Story Hour Readings: Seventh Year Part 1

Story Hour Readings: Seventh Year.

by E.C. Hartwell.

PREFACE

This reader undertakes to provide desirable material for work in silent reading without losing sight of the other elements essential in a good reader for pupils in the seventh grade or in the first year of the junior high school.

One task before the teacher of Reading in this year is to foster, by stimulating material, a taste for good reading which it is to be hoped has at least been partially formed in the preceding grades. The selections in this volume are made with the purpose of giving the seventh-grade pupils such virile and enjoyable literature as will make them desire more of the same kind. The character and fitness of the material, not the date of its production, have governed the choice of the editor.

ARRANGEMENT BY GROUPS. There is an obvious advantage in grouping kindred reading materials in sections under such captions as "Adventure," "From Great Books," "Our Country," etc. Besides affording some elements of continuity, the plan offers opportunity for comparison and contrast of the treatment of similar themes. It also insures a ma.s.sing of the effect of the idea for which the section stands. Secondarily, the section divisions break up the solid text, and because of this the pupils feel at frequent intervals that they have completed something definite.

The groupings make no pretense to being mutually exclusive. On occasion a selection may well be transferred to another section. For example, the Washington and Lincoln stories should be used in the proper season in the "Our Country" section although it is obvious that they belong in "Special Days." Teachers should have no hesitation in breaking across from one section to another when the occasion or the children's interest seems to warrant.

MECHANICAL FEATURES. Editor and publisher have spared no pains or expense to make this book attractive to children. The volume is not c.u.mbersome or unwieldy in size. The length of line is that of the normal book with which they regularly will come into contact. The type is clean-cut and legible. Finally, enough white s.p.a.ce has been left in the pages to give the book an "open," attractive appearance. No single item has so much to do with children's future att.i.tude toward books as the appearance of their school Readers.

SOCIALIZED WORK. Opportunity for dramatization, committee work, and other team activity is presented repeatedly throughout this volume.

Wherever the teacher can profitably get the pupils to work in groups she should take advantage of the cooperative spirit and do so.

CITIZENSHIP. This means more than the pa.s.sing phase of so-called Americanization. It means a genuine love of country, a reverence for our pioneer fathers, a respect for law, order, and truth. This Reader is rich in patriotic content. It is hoped that the ethical element in the selections will be found to be forceful as well as pleasing. The book emphasizes throughout the importance of the individual and social virtues. If it can help teachers to make clean, upright, and loyal citizens of our great Republic it will not have been made in vain.

Mastery of the printed page is not the sole end and aim of Reading. It is hoped that the devices employed in this Reader, as well as the direction and suggestions in study materials contained in the volume, may a.s.sist in developing a genuine love of good books.

MANUAL. Valuable a.s.sistance in dealing with the material in this book is supplied by the _Teachers' Manual, Story Hour Readings, Seventh and Eighth Years_. This Manual consists of three parts:

I. An introductory article on the Teaching of Reading, which discusses Silent Reading (with detailed directions for speed tests), Oral Reading, Dramatization, Appreciative Reading, Memorizing, Word Study and Use of the Dictionary, Reading Outside of School, Use of Ill.u.s.trative Material, and Correlation.

II. Detailed lesson plans for each selection in _Story Hour Readings Seventh Year_.

III. Detailed lesson plans for each selection in _Story Hour Readings Eighth Year_.

_A SHEAF OF LEGENDS_

_To every important race of people there has come down through the ages a fine heritage of story and song. Usually these tales are largely fiction and partially fact. They may be songs about heroes; stories to account for the existence of things; moral tales; or tales of pure imagination. Whatever they are, they preserve for us from the past the thoughts or the deeds of our early ancestors; and as tales they excite our interest because of their simplicity and straightforwardness._

[Ill.u.s.tration: ALI HAFED'S QUEST

(_See following page_)]

ALI HAFED'S QUEST

BY ORISON SWETT MARDEN

Long, long ago, in the shadowy past, Ali Hafed dwelt on the sh.o.r.es of the River Indus, in the ancient land of the Hindus. His beautiful cottage, set in the midst of fruit and flower gardens, looked from the mountain side on which it stood over the broad expanse of the n.o.ble river. 5

Rich meadows, waving fields of grain, and the herds and flocks contentedly grazing on the pasture lands testified to the thrift and prosperity of Ali Hafed. The love of a beautiful wife and a large family of light-hearted boys and girls made his home an earthly paradise. Healthy, 10 wealthy, contented, rich in love and friendship, his cup of happiness seemed full to overflowing.

Happy and contented was the good Ali Hafed, when one evening a learned priest of Buddha, journeying along the banks of the Indus, stopped for rest and refreshment 15 at his home, where all wayfarers were hospitably welcomed and treated as honored guests.

After the evening meal, the farmer and his family with the priest in their midst gathered around the fireside, the chilly mountain air of the late autumn making a fire desirable. 20 The disciple of Buddha entertained his kind hosts with various legends and myths, and last of all with the story of the creation.

He told his wondering listeners how in the beginning the solid earth on which they lived was not solid at all, 25 but a mere bank of fog. "The Great Spirit," said he, "thrust his finger into the bank of fog and began slowly describing a circle in its midst, increasing the speed gradually until the fog went whirling round his finger so rapidly that it was transformed into a glowing ball of fire. Then the Creative Spirit hurled the fiery ball from his hand, and 5 it shot through the universe, burning its way through other banks of fog and condensing them into rain, which fell in great floods, cooling the surface of the immense ball.

"Flames then bursting from the interior through the cooled outer crust, threw up the hills and mountain ranges 10 and made the beautiful fertile valleys. In the flood of rain that followed this fiery upheaval, the substance that cooled very quickly formed granite, that which cooled less rapidly became copper, the next in degree cooled down into silver, and the last became gold. But the most beautiful 15 substance of all, the diamond, was formed by the first beams of sunlight condensed on the earth's surface.

"A drop of sunlight the size of my thumb," said the priest, holding up his hand, "is worth more than mines of gold. With one such drop," he continued, turning to Ali 20 Hafed, "you could buy many farms like yours; with a handful you could buy a province; and with a mine of diamonds you could purchase a whole kingdom."

The company parted for the night, and Ali Hafed went to bed, but not to sleep. All night long he tossed restlessly 25 from side to side, thinking, planning, scheming, how he could secure some diamonds. The demon of discontent had entered his soul, and the blessings and advantages which he possessed in such abundance seemed as by some malicious magic to have vanished utterly. Although his 30 wife and children loved him as before--although his farm, his orchards, his flocks and herds, were as real and prosperous as they had ever been--yet the last words of the priest, which kept ringing in his ears, turned his content into vague longings and blinded him to all that had hitherto made him happy.

Before dawn next morning the farmer, full of his purpose, 5 was astir. Rousing the priest, he eagerly inquired if he could direct him to a mine of diamonds.

"A mine of diamonds!" echoed the astonished priest.

"What do you, who already have so much to be grateful for, want with diamonds?" 10

"I wish to be rich and place my children on thrones."

"All you have to do, then," said the Buddhist, "is to go and search until you find them."

"But where shall I go?" questioned the infatuated man.

"Go anywhere," was the vague reply; "north, south, 15 east, or west--anywhere."

"But how shall I know the place?" asked the farmer.

"When you find a river running over white sands between high mountain ranges, in these white sands you will find diamonds. There are many such rivers and many mines 20 of diamonds waiting to be discovered. All you have to do is start out and go somewhere--" and he waved his hand--"away, away!"

Ali Hafed's mind was fully made up. "I will no longer,"

he thought, "remain on a wretched farm, toiling day in and 25 day out for a mere subsistence, when acres of diamonds--untold wealth--may be had by him who is bold enough to seek them."

He sold his farm for less than half its value. Then, after putting his young family under the care of a neighbor, 30 he set out on his quest--a quest that was to cover many years and lands.

With high hopes and the coveted diamond mines beckoning in the far distance, Ali Hafed began his wanderings.

During the first few weeks his spirits did not flag, nor did his feet grow weary. On and on he tramped, until he came to the Mountains of the Moon, beyond the bounds 5 of Arabia. Weeks stretched into months, and the wanderer often looked regretfully in the direction of his once-happy home. Still no gleam of waters glinting over white sands greeted his eyes. But on he went, into Egypt, through Palestine and other eastern lands, always looking 10 for the treasure he still hoped to find.

At last, after years of fruitless search, during which he had wandered north and south, east and west, hope left him. All his money was spent. He was starving and almost naked, and the diamonds--which had lured him 15 away from all that made life dear--where were they?

Poor Ali Hafed never knew. He died by the wayside, never dreaming that the wealth for which he had sacrificed happiness and life might have been his had he remained at home. 20

"Here is a diamond! here is a diamond! Has Ali Hafed returned?" shouted an excited voice.