Beginners' Book in Language Part 21

So she took hold of the thick stem at the center of the plant and pulled. It would not come up. She tried harder and loosened it a little. Then she grasped it firmly near the ground with both hands, and pulled and pulled with all her might. Suddenly, up came the shrub, roots and all, so suddenly that Proserpina nearly fell. A deep hole had been left in the soil where the plant had grown. As Proserpina looked at this hole, it grew wider and wider and deeper and deeper. In a few moments it had grown so deep that the bottom seemed to be entirely gone.

Suddenly a tall man arose from the black depths. He wore a helmet and carried a shield. As soon as he saw the frightened maiden, he made a sign to her to come nearer.

"Do not be afraid," he said. "I shall do you no harm. I have come to take you to my palace. You may live there as long as you please."

Proserpina was so frightened that she wanted to run away. But she was not able to move.

"No, no," she cried. "I don't want to go to your palace. I want to go to my mother."

The stranger leaped swiftly to where she stood. He caught her in his arms. In a moment he had jumped with her into the deep and almost bottomless opening. There, far down, stood a golden chariot, drawn by six coal-black horses. Into this chariot the stranger stepped, carrying the frightened girl. He laid her gently on the floor of the car and took the reins in his hands. They were off at once at a furious pace. In a minute they had left the meadows and the brook far behind them. Then the opening slowly closed. Nowhere was there left the least mark or sign to tell what had happened.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

=Oral Exercise.= 1. What did you like best in this story? Do you like the ending? How do you wish it had ended?

2. With a cla.s.smate play the first part of the story. This is the part that tells about Ceres and Proserpina before Proserpina goes to the meadow. What does Proserpina say? What does Ceres say?

3. Now with another pupil play the part of the story that tells what happened after Proserpina crossed the brook. First, she sees the beautiful shrub. What does she say when she sees that? Next, she tries to pull it up. How she tugs and tugs at it! This must be shown in the playing. What does she say as she pulls away at it? How does she look and what does she say when she sees the deep hole that grows wider and deeper every moment? Last, the stranger is seen. He and Proserpina talk together before he carries her away. Does Proserpina scream as the stranger picks her up? Scream as if you were being carried away.

4. Now that spring is here, shall you be going into the fields and woods to gather flowers? Tell the cla.s.s the best places you know, how to reach them, and what flowers may now be found there. Do you know any place where some rare wild flower grows every year? What is the most beautiful wild flower you have ever found or seen?

5. Did you ever see a brook? If you did, tell your cla.s.smates how a brook looks. How is it different from a river or a lake? Can you tell the cla.s.s where to go to see a brook?

=55. Telling Interesting Things[63]=

THE RETURN OF SPRING

Have you noticed any signs that spring is coming? The bluebirds are usually among the first to tell us that winter is over. Soon after, the robins tell the same glad story. Then the song sparrow puts the good news into a beautiful song. At about this time boys and girls begin to talk of going into the woods for flowers.

But the air still seems a little too cold. The ground is still too wet. The tramps into the country are put off a while. In the meantime a pretty flower, an early dandelion perhaps, shows itself here and there along the roadside or on a green lawn. Then, suddenly, one fine warm day, a boy brings to school a handful of yellow marsh marigolds. He found them in the low meadows. Now every boy and girl starts out, and spring flowers are seen in every schoolroom and in every home.

Gradually the pleasant weather grows still warmer. One boy sees a snake. Another finds a turtle. These have been enjoying their long winter sleep deep down, a yard or more, in the ground. Now they are glad to lie in the pleasant sunshine, as if they needed to thaw out. In the ponds the frogs sing day and night. More and more flowers start up, more and more birds arrive and begin to build their nests. Boys play marbles and make willow whistles. Farmers start their early plowing. A veil of delicate green shows clearly on the forest trees. Spring has come.

=Written Exercise.= Make a list of all the birds you know. Make a list of all the flowers you know. Make a third list of all the flowers, birds, and animals other than birds, that you have seen this spring.

=Correction Exercise.= The teacher will now write three lists on the board. The first will give the names of all the birds the cla.s.s knows.

The second will name all the flowers the cla.s.s knows, and the third all the flowers and all the birds and other animals that have been seen this spring. Compare your own lists with those on the board, and correct any mistakes in spelling that you may have made.

=Group Exercise.= Think of one of the birds or flowers or animals in your three lists. Tell your cla.s.smates an interesting fact about it.

Tell it in two or three sentences. Thus, you might choose the bluebird from your list and say:

A pair of bluebirds is building a nest in a bird-box my father put up. They lived in the same box last year.

Your cla.s.smates will tell about some bird or flower or animal in their lists. The teacher will write some or all these groups of sentences on the board,[64] or ask some of the pupils to write their own on the board. Then the cla.s.s will try to improve each of these short accounts.

Thus, what was said about the bluebird might be changed to read as follows:

A bluebird family has rented the birdhouse that my father built in our back yard. They seem to like it, for they lived there last year. Perhaps they will buy it some day and decide to live there always.

Or:

Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird have started housekeeping in a little flat near my home. I saw them getting the straw mattress ready. They are old neighbors, for they lived here last summer.

=56. Story-Telling=

CERES AND APOLLO[62]

Ceres, the good queen of fruit trees, grains, vegetables, and all growing plants, returned to her work after watching Proserpina run gaily to the meadow to pick flowers. She was very busy. Now and then during the afternoon she went to the window. She wanted to make sure that her daughter was in sight and safe. She saw the girl sit down in the long gra.s.s.

"The child is getting a little tired, I suppose," she said. "She will be coming home before long."

But an hour pa.s.sed, and Proserpina had not yet returned.

"She has probably fallen asleep in the soft gra.s.s," said her mother. "When she awakes, she will run home as fast as her legs will carry her."

But when another hour had slipped by, and Proserpina was still not in sight, Ceres became greatly worried.

"I wonder what has happened," she cried, as she hurried outdoors.

She ran into the meadow. She called. Here and there she found a withered flower that the girl had dropped. At length Ceres reached the place where Proserpina had sat in the gra.s.s and where, as Ceres supposed, she had fallen asleep. There was nothing here but an unfinished wreath beside a pile of flowers. Ceres hastened to the brook. Yes, there in the soft ground on the edge of the water Proserpina's footprint was plainly to be seen. A little farther on, Ceres came upon the shrub that Proserpina had pulled out of the soil. But no other trace of the girl could she discover anywhere.

A farmer chanced to be pa.s.sing. He was on his way home from the fields where he had been at work all day.

Ceres called to him. "Have you seen a little girl around here to-day?"

The farmer thought a moment. Then he shook his head.

A little later Ceres met an old woman in a meadow. The old woman was gathering herbs. She had seen no girl.

It was not only human beings whom Ceres asked about her daughter.

She asked the animals too. A robin on a tree top was merrily singing his evening song. Ceres asked him. A pair of squirrels were chattering noisily in a pine tree. Ceres stopped a minute to question them. But no one had seen the lost maiden.

At last night fell. Ceres left the fields and entered the open road. At the door of every house she knocked. Wondering and pitying faces looked at her curiously as she told her story. Some asked her to come in and rest a while. But Ceres had no thought of rest. All night long she kept up her search, and when morning came she was far from home. She looked about her in the early light. She found that she had wandered to that far eastern place where the sun rises and begins the day.

In a few minutes, indeed, Apollo, the sun-G.o.d, appeared. He was all ready to drive his sun-chariot across the sky. In this way he gives light and warmth to the people of the earth. His six white horses wore golden harness, which jingled pleasantly as they pranced about. They were anxious to be off. Apollo held them in check with a firm hand, when he saw Ceres approaching.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

"What brings you here before sunrise, Mother Ceres?" he called to her gaily, for he had known her a long time. Then he saw that her eyes were red with weeping, and he leaped from his chariot to take her hand.

"What has happened?" he asked in a gentle tone.