De La Salle Fifth Reader Part 30

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Hofmann._]

Strange men plied their axes with cruel vigor, and the Tree was hewn to the ground. Its beautiful branches were cut away, and its soft, thick foliage was strewn to the winds. The Trees of the Forest wept.

The cruel men dragged the hewn Tree away, and the Forest saw it no more.

But the Night Wind that swept down from the City of the Great King stayed that night in the Forest awhile to say that it had seen that day a Cross raised on Calvary,--the Tree on which was nailed the Body of the dying Master.

_Eugene Field._

From "A Little Book of Profitable Tales." Published by Charles Scribner's Sons.

[Footnote 004: Copyright, 1889, by Eugene Field.]

_46_

THE HOLY CITY.

Last night I lay a-sleeping; there came a dream so fair;-- I stood in old Jerusalem, beside the Temple there; I heard the children singing, and ever as they sang Methought the voice of Angels From Heaven in answer rang;-- Methought the voice of Angels From Heaven in answer rang.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, lift up your gates and sing Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna to your King!

And then methought my dream was changed;-- The streets no longer rang Hushed were the glad Hosannas the little children sang.

The sun grew dark with mystery, The morn was cold and chill, As the shadow of a cross arose upon a lonely hill;-- As the shadow of a cross arose upon a lonely hill.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, hark! how the Angels sing Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna to your King!

And once again the scene was changed-- New earth there seemed to be; I saw the Holy City beside the tideless sea; The light of G.o.d was on its streets, The gates were open wide, And all who would might enter, And no one was denied.

No need of moon or stars by night, Nor sun to shine by day; It was the New Jerusalem, that would not pa.s.s away,-- It was the New Jerusalem, that would not pa.s.s away.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, sing, for the night is o'er, Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna forevermore!

_47_

trea' son eu' lo gies de bat' ed phi los' o phy in ge nu' i ty ap pro' pri ate con' sum ma ted

THE FEAST OF TONGUES.

Xanthus invited a large company to dinner, and Aesop was ordered to furnish the choicest dainties that money could procure. The first course consisted of tongues, cooked in different ways and served with appropriate sauces. This gave rise to much mirth and many witty remarks by the guests. The second course was also nothing but tongues, and so with the third and fourth. This seemed to go beyond a joke, and Xanthus demanded in an angry manner of Aesop, "Did I not tell you to provide the choicest dainties that money could procure?" "And what excels the tongue?" replied Aesop, "It is the channel of learning and philosophy.

By it addresses and eulogies are made, and commerce carried on, contracts executed, and marriages consummated. Nothing is equal to the tongue." The company applauded Aesop's wit, and good feeling was restored.

"Well," said Xanthus to the guests, "pray do me the favor of dining with me again to-morrow. I have a mind to change the feast; to-morrow," said he, turning to Aesop, "provide us with the worst meat you can find." The next day the guests a.s.sembled as before, and to their astonishment and the anger of Xanthus nothing but tongues was provided. "How, sir," said Xanthus, "should tongues be the best of meat one day and the worst another?" "What," replied Aesop, "can be worse than the tongue? What wickedness is there under the sun that it has not a part in? Treasons, violence, injustice, fraud, are debated and resolved upon, and communicated by the tongue. It is the ruin of empires, cities, and of private friendships." The company were more than ever struck by Aesop's ingenuity, and they interceded for him with his master.

_From "Aesop's Fables."_

XANTHUS, a Greek poet and historian, who lived in the sixth century before Christ.

Write the plurals of the following words, and tell how they are formed in each case:

dainty, sauce, eulogy, feast, city, chief, calf, day, lily, copy, loaf, roof, half, valley, donkey.

What words are made emphatic by contrast in the following sentence: "How should tongues be the best of meat one day and the worst another?"

Memorize what Aesop said in praise of the tongue, and what he said in dispraise of it.

Memory Gem:

"If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man. The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. By it we bless G.o.d and the Father; and by it we curse men who are made after the likeness of G.o.d."

_From "Epistle of St. James."_

_48_

ap' pe t.i.te ha rangued'

sus pend' ed min' strel sy