Parker's Second Reader Part 4

15. The noise which _hippoi_ make is a very strange noise, and when they make it they are said to neigh (_p.r.o.nounced na_).

16. The hoofs of cows and goats and sheep and deer are cloven; that is, they are split into two parts; but the hoofs of _hippoi_ are not split or cloven, and for that reason they are called whole-hoofed animals.

17. My father has in his barn four _hippoi_. One of them is red, and has a short tail; another is white, with a few dark hairs in his mane, or long hair on the top of his neck; the third is gray, with dark spots on his body; and the fourth is perfectly black, and has a very long tail, which reaches almost to the ground.

18. Now, from these sentences, I think you will see that _hippoi_ does not mean cows, or goats, or sheep, or deer; and I do not think it necessary to tell you anything more about it, except that it is a word that was spoken by the Corinthians and the Colossians and the Ephesians, the people to whom St. Paul addressed those epistles or letters in the Bible called by their names.

19. When you have read this lesson, your teacher will probably ask you what the word _hippoi_ means; and I hope you will be able to tell him that _hippoi_ means----[here put in the English word for _hippoi_.]

LESSON XI.

_Definitions._

1. In the last lesson, I gave you a word which you had not seen before, to find out the meaning of it, without looking in a dictionary.

2. I told you, in a former lesson, how the little Spanish girl found out the meaning of words which she did not know; and afterwards informed you how the infant child was taught to speak.

3. Now, I doubt not that you can speak a great many words, and know what they mean when you use them; but I do not think that you ever thought much about the way in which you learned them.

4. Perhaps you will be surprised to hear that everybody learns to talk and to use words in the same way that the little Spanish girl and the little infant learned them; that is, by hearing others use them in different ways, just as the word _hippoi_ was used in the last lesson.

5. n.o.body ever told you, probably, the meaning of a great many words that you know; and yet you know them full as well, and perhaps better, than if any one had told you about them.

6. Perhaps you have a brother whose name is John, or George, or James, or a sister whose name is Mary, or Jane, or Ann, or Lucy. You have always heard them called by these names, ever since you, or they, were quite young; and have noticed that when John was called, that the one whose name is John would answer; and as each one answered when spoken to, you learnt which was John, and which was Mary, and which was Lucy.

7. So also, when a certain animal, having two large horns and a long tail, and which is milked every night and morning, pa.s.sed by, you heard some one say _cow_; and in this way you learned what the word _cow_ means.

8. So also, when water falls from the sky in drops, little children hear people say it rains; and thus they find out what _rain_, means.

9. Now, when anybody asks you what any word means, although you know it very well, yet it is a very hard thing to tell what it means,--that is, to give a definition of it,--as you will see by the little story I am about to tell you.

10. A teacher, who was very anxious to make his scholars understand their lessons, once told them he had a very hard question he wished to ask them, and that he would let the one who answered the question best take the head of the cla.s.s.

11. This teacher never allowed any of his pupils to speak to him without first raising his right hand above his head, to signify that the child had something to say; and when any child raised his hand in this way, if he was not busy, he called upon the child to say what he wished.

12. In this way he prevented the children from troubling him when he was busy; and in this way he also prevented them from interrupting each other, as would be the case if several of them should speak at once.

13. On the day of which I am about to speak, he said to them, Now, children, I have a very hard question to ask you, that does not require you to study, but only to think about it, in order to answer it well; and the one who gives me the best answer shall go to the head of the cla.s.s. The question is this: _What is a bird?_

14. Before they heard the question, they looked very sober, and thought their master intended to puzzle them, or to give them a long sentence to commit to memory. But as soon as they heard the question, they began to smile among themselves, and wonder how their teacher should call that a hard question.

15. A dozen hands were immediately raised, to signify that so many of the children were ready to answer it.

16. Well, John, said the teacher, your hand is up; can you tell me _what a bird is_?

17. John immediately rose, and standing on the right-hand side of his seat, said, A bird is a thing that has two legs.

18. Well, said the teacher, suppose some one should saw off two of the legs of my chair; it would then be a thing that has two legs; but it would not be a bird, would it? You see, then, that your answer is not correct.

19. I will not mention the names of the other children who raised their hands; but I will tell you what the answers were which some of them made to the questions, and what the teacher said about each of their answers.

20. One of the children said that a bird is an _animal_ with two legs.

But, said the teacher, all little boys and girls, and all men and women, are animals with two legs; but they are not birds.

21. Another child said that a bird is an animal that has wings. But the teacher said there are some fishes that have wings, and that fishes are not birds.

22. A bright little girl then modestly rose and said, A bird is an animal that has legs and wings, and that flies. The teacher smiled upon her very kindly, and told her that it is true that a bird has legs and wings, and that it flies; but, said he, there is another animal, also, that has legs and wings, and that flies very fast in the air. It is called a _bat_. It flies only in the night; but it has no feathers, and therefore is not a bird.

23. Upon hearing this, another bright-eyed child very timidly rose and said, A bird is an animal that has legs, wings and feathers. Very well, said the teacher; but can you not think of anything else that a bird has, which other creatures have not?

24. The children looked at one another, wondering what their teacher could mean; and no one could think what to say, until the teacher said to them, Think a moment, and try to tell me how a bird's mouth looks.

Look first at my mouth. You see I have two lips, and these two lips form my mouth. Now, tell me whether a bird has two lips; and if he has not, what he has instead of lips.

25. One of the children immediately arose and said, that a bird has no lips, but he has a bill; and that bill opens as the lips of a man do, and forms the mouth of the bird.

26. Yes, said the teacher; and now listen to me while I tell you the things you should always mention, when you are asked what a bird is,--

First, A bird is an animal.

Secondly, It has two legs.

Thirdly, It has two wings.

Fourthly, It has feathers.

Fifthly, It has a hard, glossy bill.

27. And now, said the teacher, you see that I was right when I told you that I had a hard question to ask you, when I asked What is a bird?

28. Now, if you will join all of these things which belong to a bird in the description which you give in answer to my question, What is a bird, you will then give a correct definition of a bird,--that is, you will tell exactly what a bird is, and no more, and no less.

29. A bird is an animal covered with feathers, having two legs, two wings, and a hard, glossy bill.

30. When you are asked what anything is, recollect what I have told you about a bird, and try to recall everything that you ever knew about the thing, and in this way you will be able to give a satisfactory answer.

31. This will also teach you to think, and that is one of the most important objects for which you go to school. It will enable you also to understand what you read; and you can always read those things best which you understand well.

LESSON XII.

_Reading and Spelling._

1. Another important thing for which you go to school is to learn how to spell. It is not always very easy to spell, because there are so many different ways in which the same letters are p.r.o.nounced in different words.

2. That you may understand what I mean, I shall give an example, to show you how many different ways the same letters are p.r.o.nounced in different words; and also another example, to show you how many different ways there are of spelling the same syllable.