beautiful scarlet
• 1:32:57
  cloak thrown over his shoulders. As he passed along, he found it hard
• 1:33:01
  work to keep from stepping in the mud and soiling his handsome new shoes.
• 1:33:05
  Soon he came to a puddle of muddy water which reached from one side of
• 1:33:10
  the street to the other. He could not step across. Perhaps he could
• 1:33:14
  jump over it. As he was thinking what he should do, he happened
• 1:33:18
  to look up. Who was it coming down the street on the other side
• 1:33:23
  of the puddle. It was Elizabeth, the Queen of England with her train
• 1:33:28
  of gentle women and waiting maids. She saw the dirty puddle in the street.
• 1:33:32
  She saw the handsome young man with a scarlet cloak standing by the side
• 1:33:36
  of it. How was she to get across? Young Raleigh, when he
• 1:33:42
  saw who was coming forgot about himself. He thought only of helping the Queen.
• 1:33:46
  There was only one thing that he could do, and no other man
• 1:33:49
  would have thought of that. He took off his scarlet cloak and spread it
• 1:33:55
  across the puddle. The Queen could step on it now as on a beautiful
• 1:33:59
  carpet. She walked across. She was safely over the ugly puddle, and
• 1:34:03
  her feet had not touched the mud. She paused a moment and thanked the
• 1:34:09
  young man. As she walked on with her train, she asked one of
• 1:34:13
  the gentlewomen, who is that brave gentleman who helped us so handsomely. His
• 1:34:17
  name is Sir Walter Raleigh, said the gentlewoman. He shall have his reward,
• 1:34:23
  said the Queen. Not long after that, she sent for Raleigh to
• 1:34:27
  come to her palace. The young man went, but he had no scarlet
• 1:34:31
  cloak to wear. Then, while all the great men and fine ladies of
• 1:34:35
  England stood around, the Queen made him a knight, and from that time
• 1:34:41
  he was known as Sir Walter Raleigh, the Queen's favorite. Sir Walter Raleigh
• 1:34:46
  and Sir Humphrey Gilbert, about whom I have already told you, were half
• 1:34:50
  brothers. When Sir Humphrey made his first voyage to America, Sir Walter was
• 1:34:57
  with him. After that, Sir Walter tried several times to send men to
• 1:35:01
  this country to make a settlement. But those whom he sent found only great
• 1:35:05
  forest and wild beasts and savage Indians. Some of them went back to England,
• 1:35:12
  some of them died for want of food, and some of them were
• 1:35:15
  lost in the woods. At last, Sir Walter Raleigh gave up trying to
• 1:35:19
  get people to come to America. But he found two things in this country
• 1:35:25
  which the people of England knew very little about. One was the potato,
• 1:35:30
  the other was tobacco. If you should ever go to Ireland, you may
• 1:35:34
  be shown the place where Sir Walter planted the few potatoes which he carried over
• 1:35:39
  from America. He told his friends how the Indians used them for food,
• 1:35:44
  and he proved that they would grow in the old world as well as in
• 1:35:46
  the new. Sir Walter had seen the Indian smoking the leaves of the tobacco
• 1:35:51
  plant, he thought that he would do the same, and he carried some
• 1:35:56
  of the leaves to England. Englishmen had never used tobacco before that time,
• 1:36:00
  and all who saw Sir Walter puffing away at a roll of leaves thought that
• 1:36:04
  it was a strange sight. One day, as he was sitting in his
• 1:36:10
  chair and smoking, his servant came into the room. The man saw the
• 1:36:14
  smoke curling over his master's head, and he thought that he was on fire.
• 1:36:17
  He ran out for some water. He found a pail that was quite
• 1:36:21
  full. He hurried back and threw the water into Sir Walter's face. Of
• 1:36:27
  course, the fire was all put out. After that a great many men
• 1:36:31
  learned to smoke, and now tobacco is used in all countries of the world.
• 1:36:36
  It would have been well if Sir Walter Raleigh had let it alone.
• 1:36:42
  Socrates and his house. There once lived in Greece a very wise man whose
• 1:36:46
  name was Socrates. Young Men from all parts of the land went to him
• 1:36:51
  to learn wisdom from him. And he said so many pleasant things, and
• 1:36:56
  said them in so delightful a way, that no one ever grew tired of
• 1:37:00
  listening to him. One summer he built himself a house. But it was
• 1:37:03
  so small that the neighbors wondered how he could be content with it. What
• 1:37:09
  is the reason, said they, that you, who are so great a
• 1:37:12
  man, should build such a little blocks as this for your dwelling house.
• 1:37:16
  Indeed, there may be little reason, said he, But small as the
• 1:37:21
  place is, I shall think myself happy if I can fill even it with
• 1:37:27
  true friends. The Barmecide Feast. There was once a rich old man who
• 1:37:32
  was called the Barmecide. He lived in a beautiful palace in the midst of
• 1:37:36
  flowery gardens. He had everything that heart could wish. In the same land
• 1:37:43
  there was a poor man whose name was Shagabac. His clothing was rags,
• 1:37:46
  and his food was the scraps which other people had thrown away. But he
• 1:37:51
  had a light heart and was as happy as a king. Once, when
• 1:37:56
  Shagabac had not had anything to eat for a long time, he thought that
• 1:38:00
  he would go and ask the Barmecide to help. The servant at the door
• 1:38:03
  said, come in and talk with our master. He will not send you
• 1:38:08
  away. Hungry, Shackabac went in and passed through many beautiful rooms looking for
• 1:38:14
  the Barmecide. At last he came to a grand hall, where there were
• 1:38:17
  soft carpets on the floor, and fine pictures on the walls, and pleasant
• 1:38:21
  couches to lie down upon. At the upper end of the room he saw
• 1:38:27
  a noble man with a long white beard. It was the Barmecide, and
• 1:38:30
  poor Shackabac bowed low before him, as was the custom in that country.
• 1:38:36
  The Barmecide spoke very kindly and asked what he wanted. Shackabac told him about
• 1:38:42
  all his troubles and so that it was now two days since he had tasted
• 1:38:45
  bread. Is it possible, said the Barmecide, You must be almost dead
• 1:38:51
  with hunger, and here I have plenty and to spare. Then he turned
• 1:38:57
  and called ho boy bringing water to wash our hands, and then order the
• 1:39:01
  cook to hurry the supper. Shackabac had not expected to be treated so kindly.
• 1:39:06
  He began to think the rich man say not a word, said the
• 1:39:11
  Barmecide, But let us get ready for the feast. Then the rich man
• 1:39:15
  began to rub his hands as though some one was pouring water on them.
• 1:39:19
  Come and wash with me, he said. Shackabac saw no boy, nor
• 1:39:25
  basin nor water, but he thought that he ought to do as he was
• 1:39:29
  bidden, and so like the Barmecide, he made a pretense of washing.
• 1:39:33
  Come now, said the Barmecide. Let us have supper. He sat down
• 1:39:39
  as if to a table, and pretended to be carving a roast. Then
• 1:39:43
  he said, help yourself, my good friend. You said you were hungry,
• 1:39:47
  so now don't be afraid of the food. Shackabac thought that he understood
• 1:39:51
  the joke, and he made pretense of taking food and passing it to his
• 1:39:56
  mouth. Then he began to chew and said, you you see, sir,
• 1:40:00
  I lose no time, boy, said the old man. Bring on
• 1:40:03
  the roast goose. Now, my good friend, try this choice piece from
• 1:40:08
  the breast, and here are sweet sauce, honey, raisins, green peas,
• 1:40:13
  and dry figs. Help yourself and remember that other good things are coming.
• 1:40:17
  Shackabac was almost dead with hunger, but he was too polite not to
• 1:40:21
  do as he was bidden. Come, said the Barmecide. Have another piece
• 1:40:27
  of the roast, Lamb, did you ever eat anything so delicious? Never
• 1:40:31
  in my life, said Shackabac. Your table is full of good things.
• 1:40:36
  Then eat heartily, said the Barmecide. You cannot please me better. After
• 1:40:43
  this came the dessert. The Barmecide spoke of sweet meats and fruits, and
• 1:40:46
  Shackabac made believe that he was eating them. Now, is there anything else
• 1:40:51
  that you would like? Asked the host. Uh No, said poor Shackabac.
• 1:40:57
  I have indeed had great plenty. Let us drink, then, said
• 1:41:01
  the Barmecide boy, Bring on the wine. Excuse me, my lord,
• 1:41:06
  said Shackabac. I will drink no wine, for it is forbidden. The
• 1:41:12
  Barmecide seized him by the hand. I have long wished to find a man
• 1:41:16
  like you, he said. But come now we will all sup in earnest.
• 1:41:21
  He clapped his hands. Servants came, and he ordered supper. Soon
• 1:41:26
  they sat down to a table loaded with the very dishes of which they had
• 1:41:30
  pretended to eat. Poor Shackabac had never had so good a meal in all
• 1:41:34
  his life. When they had finished and the table had been cleared away,
• 1:41:39
  the Barmecide said, I have found you to be a man of good understanding.
• 1:41:44
  Your wits are quick, and you are ready always to make the best
• 1:41:46
  of everything. Come and live with me and manage my house. And so
• 1:41:51
  Shackabac lived with the Barmecide many years, and never again knew what it was
• 1:41:57
  to be hungry. Of a tree. A Tree is the name of a
• 1:42:02
  little town in Italy. It is a very old town and is built half
• 1:42:06
  way up the side of a steep hill. A long time ago, the
• 1:42:11
  king of a Tree bought a fine, large bell and had it hung up
• 1:42:14
  in a tower in the market place. A long rope that reached almost to
• 1:42:18
  the ground was fastened to the bell. The smallest child could ring the bell
• 1:42:24
  by pulling upon this rope. It is the bell of justice, said the
• 1:42:28
  king. When at last everything was ready, the people of a Tree had
• 1:42:32
  a great holiday. All the men and women and children came down to the
• 1:42:36
  market place to look at the bell of justice. It was a very pretty
• 1:42:41
  bell, and was polished until it looked almost as bright and yellow as the
• 1:42:45
  sun. How we should like to hear it ring, they said. Then
• 1:42:49
  the king came down the street. Perhaps he will ring it, said the
• 1:42:54
  people, and everybody stood very still and waited to see what he would do.
• 1:43:00
  But he did not ring the bell. He did not even take the
• 1:43:02
  rope in his hands. When he came to the foot of the tower,
• 1:43:05
  he stopped and raised his hand. My people, he said, do you
• 1:43:11
  see this beautiful bell. It is your bell, but it must never be
• 1:43:15
  rung except in case of need. If any one of you is wronged at
• 1:43:19
  any time, he may come and ring the bell, and then the judges
• 1:43:24
  shall come together at once and hear his case and give him justice. Rich
• 1:43:29
  and poor, old and young, all alike may come, but no one
• 1:43:32
  must touch the rope unless he knows that he has been wronged. Many years
• 1:43:39
  passed by after this. Many times did the bell in the market place ring
• 1:43:43
  out to call the judges together. Many wrongs were righted, many ill doers
• 1:43:47
  were punished. At last, the hemp and rope was almost worn out.
• 1:43:53
  The lower part of it was untwisted, some of the strands were broken.
• 1:43:57
  It became so short that only a tall man could reach it. This will
• 1:44:00
  never do, said the judges one day. What if a child should be
• 1:44:04
  wronged it could not ring the bell to let us know it. They gave
• 1:44:10
  orders that a new rope should be put upon the bell at once, a
• 1:44:14
  rope that should hang down to the ground, so that the smallest child could
• 1:44:16
  reach it. But there was not a rope to be found in all a
• 1:44:20
  tree. They would have to send across the mountains for one, and it
• 1:44:25
  would be many days before it could be brought. What if some great wrong
• 1:44:29
  should be done before it came, how could the judges know about it if
• 1:44:32
  the injured one could not reach the old rope. Let me fix it for
• 1:44:38
  you, said a man who stood by. He ran into his garden,
• 1:44:42
  which was not far away, and soon came back with a long grapevine in
• 1:44:45
  his hand. This will do for a rope, he said, and he
• 1:44:48
  climbed up and fastened it to the bell. The slender vine, with its
• 1:44:54
  leaves and tendrils still upon it, trailed to the ground. Yes, said
• 1:44:58
  the judges, it is a very good rope. Let it be as it
• 1:45:00
  is now on the hillside above the village, there lived a man who had
• 1:45:05
  once been a brave knight. In his youth, he had ridden through many
• 1:45:10
  lands, and he had fought in many a battle. His best friend through
• 1:45:15
  all that time had been his horse, a strong, noble steed that had
• 1:45:18
  worn him safe through many a danger. But the night, when he grew
• 1:45:24
  older, cared no more to ride into battle, He cared no more to
• 1:45:28
  do brave deeds. He thought of nothing but gold. He became a miser.
• 1:45:32
  At last he sold all that he had except his horse, and went
• 1:45:36
  to live in a little hut on the hillside. Day after day he sat
• 1:45:41
  among his money bags and planned how he might get more gold, And day
• 1:45:45
  after day his horse stood in his bare style, half starved and shivering with
• 1:45:50
  cold. What is the use of keeping that lazy steed, said the miser
• 1:45:56
  to himself one morning. Every week. It cost me more to keep him
• 1:46:00
  than he is worth. I might sell him, but there is not a
• 1:46:02
  man that wants him. I cannot even give him away. I will turn
• 1:46:08
  him out to shift for himself and pick grass by the roadside. If he
• 1:46:12
  starves to death, so much the better. So the brave old horse was
• 1:46:16
  turned out to find what he could among the rocks on the barren hill side.
• 1:46:20
  Lame and sick, he strolled along the dusty roads, glad to find
• 1:46:25
  a blade of grass or a thistle. The boys threw stones at him,
• 1:46:30
  the dogs barked at him, and in all the world there was no one
• 1:46:33
  to pity him. One hot afternoon, when no one was upon the street,
• 1:46:39
  the horse chanced to wander into the market place. Not a man nor
• 1:46:43
  child was there, for the heat of the sun had driven them all indoors.
• 1:46:46
  The gates were wide open. The poor beast could roam where he pleased.
• 1:46:51
  He saw the grapevine rope that hung from the bell of Justice. The
• 1:46:56
  leaves and tendrils upon it were still fresh and green, for it had not
• 1:47:00
  been there long. What a fine dinner that would be for a starving horse.
• 1:47:04
  He stretched his thin neck and took one of the tempting morsels in his
• 1:47:09
  mouth. It was hard to break it from the vine. He pulled at
• 1:47:13
  it, and the great bell above him began to ring. All the people
• 1:47:16
  in a tree heard it. It seemed to say, someone has done me
• 1:47:23
  wrong, Someone has done me wrong. Oh come and judge my case,
• 1:47:31
  Oh come and judge my case four ive been wrong. The judges heard it,
• 1:47:41
  they put on their robes and went out through the hot streets to the
• 1:47:44
  marketplace. They wondered who it could be who would ring the bell at such
• 1:47:47
  a time. When they passed through the gate, they saw the old horse
• 1:47:51
  nibbling at the vine. Ha cried one. It is the Miser's steed.
• 1:47:58
  He has come to call for justice for his master, as everybody knows,
• 1:48:01
  has treated him most shamefully. He pleads his cause as well as any dumb
• 1:48:06
  brute can, said another. And he shall have justice, said the third.
• 1:48:13
  Meanwhile, a crowd of men and women and children had come into the
• 1:48:15
  market place, eager to learn what cause the judges were about to try.
• 1:48:20
  When they saw the horse, all stood still in wonder. Then every one
• 1:48:26
  was ready to tell how they had seen him wandering on the hills, unfed,
• 1:48:30
  uncared for, while his master sat at home counting his bags of gold.
• 1:48:35
  Go bring the miser before us, said the judges, And when he
• 1:48:40
  came, they bade him stand and hear their judgment. This horse has served
• 1:48:45
  you well for many a year, they said. He has saved you from
• 1:48:48
  many a peril. He has helped you gain your wealth, therefore we order
• 1:48:54
  that one half of all your gold shall be set aside to buy him shelter
• 1:48:58
  and food, a green pasture where he may graze, and a warm stall
• 1:49:02
  to comfort him in his old age. The miser hung his head and grief
• 1:49:08
  to lose his gold, but the people shouted with joy, and the horse
• 1:49:12
  was led away to his new stall and a dinner such as he had not
• 1:49:15
  had in many a day. The Black Douglas. In Scotland, in the
• 1:49:23
  time of King Robert Bruce, there lived a brave man whose name was Douglas.
• 1:49:27
  His hair and beard were black and long, and his face was tanned
• 1:49:30
  and dark, and for this reason people nicknamed him the Black Douglas. He
• 1:49:35
  was a good friend of the King and one of his strongest helpers in the
• 1:49:41
  war with the English, who were trying to drive Bruce from Scotland. The
• 1:49:44
  Black Douglas did many brave deeds, and the English people became very much afraid
• 1:49:49
  of him. By and by the fear of him spread all through the land.
• 1:49:55
  Nothing could frighten an English lad more than to tell him that the Black
• 1:49:58
  Douglas was not far away. Women would tell their children when they were naughty
• 1:50:03
  that the Black Douglas would get them, and this would make them very quiet
• 1:50:08
  and good. There was a large castle in Scotland which the English had taken
• 1:50:13
  early in the war. The Scottish soldiers wanted very much to take it again,
• 1:50:17
  and the Black Douglas and his men went one day to see what they
• 1:50:20
  could do. It happened to be a holiday, and most of the English
• 1:50:26
  soldiers in the castle were eating and drinking and having a merry time. But
• 1:50:30
  they had left watchmen on the wall to see that the Scottish soldiers did not
• 1:50:33
  come upon them unawares, and so they felt quite safe. In the evening,
• 1:50:40
  when it was growing dark, the wife of one of the soldiers went
• 1:50:43
  up on the wall with her child in her arms. As she looked over
• 1:50:46
  into the fields below the castle, she saw some dark objects moving toward the
• 1:50:50
  foot of the wall. In the dusk, she could not make out what
• 1:50:54
  they were, and so she pointed them out to one of the watchmen.
• 1:50:59
  Pooh, pooh, said the watchman. Those are nothing to frighten us.
• 1:51:02
  They are farmers cattle, trying to find their way home. The farmer himself
• 1:51:06
  is enjoying the holiday, and he has forgotten to bring them in. If
• 1:51:11
  the Douglas should happen this way before morning, he will be sorry for his
• 1:51:15
  carelessness. But the dark objects were not cattle. They were the Black Douglas
• 1:51:20
  and his men, creeping on hands and feet toward the foot of the castle
• 1:51:25
  wall. Some of them were dragging ladders behind them through the grass. They
• 1:51:29
  would soon be climbing to the top of the wall. None of the English
• 1:51:32
  soldiers dreamed that they were within many miles of the place. The woman watched
• 1:51:39
  them until the last one had passed around a corner out of sight. She
• 1:51:44
  was not afraid, for in the darkening twilight, they looked indeed like cattle.
• 1:51:48
  After a little while, she began to sing to her child, hush
• 1:51:54
  ye, hushy, little pet ye, hush ye, hush ye, do
• 1:51:57
  not fret ye. The Black Douglas shall not get ye all. At once,
• 1:52:02
  a gruff voice was heard behind her, saying, don't be so sure
• 1:52:06
  about that. She looked around, and there stood the Black Douglas himself.
• 1:52:14
  At the same moment, a Scottish soldier climbed off a ladder and leaped upon
• 1:52:17
  the wall. And then there came another, and another and another, until
• 1:52:21
  the wall was covered with them. Soon there was hot fighting in every part
• 1:52:27
  of the castle, But the English were so taken by surprise that they could
• 1:52:30
  not do much. Many of them were killed, and in a little while
• 1:52:34
  the Black Douglas and his men were the masters of the castle, which by
• 1:52:39
  right belonged to them. As for the woman and her child, the Black
• 1:52:45
  Douglas would not suffer any one to harm them. After a while they went
• 1:52:48
  back to England. And whether the mother made up any more songs about the
• 1:52:53
  Black Douglas, I cannot tell. The blind Men and the Elephant. There
• 1:53:00
  were once six blind men who stood by the roadside every day and begged from
• 1:53:04
  the people who passed. They had often heard of elephants, but they had
• 1:53:09
  never seen one, For being blind, how could they It So happened one
• 1:53:14
  morning that an elephant was driven down the road where they stood. When they
• 1:53:17
  were told that the great beast was before them, they asked the driver to
• 1:53:21
  let him stop so that they might see him. Of course, they could
• 1:53:26
  not see him with their eyes, but they thought that by touching him they
• 1:53:30
  could learn just what kind of animal he was. The first one happened to
• 1:53:33
  put his hand on the elephant's side. Well, well, he said,
• 1:53:38
  now I know all about this beast. He is exactly like a wall.
• 1:53:43
  The second felt only of the elephant's tusk. My brother, he said,
• 1:53:47
  you are mistaken. He is not at all like a wall. He is
• 1:53:51
  round and smooth and sharp. He is more like a spear than anything else.
• 1:53:57
  The third happened to take hold of the elephant's trunk. Both of you
• 1:54:00
  are wrong, he said. Anybody who knows anything can see that this elephant
• 1:54:04
  is like a snake. The fourth reached out his arms and grasped one of
• 1:54:10
  the elephant's legs. Oh, how blind you are, he said. It
• 1:54:14
  is very plain to me that he is round and tall, like a tree.
• 1:54:17
  The fifth was a very tall man, and he chanced to take hold
• 1:54:20
  of the elephant's ear. The blindest man ought to know that this beast is
• 1:54:26
  not like any of the things that you name, he said, He is
• 1:54:29
  exactly like a huge fan. The sixth was very blind, indeed, and
• 1:54:34
  it was some time before he could find the elephant at all. At last
• 1:54:39
  he sees the animal's tail. Oh, foolish fellows, he cried, you
• 1:54:44
  surely have lost your senses. This elephant is not like a wall, or
• 1:54:47
  a spear, or a snake or a tree, neither is he like a
• 1:54:50
  fan. But any man with a particle of sense can see that he is
• 1:54:55
  exactly like a rope. Then the elephant moved on, and the six blind
• 1:55:00
  men sat by the roadside all day and quarreled about him. Each believed that
• 1:55:05
  he knew just how the animal looked, and each called the others hard names
• 1:55:10
  because they did not agree with him. People who have eyes sometimes act as
• 1:55:15
  foolishly. The brave three hundred All Greece was in danger. A mighty army
• 1:55:23
  led by the Great King of Persia had come from the east. It was
• 1:55:27
  marching along the seashore in a few days would be in Greece. The Great
• 1:55:31
  King had sent messengers into every city and state, bidding them give him water
• 1:55:35
  and earth in token that the land and the sea were his. But they
• 1:55:40
  said no, we will be free. And so there was a great stir
• 1:55:45
  throughout all the land. The men armed themselves and made haste to go out
• 1:55:50
  and drive back their foe, and the women stayed at home, weeping and
• 1:55:55
  waiting and trembling with fear. There was only one way by which the Persia
• 1:56:00
  army could go into Greece on that side, and that was by a narrow
• 1:56:02
  pass between the mountains and the sea. This pass was guarded by Leonidas,
• 1:56:09
  the king of the Spartans, with three hundred Spartan soldiers. Soon the Persian
• 1:56:14
  soldiers were seen coming. There were so many of them that no man could
• 1:56:17
  count them. How could a handful of men hope to stand against so great
• 1:56:23
  a host? And yet Leonidas and his Spartans held their ground. They had
• 1:56:28
  made up their minds to die at their post. Someone brought them word that
• 1:56:31
  there were so many Persians that their arrows darkened the sun. So much the
• 1:56:36
  better, said the Spartans, We shall fight in the shade. Bravely They
• 1:56:43
  stood in the narrow pass. Bravely they faced their foes. To Spartans,
• 1:56:47
  there was no such thing as fear. The Persians came forward, only to
• 1:56:51
  meet death at the points of their spears. But one by one the Spartans
• 1:56:58
  fell. At last their spears were were broken. Yet still they stood side
• 1:57:01
  by side, fighting to the last. Some fought with swords, some with
• 1:57:08
  daggers, and some with only their fists and teeth. All day long,
• 1:57:13
  the army of the Persians was kept at bay. But when the sun went
• 1:57:15
  down there was not one Spartan left alive. Where they had stood, there
• 1:57:20
  was only a heap of the slain, all bristled over with spears and arrows.
• 1:57:27
  Twenty thousand Persian soldiers had fallen before that handful of men, and Greece
• 1:57:31
  was saved. Thousands of years have passed since then, but men still liked
• 1:57:36
  to tell the story of Leonidas and the brave three hundred who died for their
• 1:57:41
  country's sake, the endless tale. In the far East, there was a
• 1:57:46
  great king who had no work to do. Every day and all day long,
• 1:57:51
  he sat on soft cushions and listened to stories, and no matter what
• 1:57:56
  the story was about, he never grew tired of hearing it. Though it
• 1:58:00
  was very long. There is only one fault that I find with your story,
• 1:58:04
  he often said, it is too short. All the story tellers in
• 1:58:10
  the world were invited to his palace, and some of them told tales that
• 1:58:14
  were very long, indeed, but the king was always sad when a story
• 1:58:17
  ended. At last. He sent word into every city, in town and
• 1:58:21
  country place, offering a prize to any one who should tell him an endless
• 1:58:27
  tale. He said, to the man that will tell me a story which
• 1:58:30
  shall last forever, I will give my fairest daughter for his wife, and
• 1:58:35
  I will make him my heir, and he shall be king after me.
• 1:58:40
  But this was not all. He added a very hard condition. If any
• 1:58:45
  man shall try to tell such a story and then fail, he shall have
• 1:58:49
  his head cut off. The king's daughter was very pretty, and there were
• 1:58:54
  many young men in that country who were willing to do anything to win her,
• 1:58:59
  But none of them wanted to lose their heads, and so only a
• 1:59:01
  few tried for the prize. One young man invented a story that lasted three
• 1:59:06
  months, but at the end of that time he could think of nothing more.
• 1:59:11
  His fate was a warning to others, and it was a long time
• 1:59:14
  before another story teller was so rash as to try the king's patience. But
• 1:59:19
  one day a stranger from the south came into the palace Great King. He
• 1:59:24
  said, is it true that you offer a prize to the man who can
• 1:59:28
  tell a story that has no end? It is true, said the king,
• 1:59:31
  And shall this man have your fairest daughter for his wife, and shall
• 1:59:35
  he be your heir? Yes, if he succeeds, said the king.
• 1:59:41
  But if he fails, he shall lose his head. Very well, then,
• 1:59:45
  said the stranger. I have a pleasant story about locust which I would
• 1:59:49
  like to relate. Tell it, said the king. I will listen to
• 1:59:54
  you. The story teller began his tale. Once upon a time, sir
• 2:00:00
  and king seized upon all the corn in his country and stored it away in
• 2:00:02
  a strong granary. But a swarm of locusts came over the land and saw
• 2:00:08
  where the grain had been put. After searching for many days, they found
• 2:00:12
  on the east side of the granary a crevice that was just large enough for
• 2:00:15
  one locust to pass through at a time. So one locust went in and
• 2:00:19
  carried away a grain of corn. Then another locust went in and carried away
• 2:00:25
  a grain of corn. Then another locust went in and carried away a grain
• 2:00:29
  of corn. Day after day, week after week, the man kept on
• 2:00:32
  saying, then another locust went in and carried away a grain of corn.
• 2:00:38
  A month passed, a year passed. At the end of two years,
• 2:00:42
  the king said, how much longer will the locust be going in and carrying
• 2:00:46
  away corn? O King, said the story teller, They have as yet
• 2:00:51
  cleared only one cubit, and there are many thousand cubits in the granary.
• 2:00:57
  Man man cried the king, you will drive me mad. I can listen
• 2:01:02
  to it no longer. Take my daughter be my heir, rule my kingdom,
• 2:01:08
  But do not let me hear another word about those horrible locusts. And
• 2:01:13
  so the strange story teller married the king's daughter, and he lived happily in
• 2:01:17
  the land for many years. But his father in law, the King,
• 2:01:21
  did not care to listen to any more stories. The Inchcape Rock. In
• 2:01:29
  the North Sea, there is a great rock called the Inchcape Rock. It
• 2:01:32
  is twelve miles from any land and is covered most of the time with water.
• 2:01:36
  Many boats and ships have been wrecked on that rock, for it is
• 2:01:41
  so near the top of the water that no vessel can sail over it without
• 2:01:44
  striking it. More than a hundred years ago there lived not far away a
• 2:01:48
  kind hearted man who was called the Abbot of Aberbrothick. It is a pity
• 2:01:54
  he said that so many brave sailors should lose their lives on that hidden rock.
• 2:02:00
  So the Abbot caused a buoy to be fastened to the rock. The
• 2:02:03
  buoy floated back and forth in the shallow water. A strong chain kept it
• 2:02:09
  from floating away. On the top of the buoy, the abbot placed a
• 2:02:13
  bell, and when the waves dashed against it, the bell would ring out
• 2:02:15
  loud and clear. Sailors now were no longer afraid to cross the sea at
• 2:02:21
  that place. When they heard the bell ringing, they knew just where the
• 2:02:26
  rock was, and they steered their vessels around it. God bless the good
• 2:02:30
  abbot of aberbrothek, they all said. One calm summer day, a ship
• 2:02:35
  with a black flag happened to sail not far from the inch Cape Rock.
• 2:02:40
  The ship belonged to a sea robber called Ralph the Rover, and she was
• 2:02:44
  a terror to all honest people, both on sea and shore. There was
• 2:02:49
  but little wind that day, and the sea was as smooth as glass.
• 2:02:53
  The ship stood almost still. There was hardly a breath of air to fill
• 2:02:57
  her sails. Ralph the Road was walking on the deck. He looked out
• 2:03:01
  upon the glassy sea. He saw the buoy floating above the Inchcay Rock.
• 2:03:06
  It looked like a big black speck upon the water. But the bell was
• 2:03:11
  not ring that day. There were no waves to set it in motion.
• 2:03:15
  Boys cried Ralph the Rover, put out the boat and row me to the
• 2:03:19
  Inchcay Rock. We will play a trick on the old abbot. The boat
• 2:03:25
  was lowered. Strong arms soon rowed it to the Inchcay rock. Then the
• 2:03:29
  robber, with a heavy axe, broke the chain that held the buoy.
• 2:03:32
  He cut the fastenings of the bell. It fell into the water. There
• 2:03:36
  was a gurgling sound as it sank out of sight. The next one that
• 2:03:42
  comes this way will not bless the abbot, said Ralph the Rover. Soon
• 2:03:46
  a breeze sprang up, and the black ship sailed away. The sea robber
• 2:03:50
  laughed as he looked back and saw that there was nothing to mark the place
• 2:03:55
  of the hidden rock. For many days, Ralph the Rover scoured the seas,
• 2:04:00
  and many were the ships that he plundered. At last he chanced to
• 2:04:03
  sail back toward the place from which he had started. The wind had blown
• 2:04:08
  hard all day, the waves rolled high, the ship was moving swiftly.
• 2:04:14
  But in the evening the wind died away and a thick fog came on.
• 2:04:18
  Ralph the Rover walked the deck. He could not see where the ship was
• 2:04:21
  going. If the fog would only clear away, he said, I thought
• 2:04:28
  I heard the roar of breakers, said the pilot. We must be near
• 2:04:30
  the shore. I cannot tell, said Ralph the Rover, but I think
• 2:04:35
  we are not far from the inch Cape Rock. I wish we could hear
• 2:04:40
  the good Abbot's bell. The next moment there was a great crash. It
• 2:04:45
  is the inch Cape Rock. The sailors cried, as the ship gave a
• 2:04:49
  lurch to one side and began to sink. Oh what a wretch am I
• 2:04:55
  cried Ralph the Rover. This is what comes of the joke that I played
• 2:04:59
  on the good Abbot. What was it that he heard as the waves rushed
• 2:05:03
  over him? Was it the Abbot's bell ringing for him far down at the
• 2:05:09
  bottom of the sea. The King and his hawk Ginghis Khan was a great
• 2:05:15
  king and warrior. He led his army into China and Persia, and he
• 2:05:19
  conquered many lands. In every country. Men told about his daring deeds,
• 2:05:25
  and they said that since Alexander the Great, there had been no king like
• 2:05:30
  him. One morning, when he was home from the wars, he rode
• 2:05:32
  out into the woods to have a day's sport. Many of his friends were
• 2:05:36
  with him. They rode out gaily, carrying their bows and arrows. Behind
• 2:05:42
  them came the servants with the hounds. It was a merry hunting party.
• 2:05:46
  The woods rang with their shouts and laughter. They expected to carry much game
• 2:05:51
  home in the evening. On the king's wrist sat his favorite hawk, For
• 2:05:57
  in those days, hawks were trained to hunt at a word from their masters.
• 2:06:00
  They would fly high up into the air and look around for prey.
• 2:06:04
  If they chanced to see a deer or a rabbit, they would swoop down
• 2:06:09
  upon it, swift as any arrow. All day long, ginghis Khan and
• 2:06:14
  his huntsmen rode through the woods, but they did not find as much game
• 2:06:17
  as they expected. Toward the evening they started for home. The king had
• 2:06:23
  often ridden through the woods, and he knew all the paths, so while
• 2:06:27
  the rest of the party took the nearest way, he went by a longer
• 2:06:30
  road through a valley between two mountains. The day had been warm, and
• 2:06:33
  the king was very thirsty. His pet hawk had left his wrist and flown
• 2:06:39
  away. It would be sure to find its way home. The king rode
• 2:06:44
  slowly along. He had once seen a spring of clear water near this pathway,
• 2:06:48
  if he could only find it now, But the hot days of summer
• 2:06:51
  had dried up all the mountain brooks. At last, to his joy,
• 2:06:57
  he saw some water trickling down over the edge of a rock. He knew
• 2:07:00
  that there was a spring farther up. In the wet season, a swift
• 2:07:03
  stream of water always poured down here, but now it came only one drop
• 2:07:09
  at a time. The king leaped from his horse. He took a little
• 2:07:13
  silver cup from his hunting bag. He held it so as to catch the
• 2:07:15
  slowly falling drops. It took a long time to fill the cup, and
• 2:07:21
  the king was so thirsty that he could hardly wait. At last it was
• 2:07:26
  nearly full. He put the cup to his lips and was about to drink
• 2:07:30
  all at once. There was a whirring sound in the air, and the
• 2:07:33
  cup was knocked from his hands. The water was all spilled upon the ground.
• 2:07:40
  The king looked up to see who had done this thing. It was
• 2:07:43
  his pet hawk. The hawk flew back and forth a few times, and
• 2:07:46
  then alighted among the rocks by the spring. The king picked up the cup
• 2:07:50
  and again held it to catch the trickling drops. This time he did not
• 2:07:56
  wait so long. When the cup was half full, he lifted it toward
• 2:07:59
  his mouth, But before it had touched his lips, the hawk swooped down
• 2:08:03
  again. And knocked it from his hands. And now the king began to
• 2:08:07
  grow angry. He tried again, and for the third time, the hawk
• 2:08:11
  kept him from drinking. The king was now very angry. Indeed, how
• 2:08:16
  dare you to act? So he cried. If I had you in my
• 2:08:20
  hands, I would wring your neck. Then he filled the cup again,
• 2:08:24
  but before he tried to drink, he drew his sword. Now, sir
• 2:08:28
  hawk, he said, this is the last time. He had hardly spoken
• 2:08:33
  before the hawk swooped down and knocked the cup from his hand, but the
• 2:08:37
  king was looking for this. With a quick swoop of the sword, he
• 2:08:41
  struck the bird as it passed. The next moment, the poor hawk lay
• 2:08:46
  bleeding and dying at its master's feet. That is what you get for your
• 2:08:50
  pains, said kingas Khan. But when he looked for his cup, he
• 2:08:54
  found that it had fallen between two rocks, where he could not reach it.
• 2:08:58
  At any rate, I will have a drink from that spring, he
• 2:09:01
  said to himself. With that he began to climb the steep bank to the
• 2:09:05
  place from which the water trickled. It was hard work, and the higher
• 2:09:09
  he climbed, the thirstier he became. At last, he reached the place.
• 2:09:15
  There indeed was a pool of water. But what was that lying in
• 2:09:18
  the pool and almost filling it? It was a huge dead snake of the
• 2:09:22
  most poisonous kind. The king stopped. He forgot his thirst. He thought
• 2:09:28
  only of the poor dead bird lying on the ground below him. The hawk
• 2:09:33
  saved my life, he cried, And how did I repay him? He
• 2:09:37
  was my best friend, and I have killed him. He clambered down the
• 2:09:43
  bank. He took the bird up gently and laid it in his hunting bag.
• 2:09:46
  Then he mounted his horse and rode swiftly home. He said to himself,
• 2:09:52
  I have learned a sad lesson today, and that is never to do
• 2:09:56
  anything in anger. The kingdoms, there was once a king of Prussia whose
• 2:10:03
  name was Frederick William. On a fine morning in June, he went out
• 2:10:07
  alone to walk in the green woods. He was tired of the noise of
• 2:10:11
  the city, and he was glad to get away from it. So as
• 2:10:16
  he walked among the trees, he often stopped to listen to the singing birds,
• 2:10:20
  or to look at the wild flowers that grew on every side. Now
• 2:10:24
  and then he stooped to pluck a violet or a primrose or a yellow buttercup.
• 2:10:28
  Soon his hands were full of pretty blossoms. After a while he came
• 2:10:33
  to a little meadow in the midst of the wood. Some children were playing
• 2:10:35
  there. They were running here and there and gathering the cowslips that were blooming
• 2:10:41
  among the grass. It made the king glad to see the happy children and
• 2:10:45
  hear their merry voices. He stood still for some time and watched them as
• 2:10:50
  they played. Then he called them around him, and all sat down together
• 2:10:54
  in the pleasant shade. The children did not know who the strange gentleman was,
• 2:10:58
  but they liked his kind face and gentle manners. Now, my little
• 2:11:03
  folks, said the king, I want to ask you some questions, and
• 2:11:07
  the child who gives the best answer shall have a prize. Then he held
• 2:11:11
  up an orange so that all the children could see. You know that we
• 2:11:16
  all live in the Kingdom of Prussia, he said, But tell me to
• 2:11:20
  what kingdom does this orange belong. The children were puzzled. They looked at
• 2:11:26
  one another and sat very still for a little while. Then a brave bright
• 2:11:30
  boy spoke up and said, it belongs to the vegetable kingdom. Sir.
• 2:11:35
  Why so, my lad asked the king. It is the fruit of a
• 2:11:39
  plant, and all plants belong to that kingdom, said the boy. The
• 2:11:43
  king was pleased. You are quite right, he said, and you shall
• 2:11:48
  have the orange for your prize. He tossed it gaily to the boy.
• 2:11:52
  Catch it if you can, he said. Then he took a yellow gold
• 2:11:56
  piece from his pocket and held it up so that it glittered in the sunlight.
• 2:12:01
  Now to what kingdom does this belong? He asked. Another bright boy
• 2:12:05
  answered quickly to the mineral kingdom. Sir, all medals belong to that kingdom.
• 2:12:11
  That is a good answer, said the king. The gold piece is
• 2:12:15
  your prize. The children were delighted with eager faces. They waited to hear
• 2:12:20
  what the stranger would say next. I will ask you one more question,
• 2:12:24
  said the king, and it is an easy one. Then he stood up
• 2:12:28
  and said, tell me, my little folks, to what kingdom do I
• 2:12:33
  belong? The bright boys were puzzled. Now. Some thought of saying to
• 2:12:37
  the Kingdom of Prussia. Some wanted to say to the animal kingdom, but
• 2:12:41
  they were a little afraid, and all kept silent. At last, a
• 2:12:46
  tiny blue eyed child looked up into the king's smiling face and said, in
• 2:12:52
  her simple way, I think to the Kingdom of Heaven. King Frederick William
• 2:12:58
  stooped down and lifted the little maiden in his arms. Tears were in his
• 2:13:03
  eyes as he kissed her and said, so be it, my child,
• 2:13:07
  So be it the miller of the d Once upon a time there lived on
• 2:13:13
  the banks of the River d a miller who was the happiest man in England.
• 2:13:18
  He was always busy from morning till night, and he was always singing
• 2:13:22
  as merrily as any lark. He was so cheerful that he made everybody else
• 2:13:26
  cheerful, and people all over the land like to talk about his pleasant ways.
• 2:13:31
  At last the King heard about him. I will go down and talk
• 2:13:37
  with this wonderful miller, he said, perhaps he can tell me how to
• 2:13:39
  be happy. As soon as he stepped in sight of the mill, he
• 2:13:43
  heard the miller singing, I envy nobody, No not I, for I
• 2:13:48
  am as happy as I can be, and nobody envies me. You're wrong,
• 2:13:54
  my friend, said the king. You're wrong as wrong can be.
• 2:14:00
  I envy you, and I would gladly change places with you if I could
• 2:14:03
  only be as light hearted as you are. The miller smiled and bowed to
• 2:14:09
  the king. I am sure I could not think of changing places with you,
• 2:14:13
  sir, he said. Now tell me, said the king, what
• 2:14:18
  makes you so cheerful and glad here in your dusty meal, while I,
• 2:14:20
  who am king, am sad and in trouble every day. The miller smiled
• 2:14:26
  again and said, I do not know why you are sad, but I
• 2:14:31
  can easily tell why I am glad. I earn my own bread, I
• 2:14:35
  love my wife and my children, I love my friends and they love me,
• 2:14:41
  and I owe not a penny to any man. Why should I not
• 2:14:43
  be happy? For here is the river Dee, and every day it turns
• 2:14:48
  my mill, and the mill grinds the corn that feeds my wife, my
• 2:14:52
  babes and me. Say no more, said the king. Stay where you
• 2:14:56
  are and be happy still, But I envy you. Your dusty cap is
• 2:15:01
  worth more than my golden crown. Your meal does more for you than my
• 2:15:05
  kingdom can do for me. If there were more such men as you,
• 2:15:09
  what a good place this world would be. Good Bye, my friend.
• 2:15:15
  The King turned about and walked sadly away, and the miller went back to
• 2:15:18
  his work, singing, Oh, I'm as happy as happy can be,
• 2:15:22
  for I live by the side of the River Dee. The sons of William
• 2:15:28
  the Conqueror. There was once a great king of England who was called William
• 2:15:33
  the Conqueror, and he had three sons. One day, King William seemed
• 2:15:37
  to be thinking of something that made him feel very sad, and the wise
• 2:15:41
  men who were about him asked him, what was the matter. I am
• 2:15:46
  thinking, he said, of what my sons may do after I am dead.
• 2:15:50
  For unless they are wise and strong, they cannot keep the kingdom which
• 2:15:54
  I have won for them. Indeed, I am at a loss to know
• 2:15:58
  which one of the three are to be king when I am gone, O
• 2:16:03
  King, said the wise men. If we only knew what things your sons
• 2:16:07
  admire the most, we might be able to tell what kind of men they
• 2:16:11
  will be. Perhaps by asking each of them a few questions, we can
• 2:16:15
  find out which one of them will be best fitted to rule your palace.
• 2:16:20
  The plan is well worth trying, at least, said the king. Have
• 2:16:24
  the boys come before you, and then ask them what you please. The
• 2:16:28
  wise men talked with one another for a little while, and then agreed that
• 2:16:31
  the young princes should be brought in one at a time, and that the
• 2:16:35
  same questions should be put to each. The first who came into the room
• 2:16:39
  was Robert. He was a tall, wilful lad and was nicknamed short stocking.
• 2:16:46
  Fair Sir said, one of the men, answer me this question,
• 2:16:50
  if instead of being a boy, it had pleased God that you should be
• 2:16:54
  a bird. What kind of bird would you rather be? A hawk?
• 2:17:00
  Answered Robert, I would rather be a hawk, for no other bird reminds
• 2:17:05
  one so much of a bold and gallant knight. The next who came in
• 2:17:09
  was young William, his father's namesake and pet. His face was jolly and
• 2:17:15
  round, and because he had red hair, he was nicknamed Rufus, or
• 2:17:20
  the red fair Sir said, the wise man, answer me this question,
• 2:17:26
  if instead of being a boy, it had pleased God that you should be
• 2:17:28
  a bird, what kind of a bird would you rather be? An eagle?
• 2:17:33
  Answered William? I would rather be an eagle, because it is strong
• 2:17:39
  and brave. It is feared by all other birds, and is therefore the
• 2:17:43
  king of them all. Lastly came the youngest brother, Henry, with quiet
• 2:17:48
  steps and a sober, thoughtful look. He had been taught to read and
• 2:17:54
  write, and for that reason he was nicknamed beau clerk or the handsome scholar.
• 2:18:00
  Fair Sir, said the wise man, answer me this question, if
• 2:18:05
  instead of being a boy, it have pleased God that you should be a
• 2:18:07
  bird, what kind of a bird would you rather be? A starling?
• 2:18:13
  Said Henry. I would rather be a starling, because it is good mannered
• 2:18:16
  and kind, and a joy to every one who sees it, and it
• 2:18:20
  never tries to rob or abuse its neighbor. Then the wise men talked with
• 2:18:26
  one another for a little while, and when they had agreed among themselves,
• 2:18:30
  they spoke to the King. We find, said they, that your eldest
• 2:18:35
  son Robert will be bold and gallant. He will do some great deeds and
• 2:18:39
  make a name for himself, but in the end he will be overcome by
• 2:18:43
  his foes and will die in prison. The second son, William, will
• 2:18:50
  be as brave and strong as the eagle, but he will be feared and
• 2:18:54
  hated for his cruel deeds. He will lead a wicked life and will die
• 2:18:58
  as shameful death. The youngest son, Henry, will be wise and prudent
• 2:19:03
  and peaceful. He will go to war only when he is forced to do
• 2:19:07
  so by his enemies. He will be loved at home and respected abroad,
• 2:19:13
  and he will die in peace after having gained great possessions. Years passed away,
• 2:19:18
  and the three boys had grown up to be men. King William lay
• 2:19:22
  upon his death bed, and again he thought of what would become of his
• 2:19:26
  sons when he was gone. Then he remembered what the wise men had told
• 2:19:31
  him, and so he declared that Robert should have the lands which he held
• 2:19:35
  in France, that William should be the king of England, and that Henry
• 2:19:39
  should have no land at all, but only a chest of gold. So
• 2:19:45
  it happened in the end very much as the wise men had foretold. Robert
• 2:19:50
  the short Stocking was bold and reckless, like the hawk which he so much
• 2:19:54
  admired. He lost all the lands that his father had left him, and
• 2:19:58
  was at last shut up in prison, where he was kept until he died.
• 2:20:03
  William Rufus was so overbearing and cruel that he was feared and hated by
• 2:20:07
  all his people. He led a wicked life and was killed by one of
• 2:20:13
  his own men while hunting in the forest. And Henry the handsome Scholar,
• 2:20:18
  had not only the chest of gold for his own, but he became by
• 2:20:22
  and by the king of England. And the ruler of all the lands that
• 2:20:26
  his father had had In France. The story of Cincinnatus. There was a
• 2:20:33
  man named Cincinnatus who lived on a little farm not far from the city of
• 2:20:37
  Rome. He had once been rich and had held the highest office in the
• 2:20:41
  land, but in one way or another he had lost all his wealth.
• 2:20:46
  He was now so poor that he had to do all the work on his
• 2:20:48
  farm with his own hands. But in those days it was thought to be
• 2:20:52
  a noble thing to till the soil. Cincinnatus was so wise and just that
• 2:20:58
  everybody trusted him and asked his advice. And when anyone was in trouble and
• 2:21:03
  did not know what to do, his neighbors would say, go and tell
• 2:21:07
  Cincinnatus, he will help you. Now there lived among the mountains, not
• 2:21:13
  far away, a tribe of fierce half wild men who were at war with
• 2:21:18
  the Roman people. They persuaded another tribe of bold warriors to help them,
• 2:21:22
  and then marched toward the city, plundering and robbing as they came. They
• 2:21:28
  boasted that they would tear down the walls of Rome and burn the houses,
• 2:21:31
  and kill all the men, and make slaves of the women and children.
• 2:21:37
  At first, the Romans, who were very proud and brave, did not
• 2:21:41
  think there was much danger. Every man in Rome was a soldier, and
• 2:21:45
  the army which went out to fight the soldiers was the finest in the world.
• 2:21:50
  No one stayed at home with the women and children and boys, but
• 2:21:52
  the white haired fathers, as they were called, who made the laws for
• 2:21:56
  the city, and a small company of men who go the walls. Everybody
• 2:22:01
  thought it would be an easy thing to drive the men of the mountains back
• 2:22:05
  to the place where they belonged. But one morning five horsemen came riding down
• 2:22:09
  the road from the mountains. They rode with great speed, and both men
• 2:22:13
  and horses were covered with dust and blood. The watchmen at the gate knew
• 2:22:18
  them and shouted to them as they galloped in. Why did they ride thus
• 2:22:22
  and what had happened to the Roman army. They did not answer him,
• 2:22:28
  but rode into the city and along the quiet streets, and everybody ran after
• 2:22:31
  them, eager to find out what was the matter. Rome was not a
• 2:22:37
  large city at that time, and soon they reached the market place where the
• 2:22:41
  white haired fathers were sitting. Then they leaped from their horses and told their
• 2:22:45
  story. Only yesterday they said, our army was marching through a narrow valley
• 2:22:52
  between two steep mountains. All at once a thousand savage men sprang out from
• 2:22:56
  among the rocks. Before us and above us. They had blocked up the
• 2:23:01
  way, and the pass was so narrow that we could not fight. We
• 2:23:05
  tried to come back, but they had blocked up the way on this side
• 2:23:07
  of us, too. The fierce men of the mountains were before us and
• 2:23:11
  behind us, and they were throwing rocks down upon us from above. We
• 2:23:16
  had been caught in a trap. The ten of us set spurs to our
• 2:23:20
  horses, and five of us forced our way through, but the other five
• 2:23:24
  fell before the spears of the mountain men. And now, old Roman fathers,
• 2:23:28
  send help to our army at once, or every man will be slain
• 2:23:33
  and our city will be taken. What shall we do, said the white
• 2:23:39
  haired fathers. Whom can we send but the guards and the boys, and
• 2:23:43
  who is wise enough to lead them and thus save wrong All shook their heads
• 2:23:48
  and were very grave, for it seemed as if there was no hope.
• 2:23:52
  Then one said, send for Cincinnatus, he will help us. Cincinnatus was
• 2:23:58
  in the field plowing when the men who had been sent to him, came
• 2:24:01
  in great haste. He stopped and greeted them kindly, and waited for them
• 2:24:05
  to speak. Put on your cloak, cin Sinnatus, they said, and
• 2:24:09
  hear the words of the Roman people. Then Cincinnatus wondered what they could mean.
• 2:24:16
  Is all well with Rome, he asked, and he called to his
• 2:24:20
  wife to bring him his cloak. She brought the cloak, and Cincinnatus wiped
• 2:24:24
  the dust from his hands and arms and threw it over his shoulders. Then
• 2:24:28
  the men told their errand they told him how the army, with all the
• 2:24:33
  noblest men of Rome, had been entrapped in the mountain pass. They told
• 2:24:37
  him about the great danger the city was in. Then they said, the
• 2:24:41
  people of Rome make you their ruler and the ruler of their city, to
• 2:24:46
  do with everything as you choose, and the fathers bid you come at once
• 2:24:50
  to go out against our enemies, the fierce men of the mountains. So
• 2:24:54
  Cincinnatus left his plow standing where it was and hurried to the city. When
• 2:25:00
  he passed through the streets and gave orders as to what should be done,
• 2:25:03
  some of the people were afraid, for they knew that he had all power
• 2:25:07
  in Rome. To do what he pleased. But he armed the guards and
• 2:25:11
  the boys and went out at their head to fight the fierce mountain men and
• 2:25:15
  free the Roman army from the trap into which it had fallen. A few
• 2:25:20
  days afterward, there was great joy in Rome. There was great news from
• 2:25:24
  Cincinnatus. The men of the mountains had been beaten with great loss. They
• 2:25:28
  had been driven back into their own place. And now the Roman army,
• 2:25:33
  with the boys and the guards, was coming home with banners flying and shouts
• 2:25:37
  of victory. And at their head rode Cincinnatus. He had saved Rome.
• 2:25:43
  Cincinnatus might then have made himself king, for his word was law, and
• 2:25:48
  no man dared lift a finger against him. But before the people could thank
• 2:25:52
  him enough for what he had done, he gave back the power to the
• 2:25:56
  white haired Roman fathers and went again to his little farm and his plow.
• 2:26:03
  He had been the ruler of Rome for sixteen days. The story of Regulus.
• 2:26:09
  On the other side of the sea from Rome, there was once a
• 2:26:13
  great city named Carthage. The Roman people were never very friendly to the people
• 2:26:16
  of Carthage, and at last a war began between them. For a long
• 2:26:22
  time it was hard to tell which would prove the stronger. First the Romans
• 2:26:26
  would gain a battle, and then the men of Carthage would gain a battle.
• 2:26:30
  And so the war went on for many years. Among the Romans there
• 2:26:33
  was a brave general named Regulus, a man of whom it was said that
• 2:26:37
  he never broke his word. It so happened after a while that Regulus was
• 2:26:43
  taken prisoner and carried to Carthage. Ill and very lonely. He dreamed of
• 2:26:48
  his wife and little children so far away beyond the sea, and he had
• 2:26:52
  but little hope of ever seeing them again. He loved his home dearly,
• 2:26:56
  but he believed that his first duty was to his country, and so he
• 2:27:01
  had left all to fight in this cruel war. He had lost a battle,
• 2:27:07
  it is true, and had been taken prisoner. Yet he knew that
• 2:27:09
  the Romans were gaining ground, and the people of Carthage were afraid of being
• 2:27:13
  beaten. In the end. They had sent into other countries to hire soldiers
• 2:27:18
  to help them, but even with these they would not be able to fight
• 2:27:22
  much longer against Rome. One day, some of the rulers of Carthage came
• 2:27:28
  to the prison to talk with Regulus. We should like to make peace with
• 2:27:31
  the Roman people, they said, and we are sure that if your rulers
• 2:27:37
  at home knew how the war is going, they would be glad to make
• 2:27:39
  peace with us. We will set you free and let you go home if
• 2:27:45
  you will agree to do as we say. What is that, asked Regilus.
• 2:27:50
  In the first place, they said, you must tell the Romans about
• 2:27:54
  the battles which you have lost, and you must make it plain to them
• 2:27:58
  that they have not gained anything by the way war. In the second place,
• 2:28:01
  you must promise us that if they will not make peace, you will
• 2:28:05
  come back to your prison. Very well, said Regulus, I promise you
• 2:28:11
  that if they will not make peace, I will come back to prison.
• 2:28:16
  And so they let him go, for they knew that a great Roman would
• 2:28:18
  keep his word. When he came to Rome, all the people greeted him
• 2:28:24
  gladly. His wife and children were very happy, for they thought that now
• 2:28:28
  they would not be parted again. The white haired fathers, who made the
• 2:28:31
  laws for the city, came to see him. They asked him about the
• 2:28:35
  war. I was sent from Carthage to ask you to make peace, he
• 2:28:41
  said, But it will not be wise to make peace. True, we
• 2:28:45
  have been beaten in a few battles, but our army is gaining ground every
• 2:28:48
  day. The people of Carthage are afraid and well they may be. Keep
• 2:28:54
  on with the war a little while longer, and Carthage shall be yours.
• 2:28:58
  As for me, I have come to bid my wife and children and Rome
• 2:29:01
  farewell. Tomorrow I will start back to Carthage and to prison, for I
• 2:29:07
  have promised. Then the fathers tried to persuade him to stay. Let us
• 2:29:13
  send another man in your place, they said, shall a Roma not keep
• 2:29:18
  his word? Answered Regilus, I am ill, and at the best have
• 2:29:22
  not longed to live. I will go back as I promised. His wife
• 2:29:28
  and little children wept, and his sons begged him not to leave them again.
• 2:29:33
  I have given my word, said Regulus. The rest will be taken
• 2:29:37
  care of. Then he bade them good bye and went bravely back to the
• 2:29:41
  prison and the cruel death which he expected. This was the kind of courage
• 2:29:48
  that made Rome the greatest city in the world. The story of William tell
• 2:29:54
  The people of Switzerland were not always free and happy as they are to day.
• 2:30:00
  Many years ago, a proud tyrant whose name was Gessler, ruled over
• 2:30:03
  them and made their lot a bitter one. Indeed, one day this tyrant
• 2:30:07
  set up a tall pole in the public square and put his own cap on
• 2:30:11
  the top of it, And then he gave orders that every man who came
• 2:30:16
  into the town should bow down before it. But there was one man named
• 2:30:20
  William Tail who would not do this. He stood up straight with folded arms
• 2:30:26
  and laughed at the swinging cap. He would not bow down to Gessler himself.
• 2:30:31
  When Gessler heard of this, he was very angry. He was afraid
• 2:30:35
  that other men would disobey, and that soon the whole country would rebel against
• 2:30:39
  him. So he made up his mind to punish the bold man. William
• 2:30:45
  Tell's home was among the mountains, and he was a famous hunter. No
• 2:30:50
  one in all the land could shoot with bow and arrows so well as he.
• 2:30:54
  Gessler knew this, and so he thought of a cruel plan to make
• 2:30:58
  the hunter's own skill bring him to grief. He ordered that Tell's little boy
• 2:31:03
  should be made to stand up in the public square with an apple on his
• 2:31:07
  head, and then he bade Tail shoot the apple with one of his arrows.
• 2:31:11
  Tell begged the tyrant not to have him make this test of his skill.
• 2:31:16
  What if the boy should move. What if the bowman's hand should tremble,
• 2:31:20
  What if the arrow should not carry true? Will you make me kill
• 2:31:24
  my own boy? He said? Say no more, said Gessler, You
• 2:31:30
  must hit the apple with your one arrow. If you fail, my soldiers
• 2:31:35
  shall kill the boy before your eyes. Then, without another word, Till
• 2:31:39
  fitted the arrow to his bow. He took aim and let it fly.
• 2:31:45
  The boy stood firm and still. He was not afraid, for he had
• 2:31:50
  all faith in his father's skill. The arrow whistled through the air. It
• 2:31:56
  struck the apple fairly in the center, and carried it away. The people
• 2:32:00
  who saw it shouted with joy. As Tail was turning away from the place,
• 2:32:05
  an arrow, which he had hidden under his coat, dropped to the
• 2:32:09
  ground. Fellow cried, Gessler, what mean you with this second arrow?
• 2:32:16
  Tyrant? Was Tell's proud answer. This arrow was for your heart if I
• 2:32:20
  had hurt my child. And there is an old story that not long after
• 2:32:26
  this, Tell did shoot the tyrant with one of his arrows, and thus
• 2:32:31
  he set his country free the sword of Democles. There was once a king
• 2:32:37
  whose name was Dionysius. He was so unjust and cruel that he won for
• 2:32:43
  himself the name of tyrant. He knew that almost everybody hated him, and
• 2:32:48
  so he was always in dread lest some one should take his life. But
• 2:32:52
  he was very rich, and he lived in a fine palace where there were
• 2:32:54
  many beautiful and costly things, and he was waited upon by a host of
• 2:33:00
  servants who were always ready to do his bidding. One day a friend of
• 2:33:03
  his, whose name was Democles, said to him, how happy you must
• 2:33:09
  be. You have here everything that any man could wish. Perhaps you would
• 2:33:15
  like to change places with me, said the tyrant. No, not that,
• 2:33:18
  o king, said Democles. But I think that if I could only
• 2:33:22
  have your riches and your pleasures for one day, I should not want any
• 2:33:26
  greater happiness. Very well, said the tyrant, you shall have them.
• 2:33:33
  And so the next day Democles was led into the palace, and all the
• 2:33:37
  servants were bidden to treat him as their master. He sat down at a
• 2:33:41
  table in the banquet hall, and rich foods were placed before him. Nothing
• 2:33:46
  was wanting that could give him pleasure. There were costly wines and beautiful flowers,
• 2:33:50
  and rare perfumes and delightful music. He rested himself among soft cushions and
• 2:33:56
  felt that he was the happiest man in all the world. Then he chanced
• 2:34:01
  to raise his eyes toward the ceiling. What was it that was dangling above
• 2:34:07
  him, with its point almost touching his head. It was a sharp sword,
• 2:34:11
  and it was hung by only a single horse hair. What if the
• 2:34:16
  hair should break? There was danger every moment that it would do. So
• 2:34:20
  the smile faded from the lips of Democles. His face became ashy, pale,
• 2:34:26
  His hands trembled. He wanted no more food, He could drink,
• 2:34:31
  no more wine. He took no more delight in the music. He longed
• 2:34:37
  to be out of the palace and away. He cared not where. What
• 2:34:41
  is the matter? Said the tyrant? That sword? That sword, cried
• 2:34:48
  Democles. He was so badly frightened that he dared not move. Yes,
• 2:34:54
  said Dionysius. I know there is a sword above your head, and that
• 2:34:58
  it may fall at any moment. But why should that trouble you. I
• 2:35:01
  have a sword over my head all the time. I am every moment in
• 2:35:05
  dread lest something may cause me to lose my life. Let me go,
• 2:35:11
  said Democles. I now see that I was mistaken, and that the rich
• 2:35:16
  and powerful are not so happy as they sing, let me go back to
• 2:35:20
  my old home in the poor little cottage among the mountains. And so long
• 2:35:24
  as he lived, he never again wanted to be rich or to change places,
• 2:35:30
  even for a moment with the King. The ungrateful guest. Among the
• 2:35:37
  soldiers of King Philip, there was a poor man who had done some brave
• 2:35:41
  deeds. He had pleased the King in more ways than one, and so
• 2:35:45
  the King put a good deal of trust in him. One day, this
• 2:35:48
  soldier was on board of a ship at sea when a great storm came up.
• 2:35:52
  The winds drove the ship upon the rocks, and it was wrecked.
• 2:35:56
  The soldier was cast half drowned upon the shore, and he would have died
• 2:36:01
  there had it not been for the kind care of a farmer who lived close
• 2:36:05
  by. When the soldier was well enough to go home, he thanked the
• 2:36:09
  farmer for what he had done, and promised that he would repay him for
• 2:36:13
  his kindness. But he did not mean to keep his promise. He did
• 2:36:18
  not tell King Philip about the man who had saved his life. He only
• 2:36:22
  said that there was a fine farm by the sea shore, and that he
• 2:36:24
  would like very much to have it for his own would the King give it
• 2:36:28
  to him? Who owns the farm? Now, asked Philip, Only a
• 2:36:33
  churlish farmer who has never done anything for his country, said the soldier.
• 2:36:39
  Very well, then said Philip, you have served me for a long time,
• 2:36:43
  and you shall have your wish. Go and take the farm for yourself.
• 2:36:48
  And so the soldier made haste to drive the farmer from his house and
• 2:36:52
  home. He took the farm for his own. The poor farmer was stung
• 2:36:56
  to the heart by such treatment. He went boldly to the king and told
• 2:37:01
  the whole story from beginning to end. King Philip was very angry when he
• 2:37:07
  learned that the man whom he had trusted had done so base a deed.
• 2:37:11
  He sent for the soldier in great haste, and when he had come,
• 2:37:15
  he caused these words to be burned into his forehead, the ungrateful guest.
• 2:37:22
  Thus all the world was made to know of the mean act by which the
• 2:37:26
  soldier had tried to enrich himself, and from that day until he died,
• 2:37:30
  all men shunned and hated him, the ungrateful soldier. Here is another story
• 2:37:37
  of the battlefield, and it is much like the one I have just told
• 2:37:41
  you, not quite a hundred years after the time of Sir Philip Sidney,
• 2:37:46
  there was a war between the Swedes and the Danes. One day a great
• 2:37:50
  battle was fought, and the Swedes were beaten and driven from the field.
• 2:37:54
  A soldier of the Danes, who had been slightly wounded, was sitting on
• 2:37:58
  the ground. He was about to take a drink from a flask. All
• 2:38:03
  at once he heard some one say, oh, sir, give me a
• 2:38:07
  drink, for I am dying. It was a wounded Swede who spoke.
• 2:38:11
  He was lying on the ground only a little way off. The Dane went
• 2:38:16
  to him at once. He knelt down by the side of his fallen foe
• 2:38:20
  and pressed the flask to his lips. Drink, he said, for thy
• 2:38:24
  need is greater than mine. Hardly had he spoken these words. When the
• 2:38:28
  Swede raised himself on his elbow, he pulled a pistol from his pocket and
• 2:38:35
  shot at the man who would have befriended him. The bullet grazed the Dane's
• 2:38:39
  shoulder, but he did not do him much harm. Ah, you rascal,
• 2:38:43
  he cried, I was going to befriend you, and you repay me
• 2:38:48
  by trying to kill me. Now I will punish you I would have given
• 2:38:52
  you all the water, but now you shall have only half. And with
• 2:38:58
  that he drank the half of it, and then gave the rest to the
• 2:39:01
  Swede. When the King of the Danes heard about this, he sent for
• 2:39:05
  the soldier and had him tell the story just as it was. Why did
• 2:39:09
  you spare the life of the Swede after he had tried to kill you,
• 2:39:13
  asked the king, because Sir, said the soldier, I could never kill
• 2:39:20
  a wounded enemy. Then you deserve to be a nobleman, said the king,
• 2:39:24
  and he rewarded him by making him a knight and giving him a noble
• 2:39:28
  title. The White Ship King Henry, the handsome scholar, had one son
• 2:39:35
  named William, whom he dearly loved. The young man was noble and brave,
• 2:39:39
  and everybody hoped that he would someday be the King of England. One
• 2:39:45
  summer, Prince William went with his father across the sea to look after their
• 2:39:48
  lands in France. They were welcomed with joy by all their people there,
• 2:39:52
  and the young prince was so gallant and kind that he won the love of
• 2:39:56
  all who saw him. But at last the time came for them to go
• 2:40:01
  back to England. The King with his wise men and brave knights, set
• 2:40:05
  sail early in the day. But Prince William with his younger friends waited a
• 2:40:09
  little while. They had had so joyous a time in France that they were
• 2:40:15
  in no great haste to tear themselves away. Then they went on board of
• 2:40:18
  the ship which was waiting to carry them home. It was a beautiful ship,
• 2:40:22
  with white sails and white masts, and it had been fitted up on
• 2:40:26
  purpose for this voyage. The sea was smooth, the winds were fair,
• 2:40:31
  and no one thought of danger on the ship. Everything had been arranged to
• 2:40:35
  make the trip a pleasant one. There was music in dancing, and everybody
• 2:40:41
  was merry and glad. The sun had gone down before the white winged vessel
• 2:40:45
  was fairly out of the bay. But what of that. The moon was
• 2:40:48
  at its full, and it would give light enough, and before the dawn
• 2:40:52
  of the morrow the narrow sea would be crossed. And so the Prince and
• 2:40:56
  the young people who were with him gave themselves up to merriment and feasting and
• 2:41:01
  joy. The earlier hours of the night passed by, and then there was
• 2:41:07
  a cry of alarm on the deck. A moment afterward, there was a
• 2:41:11
  great crash. The ship had struck a rock, the water rushed in.
• 2:41:16
  She was sinking. Ah, Where now were those who had lately been so
• 2:41:20
  heart free and glad? Every heart was full of fear. No one knew
• 2:41:26
  what to do. A small boat was quickly launched, and the Prince,
• 2:41:30
  with a few of his bravest friends, leaped into it. They pushed off
• 2:41:35
  just as the ship was beginning to settle beneath the waves. Would they be
• 2:41:39
  saved? They had rowed hardly ten yards from the ship, when there was
• 2:41:43
  a cry from among those who were left behind. Row back, cried the
• 2:41:48
  Prince. It is my little sister. She must be saved. The men
• 2:41:52
  did not dare to disobey. The boat was again brought alongside the sinking vessel.
• 2:41:58
  The Prince stood up and held out his arms for his sister. At
• 2:42:03
  that moment, the ship gave a great lurch forward into the waves. One
• 2:42:07
  shriek of terror was heard, and then all was still save the sound of
• 2:42:13
  the moaning waters. Ship and boat. Prince and princess and all the gay
• 2:42:18
  company that had set sail from France went down to the bottom together. One
• 2:42:24
  man clung to a floating plank and was saved the next day he was the
• 2:42:28
  only person left alive to tell the sad story. When King Henry heard of
• 2:42:33
  the death of his son, his grief was more than he could bear.
• 2:42:39
  His heart was broken. He had no more joy in life, And men
• 2:42:43
  say that no one ever saw him smile again. Here is a poem about
• 2:42:48
  him that your teacher may read to you, and perhaps after a while you
• 2:42:52
  may learn it by heart. He never smiled again. The ark that held
• 2:43:00
  the prince went down, The sweeping waves rolled on, and what was England's
• 2:43:05
  glorious crown? To him that wept a sun? He lived for life may
• 2:43:09
  long be borne. Ere sorrow breaks its chains. Why comes not death to
• 2:43:15
  those who mourn? He never smiled again. There stood proud forms before his
• 2:43:20
  throne, the stately and the brave. But who could fill the place of
• 2:43:26
  one that one beneath The wave before him passed the young and fair in pleasure's
• 2:43:33
  reckless train. But sees dashed o'er his son's bright hair. He never smiled
• 2:43:39
  again. He sat where festal boughs went round. He heard the minstrel sing,
• 2:43:45
  He saw the torney's victor crowned. Amid the nightly ring, a murmur
• 2:43:48
  of the restless deep was blint with every strain, a voice of winds that
• 2:43:54
  would not sleep. He never smiled again. Hearts in that time closed o'er.
• 2:44:00
  The trace of valves once fondly poured, and strangers took the kinsman's place.
• 2:44:07
  At many a joyous board graves which true love had bathed with tears were
• 2:44:11
  left to Heaven's bright rain. Fresh hopes were born for other years. He
• 2:44:18
  never smiled again. Missus Hemans. Three men of Gotham. There is a
• 2:44:26
  town in England called Gotham, and many merry stories are told of the queer
• 2:44:31
  people who used to live there. One day, two men of Gotham met
• 2:44:35
  on a bridge. Hodge was coming from the market and Peter was going to
• 2:44:39
  the market. Where are you going, said Hodge. I am going to
• 2:44:45
  the market to buy sheep, said Peter. Buy sheep, said Hodge.
• 2:44:50
  And which way will you bring them home? I shall bring them over this
• 2:44:54
  bridge, said Peter. No you shall not, said Hodge. Yes,
• 2:44:58
  but I will, said Peter. You shall not, said Hodge. I
• 2:45:03
  will, said Peter. Then they beat with their sticks on the ground as
• 2:45:09
  though there had been a hundred sheep between them. Take care, cried Peter,
• 2:45:13
  look out that my sheep don't jump on the bridge. I care not
• 2:45:18
  where they jump, said Hodge. But they shall not go over it.
• 2:45:22
  But they will, said Peter. Have a care, said Hodge, for
• 2:45:26
  if you say too much, I will put my fingers in your mouth,
• 2:45:31
  will you, said Peter. Just then, another man of Gotham came from
• 2:45:35
  the market with a sack of meal on his horse. He heard his neighbors
• 2:45:39
  quarreling about sheep, but he could see no sheep between them, and so
• 2:45:43
  he stopped and spoke to them. Ah, you foolish fellows, he cried,
• 2:45:50
  it is strange that you will never learn wisdom. Come here, Peter,
• 2:45:52
  and help me lay my sack on my shoulder. Peter did so,
• 2:45:58
  and the man carried his meal to the side of the bridge. Now look
• 2:46:01
  at me, he said, and learn a lesson. And he opened the
• 2:46:05
  mouth of the sack and poured all the meal into the river. Now,
• 2:46:09
  neighbors, he said, can you tell how much meal is in my sack?
• 2:46:13
  There is none at all, cried Hodge and Peter. Together, you
• 2:46:18
  are right, said the man. And you that stand here and quarrel about
• 2:46:22
  nothing, have no more sense in your heads than I have meal in my
• 2:46:26
  sack. Whittington and his cat part one the city. There was once a
• 2:46:33
  little boy whose name was Richard Whittington, but everybody called him Dick. His
• 2:46:37
  father and mother had died when he was only a babe, and the people
• 2:46:41
  who had the care of him were very poor. Dick was not old enough
• 2:46:45
  to work, and so he had a hard time of it. Indeed,
• 2:46:48
  sometimes he had no breakfast, and sometimes he had no dinner, and he
• 2:46:52
  was glad at any time to get a crust of bread or a drop of
• 2:46:56
  milk. Now, in the town where Dick lived, the people liked to
• 2:47:00
  talk about London. None of them had ever been to the great city,
• 2:47:03
  but they seemed to know all about the wonderful things which were to be seen
• 2:47:07
  there. They said that all the folks who lived in London were fine gentlemen
• 2:47:11
  and ladies, that there was singing and music there all day long, that
• 2:47:16
  nobody was ever hungry there and nobody had to work, and that the streets
• 2:47:20
  were all paved with gold. Dick listened to these stories and wished that he
• 2:47:24
  could go to London. One day, a big wagon drawn by eight horses,
• 2:47:28
  all with bells on their heads, drove into the little town. Dick
• 2:47:33
  saw the wagon standing by the inn, and he thought that it must be
• 2:47:35
  going to the fine city of London. When the driver came out and was
• 2:47:39
  ready to start, the lad ran up and asked him if he might walk
• 2:47:43
  by the side of the wagon. The driver asked him some questions, and
• 2:47:48
  when he learned how poor Dick was, and that he had neither father nor
• 2:47:52
  mother, he told him that he might do as he liked. It was
• 2:47:56
  a long walk for the little lad, but by and bye he came to
• 2:47:58
  the city of London. He was in such a hurry to see the wonderful
• 2:48:03
  sights that he forgot to thank the driver of the wagon. He ran as
• 2:48:07
  fast as he could from one street to another, trying to find those that
• 2:48:11
  were paved with gold. He had once seen a piece of money that was
• 2:48:16
  gold, and he knew that it would buy a great, great many things.
• 2:48:20
  And now he thought that if he could only get a little bit of
• 2:48:22
  the pavement, he would have everything that he wanted. Poor Dick ran till
• 2:48:26
  he was so tired that he could run no farther. It was growing dark,
• 2:48:31
  and in every street there was only dirt instead of gold. He sat
• 2:48:35
  down in a dark corner and cried himself to sleep. When he woke up
• 2:48:39
  the next morning, he was very hungry, but there was not even a
• 2:48:43
  crust of bread for him to eat. He forgot all about the golden pavements
• 2:48:48
  and thought only of food. He walked about from one street to another,
• 2:48:52
  and at last grew so hungry that he began to ask those whom he met
• 2:48:56
  to give him a penny to buy something to eat. Go to work,
• 2:49:01
  you idle fellow, said some of them, and the rest passed him by
• 2:49:05
  without even looking at him. I wish I could go to work, said
• 2:49:09
  Dick. Part two the kitchen. By and by, Dick grew so faint
• 2:49:16
  and tired that he could go no farther. He sat down by the door
• 2:49:20
  of a fine house and wished that he was back again in the little town
• 2:49:24
  where he was born. The cook maid, who was just getting dinner,
• 2:49:28
  saw him and called out, what are you doing here, you little beggar.
• 2:49:31
  If you don't get away quick, I'll throw a penful of hot dish
• 2:49:35
  water over you. Then I guess you will jump. Just at that time,
• 2:49:39
  the master of the house, whose name was mister fitz Warren, came
• 2:49:43
  home to dinner. When he saw the ragged little fellow at his door.
• 2:49:48
  He said, my lad, what are you doing here? I am afraid
• 2:49:52
  you are a lazy fellow, and that you want to live without work.
• 2:49:56
  No, indeed, said Dick, I would like to work if I could
• 2:50:01
  find anything to do. But I do not know anybody in this town,
• 2:50:05
  and I have not had anything to eat for a long time. Poor little
• 2:50:09
  fellow, said mister fitz Warren. Come in and I will see what I
• 2:50:13
  can do for you. And he ordered the cook to give the lad a
• 2:50:16
  good dinner, and then to find some light work for him to do.
• 2:50:20
  Little Dick would have been very happy in the new home which he had thus
• 2:50:24
  found if it had not been for the cross cook. She would often say,
• 2:50:30
  you are my boy now, and you must do as I tell you.
• 2:50:33
  Look sharp there, make the fires, carry out the ashes, wash
• 2:50:37
  these dishes, sweep the floor, bring in the wood. Oh, what
• 2:50:41
  a lazy fellow you are, and then she would box his ears or beat
• 2:50:46
  him with the broomstick. At last, Little Alice, his master's daughter,
• 2:50:50
  saw how he was treated, and she told the cook she would be turned
• 2:50:54
  off if she was not kinder to the lad. After that, Dick had
• 2:50:58
  an easier time of it, but his troubles were not over yet by any
• 2:51:03
  means. His bed was in a garret at the top of the house,
• 2:51:07
  far away from the rooms where the other people slept. There were many holes
• 2:51:11
  in the floor and walls, and every night a great number of rats and
• 2:51:15
  mice came in. They tormented Dick so much that he did not know what
• 2:51:20
  to do. One day, a gentleman gave him a penny for cleaning his
• 2:51:24
  shoes, and he made up his mind that he would buy a cat with
• 2:51:28
  it. The very next morning he met a girl who was carrying a cat
• 2:51:31
  in her arms. I will give you a penny for that cat, he
• 2:51:35
  said, all right. The girl said, you may have her, and
• 2:51:41
  you will find that she is a good mouse or too. Dick hid his
• 2:51:45
  cat in the garret, and every day he carried a part of his dinner
• 2:51:48
  to her. It was not long before she had driven all the rats and
• 2:51:52
  mice away, and then Dick could sleep soundly every night. Part three the
• 2:51:58
  Venture. Some time after that, a ship that belonged to mister Fitzwarren was
• 2:52:03
  about to start on a voyage across the sea. It was loaded with goods
• 2:52:07
  which were to be sold in lands far away. Mister fitz Warren wanted to
• 2:52:11
  give his servants a chance for good fortune too, and so he called all
• 2:52:16
  of them into the parlor and asked if they had anything they would like to
• 2:52:20
  send out in the ship for trade. Every one had something to send,
• 2:52:24
  every one but Dick, And as he had neither money nor goods, he
• 2:52:28
  stayed in the kitchen and did not come in with the rest. Little Alice
• 2:52:33
  guessed when he did not come, and so she said to her Papa,
• 2:52:37
  poor Dick ought to have a chance too. Here is some money out of
• 2:52:41
  my own purse that you may put in for him. No, no,
• 2:52:45
  my child, said mister Fitzwarren, He must risk something of his own.
• 2:52:50
  And then he called very loud, here, Dick, what are you going
• 2:52:54
  to send out on this ship. Dick heard him and came into the room.
• 2:52:58
  I have nothing in the world, he said, but a cat,
• 2:53:01
  which I bought some time ago for a penny. Fetch your cat, then,
• 2:53:05
  my lad said mister fitz Warren, and let her go out. Who
• 2:53:09
  knows but that she will bring you some profit. Dick, with tears in
• 2:53:13
  his eyes, carried poor Puss down to the ship and gave her to the
• 2:53:18
  captain. Everybody laughed at his queer venture, but little Alice felt sorry for
• 2:53:24
  him and gave him money to buy another cat. After that, the cook
• 2:53:28
  was worse than before. She made fun of him for sending his cat to
• 2:53:31
  sea. Do you think she would say that a puss will sell for enough
• 2:53:37
  money to buy a stick to beat you? At last, Dick could not
• 2:53:41
  stand her abuse any longer, and he made up his mind to go back
• 2:53:45
  to his old home in the little country town. So very early in the
• 2:53:48
  morning on all Hallow's Day he started. He walked as far as the place
• 2:53:52
  called Holloway, and there he sat down on a stone, which to this
• 2:53:56
  day is called Whittington's Stone. As he sat there, very sad and wondering
• 2:54:03
  which way to go, he heard the bells on Bow Church far away,
• 2:54:07
  ringing out a merry chime. He listened, they seemed to say to him,
• 2:54:11
  turn again, Whittington thrice, Lord Mayor of London. Well, well,
• 2:54:16
  he said to himself, I would put up with almost anything to be
• 2:54:20
  Lord Mayor of London. When I am a man and to ride in a
• 2:54:24
  fine coach. I think I will go back and let the old cook cuffins
• 2:54:28
  goold me as much as she pleases. Dick did go back, and he
• 2:54:33
  was lucky enough to get into the kitchen and set about his work before the
• 2:54:37
  cook came downstairs to get breakfast. Part four. The cat mister Fitzwarren's ship
• 2:54:45
  made a long voyage and at last reached a strange land on the other side
• 2:54:48
  of the sea. The people had never seen any white men before, and
• 2:54:52
  they came in great crowds to buy the fine things with which the ship was
• 2:54:56
  loaded. The captain wanted very much to trade with the king of the country,
• 2:55:01
  and it was not long before the king sent word to him to come
• 2:55:03
  to the palace and see him. The captain did so, he was shown
• 2:55:07
  into a beautiful room and given a seat on a rich carpet, all flowered
• 2:55:13
  with silver and gold. The King and Queen were seated not far away,
• 2:55:16
  and soon a number of dishes were brought in for dinner. They had hardly
• 2:55:20
  begun to eat when an army of rats and mice rushed in and devoured all
• 2:55:26
  the meat before anyone could hinder them. The captain wondered at this and asked
• 2:55:31
  if it was not very unpleasant to have so many rats and mice about.
• 2:55:35
  Oh, yes, was the answer. It is indeed unpleasant, and the
• 2:55:39
  King would give half his treasure if he could get rid of them. The
• 2:55:43
  captain jumped for joy. He remembered the cat which little Whittington had sent out,
• 2:55:48
  and he told the King that he had a little creature on board his
• 2:55:52
  ship which would make short work of the pests. Then it was the king's
• 2:55:56
  turn to jump for joy, and he jumped so high that his yellow cap
• 2:56:00
  or turban dropped off his head. Bring the creature to me, he said.
• 2:56:05
  If she will do what you say, I will load your ship with
• 2:56:07
  gold. The captain made believe that he would be very sorry to part with
• 2:56:11
  the cat, but at last he went down to the ship to get her.
• 2:56:15
  While the King and Queen made haste to have another dinner made ready.
• 2:56:20
  The captain, with Puss under his arm, reached the palace just in time
• 2:56:22
  to see the table crowded with rats. The cat leaped out upon them,
• 2:56:28
  and oh what havoc she did make among the troublesome creatures. Most of them
• 2:56:33
  were soon stretched dead upon the floor, while the rest scampered away to their
• 2:56:37
  holes and did not dare to come out again. The king had never been
• 2:56:41
  so glad in his life, and the queen asked that the creature which had
• 2:56:46
  done such wonders should be brought to her. The captain called pussy, Pussy,
• 2:56:52
  pussy, and the cat came up and rubbed against his legs. He
• 2:56:56
  picked her up and offered her to the queen, but at first the Queen
• 2:57:00
  was afraid to touch her. However, the captain stroked the cat and called
• 2:57:05
  pussy, pussy, pussy, and then the queen ventured to touch her.
• 2:57:11
  She could only say putty, putty, putty, for she had not learned
• 2:57:16
  to talk English. The captain then put the cat down on the Queen's lap,
• 2:57:20
  where she purred and purred until she went to sleep. The King would
• 2:57:24
  not have missed getting the cat now for the world. He at once made
• 2:57:28
  a bargain with the captain for all the goods on board the ship, and
• 2:57:33
  then he gave him ten times as much for the cat as all the rest
• 2:57:35
  came to. The captain was very glad. He bade the King and Queen
• 2:57:41
  good bye, and the very next day set sail for England. Part five
• 2:57:46
  The Fortune. One morning, mister fitz Warren was sitting at his desk in
• 2:57:52
  the office. He heard some one tap softly at the door, and he
• 2:57:54
  said, who's there? A friend was the answer, I have come to
• 2:58:00
  bring you news of your ship Unicorn. Mister fitz Warren jumped up quickly and
• 2:58:05
  opened the door. Whom should he see waiting there but the Captain, with
• 2:58:09
  a bill of lady in one hand and a box of jewels in the other.
• 2:58:13
  He was so full of joy that he lifted up his eyes and thanked
• 2:58:16
  Heaven for sending him such good fortune. The captain soon told the story of
• 2:58:22
  the cat, and then he showed the rich present which the King and Queen
• 2:58:24
  had sent to poor Dick in payment for her. As soon as the good
• 2:58:28
  gentleman heard this, he called out to his servants, go send him in
• 2:58:33
  and tell him of his fame. Pray call him mister Whittington by name.
• 2:58:39
  Some of the men who stood by said that so great a present ought not
• 2:58:41
  to be given to a mere boy. But mister fitz Warren frowned upon them.
• 2:58:46
  It is his own, he said, and I will not hold back
• 2:58:50
  one penny from him. Dick was scouring the pots when word was brought to
• 2:58:54
  him that he should go to the office. Oh I am so dirty,
• 2:58:58
  he said, and my shoes are full of hob nails. But he was
• 2:59:03
  told to make haste. Mister fitz Warren ordered a chair to be set for
• 2:59:07
  him, and then the lad began to think that they were making fun of
• 2:59:11
  him. I beg that you won't play tricks with a poor boy like me,
• 2:59:15
  he said, Please, let me go back to my work. Mister
• 2:59:18
  Whittington said, mister Fitzwarren, this is no joke at all. The captain
• 2:59:24
  has sold your cat and has brought you in return for her, more riches
• 2:59:28
  than I have in the whole world. Then he opened the box of jewels
• 2:59:31
  and showed Dick his treasures. The poor boy did not know what to do.
• 2:59:37
  He begged his master to take a part of it, but mister fitz
• 2:59:39
  Warren said, no, it is all your own, and I feel sure
• 2:59:43
  that you will make good use of it. Dick then offered some of his
• 2:59:48
  jewels to his mistress and little Alice. They thanked him and told him that
• 2:59:52
  they felt great joy at his good luck, but wished him to keep his
• 2:59:56
  riches for himself. But he was too kind art to keep everything for himself.
• 3:00:01
  He gave nice presents to the captain and the sailors, and to the
• 3:00:05
  servants in mister Fitzwarren's house. He even remembered the cross old cook. After
• 3:00:11
  that Whittington's face was washed and his hair curled, and he was dressed in
• 3:00:16
  a nice suit of clothes, and then he was as handsome a young man
• 3:00:18
  as ever walked the streets of London. Some time after that there was a
• 3:00:24
  fine wedding at the finest church in London, and Miss Alice became the wife
• 3:00:28
  of mister Richard Whittington. And the Lord Mayor was there, and the great
• 3:00:33
  judges and the sheriffs, and many rich merchants, and everybody was very happy.
• 3:00:37
  And Richard Whittington became a great merchant and was one of the foremost men
• 3:00:41
  in London. He was Sheriff of the city, and thrice Lord Mayor,
• 3:00:46
  and King Henry the Fifth made him a knight. He built the famous prison
• 3:00:50
  of Newgate in London. On the archway in front of the prison was a
• 3:00:54
  figure cut in stone of Sir Richard Whittington and his cat, And for three
• 3:01:00
  hundred years this figure was shown to all who visited London.