McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader Part 1

McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader.

by William Holmes McGuffey.

I. PERSEVERANCE. (25)

1. "Will you give my kite a lift?" said my little nephew to his sister, after trying in vain to make it fly by dragging it along the ground. Lucy very kindly took it up and threw it into the air, but, her brother neglecting to run off at the same moment, the kite fell down again.

2. "Ah! now, how awkward you are!" said the little fellow. "It was your fault entirely," answered his sister. "Try again, children," said I.

3. Lucy once more took up the kite. But now John was in too great a hurry; he ran off so suddenly that he twitched the kite out of her hand, and it fell flat as before. "Well, who is to blame now?" asked Lucy. "Try again,"

said I.

4. They did, and with more care; but a side wind coming suddenly, as Lucy let go the kite, it was blown against some shrubs, and the tail became entangled in a moment, leaving the poor kite hanging with its head downward.

5. "There, there!" exclaimed John, "that comes of your throwing it all to one side." "As if I could make the wind blow straight," said Lucy. In the meantime, I went to the kite's a.s.sistance; and having disengaged the long tail, I rolled it up, saying, "Come, children, there are too many trees here; let us find a more open s.p.a.ce, and then try again."

6. We presently found a nice gra.s.splot, at one side of which I took my stand; and all things being prepared, I tossed the kite up just as little John ran off. It rose with all the dignity of a balloon, and promised a lofty flight; but John, delighted to find it pulling so hard at the string, stopped short to look upward and admire. The string slackened, the kite wavered, and, the wind not being very favorable, down came the kite to the gra.s.s. "O John, you should not have stopped," said I. "However, try again."

7. "I won't try any more," replied he, rather sullenly. "It is of no use, you see. The kite won't fly, and I don't want to be plagued with it any longer." "Oh, fie, my little man! would you give up the sport, after all the pains we have taken both to make and to fly the kite? A few disappointments ought not to discourage us. Come, I have wound up your string, and now try again."

8. And he did try, and succeeded, for the kite was carried upward on the breeze as lightly as a feather; and when the string was all out, John stood in great delight, holding fast the stick and gazing on the kite, which now seemed like a little white speck in the blue sky. "Look, look, aunt, how high it flies! and it pulls like a team of horses, so that I can hardly hold it. I wish I had a mile of string: I am sure it would go to the end of it."

9. After enjoying the sight as long as he pleased, little John proceeded to roll up the string slowly; and when the kite fell, he took it up with great glee, saying that it was not at all hurt, and that it had behaved very well. "Shall we come out to-morrow, aunt, after lessons, and try again?"

10. "I have no objection, my dear, if the weather is fine. And now, as we walk home, tell me what you have learned from your morning's sport." "I have learned to fly my kite properly." "You may thank aunt for it, brother," said Lucy, "for you would have given it up long ago, if she had not persuaded you to try again."

11. "Yes, dear children, I wish to teach you the value of perseverance, even when nothing more depends upon it than the flying of a kite. Whenever you fail in your attempts to do any good thing, let your motto be,--try again."

DEFINITIONS.--In defining words, that meaning is given which is appropriate to them in the connection in which they are used.

4. En-tan'gled, twisted in, disordered. 5. As-sist'-ance, help, aid.

Dis-en-gaged, cleared, set free. 6. Gra.s.s'plot, a s.p.a.ce covered with gra.s.s. Dig'ni-ty, majestic manner. 7. Dis-ap-point/ments, failures or defeats of expectation. Dis-cour'age, take away courage. 9. Glee, joy 11.

Per-se-ver'ance, continuance in anything once begun. Mot'to, a short sentence or a word full of meaning.

EXERCISES--What is the subject of this lesson? Why was John discouraged in his attempts to fly his kite? What did his, aunt say to him? What may we learn from this? What should be our motto if we expect to be successful?

II. TRY, TRY AGAIN. (28)

1. 'T is a lesson you should heed, Try, try again; If at first you don't succeed, Try, try again; Then your courage should appear, For, if you will persevere, You will conquer, never fear; Try, try again.

2. Once or twice though you should fail, Try, try again; If you would at last prevail, Try, try again; If we strive, 'tis no disgrace Though we do not win the race; What should you do in the case?

Try, try again.

3. If you find your task is hard, Try, try again; Time will bring you your reward, Try, try again.

All that other folks can do, Why, with patience, should not you?

Only keep this rule in view: Try, try again.

DEFINITIONS.--l. Cour'age, resolution. Con'quer, gain the vic-tory. 2.

Pre-vail, overcome. Dis-grace', shame. Win, gain, ob-tain. 3. Re-ward', anything given in return for good or bad con-duct. Pa'-tience, constany in labor.

EXERCISES.--What does the mark before "'T is" mean?

What is it called? What point is used after the word "case" in the second stanza? Why?

III. WHY THE SEA IS SALT. (29) A FAIRY TALE.

Mary Howitt was born in 1804, at Coleford, England. She wrote many charming stories for children in prose and verse, and also translated many from Swedish, Danish, and German authors. This story is arranged from one in a collection named "Peter Drake's Dream, and Other Stories." She died in 1888.

1. There were, in very ancient times, two brothers, one of whom was rich, and the other poor. Christmas was approaching, but the poor man had nothing in the house for a Christmas dinner; so he went to his brother and asked him for a trifling gift.

2. The rich man was ill-natured, and when he heard his brother's request he looked very surly. But as Christmas is a time when even the worst people give gifts, he took a fine ham down from the chimney, where it was hanging to smoke, threw it at his brother, and bade him begone and never to let him see his face again.

3. The poor man thanked his brother for the ham, put it under his arm, and went his way. He had to pa.s.s through a great forest on his way home. When he had reached the thickest part of it, he saw an old man, with a long, white beard, hewing timber. "Good evening," said he to him.

4. "Good evening," returned the old man, raising himself up from his work, and looking at him. "That is a fine ham you are carrying." On this, the poor man told him all about it.

5. "It is lucky for you," said the old man, "that you have met with me. If you will take that ham into the land of the dwarfs, the entrance to which lies just under the roots of this tree, you can make a capital bargain with it; for the dwarfs are very fond of ham, and rarely get any. But mind what I say: you must not sell it for money, but demand for it the 'old hand mill which stands behind the door.' When you come back, I'll show you how to use it."

6. The poor man thanked his new friend, who showed him the door under a stone below the roots of the tree, and by this door he entered into the land of the dwarfs. No sooner had he set his foot in it, than the dwarfs swarmed about him, attracted by the smell of the ham. They offered him queer, old-fashioned money and gold and silver ore for it; but he refused all their tempting offers, and said that he would sell it only for the old hand mill behind the door.

7. At this, the dwarfs held up their little old hands, and looked quite perplexed. "We can not make a bargain, it seems," said the poor man, "so I'll bid you all a good day."

8. The fragrance of the ham had by this time reached the remote parts of dwarf land. The dwarfs came flocking around in little troops, leaving their work of digging out precious ores, eager for the ham.

9. "Let him have the old mill," said some of the newcomers; "it is quite out of order, and he don't know how to use it. Let him have it, and we will have the ham."

10. So the bargain was made. The poor man took the old hand mill, which was a little thing not half so large as the ham, and went back to the woods. Here the old man showed him how to use it. All this had taken up a great deal of time, and it was midnight before he reached home.

11. "Where in the world have you been?" said his wife. "Here I have been waiting and waiting, and we have no wood to make a fire, nor anything to put into the porridge pot for our Christmas supper."

12. The house was dark and cold; but the poor man bade his wife wait and see what would happen. He placed the little hand mill on the table, and began to turn the crank. First, out there came some grand, lighted wax candles, and a fire on the hearth, and a porridge pot boiling over it, because in his mind he said they should come first. Then he ground out a tablecloth, and dishes, and spoons, and knives and forks.

13. He was himself astonished at his good luck, as you may believe; and his wife was almost beside herself with joy and astonishment. Well, they had a capital supper; and after it was eaten, they ground out of the mill every possible thing to make their house and themselves warm and comfortable. So they had a merry Christmas eve and morning.

DEFINITIONS.--l. Tri'-fling, of small value. 5. Hand 'mill, a mill turned by hand. 6. At-tract'ed, drawn to, allured. 7. Perplexed', puzzled. 8.

Fra'grance, sweetness of smell.

IV. WHY THE SEA IS SALT. (32) (Concluded.)