Story Lessons on Character-Building (Morals) and Manners Part 13

By-and-by the lady and her boy said "Good-bye," and went away, and then Daniel told his mother all that Emil had said. "Do you think he will come to-morrow, mother?" asked Daniel.

"Perhaps not to-morrow, dear," replied she, "but some day soon maybe."

So Daniel sat at the door each day, and waited for the carriage, but it never came, and when he grew too ill to sit up he would still lie and listen for the sound of the wheels, and say: "I think it will come to-day, mother," but it never did. And do you know why? Emil had forgotten to ask his father, and so Daniel waited in vain for the drive.

You see how much pain and disappointment can be caused by forgetting, and when you promise to do a thing and forget to =keep= the promise it is just like telling an untruth. You do not =intend= to speak what is not the truth, but you do it all the same. Remember, then, that it is =not= a little fault to forget, and that those who do it are not building on the firm foundation of truth.

(Blackboard.)

When we Promise and Forget, we are not True.

_To the Parent or Teacher._--However culpable it may be to break promises to adults (and it is in reality nothing less than untruth), it is infinitely worse to break faith with children. An unredeemed promise is a sure way of shaking a child's confidence in truth and goodness. Let us keep our word with the little ones at whatever cost.

67. The Boy who Remembered.

Little Elsie had a big brother called Jack, of whom she was very fond, and he was fond of Elsie also. Jack was about fifteen years old, and he was learning to be a sailor. When his ship came into port he used to come home for a few days, and then he would tell Elsie all about the places he had seen. One time the voyage had been very long, and Jack told Elsie that when the bread was all finished they had had to eat sea-biscuits instead.

"How funny," said Elsie; "what are sea-biscuits like, Jack?"

"They are very hard and round and thick," replied Jack.

Elsie said she would like to see one, and Jack promised that when he went back to his ship he would send her one.

It was not a great thing to promise, was it? But Elsie felt very important when the postman brought her a little parcel a day or two after Jack had left, and she was very glad when she opened it and found the promised biscuit.

"There is one good thing about Jack," exclaimed Elsie, "he always does what he says." I think Jack would have been pleased to hear Elsie say that; it is one of the nicest things that =could= have been said about him. I hope it is true of all of us.

(Blackboard.)

To Forget is not a Little Thing.

Be True, and do what you say.

XXIX. KINDNESS TO ANIMALS.

68. Lulu and the Sparrow.

As Lulu came home from school one afternoon, she noticed three or four boys throwing stones at something--I hardly like to =tell= you what. It was a poor little brown sparrow that had somehow hurt its leg, and could not fly. However, this happened a great many years ago, and perhaps boys are less cruel now.

Lulu could not bear to see the poor bird treated so badly, and she asked the boys to give it to her. At first they laughed, and went on throwing the stones; but she continued to beg for it so earnestly, that at last one of the boys said, "Let her have it". And Lulu was only too glad to pick up the wounded bird and carry it home. She nursed and fed it carefully, and put it in a warm place by the fire; but, in spite of all her care, the sparrow died in a few hours.

Sometimes pain is necessary, as in Story Lesson 29; we should never think of saying the dentist was cruel; rather we should say he was kind, because he saved the monkey from =further= pain. But when we cause pain that is =needless=, as these boys did, it is =cruel=. They were cowardly also. If the bird had been an eagle, with strong claws that could have hurt them in return, would they have stoned it? No; they chose a poor little sparrow that could not defend itself, and this was =cowardly=.

Then it was =unfair=. You do not like to be punished or found fault with if you have done nothing wrong; you feel it is not fair; neither is it fair to hurt a dumb animal that has done nothing wrong.

69. Why we should be Kind to Animals.

Just think how many things animals do for us. Where did the wool come from that makes your nice, warm clothes? (Let children answer.) How do we get the coals to our houses--the coals that make the bright, hot fires? (Ans.) What could we do without the brave, strong horses? I heard the other day of a man who did not give his horse enough to eat. What kind of man was he? (Ans.) I would rather be like the Arab, who loves his horse so much that he brings it into his tent, and shares his food and bed with it. Where do we get our milk, b.u.t.ter and cheese? (Ans.) Then think of all the stories of animals in this book, who have done kind, clever things (and all these stories are true). If boys and girls would =think=, I am quite sure they would never be unkind to animals.

70. The b.u.t.terfly.

One day a boy was chasing a b.u.t.terfly, cap in hand, and just as he had caught it, a bee stung him. He was so angry that he threw the b.u.t.terfly down and trampled on it. Was not that cruel? The b.u.t.terfly had done him no harm, and the greatest skill in the world could not paint anything so delicate and beautiful as a b.u.t.terfly's wing; and yet he destroyed that beauty. Sometimes children will hunt spiders out of the crevices in the wall and torture them, and others will torment the little fly, or steal the bird's pretty eggs that the mother sits on with such care. All this is cruel and unkind. Remember it is =not n.o.ble= to hurt. The truest gentleman is he who is full of kindness and gentleness and will not hurt anything.

71. The Kind-hearted Dog.

Have you ever seen children riding donkeys at the seaside? and have you noticed how the boys beat the poor things sometimes to make them go faster? I do not think a =kind= boy or girl would like to have a donkey beaten. I hope =you= would not.

There was once a little dog who could not bear to see any creature beaten. If any one were ill-treating a dog he would rush up and bark quite angrily, and when he was driving in the dog-cart with his master, he always used to hold the sleeve of his master's coat every time he touched the horse with the whip, as if he would have said, "Do not beat him, please". Now, if a =dog= knows that it is not kind to hurt dumb creatures, we are sure boys and girls know.

(Blackboard.)

To Hurt Animals is Cruel, for the pain is needless.

It is Unfair, for they do not deserve it.

It is Cowardly, for often they cannot hurt you in return.

x.x.x. BAD TEMPER.

72. How Paul was Cured.

Paul was a little boy who was very fond of having his own way, and when he could not get it he used to throw himself into the most dreadful tempers. He would take his pocket-handkerchief and tear it all to pieces in his rage, not to mention lying on the floor and kicking with his heels. One day his governess said to him, "Paul, I will tell you a true story". Paul sat down ready to listen, for he loved stories, so the governess began:--

"There was once a little boy, bright, honest and truthful, always ready to run messages for his mother, or to help a schoolmate with his lessons, he was so good-natured. But Henry (for that was his name) had one great fault--he would get into violent pa.s.sions when any one vexed him, and as he grew older his pa.s.sion became stronger, and had the mastery of him more and more. He was a sailor, and as time went on he had a ship of his own, and was captain of it. Henry could manage the ship well; he knew just how to turn the wheel to make her go East or West, and he knew also how to trim the sails to make the ship move swiftly along. If he could have controlled his temper as he did his ship, all might have been well. But he used to be very angry with the sailors when they did not please him, and one day when the cabin-boy had done something that vexed him, the captain in a fit of pa.s.sion beat the poor boy so cruelly that he died. When the ship came home the captain was taken to prison, and in the end he lost =his= life for having taken the boy's life."

The governess paused, and Paul gazed up into her face with wide-open, anxious eyes. "Is =that= what happens to boys who get into a pa.s.sion?"

he asked.

"It happened to the captain," said she.

"Then I will never give way to pa.s.sion again if it has such a dreadful ending," said Paul, and the governess told me that he kept his word.

(Blackboard.)

If Bad Temper gets the Mastery, it leads to sad Results.

73. The Young Horse.

Edgar was riding in the train with his mother one day. He sat next the window, as children like to do, so that he could see all that was going on. How the train speeds along! now pa.s.sing through a tunnel, then out again into the sunshine; next it goes over a long row of arches built across a valley, and called a viaduct. "How high up we seem to be," said Edgar; "see, mother, the river is down there ever so far below!" Now they are pa.s.sing through fields again, and there, looking over the hedge, is a beautiful young horse. But as the train whirls by, the horse runs off and scampers round and round the field. Edgar watched him as long as he could see, and then he said: "What a lovely horse, mother!