Harry's Ladder to Learning Part 10

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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APRIL.

Now the birds sing, and the trees are in blossom, and flowers are coming out, and b.u.t.terflies, 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.

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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 gra.s.s carpet.

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