Story Lessons on Character-Building (Morals) and Manners Part 19

But it is not only on board ship that it is necessary to be respectful; children should always remember to say "Sir" or "Ma'am" when speaking to a gentleman or lady, wherever they may be.

In France the word "madam" is used when addressing a lady, but in our country the "d" is mostly left out, and we say only "ma'am". (Show the two words, "madam" and "ma'am" on blackboard.)

No one thinks a boy or girl well-behaved who answers "Yes," or "No"; it is blunt and rude. You can always say "Sir" and "Ma'am," even if you do not know the name of the person to whom you are speaking, and in answering your father or mother you should always say "Yes, father," or "No, mother," as the case may be.

(Blackboard.)

To answer "Yes," "No"--it is blunt, and is rude, But "Yes, sir" or "No, ma'am" are both right and good; "Yes, father," "No, mother," polite children say, And these are good rules to remember each day.

XLVIII. PUTTING FEET UP.

97. Alice and the Pink Frock.

You have often heard grown-up people say to little children, "Behave nicely," or "Mind your manners"; I wonder if you know just what they mean. There is a little word that describes people who have =not= nice manners--we say they are =rude=. Try to find out who was rude in this story.

One bright day in April little Alice was dressed all ready for a birthday party. She had on a pretty, new pink frock, of which she was very proud, and over this she wore a cloak, but the cloak was not quite long enough to cover =all= the pretty dress, for which Alice was not sorry. She was all the more pleased about the party because she had to go by train. It was only three miles, but Alice thought that was quite a long journey for a little girl of ten to take all by herself.

Her mother brought her to the station, and when the train came up, Alice jumped in and sat near the window, opposite to a tall, nicely-dressed boy. Now before Alice came into the carriage, what do you think the boy had been doing? He had been sitting with his feet up on the cushions opposite, and his boots were very muddy. Can you guess the rest? Poor Alice sat down on the muddy patches left by the boy's dirty, wet boots, and her pretty pink frock was spoilt.

Can you tell who was rude in this story? "The boy was rude." What did he do that was rude? "He put his feet up." Then we will say, "It is rude to put our feet up". The proper place for feet is the floor. What effect did the boy's rudeness have on Alice? (or to younger children): How did the boy's rudeness make Alice feel? It made her unhappy. Then I think we might say that manners are =rude= when they make other people =uncomfortable= or =unhappy=.

Write on Blackboard and let the children repeat the following:--

What is it to be rude?

If in our work or in our play We take our friend's comfort away, And make him sad instead of gay, Why that is to be rude.

XLIX. BANGING DOORS.

98. How Maurice came home from School.

How is it that boys and girls so often forget to close the door quietly?

When Maurice went out to school in the afternoon he knew that his mother had a headache, but by the time he came home he had forgotten all about it, and so he stamped in with his muddy shoes unwiped, leaving the front door wide open.

His mother said, "Close the door, Maurice," and he gave it a great bang, which made her shudder.

Next he walked into the room, flung his bag on a chair, his cap on the floor, and his overcoat on the sofa. Then he said in a loud voice, "Well, mother, how's your head?" His poor mother felt almost too sad to answer him; she had so often told her little boy about hanging up his coat and other things, and had tried so hard to teach him to be gentle and polite, instead of rough and rude; but you see Maurice was =thoughtless=, and did not remember the nice things he had been taught.

Take care, Maurice! or you will have the ugly stone of "Selfishness" in your Temple. A boy who is not kind to his mother is the worst kind of boy, and will find it difficult to grow up into a good and n.o.ble man.

99. Lulu and the Gla.s.s Door.

When Lulu was a little girl, she lived with her auntie and uncle. The front door of their house was made half of gla.s.s, and there was a shutter which covered the gla.s.s part of the door at night.

Lulu's auntie told her that when it was windy weather she must go round to the =back= door, lest the front door should get a bang, and some of the panes of gla.s.s be broken.

I am afraid Lulu did not always remember to obey her auntie, for one very windy morning she came home from school, and went as usual to the front door. She managed to open it and to get inside safely, then the door closed with a loud bang, for the wind was very strong, and it happened just as auntie had feared--a large pane of gla.s.s fell out of the door, and was shivered into a thousand pieces.

Auntie was very angry, and Lulu was so unhappy, and cried so much that she could not eat her dinner. When her uncle came home and heard the story, and knew how sorry Lulu was, he said: "Oh, well, dry your tears, we will call and ask old James to come and mend the door, and my little girl must do what auntie tells her next time".

So Lulu trotted back to afternoon school, holding to the hand of her kind uncle, and they called to tell James to put a new pane of gla.s.s into the door. But Lulu has not forgotten her disobedience, and the banging of auntie's door, although it is now more than forty years ago.

(Blackboard.)

Close Doors Softly.

L. PUSHING IN FRONT OF PEOPLE.

100. The Big Boy and the Little Lady.

The Queen was in London, and as the time drew near when she was expected to drive through the park, many people stood on the sidewalk to see her carriage pa.s.s.

A little lady who was walking through the park thought she would stand with the others to see Her Majesty, and as she was too short to look over the heads of the people, she found a place at the edge of the crowd near the roadway.

By-and-by they heard a cheer in the distance, and knew that the Queen's carriage had come out of the palace gates. At that very moment some one came pushing through the people, and before the little lady had time to speak, a great big boy brushed rudely past, and stood in front of her.

The lady touched him on the arm, and he turned round, and saw that it was a friend of his mother's whom he had been treating so rudely. He raised his cap at once, and, blushing with shame, begged the lady's pardon, and took a place behind her.

But if the lady had been a perfect stranger, it would have been equally wrong for the boy to act like that. It is always rude to push, whether we are entering a tramcar, a railway train, or going to some place of amus.e.m.e.nt; let us remember this:--

(Blackboard)

It is Rude to Push in Front of People.

LI. KEEPING TO THE RIGHT.[19]

101.

When you have been walking down the street, has it ever happened that you could scarcely move for the people who are blocking up the causeway?

That is because they do not keep to the right.

In London, where the streets are so busy, it would be impossible to get along if people did not keep to the right. What accidents we should have in the streets if the drivers did not remember to keep to their proper side of the road, which is the left! And how often the ships at sea would go b.u.mping against each other if they did not remember always to keep to the right in pa.s.sing those that are coming in an opposite direction! If you are ever puzzled as to how you should pa.s.s people in the street