Chapter 5

HARRY'S SIMPLE STORIES.

_From Mrs. Barbauld's "Lessons for Children."_

SIMPLE STORIES.

Good morning, little boy; how do you do? Bring your little stool and sit down by me, for I have a great deal to tell you.

I hope you have been a good boy, and read all the pretty words I wrote for you before. You have, you say; you have read them till you are tired, and you want some more new lessons. Come, then, sit down. Now you and I will tell stories.

JANUARY.

It is very cold. It snows. It freezes. There are no leaves upon the trees. The oil is frozen, and the milk is frozen, and the river is frozen, and everything in the fields is frozen.

All the boys are sliding: you must learn to slide. There is a man skating. How fast he goes! You shall have a pair of skates. Take care! there is a hole in the ice. Come in. It is four o'clock. It is dark. Light the candles: and, Ralph! get some wood from the wood-house, and get some coals, and make a very good fire.

Now get the large picture-book, and let us look at the pretty pictures, and I will tell you stories about them.

FEBRUARY.

It is still very cold, but the days are longer, and there is the yellow crocus coming up, and the mezereon tree is in blossom, and there are some white snow-drops peeping up their little heads. Pretty white snow-drop, with a green stalk! May I gather it? Yes, you may; but you must always ask leave before you gather a flower.

When spring comes again there will be green leaves and flowers, daisies and pinks, and violets and roses; and there will be young lambs, and warm weather. Come again, spring!

What a noise the rooks make! Caw! caw! caw! and how busy they are! They are going to build their nests. There is a man ploughing the field. In a few days the farmer will sow it with barley. Wheat is sown in the autumn. In some places oxen draw the plough instead of horses.

MARCH.

Now the wind blows. It will blow such a little fellow as you away, almost. There is a tree blown down. Which way does the wind blow? Take out your handkerchief. Throw it up. The wind blows it this way. The wind comes from the north. The wind is north. It is a cold wind. The wind was west yesterday: then it was warmer.

Here is a lady-bird upon a leaf. It is red, and has black spots. Ah! it has wings: it has flown away. There is a black beetle. Catch it. How fast it runs! Where is it gone? Into the ground. It makes a little hole and runs into the ground.

There are some young lambs. Poor things! how they creep under the hedge. What is this flower? A primrose. Where is Harry? He is sitting under a tree.

APRIL.

Now the birds sing, and the trees are in blossom, and flowers are coming out, and butterflies, and the sun shines. Now it rains. It rains and the sun shines. There is a rainbow. Oh, what fine colours! Pretty bright rainbow! No, you cannot catch it; it is in the sky. It is going away. It fades. It is quite gone. I hear the cuckoo. He says, Cuckoo! cuckoo! He is come to tell us it is spring. Do you know the nursery rhyme about the cuckoo?

The cuckoo's a bonny bird, He sings as he flies; He brings us good tidings, And tells us no lies. He sucks little birds' eggs To make his voice clear, And always sings "Cuckoo" When spring-time is near.

MAY.

Oh, pleasant May! Let us walk out in the fields. The hawthorn is in blossom. Let us go and get some out of the hedges. And here are daisies, and cowslips, and crow-flowers. We will make a nosegay. Smell, it is very sweet! What has Harry got? He has got a nest of young birds. He has been climbing a high tree for them. Poor little birds! they have no feathers. Keep them warm. You must feed them with a quill. You must give them bread and milk. They are young goldfinches. They will be very pretty when they have got their red head and yellow wings.

We will drink tea out of doors. Bring the tea-things. It is very pleasant. But here is no table. What must we do? Oh, here is a large round stump of a tree! it will do very well for a table. But we have no chairs. Here is a seat of turf, and a bank almost covered with violets: we shall sit here, and Harry may lie on the soft grass carpet.

JUNE.

What noise is that? It is the mower in the field whetting his scythe. He is going to cut down the grass. And will he cut down all the flowers too? Yes, everything. Now we must make hay. Where is your fork and rake? Spread the hay. Now make it up into cocks. Now tumble on the haycock. There, cover Harry up with hay. How sweet the hay smells! Oh, it is very hot. No matter; you should make hay while the sun shines. You must work well. See! all the lads and lasses are at work. They must have some beer, and bread and cheese. Now put the hay in the cart. Will you ride in the cart? Huzza!

It is a pleasant evening. Come here, Harry: look at the sun. The sun is in the west. Yes, little boys say he is going to bed. How pretty the sun looks! We can look at him now; he is not so bright as he was at dinner-time, when he was up high in the sky. And how beautiful the clouds are! There are crimson clouds, and purple and gold-coloured clouds. Now we can see only half of the sun. Now he is gone.

JULY.

It is very hot, indeed, now, and the grass and flowers are all burnt, for it has not rained a great while. You must water your garden, else the plants will die. Where is the watering-pot? Let us go under the trees. It is shady there: it is not so hot. Come into the arbour. There is a bee upon the honey-suckle. He is getting honey. He will carry it to the hive.

Will you go and bathe in the water? Here is the river. It is not deep. Pull off your clothes. Jump in. Do not be afraid. Pop your head in. Now try to swim. Do you see that little frog? You should swim just as the little frog swims.

Now you have been in the water long enough. Come out, and let me dry you with this towel.

AUGUST.

Let us go into the corn-fields to see if the corn is almost ripe. Yes, it is quite brown; it is ripe. Farmer Diggory! you must bring a sharp sickle and cut down the corn; it is ripe. Now it must be tied up in sheaves. Now put a great many sheaves together, and make a shock.

There is a poor old woman picking up some ears of corn; and a poor little girl with her. They are gleaning. Give them your handful, Harry. Take it, poor woman, it will help to make you a loaf.

Look, there are black clouds. How fast they move along! Now they have hid the sun. There is a little bit of blue sky still. Now it is all covered with black clouds. It is very dark, like night. It will rain soon. Now it begins. What large drops! The ducks are very glad, but the little birds are not glad; they go and shelter themselves under the trees. Now the rain is over. It was only a shower. Now the flowers smell sweet, and the sun shines, and the little birds sing again, and it is not so hot as it was before it rained.

SEPTEMBER.

Hark! somebody is letting off a gun! They are shooting the poor birds. Here is a bird dropped down just at your feet. It is all bloody. Poor thing! how it flutters! Its wing is broken. It cannot fly any further. It is going to die. What bird is it? It is a partridge. Are you not sorry, Harry? It was alive a little while ago.

Bring the ladder, and set it against the tree. Now bring a basket. We must gather apples. No, you cannot go up the ladder; you must have a little basket, and pick up apples under the tree. Shake the tree. Down they come. How many have you got? We will have an apple-dumpling. Come, you must help to carry the apples into the apple-chamber. Apples make cyder. You shall have some baked pears and bread for supper, and some cyder. Are these apples? No, they are quinces; they will make marmalade. Do not be in such haste, little boy; you shall have some cyder directly. You must not drink much.

The leaves are falling off the trees now, and the flowers are all gone. No, here is an African marigold, and a China-aster, and a Michaelmas daisy. And here are a few roses left.

Will you have any nuts? Fetch the nut-crackers. Peel this walnut. I will make you a little boat of the walnut-shell, and you can swim it in a pan. We must get the grapes, or else the birds will eat them all. Here is a bunch of black grapes. Here is a bunch of white ones. Which will you have? Grapes make wine.

What bird have you got there? It is dead, but it is very pretty. It has a scarlet eye, and red, and green, and purple feathers. It is very large. It is a pheasant. He is very good to eat. We will pull off his feathers, and tell Betty Cook to roast him. Here is a hare too. Poor puss! the hounds did catch her.

NOVEMBER.

How dark and dismal it is! No more flowers! no more pleasant sunshine! no more haymaking! The sky is very black: the rain pours down. Well, never mind it; we will sit by the fire, and read, and tell stories, and look at pictures. I wonder what poor little boys do that have no fire to go to, and no shoes and stockings to keep them warm, and no victuals to eat? Here is a halfpenny, Harry, and when you see one of those poor boys you shall give it to him. He will say, "Thank you, you are very good!" and then he will buy a roll.

Where are Billy, and Harry, and Betsy? Now tell me who can spell best. Good boy! Now you shall all have some cake. That is right, Jane, shut the cupboard door.

DECEMBER.

Christmas is coming, and Betty is very busy. What is she doing? She is paring apples, and chopping meat, and beating spice. What for, I wonder? It is to make mince-pies. Do you love mince-pies? Oh, they are very good!

Look! a pretty little robin is flying against the window. Open the window. Well, what do you want, little robin? Only a few crumbs of bread. Give him some crumbs, and he will hop, hop about the parlour, and sit upon the top of the screen, and sing--oh, he will sing all day long! Now pray do not let that wicked cat take him. No, puss! you must go and catch mice; you shall not eat poor robin.

Little boys come from school at Christmas. Pray wrap them up warm, for it is very cold. Well, spring will come again some time.

THE IDLE BOY.

There was a little boy; he was not a big boy, for if he had been a big boy I suppose he would have been wiser; but this was a little boy, not higher than the table, and his papa and mamma sent him to school. It was a very pleasant morning; the sun shone, and the birds sung on the trees. Now this little boy did not much love his book, for he was but a silly little boy, as I told you; and he had a great mind to play instead of going to school. And he saw a [Illustration]

bee flying about, first upon one flower, and then upon another; so he said, "Pretty bee! will you come and play with me?" But the bee said, "No, I must not be idle; I must go and gather honey." Then the little boy met a dog, and he said, "Dog! will you play with me?" But the dog said, "No, I must not be idle; I am going to catch a hare for my master's dinner: I must make haste and catch it." Then the little boy went by a hay-rick, and he saw a bird pulling some hay out of the hay-rick, and he said, "Bird! will you come and play with me?" But the bird said, "No, I must not be idle; I must get some hay to build my nest with, and some moss, and some wool." So the bird flew away. Then the little boy saw a horse, and he said, "Horse! will you play with me?" But the horse said, "No, I must not be idle; I must go and plough, or else there will be no corn to make bread of." Then the little boy thought with himself, "What! is nobody idle? then little boys must not be idle neither." So he made haste, and went to school, and learned his lesson very well, and the master said he was a good boy.

GATHERING APPLES.

See, here is Mamma, and here are Maria, and Harry, and Herbert. They are in the orchard gathering apples to put into puddings. See, Mamma is shaking the tree, and Maria is catching the apples in her frock. And look, how busy Harry and Herbert are! I hope they will not eat too many apples.

HARRY'S LADDER TO LEARNING.