Story Lessons on Character-Building (Morals) and Manners Part 15

79. The Misfortunes of Elinor.

Elinor was a great anxiety to her mother, for she was always either tearing her clothes, or forgetting, or losing something--all because she was so careless. One day at tea Elinor was taking the cup which her mother had just filled, but as she was not looking at it, nor taking any care, it tilted over and fell against a tall flower-vase that stood in the centre of the table. The vase was broken, and the tablecloth deluged with tea and water--all for want of a little care.

Another day Elinor's mother gave her a shilling, and sent her to the shop for some fruit, but she lost the money, and returned empty-handed.

Coming home from school one day, she was poking her umbrella about in a little stream of water that the rain had made along the side of the road, when the tip of the stick caught in a grate and broke off, so the umbrella was spoilt. I could tell you many more things about poor careless Elinor, but these are enough to show how bad it is not to take care. Sometimes people have taken poison instead of medicine by being careless, and not noticing the label on the bottle; and sometimes a train has been wrecked, and lives lost, because the engine-driver was careless about noticing the signal.

(Blackboard.)

Do not be Careless; it brings Trouble.

x.x.xIII. ON BEING OBSTINATE.

80. How Daisy's Holiday was Spoilt.

Daisy's aunt had invited her to go and spend the day with her cousin Violet, and to Daisy, who lived in the town, it was a very great treat; for Violet's father and mother lived at a farm, and when Daisy went there, the two little girls spent the whole day out in the open air, climbing on the hay, playing "hide and seek" in the barn, or helping to milk the cows. The last time Daisy went to the farm, however, she had taken cold, and her mother found that she had been playing without coat and hat, so on this occasion she said, "Daisy, I want you to promise me that you will keep your outdoor things on when you are playing with Violet, for the day is cold".

Daisy did not answer, and when her mother again asked her, she would not promise. The omnibus which was to take Daisy to the farm would pa.s.s at nine o'clock, and the time was drawing near, but still Daisy was self-willed and would not give in. (Oh, Daisy! that is =not= the Good Voice you are listening to, you will be sorry afterwards.) The omnibus came rumbling down the street, and Daisy sprang up ready to go.

"Do you promise, Daisy?" asked her mother; "I cannot let you go unless you do;" but Daisy was still obstinate, and the omnibus went quickly past. A minute after she burst into tears, and cried, "I =will= promise, mother," but by this time the omnibus was too far on its way, and there was not another until two o'clock. At this time Daisy was allowed to go, but what a pity that she should lose half a day's pleasure, and disappoint her cousin, as well as grieving her dear mother, all for the sake of wanting her own way. You remember what we said about mother knowing best in "Obedience" (Story Lesson 6). When we are obstinate, we want to please =ourselves= instead of some one else, so you can see that

(Blackboard)

It is Selfish to be Obstinate; Better give in; Mother Knows Best.

x.x.xIV. GREEDINESS.

81. Stephen and the Buns.

It was breaking-up day at school, and the children were having buns and tea. Each child had brought a clean pocket-handkerchief, and spread it on the desk for a tablecloth. Then the teacher gave out the buns; nice large buns they were, with sugar on the top, and there were just a few left over, after one had been given to each child. Next a cup of tea was placed on each desk, and the tea-party went on merrily.

But why does Stephen take such large bites, and fill his mouth so full?

And why is he eating so quickly? See, his bun is finished now, and he is asking for another! "Oh! Stephie, naughty boy, you have gobbled up your bun as fast as you could, because you were afraid the buns left over would be used up before you asked for more. That was =greedy=."

Do not be greedy, boys and girls. Never mind how hungry you are; eat slowly and nicely, and pa.s.s things to others. It is so selfish to think only of your =own= wants, and not to care how other people are getting on. "Greediness" is an ugly word, and no one likes to see greedy children.

(Blackboard.)

It is Rude and Vulgar to be Greedy.

x.x.xV. BOASTING.

82. The Stag and his Horns.

Have you ever seen a stag with its graceful, branching horns?

There is a fable told of a stag who went to a pool to drink, and seeing himself reflected in the water, he said: "Dear me, how beautiful are my horns; what a nice, graceful appearance they give to me! My legs are quite slender, and not at all beautiful, but my horns are handsome."

When the hunters came, however, the stag found that his slender legs were very useful, for by means of them he could run away from his enemies, and if it had not been that his horns caught in the branches of a tree and held him fast, he might have escaped.

You see how foolish it was of the stag to =boast= about his fine horns; and we are just as foolish when =we= boast of anything that we have, or of anything we can do.

Boasting often leads to untruth, as in (Story Lesson 11) "The Three Feathers". It is always vulgar to pretend that we are better than our neighbours, and people who boast generally try to make one believe that they =are= cleverer or richer or better than somebody else. Let us be like the modest violet, who hides her beauty, rather than be boastful and foolish, as the stag was.

(Blackboard.)

It is Foolish and Vulgar to Boast.

x.x.xVI. WASTEFULNESS.

83. The Little Girl who was Lost.

A little girl wandered away from home one morning and got lost in a wood. She tried in vain to find the way home again, but she could not, and then she sat down and cried, for she was so tired, and oh! =so= hungry. She thought of the many crusts of bread and pieces of meat that she had often left on her plate at home, and how glad she would have been to eat them now. It was evening when her friends found her, and took her safely home; we will hope that she remembered that hungry day in the woods, and did not waste any more pieces of bread afterwards.

If you think of the many poor people who have scarcely enough to eat, you will see how wrong it is to waste anything. When we have more than we need, let us give it to those who have not enough, and never forget that

(Blackboard)

It is Wrong to Waste.

x.x.xVII. LAZINESS.

84. The Sluggard.

You will hear of a great king (in Story Lesson 90) who had a throne of ivory overlaid with gold. When you are old enough to read the words he wrote (Proverbs) you will find that he always kept his eyes wide open and noticed things.

As the king was taking a walk one day, he pa.s.sed by a vineyard, which is another name for a grape-garden, and he noticed that the wall was broken down. He looked farther, and saw that the vines were all trailing on the ground, instead of being tied up, and worse still, they were all grown over with nettles and thorns--the beautiful grape vines that give such rich, delicious fruit. "How is this?" thought the king, and he began to consider. "Ah!" said he, "this vineyard belongs to the man who likes 'a little sleep,' 'a little slumber,' and who would rather fold his hands and go to sleep again than use them to work in his garden. And what will be the end of it all? He will soon be poor, and have nothing to eat, while his lovely grapes which would have sold for money if he had looked after them, lie there buried and spoilt by the nettles and thorns."

It is quite right to sleep through the dark night, but this man slept in the daytime as well, instead of weeding his garden, and tying up the grapes, so we say he was a sluggard. What an ugly word it is! Would =you= like to be a sluggard? No, indeed you would not. Then remember this:--