THE CHILDREN'S PARTY.
: Cinderella The Little Glass SlipperWhat a merry, merry rout!
See the wee ones dance about!
Dickie's leading off the ball;
There,--he almost had a fall.
Who's his partner in the whirls,
--Rosiest of all the girls?
But a doll--a DOLL you say;
Dancing in that sprightly way?
Well I never! Oh, see there,
See--just see those horses tear!
Meg and Madge will sure be thrown.
What a vicious looking roan!
Not a real live horse you say,
Prancing in that frightful way?
Well, I never! Toys to-day
Surely seem more "real" than "play."
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THE BROWN THRUSH
There's a merry brown thrush sitting up in the tree. He's singing to me! He's singing to me! And what does he say, little girl, little boy? "Oh, the world's running over with joy! Don't you hear? Don't you see? Hush! Look! In my tree I'm ... THE BUCKWHEAT
Down by the river were fields of barley and rye and golden oats. Wheat grew there, too, and the heaviest and richest ears bent lowest, in humility. Opposite the corn was a field of buckwheat, but the buckwheat never bent; it held its head proud ... THE BUGLE SONG
Alfred Tennyson The splendor falls on castle walls And snowy summits old in story; The long light shakes across the lakes, And the wild cataract leaps in glory. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, Blow, bugle; a... THE BURNING OF THE RICEFIELDS
Once there was a good old man who lived up on a mountain, far away in Japan. All round his little house the mountain was flat, and the ground was rich; and there were the ricefields of all the people who lived in the village at the mountain's fo... THE BUSY BLUE JAY
Olive Thorne Miller One of the most interesting birds who ever lived in my Bird Room was a blue jay named Jakie. He was full of business from morning till night, scarcely ever a moment still. Poor little fellow! He had been stolen fro... THE CAKE
A child quarrelled with his brother one day about a cake. "It is my cake!" said the child. "No, it is mine!" said his brother. "You shall not have it!" said the child. "Give it to me this minute!" And he fell upon his brother and beat him... THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST.
News of the miraculous way in which the Israelites had been brought across the Jordan spread rapidly among the Canaanites, and when they heard what God had done, they were very much afraid. We are told that "their heart melted, neither was there s... THE CARRYING TRADE
Who wants to engage in the carrying trade? Come, Lottie and Lula and Nina and Mary, all bring your maps, and we will play merchants, and see what is meant by the carrying trade. Lottie shall have the bark "Rosette," and sail from Boston to Calcu... THE CASTLE OF FORTUNE
One lovely summer morning, just as the sun rose, two travellers started on a journey. They were both strong young men, but one was a lazy fellow and the other was a worker. As the first sunbeams came over the hills, they shone on a great castle ... The Cat and the Mouse
The cat and the mouse Played in the malt-house: The cat bit the mouse's tail off. "Pray, puss, give me my tail." "No," says the cat, "I'll not give you your tail, till you go to the cow and fetch me some milk." First she leapt, and t... THE CAT AND THE PARROT
Once there was a cat, and a parrot. And they had agreed to ask each other to dinner, turn and turn about: first the cat should ask the parrot, then the parrot should invite the cat, and so on. It was the cat's turn first. Now the cat was very me... THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS
Oliver Wendell Holmes This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign, Sails the unshadowed main,-- The venturous bark that flings On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings, And coral reefs lie b... THE CHARACTER OF A HAPPY LIFE
Sir Henry Wotton How happy is he born and taught, That serveth not another's will; Whose armor is his honest thought, And simple truth, his utmost skill; Whose passions not his masters are, Whose soul is still prepared for death, Unt... THE CHICKADEE-DEE.
Little darling of the snow, Careless how the winds may blow, Happy as a bird can be, Singing, oh, so cheerily, Chickadee-dee! Chickadee-dee! When the skies are cold and gray, When he trills his happiest lay, Through the clouds he seems to see ... THE CHILD-MIND; AND HOW TO SATISFY IT
"It is the grown people who make the nursery stories," wrote Stevenson, "all the children do is jealously to preserve the text." And the grown person, whether he makes his stories with pen or with tongue, should bring two qualities at least to the... THE CHILDREN OF THE SUN GOD.
No difficulty whatever was experienced in reaching that retreat, and milder prisoner never knew a guard than Ixtli proved himself to be, silently yielding to each impulse lent his arm by Waldo, smiling when, as sometimes happened, he was brought mor... THE CHILDREN'S PARTY.
What a merry, merry rout! See the wee ones dance about! Dickie's leading off the ball; There,--he almost had a fall. Who's his partner in the whirls, --Rosiest of all the girls? But a doll--a DOLL you say; Dancing in that sprightly way? Wel... THE CHRISTMAS CAROL OF THE BIRDS.
Do you know, when we are having such good times at Christmas, what sweet music they have in Norway, that cold country across the sea? One day in the year the simple peasants who live there make the birds very happy, so that they sing, of their own... THE CHRISTMAS MASQUERADE
On Christmas Eve the Mayor's stately mansion presented a beautiful appearance. There were rows of different coloured wax candles burning in every window, and beyond them one could see the chandeliers of gold and crystal blazing with light. The f... THE CIRCUS
Hey, there! Hoop-la! the circus is in town! Have you seen the elephant? Have you seen the clown? Have you seen the dappled horse gallop round the ring? Have you seen the acrobats on the dizzy swing? Have you seen the tumbling men tumble up and do... THE CITIES OF REFUGE.
Revenge is contrary to the teaching of Jesus Christ, "If thine enemy hunger, feed him," says the Saviour; but among the Israelites and other eastern nations a different practice prevailed. If one slew another, the kinsman of him that was slain fel... THE CITY MOUSE AND THE GARDEN MOUSE
The city mouse lives in a house;-- The garden mouse lives in a bower, He's friendly with the frogs and toads, And sees the pretty plants in flower. The city mouse eats bread and cheese;-- The garden mouse eats what he can; We will not gru... THE CLOUD
One hot summer morning a little Cloud rose out of the sea and floated lightly and happily across the blue sky. Far below lay the earth, brown, dry, and desolate, from drought. The little Cloud could see the poor people of the earth working and suf... THE COCK-A-DOO-DLE-DOO
A very little boy made this story up "out of his head," and told it to his papa. I think you littlest ones will like it; I do. Once upon a time there was a little boy, and he wanted to be a cock-a-doo-dle-doo. So he was a cock-a-doo-dle-doo. And... THE COUNTRY MOUSE AND THE CITY MOUSE
Once a little mouse who lived in the country invited a little mouse from the city to visit him. When the little City Mouse sat down to dinner he was surprised to find that the Country Mouse had nothing to eat except barley and grain. "Really," ... THE CRATCHITS' CHRISTMAS DINNER
Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present stood in the city streets on Christmas morning, where (for the weather was severe) the people made a rough but brisk and not unpleasant kind of music, in scraping the snow from the pavement in front of th... THE CUNNING WOLF
Once upon a time the people in a certain town went out into the woods for a holiday. They took baskets full of good things to eat. But when noontime came they ate all the meat they had brought with them, not leaving any for supper. "I will get ... THE DAGDA'S HARP
You know, dears, in the old countries there are many fine stories about things which happened so very long ago that nobody knows exactly how much of them is true. Ireland is like that. It is so old that even as long ago as four thousand years it h... THE DAWN DANCE
What do you think I saw to-day when I arose at dawn? Blue Wrens and Yellow-tails dancing on the lawn! Bobbing here, and bowing there, gossiping away, And how I wished that you were there to see the merry play! But you were snug abed, my boy, blan... THE DEATH OF SAMSON.
Samson's birth was foretold by an angel. He was to grow up a Nazarite, forbidden to drink strong drink, neither was his head to be shaved. His strength was very great; but his marriage was sinful, and his doings with the idolatrous Philistines ter... THE DEFEAT OF THE MIDIANITES.
Large numbers of the Israelites gathered around Gideon, prepared to fight against the Midianites, who were encamped in a valley, "like grasshoppers for multitude." How Gideon's host was reduced till only three hundred men remained, and the wonderf... THE DIAMOND AND THE DEWDROP
A costly Diamond, that had once sparkled in a lady's ring, lay in a field amid tall grasses and oxeye daisies. Just above it, was a big Dewdrop that clung timidly to a nodding grass-blade. Overhead, the blazing sun shone in all his noonday gl...