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Read Ebook: The Nursery April 1881 Vol. XXIX A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers by Various
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Ebook has 157 lines and 10571 words, and 4 pages
He'll sing and whistle, he'll run and shout, To keep him warm; but he'll never pout: If the frost creeps in, he whips it out, With his two hands thrashing his shoulders stout; While on he goes, and the keen snow rings To the song he sings, for his sturdy feet The changing time of that music beat,-- Robert, the miller's boy.
GEORGE S. BURLEIGH.
TAKE CARE.
YOUNG Tom mounts his old horse and takes a ride. He sits up like a bold dragoon. The horse is not a gay one. He will not shy. He will not run away. But he has one fault: he may take it into his head to roll. Tom must take care.
Young Bob climbs a rope hand over hand. He holds on tight, and climbs up quite high. He is a bold boy. It is a good plan to climb. But take care, or you may fall. Do not let go with one hand till you get hold with the other.
A. B. C.
LETTER FROM CHINA.
NOT long ago I read in "The Nursery" a story about "Emperor Frank," and how he ruled a whole family. I know a family that is ruled by two emperors instead of one. They live in Pekin in far-off North China.
There are four boys and three girls. The two youngest boys, Dwight and Louis, are twins. They are the emperors.
Their reign began nearly three years ago. Master Ted, the next elder brother, who was then emperor, had to give way to them, and very sweetly he did it. It was hard for him to see his dear old Chinese nurse transfer her love and care to any one else; and even now, when he hears her call one of the emperors her "little pet," he says to her, "But you know you have a big pet too."
Thus far the twin-emperors have had none but loyal subjects; but, as they grow out of their babyhood, there are signs of rebellion. The three sisters rebel because Emperors Dwight and Louis will not let them practise their music-lessons in peace. Ted says, "Do find me a place where I can pound nails alone;" for the emperors will insist upon helping him.
The emperors have already learned to walk, though they talk only in a language of their own. When they begin to talk plainly in the language of their subjects, I fear that their reign will come to an end.
The picture shows you how ten-year-old brother Ned takes his three little brothers to ride on his donkey.
TUNG CHO, NORTH CHINA. THE EMPERORS' MAMMA.
KINGS AND QUEENS.
TOMMY.
UPON the lilac-bush I heard The earliest robin sing; I wished, what never will come true, That I could be a king; For, if I only were a king, I know what I would do: I'd have plum-cake, instead of bread, To eat the whole year through; Great heaps of oranges would be Upon my palace-floors, And fountains full of lemonade Spout up beside its doors.
FRED, GRACIE, HARRY, ISABEL.
Oh, shame upon you, Tommy Brown! You're such a greedy thing! We're glad you are not over us: You should not be our king.
JESSIE.
And, if I were a queen, I'd wear A new dress every day; No princess in a fairy-tale Would have such fine array; With golden lace and glittering gems My robes my maids would deck, And diamonds large as pigeons' eggs Would hang about my neck.
FRED, GRACIE, HARRY, ISABEL.
And, oh, how proud and vain you'd be! How fond of being seen! We're glad you are not over us: You should not be our queen.
KARL.
And, if I were a king, I'd have In every thing my way; My servants would stand waiting round, My wishes to obey; And I would do just what I pleased, And say just what I chose, And not a soul in all the land Would dare my will oppose.
FRED, GRACIE, HARRY, ISABEL.
And you would be the worst of all: What troubles you would bring! We want no tyrant over us; You should not be our king.
LILIAN.
And, if I really were a queen, I would put on my crown, And through the country everywhere Go walking up and down; And all the old folks, sick, and poor, I would have warmed and fed, And every houseless little child Should home with me be led; And I would love them all, and try To do the best I could To make the sorry people glad, The naughty people good.
FRED, GRACIE, HARRY, ISABEL.
And you would have the happiest reign That ever yet was seen; And, if we had a queen at all, Then you should be our queen.
MARIAN DOUGLAS.
THE BIRD WHO HAS NO NEST.
THIS is the cuckoo. She and her mate have no home of their own; but that does not seem to trouble them. They peep here and there among the leaves, until they find the nest of some other bird,--a lark, perhaps, or a thrush, or a yellow-hammer; and, if the owner of the nest is away, Mrs. Cuckoo leaves within it a small egg.
There are some birds that can take care of themselves almost as soon as they are born; but Mrs. Cuckoo never leaves her eggs in their nests. Oh, no! she chooses a nest in which the young birds are well cared for by their mothers, and fed with food on which the young cuckoos thrive best.
Why she is too idle to build her own nest, no one knows. Some people say it is because she stays so short a time in the same country, that her young ones would not get strong enough to fly away with her, if she waited to build her nest. Others think it is because she is such a great eater, that she cannot spend time to find food for her children.
But the kind foster-mothers, the larks and the thrushes, care for the egg that the cuckoo leaves in their houses, although, if any other bird leaves one, they will take no care of it at all, but roll it out upon the ground.
SOPHIE E. EASTMAN.
A SHRINE.
IN countries where the Roman-Catholic religion prevails, a shrine signifies a box or case containing an image of the Virgin Mary, or some relics regarded as sacred.
This box is attached to a stone pillar or other fixed monument, and thus marks a place at which the pious Catholics kneel to offer up their prayers.
In Italy and Spain shrines are very common, not only in the churches, but at the roadsides. The picture shows us one with a little girl holding a bunch of flowers in front of the sacred image which she sees in it.
In this country they are to be seen only in churches; but we often speak of any hallowed place as a shrine.
IDA FAY.
LOOK at my night-cap so funny, And see how I've tied up my curls! Dolly and I are both going To bed now, like wise little girls.
She sleeps on my pillow, the darling; Not once does she wake in the night; And, when the first sunbeam is peeping, We both get up, rosy and bright.
How quiet she is, and how patient, As she waits till the breakfast-bell rings! She never is greedy or fussy, Never pouts, never breaks my nice things.
W. G.
SUSIE'S DANCING-LESSON.
WHEN Susie is fretful and peevish,--which, I am glad to say, is not often,--there is nobody who can put her in good humor so quickly as her grown-up sister Ann. She knows just how to deal with the little girl.
Thus Ann will say, "What is the matter, Susie? Are you hungry? No. Are you sleepy? Not a bit of it. Do you want me to tell you a story? No. Are you tired? No. I have it: you want a good dose of exercise. That is the very thing you need. Come here now, and I'll give you a dancing-lesson."
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